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‘The Jewish Senator’ retires |
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Written by Atara Beck
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Wednesday, 02 December 2009 |
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OTTAWA-TORONTO – Having announced his retirement from the Senate of Canada after 25 years of service in that capacity, champion activist Senator Jerahmiel S. (Jerry) Grafstein – born in London, ON, in 1935 – has more goals set for the future than most people do in a lifetime.
“Stay tuned for the third act,” he told the Jewish Tribune. “It will be even more interesting.”
Although other members of the Jewish faith have been appointed to the Canadian senate, Grafstein has long been known as the ‘Jewish senator,’ taking the lead in areas relating to Jewish community concerns.
“From day one, I took the position that I would use my formal name, Jerahmiel, a Hebrew name – Jerry is a nickname – to make it absolutely clear that I was a senator representing myself as a Jew,” said Grafstein, first vice-president of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians.
“My father taught me a very basic lesson. There are shtetl Jews, who whisper into the ears of the government, and stand-up Jews who are not afraid.” Belonging to the latter is “part of my DNA.”
It “surprises” him that “in Canada, people aren’t prepared to speak out on issues that affect them directly as Canadians and as Jews.”
He also takes issue with the popular notion that the Canadian Jewish community should speak with one voice.
“We should speak independently. We’re a democratic country,” he said, although “it’s important to be unified in our vision. The self-appointed leaders say we should all speak in one voice, and when there’s public division, as there has been in recent years among organizations, people get upset about it. But I don’t.”
B’nai Brith Canada, for example, “has taken positions not in agreement with other community groups…. I don’t always agree, but I applaud them for standing up on principled positions.”
Grafstein has held Liberal Party of Canada offices, from the riding level to national campaigns, for almost five decades.
A leader in major efforts to combat antisemitism, Grafstein noted a “sea change in international opinion” after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
“I thought a new world order would come, ” he said. “We were deeply disappointed. After a few years we noticed a rising tide of antisemitism around the world.
“I disagree with those who say the ‘new antisemitism’ versus the ‘old.’ It’s no different than the pogroms in Russia…. The difference is that the media helps it proliferate…. The way to fight it is not complex, but through education.
“We berate ourselves about the Holocaust and say ‘Never Again,’ but what really has been done?” he asked, pointing to the rise in antisemitic incidents in, for example, Toronto, as revealed in B’nai Brith’s annual audit.
“How do you deal with it? What does work? Education is the key.”
According to Grafstein, progress in combating antisemitism has been made in Germany and a few other countries. Here, however, “why do we still not have regular classes at the public, high school and university levels to discuss the impact of the Holocaust on society? We still haven’t been able to get it on the regular school curriculum. We have Yom Hashoah and Holocaust Education Week, but once a year isn’t an education.”
He pointed to the difference in the attitude towards Israel between Canada and the US.
“In the U.S., 60-70 per cent believe Israel is a democracy. In Canada, it’s below 10 per cent. In my mind, that’s a question of leadership…. I don’t see many Jews involved in politics here at the grassroots level.”
Certainly Grafstein’s activism has not been limited to the Jewish world. His long list of achievements on behalf of Canada and, in fact, the free world is awe-inspiring.
Nevertheless, “Jews cannot be complacent,” he declared. “When we’re complacent, bad things happen. The bible, the prophets criticize Jews for being complacent. The Lubavitch Rebbe warned us not to be complacent…. We are chosen not to be complacent. That’s our duty.”
In 2005 Grafstein introduced a private member’s bill to amend the Criminal Code of Canada to explicitly include ‘suicide bombing’ as terrorist activity. The bill has passed a second reading and the outgoing senator hopes it will go through.
“I’m still waiting on that and a host of other bills that I hope to turn over to others to complete the work,” he said.
For more than a decade Grafstein has been co-chair of the Canada-US Inter-Parliamentary Group, the largest inter-parliamentary group in Canada, liaising with congressmen, senators state legislators and governors. The experience has been “one of the most interesting jobs I’ve done in the senate,” he said.
He is the longest serving member of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Asked about his post-retirement plans, Grafstein responded that it is only the senate from which he will be retiring, effective Jan. 2, 2010. He plans on using his wide-ranging legal and business experience, as well as his vast expertise in all aspects of media, in his future endeavours, which are numerous. Citing a long list of interests ranging from entrepreneurial to political to cultural to charitable, he wouldn’t elaborate with details, only to say there would be more information forthcoming in the new year.
“My life has always been dedicated to making a difference,” Grafstein asserted.
“Sometimes I succeeded; sometimes I failed. But I have been taught never to give up.” |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 December 2009 )
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