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Basics of writing a contract

The other day, I finished the contract for an interesting project. There are half-a-dozen people involved in the project. Each of them has something to put in and is getting something out, but there is no direct relationship between one thing in and one thing out. In other words, I couldn’t say, “Mrs. Schwartz pays $100 and Mrs. Goldfarb treats her sciatica.” We were working with a pool of things being exchanged. It was more like, “Mrs. Schwartz pays $50 and provides physiotherapy equipment. Mr. Rosenblum takes $20 and provides a physiotherapy space. Mrs. Goldfarb treats Mrs. Schwartz, takes $30, and tells her other clients that she has space and equipment for physiotherapy.”

In Genesis, Chapter 9, we have the Covenant between G-d and Noah and with all of his descendants, being humankind; it also includes obligations between people. It is not set out as an item-by-item exchange, such as you pay your fare and the bus takes you along its route. It is a pool of obligations, promises and considerations among several parties, being G-d, Noah and each of the people who will descend from him.

This concept of a collection of promises was the structure I needed to put that project to paper the other day. It reinforced a basic technique in writing contracts that makes it possible to write a contract on a napkin.

A binding agreement is made by answering the questions, “Who’s doing what, and when are they doing it?”

The Torah distinguishes between the agreement (brit) and the token – or evidence – of the agreement (ot-habrit).

The agreement itself is the exchange of obligations: humankind will multiply and replenish the earth, will not murder (directly or indirectly) and will not eat meat that is still alive; G-d will provide to humankind the right and ability to hunt and eat meat, will establish the foundation of a justice system and will not flood the earth again.

The token of the agreement is the rainbow. This serves as a reminder both to G-d (verses 14 and 15) and to humankind and all creatures of the earth who can see it.

Today, we make this distinction by using a signed, written contract. The signed, written contract is evidence of the agreement between the parties. This brings us back to the napkin.

You’ll notice that, in my description of the arrangement between Mrs. Schwartz, Mrs. Goldfarb and Mr. Rosenblum, I state what each person does and expects to receive. Nothing happens without someone doing it. The only critical statement missing is the “when.” There are also a few details that would be quite helpful, such as where the money is being exchanged, what equipment is involved, the location of the therapy space, and the length of the therapy session.

In the questions “Who’s doing what, and when are they doing it?” the “what” also includes the “how” and the “where.” In this example, we could say:

“On the 15th day of Kislev, 5780, Mrs. Schwartz will put $50 in the old pickle jar behind the desk at Mr. Rosenblum’s office, which is at 12345 Oak St. She will also deliver, at the same time, an electric stimulation machine and the gel and pads needed for it. She won’t pick it up until the end of Chanukah.

“Mr. Rosenblum will take $20 of the $50 now in the pickle jar and let Mrs. Goldfarb use the therapy cubicle in his office for physiotherapy until the end of Chanukah.

“Mrs. Goldfarb will take the remaining $30 from the pickle jar and will treat Mrs. Schwartz’s sciatica for an hour on the 19th of Kislev and an hour on the 21st of Kislev.

“Mr. Rosenblum and Mrs. Schwartz will let Mrs. Goldfarb use the equipment and space for her other clients until the end of Chanukah.”

In this example, we now know who is responsible for what, when they’re going to do it, and how they’re going to do it.

There are far more details that we could put in, but this would be enough to move forward on its own if Mrs. Schwartz, Mrs. Goldfarb and Mr. Rosenblum don’t get around to writing out something more complicated.

If they expanded from a napkin to a couple of pieces of paper, they could also add in the kinds of details that lawyers argue over: what happens when things go wrong?

The first part of dealing with things going wrong is having everyone promise that it won’t. These are called, in Legalese, the representations and warranties.

Mr. Rosenblum will promise that he has an appropriate space for the therapy, including whatever licences and permits are needed. He also might promise certain details about what is an appropriate space, such as size, privacy, therapy bed, etc.

Mrs. Goldfarb will promise that she has the training, skills, certification and the valid licence required to carry out her obligations. She will also promise to do the therapy in a professional manner to the standards expected by her profession.

Mr. Rosenblum and Mrs. Goldfarb will both promise that they have the appropriate insurance.

Mrs. Schwartz will promise that she has the equipment needed for her therapy and that it works properly.

Now that we know who is going to do what, when and how they’re going to do it, and that they’ve all promised that everything is above board, we can discuss what happens if something goes wrong. Here we get into things like limitations of liability and indemnities. We also might have dispute resolution tools built right into the agreement.

If something goes wrong, no one wants to pay for someone else’s mistakes.

If Mrs. Schwartz trips on the doorstep, Mrs. Goldfarb doesn’t want to be responsible for Mr. Rosenblum not having a smooth entrance to his office.

If Mrs. Goldfarb injures Mrs. Schwartz during treatment, just because it happened in his office, Mr. Rosenblum doesn’t think he should be responsible.

If the electrical equipment causes a fire, neither Mr. Rosenblum nor Mrs. Goldfarb wants to be responsible for the damage caused by Mrs. Schwartz’s faulty machine.

Each will indemnify the others for liability arising from his or her own actions or negligence. In other words, each person promises to pay for the others’ damages for anything that is his or her own fault, whether or not it was intentional.

Dispute resolution is often overlooked because, when people are excited to enter a project together, they tend to think fights aren’t going to happen. But thinking about how to deal with an argument not only makes it easier should an argument arise, it also reduces the likelihood of the argument getting serious.

There are many flavours of dispute resolution tools, but here’s an easy one: the people involved pick an outside person whom they all trust, perhaps their rabbi, and they write in the agreement that, if they can’t resolve an argument between themselves, they’ll ask Rabbi Fogel to help them resolve it.

Remember that a good contract is a clear, written statement of a shared vision.

Jeremy Costin is a business and estates lawyer practising in Vancouver. He sits on the board of directors and the governance committee of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, is a founding director of the Jewish Lawyers Association of British Columbia and is a frequent guest instructor at the Law Society of British Columbia.

Confidentiality clause issues

Typically, an insurer will bring a “standard” form of release to a mediation to be signed. (photo from pxhere.com)

Most of my cases against insurance companies settle, often at mediation. Typically, the insurer will bring a “standard” form of release to the mediation for my client to sign. If not, when the insurance company’s lawyer sends me the cheque, it will be accompanied by a form of release that my client must sign in order to receive the settlement funds. In either case, the release will always contain something not usually discussed – a confidentiality clause.

A confidentiality clause seeks to prohibit the parties to a settlement from disclosing the settlement terms, and sometimes more. Confidentiality raises numerous problems.

It is routine for the confidentiality clause to permit the settlement amount to be disclosed to tax preparers, accountants and legal or financial advisors. Not so routine, although perhaps it should be, is a carve-out that allows a client to reveal facts from the underlying claim to industry regulators.

Clients often object to confidentiality because they are frustrated and angry about what has happened to them and, specifically, what the insurance company did. Insurance companies always want confidentiality, often because of the feared perception of guilt that accompanies a settlement. That secrecy itself may be adverse to public policy and protection of the public, as it can allow wrongful conduct to continue.

As lawyer Ronald L. Burge wrote in a 2012 paper for the American Bar Association: confidentiality clauses are “bad for clients, bad for lawyers and bad for justice.”

Confidentiality prevents the public from knowing about wrongful conduct. It can also prevent regulators and government agencies from performing their duty to enforce the law and protect the public. The role of the court is to evenly administer justice to all, so that all are protected by the law. When violations are hidden by confidentiality, the legal system itself is thwarted from fulfilling one of its fundamental purposes – to protect the public from wrongful conduct.

Equally important is the fact that the legal system is funded by the public. The use of government employees, monies and buildings entitles the public to openness in all aspects of the legal process, including settlements that are achieved through use of the legal system.

Society would be better off if all settlements were public knowledge. Wrongful conduct would be exposed not just for the economic justice of the client, but for the broader societal purpose of curbing such wrongful conduct. Lawmakers and the public could see where problems exist, both in products and service suppliers, and act appropriately. Fundamentally, the settlement of a lawsuit should be a public proceeding, just as a trial is a public proceeding.

The conduct of insurance companies is governed by laws and regulations. It is likely contrary to public policy to require confidentiality of facts that may disclose the violation of laws and regulations governing the insurer’s conduct.

Moreover, the legal system does not belong to any industry, certainly not the insurance industry. It belongs to the Canadian public. Courts function best in the daylight of an open, transparent administration of justice. Otherwise, people cannot observe and understand what is going on and how the courts protect everyone by their fair administration of justice. Secrecy protects repeat offenders and harms everyone else. Openness is consistent with basic principles of the rule of law.

Secrecy in settlements also prevents lawyers from properly serving their clients. A lawyer cannot place a fair and reasonable value on a case when the lawyer cannot compare it to other known cases. It is particularly harmful to inexperienced lawyers who may be most prone to undervaluing a case. The secrecy allows insurance companies, with their vast resources, to assess a claim’s fair value, while preventing many clients from doing the same.

Finally, confidentiality does not actually promote settlement. The vast majority of cases already are settled without trial.

Governments should specifically limit the use of confidentiality clauses in the settlement of lawsuits involving wrongful conduct by insurance companies. This should be done for the protection of the public, to improve the industry and to preserve the effectiveness and integrity of our legal system.

Jan A. Fishman is a lawyer practising in Vancouver. He mainly acts for individuals who have been wrongly denied insurance benefits. He has held numerous elected and appointed positions in the legal profession and currently sits on the editorial board of Civil Jury Instructions. He also volunteers in the Jewish community and is active in his synagogue.

Mortgage industry’s future

(photo by Nick Youngson / Alpha Stock Images)

The next decade is going to see an evolution in how Canadians obtain mortgages. These shifts will transform the experience for both the mortgage professional and, more importantly, the borrower. Here’s where things are now and what I foresee.

The mortgage industry

A borrower can go to three sources to get their mortgage: account managers at banks, mortgage specialists at banks and mortgage brokers. (I use “bank” as a catchall for financial institutions, including credit unions and trust companies. Financial planners are not included because they represent such a small slice of the pie and refer files to mortgage specialists.)

Employees, particularly account managers, are a bank’s frontline team for mortgages. These salaried employees get incentives if they hit sales targets, but they are, by definition, jacks-of-all-trades. They help with a client’s routine banking needs, open investment accounts, provide general advice and also write mortgages.

Because mortgages are complex, account managers are encouraged (and often required) to send their mortgage applications to a mortgage specialist. This is good policy, because it is best to have an expert eye review something as significant as an average family’s most significant investment and the average bank’s bread-and-butter. Also, because there have rightly been many – one expert told me there was a total of 168 – new rules since the 2008 financial crisis, it has become increasingly difficult to “dabble” in mortgages.

Given these developments, a consumer would be wise to trust the most important financial transaction in their life to a professional who has expertise in a single field, rather than a generalist who is doing mortgages off the side of their desk.

Of course, every bank employs a network of mortgage specialists, with each bank investing varying amounts of resources into training. Still, a mortgage specialist is just that: a bank employee who specializes in mortgages.

Most banks’ mortgage specialists are commission-based and can make a good living from their work. But remember: bank specialists work for the bank, not for you. (They also don’t require a licence or any accreditation to write up your mortgage application.)

Mortgage brokers are independent professionals whose unique responsibility is finding the ideal financial solution for each client, not whatever rate or product their bank is pushing on any given day.

A mortgage broker is a professional who has successfully completed an educational process, passed an exam and undergone comprehensive assessments, including biannual criminal background checks. Additionally, continuing education is required to ensure that mortgage brokers remain informed of the latest developments in this ever-changing industry. Mortgage professionals at the banks, however well-intentioned or however closely they follow the business pages, have no such requirements.

It is commonly said that a mortgage broker “shops around” for the best rate. This is partly true, but there’s more. Brokers know the rates and conditions of every lender. What we do with that information is tailor each client’s need with rate and product choices, allowing them, with their mortgage broker’s guidance, to make the most informed, appropriate decision for what best suits them.

For example, a broker might recommend a more flexible mortgage product with a slightly higher-than-base rate versus a lower rate with restrictions. This is crucial because, again, everyone’s case is unique. Circumstances change. Relocation is sometimes unavoidable.

Even better: for most mortgages, a mortgage broker’s service is provided at no cost to the borrower. Brokers earn their keep from the lender that finances the borrower’s mortgage.

Where is industry headed?

Account managers at banks will continue to write mortgage applications because this remains an efficient use of the bank’s resources. The banks have been building increasingly sophisticated mortgage application platforms for their mortgage specialists and account managers to use. These easy-to-use apps are straightforward and allow their employees to quickly and efficiently pull together all of the necessary information to verify credit data and employment, assess risk and review the property, all at the click of a few buttons.

The banks built these systems so that employees with less expertise (and lower salaries) can replicate or reduce the work of more highly trained professional staff. And, since mortgage specialists are largely commission-based, it seems to me that banks will increasingly depend on salaried individuals who read from their computer screen while dealing with mortgage-seekers.

The obvious issue with an account manager reading off a screen is that, at any point in time where real advice is required, the bank employee will not have the training or experience to provide it.

There is, of course, still currently a place for bank specialists. The best of them can and do give the best service possible to their clients.

My prediction is that the mortgage specialist role will be curtailed until only a few high producers remain. Banks will probably continue to make it easier for mortgage specialists to do their jobs, allowing them to take on more files and the best will grow and the worst will drop off.

Don’t misunderstand me. There is a place for technology, obviously, in the process. In fact, mortgage brokers, by necessity, are entrepreneurial

and resourceful, and have created economies of scale, processing documentation and applications more efficiently than ever. For instance, my team and I have automated the process of 70-plus internal steps per client throughout the mortgage process, streamlining everything for ourselves so that our clients can benefit from the most comprehensive and individualized experience we can offer. This involved a lot of time up-front, but it means that our clients receive the service they want, tailor-fit to their specific needs.

My prediction for mortgage brokers is that there will be a culling of the herd, just like with mortgage specialists. A broker, and any consultant in this day and age, needs to innovate and use the newest technologies to stay relevant in the eyes of borrowers. Not just that, the brokers themselves need to know each lender’s products and how to get files approved.

Superb knowledge, a fast and efficient process, and amazing customer service will become the bare minimum in the future, and the specialists and brokers who “dabble” or aren’t 100% committed to improving their craft will get left in the dust.

Eitan Pinsky is principal of Pinsky Mortgages, a Vancouver-based mortgage broker.

Focus on online hate

Kasari Govender, British Columbia’s human rights commissioner. (photo from Wosk Centre)

Hate in British Columbia, in Canada and globally is on the rise. In 2017, there were 255 police-reported hate crimes in British Columbia, an increase of 55% from just two years earlier. In 2018, Metro Vancouver had the highest rate of hate crimes reported to police in any of Canada’s three largest metropolitan areas, most based on the victim’s ethnicity or religion, with a smaller but significant number based on sexual orientation.

These alarming statistics, and others, provided a framework and urgency for an event Sept. 12 at Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue in downtown Vancouver. The event, titled From Hate to Hope in a Digital Age, is envisioned as the inaugural annual Simces and Rabkin Family Dialogue on Human Rights.

Contextualizing the discussion, Shauna Sylvester, executive director of the Wosk Centre for Dialogue, cited the results of a report undertaken by her organization. These indicate that one in three Canadians believes Canadian-born citizens should have greater say in government than those born outside the country. One-quarter of Canadians say we have too many protections for minorities and one in four also believes we have too many protections for religious freedom.

Keynote speaker at the forum was Kasari Govender, in just her second week on the job as British Columbia’s human rights commissioner. She is the first to hold this role in the province since that office was closed in 2002.

“In my view, there is a strong connection between hateful speech and hateful violence, both on an individual and a systemic level,” she said, citing racist manifestoes sometimes posted online by perpetrators in advance of a mass killing. She said it is necessary to trace the path from speech to violence.

A common theme of recent mass murderers is anti-immigration sentiment, sometimes emphasizing the “purity of the nation, whether that nation is Canada, New Zealand, the U.S. or another,” she said, adding that many of the attacks around the world that have been linked to white nationalism correspond to discourse in mainstream political debates over immigration and public policy.

The worst antisemitic mass murder in United States history, the attack on Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, happened while U.S. President Donald Trump and others were promoting fears of the so-called “migrant caravan” coming from Central America. Part of that conversation, Govender said, “was somehow blaming the Jews for this migrant caravan, drawing a connection in the public discourse, and then there was the shooting.”

Boris Johnson, now prime minister of the United Kingdom, compared women who wear burqas to bank robbers, which led, Govender said, to an increase in acts of hate against Muslim women in the United Kingdom.

Online hate is a particular product of technologies that have emerged in recent decades, she said. “The anonymity, reach and immediacy afforded by the internet escalates the problem beyond what we’ve seen before,” she said. “The internet is a very effective tool for fomenting hate from belief to action, from hateful words to violent actions.”

While forcing social media platforms to police hate speech might be criticized as an infringement of free expression, she said, the opposite is true. Regulating platforms to shut down violent rhetoric actually improves access to freedom of expression for many, as people of colour, women and others are being silenced online by racism and misogyny, she said.

Participants at the Wosk Centre offered a wide range of perspectives.

Evan Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, outlined the approach his agency takes in confronting online hatred.

“Legal [action] would be our last recourse against a hate group or a hate propagandist,” he noted, saying that their first response is to “try to hold somebody socially accountable.” That means, if the person is anonymous, exposing them. If the person is not anonymous, this might mean bringing their posts to the attention of their employers, family and friends.

“Those might provide checks on their behaviour,” he said, adding, “We’re not really trying to reform people here, we’re just trying to stop the spread of hate propaganda.”

For those who do not respond to social accountability, Balgord said, Canada’s laws are insufficient. Application of the Criminal Code’s section that deals with the wilful promotion of hate and distribution of hate propaganda is unwieldy.

“We did use to have a better recourse,” he said. “It was Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. It would allow a private individual to essentially file a complaint, which would be vetted by the Canadian Human Rights Commission and, if found credible, would go to the tribunal. They could order a cease-and-desist order against that individual and up to a $5,000 fine.” If, at that point, the individual failed to comply, they would be in contravention of a court order and could face jail.

“We really want to see something like Section 13 come back,” he said.

Several speakers agreed that social media platforms need to do more policing of hate speech. Some countries have laws that force social media companies to address hate material on their platforms within certain timeframes or face serious fines.

Social media platforms, Balgord said, may already be in contravention of Canada’s existing laws against discrimination in the provision of a commercial service, because women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ people and other members of targeted groups are exposed to abuse, harassment and death threats that could drive them off the platform.

Rabbi Dr. Laura Duhan-Kaplan, director of inter-religious studies at the Vancouver School of Theology, noted that government budgets are limited but that education can take place everywhere – and that everyone is an educator. Early childhood is crucial, she said.

“What children do together, the songs they sing, the books they read, all of that becomes the building blocks of the way they think,” she said. “All of us who interact with children have an opportunity to begin to teach values of respecting difference, helping others, nonviolence.… One week of summer camp with friends on a theme of diversity, peace, public service – these are experiences that stay with teens and we really, really bring them into young adulthood in a different way.”

A speaker from the audience, a counselor and educator, noted that inequality, including economic inequality and poverty, makes people susceptible to fear and that can become a foundation for hate.

Another speaker contended that there is, in effect, no such thing as race.

“I think it’s very problematic to use the term race as if it’s a reality,” he said. “There is such a thing as racism but not really race. If you look at the majority of anthropologists, geneticists and so on, they say that we have much, much more in common with each other [than differences].… Even using terms like black and white to refer to people reinforces racism. We never call people yellow anymore, because that’s racist. We need to come up with a new language that doesn’t emphasize unreal differences and that are respectful to everybody.”

Lorene Oikawa, president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, contended that sharing one another’s stories is an effective means to education.

“People really don’t know the stories,” she said. “For sure, there are some people who do, but they don’t know the [extent of the] harm that was done and the intergenerational trauma.”

She applied lessons of the past to current events. “In 2019, Japanese-Americans, Japanese-Canadians are horrified by some of the hateful rhetoric we’re hearing [that] could be lifted from 1942,” she said. “If people knew their history, more people would be going, ‘Wait a minute. What we did back in 1942 was wrong. Why are we saying the same things about people from [other] countries, putting people in camps, separating families, separating children from their families?’ All that stuff happened to Japanese-Americans, Japanese-Canadians and it’s being repeated today.”

She added: “We feel it’s our duty that what happened to our community must never happen to another community again.”

Clint Curle, senior advisor to the president of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, agreed that education is pivotal.

“Is there a lesson, an experience, we can give children especially that will make them resistant to hate speech and resistant to hateful violence?” asked Curle. He compared hatred to a communicable disease.

“If this was polio, what would we do? If this was polio, we would do what we did, which is vaccinate. The way vaccinations work is you get children and you give them just enough of something close to the disease [so] that they develop an internal resistance to it, so, when they encounter the disease, there is something within them that says, no. So, when they encounter hate, they’ll know.”

With more than 1.5 million visitors to the museum since it opened five years ago, Curle said what resonates, especially with young people, is exactly what Oikawa suggested.

“The thing that seems to work best is storytelling across social boundaries,” he said.

Zena Simces, a health and social service policy consultant and a former Pacific region chair of the now-defunct Canadian Jewish Congress, conceived of the annual event with her husband, Dr. Simon Rabkin.

“We felt that we wanted to enhance an understanding of human rights in our community and to create an opportunity for dialogue on human rights issues,” Simces said. “Our aim is to select current and relevant themes each year and to invite experts and community leaders and community members to advance and generate positive action.”

Rabkin, a cardiologist, professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia and president of the medical staff at Vancouver General Hospital, added: “The dialogue this evening … is seeking to enhance our understanding and knowledge of how this increase in hate and its consequences can be addressed from legal, social media and community perspectives.”

Dealing with adversity

Houston Rabbi Brian Strauss lost both his family home and his synagogue to Hurricane Harvey, but the story he brought to FEDtalks Sept. 9 was an uplifting one. (photo from JFGV)

A time-lapse video showed the unrelenting advance of Hurricane Harvey. The security camera at Houston’s Jewish community centre captured the natural disaster’s impact on the building’s interior from the moment the first drops of water came through the front door until the deluge reached the ceiling. Furniture became unmoored and began to swirl around the building’s lobby.

The Category 4 hurricane made landfall in August 2017, slamming Texas and Louisiana with catastrophic flooding and dozens of fatalities. Material damages were estimated at $125 billion US, mostly in Houston and southeast Texas.

The Jewish community of Texas had to rebuild. Synagogues, the JCC, the Jewish seniors home and one in every 13 Jewish family homes were ruined.

Rabbi Brian Strauss, who spoke in Vancouver Sept. 9, lost both his family home and his synagogue. The issue was not merely flooding. Any flooding damages property, but the area’s topography meant that Houston was submerged in toxic bayou water, rendering everything it touched toxic. Added to this, the humidity of Houston caused mold to grow immediately. Houston received 52 inches of rain in three days – equivalent to its average annual rainfall. (By contrast, he noted, Vancouver gets 46 inches of rain annually.)

But the story Strauss brought to the Vancouver Playhouse – he was one of four speakers at FEDtalks, the opening event of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver’s annual campaign – was an uplifting one.

Volunteers from around the world descended on Houston. The federal government provided resources to rebuild synagogues, homes and communal facilities. Especially notable: Israel donated $1 million to a Diaspora community struggling with crisis. Strauss juxtaposed the phenomenon of Jewish giving, which for decades flowed from the Diaspora to Israel, with the reality that Israel is now in a position to help a community in crisis abroad.

Also speaking at the campaign launch event was Risa Alyson Cooper, executive director of Shoresh. She shared her journey into Jewish spiritual and ethical issues around food. Shoresh is an Ontario-based organization that “inspires and empowers our community to take care of the earth by connecting people, land and Jewish tradition.”

“Eating is an ethical act,” Cooper said. By engaging community members “from seed to harvest,” the organization reduces the stigma of receiving “donated” foods.

“It’s not a handout,” she said. People are involved in creating their own food sustainability.

Cooper’s journey of exploration began during a trip in Nelson, B.C., a story she shared in an article the Independent ran in advance of the event. (See jewishindependent.ca/b-c-inspires-activists-work.)

Also at FEDtalks, Isaac “Bougie” Herzog – who chose to sit out not one but two Israeli elections this year – spoke about his role as head of the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Herzog is Israel’s former leader of the opposition and former head of the Labour party. In contextualizing his role as chairperson of the world’s largest Jewish organization, an agency that has been central in creating and building the Jewish state, he spoke of continuing a family legacy.

His grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, who was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel, went on a rescue mission in 1946 to find hidden Jewish children in churches and monasteries throughout Europe, bringing thousands of them to Palestine. Herzog’s father, Chaim, who went on to become president of Israel, served with the U.K. army, landed in Normandy, fought in the Battle of the Rhine and was among the first to enter the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Abba Eban, the legendary Israeli diplomat and statesman, was an uncle.

“I’m fulfilling the orders of my forbearers,” said Herzog, who was introduced by Karen James, immediate past board chair of the Jewish Federation and a member of the board of the Jewish Agency. The Independent also interviewed Herzog in advance of his visit. (Read the story at jewishindependent.ca/building-jewish-future.)

The most emotional presentation of the night came last. Dr. Gillian Presner recounted how she was invited to join the Federation movement’s National Young Leadership Cabinet. When she was told the commitment was five years, she replied: “That’s the rest of my life.”

Presner was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2016, while pregnant with her third daughter. Nine days after the baby was born, she suffered a stroke.

Despite the challenges of raising a very young family while enduring terminal brain cancer, she accepted the invitation to join the cabinet because, she said, “I refuse to die before I’m dead.”

She added: “I am full of hope, but I am also a realist.”

She understands that she needs to leave a legacy of vibrant memories to her daughters – the family took a trip to Israel together, certain it would be her only chance – but she also knows that her daughters will “have to learn about me by hearing about what Mommy did.”

By continuing to devote herself to philanthropic causes, she is “showing my daughters what I truly value.”

Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation, closed the evening, noting “our most precious commodity we have here is our time.”

Alex Cristall, chair of the board of Federation, welcomed the audience, acknowledging in particular 150 people in their 20s and 30s whose presence was made possible through a contribution by Jonathon and Karly Leipsic. Jonathon Leipsic is the annual campaign chair for the second consecutive year.

“It is a pleasure to have you,” Cristall said. “We need you.”

Jonathon Leipsic spoke of Theodor Herzl’s dream of Jewish self-determination and noted: “Our generation has never known a generation without emancipated Jewish freedom.”

He urged the audience to go to YouTube and find Chaim Herzog’s speech to the United Nations in 1975 against the motion that equated Zionism with racism.

“It will send shivers down your spine,” he said.

Members of Parliament Joyce Murray, Don Davies, Jody Wilson-Raybould, Randeep Sarai and Hedy Fry were in attendance, the latter of whom spoke from the podium and brought greetings from the prime minister. Also present were Selena Robinson, British Columbia’s minister of municipal affairs and housing; George Heyman, minister of environment and climate change strategy; George Chow, minister of state for trade; and Anne Kang, member of the Legislative Assembly. Vancouver city councilors Melissa De Genova, Colleen Hardwick, Sarah Kirby-Yung and Pete Fry attended, as did the consuls general of France, Germany and the United States, and Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer.

O Canada and Hatikvah were sung by the King David High School Choir.

To donate to the campaign and watch videos of all the FEDtalks speakers, visit jewishvancouver.com.

Search for biological father

(photos from Mark Loudon)

Apart from an ambiguous hint dropped by his mother just after his father died in 1990 – and subsequently denied – Mark Loudon, a Brit of Scottish, English and Irish ancestry (so far as he knew), had no idea that the man he grew up with was not his biological father. A DNA test in May 2017 revealed a completely different DNA profile than what he was expecting – instead of Scottish paternal heritage, it showed an Eastern European Jewish and Spanish one.

With only a third cousin DNA match to a stranger in Chicago and some childhood memories from his aunt, who was only 8 years old when he was born, Loudon set out on a search for closer relatives. This involved not only family history records, but diving into planning records and old photographs for clues. One such photo, shown here, is of Henry Naftali-Hirts Hart and his wife Elizabeth Mendoza.

Loudon will discuss his journey to discover his biological father and its impacts at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of British Columbia (jgsbc.ca) on Oct. 1, 7:30 p.m., at the Peretz Centre. All are welcome to attend.

Saving audio memories

Stan Shear has been on countless stages with figures Benjy, Jasper and his original puppet, Danny, now retired at the Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Ky. (photo from Stan Shear)

To walk into Stan Shear’s studio at his Oakridge home is to take both a step back and a step forward in time. A portrait of a penny-farthing hangs on the wall, old manuscripts and books line the shelves, yet in among the memorabilia is the technology he believes will connect the past with the future.

Shear is launching My Audio Memories (myaudiomemories.com), a project in which he takes recordings – some made in his studio, others that may have been passed down within a family – and combines them into a high-quality MP3 file on a USB stick.

His service is directed at private individuals and, because it is based in his home, he can create recordings at a cost far below those of commercial services.

The process is straightforward but requires a seasoned hand to deal with the production side, which, with decades of musical and engineering experience behind him, Shear offers.

First, you would go to his studio with stories you would like to record, along with any other audio files or recordings you might already have. These are then mixed together with various inputs and accompaniments – i.e., music and other sound effects – to capture the perfect backing for the end result. Finally comes the mastering, the stage that distinguishes a professional from an amateur recording.

“I can bring a recording to the highest level with the resources and experience I have to create a unique sound that will bring out all the hidden qualities of a person’s talents and make them come alive,” said Shear.

The cost of an individual project will vary depending on the amount of production involved.

The man behind the sound

Born in Pretoria, South Africa, Shear was a well-known pianist in his younger days. He appeared on SABC (South Africa’s national radio) on several occasions and, at the age of 19, performed the Beethoven C minor Concerto with the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra. Playing in concert halls around the country during his youth, he later became a licentiate in music.

At the same time, he studied electrical engineering at the University of Johannesburg, earning his master’s and doctor’s degrees, and specialized in information systems, working mainly on hospital communications systems. He would later teach information systems at the University of Cape Town until his retirement.

Shear, who came to Vancouver in 2004, remains a versatile entertainer and keeps a busy schedule. He plays a number of other musical instruments – guitar, harmonica, piano accordion and ukulele – and has had an active career as a singer, performing in solo concerts and singing with choirs.

In 1976, while still in South Africa, he became fascinated with ventriloquism after discovering a book at the library. Since then, he has been on countless stages, including the International Puppet Festival in Israel, with figures Benjy, Jasper and his original puppet, Danny, now retired at the Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Ky. (See stanshear.com.)

He also has been officiating as a chazzan for 40 years, both in South Africa and Canada.

Together with his wife Karon, he is a practitioner of auditory integration training (AIT), a method for improving listening and cognitive skills. Their processes are used to help overcome learning disabilities and improve foreign language skills.

Shear has woven his own story into his new project. He divides his account into three periods, starting with his early, formative years, devoted to growing up, schooling and other events that shaped his life. This is followed by his post-secondary education and early career, and includes extracts from concerts and broadcasts.

The third stage comprises Shear’s mid-career to the present, a “mature” but nonetheless very fruitful time, with musical performances, ventriloquist shows and the My Audio Memories project, as well as his positive views on the future, as he sees it, in his senior years.

“I am following this up with a separate project of my memories of my parents, including recordings that I’m fortunate to have of my mom and dad and members of their families talking, singing and playing the piano,” said Shear. “My mom’s family were very musical and I’m lucky to have these recordings made on an early tape recorder by my dad, and transcripts of my dad’s memoirs, which he wrote.”

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

NCJW Vancouver fall update

National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, Vancouver section, members. Seated, left to right, are Lisa Boroditsky, Jill Kipnis and Sandi Hazan Switzer. Standing are Heather Sirlin, left, and Jane Stoller. (photo from NCJWC Vancouver)

Members of National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, Vancouver section, have been busy close to home, not only supporting various initiatives for disadvantaged children in local schools – Books for Kids, HIPPY, Operation Dressup, and hygiene and nutrition school programs – but learning more about the Jewish history of the city.

photo - Newcomers to Vancouver, Guillermo and Debby Castillo from Mexico, who joined the NCJWC walk Sunday morning — Newcomers to Vancouver, Guillermo and Debby Castillo from Mexico, who joined the NCJWC walk Sunday morning. *(photo from NCJWC Vancouver)*

On Sept. 8, more than 25 people participated in a sold-out walk through the “old city” of Vancouver, organized by Lisa Boroditsky, Jane Stoller and Sandi Hazan Switzer. Participants were enthralled by the stories of Harry Hammer, by the geographical and architectural details, to say nothing of the oral history of horse-drawn carts, family stores and tales of running to the bus for cheder.

NCJWC members also worked nationally, supporting successful efforts by CIJA (Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs) to get Parliament to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism; and internationally, issuing a call to action to participate in the campaign to free human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been imprisoned in Iran’s Evin prison since June 2018.

In May of this year, Prof. Irwin Cotler, chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Montreal, addressed the executive of the International Council of Jewish Women on the issue of human rights. He made a compelling case for participation in the campaign to free Sotoudeh, sentenced to 38 years and 148 lashes in Iran because of her work defending women’s rights. She has been imprisoned four times since 2010.

Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are integral to ensuring rule of law and the functions of democracy; they are fundamental principles clearly defined in international law and they are the inherent right of all people. These two democratic themes were betrayed in 2018 when, as part of peaceful protests, some women removed their hijabs and waved them like flags and then were prosecuted for this behaviour. For defending these women, Sotoudeh has been unjustly imprisoned.

The International Council of Jewish Women executive voted to support Cotler’s recommendation and Debby Altow, vice-president for Canada on this executive, circulated a backgrounder and sample letter of protest for 33 affiliates worldwide. Both email and postal addresses for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and UN Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, were distributed, making such protest letters easier to submit. For more about Sotoudeh and NCJW Vancouver section, visit ncjwvancouver.org.

Louis Brier garden project

Left to right: Nicole Encarnacion, Ruthie Shugarman and Lisa Ford. (photo from Louis Brier Home and Hospital)

This summer, the Louis Brier Home and Hospital celebrated the transformation of part of its outdoor space into a place of beauty and quiet.

On the morning of June 30, the wider community came out to support the Louis Brier Home and Hospital’s community of residents living with dementia. The special care unit, which is home for 17 residents who live with severe dementia, has its own outdoor space for the residents and their families. Dubbed the “secret garden,” this space has been tended by residents’ families and, now, thanks to the vision and support of local realtor Ruthie Shugarman, it received a major overhaul.

The project was spearheaded by former master gardener Lisa Ford, who visits her mother, Laura Ford, a five-year resident of Louis Brier, several times a week. Since her mother moved into the special care unit two-and-a-half years ago, Ford has been planting and caring for the space. With Shugarman’s help, the private courtyard has become a welcoming space for families to spend time together with dementia-friendly design components recommended by the Louis Brier’s nursing lead, Nicole Encarnacion.

Just prior to the June 30 gathering at the Brier, the Government of Canada announced its National Dementia Strategy: canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/dementia-strategy.html.

Mary-Louise Albert: Bidding adieu to Chutzpah!

Mary-Louise Albert was not only a dancer in the first-ever Chutzpah! Festival, but its poster model (see image below).

As the 19th annual Chutzpah! Festival approaches, ready to embrace its new season – no longer a spring festival but a fall one – it will have to loosen its embrace on its artistic managing director, Mary-Louise Albert. After 15 years heading Chutzpah!, this is her last. Albert is moving on to the next part of her creative and personal journey, and the Jewish Independent spoke to her about the festival, its legacy and what might lie ahead for her.

JI: What do you think the main impact of the Chutzpah! Festival has been for the Jewish and general communities and the relationship between the two?

MA: Presenting and facilitating the growth of professional performing arts is an exciting and multi-layered approach to uniting communities. I am very proud that we have brought the festival to a point of national and international recognition, as well as being one of the flagship Jewish festivals in North America.

Through the insistence of high standards and by supporting new work, the festival has increased an understanding and appreciation of programming that embraces an eclectic range that is Jewish arts and culture, in particular from a Canadian perspective. Expanding on this programming, Jewish and non-Jewish artists share our stages, increasing our ability to bring many Canadian and North American premières to Lower Mainland audiences. Seeing, over the past 15 years, audiences from all walks of life and backgrounds embracing the festival is particularly rewarding.

JI: Have you accomplished what you set out to do when you took over the festival 15 years ago?

MA: Yes, which feels very satisfying to be able to say. I wanted the festival to not only survive but thrive in a very competitive local and national performing arts scene, which is tricky given a cultural umbrella. This meant attaining an international standard – not just a couple of high-profile shows, but across the board. It also meant the dance and music programming had to expand, which has in particular allowed for funding opportunities and artist growth.

An area I’m very proud of is connecting urban and rural communities through creation residencies. Many B.C.-based Chutzpah! artists have had creation residencies in both the North Island region and in the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre, resulting in world premières, with these productions going on to tour nationally and internationally. For example, this year, Geoff Berner, T.J. Dawe, Toby Berner, Tallulah Winkelman and Jack Garten will be Chutzpah! artists-in-residence for a week in Sointula, Malcolm Island, where they will perform as well. Chutzpah! will be sending UNA dance company from New York City to perform in Sointula, Port McNeil and in Alert Bay with the N’amgis nation directly before their Vancouver performances, which is a rare and meaningful opportunity for all involved. Sharing artistic wealth with underserved regions of B.C. is and has been an important aspect of the festival for the past few years. It is also in keeping with the times.

image - Chutzpah! 2001 poster featuring Mary-Louise Albert — Chutzpah! 2001 poster featuring Mary-Louise Albert.

JI: In a couple of interviews I’ve read, you speak about how your training and working as a dancer was helpful to you in running Chutzpah! Could you speak a bit to that?

MA: I was trained in ballet and contemporary, danced professionally for 20 years and, within this time period, became a mother of two children. I was 45 when I stopped performing and, through support from the Dancers Transition Resource Centre, embarked on a new adventure of being the oldest “kid” in the class for a few years at Capilano U and BCIT’s Business School.

I was then hired by Gerry Zipursky [then-executive director of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, which is home to the Rothstein Theatre] and an inquisitive hiring committee (who I will always be grateful to) … and embarked on this job where I needed to come in running and move things forward. All this took stamina, tunnel vision, a somewhat sharp brain (and elbows), nerviness, flexibility and passion – things that a combination of dance training and a professional dance career prepares you for.

JI: In relation to Chutzpah!, what are one or two of your “I’m most proud of” moments?

MA: There are so many that I am proud of, but I would have to say the festival has been a trailblazer in presenting Israeli artists – and often in their first Canadian or North American appearances. Artists such as the Idan Raichel Project, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, Batsheva Dance Company, Balkan Beat Box, Yemen Blues, Idan Sharabi, Roy Assaf, Avishai Cohen Quartet, Itamar Borochov Quartet, Dudu Tassa, Diwan Saz, Maria Kong, Baladino, Victoria Hana, David Broza and Mira Awad, A-WA and many more. And continuing this year with AvevA, Yemen Blues, Guy Mintus Trio, and Rami Kleinstein.

As well, I’m very proud of the growth of the dance and music programming and how this growth has affected positively and in a multi-faceted way the artistic development of many artists.

JI: What’s next for you?

MA: I live in both Burnaby and in Sointula on Malcolm Island. Development of contemporary dance, rural B.C. and social causes are beckoning. At 64, I still have a bit of “oomph” left to pursue.

JI: If there is anything else you’d like to add, please do.

MA: I’m honoured and thankful to have worked with so many excellent professional colleagues in the arts world and at the JCC in accomplishing the festival’s achievements, as well as working with some wonderful volunteers. However, there are two volunteers in particular who I want to give a special thank you to. People with integrity and grace who have stuck by me and the festival from the very beginning – Harriet Wolfe and Lloyd Baron.”