Shabbat Message - March 19, 2021

This message has 879 words and will take about 4 minutes to read.

I hope you were able to join us on Monday when we co-presented The Last Letters and Poems of Hannah Senesh, with the Consulate General of Israel to Toronto and Western Canada, the National Library of Israel and the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. It was a great opportunity to hear from Consul General Galit Baram, and her predecessor, DJ Schneeweiss, both of whom we have worked with closely for many years. We would like to extend our thanks to Candace Kwinter, chair of our Israel and Global Engagement Committee for her involvement. Check out more exciting events on our Israel Engagement website.
 
As we approach Yom HaShoah, it is crucial that we remember and learn from our past, and advocate for a better future–one free from race-based hatred and oppression.
 
Just a few weeks ago we wrote in this message about the Vancouver Police Department’s latest report and the 717% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes locally. This week, we were horrified by the string of shootings in Metro Atlanta that left eight people dead, most of whom were women of Asian descent. Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta and the have been working closely with JFNA’s Asian-American national and local partners and the Atlanta Jewish community to lend their support. You can read the statement from the Atlanta JCRC here.
 
On Tuesday, more than 32 municipal leaders from around the world participated in the first-ever Mayors Summit Against Anti-Semitism. Among those participating were the mayors of Vienna, Athens, Amsterdam, and Buenos Aires. Toronto Mayor John Tory participated in the summit and announced the expansion of the Toronto Police Service's Hate Crime Unit. The event concluded with a global pledge to establish a long-term framework working towards defeating anti-Semitism, prejudice, and hatred. With anti-Semitism on the rise in so many cities, including Vancouver, you can understand why we have long advocated for the city to adopt the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism. You can read more about the summit here.
 
We also want to invite you to a webinar on Monday titled, The ongoing persecution of Uyghurs: A Call to Action. Among the many speakers will be the Honourable Professor Irwin Cotler, Canada’s Special Envoy for Holocaust remembrance and the fight against anti-Semitism. The event is organized by the Montreal Holocaust Museum, Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, CIJA Quebec, The Jewish Public Library, Communauté Sépharade Unifiée de Québec, Hillel Montreal, Jewish Movement for Uyghur Freedom, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, the Montreal Board of Rabbis, and Semaine d'actions contre le racisme. Click here to register.
 
We wish that we had only good news to share with you today, but we were saddened this week by the unexpected passing of a dear friend of our community. Many of you may remember Erez Naga z”l, a young Ethiopian Israeli law student who we brought to Vancouver for an internship in 2009. Over the years, this internship program provided Ethiopian Israeli law students with important international experience that proved invaluable in their very competitive school and job environments. Erez z”l was one of the first two students to participate in this program. While he was here he shared with our staff and with many community members the harrowing story of his journey across Sudan en route to Israel. Just a small boy at the time, the trip was not just arduous but dangerous, and his twin brother died along the way. It’s a story that never leaves those who have heard it, let alone those who lived it. May his memory be for a blessing.
 
Since it is tradition to end on a happy note before Shabbat, we want to invite you to go back to your childhood. For many of us, some of our favourite memories are from summer camp. Our partner, Camp Hatikvah is celebrating their 65th anniversary this year, and they have a website full of photos and videos from their alumni. If you attended Camp Hatikvah and would like to share your photos and memories, you can submit them here.
 
If you have children who attend Jewish summer camp, they’re probably already counting down the days. When we distributed the first community recovery grants, we interviewed Inbar Avrahami Saraf from Camp Miriam. He told us that they “already have kids getting excited and talking about what fun events they want to plan next summer.” The Community Recovery funds that we recently distributed to Camp Miriam and to Camp Hatikvah are helping these camps plan for whatever scenarios they may face this summer. With Jewish summer camp being one of the most pivotal experiences children and teens can have as they develop their Jewish identity, we know this is an important investment to make.
 
Before we leave you today, we want to remind you that today is the deadline for submitting your community song video for Yom Ha’atzmaut. Even if you aren’t a great singer, it’s OK. Really! Just take a peek at the video created by event emcees, Kyle Berger and Lu Winters, and you’ll know that if they can do it, so can you. If it helps, I’ve even submitted one. And if you’re still too shy, you can watch the whole Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration from home. Register here and join us to celebrate Israel’s 73rd birthday. 

Shabbat shalom.

Ezra S. Shanken
Chief Executive Officer