Dr. Bryan Schwartz, a professor of law at the University of  Manitoba gave a very significant talk at the Berney Theatre recently before a group of about 175 people about the needs of Jewish donors specifically to invest in Jewish continuity.  Because his remarks were extensive, the Winnipeg Jewish Review is going to focus in this present article on his remarks about how to secure a Jewish future in Winnipeg, and in a follow-up article we will report on his comments about the climate on universities for Jewish students and Jewish professors, who identify themselves as Jewish and Zionist, and about his new book ReEnlightening Canada . Schwartz's talk was sponsored by Bnai Brith, Friends of Israel and Bridges for Peace.

Schwartz told the crowd that the number one item that Jewish donor communities ought to be thinking  about is where the “next generation of Jews” is going to come from in Winnipeg.

“In the city of Winnipeg, it should not be financially challenging to be committed to Judaism. It should not be a challenge for a family to have to pay a large part of their income to send their kids to a Jewish day school or to maintain a kosher lifestyle or belong to a synagogue. So, my suggestion is Jewish donors should think in terms… of Jewish specificity. In other words, there are lots of people who can contribute to universities. Governments of China and Qatar are doing a fine job. You can spend some of your energy and goodwill on ensuring that there’s actually a vibrant Jewish community that’s going to persist in the century that we’re living in,” he said.

He told the Winnipeg Jewish Review, the Jewish community  “should be investing in well trained and committed rabbis and lay leaders.”

Schwartz asked, “Why be Jewish? It’s not easy. Like I say about the winters in Winnipeg, they’re character-enhancing, and at same time it’s enough character already.”

Schwartz answered his question by saying  " the human condition is fundamentally scary. It doesn’t matter if you have material success, you’ve got a nice career, everybody loves you – you will die. He continued that each of us has to “deal with the question of why you’re even here.” He concluded “People are naturally religious. They want to belong to something bigger, something enduring, something that gives them a sense of purpose, some sense of justice, some sense of order. Well, that’s what we’ve been doing with Judaism for the last 3,000 years. Judaism is a certain stylization of life. It’s an attempt to give a shape and meaning to our existence. A Jewish baby is born, there’s a ceremony for that. Somebody passes away, there are prayers that we know, that are familiar. There’s a shiva ceremony to cover the mourners...There are lots of questions as well as answers, but there are contours to your life. "

Schwartz said it “there is a  specialness – not better or worse, but a distinctiveness and identity – about the Jewish people, which I think in this crazy world, some people are still going to want to belong to. My vision of tradition, light, and hope for Jewish education was connect Judaism to whatever you’re doing. You want to be a doctor? Find out what Judaism has to say about the human body. You want to be a physicist? Find out why so many physicists are of Jewish origin. You know, Einstein did not believe in the supernatural god, but he sure believed there was some sort of intelligent creator. In fact, at one point, one of his fellow physicists said, “Albert, stop telling God what to do.” In other words, you should be guided by experimental results and not believe that everything makes sense. But that – the idea that [everything] makes sense is a distinctively Jewish idea."

Schwartz emphasized thar the Jewish religion is a lot more tolerant than the woke religion. What’s the first thing Abraham does...He argues with God. In the Jewish Bible, nobody is portrayed as perfect. The heroes are all flawed. There’s a prophetic tradition in which people speak truth to power. ..King David’s not portrayed as a perfect person. Nobody has all the answers. Everybody is struggling.”

"What is the Talmud? The Talmud is a record of debates. There’s a saying: two Jews, three opinions. There’s a good-natured book about the nature of Israeli society, which says, “Let an Israeli talk long enough uninterrupted, he’ll start arguing with himself.” The woke religion doesn’t have that kind of tolerance. The woke religion is a substitute for many forms of religiosity, but wake up to the woke, folks… "

As Schwartz told the Winnipeg Jewish Review, “Judaism provides identity and historic memory, but also there is room for debate, reinterpretation and revitalizing," such that it is not a rigid religion.”

Schwartz noted Ecclesiastes, Kohelet “reads pretty much like a 21^st century existentialist. The book of Job is about a human afflicted who is challenging the ways of the Supreme Creator of the universe. Job has lots of questions. There’s this myth that all religions believe the same thing – they don’t. Now, I’m not saying what’s better or worse. I’m saying there’s such a thing as a specifically Jewish identity, a specifically Jewish set of texts, a particularly Jewish way of looking at the world. You can take it or leave it, but your children/grandchildren should know what it is.”

“If you read the Talmud, it’s not, “What’s the difference between light and dark?” It’s, “When do we light the candles?” So, you’re testing all the big ideas in a concrete context,” Schwartz noted.

Schwartz said in Judaism, “We think about things in concrete terms, and we argue about them, and we realize life is very complex – but we don’t give up. We try and gave a form and shape to it. That’s what the Jewish tradition is. And I think there’s a lot of value to it.”

As Schwartz told the Winnipeg Jewish Review, “Judaism provides identity and historic memory, but also there is room for debate, reinterpretation and revitalizing.”

Schwartz said his late father-in-law, Philip Wise, said he lost faith after he graduated from his fifth or sixth concentration camp. He was at the same concentration camp that’s depicted in Shindler’s List. And then he said to himself, “Well, I’ve seen the terrible things that humanity can do with religion, and I’ve seen what people do without religion, and it’s even worse.”

Schwartz noted, “Part of my project in life is trying to find why it’s worth continuing” to be Jewish.