Yael Halevi-Wise

Yael Halevi-Wise is a professor, literary scholar, and lifelong champion of Jewish studies. Born in Israel, she’s lived around the world and now teaches at McGill, bridging the Departments of English and Jewish Studies. She made Canada her home in 2001.

Yael’s Jewish Heritage Hero is Benjamin Disraeli, Britain’s 19th-century Prime Minister. Instead of preparing for his Bar Mitzvah, he was take to be baptized so he would have better opportunities for education and employment at a time of widespread antisemitism. Disraeli never turned his back on his roots. He spoke up on behalf of the Jewish people in the British Parliament, and in his popular novels he defended the Jewish people with courage. Disraeli could have chosen to hide his name; he could have denied his heritage—but instead, he wore it with pride.