Letters (Page 2)

It's not over yet

In his letter in the Summer issue of the McGill News, J. F. Beckman writes, "Not being a McGill graduate myself, I am not in a position to question the logic of someone who is." In his justification of January 1st, 2000, as the beginning of the new millennium, he then provides a flight of logic which is open to question by both graduates and non-graduates alike.

The problem is this: when a person is born he or she is 0 years old. In fact, parents refer to his or her age first in days, then weeks, then months, then fractions of years for the first three or four years of his or her life. But when we number years, the first year should likely be the Year 1, even though the year is less than a year old! Mr. Beckman's comparison to measuring birthdays is therefore inappropriate.

The question, which we cannot answer, is this: Did the Christian era begin at the birth of Jesus Christ, so that year 2 began when He turned 1, or did it begin on the occasion of His first birthday party? We can never know the answer because of the conjecture when Christ was born, added to the fact that the Christian calendar was only adopted several centuries after the birth of Christ.

On a strictly mathematical basis, I think January 1st, 2000, marked the completion of the 1,999th year of the Christian era, and the beginning of the 2000th. By this reckoning, the next century and millennium begins on January 1st, 2001.

Psychologically, however, the change in date from the 1900s to the 2000s has much more impact on all of us than as an actual count of years. Therefore, like Mr. Beckman, I, too, am very comfortable acknowledging January 1st, 2000, as the start of the 21st century and the third millennium.

R. G. Ewart, BSc'61, MEd'73
Otterburn Park, Que.

And more...

Beckman makes the common error regarding the millennium. Bishop Dionysius Exiguus decided that Christ was born in the year 735 AUC. He started the Christian era with the year 1, the year that Christ was born. As there was no zero in math in those times, the second decade didn't start until the year 11. Hence the second millennium will come next New Year.

H. J. Scott, MDCM'41, DipSurg'51
Montreal, Que.

Say what?

It's been 15 years since I was part of "Montreal's tightly knit and conservative Jewish community," so maybe things have deteriorated in my absence. On the other hand, I have to tell you that the above quote, extracted from D. Grier Ayton's book review (Summer'00), just doesn't resonate with truth or beauty.

"Tightly knit"? No doubt. But "conservative"? Well, let's just say I'd like about an hour of Ms. Ayton's time and a really stellar explanation so that I can shoehorn the term into my Montreal Jewish Exiles' Lexicon.

Stu Woolley, BA'71, MA'79
Kingston, Ont.

Ed. note: The unbeautiful description comes from the book in question, The Wedding: A Family's Coming Out Story. In it, members of the Merling family express concern about reactions to the wedding of Andrew Merling to his gay partner. Andrew's father writes, "Unlike most U.S. metropolitan cities...where Reform Judaism is the majority and people attend 'temple,' in Montreal there is a very small Reform population. Most Jews adhere to either the Conservative movement or the Orthodox movement and mostly attend 'synagogue.' The point is that change doesn't come easily or quickly in Montreal's Jewish community."

When Andrew (who had moved to New York) told his Montreal friends of the planned wedding, he was surprised that the news seemed to make them uncomfortable. Then, he says, he remembered "they're all Montreal Jews. Yes, they're from a younger generation, but perhaps having been bred in this conservative, sheltered enclave has limited the scope of what they imagine possible for me...."

Mr. Woolley's recollections are obviously different and he's still welcome to that hour!

Never too old to learn

I enjoyed seeing the picture of the RVC Senior Basketball Team (Summer 2000, letters). "Senior" meant Class of '33 and '34 (there was also a Junior team), and they played in a league with the Central and Southwestern YWCAs, as well as competing against Toronto, Queen's and Western.

I was also RVC'33, on the class swimming team. Now in my ninetieth year, I live in a seniors' residence and enjoy being educated by my grand-children in the new age wonders.

Bet (Sutherland) von Löben Sels, BA'33
Los Gatos, Calif.