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A decade at KDHS

Russ Klein recently marked his 10th year as head of school at King David High School. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Russ Klein resisted becoming King David High School’s head of school. Ten years ago, he was a vice-principal in the Vancouver school district, an 18-year veteran of the public system. One of his colleagues – Ben Lubinizki, a teacher at Prince of Wales, where Klein was VP – was a King David parent and on the search committee for a new head of school.

Klein was on track to become a principal in Vancouver and, besides, after attending Vancouver Talmud Torah, becoming bar mitzvah at Beth Israel and volunteering on kibbutzim as a young adult, he hadn’t had much to do with the Jewish community. But Lubinizki was persistent and encouraged Klein to just drop by the school and check it out.

“I saw what things were like,” Klein recalled. “I saw the potential. I also saw lots of things that I thought they needed a little bit of guidance on at that point.”

It turned out that the Vancouver School Board thought a time at King David could be a good experience for Klein before he became a principal, so offered him a two-year leave of absence.

“I thought it was going to be a temporary position,” he said. He is now celebrating his 10th year at the school and, as he reflects on the past decade, he says the move not only altered his career path, it changed his life.

A year into the two-year “temporary” gig, the VSB called with a principalship for him.

“I had to think hard about it because, in a little over a year, I had quite fallen in love with this particular place,” he told the Independent during an interview in his office at King David. “I loved everything about it, from its size to the people I was working with, to the mission that it had.”

But, while job security in the public system is assured, he said, “In the private system you don’t have any.”

The King David board offered him a 10-and-a-half year contract and Klein now hopes to retire – eventually – from a role he loves.

“I think it’s worked out quite well,” he said.

In May, at a major celebration, KDHS will celebrate 13 years – its bar mitzvah year – in the current purpose-built building. The school’s history dates back to 1986, when it was founded as Maimonides High School. It was called Vancouver Jewish High School in 2000/01, then Vancouver Talmud Torah High School until 2004, when it was renamed King David. It has always been a Grade 8 to 12 school.

As head of school for a decade, Klein has seen plenty of change.

Almost all Grade 8 students now travel to Israel on an 11-day experience, spending most of the time in the Galilee, Vancouver’s partnership region. Some of the kids in Har Vagai school – King David’s partner school there – live on Kibbutz Shamir, where Klein volunteered a couple of decades ago. In Grade 9, the Israeli students come to Vancouver.

In recent years, KDHS has changed its Grade 9 trip, which used to go to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., to an alternative trip to Los Angeles, where students visit the Museum of Tolerance and the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. The time difference – and the need to change planes – made the Washington trip difficult.

“We thought we could get more out of the trip,” said Klein. “L.A. is a much shorter, easier [trip], it’s less expensive. But it added another feature, which is that we have a shomer Shabbat weekend in Los Angeles.” (The trip didn’t happen this year as they are moving it to Grade 10.)

A group of King David students are also going to Guatemala to volunteer in a community where women and children from disadvantaged and often abusive backgrounds access support and skills.

In all these offerings, financial ability is never a factor in participation, Klein said.

In the classrooms, change also has been constant. New options have been added to electives, and the school has added advanced math and science programs as well as a Grade 10 outdoor experience program. King David students take all the core subjects public school students do, plus Judaics.

“In a typical Vancouver high school, most students will enrol in eight classes,” Klein explained. KDHS students take two more courses in various aspects of Jewish studies, including (in most cases) Hebrew language, Jewish history and “what we would call Jewish values: ethics, Torah, what does it mean to be Jewish?”

On top of an intense academic load, Klein said, “Our participation in athletics is outrageously high for a school of our size. Probably 70% of our kids are on one athletic team or another – or more.”

Challenges remain, Klein acknowledged. The school has pretty much met its student capacity and, while expansion seems unlikely in the near future, the redevelopment of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, a few steps west of the school, could present opportunities for a dedicated gym and shared use of space for classes, drama and music performances.

The changes in Klein’s career have been accompanied by changes in his personal life.

“As a person who didn’t have community, coming to a community that is so kind and caring has been absolutely amazing. It has been the best thing that could have happened from my point of view,” he said. “This has given meaning to my life, aside from the fact that, as a divorced person, I now have a very committed relationship with a former King David parent [Deborah Youngson] who is very traditional herself, which has brought more Jewish meaning to my life.”

Another change is also evident. He’s grown what he jokingly calls “the rabbinical beard,” which he says leads people to assume he is very wise.

“I do have a good chuckle every time I get an email that says ‘Dear Rabbi Russ.’”

Seeking ambassadors

B.C. Culture Days has announced a province-wide invitation to B.C. artists to apply to its annual Ambassador & Awards Program. Up to eight selected applicants from across British Columbia will receive $1,000 each to act as a Culture Days spokesperson and to present an activity during the Culture Days weekend (Sept. 28-30, 2018). Culture Days is a national celebration of arts, culture and heritage welcoming the public behind the scenes to discover their own creativity through free, hands-on activities for the whole family.

The B.C. Culture Days Ambassador program first began in 2013 with only one ambassador selected each year but, with the support of funders and sponsors, has since grown to allow for up to eight ambassadors, plus awards to help support their activities. Over the past five years, many ambassadors have had a profound impact on their arts and cultural community. “I believe that [Culture Days] instilled a sense of pride and created a unique framework for me to continue my mentorship with the youth in my community, continuing to build future leaders for tomorrow,” said Roxanne Charles, one of the 2017 ambassadors from Semiahmoo First Nation.

To be eligible for the ambassador program, an applicant must be: an individual artist (amateur or professional) residing in British Columbia; active in their arts, culture or heritage community; present and available to act as a spokesperson in their community during the months of May-September 2018; and prepared to register an activity to present during the Culture Days weekend.

Ambassadors are involved with reaching out to community members, such as individual artists, arts organizations, cultural organizations, heritage organizations and businesses, encouraging them to offer activities during the Culture Days weekend. They encourage public participation and discussion about Culture Days through in-person interviews with community members, blog posts and social media, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. They may also be asked to help activate a local pop-up event or partner event leading up to the Culture Days weekend.

In collaboration with local community organizers and B.C. Culture Days staff, the ambassador may be asked to present an activity at a community planning session or participate in TV, radio and newspaper interviews on behalf of B.C. Culture Days, so experience with public speaking and engaging audiences is an asset.

Interested applicants can visit bc.culturedays.ca to complete the online application form. Submissions will be juried by members of the B.C. Culture Days steering committee and finalists will be called for an interview. The deadline to apply is March 21.

RJDS part of Variety telethon

Several students and a few teachers from Richmond Jewish Day School were invited to appear on Variety’s Show of Hearts telethon. (photo from RJDS)

The Richmond Jewish Day School (RJDS) is a school that loves to donate to charity. The school currently donates to several organizations, including the Regional Animal Protection Society, the Jewish Food Bank and Variety – The Children’s Charity.

photo - RJDS students raised $1,150 for Variety – The Children’s Charity — RJDS students raised $1,150 for Variety – The Children’s Charity. *(photo from RJDS)*

A total of $1,150 was raised this school year for Variety, through flower sales, bake sales and non-uniform days (where students donate a dollar for the privilege of not wearing a uniform). As a result, RJDS received an invitation to be on the Variety Show of Hearts telethon on Feb. 11 to formally donate the money that the student council raised. Several students and a few teachers went on TV and everyone was so excited to be part of such a great experience.

For me, the telethon was very inspiring in many ways. There were many people there whose stories were told, and they made me and the rest of student council even more pleased that we could donate. There were many other donations given, as well as ours, that I am sure will make a big difference in some lives. It was amazing to see how much Variety impacts the lives of children and how happy it can make them.

Haylee Topp is a Grade 7 student at Richmond Jewish Day School.

***

Editor’s note: This year’s Variety Show of Hearts raised almost $5.5 million, which will benefit children with special needs and their families. Also appearing on the telethon was ShowStoppers, a group founded by Perry Ehrlich and Simon Isherwood that started out as Sound Sensation; the group’s first performance was on the telethon 25 years ago. Those who missed this year’s Show of Hearts can still make a donation online at variety.bc.ca, by calling 604-310-KIDS or by texting “KIDS” to 45678 to make an automatic $20 contribution.

Angels share warmth and love

More than 70 volunteers came out Feb. 11 to help Rose’s Angels pack care bundles. (photo by Lianne Cohen)

The fifth annual Rose’s Angels was a success by every measure. This year, project co-founders Courtney Cohen and Lynne Fader facilitated multiple donors of goods in-kind and financial, led six months of collecting items and gathered more than 70 volunteers to pack more than 1,100 care bundles, plus additional bulk packages for Richmond-based outreach agencies.

photo - Some of the care packages were specifically for children in need — Some of the care packages were specifically for children in need. *(photo by Lianne Cohen)*

Seventeen Richmond agencies – as well as Jewish Family Services’ Jewish Food Bank and Salvation Army’s Deborah’s Gate, both Vancouver-based programs – received these bundles. Each bag contained warm clothing items, hygiene products and food, among other things, to make a recipient’s day a little easier, and each was created to be specifically for men, women or children. The bags included a special note from the Rose’s Angels family, expressing hope that the items bring some enjoyment and a smile.

Agency recipients also included Touchstone Family Association, Chimo Community Services, Richmond High’s Colt Young Parent Program, Tikva Housing Society’s Storeys residence, Heart of Richmond AIDS Society, Richmond Mental Health, SUCCESS, Richmond Food Bank, Turning Point Recovery Society, Richmond Family Place, Pathways Clubhouse, Chabad Richmond’s Light of Shabbat Meals program and Gilmore Park Community Meal.

Cohen, who sits on the Kehila Society’s board of directors in the outreach position, and Fader, Kehila’s co-executive director, created Rose’s Angels to honour the memories and spirits of Cohen’s grandmothers, Rose Lewin and Babs Cohen. The note included with the bundles, said, “We share with you the long-lasting love and warmth these ladies conveyed.”

For those wishing to make a donation to Rose’s Angels or to get involved with the Kehila Society, contact the society office at 604-241-9270.

Rejuvenation of mah jongg at the JCC

Melanie Samuels, left, and Pam Wolfman were the winners of this year’s mah jongg tournament at the JCC. (photo from JCC)

On any given day and evening across Vancouver, Jewish women are gathering in sets of four and playing mah jongg. But, until recently, only a small number considered the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver a place to play and learn the game. In December, however, the JCC began offering mah jongg tutorial classes – and more than two dozen women joined in. Friendships are being made around the table, and mah jongg is helping build a women’s social network.

This game has been passed from generation to generation, including renewed interest from younger players, some of whom remember their moms and grandmas playing the game but only now have the interest and time to learn it themselves. On Jan. 28, more than 50 women attended the first-ever mah jongg tournament at the JCC (at least the first in a very long time). The proceeds benefitted Orr Vancouver Israeli Dance School and Festival Ha’Rikud. Pam Wolfman and Melanie Samuels were the tournament winners.

So, how did this centuries-old Chinese game of tiles become such a fixture in the lives of Jewish women in North America? There is much speculation, but one fact is known: Jewish women created the National Mah Jongg League (NJML) in 1937 to create consistency in rules and hands. This stability helped the game survive and spread. Jewish organizations selling cards generate charitable donations to causes of their own choosing, a feature of the league that encourages the quest for new players. In Vancouver, local sales of the game cards generate needed funds for the food bank at Jewish Family Services.

Historically, Jewish women found mah jongg to be an inexpensive form of communal entertainment, particularly in the urban setting of New York, and the game’s popularity spread from friend to friend, mother to daughter, according to Anita Luu and Christi Cavellero’s book Mah Jongg: From Shanghai to Miami Beach. And now, younger women learning the game are getting a newfound understanding of why their mothers were so passionate about the game that they and their friends played for decades together.

Players of all levels are welcome to join Mah Jongg & Margaritas, on March 8, 7:30 p.m., at the centre. The no-admission event is underwritten by the Marion Seeklus Mah Jongg Fund, a newly established endowment for mah jongg programming at the JCC. To attend, contact Lisa Cohen Quay at 604-638-7283 or [email protected].

JCC site to be redeveloped?

An aerial view of the proposed redevelopment of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver site, looking south. (image by Acton Ostry Architects Inc.)

On Feb. 7, the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver was packed with community members, as well as some area residents. For the three-hour open house hosted by the City of Vancouver, visitors worked their way through the crowded atrium, reading the numerous poster boards about the proposed redevelopment of the centre site, and how that redevelopment fits in with the massive changes proposed for the Oakridge neighbourhood.

While it is still early in the process, the City is looking for public feedback by March 30 on the rezoning application it has received for 950 West 41st Ave., i.e. the JCC.

The proposed redevelopment comprises a nine-storey building to replace the current JCC, a 13-storey replacement for the Louis Brier Home and Hospital and a 24-storey residential building.

image - The rezoning application proposes that the redevelopment starts with the building of most of the new JCC on what is now the existing centre’s parking lot, then moves to the construction of the underground parking, followed by that of the new Louis Brier Home and ending with the residential tower and the rest of the JCC — The rezoning application proposes that the redevelopment starts with the building of most of the new JCC on what is now the existing centre’s parking lot, then moves to the construction of the underground parking, followed by that of the new Louis Brier Home and ending with the residential tower and the rest of the JCC. *(image by Acton Ostry Architects Inc.)*

According to the rezoning proposal, the new JCC would include “recreation space, including pools and gyms; ground-level commercial space; an Early Childhood Education Centre, including 104 private daycare spaces; cultural arts, auditorium and theatre space; [and] nonprofit office space.”

The new Louis Brier would have “266 senior assisted living, complex care and memory care beds,” and the residential building would have “160 secured market rental units,” including 64 studios, 40 one-bedroom units, 40 two-bedroom units and 16 three-bedroom units. “Underground parking, with 693 vehicle parking spaces and 250 bicycle parking spaces, is proposed.”

The rezoning application is being considered by the City under the Oakridge Transit Centre Policy Statement.

The City of Vancouver explains on its website that the Oakridge Transit Centre, across from the JCC, “was formerly home to 244 trolley and 182 diesel buses, and employed over 1,200 transit staff including drivers, mechanics and administrators…. With the completion of the Vancouver Transit Centre on the Eburne Lands in 2006, almost all services moved out of the OTC” within several years and TransLink determined that the OTC was no longer required as a transit centre. TransLink approached the City about the redevelopment of the site: “Council approved a cost-recovered planning program to create a policy statement for the site in February 2014 and the program was publically launched in June 2014.”

The statement was approved in December 2015, after “an 18-month process involving community engagement at key points, and technical planning and design work.” It guides “the rezoning and redevelopment of the Oakridge Transit Centre,” as well as that of the JCC, the Petro Canada Station at the corner of 41st and Oak, and Oakmont Medical Centre (809 West 41st).

The JCC rezoning application was coordinated by Acton Ostry Architects Inc., the JCC and the Louis Brier Home. In the application, which is on the City’s website, Acton Ostry explains that the “surrounding context is in a state of transition and transformation from a low-density semi-urban neighbourhood to a high-density urban centre. Transit is a driving force at the heart of the new town centre with the Canada Line on Cambie Street and a new B-line proposed for West 41st Avenue.” The document notes that King David High School, which is east of the JCC, on Willow Street, uses and “shares many spaces in the existing JCC and is intended to have a dedicated gym in the proposed new JCC, in addition to access and use of many other activity spaces.”

image - How the space in the three proposed new buildings might be used — How the space in the three proposed new buildings might be used. *(image by Acton Ostry Architects Inc.)*

According to the timeline on one of the posters at the February open house, there was a pre-application open house in November 2016 and the rezoning application was submitted in December 2017. With the City-led open house now having been held, there will be a public hearing, “pending staff review and feedback,” followed by a council vote, again “pending staff review and feedback.” If the rezoning is approved, “the proposal becomes a development application.”

Development and building permits would take months to years to procure, and the construction itself would also take a few years. Since the JCC cannot be non-operational for that long, the project is envisioned in phases. The existing JCC would remain in place as the main building of the new JCC is built on what is now the centre’s parking lot, followed by the construction of the new underground parking lot. Once the new JCC was operational, Phase 2 would start with the new Louis Brier Home, to be located at the opposite end of the development site, then move to the construction of the residential tower and the rest of the JCC, located in between the main JCC and Louis Brier.

The entire rezoning application can be found at rezoning.vancouver.ca. Feedback can be submitted online.

Inclusion is our future

At Share the Journey on Feb. 6, before the official program started, left to right: Carmel Tanaka, Leamore Cohen, Penny Gurstein, Shane Simpson, Alisa Polsky, Tammy Kalla and Clark Levykh. (photo from JCC inclusion services)

“Inclusion is the framework for our community’s future,” said Shannon Gorski, executive member-at-large of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver board of directors, at Share the Journey: An Evening of Inspiration. “The JCC was my second home volunteering since childhood,” she said in her opening remarks. “We want to make sure the JCC grows to support all who depend on its presence.”

The Feb. 6 event at the Rothstein Theatre was one of several initiatives being led by the JCC during Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month (JDAIM). It featured a few speakers, including Shane Simpson, provincial minister of social development and poverty reduction, as well as the screening of a video of the Bagel Club’s trip to Israel last year and of the film My Hero Brother.

The Bagel Club is a JCC inclusion services program. According to the website, the group is “a social club for adults with diverse needs that focuses on social and recreational activities while promoting Jewish heritage, education and community engagement.” Activities include yoga, Israeli dancing, arts and crafts, outings and music appreciation. The Bagel Club also runs a community kitchen focusing on creating “delicious and nutritional kosher-style meals” together. Eleven Bagel Club participants were present on the night of Feb. 6, with Lyle Lexier offering a few remarks on the use of language regarding differing abilities and David Benbaruj introducing the film screening.

photo - Left to right: Kathleen Muir, Harriet Kositsky and Shannon Gorski — Left to right: Kathleen Muir, Harriet Kositsky and Shannon Gorski. *(photo from JCC inclusion services)*

Many at the event, including Simpson, when he took to the stage, were wearing the black T-shirt the JCC made for JDAIM, which says, “Labels are for clothes,” on the front. In his remarks, the minister spoke about the importance of inclusion and diversity work throughout all of the communities of British Columbia and highlighted the work of his own department, which focuses on community-building and poverty reduction within its greater mission.

Simpson shared some of the results of the fact-finding mission his ministry had recently undertaken in 28 communities in British Columbia. He highlighted the urgent situation in the province with regard to poverty and inequality: “678,000 people live in poverty in British Columbia,” he said, “which is 15% of the population. Forty percent of those are the working poor; one in five children live in poverty. If you are indigenous or have special needs, you are twice as likely to be poor.”

The minister said “social isolation is a key piece” that needs to be addressed throughout the province. “After people with disabilities in this province tell me they don’t have enough money, they tell me they want a job, they want to contribute,” he said. “When employers reach out and hire a differently abled employee, they tell me after they made the fit, they got a remarkable employee.”

Leamore Cohen, inclusion services coordinator at the JCC, introduced the video on the Bagel Club’s Israel trip. As Omer Adam’s “Tel Aviv Habibi” pulsed in the background of the video, the audience clapped to the beat.

Tammy Kalla and Penny Gurstein then read a list of Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver Inspiring Inclusion grant recipients. Congregation Beth Israel was given funds to hire a tutor so that children with learning challenges could learn to read Torah; Beth Tikvah to hire the appropriate professionals to enable children and youth with invisible disabilities to participate fully alongside their peers in a range of programs; the JCC for a new program called Family Yoga Fundamentals; Richmond Jewish Day School to offer a fully inclusive music program; and Vancouver Hebrew Academy to instal a wheelchair ramp to the playground equipment that has been specially designed for children of all abilities.

The evening concluded with the 2016 Israeli film My Hero Brother, directed by Yonatan Nir. It follows a number of Israelis whose siblings have Down syndrome, as they take their brothers and sisters hiking in the Indian Himalayas. In introducing the screening, Benbaruj spoke beautifully about love, community and his wish that the inclusive communities we had learned about throughout the night could be a model for the world.

Matthew Gindin is 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.

Mothers embrace Mamatefet

Mamatefet’s first Mom and Babe Circle. (photo from Mamatefet)

Meirav Galili and her husband Itai moved to Vancouver with their two children from Israel five years ago. When their third child was born here, the family received lots of support from friends, something that helped make up for the fact that they have no extended family here.

When she heard about a plan to create a network of Israeli moms and moms-to-be, she was one of the first to sign up with Mamatefet.

Mamatefet, which has grown exponentially almost exclusively through word of mouth, is a mash-up of “mama” with the Hebrew word “maatefet,” which is a wraparound or embrace. The group welcomes those who want to be an otefet, an embracer, or a ne’etefet, an embracee. Except, the terms are not mutually exclusive.

“Sometimes it’s our turn to give and sometimes it’s our turn to get some help,” said Galili, adding that the success of the group surprised all involved.

“It was amazing because many, many people said, ‘me, me, me, me, me,’ and quickly we established something,” she said. Understanding the added burden of having and raising children without parents, aunts, sisters-in-law or other family around inspired many women to step forward.

Thanks to Mamatefet, one phone call or a WhatsApp message can put a team into action.

“The woman doesn’t need to ask even,” Galili said. “Everything is being done for her. She just needs to tell a friend, ‘My child is sick with me’ or ‘I have to stay at the hospital for tonight,’ and we’ll take it from there, and when they get home they have everything. It’s a very strong, warm feeling that we are not alone and we have this supportiveness.”

That is exactly what Rotem Regev had in mind when she and four friends conceived of Mamatefet in late 2016.

“It was one of those nights,” Regev recalled, “a few friends got together sitting around the coffee table chatting, recounting their individual – which we then realized were quite collective – stories of transition, to Vancouver, to motherhood, and how that intersected. What became really crystal clear to all of us is that we were feeling quite a bit of loneliness at that time, whenever that transition was, coming to Vancouver either pregnant or with a very little one, when there is not a school yet or any sort of structure to fit into…. To top that off, you would also be facing an extra challenge being away from your family and friends in a country that doesn’t yet quite feel like home and a language that doesn’t quite feel like home and a healthcare system that feels very, very different.

“We didn’t want any woman to feel the loneliness that we felt,” she said.

photo - Mamatefet offers moms like Osher Cohen support, including the occasional homemade meal, and friendship — Mamatefet offers moms like Osher Cohen support, including the occasional homemade meal, and friendship. *(photo by Lior Noyman)*

When they decided to share their idea, they thought maybe five more women would join, perhaps seven. A few months later, they had 70 embracers and more than 40 embracees.

“The word spread out like wildfire really, because I think the need was so great,” said Regev, who is a clinical psychologist. There are a couple of similar groups in Israel and something sort of like Mamatefet in San Francisco and another in New Jersey, but, considering the evident need, it is a surprisingly rare initiative.

Regev and her Mamatefet co-founders Tamara Halamish, Yael Pilo Raz, Yael Mayer and Matti Feigelstock, have now seen their project expand from Vancouver to teams in Richmond, Ladner, Surrey, North Vancouver and East Vancouver-Burnaby, with a new team gearing up in Langley and the Tri-Cities.

In general, Mamatefet volunteers will deliver food, often including a Shabbat meal. There are regular meet-up groups for pregnant women and another for new moms. They are also on call in case of a crisis, like a miscarriage or a stillbirth.

But it’s the informal friendships that organically develop that are as important, said Marina Ingel. Being able to arrange play dates, exchange kids’ clothes, have a coffee with other new moms – this is an important outcome too, she said.

One of the reassuring things is talking to other moms about how the medical system in Canada differs from that in Israel.

“Here it’s totally different. Everything,” said Ingel. “In Israel, every time you’re going to the doctor, you’re doing an ultrasound. Here, you have maybe two the whole pregnancy. A bunch of things that they’re checking in Israel, they’re not doing this at all. But then you realize it’s fine and, if you have any problem, they will check it. Everything is OK, but the thing is that you’re worried about it, because it’s new to you.”

For Galili, cooking is both a hobby and a way to support other new moms.

“They send a message saying there is a woman who is about to come home with a baby and [asking] who is willing to participate,” she said. “I thought, OK, I need to prepare something anyway so I’ll just prepare something extra.”

Baking, homemade granola and yogurt, soups and a main dish, comfort food like chicken and rice, are the sorts of things she preps for new moms.

“If her mother were here, this is what she would probably make for her,” said Galili.

Mamatefet can be reached via facebook.com/mamatefet.

Cemetery improvements

(photo from cemeteryboard.com)

The Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board has appointed its board of directors for 2018, and is planning more facility upgrades for the coming year.

The cemetery board is co-chaired by Jack Kowarsky and Arnold Silber. Other members of the board are Shirley Barnett, Harvey Dales, Joshua Hauser, Dr. Mark Schonfeld, Gary Segal, Herb Silber, Isidor Wolfe, Rabbi Yosef Wosk and Barrie Yackness. Honourary board members are Charles Diamond and Joseph Segal. Howard Kallner, president of Congregation Schara Tzedeck, also serves on the board in an ex-officio capacity.

The board has made significant improvements to the chapel in New Westminster over the past two years. Constructed in the early 1990s to house the chevra kadisha, as well as to provide a chapel at the New Westminster cemetery, this building was in need of repairs and upgrades. This $600,000 project was completed last year with the generous contributions of many in our community.

Other improvements to the New Westminster cemetery included beautification initiatives and projects to help manage the organization more efficiently, including developing a grave-finding system that people can instal on their mobile devices, a GIS (geographic information system) to better track records and land use at the cemetery, and the implementation of a system that broadcasts funerals on the internet so that those unable to attend in person can view the funeral. (This service is available at cemeteryboard.com.)

This year, the board is planning to move ahead with another key project. The community cemetery located in Surrey has about 2,500 plots, and began having burials in 2008. To date, there is little infrastructure at that location, only a small handwashing station and a portable building.

Plans are being developed for the construction of a chapel building that will allow the cemetery to better serve those who choose this location. The chapel will seat between 40 and 50 people, provide a private space for families to gather prior to a funeral service and have two accessible washrooms. It will also provide facilities for cemetery board groundskeepers to store equipment. Part of this project will include improvements to the fencing of the cemetery, as well as improving the gardening and landscaping to make the cemetery a more welcoming place.

The cemetery board provides its services to the entire community. Members and non-members of Congregation Schara Tzedeck may purchase plots in any of the cemeteries. Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and those involved with congregations associated with other Jewish movements, all use the chevra kadisha, which is comprised of diverse members of the greater Jewish community. Funeral directors Rev. Joseph Marciano and Howard Jampolsky (who also serves as the executive director) are available anytime to answer any questions, and to provide more information about the availability of burial plots in all three of the community’s cemeteries – New Westminster, Surrey and the Jewish section of Mountain View. They are also available to provide information about pre-planning funerals in order to relieve family members of this task during the difficult time when a loved one passes away. They can be reached at 604-733-2277.

To learn more about the board or to contribute to the current Surrey Chapel Project, call Jampolsky at 604-733-2277 ext. 204, or email [email protected].

BCSC fines, bans Nickford

A British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) panel has fined and permanently banned Lynne Rae Nickford (aka Lynne Rae Zlotnik) from British Columbia’s capital markets for fraud. In August 2017, the panel found that Nickford convinced 13 investors to loan money to or invest in her company Lynne Zlotnik Wealth Management (LZWM) in 2009 and 2010, and told the investors their funds would be used for LZWM’s business operations and growth. The panel found that Nickford spent more than $318,000 of the investors’ money on personal expenses unrelated to her business.

In its decision, the panel stated, “Nickford represents a significant risk to investors and to the integrity of our capital markets. Broad permanent market prohibitions against Nickford are necessary and appropriate to protect our capital markets and the investing public.”

For her misconduct, Nickford has been ordered to resign any position she holds as a director or officer of an issuer or registrant. She has been ordered to pay an administrative penalty of $300,000 and a disgorgement order of $318,141.

The panel also ordered that Nickford be permanently prohibited from trading in or purchasing any securities or exchange contracts, becoming or acting as a director or officer of any issuer or registrant, becoming or acting as a registrant or promoter, acting in a management or consultative capacity in connection with activities in the securities market, and engaging in investor relations activities. The panel also permanently cease-traded securities of LZWM.