Talk:List of Canadian Jews

Discrepancy
I am new to this website, but I have spent a significant amount of time reviewing the pages on notability, deletion, and editing. I am having an extremely hard time adding a prominent Jewish Canadian artist to this Wiki page: Norman Leibovitch. I have included sources which state that he is: Canadian, Jewish, an Artist, and was prominent prior to his death in 2002. This seems to be the qualifications for adding someone to a list such as this. 117Avenue continues to delete my entry based on lack of references or article. While there is currently no Wikipedia article on Norman Leibovitch, there are plenty of other names on that list which also have no articles, as well as NO REFERENCES. I believe that 117Avenue is abusing their editing power in the use of speedy deletion. I would appreciate it if an administrator could please look into this issue and let me know what they think. I find it a bit absurd that a prominent Canadian Jewish artist cannot be added to a list of Canadian Jewish artists when there are sufficient sources to show that he meets the criteria for the page. Thank you. Zkamel86 02:16, 9 March 2011 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Zkamel86 (talk • contribs)

Confirmations
Can anyone confirm whether Mark Achbar or Peter Wintonick are Jewish? (Reasons to suspect they probably are: Achbar is listed as Jewish at and Wintonick served on the Film Advisory Committee at the 8th Annual Montreal Jewish Film Festival.) -Udzu 13:18, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Time to sort out the entries marked uncofirmed:


 * Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick: see comments above – marking confirmed.
 * Paulo Costanzo: can't find anything – will remove in a few days unless something crops up.
 * Alice Parizeau: Polish-born but, unless someone knows anything to the contrary, probably not Jewish. She was imprisoned in Bergen-Belsen as a Polish resistance member. There is no reference to her Jewishness anywhere online (outside of Wikipedia) – will ask User:YUL89YYZ who added her, then remove unless confirmed.
 * Mark Strand: see, (though there is a possibility that Strand is only half-Jewish) – marking confirmed.

Comments? -Juko 11:06, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)

While we're at it, does anyone know if Julia Levy, the microbiologist, is Jewish? Juko

Eric Berne
User:65.8.126.42 seems to think Eric Berne is not Jewish. Here are some pages that I have found indicating he is:
 * JEWISH PSYCHOLOGISTS
 * Can. J. Women Artists & Dr. Eric Berne
 * Tim Wise and White Privilege: A Response

Please add any sites that indicate the opposite opinion. --YUL89YYZ 15:26, July 17, 2005 (UTC)

I've added "(Canadian-born)" to the Eric Berne entry. --YUL89YYZ 15:32, July 17, 2005 (UTC)

=
====

Not that he's not Jewish, that he's not British-Canadian. I do not think that Louis Siminovitch is Jewish though, just incase you'd like to know.

Maureen Forrester
I'm not sure what the point of a list of Jewish Canadians is, but I've added Maureen Forrester who converted to Judaism. CMacMillan 22:25, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Dave Barrett
Barrett did not merely have a Jewish father. He was fully Jewish and in fact was the only Jew so far to have served as a provincial premier. I looked in the Weinfeld article that was linked to suggest this and I see no mention of Barrett only being half-Jewish.

Title of this article
Shouldn't the title be "List of Prominent Canadian Jews" (or similar), rather than just "List of Canadian Jews"? With the current title, the article is either going to be very incomplete or extremely long.

Wanderer57 22:13, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

I agree, the title of this article should be "Famous Canadian Jews" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.150.49.164 (talk) 19:25, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

Interlocker
Will someone please explain what an interlocker is? The term is used in this article. Thanks. Wanderer57 19:52, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

Mavis Gallant
I couldn't find any references to her being Jewish...are we sure this is right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.199.29.222 (talk) 01:02, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Accuracy
I wonder if there is any kind of criteria for a name to be included on this list, as there are a number of questionable inclusions, many of which seem to derive from a fundamental misunderstanding of what makes one a Jew.

You are Jewish if your mother was Jewish, or if you convert. Period. There is no such thing as being "half-Jewish" -- you either are or you aren't. A person with a Jewish mother and non-Jewish father who has never practiced is a Jew. A person with a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother who has been observant of Jewish laws and attended synagogue his entire life is not, unless he or she has converted.

I count 11 names of people who are listed as having a "Jewish father." Well, unless they also have a Jewish mother or have converted, they are not Jewish and should be removed. Specifically, they are: John Charles Polanyi; James Laxer; Liane Balaban; Jessalyn Gilsig; Robbie Robertson; David Usher; Nicholas Goldschmidt; Anne Michaels; Jamie Glazov; Eric Margolis; and Adam Stern. And those are only the ones where it is explicitly stated.

There is also the issue of Neve Campbell, who is a practicing Roman Catholic, yet according to her wiki, she "identifies" herself as Jewish because of her mother's heritage. Without knowing the specifics of her mother background, it is difficult to know whether she herself is in fact Jewish.

Finally, there is Pierre Anctil, who is explicitly identified as a non-Jew, so why is he on the list? Does anyone have information to suggest why any of these names should remain on the list? If not, I'll start removing them.67.71.94.24 (talk) 21:24, 26 April 2009 (UTC)


 * there are many different ways in which a person might be a Jew, and whether the person fulfills the Orthodox halachic requirements is only one of them. Adopting this as the  criterion here is adopting the view of one of the sects of Judaism--although it is, to be sure, the longest standing traditional criterion through history, and is the one currently being used for the purposes of family law in the state of Israel,  it is probably not the only one used by the majority of present-day Jews in Canada or elsewhere. Even Israel does not use it for the purposes of immigration law. The consensus here is that anyone who is regularly identified as a Jew by reliable sources, or who self-identifies as a Jew, will be  considered here as Jewish--just as for all other religious or ethnic groups.   DGG ( talk ) 16:11, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * That is all fair comment. Yes there are halachic differences depending on whether one is Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform.  But that doesn't answer the fundamental question I raised -- what is the standard?  (I would note parenthetically I raised it almost two years ago -- with you being the first to respond, I question if you can say there is any consensus).  You suggest that this consensus is that someone who is regularly identified as a Jew by reliable sources, or who self-identifies as as Jew, that person is Jewish.  And I don't necessarily think that is a bad criterion (although self-identification is a pretty wishy washy criterion).  However, many of the names I listed do not meet that test.  They may have a Jewish parent, but does that provide evidence that they are "regularly identified as a Jew by reliable sources" or that they "self-identify as a Jew"?  No.  I will again raise the question of Neve Campbell, who is a practicing Roman Catholic, yet identifies in some metaphysical sense with her mother's Jewish "heritage."  What is the nature and degree of that heritage?  Would it meet the test of any level of observance, be it Reform or Orthodox?  Bottom line is there needs some degree of certainty as far as what is acceptable.PoliSciMaster (talk) 04:24, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Ok i see the problem - Dont think we should be labelling people at all but thats besides the point - Y dont we simply rename the list to List of Canadian with Jews ancestry. This is not the best way - However the word "ancestry" does not imply they are practising Jews, just that they have a "Ethnic" connection. Moxy (talk) 04:38, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * No need to. That's the common understanding of the term.--Epeefleche (talk) 20:33, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Perhaps common outside the Jewish community, but it is quite a debate within the community.PoliSciMaster (talk) 07:11, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * We're not going to get into Satmar vs. Lubavitch vs. Modern Orthodox vs. Conservative vs. Reform vs. Reconstructionist vs. Neturai Karta debates here. Nor will we debate whether the Baal Shem Tov was really the messiah.  Thank God.--Epeefleche (talk) 08:39, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Alan S. Ruddy
Where in the world does it say that Alan S. Ruddy is Jewish? I think that that is entirely speculation. Could someone verify that? Please and Thank you.108.81.112.110 (talk) 23:31, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

Cleanup of unsourced/poorly-sourced content
I'm removing several individuals from this list due to lack of sources, or the cited sources not verifying the claim that the individual is of Jewish ancestry, or being and adherent of the Jewish religion. If you wish to revert my edits, please ensure that your reversion includes proper sources, and your edit does not violate WP:BLPCAT or related BLP policies. TheFrozenFire (talk) 17:54, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

Please add these fellas...
Ed Mirvish (1914-2007) & David Mirvish (b. 1945)

Leonard Cohen (1934-2016), singer-songwriter, musician, poet, and novelist (He's listed under 10.3 Poets, though having sold many more records than books and having performed as a musician many more times than as a poet, it would be more appropriate to list him under Popular Musicians.)

Nikki Yanofsky b. 1984, Canadian jazz-pop singer-songwriter from Montreal, Quebec

Irwin Cotler, b. 1940, Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2003 until 2006

Cory Doctorow b. 1971, blogger, journalist, and science fiction author --- elpincha (talk) 06:19, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * The BLP for Nikki Yanofsky has a long discussion about her religious views. It has been agreed upon that while she was raised in a Jewish family, there is no evidence to indicate that she herself is Jewish. TheFrozenFire (talk) 03:50, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Given that we continue to list a professed Roman Catholic (Neve Campbell), I find any objections to listing Nikki Yanofsky to be a little silly.PoliSciMaster (talk) 16:22, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
 * And of course, Jews in Canada are allowed to hold any religious views they want. Being Jewish is not just about religion. elpincha (talk) 04:21, 30 August 2012 (UTC)

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How many generations back...
Someone added Rocco Galati to this list. I got a heads-up about this because I worked on the Rocco Galati article.

When he was linked here a reference was provided, that said, "Although he is Catholic, he says his family was Jewish, on both sides, at one time."

It surprised me, as the article also said Galati still has a grandparent's 1918 passport, with a Star of David. Hmmm. Kind of implies listing him here requires reaching back at least two generations.

But the lead sentence currently says'' "This list of Canadian Jews includes notable Canadian Jews or Canadians of Jewish descent."

The "" section talks about Neve Campbell and Nikki Yanofsky, who, if I understood the discussion, were born to at least one parent who considered themselves Jewish. One contributor wrote: "And of course, Jews in Canada are allowed to hold any religious views they want. Being Jewish is not just about religion."

Okay, I see a hatnote on Jews that says being Jewish is an ethnic group, not a religion. Hmmm. Okay. If that is what contributors here have agreed, maybe the first section of this article needs to clarify that?

If being Jewish is an ethnic group, then wouldn't that mean that converts to Judaism, from outside that ethnic group, are not Jews? But doesn't this list include converts to Judaism, who aren't ethnically close to either Ashkenazi or Sephardic jews? That would be the opposite end of the spectrum from individuals like Rocco Galati, the individual whose inclusion drew me to look at this issue. He had grandparent(s) who were jewish, but his parents were Catholic...

Does that mean that, if Catholics, like Rocco Galati, are going to be included, because he had one or more Jewish grandparents, converts to Judaism, who aren't ethnically Ashkenazi or Sephardic, should be spun off into something like Canadian converts to Judaism?

Spain, prior to the Spanish Inquisition, had lots of jews, because the muslim rulers had been more tolerant than the Christian conquerors. Muslims and Jews who didn't flee the inquisition, had to pretend to be Christians. Gradually lots of them became Christian, either by an active choice, or because parents never had an opportunity to explain the jewish faith to their children. How far back can the conversion be, for someone descended from practicing jews to be listed here? What if we have a Canadian, whose family tradition is that a great-great-grandparent converted to Christianity, even though their father was a Spanish rabbi, who had to hide his judaism? Geo Swan (talk) 00:11, 14 October 2018 (UTC)

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