Gideon Strauss
Gideon Strauss was the editor of Comment from 2000 to 2010. He is currently Associate Professor of Worldview Studies at the Institute for Christian Studies, a graduate school of philosophy in Toronto, and a senior fellow with the Center for Public Justice in Washington DC. Gideon also facilitates vocational discipleship in churches in his native South Africa.
Bio last updated June 17th, 2021.
Articles by Gideon Strauss
Hiraeth, Home
By Gideon Strauss
December 18, 2018
For a time, Gideon Strauss led such a peripatetic existence that he jokingly referred to airline rows and seat numbers as his address. Now home is Canada. And South Africa. And the annual voyage between.
But after 2014 the shape of my life changed in such a way that it became possible for me to live and work in South Africa every June and July (and sometimes longer), while I live and work in Canada for the duration of the academic year (from roughly September to May) When I once again hear the laughter in the underground passages of the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto, as I listen in on the deep conversations taking place in our learning studio, as I put on my earphones to type a draft article for this or another journal in the office I share with our faculty and Academic Registrar, I know I am home
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Engage Vigorously
Gideon Strauss with Heath W. Carter
November 8, 2018
Convivium contributor Gideon Strauss enquires into how historian Heath Carter, recently named Redeemer University College’s 2018 Emerging Public Intellectual, engages church and world.
Church buildings evoke so many questions: What kind of community was it that first imagined and invested in this space? What did it mean for them? What values shaped its design, not to mention its ongoing use? And how did this building end up here, in this particular location, instead of somewhere e...
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Who Is My Neighbour?
Gideon Strauss
March 31, 2017
In the final installment of his Outremont series, Convivium correspondent Gideon Strauss reflects on the truth he has learned from journeying alongside his neighbours and the true nature of belonging.
But I think it is uncontroversial to observe that the most serious tensions in Outremont result from the differences between the ways of life of its Hasidic minority and its francophone petit bourgeois majority, and how those differences play out against the background of historical Quebecois grieva...
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Re-seeing Religious Resentment
Gideon Strauss
March 24, 2017
Today, Gideon Strauss introduces us to his beloved Outremont through the eyes of Valérie Amiraux, author, scholar, professor, and Outremont resident.
“When people address religion, they address religion for what they see of religion…and what they see is people who do not behave as they would “When people address religion they address religion for what they see of religion ...
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Pure laine and Purim
Gideon Strauss
March 23, 2017
In the eleventh installment of his Outremont series, columnist Gideon Strauss takes us through Quebec history through the eyes of Guy, a “pure laine Outremonter.”
Because of this history of discrimination and a sense of precariousness with regard to the current recognition and protection of their language and culture, many Quebeckers – and Guy does not agree with this sentiment, even though he says that he can understand it – feel that the pressure towards mu...
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Pure laine and Purim
Gideon Strauss
March 17, 2017
In the eleventh installment of his Outremont series, columnist Gideon Strauss takes us through Quebec history through the eyes of Guy, "a “pure laine Outremonter.”
Because of this history of discrimination and a sense of precariousness with regard to the current recognition and protection of their language and culture, many Quebeckers – and Guy does not agree with this sentiment, even though he says that he can understand it – feel that the pressure towards mu...
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Seeing Local. Looking Deep.
Gideon Strauss
March 10, 2017
Outremont's Gideon Strauss digs deep to better understand the Montreal he is encountering today. Follow along with his photo essay!
The first Jewish synagogue in Outremont, Beth David, was established in 1929, when the congregation (which was established in by immigrants from Rumania) bought a building on St I’ve met with, talked to, and tried to understand the complex, interwoven responses of my neighbors in Montreal’s Outremon...
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Reaching Other Mothers
Gideon Strauss
March 9, 2017
In his nineth regular dispatch from from Montreal’s faith-rich Outremont district, Gideon Strauss meets Nora Chénier-Jones, a woman who co-founded Pluralisme Outremont, a group promoting an appreciation of diversity in Outremont's schools.
Yet a few experiences with regard to the treatment of diversity in these communities that disappointed them and a desire to “encourage, facilitate, and create interaction to promote respectful understanding among the diverse people who make up our school communities” (the mission of Pluralisme Outre...
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Reaching our Mothers
Gideon Strauss
March 3, 2017
In his eighth regular dispatch from Montreal’s faith-rich Outremont district, Gideon Strauss meets Nora Chénier-Jones and Jennifer Dorner, the women who co-founded Pluralisme Outremont, a group promoting an appreciation of diversity in Outremont's schools.
A few experiences with regard to the treatment of diversity in these schools that disappointed them, though, and a desire to “encourage, facilitate, and create interaction to promote respectful understanding among the diverse people who make up our school communities” (the mission of Pluralisme Outr...
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The Sidewalk View
Gideon Strauss
February 27, 2017
Columnist Gideon Strauss interviews Emile Kutlu, president of the Laurier West Merchant Association in another installment of his Outremont series.
Kutlu is the president of the Laurier West Merchant Association, representing commercial interests along this street that runs along the southern end of the borough of Outremont and on into Montreal’s Mile End neighbourhood But the merchants’ association would not like to see new places of worship o...
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Giving Space
Gideon Strauss
February 24, 2017
Leila Marshy, the daugther of a Palestinian refugee, moved to Outremont in 2008. She grew to understand the Hasidim in her community and what they were contributing to her neighbourhood. When tension surrounding the referendum arose, she spoke out in support of her local synagogue.
It is an effort to cultivate greater mutual familiarity and understanding among the diverse people of Outremont and Mile End, and thereby to change what Leila calls (in a post for the blog "Outremont Hasid") “a punitive atmosphere where every Hasidic person is ‘illegal’ and every bylaw that does not...
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The Sidewalk View
Gideon Strauss
February 10, 2017
In his seventh regular dispatch from from Montreal’s faith-rich Outremont district, Gideon Strauss meets with Emile Kutlu, the president of the Laurier West Merchant Association, responsible for the commercial interests along this street that runs along the southern end of the borough of Outremont to Mile End.
Kutlu is the president of the Laurier West Merchant Association, representing commercial interests along this street that runs along the southern end of the borough of Outremont and on into Montreal’s Mile End neighbourhood In his seventh regular dispatch from from Montreal’s faith-rich Outremont di...
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To Wake Up the Heart
Gideon Strauss
February 8, 2017
This week, in the sixth of his regular dispatches from from Montreal’s faith-rich Outremont district, Gideon Strauss talks to one restaurant owner of Jewish background who was drawn to Sufi Islam.
I am having a conversation with Jonathan Hassan Friedmann in the week after the Quebec City mosque shooting in which six worshippers were killed, five critically wounded, and many others injured Jonathan and his brother, Todd Husseyn Friedmann, started Rumi Restaurant in the autumn of 2001, in part ...
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To Wake Up the Heart
Gideon Strauss
February 3, 2017
In the sixth of his regular dispatches from from Montreal’s faith-rich Outremont district, Gideon Strauss talks to one restaurant owner of Jewish background who was drawn to Sufi Islam.
I am having a conversation with Jonathan Hassan Friedmann in the week after the Quebec City mosque shooting in which six worshippers were killed, five critically wounded, and many others injured Jonathan and his brother, Todd Husseyn Friedmann, started Rumi Restaurant in the autumn of 2001, in part ...
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Façades and Values
Gideon Strauss
January 27, 2017
This week author Gideon Strauss brings us an alternate perspective on the ongoing conversation occurring in Outremont over the borough referendum campaign supporting a ban on new places of worship on Bernard Avenue.
Living just a few steps away from Bernard Avenue, Murdock is one of my neighbours in Outremont, and she cares passionately about the borough In the fifth of his regular dispatches from from Montreal’s faith-rich Outremont district, Gideon Strauss brings us an alternate perspective on the ongoing con...
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Façades and Values
Gideon Strauss
January 25, 2017
This week author Gideon Strauss brings us an alternate perspective on the ongoing conversation occurring in Outremont over the borough referendum campaign supporting a ban on new places of worship on Bernard Avenue.
Living just a few steps away from Bernard Avenue, Murdock is one of my neighbours in Outremont, and she cares passionately about the borough Her concern for the character of Outremont moved her to work for the borough referendum campaign supporting a ban on new places of worship on Bernard Avenue ...
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Hasidic Joy in Outremont
Gideon Strauss
January 18, 2017
Each week Gideon Strauss brings fresh perspective as he explores the unique intersections of faith and tradition in his new neighbourhood of Outremont, Montreal.
The study of the Jewish scriptures and their interpretation is not only of intellectual or ethical value to the Hasidic Jews of Outremont They are drawn to the renowned warmth of the Montreal Hasidic community: a warmth that Weiss ascribes in part to the reality that Montreal has the coldest weather...
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Hasidic Joy in Outremont
Gideon Strauss
January 18, 2017
Each week Gideon Strauss brings fresh perspective both to Convivium and our Thread of 1000 Stories series as he explores the unique intersections of faith and tradition in his new neighbourhood of Outremont, Montreal.
The study of the Jewish scriptures and their interpretation is not only of intellectual or ethical value to the Hasidic Jews of Outremont They are drawn to the renowned warmth of the Montreal Hasidic community: a warmth that Weiss ascribes in part to the reality that Montreal has the coldest weather...
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Across Our Backyard Fences
Gideon Strauss
December 21, 2016
In the third of his regular dispatches from from Montreal’s faith-rich Outremont district, Gideon Strauss meets a 27-year-old borough councilor. She, a Hasidic Jew, decided to run for councilor in order to take advantage of the opportunity to make a difference in her community.
Mindy Pollak is a 27-year-old borough councilor in Outremont and a Hasidic Jewish woman I first met Mindy Pollak on Sunday, November 20, the day on which the borough of Outremont conducted a referendum on this question: “Do you agree with By-law AO-320-B, which prohibits places of religion and worsh...
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Sharing a Long Obedience
Gideon Strauss
December 14, 2016
In the second of his regular dispatches from from Montreal’s faith-rich Outremont district, Gideon Strauss meets a Baptist pastor who came to Canada from Greece as a young man and set up a radio repair shop a few steps from the church he has made central to his life for 56 years.
In the second of his regular dispatches from from Montreal’s faith-rich Outremont district, Gideon Strauss meets a Baptist pastor who came to Canada from Greece as a young man and set up a radio repair shop a few steps from the church he has made central to his life for 56 years There were also Gree...
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Two Sides to Outremont
Gideon Strauss
December 7, 2016
"All it took was walking down Avenue Bernard." Read Gideon Strauss reflect on the surprises that await, hidden in Outremont’s antagonisms.
A few weeks after taking up residence on Avenue Bernard I received a notice in the mail inviting me to participate in a borough referendum on a by-law made by the borough council sometime earlier, resulting in a ban on the establishment of new places of worship in much (some say all) of Outremont On...
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Pig Blood and Glowing Sand
Gideon Strauss
March 9, 2016
The political sentiments reported in polls like these suggest a dismal but unsurprising possibility: that very few American evangelical churches offer their members the opportunity of a discipleship that gives attention to the history of Christians over the past two millennia struggling to follow Je...
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Leadership Involves Loss
Gideon Strauss
November 27, 2013
Gideon Strauss, a native of South Africa, where he served as an interpreter for the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission under Archbishop Desmond Tutu, writes on the way we remember Nelson Mandela's life.
And judging by the life of someone like Nelson Mandela, the greater the change involved, the larger the scale on which the change is pursued, the higher the cost to the leader ...