Shabbat Message - August 6, 2021
This message has 738 words and will take a little more than 3 minutes to read.
We usually leave commentary on the weekly parasha to our community’s many learned rabbis and their Shabbat messages. But, in Re’eh Moses presents the commandments to the people of Israel as a blessing if we fulfill them and a curse if we do not, and that got us thinking about the power of our own actions and words. In Bereshit (Genesis) G-d spoke and the world was created. We, too, create with our words. Whether we use our actions and words for a blessing or a curse is up to us and the choices we make.
On November 7th we will celebrate the choices women make for our community.
Choices is the biggest women’s event of the year, and this year Choices will celebrate the women in our community and how they are leading us in coming through the pandemic stronger. Our speaker, Jill Zarin, has taken her celebrity and made her own community better during the pandemic.
I want to commend the Choices co-chairs, Courtney Cohen, Leanne Hazon and Sherri Wise, and their committee, as well as our Women’s Philanthropy chairs, Sue Hector and Shawna Merkur, who are supporting their efforts to deliver another Choices event to remember.
Every woman in our community is invited to and very welcome at Choices. If you haven’t received our save the date, just click here and we’ll make sure you get all the future updates.
We aren’t the only one who are celebrating the women in our community. The province released this exciting news, which we want to share with you.
Mazel tov to Fran Belzberg on receiving the Order of British Columbia!
We were so pleased to hear that Fran received this honour, and it was incredibly well deserved. Fran’s dedication to giving back and building a better province for all British Columbians spans many decades.
From co-founding the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, to helping establish Action Canada, a nonprofit leadership development initiative, to being part of the Belzberg family's transformational impact on both UBC and SFU—and much, much more—she has made an impact that will be felt for generations.
Here in the Jewish community, Fran has served as a lifelong leader, as an ILR Lion of Judah, and as past chair of Women’s Philanthropy. She has championed vital causes such as community security and support of Israel. There is hardly an organization that has not benefitted from her immense generosity and that of her beloved late husband, Sam z"l. It was truly a privilege to nominate her for this award.
Young adults are reaching out and reconnecting.
Engaging young Jewish adults is one of our strategic priorities and it is great to see that our young adult programming is slowly transitioning back to face-to-face events, so that everyone can start to reconnect and feel comfortable again, all while following public health guidelines.
A few weeks ago there was a hike at Rice Lake, where young adults shared their pandemic experiences. Last night, over 20 young adults worked out at F45 Training and then socialized after. Let the 20- and 30-somethings in your life know to check the Axis Facebook page for upcoming programs. They can also reach out to our young adult engagement manager, Aluma Zweifer Reicher.
We’re reaching out to other faith communities, too.
Two weeks ago we wrote that we, CIJA and the RAV have reached out to clergy of places of worship that have been vandalized. These are complicated times, but vandalizing a sacred space is never the answer. Recently, we reached out to St. George Coptic Church in Surrey, which was recently burned to the ground in a suspected arson attack. We received a response from Father Bisenty Gerges conveying that our “prayers and words of support are…unbelievably appreciated.” It’s just one example of how actions and words can create a small blessing that means a great deal.
We all deserve to feel safe this Shabbat.
But that is not so easy for residents of our partnership region of the Upper Galilee Panhandle. If’at Eilon Heiber, director of our Israel and Global Engagement department, was in the region this week for meetings when three rockets were fired from Lebanon and hit Kiryat Shmona. She and our Israel-based colleague, Eran David, spent several hours sheltering in a safe room before they received the all-clear. As we wind down the week, we hope this Shabbat is a peaceful one for everyone.
Shabbat shalom,
Ezra S. Shanken
Chief Executive Officer