Shabbat Message - May 28, 2021
This message has 683 words and will take a little more than 3 minutes to read.
The spike in antisemitism across Canada over the past few weeks is alarming. We have seen Jewish Canadians subjected to harassment, threats, and violence. We must unite as one to confront this–for the safety of the Jewish community and for the benefit of all Canadians. Now is the time for us to take action.
Join Jewish Federation and our advocacy agent, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, in calling on the federal government to convene an emergency summit to address growing antisemitism. The idea is to bring together federal, provincial, and municipal officials to lead a whole-of-government approach to combatting Jew hatred, including concrete policies to address this multifaceted threat.
It starts with mobilizing thousands of community members across the country to send a message to our elected officials. It starts with you.
Make your voice heard today. Click here to take concrete action against antisemitism.
Last night we held a support session for young Jewish adults who have been the targets of antisemitism online, at school, and amongst their peer groups. Two additional sessions were held nationally over the past two weeks, and we added this session because of continued demand for knowledge and tools. I’m absolutely heartbroken that we need to do this, but relieved that young adults have us to turn to for support.
Our community is diverse and many of us are experiencing the rise in hatred through more than one lens. May happens to be both national Asian Heritage Month and national Jewish Heritage Month, and many people have personal connections to both. We talked with some of them, including Emily Mak, about their reflections. Since this is provincial Anti-Racism Awareness Week, that is where Emily focused the thoughts she shared with us:
Incidences reported in the media lately of unprovoked aggression towards Asians are appalling and offensive, but come as no surprise to me. I wish anti Asian hate was novel and would pass like a forgettable fad. Some people may want to make excuses that it’s because of the pandemic and its challenges and emotions are running high. But prejudice against Asians has deep roots in our society that long predate the pandemic, as does racism against Jews, Indigenous peoples, Muslims, Blacks, and others who are feared for their differences. Regrettably, in this regard, we are not different. This Shabbat, being the last in Asian Heritage Month in Canada, we should recognize that we are not different, we as a society are united in a struggle against a common foe: hate.
Our communities are united in positive ways, too, including rich histories that stretch back thousands of years, and myriad valuable contributions that we’ve made to the fabric of Canadian society.
This week we lost a member of our community who contributed much to Canadian society, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander z”l. A pioneer in landscape architecture, Cornelia’s work was admired around the world. Just days before her passing, she was given the City of Vancouver’s highest honour, the Freedom of the City award. It was our privilege to have nominated her and worked with the city to make this happen. We hope it brings a small measure of comfort to her family in their grief. May her memory be for a blessing.
Last Friday our Israel and Global Engagement department organized a community Shabbat with our friends from Khabarovsk. Over 60 people from both communities attended this heartwarming event, where Candace Kwinter, chair of our Israel and Global Engagement Committee, reminisced about the community leaders’ visit to the Russian far east in 2018, and Rabbi Gibbs led a Shalom Aleychem sing along. We heard from Khabarovsk community leaders and their local Hillel group led a few more well-known songs. At the end of the meeting, people from both sides connected and asked each other questions, with everyone determined that language barriers would not get in the way.
Given what the last few weeks have been like, we thought you might want to watch this celebration, if you weren’t among those who attended last Friday. Click here to watch.
Shabbat shalom.
Ezra S. Shanken
Chief Executive Officer