Coming up in the next 'Ask Ella'

This week's Ask Ella column dispenses advise on a possible path to take in response to a reader being upset upon seeing members of her inter-married family place a Magen David upon a Christmas tree. Inter-married families are apparently here to stay, Ella says. The sooner the community accepts them, the sooner we will likely stand a better chance of teaching them to carry on Jewish practices instead of losing them completely.

Disgruntled customers target RIM

Customers of Canadian tech giant Research In Motion (RIM) Ltd. are apparently still very outraged over the BlackBerry maker's global outage earlier this month. Device users in Canada and the United States have joined with the Consumer Law Group to file a class action lawsuit against the Waterloo, Ontario based company. The suit cites RIM's failure to directly compensate smartphone users who regularly pay their monthly data fees. An offer of $100 worth of preselected applications from the RIM's "App World" store did little to appease angry clients.

Fraught with product issues left and right, the class action suit was brought before Superior Court in Quebec on Oct. 26, on the heels of RIM announcing that their new PlayBook's 2.0 software will not be ready until sometime next year.

Will the judge have the people's best interests in mind? Guess it depends if he or she is a BlackBerry user too. What say you?

Mike Myers joins protest on Wall Street

The #Occupywallstreet march received celebrity support from new father and now American citizen Mike Myers. Born in Scarborough Ontario, Myers is best known for his international man of mystery Austin Powers, his animated alter ego Shrek, rocker Wayne Campbell of Wayne's World and stereotypical Jew Linda Richman on the Saturday Night Live sketch Coffee Talk. On camera Myers stated he arrived in the US with a Canadian dollar and a dream. He believes in capitalism and a level playing field between the rich and the downtrodden.

Hundreds of people will gather next in the heart of Toronto's financial district at Bay and King starting October 15. Preparations will be made for the march to commence October 17 as the Toronto Stock Exchange begins its trading for the week. Occupy Wall Street will then be entering its third week and at present shows no sign of slowing down. These are troubling times indeed for the United States as they move into a major election year, with big decisions ahead to be made.

Combating a new form of delegitimizing Israel

The following is inspired by a news brief found on JPOST.com. Recently re-elected Canadian member of parliament Professor Irwin Cotler, warned attendees at the Begin-Sadat Center conference on Bar Ilan University's campus, of a new approach at de-legitimizing Israel. The conference focused on democracies and the right to self defense. Cotler calls it "lawfare", laundering the de-legitimization under the cover of the law, by way of decisions made in accordance with the United Nations, international law, humanitarian law, the struggle against racism and the struggle against genocide. For more on the story click here.

Couple Wants to Bring Jewish Warmth to Canadian Cold

By Reuvena Leah Grodnitzky

One of the first Chabad-Lubavitch centers to be established in the coming year might soon be known as a “Little (Jewish) House on the Prairie,” its location so remote that it would take nine hours to cross its region by car.

Nevertheless, Raphael and Sarah Kats are approaching their impending move and establishment of the first-ever Chabad House in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan with excitement. They point out that the Midwestern region has both a lengthy Jewish history and a bright future: Because of its vast natural resources, it’s the fastest growing province in Canada.

“We’re looking forward to our move very much and are very grateful to be given this responsibility and opportunity,” says Sarah Kats, who will soon travel with her young family to the region – her first trip there ever. “We want to serve every Jew, no matter who or where.”

There's more to the story see it Here

Courtesy of Chabad.org News

Shatner in top form at Toronto's Fan Expo

A delicate, magical mystical thing is a laugh according to star of stage and screen, icon William (Bill) Shatner. That's right Shmooze readers the man who made famous Captain James Tiberias Kirk, officer T.J. Hooker and most recently legendary fictional litigator Denny Crane descended upon Toronto, to the delight of many at this year's Fan Expo.

From this jovial Canadian treasure, you would never believe he considers getting a laugh to be brain-surgery. Shatner drew each belly laugh out of the crowd with ease at the Spotlight conducted by Space channel's Innerspace hosts Teddy Wilson and Ajay Frye. Vocal on all sorts of topics, we metaphorically travelled into Shatner's past along the road connecting Toronto to his childhood home in Montreal, (now labelled the Highway of Heroes) through the stories he recounted.



We then came back to present day with even more amusing anecdotes that had recently happened to him. Chief among the stories was the fiasco's that transpired at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Gretzky's delay in lighting the Olympic torch at the opening ceremonies and what preceded his ascent to the closing ceremony stage.



Shatner's comedic timing and delivery has been well recognized over the last ten years thanks to his brilliant portrayal as staunch conservative Republican and founding partner of Crane, Poole and Schmidt, Denny Crane on ABC's Boston Legal. In 2004 Shatner won an Emmy for the role David E. Kelly first introduced on "The Practice", before he spun off the characters of Denny Crane and James Spader's Alan Shore, to the all new Boston Legal spinoff . In 2005 Shatner won the Golden Globe and yet another Prime Time Emmy for the much loved Crane. He was subsequently nominated each year on from 2006 until the end of Boston Legal's run in 2009

Here he talks about what it was like bringing part of himself to the role and the freedom playing Denny Crane bestowed upon him.



With four projects currently on the go he is anything but slowing down. Shatner returns to situation comedy this fall on CBS's $#*! My Dad Says, in Shatner's Raw Nerve on the Bio channel, hosting "William Shatner's Weird or What" and in his behind the scenes series "Aftermath with William Shatner".

Torontonian shines on home turf in Rookie Blue

From strength to strength. Ameri-Canadian actor and native Torontonian Gregory Smith, has found success again. He has twice now landed roles as an angst-ridden Jewish youth. Smith is probably still best known by many for playing Ephram Brown for four seasons on the WB’s critically acclaimed series Everwood. He co-starred alongside Treat Williams and fellow Canadian - also now an ABC network alum from Brothers and Sisters - Emily VanCamp of Port Perry, ON. Smith returned to TV on June 24th with another Jewish character: Dov Epstein in Rookie Blue.

Rookie Blue, which airs Thursday nights at 9 EST on both ABC and Global, is filmed in Toronto and stars five Canadian actors in the roles of rookie police officers working the inner streets of Canada’s biggest city. Smith’s character is described as a “young Jewish hipster cop” and asthma-prone adrenaline junkie who idolized Starsky and Hutch as a kid – to the disapproval of his hippie parents.

Just announced yesterday after airing only 3 of its first season's 13 episode order, the show has delivered record breaking numbers to the letter network. The highest numbers from its summer premiere schedule in the last six years. 7 million viewers have tuned in thus far and an additional 2 million or so from Canada. The show has been green lit for a second season which will resume later this year once the first season has wrapped.

Smith has a knack for playing off against top talent who are quite appealing to watch. For the purpose of the press junkets, the fantastic chemistry he elicits from his co-stars can be seen from the interviews he gives, alongside yet another fellow Canadian Missy Peregrym. Peregrym who is also a WB/CW alum was previously seen in the series Reaper which ended a two season run last year and before that was the shape shifting agent Candice of "The Company" in the first season of NBC's one time hit Heroes.