Where Are You?

Another disturbing tale of antisemitism in Canada finds its way into a book

It was a pleasure to run into and get to know Ted Rosenberg, a physician with a Jewish background, a number of weeks ago. His name was not unfamiliar to me as he had managed to make both national and international headlines as one of the more high profile cases of institutional antisemitism in Canada. And again, like in the case of dismissed politician Selina Robinson, it happened in British Columbia. But this time the victim took matters in his own hands and resigned from his position as professor at the medical faculty of the University of British Columbia (UBC) after a thirty year career at the most venerable academic institution west of the Canadian Rockies.

In the book - entitled ‘Ayekha: Where Are You’ - Rosenberg dives into the explosion of antisemitism at his erstwhile employer after the massacre of October 7th. Although there were always layers of hate beneath the surface, it was this day of horror that activated anti-Jewish resentment in forms not previously seen. At UBC this meant that Jewish and pro-Israel students and faculty were singled out, often harassed on social media and at times forced to denounce Zionism in order to partake in certain events at faculty.

In my review of Selina Robinson’s book I alluded to the Cultural Revolution in China and it pops up in Rosenberg’s book too. He draws the same parallel as he discovers that present day antisemitism finds its home in the attempts to re-engineer society under the DEI banner. It is a sort of Marxism that focuses on social and cultural issues rather than economic ones. And what started out as a laudable effort to address racism and inequalities has morphed into a dogma that does not allow for debate or doubt. Worse, rather than finding some form of equality, it has internalized and propagated a hierarchy of minorities where Jews are not seen as an oppressed or disadvantaged minority, but rather as the opposite. Consequently any tool in the book is allowed to extinguish what is perceived to be Jewish privilege and worse, to abandon morality and a compassionate understanding of the horrific events of October 7th.

The book makes it clear that much of the prevailing DEI language and attendant attitudes have been incorporated into institutions like UBC. This explains why Rosenberg’s efforts to get attention for what was happening from for instance the dean of his faculty, UBC’s DEI director and even the president of the university itself did not get any tangible results. He describes how he gets obligatory hearings and a perfunctory response, but no real action is taken to address the hate and behaviours in his faculty. And what makes this even more frightening is that we are talking about the faculty of medicine here. If you consider Jew hate and its inherent threats than try to imagine - and Rosenberg explains it very well - what this means for a place where tomorrow’s doctors and specialists are trained. And how in the future this could affect Jewish patients when they enter and access the healthcare system.

The book details many heartbreaking incidents where Rosenberg and some of his friends are confronted with antisemitism. Equally unnerving is the silence or instances where people indicate they prefer to not talk about Israel. One wonders, why not? What is so uncomfortable about it?

Rosenberg resigned from UBC in early 2024 as a result of all this, but thankfully his case made headlines and politicians at the federal level took note. Yet his efforts to get a discussion with actionable items going stranded at the federal level where Canada’s national coordinator for antisemitism assures him that more efforts will be made to expand Holocaust education. And in this instant we find the crux of Rosenberg’s book: more Holocaust education is probably not the thing Jews need right now. On the one hand because it feeds the false idea that Israel was founded as compensation for history’s largest genocide, which it wasn’t (a Jewish homeland was a 2,000 year old aspiration that was revived in the late 19th century). On the other hand what is missing is any basic understanding of how a very long history got the world to the actual Holocaust and the state of Israel in the first place.

And here Rosenberg compresses the long Jewish history into a series of easily understandable and relatable facts that will enable anyone to dispel what we are reading, hearing and seeing in the media and on the streets during protests. The anti-Israel crowd lacks any foundational historical knowledge to make informed judgments, yet they do and sadly these ill-baked opinions gain currency and influence policy and behaviours. Discussion about Israel and Jews with people who have no idea about the Second Temple, the Dreyfus affair, the Peel Commission, the 1947 UN resolution to name just a few salient points, are totally fruitless. Rosenberg’s book provides the factual context that is so lacking at the moment and so there is a broad audience that will benefit from reading his book.

It concludes with a stern warning. Not for Jews who Rosenberg explains have seen worse and who will continue their journey like they have done for thousands of years. No, the real problem resides in western societies where a certain moral and cultural rot is currently projected onto Jews. If left unresolved that phenomenon will percolate further into mainstream culture and societies and slowly corrupt and eventually break them.

Rosenberg concludes by taking his responsibility and addresses the biblical question: “Ayekha? Where are you?” The answer is also to be found in the scripture and it basically says, “I am here” or “Hineini” in Hebrew. It is the best possible response and an essential piece of Jewish wisdom wherein each individual is given the agency to stand up act. Nothing is pre-ordained and in that Judaism is one of the most potent antidotes to the ignorant and dogmatic ideologies that have made such a dark comeback in Western societies. They may have ended Rosenberg’s career but they helped form and narrate the crucial counterargument that we can now read in his excellent book.

Ted’s book “Ayekha: Where Are You?”can be bought in the US here and here in Canada.

Photo: Ted Rosenberg addresses the weekly hostage rally in Vancouver on May 18, 2025.