We Were in Ethiopia as Aliyah Resumed

On Tuesday our community lost an iconic leader, Joseph Segal z"l.  Our hearts are with his wife Rosalie and the entire Segal family. May his memory be for a blessing.  

Joe’s z”l tremendous generosity is legendary. It is impossible to calculate the full extent of the impact of his philanthropy. A WWII vet, he helped liberate the Netherlands, and went on to receive both the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada.  

Joe z"l was a steadfast supporter of countless worthy causes both within and beyond our Jewish community, including the work of our Federation and our partners. We are deeply grateful to him for his incredible generosity over the decades. Peter Legge and I were asked to reminisce about Joe z”l on CBC and you can listen here. Peter described Joe z”l as a family man, and his family will be the greatest of his lasting legacies. 

When it comes to family, as Jews we have a diverse extended family that stretches around the world. 

Candace Kwinter, our board chair, traveled to Ethiopia this week as 3,000 Jews prepared to make Aliyah to Israel.  

The first group traveled on the plane with her to Israel to reunite with their immediate family as part of a renewed Operation Tzur Yisrael. Candace was there as part of her role on the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors. She detailed the experience on a Canadian Jewish News podcast.  

Operation Solomon, the first Ethiopian rescue and Aliyah mission, took place in 1991, long before I began my career and long before Candace assumed her current role. Today, it is our turn—her's, mine, and yours—to take on our part of the work. As we learn in the Pirkei Avot, “You are not required to finish the work, yet neither are you permitted to desist from it.” 

As the people who serve our community and world Jewry naturally change over the years, Jewish Federation and our partner, the Jewish Agency, will continue to be there. We are constantly returning to see what work remains and to take on what comes next. That was a key component of this mission. 

We love to give kavod in this message, and today we shout out to Rabbi Yosef Wosk, and our partner, Jewish Family Services (JFS).  

We are very proud to have nominated Rabbi Yosef Wosk for the City of Vancouver’s highest honour, the Freedom of the City Medal, which he received on Monday in recognition of the breadth of his philanthropic work and tremendous community impact. We would also like to acknowledge that this is the second year in a row this award was presented to a community member during Jewish Heritage Month. 

We also nominated JFS for the City of Vancouver’s Excellence Award for The Kitchen, which they also received on Monday. The creation of The Kitchen was the outcome of The Food Security Task Force, which was jointly led by our two organizations. The task force itself resulted from the affordability summit we held several years ago. 

That leads us to an exciting announcement: We are gearing up for a second affordability summit! 

We anticipate that it will take place in the early spring of next year, and we hope that it will result in a similarly successful partnership that fosters innovative change that will positively impact our community, our extended family. 

Tonight, when you are gathered around the Shabbat table, our extended family from Ethiopia will be spending their first Shabbat in Israel with their loved ones. I hope you will feel that connection which comes from knowing that all around the world our traditions are forming an unbreakable link between us. 

Shabbat shalom and chag Shavuot sameach.

Ezra S. Shanken 
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver