Diversity is one of our greatest strength

We have long maintained that the diversity of our community is one of its greatest strengths, and Pride month is an important reminder of that.  
 
Jewish Family Services (JFS) and JQT (Jewish Queer Trans) recently conducted a self-identification survey, called Twice Blessed 2.0.  
 
We are proud to have supported this survey of LGBTQ2SIA+ people in our community, which was based on one undertaken by JFS in 2004.  In 2017, we brought the organization, Keshet, whose mandate is to promote LGBTQ2SIA+ equality to Jewish communities through training with our community professionals and volunteer leadership. Some changes have taken place as a result, but as the survey shows there is much work to be done to achieve full equality. 
 
As the findings show many survey respondents felt less inclined to participate in the Jewish community because they did not feel their gender identity and/or sexual orientation was welcomed and accepted. It's clear that Jewish organizations including ours, have work to do in order to make LGBTQ2SIA+ feel more welcome. 
 
This may be Pride month, but Pride weekend in Vancouver takes place on the August long weekend. Leading up to that we always host a Pride Shabbat with our advocacy agent, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. Please save the date, this year it will take place on July 29th and we will share more detail in the coming weeks.  
 
Now to a pride of a different sort, that of lions. Lions of Judah to be precise.  

Led by co-chairs Karly Leipsic and Josephine Nadel, Lions of Judah are women who give a minimum of $5,000 to the Federation Annual Campaign.  
 
We proudly welcomed seven new Lions this year at our annual Lion of Judah Evening of Appreciation: Hildy Barnett, Barbara Heller, Pamela Lachman, Alison Narod, Libby Ordel, Shelley Rivkin (who also happens to be our vice president, global and local engagement). They join 20,000 Lions of Judah throughout North America, Israel and around the world. 
 
The Evening of Appreciation featured a panel of four women leaders and philanthropists. 

I want to thank Shirley Barnett, Renee Katz, Dr. Alisa Lipson, and Lianna Philipp, who each spoke from their own unique perspective about philanthropy and community involvement. We are extremely fortunate to have such an inspiring and committed group of women who are willing to share their insights and inspirations with us.  
 
Our corporate partners and the relationships we hold with them are incredibly important to our work and our community, and it is an area that we expect to build in the future.

I would like to acknowledge the support provided by KPMG to the Lion of Judah Evening of Appreciation and West Coast Seeds who provided the gift bags. 
 
One of our corporate partners is RBC, who have been supporting our work for 16 years! This relationship has grown from individual support from RBC employees to a priority at their leadership level, thanks to the championing of this relationship by Sam Shamash z"l of blessed memory and Eli Joseph. Martin Thibodeau, RBC's regional president, has since bolstered RBC's giving, taking their support of our work and our community to the next level. We have worked very closely with Martin over the past five years and we were delighted to see him honoured at the Ben-Gurion University Gala Dinner last night. In addition to being an accomplished business person, Martin genuinely cares about making a positive impact in the community at large and understands the importance of the work we and our partners do. Kol hakavod, Martin. All the respect! If you are interested in learning more about our corporate partners and/or sponsorship opportunities click here.
 
Beth Israel turns 90!   

The relationships we have with our local synagogues are ones we hold dear. We simply could not do the work that we do each day without their support.  I had hoped to be at Beth Israel on Sunday to celebrate their 90th anniversary in person, but I will be representing our community in New York at the Board of Trustees meetings for the Jewish Federations of North America. (More on that next Friday.) I wish them a hearty mazel tov on this wonderful milestone and thank them for playing an important role in tefilah and kehila over the generations. May they continue to go from strength to strength! 

Shabbat shalom.

Ezra S. Shanken 
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver