Bridging Unsettled Waters: Ethnie and Edentity in the Calgary Jewish Community

ABSTRACT/RESUME Modern Jewish identity in Canada is more than simply a religious or identification. This research note examines the perplexities in Jewish identity and suggests an alternative way of conceptualizing what it means to be Jewish. In-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of fifteen participants from the Calgary Jewish community in order to explore the many ways in which they conceptualized and understood their Jewishness. concept of ethnie, adopted from Anthony D. Smith's 1989 article, The Origins of Nations, is used to construct a bridge amongst the various dimensions of what it means to be Jewish. It takes into account the importance of culture, feelings of solidarity and common myths, common historical memories, and a common historical homeland. qualitative interview data reveal the findings of these characteristics of ethnie, and they are further discussed in terms of various sub-themes such as: language; knowing other Jews; them versus us; the holocaust and cultural trauma; Eretz Israel, and feelings of connectedness. Overall, this article demonstrates how these characteristics and themes integrally contribute to a whole picture of modern Jewish identity for a small- to medium-size Jewish community in Canada. L'identite juive moderne au Canada n'est pas simplement une identification religieuse ou ethnique. Cette note de recherches examine les perplexites dans l'identite juive et suggere une maniere alternative de conceptualiser ce qu'elle signifie d'etre juive. Des entrevues detailldes ont ete conduites avec un groupe de quinze participants de la communaute juive de Calgary afin d'explorer les nombreuses manieres dont elles ont conceptualise et ont compris leur judaisme. Le concept de l'ethnie, adopte de l'article de 1989 par Anthony D. Smith intitule The Origins of Nations est employe pour construire un pont parmi les diverses dimensions de la signification d'etre juif. Il tient compte de l'importance de la culture, des sentiments de la solidarite et des mythes communs, des memoires historiques communes, et d'une pattie historique commune. Les donnees qualitatives des entrevues indiquent les resultats de ces caractdristiques d'ethnie, et elles sont discutees plus d'avantage en termes de divers themes secondaries comme: langue; connaitre d'autres juifs; eux contre nous; le holocauste et le trauma culturel; Eretz Israel, et des sentiments de connexion. De facon generale, cet article demontre comment ces caracteristiques et themes contribuent integralement a une image entiere de l'identite juive moderne pour une communaute juive d'une grosseur petite a moyenne au Canada. INTRODUCTION question of identity is a problematic issue for contemporary communities as it has ethnic, cultural, and religious dimensions. Shapiro (1997, 14) considers the question of identity as more of an issue for Jews than for any other American subgroup, and this is likely the case in Canada as well. Jewish identity is complex and difficult to define with terms such as or ethnic group, and there is no consensus amongst academics on what constitutes Jewish identity (Gans 1994; Shapiro 1997; Webber 1997). complexity in Canadian Jewish identity is illustrated by recent Canadian Censuses where there have been significantly large discrepancies between the number of Canadians reporting Jewish as their religion as compared to those reporting Jewish as their origin. (1) As Davids (2003, 120) notes upon analyzing the 1991 and 2001 Canadian Census, Jewishness in Canada is fading while Canadian Judaism has persisted. traditional notions of Jewish identity are a multi-layered and complex issue. Religion, culture, and ethnicity are inexplicably tied together to create a unique sense of self To see Jewish identity as primarily only religious, ethnic, or cultural fails to encompass large portions of what it means to be Jewish. Buckser (2000, 730) views this approach as problematic because of the enormous variability within and between Jewish communities and argues that it is necessary to include the notion of community symbolic space that allows for individual constructions of self and group that bind together religious and dimensions in various ways. …

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