Shabbat Message - November 19, 2021
This message has 1266 words and will take about 5 minutes to read.
Thank you! Together, we have raised over $75,000 and counting for BC flood relief!
We are very grateful to see our community come together to help, as you always do. We are also pleased to announce that Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island is directing support through our fund, so it is truly a provincial effort. Join us and click here to donate to our BC Flood Relief Fund.
If you have been affected by the flooding, know that we are with you now and through the months of recovery to come.
If you’re reading this and live outside of our local community, click here to better understand the scale of devastation. As of last night, 17,000 people remained away from their homes due to the floods and landslides which have affected every major highway, cutting off many communities. Every search and rescue team in the region has been deployed, alongside civilian volunteers, medical professionals, firefighters, law enforcement, the military, and more. They are trying to save people and property, pets and livestock, and they are working night and day to clear debris and open bridges and roadways. You will also read about a weather event called an atmospheric river, which “on average, carries an amount of water equivalent to 25 Mississippi Rivers.”
Communities are in the very earliest stages of assessing the damage. We won’t know the full extent of the needs for a while, but we’re ready.
Today, our associate director of community engagement, Grace Miller-Day, and CIJA’s manager of partnerships, Etti Goldman spent time with the Surrey Sikh Temple and Guru Nanek Society at their operation in Surrey to see the amazing work that the Sikh community is doing to distribute food to people who have either been stranded or have had to evacuate, and to get a better idea of where and how we might direct our funds.
Grace and one of our team members, Adam Ben Dov, have reached out to more than 80 members of the Jewish community living n affected areas. Most are OK, at least for now. Some are not.
Here is what Krystine McInnes, a community member who runs a farm in Cawston had to say:
There really aren’t any words to describe the level of disaster we’re witnessing, but I’ll try. We’ve had disasters before but this is on another level. We saw a 5.5 meter wall of water come down and blow out every dike along the way in less than 18 hours. Our crew were frantically working to protect buildings and bring equipment to high ground. We had only a few hours and were evacuated - none of us could have imagined that in November, this level of flooding could occur. We thought the water may come up a bit, but recede quickly.
Instead we had a raging river blow 1km of dike to rubble and run through at a ground level of 4 feet high from current ground level.
Everything is destroyed. Huge sections of the property are eroded in large chunks, debris and ruin everywhere. It lifted and moved our 4 staff cabins, placed them in different areas than they were before and 1 giant metal seacan it lifted and tilted 10 feet and overturned a giant propane tank! Fences blown out, mud everywhere, rock and debris to overwhelm. …And it’s winter, so freezing temps have set in. It’s a race against time to get water out before it freezes.
Despite everything, Krystine is trying to stay positive:
I’m an eternal optimist, but this has definitely put me in the ground. It’s a level of destruction the only equivalent I can find for is if the emotion of rage were embodied, this is what it would look like. I understand why our forefathers described these kinds of events as the wrath of God, it’s difficult to find any other way to conceptualize what’s happening and stay sane.
I keep repeating the words of Marcus Aurelius...: “Accept everything that’s happening to you as if you chose it”.
It also reminds me of Joseph, tested and tested by G-d, and I think of his story a lot. We never know where we are being led, and crisis is really evolution. Evolving us into who God calls us forth to become.
I am not sure which description is more heart wrenching, that of the destruction or of being tested.
Recovery will happen, but it won’t be easy; it won’t be quick; and we will be changed by it.
Before the storm we had planned to introduce you to the work of one of our newest staff members, someone whose impact you are almost certainly familiar with from his years at Temple Sholom and Hillel BC: Rabbi Philip Bregman.
As Jewish Federation’s interfaith liaison, Rabbi Bregman is playing a key role in our flood relief efforts.
He is reaching out to other faith-based and ethno-cultural communities so that together we can reach more people. This is part of what Grace and Etti worked on today with the Sikh community. As these collaborations gel, we will bring you more details.
Having cultivated robust interfaith and intercultural relationships over four decades, Rabbi Bregman has already brought together a new team of leaders from different communities to focus on broader interfaith antiracism strategies.
Here is what he had to say:
The members of the team represent Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, the Indigenous community, the Black community, with myself being the Jewish representative on the team. We are called “The Other People” and our tag line is “making a world of DIFFERENCE”.
Each member of this team, has been at one point or another, “the other person”, the outsider, the one who was/is discriminated against, here in Canada.
Every day we read about, hear about yet another instance of racism, bigotry, and discrimination taking place here in Canada, and yes here in the Lower Mainland.
“The Other People” team will be going into schools, community centres, houses of worship, to not only share our experiences and give the people the opportunities to meet face to face, “The Other People” but also hopefully confront their own biases and prejudices.
We are very proud to have Rabbi Bregman on our team leading important initiatives in this area. The role is a joint initiative with the Rabbinical Association of Vancouver, and is funded by private donors, all of whom understand the importance of having a consistent rabbinical presence representing our community in antiracism initiatives.
With an emergency relief fund it is easy to understand what you support. After all, it is the lead story on the news every day. But what about the Annual Campaign?
Do you know just how many things your gift supports?
It’s OK if you don’t. That’s why our marketing team made this short animated video so you can see at a glance all the key areas in which you are making an impact. Take a little break to watch it and feel good about the great things we’re accomplishing together. If you haven’t made your Annual Campaign gift yet, you can give here.
Despite the difficult week, we always close on a hopeful note.
We want to share this collage of students in our JSprouts after-school program, who made thank-you cards for first responders. We want to extend our appreciation, too, for everything they are doing. To the people who are suffering and to those who are on the frontlines helping, we hope you find peace this Shabbat in the knowledge that we are here for you.
Shabbat shalom.
Ezra S. Shanken
Chief Executive Officer