“We want to share Shabbat with those who are alone, or those who might have difficulty cooking for themselves. Plus, we want to help every Jew feel connected and part of the community,” said Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman of Chabad of Richmond, who started the Light of Shabbat program in 2011. “This is not tzedakah; it’s about making a connection with other Jews and helping them celebrate the mitzvah of Shabbos.”
With help from devoted community volunteers, full kosher Shabbat meals are cooked and delivered to those who are elderly, alone, recovering from illness, or homebound. Currently, deliveries are done every other week to about 10 people in Richmond. Each Shabbat box contains challah, grape juice and Shabbat candles, plus a meal of soup, salad, chicken, vegetables and dessert – all homemade. They even include a little card with the blessing for lighting candles, the Torah portion for the week and information about why Jews celebrate Shabbat.
“The boxes are personalized, depending on the needs of the recipient, so some boxes contain more than one meal,” said Grace Jampolsky, coordinator of the Light of Shabbat program. Chabad of Richmond has delivered 495 boxes to date.
“I like to bake the challah myself, but other volunteers make the soup, cook the chicken and vegetables, and bake the desserts,” added Jampolsky.
Richmond resident Courtenay Cohen and her friends, some of whom aren’t even Jewish, bake cookies, cakes and brownies for the Shabbat boxes. Cohen started volunteering a year or two ago. Asked why she recruited non-Jewish friends to help bake, Cohen said: “They’re very involved in their own religious community, but when I told them what I was doing, they wanted to help. It’s a great way to teach them about Judaism.”
Taking on a bigger role this year, Cohen now oversees the baking part of the Shabbat boxes. Not only does she bake, but she also helps pack the boxes and deliver some of them. “Delivering the boxes gives me a chance to visit elderly Jews and others in our community and make a person-to-person connection with them. It’s also a way to check in on them and make sure they’re living in safe and suitable conditions,” added Cohen. “Plus, they really love talking to young people.”
Pam, one of the Shabbat box recipients, said: “It’s fantastic! It’s very generous of Chabad to do this.” Pam said she especially likes when the kids decorate the boxes, and she enjoys the short visit with them. She said that, with the recent snow and an elevator that wasn’t working, she couldn’t leave her apartment for a week, so the Shabbat box was very helpful to have.
Rabbi Yeshurun Blumenfeld, along with his 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, make volunteer deliveries of a Shabbat box to a couple in their 90s every other week. “Not only do I create an ongoing relationship with this couple, but it’s a way to teach my kids about the importance of doing mitzvahs,” said Blumenfeld, who added that promoting a mitzvah is a sanctification of G-d’s name.
Blumenfeld also shared a story of how, one day, when he was at a Richmond bakery buying challah for his family, he happened to bump into the wife of this elderly couple to whom he delivers a Shabbat box. She was shlepping a bunch of groceries, and he asked her how she was getting home. She told him she had called a taxi. He immediately said they should cancel the taxi, and he would drive her home himself. He said it was a very special moment for him, to make that connection with another Jew.
The Light of Shabbat program began in memory of Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, shluchim who started the Chabad House in Mumbai, India – the couple was murdered by terrorists in 2008.
Supporting the Light of Shabbat program is a huge mitzvah on many levels. And, as there are a lot of seniors and others in Richmond who would appreciate a good Shabbat meal, Chabad of Richmond desperately wants to expand the program, but needs more donors, sponsors and volunteers to sustain it. Their goal is to substantially increase the number of meals they deliver every week. Each filled Shabbat box costs approximately $25 to $28. To donate to the program on an ongoing or one-time basis, contact Baitelman at 604-277-6427 or [email protected].
Left to right: Ariel Lewinski, Judy Boxer and John Bromley. (photo from Chimp)
When it comes to charitable giving, there’s a widespread feeling of donor fatigue, says Judy Boxer, community engagement manager with Chimp Technology in Vancouver. Chimp is an online giving platform that helps people give to and fundraise for charities that match their values and interest. Focused on charitable impact, the company is determined to counter donor fatigue by making philanthropy a positive, rewarding experience. And it’s set its sights on the Jewish community of Vancouver with a Tzedakah Project targeting Jewish giving.
A Vancouver donor who prefers to remain anonymous gave Chimp $270,000 to jumpstart the Tzedakah Project in mid-November. Boxer and her colleague Ariel Lewinski are tasked with creating the community, helping select a board to run it and then handing it over to the board.
“Ultimately, this initiative is something the Jewish community will take on and run on their own terms,” she said. To add incentive to membership, the Tzedakah Project is starting out by offering an $18 charitable gift to new members “so they can experience the gift of giving to a Jewish charity of their choice,” Boxer explained.
The core of Chimp is the Chimp account, which gives a donor the same benefits as having their own private foundation, but free of charge, said Lewinski, Chimp’s vice-president of partnerships and growth. “It’s like an online bank account for charitable giving. You put any amount of money into the Chimp account and you get your tax receipt at the moment you want it. You can allocate the charitable giving at a later date.”
Chimp membership encourages donors to rethink how they give charitably. Boxer and her team have found that people’s donations are more reactive when they receive calls requesting donations. They don’t necessarily plan their giving to make the biggest impact.
“We’ve found people connect really well to causes,” she reflected. “At Chimp, we’ll help them figure out what causes are important to them and then offer a matching charitable organization so they can allocate their charitable giving. With a Chimp account, you have an opportunity to engage in a conversation about what you care about, what you want to achieve and where you want to make an impact, as opposed to reacting towards people asking for money.”
Chimp Technology is the brainchild of John Bromley, a 38-year-old Vancouverite who started out in corporate finance and then co-founded a law consulting company focused on charity. His clients were high-net-worth donors who needed help structuring their giving and, in the process of working with them, Bromley felt he could help ordinary people structure their charitable giving, too.
“I saw that the only people getting their giving problems resolved were people who had so much money they could create their own private foundation,” he said. “I started Chimp Technology in 2012 to focus on a donor-centred giving experience for everyone else.”
Bromley observed that the main place people learned to give was in religiously oriented families or theologically tied communities. “As there’s been more secularization in North America, we’ve seen a reduction in the number of people that learn how to give,” he noted. “Chimp isn’t religiously motivated, but we understand the theological backgrounds and the very important role those theologies and communities play in the giving economy in Canada.”
While Chimp is theologically neutral, it aims to represent donors and effectively facilitate their philanthropy. “That’s important, because, when you take away all the noise that exists around how to give to charity, you create more time for people to think about how they’ll spend their charitable dollars,” Bromley said. “Chimp is about enabling or empowering donors large and small to give on their own terms to the things that matter to them.”
Boxer said the Tzedakah Project is also trying to empower the younger generation and has partnered with Vancouver Hebrew Academy, Vancouver Talmud Torah, King David High School and Torah High in Vancouver. “We want to start a philanthropic conversation with kids of a certain age about the kind of impact they want to have, to have them think about charity in a new way, and possibly start conversations between them and their families,” she said.
“We’re trying to enable and empower people from different communities by giving them the tools they need to create a giving program around a cause or community,” Bromley added. “We’re not the founders of the idea for the Tzedakah Project – that’s coming out of the Jewish community. But it’s a real pleasure to be doing this with the Jewish community. I’ve learned a heck of a lot about the wealth of engagement with tzedakah and how serious giving values are in the community, and it’s quite inspiring.”
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net. This article was originally published in the CJN.
Inbal Len Nenner holds the attention of campers on Cypress Mountain during JCC Camp Shalom’s winter session last month. (photo from JCC Camp Shalom)
When Inbal Len Nenner arrived in Vancouver last year from Israel, she fell in love with the natural environment, as well as its people. “I met the nicest people in the world,” she said.
When JCC Camp Shalom met Nenner by chance at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, she spoke about her work with Israeli children, where she created a special program called Children’s Tribe. Inspired by ancient tribal traditions, it focuses on group-building activities for children and youth and connects them to nature.
This type of programming was of interest to Camp Shalom, as it has always focused on nature education and teaching values that foster appreciation and respect for the environment. So, during the two weeks of JCC Camp Shalom’s 2016 winter session, Nenner volunteered to work with all age groups.
During the winter camp, Nenner created many activities, including a quest for Big Foot at Cypress Mountain, where campers learned to follow tracks in the snow, and a “tribe day,” where the youth campers (grades 4-7) became the Spirit Eagle Tribe – each child had a role to fulfil, learned a job and shared with others. Meanwhile, with the younger campers (preschoolers), Nenner ran a Chanukah storytelling session, during which the children had the chance to dress up and play some of the roles in the story. The highlight of the week was a camp-wide celebration of Chanukah as in biblical times, which included booths and activities such as ceramics, dance and Olympic games.
Nenner’s goal in her work is to develop creative thinking in children and to show them the positive effect of making social connections in a group. This aligns exactly with JCC Camp Shalom’s values, so the camp could not have been more excited to give Nenner a chance to demonstrate her craft. During her time as a volunteer, the campers laughed and played, and created an environment that fostered positive self-image and growth.
“Inbal quickly became part of our Camp Shalom team and was loved by the campers and staff alike,” said Ben Horev, JCC Camp Shalom director.
Nenner has since returned to Israel, but JCC Camp Shalom is taking the necessary steps to ensure that she will return to the JCC in the spring. Not only did she enjoy her experience with the camp, but she was an amazing asset to the camp program, translating the camp’s values into meaningful activities from which the children grew and learned in an experiential way.
For more information about JCC Camp Shalom and its programming, contact Horev at [email protected].
B.C. Finance Minister Michael de Jong speaks at the Canadian reception in Tel Aviv, kicking off the Nov. 13-17 trade mission to Israel. (photo from flickr.com/photos/bcgovphotos)
In November, B.C. Minister of Finance and House Leader Michael de Jong led a provincial trade mission to Israel. The invitation to delegates was sent by the minister and Dr. Moira Stilwell, MLA for Vancouver-Langara.
“A lot of the impetus for this [mission] derived from the tech sector, the health sciences sector, the cybersecurity sector itself here in B.C., who said, look, we are seeing increasing opportunities and we’d like to explore those further, is the government prepared to work with us?” de Jong told the Independent in a phone interview. “And that led to a conversation between myself and Moira – of course, she has been, for many years, a big proponent of growing the bilateral relationship – and, out of that emerged this formal trade delegation.”
It was de Jong’s second mission to Israel. His first was about five years ago, during his tenure as the province’s minister of health.
“The role the government and a minister can play is to help facilitate partnerships and contacts between people, and this particular group had done a lot of that work themselves,” he said. “So, for example, the Rick Hansen Institute had already created the beginnings of a partnership with Hadassah [Medical Centre] and we saw that go to the next level in terms of formalization. We went out to Technion University, which is this world-leading institute – in their hallway, they feature Nobel laureates the way other institutions feature alumni – it’s quite remarkable…. [On] the cybersecurity side, some of the folks who were with us are even now actively pursuing with colleagues in Israel opportunities for exchange and for trade and, ultimately, that’s what this is all about.”
Delegates on the Nov. 13-17 mission traveled to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Beersheva, Haifa and the West Bank to meet with various government, university and other stakeholders. Among those accompanying de Jong was Nico Slobinsky, director of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Pacific Region. CIJA hosted an optional tour and Shabbat dinner on Nov. 18 for delegates who stayed after the mission was officially over, Slobinsky told the Independent.
“CIJA was delighted by the Government of British Columbia’s initiative to lead a trade delegation to Israel composed of B.C. entrepreneurs and professionals involved in life sciences and cybersecurity,” he said. “This mission assisted in cementing existing relationships, creating new partnerships and promoting opportunities in the province by deepening the economic, cultural and academic ties between Israel and B.C.”
One of those ties was with the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHÉOS), a centre of the Providence Health Care Research Institute and the University of British Columbia faculty of medicine.
“Israel is viewed as a world exemplar in science, technology and commercialization – a place where we can learn, but also can share best practices from B.C.,” said Prof. Robert Sindelar, who, among other things, serves as an advisor to CHÉOS. He added, “Having participated in valuable and hugely beneficial B.C. trade missions previously to China and India, I said yes immediately when I had received the invitation to consider participating in a B.C. trade mission to Israel from the B.C. Ministry of International Trade.”
About the November trip, he said, “From our very first meeting in Israel to the very last meeting, I was continually impressed by our Israel hosts’ efforts to: 1) openly and candidly share valuable insight and details of their successes and endeavors with our delegation, and 2) the immediate connection in person or via email within 24 hours of an event to further explore potential opportunities and collaborations. Thus, we are already working together on several possible collaborations between Israel and B.C.”
Being a multidisciplinary health research centre, CHÉOS looks “to partner and collaborate with synergistic and like organizations researching at the cutting-edge of health and wellness,” said Sindelar. “Thus, true partnerships and collaborations with the best health-outcomes organizations in the world – sharing knowledge, skills and new methodologies – is a continuing goal for us. Each and every life-science event planned for the B.C. trade mission to Israel provided an opportunity and unique ideas for possible collaborations for CHÉOS health scientists and clinicians at a world-class level.”
Of course, the relationship with Israel extends beyond British Columbia to all of Canada.
“There is this very strong political and cultural tie,” said de Jong. “I think we still underachieve with respect to trade. I think there is genuine room for growth on the trade front. There are some emerging opportunities, as Israel begins to explore offshore energy potential.”
As well, “we have room to learn from the ‘start-up nation,’” said de Jong. “You go down to Beersheva, for example, and see how they have managed to create a technology hub in concert with the university there and the community there, and you see elements of that beginning to develop in British Columbia, in the Lower Mainland, in Victoria, but there are some real lessons to be learned.
“Frequently, the conversations began with the Israeli representatives reminding us of the unique challenges that they face and how innovation is borne out of necessity – smaller population base, smaller country, neighbors that aren’t always particularly friendly and, in some cases, are downright hostile, and, out of that, out of necessity, innovation has emerged. At one point, I replied to a group, acknowledged that and said I want you to think about another form of necessity. Imagine four-and-a-half million people in an area the size of Europe … well, that’s our circumstance. That breeds a different kind of innovation … 35 million people in a country that’s the second-largest country in the world. And so, we have to innovate in order to achieve a standard of living that is amongst the highest in the world, with vast distances and a very small population base, and we may have something to teach you about that. Different circumstances, both have required a degree of unique innovation, and two countries that have performed remarkably well economically.”
The cost of the trip, which included travel to Israel and England for the minister and his chief of staff, came in slightly below the ministry’s $25,000 estimate, said de Jong.
“It costs money,” he said. “You go to these hotels and, if you can find one that’s below $300 a night, you’re lucky. It’s not cheap.”
But, he explained, “It’s well spent if it facilitates business and trade. If it doesn’t, then it is not a sound investment. We try to track the trade stats and the partners that came with us and do the follow-up.”
Regarding that follow-up, he said, “Well, the trade ministry, who were also represented on the trip, will be following up with the members of the delegation; in some cases, providing additional information to folks we met in Israel. In a couple of cases, there are groups there who have indicated a desire to come here to follow-up. The ultimate test of success is the degree to which investment flows out of Israel into British Columbia and out of B.C. into Israel, and we see increased levels of commerce and trade in goods and services. We can dress it up any way we want, but that’s the measure of success. If, a year or two from now, our trade levels remain the same, then it hasn’t been a success.”
To those who support the boycott, divestment and sanction movement, de Jong said, “I disagree with the approach. I see benefits for British Columbia in developing and enhancing the trade relationship, benefits for Canada; I see benefits for Israel, I see benefits for the region. I met with the finance minister for the Palestinian Authority, went into Ramallah, had a conversation, obviously got a perspective on some of the economic challenges that they are facing. I had met earlier that day or the day previous with the Israeli health minister. There is a vexing challenge there, and I’m not going to pretend to have the recipe for resolution, but I do know that Canada and Canadians are well-regarded within Israel and, my impression was, amongst the Palestinian officials. To the extent that we can encourage or influence the prospect of negotiations and resolution, so much the better.”
After the mission to Israel, de Jong stopped in London, where British Columbia was honored by the London Stock Exchange for innovation in financial capital markets.
“As finance minister over the last five years, there’s a bit of a pattern,” said de Jong of his international travel in general. “After the budget, I’ll usually do a tour involving the North American markets, so Toronto, Montreal, New York, Boston, Chicago, that sort of triangle, if you will. We also have a lot of investors in Europe, so every second year, there will be a European show.
“As forestry minister, those were the years we were opening up the China market and were very active there, happily. It’s paying dividends now. And, more recently, we were the first government anywhere in the world to issue what are called ‘dim sum and panda bonds,’ one is offshore, one is onshore, Chinese currency bonds.
“Earlier, I mean just before I was in Israel, I was in India. We were the first government anywhere in the world to issue what are called ‘masala bonds,’ rupee-denominated bonds. We’re able to do these things because we’re triple-A … so we can go where no one has gone before … and break new ground. On the way back from Israel, I stopped in London, and the reason the stock exchange wanted to honor British Columbia was for creating an entire new trade through this masala bond. We issue it out of London and now, of course, others are following.”
According to Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver chief executive officer Ezra Shanken, in his Nov. 18 e-newsletter, other local Jewish community members who joined the B.C.-Israel mission were Candace Kwinter, who is on Federation’s Israel and overseas affairs committee and CIJA-PR’s Local Partnership Council; Paul Goldman, who is CIJA’s immediate past chair; and Eli Mann, chief executive officer of Shield4UC, who also serves on Federation’s community security advisory committee.
Jason Aginsky (photo from Centre for Judaism of the Lower Fraser Valley)
The Centre for Judaism of the Lower Fraser Valley has announced the recipient of its annual Lamplighter Award, which honors a child who has performed an outstanding act of community service.
Jason Aginsky, a 16-year-old Grade 11 student at McMath Secondary in Richmond, was the second-youngest participant in the B.C. Ride to Conquer Cancer in August 2016, when he rode the 250 kilometres from Surrey to Seattle over two days.
“He’d announced eight months earlier that it was a cause he was determined to support and no safety concerns raised by his worried mother could deter him,” said Mark Aginsky, Jason’s father.
Jason was motivated to do this ride after losing his grandmother, Shirley Kramer, to ovarian cancer in 2003, when he was just 3 years old. He joined the Village Idiots, a group of riders in the Steveston area, and, after raising close to $4,000 to support the B.C. Cancer Agency, powered through the race.
“We followed him on Day 1 by car and he was utterly exhausted, on the brink of admitting he’d ‘bitten off more than he could chew’ by participating,” his father recalled. “The winds were against the riders that day and it was hard going. But, when it comes to determination, Jason has it in spades and he pushed through on Day 2, waiting hours at the last stop so he could cross the finish line with other members of the group who were well behind him.”
In total, this year’s participants in the B.C. Ride to Conquer Cancer raised $7.1 million for cancer research.
Jason will receive the Lamplighter Award on Dec. 29 at the Semiahmoo Shopping Centre at a ceremony attended by Rabbi Falik and Simie Schtroks, directors of the Centre for Judaism, White Rock Mayor Wayne Baldwin, and representatives of the cities of Surrey, White Rock, Langley and Delta.
“Chanukah celebrates the victory of light over darkness and goodness over evil,” said Simie Schtroks. “This is a most appropriate opportunity to motivate and inspire young people to make this world a brighter and better place. By filling the world with goodness and kindness, that light can dispel all sorts of darkness.”
King David High School Grade 8 students Noam, Judd and Joey, collecting bread from COBS. (photo from facebook.com/foodstashfoundation)
Nov. 21 saw the start of King David High School’s now-established RAC Week. Started as part of the Random Acts of Kindness program – adapted as Random Acts of Chesed – this is a five-day celebration of paying it forward. Whether it’s picking up garbage, helping the homeless or moving furniture, every activity gives the students a chance to experience the rewards of helping others.
This year, The Giving Tree formed the basis for RAC Week’s good deeds. Illustrations from Shel Silverstein’s book about unconditional love decorated the main hall and foyer. Heartwarming messages read “Kindness is Contagious,” “Spread the Love” and “Smile! It’s RAC Week!”
RAC Week takes the students outside their comfort zones. According to the director of Jewish life at KDHS, Ellia Belson, this year’s destinations were chosen based on feedback gleaned from last year’s offerings. “The Grade 12s wanted to go where there was the greatest need,” she said.
Among the destinations were the Kerrisdale police detachment, Quest Outreach and Admiral Seymour Elementary School. At the school, which is on Keefer Street, they witnessed an unfamiliar degree of tension – and fighting – among the kids. KDHS student Ethan (Grade 10) described how he “tried to get people to play together who might not do so normally.”
Under the guidance of teacher Matt Dichter, Grade 8 student Noam accompanied Food Stash Foundation on their daily rounds. Started by David Schein, a former teacher at KDHS, the foundation was created to help reduce food waste in the Vancouver area. FSF collects leftover items from grocery stores, such as Whole Foods, at the end of each work day. Food Stash then delivers the food to where it’s needed most: more than 15,000 kilograms of food since September, said Schein. On the morning of Nov. 22, deliveries were made to the Kettle Society, Mount Pleasant Neighborhood House, Tenth Church and Oasis Café.
The RAC group from KDHS rescued food from COBS Bread, Greens, Fresh is Best and a number of other sites. The numbers speak volumes. Every year, each Canadian throws away approximately 127 kilograms of food. KDHS kids rescued 135 kilograms in a single day.
“I really liked working with the kids because it is a great way to raise awareness of food waste in the younger generation,” Schein told the Independent. “Half of food waste happens at home, so they can now go home and speak to their parents, start influencing food choices.” He added, “Saving me some lifting was also nice!”
With its emphasis on community service, RAC Week is a concentrated course in educating the emotions, as well as the intellect. Noam described how “it felt good to give back.” Asked whether his work with Food Stash had had an impact on his daily life, he answered with a definite yes. His intentions were clear, as he explained, “even finishing what’s on your plate” can have an impact on food wastage.
RAC Week offers a curriculum of social responsibility best taught outside the classroom, where students develop an awareness of other kids’ lives and struggles. The conversations that take place after the outings present an opportunity to reflect on these struggles and express gratitude for their own station in life. It also allows the students to teach one another, under Belson’s guidance, about what each group learned.
While the kids spoke animatedly about their excursions, their most energetic, personal and heartfelt responses were to Belson’s simple question, “What does chesed mean to you?”
At this, it seemed that half the students raised their hands, speaking with passion and clarity about “giving and not taking” (Ella). Connell quoted from the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, with the admonition, “Be a giver, not a taker.” Ethan spoke at length about how it’s easy to “take for granted a loving home, a loving family…. It’s a week to recognize that by giving back.” Jordana agreed, talking about the importance of seeing “how others live – even so close to us. It made a difference.”
Sometimes, the greatest lessons in life can be taught in the simplest of ways. Adi talked about “being a mensch, helping people who have less, making people feel happier, making them smile.”
Shula Klinger is an author, illustrator and journalist living in North Vancouver. Find out more at niftyscissors.com.
Teens from Temple Sholom’s sister congregation, Tzur Hadassah, in Israel. Rabbi Stacey Blank is on the far right. (photo from Rabbi Dan Moskovitz)
Derech L’Torah is a b’nai mitzvah orientation program currently offered by Temple Sholom, which pairs a group of Vancouver b’nai mitzvah with their Israeli counterparts. The Israeli families come from Tzur Hadassah, Temple Sholom’s sister community just outside of Jerusalem in the pre-1967 territory of the Judean hills. The ongoing dialogue has illuminated both similarities and differences between Israelis and Canadians preparing for the rite of passage.
“In Israel, boys are more often motivated to have bar mitzvahs by social pressure, whereas girls often desire to make a statement,” said Rabbi Dan Moskovitz of Temple Sholom. “They may be motivated by egalitarian, feminist ideals in a culture where the religious sphere is still more dominated by patriarchy.”
Canadian b’nai mitzvah may assume that Israelis will have a substantial leg up on bar or bat mitzvah preparation, but that is not necessarily the case. Canadians may actually have more synagogue experience than their Israeli compatriots, and Israelis find liturgical Hebrew something like Canadians find Shakespearean English.
“Whether Israeli or Canadian, both are going through the gateway of this liminal moment,” said the rabbi, “and both are being immersed in Jewish time and Jewish ritual.”
Among the parents, there are more similarities than differences, said Moskovitz.
In Israel, a bar mitzvah is not “required” for Jewish identity, whereas, in Canada, those who don’t have a bar mitzvah rarely cultivate a strong Jewish identity as they grow up.
“Both sets of parents want their children to be successful, without them feeling too pressured, and, for both, some of them are guiding their children through something they themselves may have walked away from.”
One of the main benefits of the program, said Moskovitz, is the way that it joins together parents of b’nai mitzvah into a cohort to connect with and support each other.
The program starts in the spring of Grade 6 and goes to the fall of Grade 7. Among the Temple Sholom contingent, the students tend to be about one-third from Vancouver Talmud Torah and Richmond Jewish Day School, and most of the rest have a supplementary school background.
The partnership between Temple Sholom and Tzur Hadassah aims to create a vibrant connection between Reform Jews in Canada and Israel and goes beyond the Derech L’Torah program. Visitors to Israel from Temple Sholom have attended Shabbat dinners and synagogue services at Tzur Hadassah, and Temple Sholom supported a community garden project there. Rabbi Stacey Blank of Tzur Hadassah has taught an adult education at Temple Sholom via Skype, and Moskovitz and Blank have published articles in each other’s temple bulletins.
Matthew Gindinis a freelance journalist, writer and lecturer. He writes regularly for the Forward and All That Is Interesting, and has been published in Religion Dispatches, Situate Magazine, Tikkun and elsewhere. He can be found on Medium and Twitter.
Ken Levitt, JSA president, with Debby Fenson, who was one of the singers at the event. (photo by Binny Goldman)
On Nov. 25, Jewish Seniors Alliance’s first Empowerment Series in partnership with the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia was held at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture.
Gyda Chud, JSA vice-president and Peretz president, and Ken Levitt, president of JSA, welcomed the 65 people gathered, with Levitt thanking Chud and citing her as an example of koach, strength, in all she did.
The theme of this year’s series is Food: The Doorway to Our Culture, so the partnership with the JMABC was a natural fit, as its theme for the year is “Feeding the Community,” said Michael Schwartz, coordinator of programs and development of the JMABC, who briefly described how the museum functions and the extent of its collection.
As for its theme, Schwartz said the JMABC has created a new podcast, called Kitchen Stories. Episodes include stories about Sephardi Jews adapting to the culture of a different land, and that of a blended family from Ukraine and Rhodes. Schwartz highlighted the story of a family in Haida Gwaii, where, he explained, contact is usually made through an event; a shared feast celebrating the catching of fish, for example, the preparing of the meal and then the partaking of it, all instrumental to the success of the project itself.
Often a dilemma is faced when adapting to a new food culture and discarding the former, said Schwartz. Questions often arise, Which self am I? Does this diminish my former self? Food represents identity, acceptability and relationships, he explained, adding that a new JMABC venture planned for the coming year is a supper club at the Peretz Centre, where each get-together will focus on a different cultural theme: Persian, Israeli and Mexican.
Shanie Levin, a vice-president of JSA, then shared stories of food with those gathered. Formerly involved in amateur theatre and more recently in Yiddish reading groups at the Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library, Levin said she collected stories from several different perspectives. The first she read was an excerpt from Rhapsody in Schmaltz by Michael Wex, in which he lists the various blessings to be said before and after consuming foods. In the passage, Wex also notes the problem of dealing with a spoonful of milk that falls into the chicken soup. Does it render the whole soup non-kosher? Or just the pot? What if the family is poor and there is nothing else to eat? Referring to Wex’s book, Levin discussed how Ashkenazi Jews have remained close to their customs of origin while Sephardi Jews more often have adapted their food preparation according to the country in which they found themselves.
A crowd favorite was The Chicken Tale by Rabbi Daniel T. Grossman, which had everyone laughing, hearing about the rabbi who, traveling with a group of Jewish choir singers, finds himself in a town that knows nothing about the customs of Jews. Hoping to impress him, his hostess does some research at the local library. When she meets the rabbi, she informs him that she knows rabbis kill chickens, therefore, there is a chicken in the yard and the townspeople are waiting to witness the kill. However, the horrified rabbi says that he is not that kind of rabbi, but a praying and teaching rabbi. So, that night, they all eat fish.
Another story, A Town Called Roosevelt by Moishe Nadir, illustrated that a preconceived notion can be changed gradually with each course of a delicious meal.
A personal favorite was Challahs in the Ark by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, written about the time the Jews were expelled from Spain, eventually to relocate to Tzfat. The shul caretaker was desperate to know if he had found favor in God’s eyes. Knowing his wife was an expert challah baker, he asked her to bake 12 loaves, which he then placed in the Torah ark, thinking that, if they were gone in the morning, then he would know God had accepted his offering. In the meantime, the shamash, who had not been paid for many weeks and had a hungry family, was pleading with God to show him a sign that his prayers were being heard. Imagine his joy upon discovering the loaves of bread at the ark, which he thought to be a definite sign. This joy was echoed by the caretaker the next morning. Seeing the challahs were gone, he felt God had accepted them.
The audience was reluctant to let Levin stop, so she read one more story, a short version of Sholem Aleichem’s Chanukah Gelt. Her delivery held listeners’ rapt; they could envision the action, as each story enfolded.
A musical program followed, featuring Debby Fenson, Deborah Stern Silver and accompanist Elliot Dainow. Fenson is ba’alat tefilah (Torah reader) at Congregation Beth Israel, where she teaches b’nai mitzvah students; Stern Silver is a trained soprano who sings with Fenson at Beth Israel; and Dainow is musical director of the Unitarian Church, as well as being an accompanist for soloists and various ensembles, including the Vancouver Jewish Folk Choir, which calls the Peretz Centre home.
Introducing their program, Stern Silver said the songs being presented were of Ashkenazi sources. They included “Tayere Malkeh,” a Yiddish drinking song, performed with a drinking cup and an empty bottle of wine, and a song about having to eat potatoes every day, which had the audience eagerly joining in with the chorus of bulbes (potatoes). The third song transported everyone to the Israeli marketplace, “Shuk HaCarmel,” and “Rozhinkes mit Mandlen” (“Raisins and Almonds”), a lullaby sung to children, brought tears of recognition and nostalgia.
Several instruments were handed out and those in the audience became participants in the performance of “The Latke Song” by Debbie Friedman. For the final song, “Finjan,” the audience enthusiastically clapped along.
It is impossible to capture the warm feeling of shared chavershaft (camaraderie) prevailing in the room; a fargenign, a pleasure.
In addition to Chud, who was the convenor, the event was made possible with the help of JSA staff, and Karon and Stan Shear filmed it for JSA’s website. Here’s to continuing the singing of our songs and sharing our stories m’dor l’dor, from generation to generation, af eybik, forever.
Binny Goldman is a member of the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver board.
Three decades ago, Janette Sperber experienced the benefits of biofeedback personally. “At the time, I lived in San Francisco and worked in social services with abused children,” she recalled in an interview with the Independent. “I had severe asthma, went to the emergency in a hospital at least twice a year with my asthma attacks. In 1987, I became a research subject. One of the pioneers in biofeedback in America conducted a study in the new protocols for treating asthma, and I jumped at the opportunity. The program lasted for 13 weeks and it revolutionized my life.”
Since then, Sperber has never gone to emergency again. Although her asthma didn’t disappear, the program helped her manage her condition. It taught her the right breathing regimen, stress management and relaxation techniques. “Even my personality improved,” she said with a smile, “at least according to my friends. Maybe because the fear of asthma, of struggling for breath, was gone. My general way of relating to life changed. I felt more secure, more confident. Biofeedback led me from being a victim of asthma to being in control of my life. It empowered me.”
She became a huge proponent of biofeedback techniques. Whenever her coworkers complained of headaches or chronic pains, she taught them what she had learned in the program, and it helped them, too. After awhile, she started thinking of doing it professionally.
“I went for special training, took some additional classes and passed the licence exam in 1989,” she said. After a few years of working in physiotherapy clinics, she started her own biofeedback practice in San Francisco. Four years ago, she moved to Vancouver.
According to Sperber, biofeedback is a learning process, not a treatment. She teaches her clients how to manage certain physical and psychological conditions, including panic and anxiety disorders, recurring headaches, asthma, muscle-based dysfunctions and many others.
“It’s very gratifying to a counselor,” she said, “because biofeedback is a short-term process. People come to me with a complaint. I identify the problem and teach them how to deal with it, how they could help themselves. If they do their homework and practise, we both see positive results in a short time.”
One of the common problems with which she has helped her patients is chronic pain, including headaches and even cancer-related pains. “I don’t treat cancer,” she stressed, “but I can help people with the pain. When something hurts, we always want the pain to go away. We tighten our muscles to fight the pain, to resist it, but the tension often leads to the opposite results: the pain worsens. It triggers the alarm bells in our brains, and the stress level goes up, exacerbating the pain further. We need to relax instead.”
In addition to relaxation techniques, Sperber teaches her clients the right approach to breathing, which could also reduce anxiety and even prevent panic attacks. “With the optimal respiration patterns, my clients can catch a panic attack before it is fully developed, ‘nip it in the bud,’” she said.
The first stage of any treatment is to identify the source. For that, Sperber uses special sensors similar to the ones used in electrocardiogram testing. The test is painless. She applies electrodes to different parts of a client’s body to find the problem area and then teaches the client how to reduce the tension in that group of muscles. She also tests breathing and heartbeats before recommending certain techniques.
“Not everything works for everyone,” she warned, “but I try different techniques with each client to find what works best for them. The more open-minded my clients are, the better I can help them. They need to practise what I teach to get the best outcome. Those who don’t want to practise are unwilling to help themselves.”
Some of her more difficult patients include a perhaps unexpected group. “Women who are too nice are sometimes the hardest to help,” she said. “They go to their doctors with pain complaints, and the doctors recommend medications and suggest restrictions of what they should and shouldn’t do. Some doctors also recommend them to me or other biofeedback specialists. But, because these women – and it is usually women, not men – are too nice, they can’t say no. Someone asks them to do something extra at work or at home and they do it, even though it aggravates their conditions. They should learn to say no, to take better care of themselves.”
Another problem Sperber encountered recently is the gradual proliferation of fake biofeedback providers. “Biofeedback is growing in popularity,” she said. “More and more doctors recommend their patients to find a biofeedback specialist, but I’m only aware of a few other licensed biofeedback professionals besides myself in Vancouver. Lots of scams though. If you want to consult a biofeedback counselor, check the website of Biofeedback Certification International Alliance – bcia.org – for the certified practitioners in your area.”
Sperber loves what she does. “It’s wonderful to be able to help people improve the quality of their lives,” she said.
The Go Downtown app helps users find out what is happening in town right now.
Go Downtown has launched a public pilot of its real-time urban mapping mobile application in the Metro Vancouver area. The app is now free to download at the Canadian App Store and Google Play.
The new app helps users in large cities find out what is happening around town right now, and where to go to participate. The app indicates the location of live events and highlights crowd hot spots using a live foot-traffic heatmap.
The main mapping platforms like Google, Apple or Bing present mostly static data, while the information about live urban events – such as bands, parties, shows, etc. – is fragmented across the net and hard to find. Go Downtown changes the way we plan our hangouts and find out where the action is, by visualizing the live city. The social app aggregates information about events – such as festivals, shows, live music, food truck locations, happy hours and more – from user reports and other sources and displays them on the map. Users can share the details of an event they like and the app produces a walking route to take them there.
Go Downtown also features a live foot-traffic heatmap. The app aggregates the location and speed of its users to generate a real-time foot-traffic “synoptic map.” The heatmap highlights pedestrian hot spots and helps users find where the action is and where people are going. Users can even filter the map to find hot spots of specific groups of people based on their demographic and common interests.
In addition, the app offers themed walking routes – like “tourist attractions,” “shopping spree,” “pub crawl” and other things near the user – that enable the user to explore the city by walking.
“The concept of real-time urban mapping is powerful,” said Yaron Bazaz, co-founder and chief executive officer of Go Downtown. “Waze revolutionized mapping by using real-time user reports to map current traffic congestions and help drivers. Go Downtown takes real-time mapping further by utilizing user inputs to depict urban life. Where are people hanging out right now, what cultural events are taking place today? The ability to digest all this information, visualize it and analyze patterns will have enormous impact on users, businesses and local authorities.”
In addition, the real-time foot-traffic data and live urban events information generated serves a wide range of markets: from leading retail chains and car-sharing ventures that would like to understand foot-traffic patterns, to universities and cities that can use it for better planning. Go Downtown predicts that live foot-traffic data pattern analysis and forecast will play a key role in many Smart City initiatives and will be widely used by urban planners to plan more pedestrian-friendly cities.
Earlier this year, the startup ran a successful pilot at the University of British Columbia with the support of the faculty and the student organization. During the pilot, the app aggregated the foot traffic of hundreds of participants and mapped the main walking routes students were using throughout the campus.
Following the public pilot in Vancouver, the company plans to expand the service to more cities in Canada and the United States. To participate in the Vancouver pilot, visit godowntown.mobi to download the iOS version from the App Store or the Android version from Google Play.