Purim a flashpoint for tensions
‘Joyous’ festival triggers conflict in Outremont
Purim is usually one of the more joyous feasts on the Jewish religious calendar. A little like Halloween, minus the ghosts and goblins, Hassidic children in colourful costumes go door to door collecting donations for charity instead of candy.
But the Hassidim living in the tree-lined borough of Outremont are hoping this weekend to avoid a repetition of last year’s ghoulish events during Purim festivities — when a local councillor’s attempts to enforce a bylaw aimed at turning back a tide of shuttle buses degenerated into an ugly, public confrontation.
Last year, borough councillor Céline Forget interrupted celebrations to try to enforce a bylaw that prohibits doubleaxle vehicles from driving through residential streets in Outremont — a particularly sore point for non-Hassidic residents. Outremont’s Hassidic community had rented a fleet of mini buses to safely ferry children between Purim events.
In footage of the confrontation captured on someone’s camera phone, Forget remains quiet as a small crowd jeers at her, yelling for the councillor to “get lost” and at one point calling her a Nazi. Toward the end of the video, Forget shoves the camera phone out of her face before she is asked to leave by Outremont public security officers.
Despite the jovial, charitable nature of the holiday, in recent years Purim has become a flashpoint for the simmering tensions within the residential neighbourhood, where the deeply traditional and religious Hassidim and more modern-minded denizens sometimes struggle to coexist in harmony.
This year, Friends of Hutchison, a group that has sprung up in recent years to cultivate neighbourhood peace in Outremont, has joined forces with the blog OutremontHassid.com to make a plea for tolerance over the festival weekend, which starts Saturday.
The groups have produced a leaflet to explain Purim to all residents and “deplore the petty conflict” that arose last year.
“Purim is a short, two-day holiday but one that is very visible,” the groups say in a statement. “As friends and neighbours, we are of the belief that there is no reason not to tolerate each other. Furthermore, we are delighted to witness, enjoy and celebrate each other’s holidays, customs and differences.”
Their pamphlet — in both French and English — offers a primer on Purim and its traditions.
But it also urges anyone who has complaints with their Hassidic neighbour’s behaviour to “do the neighbourly thing and bring it up directly.”
In spite of the outreach, few are optimistic another clash can be avoided.
“What’s sad is that this is really one of the most joyous celebrations for us and we’re stuck in this big mess,” said Anna Ahronheim, a spokesperson for the Jewish rights group B’nai Brith. “If there was a time where we could put all of this aside and open the lines of communication, now is that time.”
Ahronheim says she has only fond memories of celebrating Purim in Montreal as a child.
“It’s like Halloween but it’s also this religious, cultural celebration. It’s amazing,” she said. “My 3-year-old niece showed me her Little Mermaid costume, she has a Montreal Canadiens costume, she’s ecstatic. It would be a pity for her childhood memories to be tainted because of this bickering.”
Citizens groups already tried to prevent another conflict this year when they lobbied for the Outremont borough council to suspend the bylaw during Purim. However, independent Outremont councillor Louis Moffatt told The Gazette that would be legally impossible.
“The tensions we’re seeing in this neighbourhood, which are very real, run much deeper than a simple bylaw,” Moffat said in a telephone interview. “Even if you see 15 mini-buses that don’t violate the bylaw and three or four that do, councillor Forget will focus on the violations. I can’t control her or what she chooses to do, she’s an independent person. Even if the bylaw disappeared, there would be problems between different groups in the community.”
Forget has a long-standing and troubled history with Outremont’s Orthodox Jewish community. During the 1990s, the councillor regularly argued with the Hassidim about zoning laws that affected synagogues and other places of worship. Tensions between Forget and the community escalated in 2004, when Israel Brewer accused the councillor of trying to run him down with her car.
“Even 6-year-olds know about Céline Forget on these streets,” said Mayer Feig, an advocate for Outremont’s Jewish residents. “What happened last year was unfortunate. People called her some not nice names but she’s a household name in this community. She’s been pestering us for years and that particular incident came during what was supposed to be a celebration. It was just too much.”
Forget repeatedly denied claims that she harbours any ill will toward the neighbourhood’s Hassidim. In past interviews she has insisted she just wants the city’s rules to apply to all citizens regardless of their religious denomination. Forget did not respond to The Gazette’s interview requests.
One particular point of contention over the years has been parking laws within Outremont. Because practicing Jews are not allowed to operate vehicles during the sabbath or high holidays, many within the urban neighbourhood don’t move their cars out of no parking zones.
While Feig says he’s concerned about potential fallout from the bus bylaw, he insists the safest way for children to travel from one festivity to the next is by boarding buses.
“At the end of the day, it’s about keeping our kids safe,” he said. “It’s easier to do that with buses than with a bunch of mini vans that will just cause more traffic, more pollution and more potential for accidents. Why can’t we just put our differences aside and agree on that for at least one weekend a year? I guess that’s the million-dollar question.”
“As friends and neighbours, we are of the belief that there is no reason not to tolerate each other.”
PAMPHLET FROM FRIENDS OF HUTCHISON, OUTREMONTHASSID.COM