Our Campaign Chair Talks Tzedakah

Part of my role as CEO is to shine a light on others, and offering our leadership a chance to guest write our Shabbat Message is one of the many ways we do this. Today, we are turning the spotlight on our campaign chair, Lana Marks Pulver.

First, I want to update you on the visit of Ambassador of Israel to Canada, Dr. Ronen Hoffman, and Consul General of Israel in Toronto and Western Canada, Idit Shamir. One of the highlights of their visit was the Righteous Among the Nations ceremony, honouring the heroic acts of Helena Fiszaut z’l and Mieczyslav Rygalski z’l. The ceremony was co-hosted by the Israeli Embassy in Canada and the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, with support from our Jewish Federation, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.

It was incredibly moving to hear how Helena and Mieczyslav risked everything to, in their own words, “just do the right thing.” I want to say a special thank you to The Honourable George Heyman, minister of environment and climate change, who spoke about his family’s personal connection to the honourees and about the importance of remembrance, remaining vigilant, and standing up to hate.

Two important reminders before we get to Lana’s thoughts on tzedakah:

The King David grade eight trip to Israel is back on and we are very proud to support this and other Israel experience programs, including March of the Living. If you have teens who are interested in going to Poland and Israel, please contact Dafna Silberstein soon as registration is only open until November 11.

Choices, our biggest women’s event of the year, is coming up on Thursday. Hear from Women's Philanthropy Chair, Sue Hector on what the power of Choices means to her in lead up to this inspiring event co-chaired by Jaclyn Dayson and Lisa Averbach.

And now, let's talk tzedakah.

I feel privileged to serve in this role as campaign chair, and now that we are deep into the Annual Campaign period, it is a great time to touch base on how we are doing.

Our Annual Campaign is different from those of many other organizations in two ways.

The first is that at just three months long, we have a lot less time to fundraise than many other organizations our size. That poses challenges, but it also creates a sense of urgency that spurs us to push ourselves and keep the momentum going. We know how much is riding on our success. Thousands of people—and dozens of organizations they turn to for help—rely on us. All of us.

The second is that we have the support of hundreds of volunteer canvassers. They are members of our community who take time out of their lives to meet with donors about what is happening in our community and how their tzedakah can help. More than simply asking for a gift, volunteer canvassers give donors the opportunity to complete the mitzvah of tzedakah. It is holy work.

I had an interesting conversation with someone this week who asked, “How do I know what the right amount is to give?” I would never presume to tell someone what their gift ought to be, only that they put much thought into it—thought about whether it is easy to write that cheque or whether it is a little bit difficult. For some, that’s an $18 gift. For others, it’s $5,000 or $50,000. For all of us, it is important to dig deep and give as much as we are able, which means stretching a little.  

I am a big believer in the idea that what we get out of any experience in life is proportionate to what we put into it. A curious thing happens when we stretch our tzedakah and give of ourselves. Yes, it may be a bit uncomfortable at first, but it also feels really good to be able to give. Because what we put out into the world comes back to us in spades.

I want to express my gratitude to everyone who is pulling together to make this year’s campaign a success for our community. Thank you to our volunteers, our leadership on the campaign cabinet, the Federation staff, our partners, and of course you, our donors. The theme of the campaign this year is Amazing Happens—and that is exactly what is taking place now as everyone rolls up their sleeves and contributes in the most amazing ways!  

Lana Marks Pulver
Campaign Chair