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Mister President of the [[Wikipedia:B'nai B'rith|B'nai B'rith]]'s International Relations, <br /> | Mister President of the [[Wikipedia:B'nai B'rith|B'nai B'rith]]'s International Relations, <br /> | ||
Mister [[Joseph Gabay|Joseph Gabay]], new president of the [[Wikipedia:Canadian Jewish Congress|Canadian Jewish Congress]], Québec section, allow me to underline and | Mister [[Joseph Gabay|Joseph Gabay]], new president of the [[Wikipedia:Canadian Jewish Congress|Canadian Jewish Congress]], Québec section, allow me to underline and greet your election. I dare to believe that your encyclopedic knowledge on biblical matters will be a pledge of wisdom and success in the management of your community's business. Congratulations and ''Mazal Tov''. I am also told that the presidency of the CJA Federation should return in approximately two years to another [[Wikipedia:Sephardi|Sephardi]], [[Sylvain Abitbol|Sylvain Abitbol]]. At the speed at which things progress, I fear that, in a few years, the only position left to the [[Wikipedia:Ashkenazim|Ashkenazim]] will be the presidency of the Sephardi community. | ||
The ''[http://www.rabbinat.qc.ca/ Grand rabbin du Québec]'' arrives in paradise. He is welcomed by angels who lead him to his new residence, a beautiful apartment, two bedrooms, perfect sunlight and a renovated kitchen. By the window, he sees a little palace across the street, twenty rooms, ten bathrooms and nine living rooms. The rabbi asks: "Who is the wise man who lives in this superb residence?". The angel answers: "This residence is unoccupied. It is reserved for Bernard Landry, Premier of Quebec." The rabbi enters a terrible anger. "How is it that me, a rabbi, who devoted all his existence to the Torah, gets a small four and half, while him, this non-believer, gets such a beautiful residence? I want to speak to God." The rabbi expresses his complaints to God, shares his surprise and asks for an explanation. And the Almighty God answers him: "You, rabbi, when you spoke of the Torah in the synagogue, everyone was sleeping. But him, Bernard Landry, when he goes to synagogues to speak of sovereignty, everyone starts praying!" | The ''[http://www.rabbinat.qc.ca/ Grand rabbin du Québec]'' arrives in paradise. He is welcomed by angels who lead him to his new residence, a beautiful apartment, two bedrooms, perfect sunlight and a renovated kitchen. By the window, he sees a little palace across the street, twenty rooms, ten bathrooms and nine living rooms. The rabbi asks: "Who is the wise man who lives in this superb residence?". The angel answers: "This residence is unoccupied. It is reserved for Bernard Landry, Premier of Quebec." The rabbi enters a terrible anger. "How is it that me, a rabbi, who devoted all his existence to the Torah, gets a small four and half, while him, this non-believer, gets such a beautiful residence? I want to speak to God." The rabbi expresses his complaints to God, shares his surprise and asks for an explanation. And the Almighty God answers him: "You, rabbi, when you spoke of the Torah in the synagogue, everyone was sleeping. But him, Bernard Landry, when he goes to synagogues to speak of sovereignty, everyone starts praying!" | ||
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Plantation of cypress at the edge of Jerusalem... Although any comparison is perilous, force is to note that, between Quebec and Israel, analogies are legion. I will quote only some of them. The famous historian [[Wikipedia:Arnold Toynbee|Arnold Toynbee]] one day wrote: "After a nuclear catastrophe, two peoples will survive, the Chinese by their number, and the French Canadians by their obstinacy." Isn't this fierce will to cross centuries common to both our peoples? One finds, here and there, this indescribable need to become an actor and no longer be a spectator of one's own destiny. | Plantation of cypress at the edge of Jerusalem... Although any comparison is perilous, force is to note that, between Quebec and Israel, analogies are legion. I will quote only some of them. The famous historian [[Wikipedia:Arnold Toynbee|Arnold Toynbee]] one day wrote: "After a nuclear catastrophe, two peoples will survive, the Chinese by their number, and the French Canadians by their obstinacy." Isn't this fierce will to cross centuries common to both our peoples? One finds, here and there, this indescribable need to become an actor and no longer be a spectator of one's own destiny. | ||
Much like for Quebec, the cultural future of Israel, where more than 500 000 people have a command of Molière's language, remains tied to Europe, to its French and French-speaking component. The Czech novelist [[Wikipedia:Milan Kundera|Milan Kundera]], recipient of the | Much like for Quebec, the cultural future of Israel, where more than 500 000 people have a command of Molière's language, remains tied to Europe, to its French and French-speaking component. The Czech novelist [[Wikipedia:Milan Kundera|Milan Kundera]], recipient of the [[w:Jerusalem Prize|Jerusalem Prize]], summarized this very special attachment in the first words of his short speech pronounced in French: "The Jews, even after being tragically disappointed by Europe, remained faithful to this European cosmopolitanism, and Israel, their dear recovered homeland, appears to my eyes as the true heart of Europe". | ||
At the symbolic level, our flags have the same colour, and the [[Wikipedia:Fleur-de-lis|flower of lily]] was for a long time one of the most used Jewish symbols. This identification of the people of Israel to the lily flower is attested over a period of at least one millennium, that is to say up until the destruction of the [[Wikipedia:Second Temple|Second Temple]] (70 of our era). The lily appeared on the first coins struck under Jewish sovereignty, that is to say in 4th century BC, and was a symbol of the political autonomy of [[Wikipedia:Judea|Judaea]] in relation to the great empires. Today, the one [[Wikipedia:Israeli new sheqel|shekel]] Israeli coin (40 cents) shows exactly this symbol. Immigration also deeply transformed the face of our two societies, and the [[Wikipedia:Francization|francization]] efforts of Quebec can be compared to the Israeli [[ | At the symbolic level, our flags have the same colour, and the [[Wikipedia:Fleur-de-lis|flower of lily]] was for a long time one of the most used Jewish symbols. This identification of the people of Israel to the lily flower is attested over a period of at least one millennium, that is to say up until the destruction of the [[Wikipedia:Second Temple|Second Temple]] (70 of our era). The lily appeared on the first coins struck under Jewish sovereignty, that is to say in 4th century BC, and was a symbol of the political autonomy of [[Wikipedia:Judea|Judaea]] in relation to the great empires. Today, the one [[Wikipedia:Israeli new sheqel|shekel]] Israeli coin (40 cents) shows exactly this symbol. Immigration also deeply transformed the face of our two societies, and the [[Wikipedia:Francization|francization]] efforts of Quebec can be compared to the Israeli [[w:ulpan|ulpanim]]s where Hebrew is taught to newcomers. Another example, with comparable populations numerically speaking, a somewhat equivalent GNP, our two States differentiate themselves on their continent by the importance they give the [[Wikipedia:Knowledge economy|knowledge economy]]. | ||
Dear friends, the friendship I feel for Israel authorizes me not to dissimulate my concerns. In the region, again, history stutters. Israelis and [[Wikipedia:Palestinian people|Palestinian]]s assist in impotence to the course of a topicality which escapes the influence of wisdom and that of their interests. However, these two peoples, so similarly beaten by history, must in spite of everything take the road of dialogue. These peace negotiations have made more blood than ink run. The Israelis obtained what they did not want, attacks, and the Palestinians did not obtain what they wanted, a State. | Dear friends, the friendship I feel for Israel authorizes me not to dissimulate my concerns. In the region, again, history stutters. Israelis and [[Wikipedia:Palestinian people|Palestinian]]s assist in impotence to the course of a topicality which escapes the influence of wisdom and that of their interests. However, these two peoples, so similarly beaten by history, must in spite of everything take the road of dialogue. These peace negotiations have made more blood than ink run. The Israelis obtained what they did not want, attacks, and the Palestinians did not obtain what they wanted, a State. |