Israeli Ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed reflected on a Toronto seder, with \u201c28 faces gathered around one table together to tell the ancient tale of persecution and redemption: Together friends and family, Canadians and Israelis, Jews and non-Jews, three generations, a Holocaust survivor, her grandchildren, her sons, the sons of Holocaust survivors, as I am, together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moed said the tale of Abraham and Jacob and of Joseph is also a prototypic tale of antisemitism. \u201cThe haggadah does not only tell us our story, it commands us to relive it in its own words, in each generation, each person must see themselves as if they were the ones who escaped Egypt, who faced hatred in the extreme, of their extinction. My host, my parents, the entire generation, need no help fulfilling this commandment. They lived the Holocaust together, together they barely survived it, and together our people remain scarred by it, every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, said Moed, \u201cCanada, like so many of the world, marches headlong into the \u201830s of a new millennium,\u201d and appears to be doing so, \u201cto the same antisemitic drumbeat that ushered Europe into the 1930s. On this day of remembrance, I fear that Canada and the world have forgotten, or have been made to forget, perhaps wish to forget, the darkest patterns of the Holocaust.\u201d This year, he added, \u201cCanada and many other countries around the world seem to have banded together to turn blind, hostile eyes to the plight of the Jewish populations and to that of their homeland of Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs in Egypt, it begins with lies, false and hateful accusations, accusations of uprising by the Jews of Egypt, then genocide of the Gazans by Israel. Now, equal ingredients \u2013 Holocaust denial and blood libel, intended to delegitimize and to destroy, to twist truth and to murder the memory to hateful ends and means, and today, as it was then, is once again tolerated and rewarded by those in power and in some cases even promoted in our schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hatred echoed across generations<\/p>\n
Moed noted that on Passover he read partially from a treasured haggadah, of the kibbutzniks from the time of Israeli independence \u201cpresenting a people who worked with their hands,\u201d recalling the message of resilience and of action. \u201cIts call to action, complementing the words of the haggadah as it should be, as it was meant to be, the telling, not only commanding us to relieve its story by remembering, but reminding us that we must act.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Pastor Isaac Gimba of Nepean\u2019s Meeting Point Ministries, the Holocaust is a mirror that is held up to every generation, \u201casking a very simple yet piercing question: What will you do when hatred rises again?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evil rarely begins with violence said Pastor Gimba, but rather with words, narratives, silence, and indifference. \u201cWhen good people say nothing, darkness finds room to grow\u2026 Hatred did not end with Adolf Hitler. It did not vanish with liberation. It has in different forms, echoed across generations, even to our present day\u201d he said, when narratives are formed quickly often without understanding, \u201cand repeated until they seem true. There are voices in our world today that distort the truth, that inflame divisions. Israel is sometimes portrayed not as a nation defending its existence, but as something to be feared, blamed or eradicated. This is not only inaccurate, it is dangerous, because truth matters, and truth requires courage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pastor Gimba quoted the Book of Joshua as a call to moral courage, but also \u201ca call to action.\u201d The question today, he said, especially for young people, is \u201cwill you be silent, or will you stand\u2026I want you to know that you are not alone. A helping hand today may look like the Christian and Jewish community working strategically together, standing shoulder to shoulder in solidarity when it\u2019s inconvenient, speaking the truth when it\u2019s unpopular, refusing to amplify falsehood and choosing instead to stand on friendship and mutual understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Agnes Klein, a Holocaust survivor, found the theme especially pertinent. \u201cHelping Hands is a fit metaphor, description, if you will, of communities coming together to help each other in many and varied forms, from the many stories of health and protection afforded to Jews during World War Two, to those afforded to other persecuted minorities, whether based on religious or national grounds or both.\u201d<\/p>\n
Acts of total selflessness, bravery and even heroism were part of what allowed her family to survive in relative safety, ranging from the chief editor of the local newspaper, a Roma, who allowed them to stay rent free in the lodging allotted for Jews at that time, or \u00a0\u201cthe Romanian gentleman who fronted, for some consideration, a small business for my late father and a partner to remain employed until the end of the war and earn a living.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bhagwant Sandhu, a retired director of the federal public service, reminded those assembled of the commonality of Judaism and Sikhism, of nationhood and peoplehood. \u201cThe central ethos of Sikhism is to always stand up and fight for justice and fight against inequality. The most cherished prayer that we have is Deh Shiva bar mohe ihai,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt asks for the courage to stand up against intolerance, against discrimination, against hatred, and this is where Sikhism and Yom ha-Shoah talk to each other: One compels us to action, and the other reminds us what happens when we stay silent, when we do nothing, when we just turn the other cheek.\u201d<\/p>\n
National Holocaust Monument\u00a0committee co-chair Lawrence Greenspon quoted fellow member Andrea Freedman\u2019s reflection<\/a> when recalling the famous words about the Holocaust by Lutheran pastor Martin Niem\u00f6ller:\u201cFirst they came for the Jews in Israel, and it was called complicated. Then they came for Jewish students on Canadian campuses, and it was called protest. Then they came for Jews in the streets of our cities, and it was called isolated fringe, not reflective of who we are. Then they attack Jewish institutions, people, synagogues, schools, businesses, and there were empty words, but no real consequences. What starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews. It spreads where silence and inaction are easier than courage, and where indifference is mistaken for neutrality. Freedom endures only when it is defended, not in words alone, but in the choices we make and the actions we are all willing to take.\u201d<\/p>\n Always be ready<\/p>\n On Monday night in Montreal, several hundred people attended a moving commemoration held by the Montreal Holocaust Museum at the Jewish community campus. MHM co-president Jacques Saada saluted the assembled dignitaries, including the consuls-general of Israel, Belgium, the United States and others, reminding them, \u201cdo not consider that you are attending a function. What you are doing here is showing concrete support for human decency, for the fight against antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n It was antisemitism\u2019s protean nature that Israel\u2019s consul-general in Montreal Eliaz Luf spoke of: \u201cAntisemitism has never disappeared. It persists, adapting to new forms, finding new voices and always rearing its ugly head. Here in Montreal and across Canada, antisemitic incidents are on the rise at an alarming rate, becoming common, creeping into everyday life. We cannot allow that to happen.\u201d He noted \u201cthe recent decision by the Vanier College here in Montreal to cancel its annual Holocaust commemoration ceremony<\/a> shows how quickly people can forget.\u201d<\/p>\n In every generation said Luf, \u201cthe Jewish people must always be ready to defend ourselves, no matter what and no matter when. This is who we are, we carry responsibility not only to remember what happened, but to ensure it never happens again. The State of Israel as the Jewish state carries an important responsibility to confront antisemitism wherever it arises. It carries this responsibility with seriousness and unwavering commitment to the survivors and to future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n The evening\u2019s program included a number of survivors lighting memorial candles, hearing tributes from children and grandchildren, the promises of the second, third and fourth generation, and a rousing rendition of the Partisan Hymn.<\/p>\n At Montreal\u2019s event there was only a smattering of city councillors from various boroughs while Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada held a small candle-lighting ceremony<\/a> in the halls of Montreal City Hall on Monday.<\/p>\n For his part, Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s April 13, message recalled that \u201cthe Jewish community is facing a resurgence of antisemitism at home and around the world,\u201d and noting his government\u2019s response in the form of the Combatting Hate Act. \u201cThe responsibility to confront antisemitism belongs to all of us, and that responsibility begins with remembrance. Our remembrance is vigilance, so that \u2018Never again\u2019 is always true. Our duty is deliverance, from intimidation and hate. Our goal is transcendence \u2013 a society where Jewish people and all Canadians can live openly, freely, and safely.\u201d<\/p>\n Joel has spent his entire adult life scribbling. For two decades, he freelanced for more than a dozen North American and European trade publications, writing on home decor, HR, agriculture, defense technologies and more. Having lived at 14 addresses in and around Greater Montreal, for 17 years he worked as reporter for a local community newspaper, covering the education, political and municipal beats in seven cities and boroughs. He loves to bike, swim, watch NBA and kvetch about politics.<\/p>\n![\"Joel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Headshot-e1742321976617.webp.webp\")
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