Author:

Help for substance abusers

Rebecca Denham, director of services for Jewish Addiction Community Service of Vancouver. (photo by Wendy Oberlander)

The first comprehensive effort to reach Jewish individuals suffering from addictions launched this month in Vancouver when the Jewish Addiction Community Service of Vancouver came into being. Its goal is to approach substance abuse issues – specifically alcohol and drugs – within a Jewish context.

The first two services being offered by JACS Vancouver are a support group for families living with substance abuse and navigational support, to help direct individuals and families to the right channels in the support system, whether they want access to recovery programs, counseling or other resources. But those services will expand rapidly to include community education and awareness building.

“We want to teach people how to identify when someone is in trouble with substance abuse, and to get them to the right services,” said Rebecca Denham, director of services for JACS, who will be providing assistance from an office at JHub in Richmond (8171 Cook Rd., Suite 212).

Denham is planning to do this outreach at schools, synagogues and camps by hosting events that promote awareness. “We want to start conversations” she said, “because that’s where it has to begin: people talking about addiction, where they’re seeing it and how substances are being used and abused.”

Calls for assistance are beginning to come in as Denham reaches out to Lower Mainland addiction service providers, psychologists and counselors to inform them that JACS exists and the kind of support it offers.

“We want to let people in the Jewish community know that there will be services that incorporate their traditions and values, and acknowledge that some of their circumstances may be unique,” she explained. If someone needs to enter a treatment facility, JACS would like to ensure they have access to kosher food and rabbinical support, if they want it. When they’re exiting such facilities, JACS can offer help on moving back to the community safely, and on how to attend Jewish events that may incorporate alcohol, for example.

Denham, an Ottawa native with 15 years’ experience in mental health, addiction and youth at risk, moved to Vancouver in 2010 and worked with Jewish Family Service Agency in its mental health outreach program. She is available to take calls for appointments Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

JACS Vancouver will offer some of the programs provided by JACS Toronto, founded some 15 years ago. There are other JACS programs in cities including Winnipeg, Seattle and Chicago, and Denham is looking forward to partnering with Jewish services across North America and emulating some of their successful programs.

JACS Vancouver’s funders include the Jewish Community Foundation, the Betty Averbach Foundation, the Diamond Foundation, the Kahn Foundation, the Al Roadburg Foundation and the Snider Foundation, as well as private donors. For more information, call 778-882-2994 or email [email protected].

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

Alcohol use in Canada – data from Health Canada

The following are excerpts on alcohol use from the Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey, which was an annual general population survey of alcohol and illicit drug use among Canadians aged 15 years and older that ran from 2008 through 2012. There is much more information contained in this survey, which can be accessed at hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/drugs-drogues/stat/_2012/summary-sommaire-eng.php. The Independent was referred to it by Rebecca Denham, director of services for Jewish Addiction Community Service of Vancouver.

In 2012, 78.4% of Canadians reported drinking alcohol in the past year. Similar to previous years, in 2012, a higher percentage of males than females reported past-year alcohol use (82.7% versus 74.4%, respectively) while the prevalence of past-year drinking among adults aged 25 years and older (80%) was higher than among youth (70%).

In November 2011, the Canadian federal, provincial and territorial health ministers received Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines, which consist of five guidelines and a series of tips. Low-risk drinking guideline 1 (chronic) is defined as people who drink “no more than 10 drinks a week for women, with no more than two drinks a day most days and 15 drinks a week for men, with no more than three drinks a day most days. Plan non-drinking days every week to avoid developing a habit.” Low-risk drinking guideline 2 (acute) is defined as those who drink “no more than three drinks (for women) or four drinks (for men) on any single occasion. Plan to drink in a safe environment. Stay within the weekly limits outlined [in guideline 1].”

In 2012, among people who consumed alcohol in the past 12 months, 18.6% (representing 14.4% of the total population) exceeded guideline 1 for chronic effects and 12.8% (9.9% of the total population) exceeded guideline 2 for acute effects. A higher percentage of males than females drank in patterns that exceeded both guidelines.

The guidelines were exceeded by youth aged 15 to 24 years at higher rates than among adults aged 25 years and older. One in four (24.4%) youth drinkers versus 17.6% of adult drinkers exceeded the guideline for chronic risk, while the acute-risk guideline was exceeded by 17.9% of youth drinkers and 11.9% of adult drinkers.

In 2012, for the first time, CADUMS asked about four harms people may have experienced in the past 12 months due to someone else’s alcohol use. Types of harm include being verbally abused, feeling threatened, being emotionally hurt or neglected and being physically hurt. One in seven (14.2%) Canadians aged 15 years and older experienced at least one of these harms as a result of another person’s drinking. Verbal abuse was the harm reported by the largest percentage of Canadians (8.9%), followed by being emotionally hurt or neglected (7.1%) and feeling threatened (6.3%), while being physically hurt was experienced by 2.2%.

A coming-of-age story

Nolan Fahey plays the title character in Arts Club’s Billy Elliot. (photo by David Cooper)

There are no big surprises in Billy Elliot, no bizarre twists or jaw-dropping turns of events, no mistaken identities or star-crossed lovers. But what you do get is class struggle, a feel-good story and exceptional singing, dancing and acting all with high-octane energy from start to finish.

Given that the musical is based on the 2000 movie of the same name, most people will already know the story. But even if you haven’t seen the film, you’ll likely figure out beforehand that Billy Elliot traces a coming-of-age-dusting-off-the-dirt-of-this-town tale of a young boy wanting to be a dancer. He sees an audition in London as a way out of the coal-mining misery that has made up the lives of his father and brother.

Living in England’s County Durham, 11-year-old Billy stumbles across a ballet class when he’s supposed to be taking boxing lessons. The 50p his father gives him to learn jabs and upper cuts goes instead to Mrs. Wilkinson to teach him pliés and pirouettes.

Meanwhile, his father, brother and neighbors, part of the National Union of Mine Workers, are struggling to make ends meet as they head out on strike protesting the closure of the coal mines during Margaret Thatcher’s reign in the 1980s.

The contrast of the gruff, angry, mob-like miners, the police at the picket lines and the young girls and Billy in their dance outfits illustrates how far apart their worlds are. One of the best dance numbers brings these three groups together to sing “Solidarity,” with the ballet dancers flitting in between the rows of men as they stomp about the stage.

As Billy moves between these two worlds, he has to conceal his desire for dance, for fear of reprisals and embarrassment.

photo - Warren Kimmel, left, Nolan Fahey and Caitriona Murphy in Billy Elliot
Warren Kimmel, left, Nolan Fahey and Caitriona Murphy in Billy Elliot. (photo by David Cooper)

When Billy’s father – played by Jewish community member Warren Kimmel – finds out where his son has been spending his afternoons (and his money), he’s furious. Even though Billy’s teacher thinks her young student has a chance to get into the Royal Ballet School, Billy’s family has other plans.

In the end, Billy’s dad has to choose between earning money as a scab in order to send Billy to his audition, or support his brothers on the picket line.

Throughout the play, the scenes shift between the lighthearted dancing and the sombre mood in Billy’s home and on the picket line. With Kimmel front and centre as Billy’s father, his despondent singing is evocative of his performance of the policeman Javert in Les Misérables last year and, indeed, the storyline – and songs – of class struggle in Billy is reminiscent of the same in Les Mis.

On the dancing side, Billy has touches of the studio work and audition of Flashdance and the off-the-wall anger dancing of Footloose, while tap-dancing men in drag bring a bit of humor to the show.

All in all this play flies by. The level of performance of Nolan Fahey as Billy, Caitriona Murphy as the dance teacher Mrs. Wilkinson and Kimmel as the dad, along with a strong cast that can shuffle and slide as well as they croon, makes this a standout production.

Billy Elliot – with music by Elton John and lyrics by Lee Hall – debuted in London’s West End in 2005, garnering critical acclaim, winning four Laurence Olivier Awards in London, followed by 10 Tony Awards in New York.

The work is not John’s first foray into musical theatre. In the 1990s, he and Tim Rice collaborated to produce the soundtrack for The Lion King, for which they won Academy and Tony awards, including best musical. Then, in 2000, they collaborated on Aida, which won them each a Grammy.

Billy Elliot runs at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage until July 10. Tickets can be purchased from artsclub.com. Parents wanting to take their kids should note that the show includes a lot of swearing.

Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer and media trainer in Vancouver. Her consulting work can be seen at phase2coaching.com.

The stories of nine orphans

The Open Hearts, Closed Doors exhibit combines placards of mixed visual and textual material. (photo from Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre)

“One out of every 122 people alive currently is displaced. That means 60 million people,” says Phillipa Friedland, education coordinator at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.

Friedland is explaining the idea behind the current exhibit at the VHEC, Open Hearts, Closed Doors: The War Orphans Project, which was originally mounted in 1997. According to the centre’s website, it is “being re-presented to provide opportunities for visitors to engage with Canadian immigration policies from a historical perspective, using case studies of Holocaust survivors from the local community.”

The exhibit – which runs to June 30 – serves as a testament and warning about the vulnerability of children in times of communal violence. It is also a memorial to the incredible resilience of so many of survivors. The words of survivor Regina Feldman are written above one of the displays: “People were saying that we were free. I didn’t know what freedom meant. Where do you go, what do you do, who will take you? I was 13 years old.”

photo - Beautifully done recreations of photo albums tell the stories of the survivors featured
Beautifully done recreations of photo albums tell the stories of the survivors featured. (photo from Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre)

Open Hearts, Closed Doors reports the staggering statistic that of the 1.6 million Jewish children in Europe in 1938, only 100,000 survived. The exhibit combines general education about those who survived as orphans with a presentation of the experiences of nine war orphans – Esther Brandt, Marie Rozen Doduck, David Ehrlich, Regina Feldman, Bill Gluck, Celina Lieberman, Leo Lowy, Leslie Spiro and Robbie Waisman – who were among the 1,123 granted permission to enter Canada in 1947.

Permission for the orphans to come to Canada came through a special Order in Council, which bypassed Canada’s racist immigration policies of the time. These restrictive policies had been developed and enforced by then-director of Canada’s Immigration Branch Frederick Charles Blair. Canada had the worst record among destination countries for Jewish refugees: only 5,000 Jews were accepted as refugees between 1933 and 1939. Between 1945 and 1948, among the 65,000 refugees allowed into Canada, only 8,000 were Jews. Chaim Weizmann, Israel’s first president, remarked in 1938, “The world seemed divided into two parts: those places where the Jews could not live and those where they could not enter.”

The 1,123 orphans of 1947 were allowed into the country on the condition that Canadian Jews take full responsibility for them. Most of the orphans came through the port of Halifax at Pier 21 and boarded trains for 38 communities across the country. The majority of the orphans, more than 790 of them, settled in Montreal and Toronto; 38 settled in British Columbia, four of whom are still alive.

Most foster families were hoping for young children, preferably girls, but the majority of those who had managed to survive were older boys: 70% were adolescent boys and only 37 of the children were under 10 years of age. The orphans came from 15 different European countries, 783 from concentration camps and 229 who survived in hiding. The resettlement project was a massive undertaking practically and psychologically, for both the orphans and their new families. The success of that undertaking can be seen in the amazing lives that so many of the refugees lived.

“This entire exhibit is about resilience,” said Friedland. In the 1950s, psychiatrists who interviewed the surviving orphans offered a bleak prognosis: these were damaged people, their ability to adapt would be limited and they would likely not live long lives. Yet, as they aged, juvenile delinquency was practically nonexistent among them. Multilingual, they quickly picked up English. As the VHEC exhibit states, “Many became not only productive members of the community but its pillars.”

Open Hearts, Closed Doors combines placards of visual and textual material with beautifully done recreations of photo albums telling the stories of the nine survivors featured. A lone glass case contains a single child’s shoe taken from an innocent sent to the gas chambers.

True to its inspiration, the exhibit does not limit its focus to the past but looks to the present and future as well. A map on one wall of the exhibit shows regions throughout the world most at risk of genocide according to the Early Warning Project. These include Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and others.

Open Hearts, Closed Doors perfectly fulfils the mandate of a Holocaust exhibit: it remembers the horrors and heroism of the Shoah while pointing us towards the need to protect the vulnerable everywhere.

Matthew Gindin is a Vancouver freelance writer and journalist. He blogs on spirituality and social justice at seeking her voice (hashkata.com) and has been published in the Forward, Tikkun, Elephant Journal and elsewhere.

Be prepared to speak up

On Sunday, it appeared that Norbert Hofer had been elected president of Austria. By Monday, when absentee ballots were counted, he had lost by a mere 31,000 votes out of 4.6 million. The election captured worldwide attention because Hofer represents the Austrian Freedom Party, one of a string of extreme-right parties catching fire across Europe.

Hofer’s defeat was a relief to many, including Jewish organizations, but the narrowness of it is being declared a wake-up call. It wouldn’t be the first such warning. There have been multiple close calls, going as far back as 2002, when Jean-Marie Le Pen, the antisemitic founder of France’s Front National, made it to the presidential runoff. But never has any far-right figure come as close as Hofer to becoming head of state of a European country.

Hofer’s campaign of anxiety and scapegoating used Middle East immigration and associated (and unassociated) crime as an accelerant. As is happening in various places, including the “Brexit” referendum in the United Kingdom on June 23, countries are reconsidering their positions as part of the larger community of European nations. Part of this, again, goes back to the immigration issue, as some seek to bring immigration decision-making back to national capitals from the European Union.

While Europe appears a hotbed of emerging far-right parties, some Israelis are sounding the alarms over recent events there.

Over the past few days, Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has closed the door on a possible unity government with the left-leaning Zionist Union, setting the stage for an alliance with Yisrael Beitenu, and its leader, Avigdor Lieberman, to become defence minister, a position that Moshe Ya’alon abandoned in a flurry of disgust and condemnation of Netanyahu last week.

Some commentators say the result will be the most right-wing government Israel has ever seen. Ehud Barak, former Labor Party prime minister, said the developments amounted to “the seeds of fascism.” Three-time defence minister Moshe Arens predicts a “political earthquake.”

Lieberman, a settler himself and a leader in the movement representing Jews who live outside the Green Line, has a strong base among Russian immigrants, of which he is also one, and a reputation for antagonizing Palestinians and international diplomats. Originally a high-level member of Netanyahu’s Likud, Lieberman broke with Netanyahu over what he saw as Netanyahu’s overly conciliatory approach to the Palestinians during the 1997 negotiations that resulted in the Wye River Memorandum. Lieberman opposed Ariel Sharon’s Gaza disengagement and dismisses land for peace – the primary approach Israel has operated under for years in negotiations with its neighbors – as a “critical mistake” that will destroy Israel.

Suffice to say that politics is a vocation that invites hyperbole. Yet developments in many places – in Europe, in the United States, in Israel – invite strong reactions. The political spectrum has changed; terminology and policies differ with the times. While antisemitism has always been a defining characteristic of the far-right, some extreme-right European parties are now highly pro-Israel and eerily even philosemitic, seeing Israel as a bulwark against the “real” enemy – Islamism (or, less specifically, as is their wont: Islam). While the United States has seen its share of demagogues, it is equally true that, should fascism of some native form find root there, it would almost certainly be led by a buffoon who people underestimated for too long.

Canada sometimes seems like a blessed island in a roiling world – something we should never take for granted. It may be tempting to be smug, but instead Canadians should use our comfort and whatever influence we have to evangelize, to reclaim a phrase, for a world where moderation and tolerance prevail. While we might be more comfortable currently with politely withholding our opinions, the time may be upon us when we are truly called upon to register our disapproval of events – next door, in Israel or anywhere. We shouldn’t be afraid to speak up.

Seek Peace initiative

Steve McDonald, deputy director of communications and public affairs for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. (photo from of Steve McDonald)

Every day, a handful of the approximately 500 volunteers at Road to Recovery head to one of the crossing points in Israel, pick up Palestinians who have medical permits for appointments or treatments in Israeli hospitals, and escort them there and back. Entirely volunteer-driven, this is the kind of peaceful bridge-building that rarely makes the media headlines, but that the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs is hoping to highlight through its recently relaunched program, Seek Peace and Pursue It.

“This program is designed to encourage Canadian individuals and organizations who are concerned about the absence of peace in the Holy Land to rethink the issue by engaging in practical, positive initiatives that help build peace from the ground up,” said Steve McDonald, deputy director of communications and public affairs for CIJA. “Rather than getting distracted by destructive initiatives like the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, Road to Recovery is exactly the sort of thing that will bolster Israeli initiatives to bring the two sides together and keep activists focused on positive engagement.”

The idea for Seek Peace was hatched by former CIJA executive Len Rudner in 2012, after the United Church of Canada declared it would boycott Israeli settlements. At that time, CIJA reached out to UCC leaders.

“We told them BDS does nothing to advance peace or improve life for average Palestinians, we don’t think it fulfils your own interest in helping Palestinians,” said McDonald.

The efforts were in vain and the UCC continued to advocate a boycott, something McDonald says was a betrayal of average UCC members in Canada, as well as an undermining of longstanding Jewish-Christian ties in this country.

One of McDonald’s tasks is to develop CIJA’s relationship with Christian churches and leaders in Canada, many of whom are interested in Israel and want to get engaged in peace-building activities. At the end of May, he will deliver a presentation at the Toronto School of Theology to Baptist, Anglican and Catholic representatives. His focus will be on one organization: Hand in Hand, a network of Jewish-Arab integrated bilingual schools focused on mutual recognition, inclusion and equality.

“There’s tremendous interest among some of our Christian partners for this sort of work,” explained McDonald. “When they see we’re pro-Israel but not anti-Palestinian, they are somewhat surprised that the organized Jewish community is so interested in peace. We want to show them there are constructive alternatives to BDS, positive ways we can be helping build peace.”

Seek Peace is not directly about fundraising, but rather about providing a catalogue of positive initiatives. The organizations featured include Heart to Heart, where Jewish and Palestinian Israeli youth live together in a camping environment for three weeks and tackle politics, culture and identity through dialogue. There is Project Rozana, which is about delivering medical access for Palestinian-Israeli children who need pediatric intensive care, and there is Tsofen, which promotes the integration of Israel’s Arab citizens into the high-tech industry. These are just a handful of the many constructive, peace-building programs that Seek Peace is trying to bring to the forefront, organizations doing impressive work that often goes unreported.

Within a few years from now, McDonald said he’d love to see churches and synagogues partner to host events that highlight one of these particular or similar causes.

“My goal would be for this to be taken on at a local and national level by our Christian friends,” he said, “but it’s not specifically for Christians – any community can get involved.”

In Vancouver, the CIJA team already has strong interfaith relationships and is well-positioned to pitch this project to its existing contacts, he added. “I think Vancouver is a place where there could be a lot of appetite for this kind of thing,” he said.

For more information on Seek Peace, visit cija.ca/resource/seek-peace-and-pursue-it.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

Community’s foundations

(photo by Cynthia Ramsay)

With the skyrocketing Vancouver real estate prices the talk of Canadian news media almost daily, less attention has been given to the fate of the many homes whose high property price-tags all but encourage demolition and rebuilds.

One Facebook group has been seeking to draw attention to the disappearing streetscape of Vancouver. With 10,000 followers, Vancouver Vanishes bills itself as “a lament for, and celebration of, the vanishing character homes in Vancouver.” Some houses – like one on West 15th, originally owned by an assistant salesman for the Canadian Pacific Railway – have already met their fate. Others are slated for demolition, with photos posted in the hopes that followers will register their protest with Vancouver City Council.

My late grandfather’s home – on Fremlin Street near West 54th Avenue – was recently torn down to make way for a generous new build. Purchased with my grandmother and their three daughters in the late 1950s, my grandfather lived in his mid-century vernacular bungalow for nearly six decades, until he died three years ago at age 97.

While it was spacious and modern by 1950s standards, my grandfather’s house probably wouldn’t have made it to the pages of Vancouver Vanishes. It was a standard bungalow with four modest bedrooms, generous entertaining spaces, a kitchen large enough to accommodate Passover and everyday dishes, and a spacious rec room with a wet bar for teenage dance parties hosted by my mom and aunts. With more room to spread out, it would have felt excitingly large to the three daughters and, soon, another girl they fostered, compared to the small character home on Quesnel Drive from which they had moved. But theirs wasn’t among the most celebrated Vancouver “heritage home” variety – the Storybook homes, or the Tudor, Georgian or Mission Revival structures.

Still, the Jewish community may want to pause to consider a special type of vanishing as more and more of these homes disappear. That is, the kind of community-building that took place within the four walls of my grandparents’ home, and in the homes of many other community leaders and activists of their generation.

In my grandparents’ home on Fremlin, there was organizing and affiliation with Schara Tzedeck Synagogue, then under the leadership of Rabbi Bernard Goldenberg and Rabbi Marvin Hier. As well, with three growing daughters, there were the activities of many youth groups: NCSY, Young Judea and Habonim. There was the founding and nurturing of Camp Miriam, where my grandmother was the first “camp mother.” There was much work to be done for Pioneer Women, for the Histadrut (Israel’s trade union association) and in the preparation of a weekly radio show my grandparents hosted on Jewish and Israeli themes. In between the many hours devoted to volunteer work, there were their small businesses to run – Clifford’s Jewellers in Kitsilano, and their real estate ventures.

Plus, there were Sunday waffle brunches for the large extended Margolis family – whose members had found their way to Vancouver starting in the 1940s after arriving in Winnipeg from Kiev two decades earlier – and visitors from Russia and Israel.

With their three daughters spread across Vancouver Talmud Torah, Kitsilano, Churchill and Eric Hamber secondary schools, there was a home library to nurture, classical music records to collect, family photos to display and a garden to tend: irises, tiger lilies, azaleas, rhododendrons, peonies and hydrangeas, and fruit trees – apple, pear and cherry.

By the time I was around, spending one memorable summer in the orange bedroom in the late 1970s, there were memories for me to make – like suffering my first wasp sting on the back patio – and hobbies for me to discover: there was a teach-yourself-to-type book and a learn-to-speak Spanish book to read, all while I took up tennis in the shadow of my grandmother’s formidable court skills. By Grade 8, having moved to Vancouver with my parents from Winnipeg, there were weekly dinners prepared for me by my grandfather between my school day at Eric Hamber and my Judaic studies classes at Congregation Beth Israel and at the home of Rabbi Daniel Siegel.

What is lost when a mid-century Vancouver bungalow is demolished? Wood siding, stucco, a large picture window, a tiled porch and a garden lovingly tended. But for communities, there is so much more: memories forged of childrearing, philanthropy and leadership. Luckily for Vancouver’s Jewish community, while the building materials of these homes may be gone, the scaffolding of a vibrant community – generations later – remains.

Mira Sucharov is an associate professor of political science at Carleton University. She is a columnist for Canadian Jewish News and contributes to Haaretz and the Jewish Daily Forward, among other publications.

Learn ballroom, Latin

Dmitry Rusak with Diane MacKenzie win first place silver level at the Grand Ballroom Competition in Richmond on June 23, 2012. (photo from Dmitry Rusak)

Crimea may seem an unlikely place to embark on a journey into the world of competitive dance, but that is exactly where Dmitry Rusak discovered his passion and launched an international career.

Rusak, a local ballroom and Latin dance instructor, was born and raised in the city of Sevastopol. He began ballroom dance lessons at the age of 7 after a well-known (Jewish) dance instructor and his wife had moved into town and opened a dance school. Rusak’s father – a ballroom dancer himself – encouraged the young boy to take lessons. By the age of 10, Rusak was hooked. He decided to forgo other interests, such as soccer and swimming, in order to commit to dance. He hasn’t looked back.

Rusak’s first dance partner was a girl named Helena. She would bus an hour each way to attend lessons at the school. When they were 10 years old, the pair started to travel around the former Soviet Union to compete in both ballroom and Latin dance. They danced together for approximately five years, progressing through the different divisions and often placing first. They also competed in formation dance, a style of ballroom dance that is characterized by eight couples shadow dancing in a formation team. In fact, Rusak’s first international competition was in formation dance, which took him to Germany at the age of 17.

After high school, Rusak served his two years of mandatory military service as a dancer in the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Black Sea Fleet. The troupe focused on national dance so, when traveling abroad to perform, Rusak was given special dispensation to join his former partners from the Sevastopol dance school to compete in ballroom dance.

After completing his army service, Rusak made plans to move to Israel in search of better opportunities than those that existed in Crimea. He made aliyah at 21 and describes it as an easy process. Although he missed his family, the transition was facilitated by his connection to a Jewish Moldovan dance instructor with a studio in Bat Yam.

Rusak settled in Holon, integrated into the dance community and partnered with a dancer named Viktoria, also originally from Crimea – the two were already acquainted from having competed against each other in earlier years. They married three years after becoming dance partners and, by this time, Rusak’s parents and brother had joined him in Israel.

Rusak lived in Israel for 15 years. During that time, he and his dance partners were Israel’s reigning champions in ballroom, Latin and Ten Dance (waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, tango and Viennese waltz, along with rumba, samba, paso doble, cha-cha-cha and jive). He competed internationally for many years, including in Holland, France and Germany, and won prizes and accolades at each turn.

Rusak had a studio in Rishon LeZion, where he taught ballroom dance to approximately 100 students of all ages, from young children to septuagenarians.

In 2010, Rusak and his wife decided to move to Canada. The financial crisis of 2008 had taken a toll on the viability of the dance studio and Rusak was keen to take his skills elsewhere. The couple also was tired of the matzav, or situation, and wanted to raise their children somewhere more peaceful. Laughing, Rusak added that they found Israel’s climate “too hot” and struggled to adapt because “the mentality is so different.”

The couple settled in Burnaby, where they have family. Since their arrival, Rusak has been teaching group and private lessons at dance studios in Burnaby and Vancouver, including at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver (JCCGV).

For the past three years, Jewish community members Aron and Neri Tischler have been taking ballroom and Latin dance lessons with Rusak at the JCCGV. The couple, married for almost 34 years, was motivated to take group lessons because they “thought it would be fun to have a regular date night and learn something new together.” When they discovered that they “really enjoyed Dmitry’s lessons, dancing with one another, and wanted to get better,” they decided to take private lessons as well, to “ensure couple time and improve our dancing.”

Neri Tischler said Rusak “breaks down the steps so well that even the clumsiest person can catch on!” Moreover, she added, the women in her class refer to the lesson as “therapy” because it “takes you out of everything that is going on in your life, forces you to focus on the beat of the music, the steps and your partner, and just be in the moment, which is pure joy.”

Rusak’s dance skills are varied. He choreographs wedding dances for couples and teaches ballroom and Latin dance to students of all ages and abilities, including those in wheelchairs. In addition to private and group lessons for adults, his plans for the fall include ballroom dance classes for children as well as for women interested in participating in pro-am (professional-amateur) competitions across Canada. He prides himself on working to meet the different goals and needs of various students, including improving strength, endurance, coordination, posture and sense of rhythm. He believes that “being active and able to perform meaningful dance movements to different musical rhythms is necessary for the harmonious and balanced development of a person and their dance skills.”

Rusak described life in Canada as “great” and reserved special accolades for Vancouver’s Jewish community, who “welcomed us here and helped us to get settled.” He enjoys teaching at the JCCGV for two main reasons, he said. First, he recognizes the influence of his Jewish dance instructors on his career and he is eager to share his skills and passion with members of the Jewish community. Second, he is impressed by the level of commitment of his students at the community centre, many of whom he has taught for several years – their skills will be on display at the Dena Wosk School of Performing Arts year-end show on June 5.

For more information on dance classes with Rusak, call him at 778-928-4086, email him at [email protected] or visit ballroom4u.com.

Alexis Pavlich is a Vancouver-based freelance writer.

Recalling the Six Day War

Jerusalem Day celebrations in Israel (photo by Ashernet)

This Jerusalem Day – 28 Iyar (June 5) – marks 49 years since the city split in two by Jordanian occupation became reunited. Nowadays, the names of battle sites are just part of our everyday language – French Hill, Ammunition Hill, Government House – but back in 1967, these were the places where armies were pitted against each other in battle.

We didn’t have Ramat Eshkol then; the hilltops of Gilo were barren and windswept. The Israeli army fought to win territory to the north and the south, until only the walled Old City was still in Jordanian hands.

The war, not of our making, was sparked on April 7, 1967, when the Syrians opened fire on Israeli tractors working near Kibbutz Ha’On, east of the Kinneret. The Israel Defence Forces returned fire, so the Syrians began shelling settlements. Israel Air Force jets were sent to destroy Syria’s artillery batteries. Then Syrian MiGs were sent to intercept them, resulting in dogfights above Kibbutz Shamir. Eventually, six Syrian planes were downed and Syria demanded that Egypt issue a response, which posed a dilemma for president Gamal Abdel Nasser. To prod him, Syria said Israel was amassing forces on the northern border, which was untrue, but Nasser sent massive forces to Sinai on May 14 and 15.

Israel had to call up its reserves, as all United Nations troops had left the Sinai and Gaza. Volunteers swarmed to help with transportation, distributing food and preparing bomb shelters, helping in factories and kibbutzim. Thousands of our soldiers were deployed along the Egyptian border waiting for cabinet to make a decision.

There were frequent meetings between prime minister Levi Eshkol and chief-of-staff Yitzhak Rabin, who said that the IDF was strong and could repel any Arab attack. There were messages from U.S. president Lyndon Johnson calling – as is always the case! – for Israel to show restraint. Egypt also was asked not to escalate the situation.

Eshkol announced that Israel did not seek war, but to no avail. The Egyptians closed the Tiran Straits. On June 5, the war began. Two hundred IAF jets destroyed the entire air forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan: 374 planes were destroyed on the ground and the rest in dogfights. Israel had complete aerial supremacy during the six days of battle.

On the ground, the IDF entered Sinai in three columns. Jordan started shelling Jerusalem, firing day and night, resulting in many casualties, while Syrian jets raided Haifa Bay and northern settlements.

On June 6, our paratroopers surrounded the Old City and, at 10 a.m. on June 7, they broke through the Lions’ Gate, liberating the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. Lt.-Gen. Motta Gur stood near the Wall, and announced on the radio: “The Temple Mount is in our hands!”

After hours of fierce battles, the paratroopers burst into tears. According to Mordechai Rechschafner, a volunteer from Australia, “There was no sense of jubilation. We had lost too many friends. We had paid for our victory with blood and sacrifice.” When Maj.-Gen. Shlomo Goren, the chief military rabbi, arrived at the Kotel, he blew the shofar and said a prayer: “This is the day we have been yearning for. Let us rejoice in it!”

The Six Day War ended two days later, after the Israel Navy conquered the Tiran Straits and seized Egyptian army bases and airfields in Sinai, and Israel captured the Syrian fortified posts. When the Golan Heights was conquered, the war ended.

There was both great euphoria and terrible sadness. Jerusalem was the focus of the greatest celebration, but a great toll had been exacted. All day the radio played Naomi Shemer’s “Jerusalem of Gold” – it became a victory anthem.

It was three years later that I arrived with my husband and four children in Jerusalem. Forty-six years have passed, and my love for the city has deepened every day. There have been hard times and there was heartache when each of our children served in the army. When our son was a paratrooper in Lebanon, we questioned whether we had made the right decision in bringing them from the safety of their birthplace Australia. Now, most of their children have served in the army or are soon to be inducted, but none of them has ever felt we made a wrong decision. They grew up in Jerusalem and know as we do that it is special. Our feet walk over the stones that King David danced on. We pray at the Western Wall where the Holy Presence, the Shekhinah, still lingers. We travel roads on which kings, soldiers, priests and other holy men have traveled for thousands of years, century after century. Every day, we bathe in the unique quality of golden light that artists have striven to capture.

Each neighborhood in Jerusalem is different. Quiet alleyways that meander, bustling markets filled with the color and spicy smells of the Middle East, walled courtyards softened with a glimpse of greenery. Holy sites where prayers are whispered and blessings invoked. Quiet hills silhouetted with pine trees. Graveyards for the old and military cemeteries for the young. Parks where children laugh and dimpled babies are wheeled in prams. So ancient, and yet also a modern metropolis where people work, play, shop, drive, argue and love.

This Jerusalem Day, as I have for more than four decades, I will thank G-d for the privilege of living here and pray for the peace of Jerusalem forevermore.

Dvora Waysman is a Jerusalem-based author. She can be contacted at [email protected] or via her blog, dvorawaysman.com.

Sarcophagi returned to Egypt

(photo from Israel Antiquities Authority)

One of two Egyptian sarcophagi covers – one dating to between the 10th and 8th centuries BCE (Iron Age) and the other to between the 16th and 14th centuries BCE (the late Bronze Age) – that were seized by Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) inspectors four years ago while checking shops in the market of Jerusalem’s Old City. In a short ceremony on May 22, they were returned to Egypt. Egyptian ambassador Hazem Khairat expressed Egypt’s appreciation for all the efforts made by the Israeli authorities to return these smuggled antiquities to their country of origin.