Don’t Break the Chain is the first publication of what the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia hopes will become a Family History series.
The Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia has released the first book in what it hopes will become a Family History series. Don’t Break the Chain: The Nemetz Family Journey from Svatatroiske to Vancouver was published in collaboration with the Ben and Esther Dayson Charitable Foundation, and was researched by Shirley Barnett and Philip Dayson.
Barnett described her family as founders and workers behind the scenes of the Vancouver Jewish community.
“One of my mother’s sisters helped build Congregation Schara Tzedeck, the Louis Brier Home and funeral chapels, while another sister founded Jewish Family Services and visited the poor, people in prisons and mental hospitals. My mother ran charity events for Jewish Vancouver from the age of 18 and her brother started Camp Hatikvah,” she said. “They brought a lot of strength to the community. The next generation, which was mine and included 23 of us, has made significant contributions to Jewish Vancouver, too.”
There was plenty of raw material to draw from for the book, given the fact that Barnett’s six brothers had created memoirs and Dayson had begun creating family trees 25 years ago. The project became challenging when she opted to include charts and photographs of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“I established contact with members of the family I never knew, siblings who’d had arguments and people estranged from the family, and it took a very soft approach, getting them to respond with photographs,” she explained. “I wasn’t looking to mend fences or interfere in anyone’s life, I just wanted to write a book!”
Ultimately, with the assistance of graphic designer Barbi Braude and Facebook, she was able to source all the photographs required to complete the book.
Michael Schwartz, director of community engagement at the JMABC, said the Nemetz family journey would resonate among many other Jewish families in Vancouver.
“The story of leaving Europe, getting here and eventually bringing their family to Canada has parallels for many in our community and is a fascinating tale,” he said. “The Nemetz family has a very interesting history and many siblings of the early generation have accomplished great things and had an important impact on the community as a whole.”
The museum is hoping to partner with other families who are interested in creating similar books. Barnett described the creation of the book as a joint venture. “My brother and I contributed the money to the museum and archives, which then allowed us to use their name, resources, and to co-publish this,” she said. “I’d like to see the Wosk, Groberman and Waterman families – all large, extended families with deep roots in Vancouver – do a book like this.”
The launch of Don’t Break the Chain is being celebrated at a hosted brunch at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver on April 2, 11 a.m. If you are interested in attending, call the museum 604-257-5199.
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.
Shirley Barnett, a longtime community activist and philanthropist, is to be honored by the Jewish National Fund at its annual Negev Dinner April 10.
“The Jewish National Fund is a strong organization that is entering a new stage of many joint ventures and many new directions and worthy of support,” said Barnett, who selected as the recipient project of the event a shelter for women and children fleeing domestic violence.
Jewish National Fund, Pacific Region, is collaborating with No to Violence Against Women, which was established in 1978 by Israel Prize laureate Ruth Rasnic, who is scheduled to be in Vancouver for the event.
The goal is to raise $1.5 million for the project, which will shelter 10 to 12 families at a time and provide victims of domestic violence with a safe environment from which they can start over. Staff and volunteers of the organization work with families to access therapy, secure income and new housing.
As many as 65% to 70% of women and children fleeing domestic abuse in Israel cannot access shelters due to lack of availability. Moreover, the shelters run by No to Violence Against Women are the only ones open to people of all religions and denominations, said Barnett.
The shelter, in Rishon Le Zion near Tel Aviv, will be named the Vancouver Shelter.
The cause is in line with Barnett’s lifetime work.
“I was involved in the women’s movement going way back to the ’60s,” she told the Independent. “I was on the board of directors of the Vancouver Status of Women in the ‘60s. I’ve always been aware of the lack of empowerment in women and the lack of women seeing their potential to be strong. And, when you’re abused, you need to develop the strength to be more resilient.”
Barnett said she knew she wanted to be a social worker from age 12. While at the University of British Columbia, she had the opportunity to work as a women’s matron at Oakalla prison in Burnaby.
“I was always interested in institutional work, I don’t know why,” she said. “I worked there for about half a year and then I did my fieldwork in juvenile probation.” She worked in other prison settings, as well as with people with addictions.
“More recently, I was on the board of the Odd Squad Society,” she said. “It’s a group of police officers who do gang prevention work in their off-hours.”
She also helped found Food Runners, now part of the Vancouver Food Bank. It is a program in which a refrigerated truck picks up surplus food from hotels and restaurants and delivers it to organizations that feed people.
After graduating with a bachelor of social work degree, Barnett worked for a federal agency setting up affirmative action projects for women and resettlement projects for Ugandan refugees.
As a volunteer, she served on the board of directors of the Jewish Family Service Agency for 12 years, including four as president. She also spent two years as the agency’s acting executive director. During that time, she founded the Hebrew Free Loan Association, which now holds more than $1 million in assets and has provided thousands of loans to people in need.
Barnett has also co-chaired campaigns for the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver (JCCGV) and the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia (JMABC). She was the first president of Shalva, a facility in Israel for special needs children. She established a garden in Fir Square at B.C. Women’s Hospital and a unit for addicted mothers and their infants, a peer-to-peer coaching program at the UBC Counseling Centre, a pilot project at Vancouver Hospital for early intervention for depression in women, and led the restoration of the old Jewish Cemetery at Mountain View. She has advised the Aboriginal Mother Centre and currently serves on the faculty of arts advisory committee to the dean of arts at UBC, on the board of directors of the JMABC and on the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery board, and she is an honorary director of the Hebrew Free Loan Association.
With her brother, Philip Dayson, she administers the Ben and Esther Dayson Charitable Foundation, which provides philanthropic funds to local Jewish and other community causes, particularly in the area of non-market housing and rental subsidies for members of the Jewish community.
Barnett said that the shelter project in Israel is especially meaningful because it is supported by the JNF, a charity that her family has always supported.
“We grew up with the JNF in our house,” she said.
In addition to the latest honor from the JNF, Barnett’s contributions to the community have been recognized by the JCCGV, N’Shei Chabad and Jewish Women International, and she received the Gemilut Chasadim award from the International Association of Hebrew Free Loans.
The sold-out Negev Dinner takes place at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Mayor Malcolm Brodie, left, and Philip Dayson listen as Shirley Barnett addresses the 50-plus people who attended the Nov. 18 event at Richmond Public Library that honored the Dayson family. (photo from Richmond Public Library)
On Nov. 18, the Richmond Public Library board fêted the Dayson family and the Ben and Esther Dayson Charitable Foundation at a reception attended by more than 50 people, including Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, councilors Chak Au and Alexa Loo, and distinguished guests from the Jewish community.
“It was a wonderful opportunity for people to come and celebrate the Dayson family and their outstanding generosity to the community, while also having a chance to browse the popular and growing Dayson Collection,” said library communications officer Shelley Civkin.
The Ben and Esther Dayson Judaica Collection started in 2003, when the Dayson family donated their personal Judaica collection to the library, and gave $50,000 to the Richmond Public Library Endowment Fund held by the Richmond Community Foundation. In 2004, the Ben and Esther Dayson Judaica Collection was launched to the public and, since then, the Dayson family and their charitable foundation have donated a total of $110,000 to the library. The Dayson Collection has grown to include more than 1,800 books and DVDs for adults and kids.
Hebrew Free Loan Association president Michelle Dodek, second from the right, with, left to right, past association presidents Errol Lipschitz, Diane Friedman and Mannie Druker. (photo by Dan Poh)
One hundred years of anything in Vancouver is fairly unusual. On May 7 at the newly rebuilt Beth Israel, the Vancouver Hebrew Free Loan Association celebrated the remarkable milestone of 100 years since it was originally founded.
In January 1915, the year that the Vancouver Millionaires won the Stanley Cup, a group of Jews gathered for the first meeting of the Vancouver HFLA. Designed to give interest-free loans to Jewish people starting out in the community, the association played an integral part in helping establish many early Jewish businesses and getting people settled here.
The HFLA Centennial Celebration reflected its grassroots beginning with a relaxed, different kind of evening. Casual picnic-chic décor and a picnic-style menu went with the fact that the event was held on Lag b’Omer. Greeting the guests were actors and musicians from the volunteer troupe Kol Halev. They were dressed in period costume and introduced themselves in character, sharing “their personal stories” as the founders of Jewish lending in Vancouver.
These actors provided an interactive beginning to an evening that was designed to raise the profile of HFLA. Through a multi-media approach, the event managed to educate those in attendance about the valuable role that interest-free loans play in Vancouver’s Jewish community.
The program began with a short d’var Torah by Beth Israel Rabbi Jonathan Infeld, touching on the relationship between Lag b’Omer and interest-free lending. HFLA president Michelle Dodek followed the rabbi’s comments by explaining the three objectives of the event: to raise awareness in the community by sharing what HFLA does, to honor the donors and board members who have made the work of the organization possible, and to look to the future. She recognized the multi-generational links of those in attendance, including the remarkable fourth-generation connection of the three Krell sisters (Shoshana Lewis, Simone Kallner and Michaela Singerman), whose great-grandfather, David Davis, was a contributor to the original Vancouver HFLA kitty in 1915 and served as a trustee in 1931. Their grandfather, Charles Davis, was one of the founders of the re-creation of the organization in 1979.
Dodek’s speech was followed by a short video featuring two former borrowers, Mihael Mamychshvili, a prominent shiatsu therapist and Barbi Braude, a graphic designer. Joe Segal and Shirley Barnett shared their historical perspectives and goals for the organization.
Guests then heard from four borrowers whose lives were changed by the loans they received from HFLA. Successful entrepreneurs Zach Berman and Ryan Slater began their business, the Juice Truck, with help from HFLA. Val Lev Dolgin used an education loan to earn her master’s in counseling psychology; she now helps children who have survived physical and sexual abuse. George Medvedev, a neurologist, shared how he and his wife, a hematologist, used a loan to help them when they first arrived in Canada from the USSR almost 20 years ago.
Another story was read by a volunteer to respect the anonymity of the borrower because of the sensitive nature of her situation, while the story of former borrower Maxim Fomitchev was shared by his friend, Tobi Lennet. Briefly, Fomitchev, a deaf mime, while touring with his troupe of mime artists from the USSR in 1991, defected, accompanied by his performing partner. The two found themselves volunteering for Jewish Family Service Agency and, within two years, Fomitchev borrowed money for a car to get from one mime gig to another. He has since achieved one of the pinnacles of success for a mime – he is the head clown in Cirque de Soleil’s Las Vegas show, Zarkana.
The evening’s program ended with the educational element of the night, the stories of four “typical” borrowers: parents of a child needing counseling, a retired woman needing dental work, someone between jobs in a stressful situation and parents borrowing to finance a modest bar mitzvah. All of these stories served to drive home the significance of HFLA.
The HFLA Centennial Celebration was a chance to celebrate a significant milestone in the community, raise awareness of an organization that is “the best kept secret” in Vancouver while recognizing donors and volunteers who make it all happen. The message for the future is that HFLA is looking for borrowers. For more information on how to apply for a loan, to watch the HFLA video or to find out about how the organization works, check out its newly revamped website at hfla.ca.
Editorial in the Jewish Independent’s predecessor, the Jewish Western Bulletin, March 20, 1931.
The JI spoke with four friends of the newspaper from longtime Vancouver Jewish community families about the value and future of a Jewish community newspaper: Gary Averbach, Shirley Barnett, Bernie Simpson and Yosef Wosk. We asked each the same four questions and they replied by email. Their responses are printed below.
GARY AVERBACH
1. Is it important to have a Jewish community newspaper? If so, what are some of the reasons?
It’s difficult to answer this question because it seems so obvious that having a community newspaper is vitally important. We need a forum and a notice board for opinions and events in the community and, if there was not a publication dedicated to providing that forum and bulletin board, our community would suffer an irreplaceable loss.
2. What do you think the JI/JWB specifically has contributed (contributes) to the community?
For the most part, the JI/JWB has always been a bulletin board for the Jewish community, informing us about major – and minor – events and happenings. Whether they be reports on events that have occurred in the community – including the greater Canadian and worldwide Jewish community – or just informing us of births and deaths, b’nai mitzvahs and weddings, or local upcoming happenings. If not the JI/JWB, where would this come from?
3. In what ways, if any, is having a print version of value, versus only having an online publication?
For the next decade at least there will be a demand – albeit likely a decreasing one – for a printed version of the JI. That isn’t so much to provide for the very few people who still don’t or can’t use a computer, but to those of us who still prefer to hold a newspaper in their hands
4. Do you think that a Jewish community paper will be relevant for your grandkids’ kids?
I don’t even know what my grandchildren will be using to access their news in 10 years’ time, never mind what my great-grandchildren will prefer. But I’m fairly certain it won’t be print media as we now understand it. However, that in no way diminishes the need for a community forum and bulletin board giving a Jewish viewpoint on matters of local, national and international events – specifically items that directly involve Jews and, of course, Israel. So, whether it’s an online version, as we now know it, or some further refinement that we can barely imagine now, there will still be a need to inform our local Jewish community by the JI or some similar outlet.
SHIRLEY BARNETT
1. Is it important to have a Jewish community newspaper? If so, what are some of the reasons?
Yes, for sure. I would like more reporting of issues in the community rather than just of events.
2. What do you think the JI/JWB specifically has contributed (contributes) to the community?
Exactly that – a sense of community and interaction.
3. In what ways, if any, is having a print version of value, versus only having an online publication?
For me, for sure. I like to read it over a morning coffee, and still cut and clip.
4. Do you think that a Jewish community paper will be relevant for your grandkids’ kids?
Probably not.
BERNIE SIMPSON
1. Is it important to have a Jewish community newspaper? If so, what are some of the reasons?
It is extremely important for the Jewish community, which is spread throughout the province, particularly the Lower Mainland, to have a Jewish community newspaper. There is no question that the viability of printed media has been affected by easy access to online papers, however, it is noted that just about every ethnic community in British Columbia still has printed media, which is read primarily by the older generation.
For example, in the Indo-Canadian community there are at least one dozen papers, half of which are in Punjabi. However, two of the most prominent papers, the Voice and the Link, have been in existence for more than 30 years, and are able to attract substantial advertising and are thriving within the community.
The Korean community has at least six papers, primarily in Korean. The Vietnamese community has at least four papers. The Chinese community has a countless number of newspapers, which attracts readers from the various regions from where the Chinese community has come, including Taiwan, Mainland China and Hong Kong.
Admittedly, however, those communities have far more significant numbers than the Vancouver Jewish community, and that may be the reason why those papers are more economically viable.
The Jewish community newspaper, by definition, helps promote a community by giving news as to various events that are happening, not only in Vancouver but in outlying areas.
It is also a vehicle to announce important fundraising activities and to give proper recognition to those who are honored in the community.
The reporting of international news particularly as it relates to Israel is important, and also the editorial content. I believe that we are fortunate in having editorial content that is objective. The letters to the editor, by and large, are articulate and represent, on occasion, a different view than the mainstream Jewish community may have, particularly with regards to Israel, and this view should be welcomed as it serves as a catalyst for thoughtful thinking on sensitive subjects.
The stature of the Jewish community would be diminished considerably in the eyes of the non-Jewish community if there was not a Jewish community paper. There is still the view that the Jewish community is well organized, speaks with one voice on contentious issues, is socially active in liberal causes and even responds to tragedies throughout the world, and I would think that the image of the community will be tarnished considerably if a community paper did not exist.
2. What do you think the JI/JWB specifically has contributed (contributes) to the community?
To a certain extent this question is partially answered by my response to Question 1.
I believe that this paper helps keep the community focused and together, and it takes into consideration all aspects of the political spectrum as it relates to the three levels of government and objectively reports what is happening in Israel.
We are indeed fortunate to have the publisher (working with various editors), who is an outstanding journalist as is evident by the many awards that the Jewish Independent has won.
If it would happen in the future that the Jewish Independent did not exist, then that void very well could be filled with a community publication that lacks the objectivity that the present Jewish Independent has. For a brief period of time several years ago, such a paper did exist, and it was quite clear what the agenda of that paper was. In the Jewish Independent’s small way, it does help the debate with regards to the peace process in Israel between the Israelis and the Palestinians and the concept of a two-state solution.
3. In what ways, if any, is having a print version of value, versus only having an online publication?
I think, at this point, the majority of the readership are still of the generation where they don’t naturally gravitate every day to their computer or their mobile to see what news comes out this week in the Jewish Independent.
Longtime members of the community have had ingrained in them that towards the end of the week, the Jewish Independent will arrive. It often stays around the house until the next edition. I would think also that it would be harder to get advertising revenue if you’re only online.
4. Do you think that a Jewish community paper will be relevant for your grandkids’ kids?
Frankly, I’m not terribly concerned about the answer to that question, nor is it really relevant to the present situation. I am a senior member of the Jewish community now; my grandchildren are 6, 3, 2 and 1. It’s impossible for me, who on my best of days has difficulty directing my attention to the immediate past, to focus on whether the paper will be relevant for my grandkids’ kids, which would be around 30 years in the future.
I don’t think that we should be too concerned about that question, but what we should be concerned about is how we can make the Jewish Independent more economically viable.
One obvious answer is an increase in subscriptions. Perhaps, an active volunteer campaign could be conducted by members of the community to try to sign up more subscribers. This will make it easier to get advertising revenue.
It may be that there should be “an advisory board” set up to advise the present publisher as to how to make the paper more attractive to advertisers and to readers.
There is a great deal of talent within the Jewish community (well-known reporters who are still active, retired reporters with national papers, etc.); this is a resource that perhaps should be called upon.
Also, an advisory committee of individuals – businesspeople – can lend help financially, if the situation arises.
RABBI DR. YOSEF WOSK
1. Is it important to have a Jewish community newspaper? If so, what are some of the reasons?
Yes, I feel it is important to have a community newspaper. It helps to gather and focus information about the extended family that is the community. It covers diverse topics, such as social events, politics, education, births and deaths, special interest groups, as well as emotional and intellectual concerns.
2. What do you think the JI/JWB specifically has contributed (contributes) to the community?
The newspaper has tried to be a neutral newsgathering and dissemination site. It carries articles that represent the full spectrum of the community, thereby fostering information and conversation.
3. In what ways, if any, is having a print version of value, versus only having an online publication?
The value of a print edition is that it can be read on Shabbat, it is easily accessible to everyone, including technophobes. It is always open and easy to read. Articles can be cut out and distributed. Having a hard copy on your desk or table gives it an immediate physical presence and material voice. In addition, a newspaper or magazine laying around in a public common area or even in a private home will attract readers who may not open an electronic device and search for a particular media address. The electronic edition may provide a number of supplementary links and also be available through a quick search, but it does not negate the value of a printed edition.
4. Do you think that a Jewish community paper will be relevant for your grandkids’ kids?
Who knows? However, newsgathering and dissemination in one form or another has always been of interest to the human condition and, so, I project that a community newspaper will still maintain its value in the future.
Fifth- and sixth-generation descendants prepare to enter the gates of the newly restored Jewish Cemetery at Mountain View. (photo by Robert Albanese Photography)
Several generations of Jewish life in Vancouver were represented Sunday afternoon at the rededication of the Jewish cemetery section at Mountain View Cemetery.
The historic burial site was first consecrated in 1892. In recent years, the site had deteriorated. There were more than 150 unmarked graves, many neglected headstones, pathways had eroded, hedges overgrown and the entryway had deteriorated.
Under cloudless skies, young children, all born more than a century after the first burial in the Jewish cemetery, assembled at the new entryway, joined by other generations of families with ancestors buried there, to officially open the gates of the rededicated cemetery.
The project, which took less than three years, was undertaken by a team of volunteers led by Shirley Barnett and assisted by the civic officials who run the cemetery, including cemetery manager Glen Hodges, with the support of the city, which owns Mountain View Cemetery.
Jack Kowarsky, chair of the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery board, noted that the City of Vancouver had given the Jewish community this parcel of land 123 years ago, before which Jewish bodies had been shipped to the nearest consecrated Jewish cemetery, which was across the water in Victoria.
The 450 Jews interred at Mountain View, Kowarsky said, represent the forefathers of the current community.
Raymond Louie, Vancouver city councilor and acting mayor, called the rededication an important day for the Jewish community but also for the City of Vancouver. He credited Barnett, Arnold Silber and Herb Silber for the progress made during two and a half years of work, and he reflected on Mayor David Oppenheimer, the city’s first Jewish mayor, who was pivotal to the creation of the Jewish part of Mountain View.
Louie said the day was an opportunity for Vancouverites to remember ancestors and celebrate our multicultural heritage.
Barnett, who was presented with a book documenting the work that took place, deflected attention to others in the audience, noting that a single individual – Cyril Leonoff – led the community’s fight in the late 1960s, when the city attempted to remove all upright headstones and replace them with flat ones to make maintenance easier.
Barnett expressed gratitude for the happy coincidence that both Bill Pechet, a world leader in cemetery design, and Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, a globally recognized landscape architect, are both Vancouverites.
J.B. Newall Memorials, a memorial and monument company that is also a preeminent headstone restoration company, Barnett said, generously donated a headstone for the previously unmarked 1892 gravesite of the first interment in the cemetery, as well as refurbishing many headstones.
Arnold Silber brought laughs to the audience when he referenced Barnett’s reputation for getting things done. He reflected on the phone call from Barnett three years earlier asking him what should be done about the poor state of the cemetery where her grandfather is buried.
Silber told Barnett that “we would do everything she wanted – as long as she would be in charge.”
Turning to Barnett, Silber said: “Your dreams always become a reality.”
Silber stressed that the Jewish cemetery at Mountain View has an inclusive mandate that “any Jew, regardless of their affiliation, can be buried here at Mountain View.” He added that, now that the renovation and rededication have taken place, funds are being raised for perpetual maintenance and protection of the site.
“All generations to come will understand the value of this great Jewish cemetery,” he said.
With the renovation, several new plots have become available.
Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt and Cantor Yaacov Orzech provided an indication of what the original dedication ceremony might have been like in 1892. At the time, the rabbi said, those assembled would have proceeded seven times around the cemetery as part of the consecration process but, he noted, the size of the assembled people Sunday did not permit such a procession.
The cantor offered some of the prayers that would have been included in that ceremony 123 years ago, including the prayer accompanying a casket to the gravesite.
Rosenblatt noted that the rededication was taking place on Pesach Sheini, a day specifically created, according to rabbinical interpretation, so that those who contract ritual impurity by caring for the deceased should be able to nevertheless celebrate the joy of Passover.
Rev. Joseph Marciano offered the prayer traditionally spoken when leaving a cemetery.
After the generations of descendants of those interred in the burial ground passed through the gates, followed by scores of rabbis, cantors, city councilors, an MP and community leaders, two headstone unveilings took place, one for “Baby Girl Zlotnick,” who died in 1920, and another for Otto Bond, the previously unmarked grave of the first individual interred there.
Left to right: Glen Hodges, manager, Mountain View Cemetery; Damian Koo, City of Vancouver legal services; Francie Connell, director, City of Vancouver legal services; Dr. Penny Ballem, city manager; Shirley Barnett, chair, MVJCRP committee; and Herb Silber, Schara Tzedeck Cemetery board. (photo from Mountain View Jewish Cemetery Restoration Project)
“Sometimes it takes awhile,” said Shirley Barnett, chair of the Mountain View Jewish Cemetery Restoration Project. But generally not 124 years! In 1891, Vancouver mayor David Oppenheimer, member of a prominent pioneer Jewish family, was approached by the growing Vancouver Jewish community to reserve a section within the city-owned Mountain View Cemetery to be consecrated and used exclusively for Jewish burials. At the time, when a Jewish person died, they were sent to Victoria, where the community had already established a cemetery.
Oppenheimer knew the small Jewish community of Vancouver well. The Gintzburgers, Weavers, Fleishmans, Golds and Goldblooms traveled in the same circles as the Oppenheimers. They had all emigrated from Western Europe, some via the United States, around the same time and all had prospered. Perhaps, as Barnett speculates, “they had even helped to get Mayor Oppenheimer elected.”
Oppenheimer was born in Germany in 1834, one of 10 children. He emigrated to New Orleans in 1848 with his sister and four of his brothers. Becoming a bookkeeper, and later a trader in the California gold rush, the Oppenheimers relocated to Sacramento, where David invested in real estate, and married his first wife Sara in 1857. After the gold rush, the Oppenheimer brothers moved to Victoria, establishing stores throughout British Columbia, catering to prospectors and settlers. Also building a real estate portfolio, they expanded their interests in Vancouver.
Although Malcolm MacLean was the first mayor of Vancouver, it was Oppenheimer who is remembered as the “Father of Vancouver.” In his four terms as mayor, from 1888-1891, he implemented many basic civic services: fire department, streetcars, water supply, utilities, schools and parks. He was also a philanthropist, a founding member of the YMCA, Vancouver Board of Trade, Vancouver Club and many charities.
Establishing a Jewish cemetery at Mountain View in 1892 was one of his many accomplishments. Without minutes of meetings or other documentation, however, the only evidence of this was a number of articles published over the years, and the records of burials.
In 2015, 124 years later, the City of Vancouver recognized the historical establishment of the Jewish section at Mountain View and, based on this, an oversight agreement with Schara Tzedeck Cemetery board was signed. The agreement confirms that the cemetery board has the right to oversee all interment and funeral services within that Jewish section.
Although Oppenheimer himself was buried in New York, many of his colleagues were laid to rest at Mountain View. Over the past two years, a restoration of this old cemetery been undertaken. Now complete, the rededication will take place on Sunday, May 3, at 1:15 p.m.
Forty-three years after it was dismantled, the Jewish section of Mountain View Cemetery has an arch once more. (photo from MVRP)
A replication of the historic archway for the Jewish section at Mountain View Cemetery went up on Nov. 20, 43 years after the original had been dismantled.
The cemetery, consecrated in 1892, is the only Jewish cemetery in Vancouver. Under the leadership of Shirley Barnett, chair of the Mountain View Restoration Project, it is being restored to reflect its historic significance. Other amenities include a kohanim bench outside the cemetery, two benches inside the cemetery, washing and pebble basins, new pedestrian gates and garden walls. More than 350 headstones are being cleaned and stabilized, and small headstones will be laid for 80 babies buried there.
For more information about the cemetery or the restoration project, contact, Myra Adirim, project administrator, at [email protected].
Sarah Haniford’s granddaughter, Alice Campbell, with Schara Tzedeck Synagogue Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt at the unveiling of Sarah’s headstone. (photo from Jewish Cemetery at Mountain View Restoration Project)
“You live as long as you are remembered.” – Russian Proverb
Fifty people gathered together on Aug. 3 to remember and honor the life of Sarah Goldberg-Haniford at the Jewish Cemetery at Mountain View. As Alice Campbell, Sarah’s granddaughter, said in her opening remarks to the family and friends there for the unveiling of the headstone, “a bridge to the past is a pathway to the future.”
Campbell shared some of the highlights of her grandmother’s life, which began with her birth in 1878 in Glasgow, subsequent marriage in 1890 to Louis Haniford (Ljeb Hanoft) from Poland, journey to Winnipeg in 1902, then to a farm near Hanna, Alta., in 1907.
Life was very hard for Sarah and Louis, with the harsh climate and work on the farm, to which they were far from accustomed, having been in the watch-making business up until the move. In 1922, Sarah, who had by then given birth to nine children, was in very poor health, and Louis, not knowing what else to do to help her, sent her to St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. Unfortunately, her health deteriorated and she passed away here, all alone, on Oct. 6, 1922.
As Jewish custom dictated, Sarah was buried in the Jewish Cemetery at Mountain View. After her death, according to Sarah’s wishes, Louis moved his family of the seven surviving children away from the farm, to the town of Hanna. With Sarah’s passing, Judaism disappeared from the Haniford family until October 2012, 90 years later, when Campbell discovered through genealogical research that Sarah was buried at Mountain View Cemetery. Beryl and Christi Cooke, Sarah’s granddaughter who lives in Kelowna and great-granddaughter who lives in Vancouver, went to the cemetery for the first time.
The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Shirley Barnett had just embarked on her project to restore the Jewish Cemetery at Mountain View and their paths collided. In October 2013, along with 146 other unmarked burials, Sarah’s life and death were recognized, with the placing of a temporary marker as the first step in restoring the Jewish cemetery to its former significance in the community. With this mitzvah, the plan to place a permanent monument was born.
Among those attending the Aug. 3 ceremony were 25 family members, including grandchildren and great-grandchildren, none of whom had ever known Sarah – and many of whom had not seen each other in at least 15 years. Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt and Rev. Joseph Marciano, along with members of the Vancouver Jewish community, were witness to the unveiling of Sarah’s headstone. Sarah brought everyone together and, in doing so, helped rekindle her family’s connections to each other and to Judaism.