When I first heard Boy George’s new song, We Will Dance Again, I was in my car driving back from yet another meeting about security and rising antisemitism in Canada.
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I → hear → Canada
As the senior rabbi of one of the largest Jewish congregations in Canada, I estimate 30 per cent of my time is spent combating Jew hate and protecting the physical and emotional safety of my community.
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cent → estimate → community
The song speaks plainly about October 7, the hostages, Israel’s right to defend itself and the selective memory that erases Jewish suffering.
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that → speak → suffering
It opens with a clear moral distinction, “You say genocide, I say war / When you’re attacked, that’s what the army’s for / Does it get ugly?
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it → open → what
You bet it does / When I know you wanna kill / Every last one of us.
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you → bet → us
I had to pull over.
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I → have → ?
I played the song, first released on his X feed, twice because I couldn’t believe my ears were hearing what my soul had been yearning for.
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soul → play → what
In fact, it was almost as if he anticipated my astonishment.
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he → anticipate → astonishment
“If you’re ever confused,” he sang, “I stand with the Jews / I don’t feel brave, I just need to behave like a human”
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I → ’re → human
Sadly, some among my own Jewish people have been unwilling to take so clear a position of solidarity.
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some → take → solidarity
As he has done throughout his career, Boy George spoke the plain, unvarnished truth as he saw it, social convention be damned, and he set it to a snappy reggae tune you can dance to.
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you → do → tune
Boy George has a complicated past.
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George → have → past
He faced appropriate consequences and has spoken openly about his mistakes.
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He → face → mistakes
That history should not be erased, but more than three decades as a rabbi have taught me that human beings are more than the worst chapter(s) of their lives.
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beings → erase → lives
Parked on the side of the road, I found an email address for his management and wrote him a letter I never thought he’d answer.
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he → park → letter
But I wrote it anyway.
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I → write → it
I told him I wanted to hug him, but that the hug would not be only from me, it would be from thousands of Jews and our allies who have been waiting nearly three years to hear such words from someone with his reach and influence.
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who → tell → reach
Two weeks later, he walked into my synagogue, and I gave him that hug.
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I → walk → hug
I have listened to Boy George since I was a teenager dancing to Culture Club at youth group parties and even my prom.
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I → listen → parties
I never imagined that one day I would welcome him to the pulpit of Temple Sholom in Vancouver, before nearly 800 allies and members of our Jewish community.
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I → imagine → community
We learned that evening that the song was inspired by George’s visit to the Nova music festival exhibition in London, England.
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song → learn → London
He told us with clear emotion in his voice that as a singer and DJ who has performed at festivals around the world, he recognized that world.
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he → tell → world
He walked into the exhibit with its carefully preserved dance space, colourful tents, tapestries and abandoned belongings and it was as though he was in his own home that had been violated.
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that → walk → home
He saw the photographs of young people murdered for the crime of dancing.
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He → see → dancing
He met survivors and the parents of Jake Marlowe, a British man murdered on October 7.
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He → meet → October
He promised one survivor that he would write a song.
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he → promise → song
One Friday night, sitting at home, he did.
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he → sit → home
He released the first version without consulting his manager because, as he told us, “I didn’t want to be told not to do it.
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I → release → it
Most public figures employ people precisely to tell them what not to do.
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figures → employ → what
They calculate the market, anticipate the backlash and sand down every dangerous edge until they say nothing, or at least nothing anyone could possibly find objectionable.
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anyone → calculate → nothing
While recording the final version, he told us, he burst into tears.
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he → record → tears
George was denounced and threatened with boycotts.
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George → denounce → boycotts
Activists demanded that Vancouver’s Pacific National Exhibition cancel his scheduled concert.
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Exhibition → demand → concert
Then something remarkable happened.
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something → happen → ?
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Jewish Federation of British Columbia, led by Ezra Shanken, organized a letter-writing campaign.
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Centre → lead → campaign
More than 10,000 people urged the PNE to stand by George and allow the concert to proceed.
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concert → urge → George
The PNE did.
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PNE → do → ?
That decision deserves recognition.
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decision → deserve → recognition
In the three years since October 7, too many arts institutions, particularly here in British Columbia, have backed down before bullies and called their cowardice prudence.
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institutions → back → bullies
They invoke “safety,” “sensitivity,” or “community harmony.”
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They → invoke → safety
…and 25 more, not listed.
