Local – Page 139

UBC referendum proceeds

Last week, the B.C. Supreme Court rejected a petition to stop the University of British Columbia’s Alma Mater Society from holding a referendum April 3-7. The question being posed in the referendum is the same one the AMS asked of students in 2015: “Do you support your student union (AMS) in boycotting products and divesting from companies that support Israeli war crimes, illegal occupation and the oppression of Palestinians?”

The question was brought to the AMS by the UBC branch of the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), which collected the required number of signatures to have a referendum that was initially scheduled to take place in March. It was postponed when UBC third-year commerce student Logan Presch filed a petition against it. He and his legal representation secured a court order that resulted in the referendum’s delay.

Presch’s petition stated the proposed question “is divisive, creates a toxic atmosphere for students supportive of the state of Israel, and is destructive of open and respectful debate on an important issue.” It also raised safety concerns, he said, noting the 2015 referendum “drove a wedge between religious groups on campus who had previously enjoyed interfaith outreach and collaboration. Students outwardly opposed to the [referendum] encountered a hostile reaction and there were reported acts of antisemitism on campus.”

In an affidavit, Rabbi Philip Bregman, executive director of Hillel BC, recalled that, at that time, anti-BDS lawn signs at UBC were pulled down. He also cited a climate of “a lack of personal security that many Jewish students experience on campus that is exacerbated by referenda such as the proposed question. There is an important line between robust political discourse and circumstances where I am compelled to deal with the personal security of students who study and live on campus who feel threatened by the consequences of this type of proposed question, which I believe foments the antisemitism and hostility I have described…. I believe that these students’ concerns for their personal safety are justified, as acts of violence have often followed hostility to Jews.”

While not Jewish, Presch is a member of the Jewish Students Association and the historically Jewish Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. He declined requests to comment but, in an affidavit filed with his lawyer, Howard Mickelson, Presch recalled that the first referendum created a “toxic environment on campus.” He said the question being posed by the AMS was contrary to its mission statement, which is to “cultivate unity and goodwill among its members” and to “encourage free and open debate as well as respect for differing views.” Presch also noted that the AMS code of procedure requires referendum questions to be capable of a “yes” or “no” answer, but that this question is “so loaded with assumptions (which are themselves highly controversial), that it will not be clear what a yes or no vote by my student colleagues will actually mean.”

Mickelson said the court recognized that the question was loaded and that the intention of a “yes” vote could be unclear for the AMS to act on, but denied the petition because the court determined “the society’s bylaws do not require that a question be fair as long as it can be answered yes or no. The standard for a qualifying question is a low one.”

Mickelson said the court recognized the “concerns for student safety” and acknowledged “the responsibility of the AMS and UBC to ensure student safety and respectful debate by all means necessary.”

“Although this case involves the political hot potato issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the role of BDS on campus, we argued that this was about the interpretation of this society’s bylaws,” said Mickelson, who represented Presch’s petition pro bono. “One of the arguments made by proponents of the question was that, in the context of a referendum, one party that is ‘funded’ or has ‘connections’ may be able to shut down the question against those that may not have the same level of funding…. I thought it was important for the court to understand that I was doing this pro bono.”

Though “disappointed” about the ruling, Bregman said “we really won the battles because the judge didn’t disagree with any of our arguments. We lost because the judge felt he was bound by a very poorly written bylaw by the AMS. So, we go forward fighting this nefarious referendum aimed at marginalizing and demonizing not only Israel but, by extension, those who support Israel.”

Bregman recalled that, in the spring 2015 referendum, UBC had the largest “no” vote ever seen in Canada at that time. “We’re ready to fight the referendum,” he said, adding, “But really, what we’re all about is dialogue and this is something that the SPHR has never taken us up on. Whereas we have dialogue with all sorts of groups on campus, the SPHR has rebuffed all of our efforts.”

The referendum question was to be directed at students starting Monday, as the Jewish Independent was preparing to go to press.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net. This article was originally published by CJN.

The importance of memoirs

This is the third of a three-part series on Writing Lives, a two-semester project at Langara College, coordinated by instructor Dr. Rachel Mines, in which second-year students are teamed up with local Holocaust survivors to interview them and write memoirs of their experiences before, during and after the Holocaust. The course is a partnership between Langara, the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre and the Azrieli Foundation. As part of their course work, students are keeping journals of their personal reflections on their experiences as Writing Lives participants. This week’s journal is entitled “The Importance of Memoir.” Here are some excerpts.

Our survivor has repeatedly stated that he and his peers greatly fear that, once they are gone, no one will remember what they went through. Survivors worry that, once they are no longer here as living testaments, their suffering and the people they lost will be forgotten. Our class, and other projects like it, is working to ensure that does not happen.

We must preserve the experiences of Holocaust survivors in written form so that, once they are no longer physically here, their story will be. We are not only archiving personal anecdotes, we are putting a human face on history. Facts are important for historical validity, but personal perspectives are essential in creating empathy. This program is chronicling history in such a way as to touch people and make them care about what happened to the Jewish people (and others) during the Holocaust. Empathy is one of the greatest tools in breaking down intolerance. Once we see the humanity in others, it becomes harder to hold onto prejudice and hatred.

Now, more than ever, it is vital to create this historic empathy. Prejudice and persecution are becoming ever more prevalent in our society, and it is up to us as a nation to halt such hatred. It is essential to remind the world what can happen when hatred is met with social apathy. These memoirs are a documentation of the horrors that unchecked hatred can lead to. I believe in the power of memoirs, the power of living history. I am honoured to be a part of such an important project at such a crucial time.

– Frieda Krickan

***

The first time I interviewed a Holocaust survivor, I was nervous, and rightfully so. My interview partner and I had been preparing for months before our first meeting but, nonetheless, when our interviewee arrived, I was so star-struck that I briefly lost my aptitude with the English language altogether. All I could manage to say was multiple renditions of the same sentence, thanking him again and again for his time and for agreeing to meet us.

Our interviewee, R., was gracious and didn’t miss a beat. He chimed in every time by thanking us in return just for listening and told us on multiple occasions, “I am so grateful for what you are doing. This is very important to make sure that the Holocaust never happens again.” His response surprised me but, the more I listened, the more I realized that this project meant more to him than just sharing his story; it was his personal call to tikkun olam, to repair the world the best that he can.

I learned that every Holocaust survivor’s greatest fear is not what you would expect. It is not death camps or gas chambers – instead, R. told us that their greatest fear is that no one will remember their stories when they are no longer alive to tell them. They are afraid that, with today’s ugly resurgence of antisemitism, everything they endured will be meaningless in the face of a society that cannot wait to forget. In a world that wants us to keep silent, it is every survivor’s hope that we raise our voices – that we proclaim the truth until our breath runs out. Our sacred duty is to empower the ones who can no longer empower themselves, and the key to making sure history never repeats itself is to tell their stories.

– Zoe Mandell

***

During this course, my group members and I spent a concentrated amount of time with a child survivor of the Holocaust. Time and time again, he narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the Nazi regime…. His story is inspiring, heroic, terrifying at times, and very emotional. He tells his story with such grace, in such detail, that we could clearly visualize in our minds what he had experienced.

I have heard many stories of those who survived, and the stories they tell of those they lost. I have learned what it was like for a child survivor from Paris, a teenage survivor from Amsterdam and an adult survivor from Warsaw. I have heard the stories of their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters: how they watched their father get shot, or saw their mother walk toward her certain death, or said goodbye to a brother they knew they’d never see again. Telling their stories, writing their stories, is not only a therapeutic technique, but a preventative one. It is important for those who survived to tell as many stories as they can, not to let the memory of their loved ones perish like they did during that awful time in history. It is important to tell the story of their loved ones to keep their memory alive in as many beating hearts as possible. And it is important to tell the stories of the Holocaust, for both survivors and those who perished, to stand up and say, “We survived. We won’t forget. Never forget. And never let it happen again.”

– Marni Weinstein

***

During and after each interview my group conducted with R., he thanked us multiple times. He thanked us for taking the time to listen to his story, for writing his memoir, and even for sharing parts of our lives with him. Every time he thanked us I was taken aback: why was he thanking us for listening to him, when we were the lucky ones? We were being given the opportunity not only to listen to a Holocaust survivor speak but to write a memoir that would continue his legacy throughout time. At first, I struggled with his gratitude; I was almost uncomfortable with how genuinely thankful he was that we were spending time with him and listening to his story. Yet no matter what I said, he was grateful.

It took me quite awhile to grasp exactly why R. felt the need to continually express his gratitude. In fact, R. did not grow up in a world that accepted the events of the Holocaust as facts and wanted to learn more about it. He grew up in a world where no one wished to speak about the Holocaust and its events were contested. He did not conceal his experiences only because they were too painful to revisit, but also because no one wanted to listen.

Not only did those affected by the Holocaust lose their families, their homes, their childhoods and years of their lives, but in many cases they lost their voices. For years, the world refused to listen and, because of that, we lost many valuable stories. Memoirs are important not only because they give survivors the opportunity to share their stories, but because, on a very small level, they begin to give a voice back to the voiceless. Although we can’t bring those survivors back and prove to them there are people who care and will listen, we can make sure the survivors who are still alive do not go unheard.

– Lucy Bogle

International partners

Left to right: Larry Fisher (Lark Group), David Berson (Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev), Daniel Blumenthal (Centre for Digital Innovation Negev), Dianne Watts (South Surrey-White Rock MP) and Rowena Rizzotti (Health and Technology District). (photo by Yvonne Chiang)

The Health and Technology District in Surrey and the Centre for Digital Innovation in Israel have formalized a number of collaborations on health-related technologies, creating an international network between partners to support health-tech innovations in Israel and across North America.

The Centre for Digital Innovation (CDI) is located in the Advanced Technology Park in Be’er Sheba, Israel, the growing “Silicon Valley” of the Middle East. CDI is a nonprofit created through the collaborative efforts of Israeli entrepreneurs and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. CDI operates in the areas of digital healthcare, healthy aging, education and smart cities, and brings together experienced entrepreneurs, start-up companies, innovators, researchers, industry leaders, academics, the public sector and investors to generate a high return on innovation for the challenges of the 21st century, such as the cost of healthcare and chronic diseases.

“Both CDI and Surrey’s Health and Technology District [HTD] have aggressive goals to drive innovation across the health sector and Canada stands to deeply benefit from the mentorship and leadership that Israel can bring to our innovation agenda here in Canada,” said Rowena Rizzotti, vice-president of health and innovations for HTD.

The memorandum of understanding between HTD and CDI will co-create and share respective solutions to global healthcare challenges by expediting the implementation of innovations in critical healthcare improvements for both countries.

“It’s great to see that Canada and Israel have parallel visions and focus in developing high-level innovations,” said Ziv Ofek, CDI founder and chief executive officer. “We are excited about this partnership with Canada and with the Health and Technology District and we look forward to collaborating and working together to create technologies that will benefit the world in which we live.”

The partnership was finalized during a recent trade mission organized by the Conference Board of Canada, where participants studied the culture and key success factors that have led to Israel’s groundbreaking developments in innovation and commercialization.

“Israel is a hotbed of high-tech innovations and boasts world-class skills and capabilities with universities and forward-thinking organizations developing some of the world’s latest technology breakthroughs,” said Paul Preston, Conference Board of Canada. “It’s hugely beneficial for Canadians to learn from this success and assist us in developing the talent and capacity to lead a culture in innovation in Canada.”

Every year, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) brings more than 100 Canadians to visit and learn firsthand from the “start-up nation,” and has facilitated trips in recent years for the City of Surrey, the Government of British Columbia and the Conference Board of Canada.

“This exciting partnership is a prime example of how, in bringing the best Canadian and Israeli minds together, we can achieve remarkable things for both countries,” said Jason Z. Murray, CIJA Pacific Region chair.

HTD held a celebratory reception on March 23 with CDI and special guests Dianne Watts, member of Parliament for South Surrey-White Rock, Ofek and members of CIJA.

Developed by the Lark Group, a Canadian-based company, HTD is a series of high-tech buildings located immediately adjacent to Surrey Memorial Hospital, creating an ecosystem for clinicians and health-care providers to work alongside innovators, entrepreneurs and tech companies.

“Tough kid” still shines

Chaim Kornfeld (photo by Shula Klinger)

In February, the Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation and Louis Brier Home and Hospital honoured Chaim Kornfeld. And they did so in the place he has especially dedicated his time over the last four decades: the Louis Brier synagogue.

Chaim was born in Hungary in 1926. His upbringing and education were Orthodox and, for the first part of the Second World War, his family were untouched. From the start of his education at Yiddish cheder, at age 3, he was a good student. Community life continued much as it had for centuries.

Outside the home, Chaim’s memories describe a tense separation between Jew and non-Jew. “My father always used to say, ‘When you see a Shaygetz, cross the street. Go on the other side.’”

Needless to say, young Chaim did not always do as he was told. “I took the beating instead – but I fought back, too.” He adds, “Especially at Easter time, they’d call you dirty Jew.”

It’s not hard to imagine a young Chaim’s spirited response. Even at 90, he is energetic and expressive in conversation. “I was a tough kid,” he says. His daughter Tova adds with pride, “He gave as good as he got!”

In 1944, Chaim was preparing to go to Franz Josef National Rabbinical Seminary of Hungary in Budapest. Then, not long before his 17th birthday, his family was moved to a ghetto with the other Jews of their town. Then came the trains.

Chaim, his parents and one of his sisters were sent to Auschwitz. On the journey, Chaim was permitted to fill a bucket of water for the passengers to have occasional drinks. He also took the dead out of the car.

On arriving at the concentration camp, Chaim jumped out. Greeted with ordinary scenes – “children playing, laundry drying” – Chaim’s mother figured she could work in the camp laundry.

Chaim relates how “an old man came up and asked, ‘Do you speak Yiddish?’ I said, ‘Yes, of course.’” The man pointed to a German official. “He’s going to ask you two questions. When he asks how old you are, you say you’re 18. When he asks you what you do, say you’re a farmer.”

Young Chaim approached the man with his usual confidence. Josef Mengele asked him his age and profession. Chaim answered as he’d been told. Mengele told him to go to the right. His parents were sent to the left. Before they were separated, Chaim’s father made a final request: “Bleib a Yid.” (“Remain a Jew.”) Afterwards, Chaim heard others say, “You see that smoke? That’s your parents.”

At Auschwitz, the Nazis stripped the prisoners of their belongings and identity, shaving off Chaim’s hair. He smiles ruefully. “I had lovely peyis, nice and curly.” Having only spent two weeks in Auschwitz before being transferred to Mauthausen in Austria, Chaim wasn’t at the camp long enough to get a number tattooed on his arm. He has not forgotten his number, though, and barks out “67655!” at an impressive volume, but not in English, or even Yiddish. It’s in Polish, as he heard it at Auschwitz.

Asked how he managed to maintain his sanity while facing death every day, he quotes Robert Frost: “I had promises to keep and many miles to go before I sleep.” But there’s more to it. Chaim describes how he kept his promise to his father, in spite of malnutrition and brutal treatment. “I always said, I’ll get out of here.”

He speaks with gritted teeth. “I never gave up. Even when I worked in a tunnel underground, I was mumbling a prayer. I prayed all the time to make time go faster. I knew the prayers by heart from a very young age. All kinds.”

Chaim describes a life of hard labour, misery and oppression. There were about 600 steps up the quarry. We “carried rocks on our shoulders, every day. There were dogs barking, soldiers pointing guns at us.” There was a pond at the bottom. If a prisoner fell down, he says, they would be pushed in.

Chaim found that he was the only one who remembered long tracts of the Torah. He led Kol Nidre in the camp, “all the others stood around me. I knew it by heart. I got a good education.” To lead a service in such appalling circumstances takes more than just education, however. It speaks to a capacity for leadership and clarity in a situation that is baffling in its cruelty.

When the prisoners were forced on a death march, Chaim was recuperating from an abscessed ankle. Although barely able to stand, he followed the advice of a fellow prisoner, who told him that if he didn’t leave the camp upright, he’d never leave at all. Limping in extreme pain, Chaim made it out but collapsed afterwards. When an SS officer raised his gun to shoot him, Chaim spoke up with his characteristic blend of optimism and boldness. Having been reminded of what a good worker this young Jew was, the officer permitted Chaim to hitch a ride on a passing wagon.

Until this year, Chaim was active in Holocaust education. In spite of the many letters from kids, thanking him for his work, these letters can be “painful,” he says. “The reminder is not always pleasant.” One might think that even a “tough kid” could tire of telling this harrowing story again and again, but Chaim isn’t flagging. “As long as there’s someone to listen, I’ll tell.”

After liberation, Chaim lived at the “internat” (boarding school) maintained by the rabbinical college in Budapest. Completing two years of high school in one under the instruction of one Dr. Kolben, Chaim still speaks admiringly of his teacher. “She was quite a lady. Very smart,” he says.

Kolben also taught them about the culture of Budapest. It gave the boys a chance to revive their appreciation of the arts, to leave them with images of beauty, after the horrors of the war. These included trips to the theatre in Budapest, to see Shakespeare’s plays. Their influence lives on today in Chaim’s memory. “To be or not to be, that is the question, whether it is nobler.…” He pauses to let me finish the quote. After staring, dazed, for an instant, I am relieved to find “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” bubble up in my mind.

photo - Chaim Kornfeld in his younger days — Chaim Kornfeld in his younger days. *(photo by Shula Klinger)*

Chaim ended up in a displaced persons camp, in Bari, Italy. The hungry residents were frustrated to find that the food stores were locked away. “He led an uprising and they opened the locker,” Tova says. “He gave an impassioned speech.”

After the DP camp came aliyah. “Someone came from the JDC [Joint Distribution Committee] to take people to Palestine.” Chaim arrived in 1949, right after independence, and joined the air force immediately. “I was in charge of a platoon of women. That was fun,” he laughs. “I told them, during the day, I am in charge. In the evening, you are in charge!”

Asked about his career, he describes being “a lawyer for 55 years; prosecuting, judging, the lot!” Indeed, Chaim was appointed to the bench. Having developed a habit of quoting the Talmud in his judgments, he earned the nickname “The Bible Judge.” He would make “off the bench decisions,” which were popular with the courts, Tova recalls.

Chaim had originally planned to go to engineering school but his English was not fluent enough. “It was so hard, so technical,” he says. At the end of his first year, his essay about George Bernard Shaw’s Candida got him a C-. “People who were born and raised in Canada failed that exam!” he says proudly of his grade.

His optimistic attitude was evident in his approach to work as well. As a lawyer, he was known for handing out treats at the courthouse. Known as “Candy Man,” he would move up lines of people waiting for their paperwork, greeted by out-stretched hands.

At the Feb. 25 Louis Brier tribute, Chaim was honoured with a special Shabbat service in his name. With more than 150 people in attendance, Chaim read Haftorah. As Tova, says, “like a bar mitzvah boy, beautiful.” Thanked by many for his work, he was given a Torah cover for one of Louis Brier’s volumes. Says Tova, “It was really lovely.”

Reflecting back on his survival, Chaim credits his Judaism for keeping him afloat. This is living proof of Viktor Frankl’s assertion that, to survive, one needed to seek a meaning to one’s existence, even in the camps. “I didn’t feel that G-d abandoned me,” says Chaim. “I never lost my faith.”

Indeed, he has kept a kosher home for all of his adult life. But survival takes resilience and a good deal of ingenuity, as well as faith. “We took empty burlap bags and stuffed them into our pyjamas, to stay warm,” he says. When he was starving, he ate coal. “I was my own doctor,” he says.

One might think these experiences would define him, but, when presented with the term “survivor,” he shrugs and grimaces. “Rachmanut saneiti,” he adds. “I hate pity.”

One cannot help but see the sense in Chaim’s attitude. Simply referring to this man as a Holocaust survivor would be reductive. He recently celebrated six decades of marriage to his wife, Aliza, and their four adult children all have successful careers. Still active at 90, he has built a reputation as a mensch: generous, respectful, with a buoyant spirit and a talent for relationship-building. And, even now, one sees the tough kid – the keeper of promises, the kid who took a beating rather than tolerate bigotry. And, the same kid who jumped off the train in 1944, ready to meet the eye of the man who held – and toyed with, tortured and destroyed – the lives of his contemporaries.

Chaim has only just retired. He still reads the Tanach in his office and attends shul on Saturdays and Sundays. He talks of keeping up with his hobbies: “Swimming at the JCC every day. Making my wife happy.”

Shula Klinger is an author, illustrator and journalist living in North Vancouver. Find out more at niftyscissors.com.

Overview of the Pale

Jewish Genealogical Society of British Columbia member Danny Gelmon, left, speaks with Hal Bookbinder. (photo Stephen Falk)

Why Did Our Ancestors Leave a Nice Place Like the Pale? That was the title of Hal Bookbinder’s March 14 talk at Temple Sholom.

Bookbinder was hosted in Vancouver by the Jewish Genealogical Society of British Columbia (JGenBC). He is involved with JewishGen, JewishGen Ukraine and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles. He has published numerous articles on research techniques, Jewish history, and border changes; the latter a matter of particular import to Ashkenazi Jews researching their families’ histories in Eastern Europe. A former president of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, Bookbinder was honoured in 2010 with the association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

On March 14, Bookbinder gave a detailed and insightful presentation, all without using notes. “Pale comes from the Latin palus for a stake, the stakes which were used to mark off an area.” he explained. “It was also used for the English Pale, a territory within Ireland controlled by the English. The Pale of Jewish Settlement in western Russia was a territory within the borders of Czarist Russia where Jews were allowed to live.”

Bookbinder said, “Limits on the area in which Jews could live came into being when Russia attempted to integrate Jews into the expanding country, from which Jews had been excluded since the end of the 15th century.” From 1791 until 1915, he said, the majority of Jews living in Eastern Europe were confined by the czars of Russia within the “Pale of Settlement.”

Bookbinder broke up the history of the Pale into six periods, each approximately 25 years long: creation, confinement, oppression, enlightenment, pogroms and chaos. The first era, that of creation, arose from Russia’s westward march to seize new territories in Belarus, Poland and Ukraine, he explained. Russia didn’t want Jews within its borders, but, as it expanded its empire westward, it came to be responsible for millions of them, creating a “Jewish question” for itself.

Catherine the Great (who reigned 1762-1796) responded by ruling that Jews should stay in the Pale. The confinement era intensified efforts to keep the Jews in the Pale, so as not to “infect our good Eastern Orthodox brethren,” explained Bookbinder. During this era, Catherine the Great’s son, Paul I, initiated a new program aimed at assimilating Jews into Christian culture by making their lives so miserable they would rather convert than remain as they were.

This led to the period of the cantonists, during which Jewish boys were drafted into the Russian army. Some did convert, though most did not. Large numbers died from mistreatment, neglect and malnourishment. The military schools provided army training as well as a rudimentary education. Discipline was maintained by the threat of starvation and corporal punishment. At the age of 18, pupils were drafted to regular army units, where they served for 25 years. Enlistment for the cantonist institutions, which originated in the 17th century, was most rigorously enforced during the reigns of Paul I’s son Alexander I (reigned 1801–1825) and Nicholas I (reigned 1825–1855), said Bookbinder. It is estimated that around 40,000 Jewish children were stolen from their families during this period. The practice was abolished in 1856 under Alexander II (reigned 1855-1881).

Czar Alexander II took a more “enlightened” approach, continuing to seek the conversion and assimilation of Jews through gentler methods. Czar Alexander III, a rabid antisemite like his grandfather, initiated the era of pogroms after he came to power in 1881.

Starting in 1905, with the ascension of Nicholas II, the chaos period began. “Russia was in ferment,” said Bookbinder, “and it was the era of assassination attempts, the Bolsheviks, fighting between the Red Army and the White Army, the Cossacks – creating a situation that was so unpleasant that it prompted many of our ancestors to leave.”

But, Bookbinder asked, “Why did they leave then? They had lived through so many horrors, and this was far from the worst they had seen. I think it is because, during the more enlightened era of Czar Alexander II, our ancestors got a taste of a more dignified, more secure existence and took courage. When things descended again into chaos, they had had enough, and many escaped Russia.”

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.

B.C. NDP leader talks with JI

B.C. NDP leader John Horgan (photo from B.C. NDP)

Horgan says he likes how British Columbians have come together across racial and religious differences during recent times of strife. In a wide-ranging interview with the Independent, the New Democratic party leader also promised to restore the B.C. Human Rights Commission, said he would like to see religious studies in the school curriculum, expressed opposition to boycotts against Israel and said ethnocultural groups play an important role in the delivery of social services.

Horgan, the provincial opposition leader who hopes to be premier of British Columbia after the May 9 election, said that public reactions to antisemitic and anti-Muslim incidents recently have been encouraging.

“What I’ve been seeing … is an unprecedented coming together of diverse groups – ethnic and people of faith – to support each other, whether it be [after] the horrific shootings in Quebec City or the threats of bombings here in the Lower Mainland,” he said. “I’ve seen people crossing traditional faith boundaries to embrace one another and that gives me great hope and optimism for the future here in B.C. When I look south of the border to the rise of hatred, antisemitism, Islamophobia – and without it being brought into check by the leadership, at least the executive branch of the United States – I’m absolutely concerned about that. But I think the advantage for us here in Canada and in B.C. is it gives us an opportunity to reaffirm our tolerance. I’ve been quite moved by it.”

Leaders, he said, have a role not only in legislating but in expressing attitudes that should exemplify the values of the community they serve. “The broader public often criticize politicians for participating in ethnic celebrations or ceremonies,” he said. But he believes it sends a crucial message about respect for multicultural and faith communities, so he attends Chanukah menorah lightings at the legislature and Kristallnacht commemorations, as well as events of many other communities.

Horgan said there must be a means for people who believe their human rights have been violated to seek redress and a body to spearhead education about human rights. An NDP government, he said, would re-establish the Human Rights Commission that the B.C. Liberals dismantled in 2002.

“Every other jurisdiction in the country has a commission for educational purposes, for bringing forward examples of human rights abuses, and I don’t know why British Columbia wouldn’t have that opportunity,” he said.

Also on the education front, Horgan said he would like to discuss with stakeholders the potential for adding religious studies to the B.C. school curriculum.

“I’m a student of history, I have a master’s degree in history and I look back as much as I look forward in terms of shaping my personal views,” he said. “I would see some benefit to having part of the curriculum have a religious studies component in the middle school or high school curriculum.” It might not be a mandatory course and he would seek consultation with school boards, teachers, parent advisory committees and others, but, he said, the idea has come up repeatedly in conversations with members of different religious communities.

Governments partner with community agencies to ensure culturally sensitive and appropriate delivery of services such as addiction, settlement and immigration and seniors’ programs, and this is something Horgan strongly favours.

“It’s not just ethnocultural and faith-based organizations,” he said, “it’s community organizations. In my world, the role of government is to try to unite and bring people together whenever possible and foster understanding and tolerance. You don’t do that by not having discussions or relationships with various organizations, you do that by stimulating that participation.”

Providing culturally appropriate foods for patients in the medical system is a small example of accommodation, Horgan said, but one that has been made more difficult by the outsourcing of food services in the health-care system.

On the security front, Horgan supports the $100,000 the province recently announced in funding for Jewish community security, though he would have done it differently had he been premier, he said.

“Anytime we can improve security for any community, I would support that,” he said. “I don’t want to take shots of the government in this interview but, for me, I would have reached across the floor and said to my counterparts, were I in the premier’s office, this is something that we’re going to do, can we have a resolution of the legislature to make this cross partisan lines, rather than making it a statement of, ‘the Liberals are doing this and the NDP or Greens or Conservatives are not.’ But, beyond that, I support it, absolutely.”

Horgan said he personally opposes the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, but he’ll let party members have their own opinions.

“On these issues, as a provincial leader, what I try to do is allow people to have their point of view. I don’t necessarily have to agree with them,” he said, adding that foreign affairs is a federal matter. “I hold fast to the hope that our federal government, which has diplomatic responsibility for these issues, will show leadership that divestment and sanctions are not a solution.”

He added: “I believe in a two-state solution to the challenges in the Middle East and that’s a personal view and I’ll share that with anyone who asks me. But I try in my interactions with various community members to focus on how do we provide unity here in British Columbia. I look at, just as an example, the sanctions on Cuba. They’re not comparable, I appreciate that, but it is an attempt to have a state outcome in another jurisdiction based on economic pressure, and all that’s happened as a result of that is increased poverty and a lack of understanding. I think we want to reduce poverty wherever possible and increase understanding and, by cutting ties, severing relationships, you’re never going to achieve that. My approach, personally, is always to engage rather than disengage, so I think the BDS movement is not something I support, but people have their own personal will. They can choose to invest their resources wherever they want to.… My own personal view … is that reducing interactions never leads to a better understanding, it leads to less understanding.”

Horgan noted he has met with several organizations in the Jewish community on issues around economic cooperation and trade with Israel.

“I’m excited about the prospects of increasing our ability in British Columbia to take advantage of the cultural linkages we have to grow stronger economic linkages,” he said.

As British Columbians ponder their electoral choices, Horgan said he wants Jewish voters to know that “what they want for themselves and their community I want for them as well.”

“That’s a tenet of social democracy,” he said, paraphrasing J.S. Woodsworth, an early leader of the Canadian left, who said, “What we desire for ourselves, we wish for all.”

“That is a tenet of the Jewish faith and that is something that I think those who have not looked to the NDP in the past may want to do so in the coming election campaign,” he said. “I want growth and prosperity for our communities, I want tolerance and peace and understanding – and those are the issues that I think most British Columbians want, regardless of their faith. I believe that if we focus on the mainstream values that unite us, rather than the issues that divide us, we’ll all be better off here.… My answer is to lead by example and to highlight always tolerance and welcoming and cooperation over intolerance, hate and division.”

The Jewish Independent’s provincial election coverage continues with interviews with other candidates in future issues.

Note: This article has been edited to reflect that the B.C. government allocated $100,000 for security measures in the Jewish community.

No simple dichotomy

Amna Farooqi speaks at Temple Sholom during her March 13-14 visit to Vancouver. (photo by David Berson)

Amna Farooqi, a rising peace activist who aims to transcend the division between being pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian, was in Vancouver March 13-14 to speak at Temple Sholom and at the University of British Columbia.

Last year, Farooqi, a Muslim-American woman from a Pakistani family, made international headlines when she was elected head of J Street U, the student organizing arm of J Street, which calls itself “the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans.” She presents a unique perspective: she is against the boycott, divestment and sanction movement and is pro-Zionist, while also being against the occupation, critical of settlements and deeply concerned for Palestinian dignity and human rights. Temple Sholom, the Progressive Jewish Alliance, Or Shalom, Ameinu Canada and JSpaceCanada sponsored her visit to Vancouver.

Farooqi, who finished her term at J Street U as she graduated from the University of Maryland, continues to be active in J Street and spoke at their annual conference last month, which also included Bernie Sanders as a speaker.

Farooqi told the Jewish Independent that she grew up in a religious but progressive Muslim home where politics were a constant topic of discussion. “Have tea and talk politics,” she said. “Very much like Israelis.”

After 9/11, the topics shifted from things happening in India, Pakistan and throughout the Muslim world to American politics and the condition of American Muslims, she said. “In middle school, I began wearing a headscarf to school. I liked wearing the hijab to provoke conversation, and to say that one can be Muslim and American, one does not have to choose one or the other.”

In high school, Farooqi, who had been raised with a concern for Palestinians, began learning more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and fiercely sided with the Palestinians. In 2011, when the Palestine Liberation Organization made a bid for statehood at the United Nations, Farooqi supported it and found herself in an emotional fight with a Jewish friend that came to raised voices and tears. “I realized then that I did not know enough about the conflict,” she said.

Farooqi took Israeli studies courses in college, heeding her parents’ advice that the situation was complex and she should refrain from becoming involved in the debate unless she first studied it in detail. Farooqi’s turning point came when one of her professors had students take part in an involved role-playing exercise, where pro-Palestinian students studied and defended a Zionist (hers was David Ben-Gurion) and pro-Israel students the opposite. This was the beginning, she said, of her “falling in love with Zionism,” without losing her deep concern for the Palestinians.

Over time, Farooqi got more involved with the J Street U chapter at her university, and she spent a semester abroad in Israel studying at Hebrew University, as part of an international student exchange program; the first of several trips.

“My first trip to Israel was an emotionally intense experience from start to finish,” she told the Independent. “There is not a moment in Jerusalem where you are not exposed to diverse perspectives. Everywhere you go there is history, tragedy and beauty.”

She had a Passover seder with a settler family and dined with families in the West Bank. “I remember one visit to the West Bank with some Jews concerned about Palestinian human rights. We visited one family bringing gifts. A young Palestinian child approached my Jewish friends with wonder, and said, ‘You are Jews?’ Bewildered, the child pointed to a nearby house of settlers. ‘But they are Jews.’”

Asked what she perceives as the way forward in today’s increasingly volatile climate, Farooqi said, “It’s a difficult moment. I think the path forward lies in investing in civil society on all sides. None of the governments involved is in a position to show real leadership at the moment.”

Farooqi said the key will lie in building relationships on the ground and in looking at a holistic picture of what drives people on both sides whose behaviour is bstructing peace. “You cannot understand settlers unless you understand the need for affordable housing in Israel,” she said, “and you cannot understand Palestinians who join Hamas unless you understand it may be the only way for them to put food on the table.”

Farooqi said she is excited by the rise of a new Sephardi left in Israel, which she hopes will help inspire a “new, young left” in the country, with ideas that go beyond those of previous generations. And she would like to see more done to help younger Palestinians understand that many Israelis value their rights. “Younger Palestinians need to know that,” she said. “It will change the elections of the future. Palestinians need economic opportunity, and they need real vision and hope. They must be given a real political and economic horizon.”

Speaking of the international Jewish community, Farooqi said, “If you are a pro-Israel, pro-peace, two-state solution person, invest in communal support for that and be careful [about] who we host, who we support, what message are we sending out.”

Even though she is against BDS, she disagrees with the recent Israeli travel ban of BDS supporters. “I oppose the travel ban because going to Israel and actually talking to Israelis made me more pro-Israel,” she said.

She added, by way of warning, that “Diaspora Jews underestimate the far-right in Israel. Many moderates have become disengaged on Israel, whereas big supporters on the far-right have not.”

Speaking of Sanders’ talk at the recent J Street conference, Farooqi said, “I thought it was a great speech, significant for lots of reasons. Sanders talked about 1948 in a beautiful way, talking of the progressive vision of Zionism and his experiences on a kibbutz, but also talking of the effect on the Palestinians. You can acknowledge both. It is rare for a U.S. politician to do that.”

Now that her term at J Street U is over, Farooqi is turning her attention to affairs at home and looking to get involved in organizing in the United States. “We have our own crisis of democracy to deal with,” she said.

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.

Medication alert innovation

The system concept for CuePath’s sensor-monitored blister packaging for dispensing medications. (photo from CuePath)

When blister pack medication dispensing came onto the market years ago, it was hoped that it would solve the issue of people not taking their medication on time. However, while this plastic packaging method has become commonplace, people are still forgetting to take their medicine.

One Vancouver-based start-up has come up with a solution. CuePath Innovation is creating a sensor that monitors when each blister pack is opened – connecting the sensor to care providers wirelessly. CuePath’s Jeff Nider is charged with marketing the concept.

Nider grew up primarily in Richmond. “My late father, who passed away in 2014, was a pharmacist and he had a number of different pharmacies in the Vancouver area over the years,” he told the Independent. “I grew up in and out of the pharmacy – working with my bubbie, manning the cash register, or pre-packaging medications for nursing home customers. That’s where I spent most of my summers, working in the pharmacy with my father.”

Nider earned his degree in biology at the University of British Columbia, and then his father asked him to manage one of the pharmacy locations. When they came across the blister pack technology, which makes the administering of medications more safe, they jumped at the chance.

“At the time, we had one nursing home client, and so we saw a future for the technology and decided to purchase the machine required to package it,” said Nider. “At this point, I started my sales career, going and selling … to basically convince … nursing homes to allow us to be their pharmacy provider.

“Each nursing home needs to have a single pharmacy provider for all of their residents. So, we had this technology along with some other software…. We were able to grow the business from one nursing home client to over 40, representing 1,700 residents.”

In 2012, they sold their business to a Toronto-based company and Nider stayed on as the business development manager for Western Canada. Last summer, Nider left that role after having been introduced to CuePath Innovation.

“It’s a start-up for monitoring medication for seniors living at home and in retirement communities,” he said about CuePath. “Based on the expertise I had in the pharmacy and geriatrics business, it made sense to me to get involved. So, I was approached to be essentially the third employee of the company, aside from the two co-founders, who have no pharmacy backgrounds … to take it from an idea and approve the concept through pilots and its commercial launch, which will happen in the second quarter of this year.”

CuePath’s sensor monitors each individual cell of the pack and indicates whether or not a person has broken the seal.

photo - CuePath’s Jeff Nider grew up in and around his father’s pharmacy — CuePath’s Jeff Nider grew up in and around his father’s pharmacy. *(photo from CuePath)*

“We also provide an alert for seniors at home, when it’s time to take their medications,” said Nider. “If they don’t take them by the appropriate time, a text message will be sent to [a] family member, so they can call and remind the family member to take them.

“If you’re an 85-year-old woman living alone, your daughter might be in Toronto or Winnipeg and have no idea what’s happening – worrying about whether or not you’re taking your meds on time, because there’s a bunch of stats on our website in respect of medication adherence: less than 50% of medications are taken as prescribed, and 22% of nursing home admissions are a result of non-adherence to medication. So, it’s very important that people take their medications the way they’re prescribed and at the right time.”

According to Nider, in some cases, just before care providers come each week, seniors will punch out all the medication in the blister pack that they have forgotten to take during the week. Therefore, everything might appear to be fine when, in actuality, it is not.

“This happens because they know you come every Sunday,” said Nider. “So, on Saturday, they go and punch out the whole card. When you come, everything looks like it’s been taken – but, it’s been taken out the day before and flushed down the toilet.”

Nider pointed out that the CuePath sensor monitors the punching of the plastic only – it does not monitor whether or not the medication was ingested. Though that addition is on the horizon.

The CuePath technology is a clip on a Bluetooth transmitter connected to the back of the blister pack. “Basically, it’s a label that the pharmacist applies to the back, which has some conductive materials in it to send the transmission as to whether or not those have been opened,” said Nider.

The service has a monthly fee and an initial hardware cost but, considering the alternative – paying a care provider to administer the medication – it is much more affordable, according to Nider.

“It runs around $30 a month; $200 for the initial gateway hardware cost,” he said. “There’s a bunch of different models right now. We are still in pilot stages, running various pilots in various forms in different retirement communities.

“In a lot of ways, this will help you avoid needing to get a caregiver and finding a time when a caregiver is necessary. We’ve seen that medications are indicators of other things as well. So, if people are taking their medications on time, they’re probably able to manage many of the other tasks, too. But, as soon as they start to slip with taking them on time, it’s usually a good indication that they may not be able to manage their cooking, they may not be doing their laundry…. It also puts them at a higher risk for falls and other issues if they aren’t taking their medications properly. It’s a good indication that now’s the time to hire a caregiver. It gives you data to what is actually going on with the senior.”

The CuePath gateway unit does not need an internet connection, as it connects to the cellular network. Each gateway comes with three Bluetooth clip transmitters that will be rotated with the pharmacy. The app that accompanies the device allows caregivers access to statistics in terms of percentage of medications taken on time and other data.

“You can see how this month compares to last month,” said Nider. “Then, this information can be printed out and brought to the physician’s office … shared with the pharmacy … so they have the information.”

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

Taking on the Regal mantle

Mimi Grad at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver’s pro-shop. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)

As an independent sales ambassador for Regal Home and Gifts Inc., Mimi Grad told the Independent, “I don’t sell anything. I educate people on what is available and what the items can be used for.”

Grad was born and raised in Vancouver, as were her four siblings. They are third-generation Jewish Vancouverites – both of their parents were born in Vancouver and their maternal grandmother was born at Vancouver General Hospital in 1899.

“My parents were heavily involved in the local Jewish community, as my maternal grandfather was instrumental in the building of the Beth Israel Synagogue,” said Grad.

This is what led to Grad’s involvement in United Synagogue Youth as a teen and her going on the USY Pilgrimage to Israel in 1973.

“As an older teen,” she said, “I went back to Israel in 1976 for a six-month kibbutz-ulpan program and, as an adult, I was part of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO in Vancouver. The local Hadassah Bazaar never ran without Mimi in the Food Building … as the supplies assistant, beginning at the age of 12, or as the food chair.”

Grad and her partner, Gordon Jay, have been together for 21 years, and live in Burnaby. She has held several jobs over the years, including being a swimming instructor and a lifeguard at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.

Currently, Grad is the pro-shop coordinator at the JCCGV, a position she has held since September 2015, and also works as a cashier at the Real Canadian Superstore. Both jobs satiate Grad’s need to interact with different people.

“It was many years ago when I walked into a Regal warehouse on Prince Edward Street, just south of Southeast Marine Drive,” recalled Grad. “I was looking for plastic hole protectors for my shower curtain, as I had one hole that was ripped and I really liked that particular shower curtain.

“At that time, you could just walk in off the street and purchase goods there. The cashier told me that I could save 15% if I registered as a sales rep for Regal. What the heck, why not? And, it was free to do. Then, they started sending me catalogues, and I could buy more of them to share with people.”

Grad was not yet ready to be a sales representative at that point but reencountered the idea about 10 years ago.

Her mom was looking for another source of income in her senior years. “She figured she’d try Regal,” said Grad. “However, she wasn’t getting out much by then, nor was she (or my dad) driving at night. She even asked me to sign up and help her.

“Unfortunately, I was too busy with work, the hubby and life in general to be of much help. And then, dad stopped driving. When mom and dad moved into care, they couldn’t do business there. And then, Regal went bankrupt.

“Another company purchased it in 2005 and, lo and behold, that company went into receivership in August 2016.”

By November 2016, the Regal name was purchased and a new company – Regal Home and Gifts Inc. – started building a catalogue. It was up and running with its first catalogue just under two months ago.

The company behind Regal Home and Gifts has another online business and put many of their products into the first Regal catalogue.

“Regal started in Canada in 1928 as a stationery company. The Regal name has been associated with retailing and direct sales ever since,” said Grad. “Regal Home and Gifts is a newly formed corporation that returns the Regal brand to Canadian ownership, offering Canadian consumers functional and attractive houseware products and gifts through a network of dedicated ambassadors (independent sales representatives), a tradition of the Regal brand.

“They’ve been known over the years for selling kitschy items and plan to have more items like that with their next few catalogues. Like any new business, they’re experiencing growing pains and feeling out the consumers.”

As Grad is almost 60 and eyeing retirement, she felt that her savings needed a boost and decided to be proactive, finding a job she could do from home on her own time. “Honestly, Regal is my retirement plan,” she said.

“I’ve organized my schedule, so, between the JCC and Superstore, I’m generally off work by 2:30 p.m., leaving me with lots of time for my honey and for Regal.”

Grad is excited to spend her days meeting with people – helping them find what they are looking for, placing orders, and even doing evening deliveries. With Regal’s four to six catalogues per year, Grad is looking forward to being out and about most of the time, introducing new people to the products and the company.

“It is then their choice if they want to buy something or not, filling their need for an item,” said Grad.

“I’ve always felt that women made the best car salespeople, because I believe we’re more consultative … not just asking questions like, ‘Which car do you want to buy?’ but ‘Why do you need a car?’

“And, as always, all commissions are made from catalogue sales. Nothing is paid for introducing someone to this business.”

One can buy from the Regal catalogue almost anywhere in Canada. The company is still waiting for direct sales licensing in a couple of provinces, but has completed that process here.

“The first thing I’m always asked is, ‘Can I have a catalogue?’” said Grad. “Everyone wants to see what’s new.”

Anyone interested can peruse the online catalogue and purchase from Grad’s personal Regal website at regal.ca/?amb=9742420.

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

Pioneering mutism solutions

The Bayit joined forces with Chabad of Richmond in an emoji-themed Purim celebration held at Richmond’s City Centre Community Centre March 12. Pictured here, left to right, are Chabad of Richmond’s Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman, Bayit president Mike Sachs, Yoav Rokach-Penn and the Bayit’s Rabbi Levi Varnai. (photo by Lauren Kramer)

In every community, and ours is no exception, there are folks who frequently capture the spotlight for their work while others quietly get things done behind the scenes, flying below the media radar. In our new Kibitz & Schmooze profile, we’ll try to highlight members of Greater Vancouver’s Jewish community who are doing outstanding, admirable and mention-worthy work out of view of the general public. If you know of profile subjects who fit this description, please email [email protected].

Kids and anxiety go hand-in-hand, but, when kids’ anxiety gets out of control, many parents turn to Annie Simpson.

The 39-year-old Vancouver Talmud Torah mom boasts a PhD in psychology and 10 years’ experience in pediatric psychology. She founded the Cornerstone Child and Family Psychology Clinic in Vancouver in January, where she works with nine other psychologists. But Simpson’s focus is on young patients with anxiety disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, selective mutism and depression.

Dr. Annie Simpson (photo from Annie Simpson)

Her interest in selective mutism, an impairment defined as an inability to speak in some social situations despite speaking perfectly fine in others, began six years ago. That’s when Simpson started getting referrals of children with the impairment and wanted to gain a better understanding of how to help them. She traveled to New York to confer with world-renowned expert Dr. Steve Kurtz, helped run one of his camps for selectively mute kids and came back enthusiastic about applying his cognitive behavioural therapy methods in Vancouver.

Within two years, Simpson ran the first camp of her own at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver and soon started receiving calls from all over North America, from parents who wanted to enrol their children. Just under one percent of kids have selective mutism.

Simpson’s summer clubs are annual now, and in high demand. “I see a wide variety of impairment, from kids who only speak to one parent to kids who cannot speak at school,” she says. “At the camps, we develop a trusting relationship with the children and then expose them gradually to the feared situation, rewarding their success.”

Camp is Simpson’s favourite week of the year because the progress is so rapid. “The children are improving so quickly and they get so excited about their success,” she says. “With the right supports in place back home, the kids continue to thrive after the camp.”

For parents who don’t seek help for selectively mute kids, Simpson warns that the mutism gets more challenging to treat the older a child gets, and is particularly difficult when kids become teens and have had so many years of not talking.

When she’s not counseling patients, you’ll find this enterprising Vancouverite at B.C. Children’s Hospital, where she’s a staff psychologist in the pediatric OCD Program; at Simon Fraser University, where she’s a clinical associate in the department of psychology; or consulting for AnxietyBC.

***