Opinion: Canada should welcome Jews who wish to leave France

“In 19th century Jewish shtetls of Eastern Europe, if a person were particularly joyful, his or her friends might exclaim, “You are as happy as a Jew in France!” Today, on the streets of Paris, this phrase is still bandied about by the Jewish community — however, the tone is decidedly sarcastic. The Jews in France are not happy. They are sad, they are afraid, and many are looking to leave.

I spent the last two days in Paris on a solidarity visit following last week’s terror attacks. I walked around town, trying to take the pulse of a city I’ve visited many times, but now hardly recognize. Soldiers and police officers are everywhere; I visited a Jewish kindergarten that has a 4:1 armed guard to student ratio. Everyone is tense and vigilant. It feels somewhat like New York City just after Sept. 11, 2001, only without the love that drew people closer to one another. Instead, there is suspicion, as the attacks on the Hyper Cacher grocery store and the Charlie Hebdo offices were perpetrated by French citizens — some of whom have yet to be apprehended.

Because of the constant threat of anti-Semitism, there is general consensus among the Jewish community to not wear a kippa while on the streets or in the subways. However, I proudly wore my kippa wherever I went.

The first person to acknowledge my kippa was a Jewish pharmacist. He greeted me warmly and reminded me of the danger in publicly identifying as a Jew in Paris. I asked him the pressing question: Does France’s Jewish community have a future?  “Absolutely!” he said. “My family has been here for generations, and we’ll still be here generations from now!”

Inspired by the pharmacist’s faith in his country, I left the store. As I made my way down the street, however, the pharmacist ran after me. He looked nervously around him, and said in a whisper, “Of course I want to leave. It’s too dangerous here. But I can’t say that in front of my employees and my customers. But trust me — if I can figure out how to get my family to the United States, Canada or Israel, I’ll do that. Everyone I know is planning on leaving — it’s just too dangerous to be a Jew in France.”

I posed this same question to everyone I met: Is there a future for your community in France? I asked ultra-Orthodox rabbis and liberal rabbis; I asked former members of my synagogue who currently call Paris home; I asked broken people at a vigil.

The answer, predictably, is complicated. The French Jewish community has a strong identity, impressive infrastructure, competent leadership and generally positive relations with the government. However, in 2014, more French Jews moved to Israel than in any prior year. Many have left for Canada or the United States, and most have, at the very least, contemplated leaving. All agree that stationing soldiers outside Jewish schools, synagogues and community buildings is not a sustainable reality.

Israel has opened its doors. There is momentum in the United States to reactivate the 1990 Lautenberg Amendment, which facilitated immigration for the beleaguered Jews of the Soviet Union.

A similar initiative should be undertaken in Canada, in particular in Quebec. With shared language, history and values — and many French Jews already residing in Montreal — it is compelling to think of this province as a welcome refuge for a wounded community.

If we welcome France’s Jews with open hearts and arms, we might hear joyous friends greet one another with the words, “You are happy as a Jew in Canada!”

Adam Scheier is rabbi at Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue in Westmount and president of the Montreal Board of Rabbis.You are as happy as a Jew in France!” Today, on the streets of Paris, this phrase is still bandied about by the Jewish community — however, the tone is decidedly sarcastic. The Jews in France are not happy. They are sad, they are afraid, and many are looking to leave.