The Feb. 18 silent march in honor of Alberto Nisman began on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)
Approximately 75 members of the local Argentine community and their friends and supporters gathered at the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery on Feb. 18 in memory of Argentina’s federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman.
Jewish community member Gabriel Patrich (left) was one of the Vancouver march organizers. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)
A silent march, there were no speeches, but participants carried signs. They would like the government of Argentina to conduct a full investigation of the suspicious death of the 51-year-old Jewish lawyer who was found dead on Jan. 18 at his home in Buenos Aires. Nisman was investigating alleged Iranian involvement in the terror attack on the AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) Jewish community centre in 1994, which killed 85 people and injured hundreds of others. He was found dead the day before he was to appear before a congressional hearing to air his contention that President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, among others, arranged a deal with Iran to cover up its involvement in the bombing in exchange for economic benefits.
Jewish community member Gabriel Patrich, one of the organizers of the march in Vancouver, was satisfied with the local support. “The main rally in Argentina drew [up to] half a million people, and there were big events in Miami, Australia, Spain, France and Israel. We are proud to take our part and demand a full investigation of Nisman’s murder and the truth he was about to bring to light.”
In addition to the call for justice, Patrich told the Independent, “we were also there … to honor a courageous man, who knew that his life was in danger – he said that his investigations might cost him his life.”
Reports are that some 400,000 people attended the Buenos Aires march alone. On her website, Kirchner criticized that event as being politically motivated and, “not at all an act of homage to the tragically deceased, with the obvious exception of their immediate families.” She said its one merit was that it showed “that in Argentina, your country, you can disagree, you can insult the government and the president, and can move freely. It was not always so, so do not speak of dictatorship.”
For those interested in more about the AMIA bombing, Argentine author Gustavo Perednik has written a “lightly veiled” fictional account based on documents provided him by Nisman. It has been translated into English – To Kill Without a Trace: A Prequel to 9/11, the 1994 Terrorist Bombing in Buenos Aires and the Iranian Connection (Mantua Books Ltd.) – and Perednik will be in Vancouver for the book’s launch at the Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library on March 23, at 7 p.m. Also speaking will be Dr. Elena T. Feder, who wrote the introduction to the English translation. Anticipating a full house, the library requires an RSVP to 604-257-5111, ext. 248, or [email protected] by March 19.
Shahar Ben Haleviis a writer and filmmaker living in Vancouver.
Members of the Momo Minyan with Lhamo Dolma, Phurba Jompa and Lobsang Dolma. (photo from David Berson)
After a meeting between the Dalai Lama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2007, and with the later support of then citizenship and immigration minister Jason Kenney, a resettlement plan for 1,000 displaced Tibetans in Canada was announced.
Seven years later, in April 2014, Or Shalom congregant Vicky Robinson gave a presentation on sponsoring Tibetan migrants. The presentation resulted in a number of congregants coming together to establish the Momo Minyan. The group was named by David Berson to represent a mixture of Jewish and Buddhist culture to help facilitate the move and integration into Canadian Society of two Tibetan refugees. (For a March 2014 story about the background of the group, click here.)
“I feel like I won the birthright lottery living here in Vancouver,” Berson said. “We started discussing the responsibility that this involves, because the Canadian government had given a go ahead for 1,000 people to come from Arunachal Pradesh, which is on the border with Tibet.”
Many of the refugees have been without status for more than 50 years, after India stopped granting Tibetans citizenship in 1959. As described by Berson, the Tibetans who are being sponsored lack many of the rights associated with citizenship and have been left with few choices.
“Tibetans that are on the border have limited rights, limited education [and] health care, but can work. We were moved by their story and their whole notion of the immigrant experience…. It is what the Jewish people have gone through.”
A trip was organized by the Minyan and its partners to visit the Tibetan communities in the fall of 2014. The trip involved assessing the conditions in remote villages in Arunachal Pradesh while trekking in the Himalayan mountains. On the journey, the participants traveled through areas considered sacred to Buddhists, where religious texts have been buried in Pemako, an area with 108 lakes.
Berson attended on behalf of the Momo Minyan, which joined with members of North Shore Search and Rescue. Many members of Or Shalom fundraised for the trip through donations to the Tibetan Cultural Society of British Columbia.
The main destination was Tuting, a city where 200 of the migrants live. When Berson arrived there, he was shocked at what he saw. “In Tuting, there is no internet, so any communication has to be done via snail mail. It can sometimes take a month or two … the way of life for Tibetans in this city is involved in some commerce and some farming, but they are still not looked at as full citizens.”
The trip also was an opportunity to promote Canada as the refugees’ new home. “We went to visit the resettlement office and presented them with a big Canadian flag, and we gave out a lot of Canadian pins along the way,” he recalled.
Since that trip, two Tibetan women who are being sponsored by the Momo Minyan have arrived in Vancouver. In September, Vancouver welcomed 36-year-old Lobsang Dolma and, in December, 28-year-old Lhamo Dolma arrived with her sister Phurba Jompa (who was sponsored by another group).
Once in Vancouver, members of the Momo Minyan assisted the new migrants in obtaining medical insurance, signing up for a social insurance number, assisting with English tests, helping to find work and housing for a one-year period.
Lobsang’s first job was at Or Shalom Synagogue, where she worked in the kitchen and as a custodian for pay. She has since worked as a dishwasher elsewhere four days a week and continues to take evening English classes.
While Lhamo continues to attend English classes alongside her sister four nights a week, her road has been less smooth and she has had less luck with employment.
According to Berson, members of the Momo Minyan are committed to introducing the migrants to people in their new communities. “It is hard for them; they left their families behind, want to be with their families. It is a sense of urgency many of us here do not need to experience because we do not need to worry about the basics of life.”
There are other challenges for members as well, Berson described. “It is clothing, it is language, it is how to get from one place to another, we take a lot of things for granted … and language is so important. And, at the same time, these women want to start working because they will need to support themselves and to make a living, a real tradeoff between learning the language and wanting to earn.”
Financial challenges are deepened, as the two women want to make money to support themselves, but also want to save money to send back home to help their families.
Cultural norms also affect the migrants’ experience in Canada. An example is in acquiring doctor’s services, which can lead to issues with communication, and access to health services. In India, services are far away and there is not an expectation that there will be an interaction between patient and doctor. “There are different expectations [here],” Berson explained. “Canadians interact more with their doctors than in India.”
The minyan and the Tibetan Cultural Society of B.C. are committed to bringing as many Tibetans from Arunachal Pradesh as are on the list to resettle in Canada and welcome support for the project. Residential accommodation and employment opportunities are areas where the minyan has asked for assistance. More opportunities to sponsor future migrants may occur, as well.
Gil Lavieis a freelance correspondent, with articles published in the Jerusalem Post, Shalom Toronto and Tazpit News Agency. He has a master’s of global affairs from the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.
Jewish Family Service Agency has appointed Richard Fruchter as senior management consultant. He began working in this position on Jan. 7, and will be leading JFSA while the executive director search committee continues its efforts in identifying candidates and hiring of the long-term ED.
Richard Fruchter (photo from Jewish Family Service Agency)
“We are pleased to welcome Richard, who not only brings with him tremendous experience and a proven track record in not-for-profit organizations in Jewish communities in North America, but also has a thorough knowledge of our Jewish community, having served as the senior management consultant of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver from 2013-2014,” said board chair Joel Steinberg.
“Richard will support the agency with his extensive knowledge in areas of finance, fundraising, communications, board governance and human resources – initiatives that were identified in our strategic plan. Prior to his tenure in Vancouver, he was the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and, over the last 30 years, he has been in top executive positions with federations, Talmud Torah [schools] and other general community organizations in Seattle, Wash., Minneapolis, Minn., and Tucson, Ariz.”
“It’s an exciting time at the JFSA as we build for the future,” said Fruchter. “I will be playing a strategic and advisory role with the board and staff to help JFSA continue to transform the lives of individuals and families, through quality services and innovative programming. The last few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to visit some of our programs, see their impact, and learn more about how we respond to evolving community needs. I found our staff to be dedicated and committed professionals – passionately working day in and day out to care for their clients. Our board and volunteers are talented and willingly share their wisdom and resources to provide for our community’s welfare. During this transition, I look forward to having renewed and fresh conversations with our community members, leaders and donors about how JFSA can even more effectively service our community.”
Lynne Fader, Courtney Cohen and Toby Rubin hold some of the 500 care packages that were distributed to the needy in Richmond recently by Rose’s Angels, an organization founded by the Kehila Society and Cohen, in memory of her grandmother Rose. Each package contained toiletries and food, while additional bundles supplied socks, toque, gloves and scarves. The packages were distributed to CHIMO, Richmond Family Place, the Jewish Food Bank and Turning Point Recovery House.
Dan Gillerman addresses the audience at Jewish National Fund Pacific Region’s Tu b’Shevat event Feb. 3 as emcee Geoffrey Druker looks on. (photo by Robert Albanese)
A former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations heaped praise on Canada and excoriated the United States during a candid speech here last week.
Left to right, former ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman, Mayor of Victoria Lisa Helps and JNF Pacific Region shaliach Ilan Pilo. (photo by Julie Elizabeth)
Dan Gillerman, who led the Israeli delegation at the UN from 2003 to 2008, was filling in for current Ambassador Ron Prosor, whose obligations kept him in New York. The occasion was the Jewish National Fund of Canada’s Tu b’Shevat event at Beth Israel on Feb. 3. He also spoke in Victoria at Emanu-El for JNF the next day.
Gillerman, who acknowledges that he has a penchant for political incorrectness and is now a private citizen free to speak his mind without the constraints of a diplomatic post, received a strong ovation when he called Canada “by far, the greatest friend Israel has in the world” and when he heaped praise on Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper as “probably the greatest leader in the world.”
His perspective on the United States was not nearly as positive.
“I think that what we are witnessing today is at least a perception, hopefully a wrong perception, of a weak America and a weak American president,” Gillerman said. Even a whiff of American weakness is a dangerous thing in the world, he said, with America’s enemies feeling that they can get away with murder and America’s allies believing that they cannot rely on the superpower.
Gillerman equates the contemporary situation of the United States with the advent of the First World War a century ago, which he says was due in part to perceptions of British weakness under Prime Minister H.H. Asquith. Gillerman contended that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin would not do what he did in Ukraine and other countries would not do what they are doing elsewhere if they thought the United States would intervene.
On dangers facing Israel, Gillerman said that the most serious threats are not Hamas or Hezbollah, and not even Iran, which is pushing for nuclear capability. “They are not our most dangerous threats, because we can take care of them,” he said. “The two most dangerous phenomena we face today are appeasement and being politically correct.”
Trying to appease terror and the Iranian regime, as the world is doing today, Gillerman said, is very dangerous.
About political correctness, he said the world is “trying to find other words to explain what is happening,” other than identifying it as Islamic extremism and terrorism. “We have to call a spade a spade,” he said. “There is evil in this world. There is terror in this world. It threatens your country and every country in the world.”
On Iran, Gillerman characterized nuclear negotiations as “a weak America and a weak American president who wants an agreement at any cost.”
Gillerman said he had a conversation with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who is South Korean. Gillerman said that the global powers dithered while North Korea prepared for nuclear weaponry then one day the world woke up to a nuclear North Korea. Gillerman said Ban told him that Iran is much more dangerous than North Korea.
“North Korea sought nuclear weapons out of desperation,” Gillerman quoted Ban as telling him. “While Iran is seeking them out of aspiration.”
Gillerman spoke of his close relationship with the late former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, who appointed him ambassador to the UN. Gillerman’s background is not in politics or diplomacy, but business, and he was chairman of the Israeli Chamber of Commerce before his ambassadorial appointment.
He said Sharon warned him that the appointment to the UN would leave him lonely and facing hostility, but Gillerman said he later told the prime minister that he had been wrong. As Israel’s representative at the world body, Gillerman said, he operated on the knowledge that he represented a country that “is far, far better than most other member countries of the United Nations.”
Despite Israel’s isolation at the UN, one of Gillerman’s achievements during his time as ambassador was the proclamation of International Holocaust Remembrance Day every January. It was the first time that an Israeli-sponsored resolution was passed by the General Assembly.
Gillerman was speaking on the day that Canadian foreign minister John Baird announced his resignation from cabinet and politics. Gillerman said that he had spent several days with Baird recently in Davos, Switzerland, and had no indication that Baird was planning a major change.
“I think it’s a loss for Canada and a loss for Israel, but I wish him well,” Gillerman said, before once again praising Canada’s leaders.
“I think you have in Stephen Harper one of the greatest leaders in the world. Probably the greatest leader in the world and definitely the best friend Israel has in the world,” he said.
While the bulk of the former ambassador’s speech was ominous and pessimistic, it didn’t conclude that way.
“Despite all that, I am optimistic about the future of Israel,” he said near the end of his remarks. “I believe that the world is waking up.”
In the Arab world, he said, the fight between extremists and moderates will lead moderates to recognize that Israel is not the enemy. Comparatively moderate Arab states are as afraid of Iranian extremism and nuclear capability as Israel is – possibly more afraid – he said, and a regional agreement will emerge from shared interests.
“I believe we can reach a fair and lasting settlement with the Palestinians,” he said, adding that leadership is needed on both sides, and in the world, and that it must go beyond bilateralism. He predicted what he calls a “23-state solution,” an agreement between Israel and Arab countries that leads to lasting peace.
He went on to say that if the Palestinian issue were settled, Arab states could calm their streets and become partners with Israel.
To those who say that the United Nations is a failed, useless organization, Gillerman described it as simply a building on First Avenue in Manhattan that is only as good as its tenants. Blaming the UN for the faults of its member-states is like blaming Madison Square Garden when the Knicks lose, he said. “It’s not the UN as an organization, it’s the world we live in.” The UN General Assembly has a “built-in immoral majority,” he said.
Left to right, Frank Sirlin, president of Jewish National Fund Pacific Region, former ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman and JNF Pacific Region shaliach Ilan Pilo. (photo by Robert Albanese)
Prosor, the ambassador who was originally slated to attend, provided a video message that was screened at the beginning of the event. Singers from Vancouver Talmud Torah sang a song for Tu b’Shevat and King David High School students sang the national anthems. The event was emceed by Geoffrey Druker, Rabbi Jonathan Infeld welcomed visitors to the new Beth Israel building and Diane Switzer, board chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, introduced Gillerman. Frank Sirlin, president of JNF Canada Pacific Region, spoke about this year’s Tu b’Shevat campaign, which will see trees planted along roads in Israel that are within range of gunfire from the Gaza Strip. The “green barrier” will help green the desert while shielding drivers and passengers from sniper fire. The JNF campaign includes two telethon sessions, on Feb. 15 and 22.
Marissa Cepelinski during the 2014 Run for Water. (photo from Marissa Cepelinski)
Some people spend their entire lives trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. Some know when they’re just a kid.
At a rather young age, Marissa Cepelinski already knew two key things about herself that would lead her to her current position as co-founder of Capital Core Financial: she loved numbers and she wanted to help people.
Marissa Cepelinski not only advises people on how to direct more of their money to causes they care about, she also donates her time and money. (photo from Marissa Cepelinski)
Cepelinski is the daughter of an Israeli computer engineer who spent many hours tutoring her in the art of finances. “He had me tracking all my money in a blue Hilroy notebook when my babysitting career began at 11,” she said. “I had to enter all the debits and credits and I loved it.
“I also loved working with people,” she added. “So I knew I wanted to somehow pair the two.”
After completing her minor in psychology at university, Cepelinski targeted the financial advisor career path, leading to what now has been a 12-year career in the industry.
Doing what she loved was the first step. The second was finding a way to make that career choice satisfy her need to help others.
“I became very clear on what I wanted to build and what we needed more of in the financial world,” she explained. “I wanted to work with people on a goals-based approach rather than just working with the money.”
After teaming up with Franco Caligiuri on a consultation basis for several years, the two realized their goals aligned, leading them to partner in starting their own boutique firm, Capital Core Financial. Through her work at Capital Core, Cepelinski has engaged in many charitable programs, both as a donor and as a participant. Specifically, she advises many individuals, families and businesses on strategies to help direct more funding toward causes they care about.
“We found that many people simply didn’t know or understand how they have the option to choose a cause to donate to rather than ‘donating’ their money to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA),” she explained. “Being able to present a cheque for $100,000 to a charity … is a feeling I can’t even describe.”
Cepelinski said that Capital Core Financial has a goal to help redirect at least $1 billion to be donated to the nonprofit sector.
Community building is one of Capital Core’s main values. As such, Cepelinski also donates a lot of her time to various causes, highlighted in the past year by her participation in the Run for Water ultra-marathon, the Covenant House Sleep Out to raise awareness and the 24-Hour Famine for a Better Life Foundation. She personally raised more than $22,000 for these charities in 2014.
Earlier this year, she and colleague Alli Warnyca spoke at the Recharge Conference at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. They talked about how people could change their attitudes about money and debt, and feel good about their finances.
As for her typical client base, Cepelinski insisted she doesn’t really have one. “We work with people who are committed to their goals, that have values that align with ours,” she explained. “People who are wanting to raise the bar in their life and remove their emotional limitations in regards to building wealth.
“I’ve worked with business owners on corporate planning, young families starting to save to buy a home and struggling artists or actors learning to budget and commit to a plan,” she continued. “Many of us walk around with money stories we created at a very young age. We will spend some time discussing those with clients because it’s important that people look at the patterns they are running in regards to their money.”
To set up a meeting with Cepelinski or any member of her team, contact Capital Core Financial at 604-685-6525 or go to capitalcorefinancial.com.
Kyle Berger is a freelance writer living in Richmond.
This year’s Limmud Vancouver had about 35 percent more attendees than it did last year. (photo by Robert Albanese)
About 350 lifelong learners spent the day exploring a huge diversity of Jewish ideas at the second annual Limmud Vancouver event Feb. 1.
Limmud is a worldwide confederation of festivals of Jewish learning, entertainment, ideas and exploration. Started in the United Kingdom in 1980, Limmud is now an annual event in 80 cities. The local event last year was held at King David High School, but this year, it took place a few blocks away, at Eric Hamber, which accommodated 350 registrants, where last year’s had to be capped at 260.
“That’s about a 35 percent growth,” said Avi Dolgin, a founder and organizer of the Vancouver event. The structure changed a little as well, with 40 individual sessions, up from 36 last year, but over five blocks instead of six as was done previously.
“We had eight options per timeslot to drive people truly crazy,” said Dolgin. At breaks between sessions, participants shared take-aways from the many lectures, events, performances and panel discussions.
King David teacher Aron Rosenberg led a session called Love, Hate and the Jewish State, based on a program developed by the New Israel Fund. Participants were asked to move around the room in response to questions of core values around attitudes about Israel, Canada, citizenship, human rights, religion and other hot button topics. Participants moved left or right across the room depending on their level of agreement or disagreement with statements such as “Christmas should be a federal holiday in Canada” or “serving in the Israeli military is a Jewish value.” The room broke into smaller groups to discuss statements about Israel with which they agreed or disagreed.
In another session, comedian and inspirational speaker Adam Growe explained his mathematical formula for measuring success at tikkun olam. (The formula is: S=(hti)c*k.)
In a session on the messianic idea in Judaism, Beth Israel Rabbi Jonathan Infeld said that Judaism is “100 percent about bringing Moshiach” and added that “we have a problem with this idea.” Part of the problem, he said, is that Jews have a history with false messiahs, from Jesus and Bar Kochba to Marx and the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
As an example of how messianism – a belief in a future of perfect existence ushered in by the Messiah – permeates Judaism, Infeld said that the Passover seder, which is almost universally accepted as a metaphor for the Exodus from bondage in Egypt, is actually about redemption from this world. And the wish “next year in Jerusalem” is not so much an aspiration for the literal city in Israel, but for the place and time of the Messiah.
Dolgin took special pride in the diversity of Limmud Vancouver’s offerings. “It was a mix of some text, some history … this year we had a lot of arts and culture – Bernstein and opera and Shakespeare, Jews and Western literature,” he said. “This year, we also had workshops, group discussions about what’s your relationship with Israel and Jewish identity, traditional talmudic study chavruta-style. We had a panel talk which included a debate on the issue of Shmita, which is the seventh year in which the land and the economy is supposed to revert to the situation before.”
In future, Dolgin said, he hopes Limmud will beef up children’s programming and attract more Orthodox participants. He noted that, on forms submitted by presenters, a large proportion said they were shomer Shabbat and keep kosher.
“We look like were kind of a Renewal or Reform outfit, but a quarter or maybe as much as a third of the presenters said they observe Shabbat,” he explained.
Organizers are already priming volunteers and presenters for next year. In addition to attracting teachers who may not see themselves as teachers, Limmud is looking for volunteers in such areas as technology and publicity.
“As a young organization, we’re still easy to hijack because we have no allegiances to anybody except the people working in it,” Dolgin said. “So, if people have a vision for what Limmud could be, then they should come in and steer it in that direction and they will be met with open arms.”
Moishe House (and friends) show off their “Most Jewish Table” certificates. From left to right are Alexei Schwartzman, Benjamin Groberman, Carol Moutal, Jordan Stenzler, Shayna Goldberg and Kevin Veltheer. (photo by Robert Albanese)
Limmud Vancouver’s Saturday night cabaret included a flash mob, music and Havdalah. (photo by Robert Albanese)
Music. Storytelling. Video. Flash dance. These were just some of the elements in Limmud Vancouver’s first-ever Saturday night cabaret, which took place on Jan. 31, the night before the all-day learning festival.
One hundred and sixty people gathered around tables of food, books and Havdalah candles in a transformed Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver auditorium, awash in colored lights and humming to the music of Sulam. The event, co-produced by JCCGV and LimmudVan ’15, brought a cabaret of storytelling (Shoshana Litman of Victoria and local raconteur Michael Geller), drama (Michael Armstrong of Victoria’s Bema Theatre), songs (singers Harriet Frost and Wendy Rubin), Talmud (Tracy Ames), a quiz show (former Vancouverite Adam Growe), Havdalah (Rabbi Laura Duhan Kaplan), dancers (led by Nona Malki) and lots of good food.
Havdalah at the LimmudVan cabaret. (photo by Robert Albanese)
A highlight of the evening was an inter-table contest of personal Jewish experiences: Who has climbed Masada? Who attended Camps Miriam or Hatikvah? Who speaks Ladino? etc. The winners, a group of Moishe House residents and friends, beat the opposition in a spirited event that included spontaneous renditions of Adon Olam, and were proclaimed “Most Jewish Table.”
International Holocaust Remembrance Day was commemorated here on Jan. 25 with a ceremony at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. Holocaust survivors lit candles of remembrance and there was a moment of silence followed by Kaddish; Nina Krieger, Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre executive director, read a proclamation from Mayor Gregor Robertson; and a screening of the film Numbered followed, in which survivors of Auschwitz, their children and grandchildren reflect in often unexpected ways on the meaning of the numbers the Nazis tattooed onto their victims.
Robbie Waisman (photo from Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre)
Vancouverite Robbie Waisman, who is a child survivor of Buchenwald, delivered remarks before the film. With permission, the Independent is privileged to publish a slightly edited transcript of his words:
I am honored to be with you this evening. This film speaks about numbers. I have not seen the film, but I have experience with numbers.
Numbers that have been given to us in the camps have two very significant meanings. They were very dehumanizing. They robbed you of your feelings as a person. Your humanity as a human being was taken away. And as long as you remained healthy and were able to work, in that sense the number given to you made it possible to remain alive and continue to live and hope to survive.
When I lived in France after liberation, they gave us identification cards. It allowed me to get around every day. The police issued it to me on June 9, 1947. I had to have it renewed every year. This was important to me. This was my first ID card, so it is hard to explain how I cherished this card. It meant that I was no longer just a number. It meant that I was a person, that I was a person of value. It proved I had a name and an address. I was so proud to have it. It gave us back some of the dignity we had lost. It gave us back our humanity.
Every time a ghetto was being liquidated, there was a selection of men and women who the Nazis selected to work. Those would be spared and taken to the munitions factories to replace other workers who they perceived as not being strong enough to continue working.
I myself have gone through three of those selections successfully with my father alongside with me.
All of us Jews who were no longer capable of working were eliminated in the most horrific way. I am not going into details – the pain always resonates.
The Nazis decided who qualified to live and work, and others were sent to the gas chambers. Six million of our people, of which 1.5 million were children, were brutally murdered. I represent the seven percent that managed to survive.
The Nazis and their collaborators murdered my mother, father and four older brothers … my uncles, aunts, cousins and friends who had been my schoolmates, and on and on.
Getting back to numbers…. When I read that many second- and third-generation survivors are [tattooing] their fathers’ and grandfathers’ numbers on their own arms and chests, I was upset.
Upon further research and reflection, I came around and now admire all those that have done this noble task. It is strange and amazing how, after all the years, those numbers have taken on a new meaning and brought change to what we think about those horrific years.
The book God, Faith and Identity from the Ashes is a reflection of children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg, from Beth El New Jersey, who is the son of survivors Jacob and Rachel Rosenberg, wrote: “Growing up, I constantly looked at the numbers on my father’s left arm, which he received in Auschwitz. Those numbers instilled in me the urge to fight for the state of Israel and against antisemitism wherever it may occur. I became a rabbi because of those numbers.”
Here is my own experience with numbers. Imagine being a 14-year-old boy. Imagine having been in hell and back over four years of this boy’s life working in Germany’s ammunition factories, being hungry, starved, emotionally exhausted, physically weakened, deprived of every human emotion. Imagine being so brutalized and dehumanized that you begin to believe that you are no longer human. In spite of it all, I never lost hope of being reunited with my family.
Hope! – a very powerful motivation.
The emergence of the enormity of the Holocaust became known to us and we had to find a way to deal and cope with the huge loss of all our loved ones murdered by the Nazis. How are we going to live with all those horrors?
April 11 will be the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald.
Would you believe, Gloria [Waisman’s wife] and I are invited by the German government to come to Weimar for this special occasion, where I am also invited to speak to German teenagers. I will share my experience in that infamous and dreadful place where death was a constant companion.
I celebrate April 11 as my birthday, for that day I was reborn again into freedom.
When the Americans liberated Buchenwald, we were euphoric! I will never forget the feeling! The soldiers were larger than life. They symbolized freedom, a new beginning! I tried to communicate with them, but had no words.
For the first time, I saw black men among the soldiers. Since I had been tormented by white persons and had never seen a black person, I thought that angels must be black!
The soldiers looked around and were surprised to find youngsters like myself. They wanted to know, Who are these kids? Where do they come from? What are their nationalities? Why are they here? What are they guilty of? What was the crime they committed?
Ultimately – a few days later – some men arrived to sort out the puzzle. They proceeded to make a list of our names and when my turn came and I was asked my name, I blurted out #117098, the number given to me. My name as a human was erased. I was surprised that they wanted my name not my number. So, you see here, again, the numbers are part of our stories.
When I think back, it was an extraordinary time, full of promise and hope. But it was also bittersweet. Those of us determined to survive had to focus all our efforts towards survival. We wanted to go home and be reunited with family. We soon realized that home was no more and that families we loved had been brutally murdered.
But after emerging from the abyss, thoughts and feelings returned.
Questions bombarded me. What now? Where is my family? Has anyone survived? If not, what is the point of my own survival?
Those wonderful memories of home no longer existed. Everything shattered.
How will I recapture feelings, so that I could cry and laugh again? How do I learn to love and trust again?
It was not easy to relearn the ordinary skills of life that had been shattered over a six-year period. We had to put our numbers aside, reclaim our names and that of our families and move forward.
We were also sure that when the American soldiers … when they saw the consequences of Nazi racism and brutality … that they would ensure that such things would never happen again. We, the survivors, were certain that the leaders and the citizens of the world would say “Never again!” and commit themselves to turning those words into reality.
Never again! Noble, thought-provoking words, but only if we act upon them. Only then do these words become meaningful.
Today, almost 70 years after my liberation, the promise of “Never again” has become again and again!
There have been a number of situations that have tested the world’s resolve … in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and now in Darfur, Syria and so many other places, people have been, and continue to be, the victims of genocide.
My eyes have seen unspeakable horrors! I am a witness to the ultimate evil! I am a witness to man’s inhumanity to other human beings! To this day, I cannot grasp how I managed to go through hell and survive.
The promise of being reunited with my family, all my loved ones, was the strong motivator for not giving up, for not losing it and falling into despair. After having come out of the abyss, I remember thinking, What now? I must go home – my family is waiting for me.
Then the questions began. Where are our loved ones? What happened to them? So much devastation! How to cope? So many losses, including our humanity. We became angry and outraged.
We were 426 youngsters among 20,000 adults in Buchenwald. We were brought to Ecouis, France, for our recovery and were told by psychologists that we had become sociopaths who would never recover.
Most of us forged ahead in school and business, raised families and contributed to our communities. In fact, we count among the Buchenwald children such personalities as my friend Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize winner; and Lulek, Israel’s recent chief rabbi, Israel Meir Lau, and his brother Naphtali.
Simon Wiesenthal, of blessed memory, said, “I believe in God and the World to Come, and when they ask me what did you do? I will say, I did not forget you.”
I want to end with my friend Elie Wiesel’s words: “Zachor, remember, for there is, there must be, hope in remembering.”
The commemoration was presented by the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, in partnership with the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre and the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, and with funding from the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and Rita Akselrod and family, in memory of Ben Akselrod z”l.
Michelle Dodek is the new president of the Hebrew Free Loan Association. (photo by Naomi Dodek)
The first free loan society in the Vancouver Jewish community was established 100 years ago, in March 1915. It is in this organization that the Hebrew Free Loan Association (HFLA) of Vancouver has its roots. And so, the association will celebrate its centenary this May with a dinner honoring current and past supporters and borrowers.
“The centennial celebration is one of the key projects we’re working on right now,” Michelle Dodek told the Independent. “HFLA has so many success stories, and this event – planned for the evening of Lag b’Omer, May 7, at Beth Israel Synagogue – will give us the chance to share some of them with the community.” Dodek took over as president from Diane Friedman in December. Friedman led the HFLA board for nine years.
“We would like to raise our profile. We joke among ourselves that the HFLA is one of the community’s best-kept secrets. It is challenging for us to publicize what we do because we are serve a niche market,” she explained. “We lend to people who don’t qualify for a bank loan and who also have the means with which to repay a loan. Examples of our borrowers are people who are employed and have encountered difficulties, such as a furnace in need of repair or physiotherapy bills for rehab from an accident. We help old-age pensioners who face the cost of expensive dental work; families with no financial reserves who would like their child to have a nice bar or bat mitzvah; or a new immigrant who needs to buy or lease a car or equipment for a job.”
The concept of interest-free loans, she said, “stems from the Torah itself. In Exodus, parashat Mishpatim, which will be read this year on Feb. 14, it states that a Jew should not charge interest when lending money to other Jews.” This parashah has been used by many founding members of Jewish communities throughout North America to establish organizations similar to Vancouver’s HFLA. “We are affiliated with the International Association of Jewish Free Loans,” Dodek said. “Many of the member organizations were also founded by ‘landsmen’ wanting to help each other when large numbers of Jews began to arrive in communities around North American, about 100 years ago, just like Vancouver’s organization. We all disperse interest-free loans to Jewish people and some member organizations in the States provide interest-free loans to non-Jews, as well.”
The first free-loan society in Vancouver existed until the 1930s, according to HFLA’s website. Another organization, the Achdut Society, was established in 1927 and lasted into the 1960s. In 1979, Shirley Barnett reestablished the Hebrew Assistance Association and, in 2004 – HAA’s 25th anniversary year – HAA was renamed the Hebrew Free Loan Association of Vancouver. From 1979 to 2004, notes the website, HFLA granted more than 1,300 loans, “totaling more than $3.8 million, with virtually all loans having been repaid in full.”
Last year, they dispersed about 40 loans, and they have about 150 loans out in total, said Dodek. “Our numbers are down right now. One of my goals is to build connections in the community to get our mission out to those who would benefit from our service. We have already begun to reach out to different groups and organizations.”
The application process is clearly laid out on the website, as are the terms of repayment. “It’s a relatively easy process with little red tape,” said Dodek. “Once an application is submitted, a board member contacts the borrower within 24 hours. They meet, discuss the application and, at the next board meeting, the loan is dealt with. The board meets twice a month so applications are processed quickly.”
There are various types of loans available: personal (maximum $7,000), emergency (maximum $750) and education, business or other special purpose loans (maximum $10,000), all of which require guarantors.
“We are looking for borrowers,” said Dodek. “We have a strong board with so many fascinating people from all facets of the Jewish community. Our board members include business people and social workers, people who can help applicants, as well.”
The last time HFLA put on a community-wide event was in 2007. The association hopes that the upcoming centennial will increase awareness. Celebrating 100 years in a fairly young community like Vancouver’s is an unusual event.
“On May 7, people will have the rare opportunity to hear from our borrowers in person. We hope to attract a wide cross-section from the Jewish community who will celebrate our amazing history and help us build for the next 100 years. Having an event on Lag b’Omer is significant to our mission because, although people think of it as a holiday of bonfires, the holiday is really about the importance of treating others with respect and dignity. That’s what HFLA is all about. As we look at our amazing past and to our future, we want to help build capacity in our community. We need to reach out, reconnect with our past borrowers and our supporters to act as a referral network, as well as guarantors for future loans so we can lend more money,” Dodek said.
“The Hebrew Free Loan Association changes people’s lives. It enables people to get through a tough situation, to add to their education, to better their situation, to celebrate a milestone – so many things.”
For more information or to become involved, visit hfla.ca, email [email protected] or call 604-428-2832.
Gil Lavieis a freelance correspondent, with articles published in the Jerusalem Post, Shalom Toronto and Tazpit News Agency. He has a master’s of global affairs from the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.
