Shabbat Message - January 15, 2021

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There is nothing we love more than to start our Shabbat Message with good news about COVID. During their vaccination event on January 13th, 34 Weinberg Residence Assisted Living residents received their first dose of the vaccine. A total of 192 Louis Brier Home and Hospital (LBHH) and 18 Multi Level Care unit (Weinberg Residence) residents have now received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. It is great to see progress continue to be made.   
 
Last Friday afternoon, I had the pleasure of dropping off at LBHH a beautiful package of cards made by my children and their fellow students from the JCC daycare to thank staff for all they are doing. We love seeing kids learn to show gratitude so early in life. 
 
Here at the office, we are busy preparing to get the first round of community recovery funding out to organizations that have been hit hard by the pandemic. The applications are in and the Community Recovery Task Force, chaired by Risa Levine, will be meeting next week to determine their recommendations before presenting them to our Board for approval later in the month.
 
We are very grateful to those of you who have given so generously to support community recovery, and we want you to know that we are going to move quickly to get these funds working in our community. Additional rounds of community recovery funding will follow through the spring and summer. Stay tuned for more updates soon.
 
At the same time that we care for our local community, we care for our extended family in communities around the world. You might be surprised to know that we are the closest federated community to Jews residing in Far East Russia. We take our responsibility to help these Jews very seriously, and we provide a lifeline to thousands of people through our trusted partner in international rescue and relief, the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). Jews have lived in Siberia since the 17th century, through many social and geographic challenges, including the Soviets’ official “discouragement” of Jewish life.
 
This week, the JDC provided us with a briefing on Siberia and the former Soviet Union (FSU), which was attended by members of our Board, our Israel and Global Engagement Committee, and our Axis steering committee. We received an overview of the JDC's work around the world during the current pandemic and an update on what the vibrant young people in the area are doing to build Jewish community.
 
In 2018, I was fortunate to visit the Jewish communities of Khabarovsk and Birobidzhan with Karen James, who was our Board Chair at the time; Candace Kwinter, chair of our Israel and Global Engagement; Gary Segal, who served on our Board and on the Board of the JDC; Hodie Kahn; and Michael Moscovich. My great grandmother, who grew up in Harbin, China, traced her lineage back to this area, so there is a strong personal connection there for me, as there is for many of you. They are us.
 
We visited a JDC Hesed Center that plays a central role in the renewal of Jewish community life, and we made home visits to impoverished seniors who receive food, medicine, winter relief and social connections through programs that are run out of the facility. Many of those who were on the trip have devoted their tzedakah and their leadership efforts to ensure the people in these communities are supported. As you can imagine, COVID has made a tough life in Siberia even tougher. So, we were delighted to receive three video updates that we want to share with you. They’re very short, and we hope you will take a few minutes to watch them.
 
We are very proud that our Federation was selected as one of handful of communities to have a virtual visit with Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Omer Yankelevich. It is part of a series of virtual meetings she is hosting during COVID to get to know Jewish communities worldwide, including what we are doing to address the pandemic. A number of our partners, including Jewish Family Services, King David High School, and some of the synagogues and rabbis, joined us and representatives of Axis, our young adults program, for the meeting.
 
On the heels of much anti-Semitism displayed at the US Capitol last week, we want to bring you a few updates. The first is the statement from our advocacy agent, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), in response to the vile attack on Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Westmount, Quebec. We applaud CIJA for their efforts to counter anti-Semitism wherever and whenever it may occur. They have also been active in combatting online hate, and I encourage you to read the article by Richard Marceau that ran in the Toronto Star on Monday.
 
Because we always like to end on a positive note, as we prepare to usher in Shabbat, we want to leave you with a quote from the incomparable Ted Comet, with whom I am proud to have served on the board of JPRO Network. If you don’t know Ted, he was the director of the American Zionist Youth Foundation from 1956-68 and founded the Celebrate Israel Parade in New York. He later became a key official of the Council of Jewish Federations and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. He is now the honourary associate executive vice-president of the JDC. He is 95 years young and going strong.
 
“Dealing with difficult moments builds the psychic musculature,” is what he said this week during an intergenerational conversation about resilience. From the pandemic to anti-Semitism, the difficulties and challenges we face and overcome today are what build our resilience for tomorrow and for the generations to come.

Shabbat shalom.

Ezra S. Shanken
Chief Executive Officer