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Aug. 24, 2012
Adult ed gets renewal
Jewish Academy offers a range of courses.
MICHELLE DODEK
For the past 10 months, Rabbi Binyomin Bitton has been eating, sleeping and breathing the Jewish Academy, the rebranded and newly launched adult education arm of Chabad of Downtown in Vancouver. He hopes the professional qualities of the program will encourage more Jews to attend the weekly and monthly classes being offered, as well as the special events Chabad of Downtown plans to hold during the course of the year.
The academy’s special events will feature “top speakers, internationally renowned in their fields,” said Bitton in an interview. The Jewish Academy will co-sponsor many of its events with local Jewish community organizations and provide another opportunity for Jewish communal professionals to hold workshops on relevant topics.
Weekly classes, the “glatt kosher meat and potatoes” of the Jewish Academy, have been works in progress and enhanced, Bitton said. “Our classes are innovative and top quality. We cater to all backgrounds, both in terms of the subjects and audiences.”
Specialized workshops will complement the services professionals like rabbis and those working at the Jewish Family Service Agency and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver provide in the community, Bitton suggested. As well, he hopes that the academy will attract a wide swathe of the Jewish population, and plans are underway to host four large community-wide events each year.
Rounding out the Jewish Academy experience are monthly classes, which will begin after the High Holidays. Just a few of the offerings include Couples Night Out, an evening program that revolves around married life and parenting issues; a young adult group (25-35- year-olds) for singles and couples that focuses on Jewish learning and issues of contemporary importance; a monthly Jewish business network; and a class for women by women.
Aside from Bitton, regular instructors at the Jewish Academy include Malky Bitton, who serves as co-director of Chabad of Downtown and co-dean of the Jewish Academy alongside her husband; Rabbi Yeshurun Blumenfeld, who specializes in Jewish law and mysticism; and Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman, who serves as spiritual leader of Chabad of Richmond and director of the Richmond chapter of the Jewish Learning Institute.
One of the main differences between the classes previously offered by Chabad of Downtown and those of the Jewish Academy is the membership option, Bitton explained. There is no charge for a standard membership, while a $60 premium membership entitles the member to attend all events, including those for which there is a fee, as well as access to the Chabad of Downtown library.
“Although most classes are free, you must be a member of the academy to attend. We want people to feel a part of a professional institution and we also want to know who they are,” he said.
On top of the funds they hope to raise through the premium memberships, Bitton pointed out that the academy is funded by sponsors and that it is not fully funded yet, so he is grateful to those who have sponsored and those who will do so in the future.
Operations at Chabad of Downtown continue to grow, as they’ve settled into the hustle and bustle of the downtown core. “We have been met with a tremendous, overwhelming response. It has been very positive,” Bitton said of their growth. He noted that, on average, they have 180-200 people coming to their classes each month and, with the added offerings of the more formal Jewish Academy, he feels that those numbers will increase in the coming year. Some of Chabad of Downtown’s programs have become so well attended that they can no longer fit in their space at 1260 Howe St. and have to meet at the Holiday Inn down the street, said Bitton.
Having contracted with a graphic designer in New York through the Chabad network, the new web address and learning materials for the Jewish Academy (jewishacademy.ca) are user friendly and easy on the eye. The promotional materials include letters of congratulations from politicians and Jewish luminaries, including Premier Christy Clark, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mayor Gregor Robertson and British Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.
The Jewish Academy is uppermost on Bitton’s agenda at the moment but it is in addition to his normal duties as director of Chabad of Downtown, along with his wife, and playing host to visitors from out of town who can access Chabad of Downtown by foot from any hotel downtown for Shabbat hospitality and services.
Being a central part of the downtown Jewish community, which includes the downtown core, Yaletown and even Strathcona, has been a rewarding experience, Bitton said. “It is a heimish community. There are precious Jews living downtown – and together we are growing as a community.”
Michelle Dodek is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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