Category: Local

Freedom and friendship

Achiya Klein and Joy at Trout Lake Park in Vancouver April 4. Klein and Joy were brought together by the Israel Guide Dog Centre for the Blind. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)

“The Israel Guide Dog Centre is not just a centre,” said Achiya Klein. “It’s like a family.”

Klein and his assistance dog, Joy, came to Vancouver from Toronto earlier this month with Atarah Derrick, executive director of Canadian Friends of the Israel Guide Dog Centre for the Blind. The Independent met with them at Trout Lake Park April 4.

It was an educational experience to see Klein and Joy interact, like a unit. Even when Joy was off leash, clearly enjoying the freedom of running around on her own, meeting other dogs, she would respond to Klein’s occasional check-in whistles or calls. Being a Hebrew-speaking dog, one wonders what she had to say to her Canadian compatriots. Only once, enticed by the lake, did Joy hesitate to return to Klein, but she did – and before taking the plunge she so obviously wanted to take. On our walk, Derrick explained that all the 

Israeli guide dogs have English names so that the animals will know it’s them being called – imagine, she said, if a client called out a name like Yossi in an Israeli market, for example.

Klein has had Joy since the end of last October, since his first guide dog, Night, passed away at the age of 8.

“Having a guide dog is my way to get my independence again,” said the Israel Defence Forces veteran, who was injured in 2013. “I can do whatever with a guide dog because I can walk alone, with no fear, and being comfortable.”

Klein has serious visual impairment. “I have some sight,” he said, “but it’s minimal.”

A team commander in Yahalom, a special unit of the IDF that deals with the handling of dangerous ammunition and weapons, Klein was injured in a Gazan tunnel. “I was on a mission to demolish the terror tunnel that crossed into Israel,” he explained, “and, when we were walking in the tunnel … there was a booby-trap, and I got injured from that when it exploded.”

Klein moved to Canada with his wife, who is Canadian, in 2023. Noach Braun, the founder of the Israel Guide Dog Centre, personally brought Joy to Klein, where he worked with the pair for 10 days. The training period was shorter than usual because Klein had already had a guide dog. Normally, after matching a client with a dog, the pair train together for a few weeks at the centre, which then provides more training in the client’s home environment.

“It’s not like they just give you a dog and say, ‘OK, good luck,’” said Klein. “It’s more than that, and I think that one of the best examples is, after Night passed away, even though I was in Canada and I was supposed to go to Israel to receive a new dog, because of Oct. 7, I couldn’t make it to Israel, so Noach … came here during the war. He came here with Joy and I think that’s a beautiful story, to show what it means to be a part of the family.”

According to Derrick, who has been leading the Canadian Friends of the Israel Guide Dog Centre for the Blind since 2021, the centre has placed 796 guide dogs, 39 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) dogs and 442 emotional support dogs, for a total of 1,277 since its founding in 1991. In 2023, there were 176 puppies being raised by centre volunteers, she said.

“The IGDCB (as it is known in Israel) serves Israel’s blind community by providing them with mobility, independence, self-confidence and companionship through the faithful assistance of guide dogs specially trained in Hebrew to meet Israel’s rigorous and challenging environment,” Derrick explained in an email. “We also breed and train service dogs for IDF veterans who have service-related PTSD and provide emotional support dogs for children on the autism spectrum.”

Canadian Friends of the Israel Guide Dog Centre for the Blind was established almost 20 years ago and Canada accounts for 6.6% of donations, according to its 2022 annual report. It is one of Derrick’s goals to increase that amount.

“I have always been passionate about community service and working in the charity sector, raising funds for vulnerable communities,” she said. “I’m a real dog person and, when the opportunity opened at Canadian Friends of the Israel Guide Dog Centre, it was the perfect match for my skills, interests and passions – helping people, Israel and dogs!”

Last year, Derrick and Braun visited Vancouver to visit donors and meet others interested in the centre’s work. “Everyone asked us to come back soon, preferably with a client and their dog, so they could see our work in action,” said Derrick, which was why she came this spring with Klein – who has become, she said, since being injured, “a Paralympic rower, a dedicated skier, a father and an asset to the IDF” – and Joy.

“We visited Vancouver Island first, with a meeting in Ladysmith to meet new friends there,” said Derrick. “We then headed south to Victoria, specifically Chabad of Vancouver Island. Then we moved east to Vancouver, where we met with Schara Tzedeck, the Kollel, and held a parlour meeting at the home of new friends. It was such a lovely visit, and we got to meet terrific people with whom our work really resonated.”

Initially, former Jewish National Fund shaliach (emissary) to Vancouver Mickey Goldwein, his wife Lili and her dog, Zita, were to accompany Derrick on the BC visit. Unfortunately, they couldn’t make the journey from Israel.

Lili Goldwein was partnered with Zita in 2018, explained Derrick, “because Lili’s vision had significantly deteriorated. Mickey joined the Israel Guide Dog Centre for the Blind’s board in 2022.”

The need for the centre and its services has increased since Oct. 7.

“Due to this war, we altered the criteria for receiving an emotional support dog to provide an immediate response to those injured or suffering due to the war,” said Derrick. “Since then, we have provided our emotional support dogs to children and adults with special needs whom the war has immensely impacted. Some of these people fought on Oct. 7 and were discharged immediately because of the trauma they endured. Some are widows of fallen soldiers. Some have been afraid to leave the house for months. 

“We are aware of some soldiers who have lost their vision in this conflict, and we need to be ready for them when they need us. This is in addition to the current clients on the waitlist,” she said.

The war also has disrupted the centre’s training, which may impact the number of guide dogs it can provide this year. “But we are doing our best to meet the challenge,” said Derrick.

photo - Atarah Derrick, executive director of Canadian Friends of the Israel Guide Dog Centre for the Blind, with Cookie
Atarah Derrick, executive director of Canadian Friends of the Israel Guide Dog Centre for the Blind, with Cookie. (photo from Atarah Derrick)

And they are meeting the challenge while still feeling the effects of the pandemic.

“COVID had two major impacts on our training,” said Derrick. “The first was in the socialization of our puppies. In their first year, it’s crucial to expose them to as many environments as possible. The office or university, the mall and the train station are all places where our pups get to experience lots of people, noises and smells and become more comfortable navigating those environments. Because of the lockdowns, most were cut off from those experiences, and many were not ready to take on service work. So, our success rate through COVID dropped, and our clients had to wait longer periods for their dogs. This was the case worldwide. 

“The second was that we were not able to open our residences to clients in guide dog courses. When a person is partnered with a guide dog, they live in residence with us for two weeks while they train together with our professionals. This was impossible during COVID, so our trainers went to the clients and worked with them at home, one-on-one, to complete the course. We put a lot of mileage on our vans during those years.”

Now, it is hospital visits that account for some of the mileage being put on the centre’s vans, with puppies and guide-dogs-in-training traveling to offer comfort to injured soldiers and civilians across Israel. 

“As the war rages on, we’re committed to continuing this mission of love and compassion,” reads the centre’s latest blog. “Because no matter the circumstances, a little bit of puppy love can go a long way in healing hearts and bringing people together.”

Seeing Klein and Joy together at Trout Lake Park and getting a glimpse of what having a guide dog has meant to Klein, the importance of the IGDCB’s work seems clear.

“They provide you with one of the most basic tools that you use every day,” Klein said. “But it’s not just a tool, it’s also a friend.”

To learn more about the Israel Guide Dog Centre for the Blind, visit israelguidedog.ca. 

Thought-provoking speakers

Dr. Gil Murciano of Mitvim, the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, and Uri Weltmann of Standing Together, spoke April 17 at Temple Sholom. (photo by Pat Johnson)

For months, weekly rallies across Israel after Shabbat have demanded the return of the hostages from Gaza. These rallies have often coincided with separate protests, which have been going on much longer, against the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu generally and its proposed judicial reforms specifically. These two streams of protesters have coalesced in recent weeks, according to an Israeli activist leader who spoke in Vancouver last week, because, he said, many Israelis are convinced that Netanyahu is not advancing freedom for the hostages, but hindering it, for his own political advantage.

Uri Weltmann, field organizer of Standing Together, made the claim April 17 during an event at Temple Sholom organized by New Israel Fund Canada. 

“What happened three weeks ago is that it stopped being two different protest movements,” said Weltmann. “They are basically changing their strategy. They are calling for early elections and for [Netanyahu’s] government to be removed and replaced with a different government. [Activists are] pointing their finger at him as the obstruction, as the obstacle toward advancing to a ceasefire agreement.”

Weltmann argues that Netanyahu is concerned not only for his political survival, but for his freedom.

“For Netanyahu, the protraction of this war, the continuation of this war, is in his political interest,” said Weltmann. “He knows that a temporary ceasefire might lead to a permanent ceasefire. A permanent ceasefire would mean an end to the war. An end to this war would bring an end to this coalition government because the extremists he huddled with have already said publicly that, if they will end the war before total victory, they will topple the government.”

The end of the current government and the ousting of Netanyahu, he said, would have more than just political ramifications for the prime minister, who opinion polls suggest would be soundly routed if an election were held now.

“New elections mean him losing the majority and him losing the majority is not only Netanyahu the politician being ousted from office. It’s also Netanyahu facing corruption charges, having his trial resume, [and he] might lose his personal liberty. For him, it’s intimately linked to the continuation of the war.”

The consensus among these activists is that Netanyahu is seeking to prolong the war and the captivity of the hostages to protect his political and personal interests, said Weltmann.

“It’s an incredibly important political development within Israel that a broad movement around the families and friends of the hostages have made this link,” he said.

Weltmann’s group, Standing Together (known in Hebrew and Arabic as Omdim Beyachad-Naqif Ma’an), was founded in 2015 and is one of the on-the-ground groups New Israel Fund supports.

Among the goals of the group is to build a grassroots movement for peace and progressive politics in Israel, including in rural and peripheral areas of the country. Making such a movement successful beyond the activist hub in Tel Aviv is the only way to advance Standing Together’s goals, Weltmann said. Even a more centrist or progressive government, if elected tomorrow, would not necessarily advance meaningful steps to peace and coexistence if there is not a broad popular movement in support of such a policy shift, he said.

Without a national movement for peace, he said, a new prime minister, however well-intentioned, would not feel the pressure to abandon the status quo and take steps for a changed future. 

“We must, as a strategic starting point in our process of progressive transformation of Israeli society, be present in the Negev, be present in the Galilee, be present in those parts of Israeli society that for too long have been the playing ground of the right-wing with left-wing actors completely non-present,” he said. “We must be there organizing local communities.”

Jewish citizens cannot do it by themselves, said Weltmann, and neither can Arab citizens. 

“We must have Jewish-Palestinian unity and cooperation within Israel for this change to be effective,” he said. An example of this strategy was a slogan adopted by a joint Jewish-Arab slate in Haifa during the recent municipal elections. The far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party of Itamar Ben-Gvir ran slates across the country trying to solidify the party’s roots at the civic level. The joint slate in Haifa played off Otzma Yehudit’s xenophobia with the slogan “Jewish Arab Power.”

“We are at a crossroads,” said Weltmann. “Every Israeli should choose which side am I on: the side that leads to a continuation of the status quo, a continuation of the state of affairs in which the Palestinians live in the occupied territories under military rule devoid of citizenship, devoid of rights, a situation that can lead to Oct. 7 one after another unless we put an end to it, or the reality of an Israeli-Palestinian peace that will guarantee both people safety, security and an imaginable, livable future?”

Weltmann spoke alongside Dr. Gil Murciano, an Iran expert and chief executive officer of the think-tank Mitvim, the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, which one journalist has called “the diplomatic wing of the protest movement.”

Like Weltmann, Murciano longs for a “new majority” in Israel’s body politic. “A new majority that will allow us to advance toward a state where we live in peace, we live in dignity, we live in equality, without the occupation, without the injustices, throughout our society,” he said.

A fundamental shift in perspective is needed, argued Murciano.

“We used to speak about ‘wars of no choice’ in Israel,” he said. “We need to start thinking in terms of ‘peace of no choice.’”

On the one side, he said, the extreme right has a plan of annexation, with Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s minister of finance and head of the far-right National Religious Party, calling for the government to “encourage” migration from Gaza to Egypt. On the other side, he said, since Oct. 7, people on the left have been motivated to seek an alternative to the status quo.

Dr. Maayan Kreitzman, a local food systems researcher and activist who moderated the event, challenged Murciano on this point. Rather than progressive voices calling for more coexistence, she said, she has heard the opposite. People that are “quite dovish” have had second thoughts about their worldview and transformed into a more hawkish, securitized attitude, she suggested.

Murciano acknowledged that all Israelis share one overriding priority. “For Israelis, it’s pretty clear,” he said. “The first, second and third priority of Israelis right now is security.”

That is a prerequisite to any advancement, he said.

Murciano proposes something he acknowledges to be “a little bit symbolic,” an international peace conference to kick off a new process between moderate Israelis and moderate Palestinians. This could be a first step to breaking an impasse that has existed in recent years, he said.

“Some people have described the last decade as the lost decade of Israeli diplomacy,” he said, a period where “conflict management” has been the priority; effectively, a maintenance of the status quo.

“I think that’s the right description, actually. It’s a strategy of not having a strategy,” said Murciano. “Coming to terms with the fact that there is no political way out and basically every couple of years we’re going to have a bit of violence.”

This approach sees Israelis forfeiting the initiative to Hezbollah and Hamas, he said, “Basically setting yourself in a situation where you only respond to a reality that is forced upon you.”

Oct. 7, he said, destroyed this conceptual framing.

Part of any future needs to include a multilateral project to “rebuild life-sustaining systems” in Gaza, he said, not a “peace-keeping force” but a “multinational force” that will be an on-the-ground part of a larger process toward peace and coexistence.

Ben Murane, executive director of New Israel Fund Canada, spoke of the emotional impacts of recent months.

“If you’re like me, what has been excruciating the past six months has been not just holding my pain, our Jewish pain, the pain of my Israeli coworkers, my family, my friends there, the pain of the Israeli people, but also, in my heart, holding the pain of the Palestinian people too,” he said.

Since the earliest days of the current war, Murane said, there have been countless glimmers of hope in the form of cross-cultural dialogue.

“In the first few months, we were astounded to see, across Israel, dozens of gatherings, conferences, events with hundreds of Jews and Palestinians standing together holding up those now-iconic purple signs saying ‘Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies,’ ‘Jews and Arabs stand together’ or just simply ‘B’Yachad,’ together,” said Murane. “We were astounded to see Jewish citizens of Israel respond to the needs of the Palestinian citizens of Israel, Palestinian citizens of Israel making calls to families of the hostages, joint Jewish-Arab humanitarian aid missions to the south and to the north. As the war in Gaza accelerated, those Israeli voices also said, ‘We do have choices, even now. We have lots of choices with how we execute a just war justly.’”

Any long-term solution to the decades-long conflict must bring safety and dignity to both peoples, said Murane, “and anything else, anything short of fairness to both sides, will perpetuate this for another generation.”

New Israel Fund partners with and supports, according to its website, “organizations in Israel that fight for socioeconomic equality, religious freedom, civil and human rights, shared society and anti-racism, Palestinian citizens, and democracy itself.”

The April 17 event was hosted by Temple Sholom and co-sponsored by JSpaceCanada, which calls itself the advocacy voice of Liberal Zionism, Ameinu Canada, described as the voice of labour Zionism in Canada, and Canadian Friends of Peace Now, as well as the speakers’ organizations.

Rabbi Dan Moskovitz, senior rabbi at Temple Sholom, said he had received emails expressing concerns about hosting a perceived left-wing event. 

“I get the same emails when we host people to the right of centre,” he said. 

One of the purposes of a synagogue, he said, is to engage with ideas that “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

“You may find your truth by agreeing with what you here tonight,” he said. “You may find your truth by disagreeing with what you hear tonight. The important part is to engage with it.”

Vancouver activist David Berson promoted the opportunity to listen to the Israeli guests as a chance to gain a perspective apart from the most common refrain he hears on social media and WhatsApp threads. 

“There’s another way you can look at what’s going on,” he told the Independent after the event. “Come out and hear a different perspective. I invited people to come tonight and listen to a different narrative.”

The 200 to 300 people at the event was about double what organizers had earlier expected, he said. 

A new refuge from violence

Western Canada House, a shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence, is now open in Rishon LeZion, near Tel Aviv. The project is a result of support from Jewish National Fund of Canada supporters in Vancouver and Winnipeg. (photo from JNF Pacific Region)

Western Canada House, a shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence, is now open in Rishon LeZion, near Tel Aviv. The project, a result of support from Jewish National Fund of Canada supporters in Vancouver and Winnipeg, provides a temporary home to families in crisis, as well as access to counseling services, programs for mothers to become self-supporting and assistance in finding permanent, secure housing.

The project was made possible by revenue from 2016 Negev Dinners in Vancouver and Winnipeg and was chosen by that year’s Vancouver dinner honouree, Shirley Barnett. The honouree of the Winnipeg dinner was Peter Leipsic. (An additional Vancouver connection is that Leipsic is the father of Dr. Jonathon Leipsic, who is, among many other things, a leader in the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver.)

Barnett said she was motivated to choose the project in part because it is a joint initiative with No2Violence, whose founder, Ruth Rasnic, Barnett had met previously. Rasnic, who was awarded the Israel Prize in 2009 for her life’s work, founded No2Violence in 1977, to enable women and children suffering from domestic violence to break away and start a new life – by providing them with shelter, professional help, vocational training and legal aid – as well as to raise awareness about domestic violence. The group now operates three shelters in Israel.

“When I was honoured by the JNF, they asked me what kind of a project I would like the proceeds to go to,” Barnett recalled. The agency provided a number of options and, based on her background in social work and her familiarity with Rasnic’s work, she chose this one.

“No2Violence is interesting,” Barnett said. “They are not a religious organization. There are other shelters in Israel that cater only to the Orthodox. No2Violence is nonsectarian and, in addition to that, it is open to women who are not Jewish. It is also open to women who do not have legal status in Israel, who have not been deported because their children have been born in Israel. So, their doors are open to women who have come from Sudan, women who have come from Russia, who have been trafficked into Israel by their Israeli boyfriends. That was also attractive to me.”

photo - Western Canada House, a shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence
Western Canada House, a shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence. (photo from JNF Pacific Region)

Rabbi David Bluman, director of youth engagement at Congregation Beth Israel, visited Western Canada House earlier this month as part of a joint mission to Israel by Beth Israel, JNF Canada and Congregation Har El.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Bluman said. “They have different areas for children to play. They have a communal kitchen where each family signs up at a different time to do the cooking for the group that’s there. It’s obvious that JNF Western Canada did a really good job, put a lot of money in to build that place. It’s beautiful.

“I don’t think anyone wants to be there, they need to be there,” said the rabbi. “JNF Canada has made it as welcoming as possible, making it so it’s like home for them while they are there.”

The shelter has capacity for 10 to 12 families, providing needed refuge in a country where, statistics indicate, as many as 70% of women and children experiencing domestic abuse cannot access alternative housing.

Michael Sachs, Pacific region executive director of JNF, visited the project last year to assess progress and is delighted that the shelter is now open and providing housing to families. There were delays in completion of the initiative, Sachs said, because of municipal bureaucracy. 

Face behind the weekly vigils

Daphna Kedem speaks at one of the weekly rallies she organizes to unite the local community and express solidarity with the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas (photo by Pat Johnson)

Until recently, Daphna Kedem was a single mom with two jobs, an Israeli-Canadian who came to Vancouver in 2011. Upset by political and social developments in her homeland, she mobilized a local branch of the global activist movement UnXeptable. Then, on Oct. 7, driven by grief and an inability to sit idly, she became the face of weekly vigils for Israel’s hostages, terror victims and families.

UnXeptable is, according to its website, “a grassroots movement launched by Israeli expats in support of a democratic Israel.” The group mobilized around the world against the “judicial reforms” of the current government, which critics say would fundamentally undermine the democratic nature of the state.

The Vancouver activists were meeting weekly and, in the hours after the Oct. 7 terror attacks, it was immediately evident that there was a need for people to come together. Community organizations, she said, were waiting until the close of Shabbat to announce a community response.

“I said, no, we can’t wait,” Kedem told the Independent. “In the Jewish tradition, a war or a crisis like this is beyond Shabbat. You can actually break Shabbat if it’s very important.”

In her capacity as an individual – not on behalf of UnXeptable or any other organization – Kedem brought the community together at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Oct. 9 and has continued, with a few exceptions, at that location every Sunday since. (Conflicting events have resulted in shifting locations a few times and there were no rallies on Dec. 24 or 31.)

Kedem doesn’t recall specifically making the decision to hold a weekly event, nor would she have imagined it would go on so long.

“I don’t know how it came about but I just said, let’s do this every Sunday at 2 p.m. until all the hostages are released and, unbelievably, we are here six months after,” she said.

Kedem works for a Vancouver company specializing in products for chiropractors, massage therapists and other medical professionals, and she is also an entrepreneur who bakes pies and sells them at farmer’s markets. The weekly rallies have become effectively a third job. On top of all this, she is also deeply committed to animal rights, being a local organizer for a California-based global animal movement called Direct Action Everywhere.

photo - At the weekly rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery April 21, Daphna Kedem leads the call to release the Israeli hostages
At the weekly rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery April 21, Daphna Kedem leads the call to release the Israeli hostages. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Kedem laments that attendance at the rallies has dropped off – it is challenging to keep audiences engaged week after week. She notes that she hears some people in the community talking worriedly about the size of anti-Israel rallies, but then does not see those faces at her Sunday gatherings.

“For me, it should not happen because it’s like saying we are giving up on the hostages,” she said of the declining numbers. “It’s like saying this is our new normal, and it shouldn’t be this way.”

Kedem, who was born and raised in Israel, lived in London, England, in her 20s. When she decided she and her daughter, who is now a student at Western University, in Ontario, needed a change, she considered Berlin, which has a large Israeli expat community, but decided an English-speaking city would be better. Her experience of London had been one of bigoted locals with unwelcoming attitudes toward “bloody foreigners” and she is not enamoured of the political climate in the United States. Australia and New Zealand seemed too far away.

“I had friends that were moving to Vancouver and I said, OK, I can get a tourist visa for a year and, if things don’t work out, we can always have an experience of a year in Canada,” she said. “That’s how it started.”

Bringing the community together on behalf of Israeli hostages, victims of terror and their families takes effort and volunteers, Kedem said, but it is also a vital source of empowerment and comfort for her and all who attend.

“It’s necessary that we unite in common as a community,” she said. “It is for the solidarity with the hostages but the other thing is just being together, the community in Vancouver. People need to feel a part of something and, for the past six months, it has been created. People find a safe space and a safe space can grow with more people coming out.”

Kedem has a lot on her plate. Rather than adding to her stress, though, the weekly rallies are a comfort. She said, “It’s helping me because I have to do something.” 

New role, familiar face

Ilan Pilo, left, and Rafi Yablonsky of the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation. (photo from CSZHF)

In Jerusalem, Yad Vashem stands as the foremost memorial centre to the Holocaust, dedicated to the millions of Jews murdered during the Shoah. Across the street, as if in defiant answer to the past, is one of the world’s busiest maternity centres, where 22,000 newborns meet the world every year, strengthening the future of the Jewish people. 

The maternity section is just one of Shaare Zedek Medical Centre’s many specialized departments, advancing health not only at the start of life but all through the lifespan of patients. Shaare Zedek is home to an emergency preparedness and disaster response centre. It offers a one-stop multidisciplinary and comprehensive diagnostic breast health centre. There are departments focusing on heart health, medical genetics, digestive diseases, oncology and an array of other specializations – more than 30 in-patient and 70 out-patient departments in all. The hospital sees a million patients annually and has 1,000 beds. Located in the centre of west Jerusalem, it is, among so much else, a teaching and research facility.

Western Canadians will likely be hearing more about this particular facility as the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation has just opened its first office in this part of the country. But, while the organization may be a newcomer as a physical presence in Vancouver’s Jewish community, it will be a familiar face sharing the Shaare Zedek story.

Ilan Pilo, who served as shaliach (emissary) and regional executive director of Jewish National Fund of Canada from 2013 to 2021, has returned from Israel as the Western Canada executive director for the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation.

“I was thrilled and honoured to be offered the opportunity to be the first to launch the Western office in Canada,” Pilo said.

During his time back in Israel, Pilo served as principal of a postsecondary trades and skills school and, most recently, ran the campaign for Yariv Fisher, who won an upset victory to become mayor of Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv. Municipal elections across Israel were delayed twice due to the war and, almost immediately after seeing his candidate elected, Pilo jumped on a plane and headed for Canada, spending 10 days in Toronto orienting to his new role before landing in Vancouver in March.

The hospital is 120 years old and was founded to ensure medical adherence to halachah (Jewish law), providing appropriate care for Orthodox Jews in the pre-state era. While it still provides everything religious Jews need, including minyanim, it is also, Pilo said, a “safe zone” for all people, regardless of ethnicity, nationality or religion. 

“When you look at the population in Jerusalem, you see that there are one million people – 300,000 of them are ultra-Orthodox, 400,000 are Arabs and the rest are, let’s say, secular Jews,” Pilo said. “It’s the most interesting and complex mix of people.”

That diversity is reflected not only in the patients but in the doctors and staff, Pilo said.

Right now, the hospital’s specialists in trauma are dealing with soldiers and civilians injured in the war. Since Oct. 7, Shaare Zedek has treated 300 wounded civilians and more than 700 Israel Defence Forces soldiers. In addition, hospitals in the north and the south of Israel have transferred 60 of their neonatal intensive care unit patients out of conflict regions to Shaare Zedek, where the NICU is housed in completely sheltered areas.

Rafi Yablonsky, national executive director of the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation, said he and the foundation’s board decided to expand operations across Western Canada because of the region’s philanthropic and Zionistic reputation. 

“We hope that more Canadians learn about the transformative and world-leading work of Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Jerusalem,” he said. “Our goal is to grow our donor base and volunteer base with business and philanthropic leaders out West.”

This is not the first time Pilo and Yablonsky have worked together.

“Ilan and I were colleagues when we worked at JNF Canada together,” he said. “I witnessed firsthand how Ilan is highly skilled as a world-class fundraiser, also motivating groups of volunteers to do their part in our community.

“Shaare Zedek is a public hospital that is privately funded,” said Yablonsky, “and it receives very limited support from the Israeli government to upgrade equipment and technology, develop groundbreaking international research and ensure state-of-the-art medical training is available to staff. As such, the hospital relies heavily on the generosity of donors around the world to supplement $30 million needed annually.”

For more information, visit hospitalwithaheart.ca. 

Camp celebrates a lifetime at 70

Lisa and Andrew Altow with their family on visitors day at Camp Solomon Schechter in 2013. (photo from the Altow family)

On May 5, Camp Solomon Schechter will honour four long-time relationships that were built at the camp. Part of its 70th-anniversary celebrations, there will be three separate events in three different cities – Portland, Seattle and Vancouver – on the same day. Those being honoured include Vancouverites Lisa and Andrew Altow, and Yvonne Rosenberg.

“One of the most special things about camp is the lifelong friendships that it creates and the geographic area that it spans,” Zach Duitch, executive director of Camp Solomon Schechter, told the Independent. “We say camp friends are forever friends and we know that having Jewish friendships throughout your life is one of the most significant and important relationships we have. This is what builds Jewish community.”

Of this year’s honourees, he said, “We have a friendship that has spanned three generations and two countries, from Portland to BC, Yvonne and Sharon [Stern] – they went to camp together, their children went to camp together, their grandchildren go to camp together. We have two relationships that are marriages from camp, the Korches [Melissa and Matt] and the Altows. And we have a beautiful friendship of four friends from four different communities who have stayed friends throughout their lifetime”: Eva Corets, Rochelle Huppin, Wendy Rosen and Karen Twain.

photo - Sharon Stern, left, and Yvonne Rosenberg met in the early 1960s at Camp Solomon Schechter and have been friends ever since
Sharon Stern, left, and Yvonne Rosenberg met in the early 1960s at Camp Solomon Schechter and have been friends ever since. (photo from CSS)

In previous years, Camp Solomon Schechter has awarded the Migdal Or Award to individuals who have provided a “spark of light that guides the way for others to follow.” The inspiration for the award and its first recipients, in 2020, were camp founders Rabbi Joshua and Goldie Stampfer (z”l). While an award won’t be given out this year, the 70th anniversary Schechter Spark will reflect the Stampfers’ “legacy, virtue and commitment to Jewish life and camping.”

Camp Solomon Schechter started in 1954, near Echo Lake, in Washington. The first year, 25 campers attended a one-week session; the next year, 40 campers attended a two-week session. 

The camp moved to Whidbey Island in 1958 but outgrew that space within 10 years. With the help again of Seattle Rabbi Joseph Wagner, one of the camp’s founders, as well as Harry Sherman and Rabbi Zev Solomon from Vancouver, BC, a camp property in the Olympia area was found, and it was for sale.

“Rabbi Stampfer immediately called the number and spoke with the owner, Helen Shank,” reads the Our History page of the CSS website. “And, for $300,000, the 200-acre property could be owned by Camp Solomon Schechter. Each of the rabbis from the major cities (Portland, Seattle and Vancouver) committed to raising $100,000 from their communities, and they were able to accomplish the goal in time for summer 1969.”

CSS is still located at the site near Olympia, with some 600 campers and more than 100 staff attending annually, in addition to the Stampfer Retreat Centre and OSPREY Camp (an outdoor education program).

Seventy years is a special anniversary in Judaism.

“The number 70 is considered a lifetime, so much so that 13 years into the second lifetime, at the age of 83, many Jews will have a second bar or bat mitzvah,” explained Duitch. “Where does that number come from? A midrashic tale tells us that there was an old man planting a carob tree by the side of the road when a traveler walked by. The traveler asked the man, ‘Why are you planting that tree? It will never bear fruit in your lifetime.’ The man responded, ‘I’m doing it for the next generation.’ And so, the legend goes, it takes a carob tree 70 years from seed to fruit and that’s where we get that idea of a lifetime. So, this year, at Schechter Spark, we are celebrating our first lifetime and raising funds for our next lifetime.”

“We are looking forward to being at the event with many of our good friends and all our kids,” Andrew Altow told the Independent. He and Lisa attended CSS in the mid-to-late-1970s. “I was a camper,” he said. “Lisa was a camper and, later, a counselor.”

After their first year at CSS, Andrew said there were a couple of reasons for wanting to return for another summer. “First, all our Jewish friends from all the cities – Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Spokane – that went every year. Second, the ruach [spirit], the amazing sense of Judaism and fun together.”

Looking back now some 50 years later, Andrew said, “CSS played a massive role for us. Because of our CSS lifelong camp friendships, we met in our 20s at a party in Bellevue [Washington] and fell in love and got married a few years later – Lisa was from Bellevue and I was from Vancouver. Because of CSS, we maintained a meaningful connection with camp and eventually each of our four kids attended CSS and have made their own lifelong friends.”

Andrew and Lisa have each, at one time or another, served on the CSS board or a board committee.

“CSS has been a Jewish string that has connected us to our Judaism and to Israel in a positive and meaningful way, for which we are extremely grateful,” said Andrew. “Mostly, it’s been the amazing people involved with CSS, whether they be staff or volunteers, each one amazing in their passion for CSS and their genuine love for this magical camp, its mission, its values.”

It was “incredibly important” that their kids also go to Camp Solomon Schechter, said Andrew. “Each child – Josh, Lynne, Joey and Ari – got something different out of camp but their experience reinforced their Judaism and their connection to Israel.

“One summer, it was very special to have all four kids and my nephew from Toronto to attend in the same summer session – five Altows at one session. We were so proud to see how close they all were and continue to be. We believe CSS was an incredible positive influence on all of them.”

Humbled to be one of the Schechter Spark 24 honourees, Andrew said, “In a world today full of hate, full of antisemitism, full of turmoil worldwide, CSS is an oasis of safety for Judaism to shine through our children and teach them the beautiful tenets of Judaism so our children, and future children, can continue to repair the world as our faith illustrates.”

To read about the other Schechter Spark 2024 honourees and to RSVP for the (free) local May 5 event at Tap & Barrel in Olympic Village, go to campschechter.org/spark-24. Vancouver co-chairs are Elana Bick and Sheldon Franken, and the special guest will be camp director Manda Graziel. 

Thanks to CSS’s 2024 Matchmakers, any new donation to the camp will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $218,000. Visit campschechter.com to donate. 

Community milestones … Rabbi Carey Brown

photo - Rabbi Carey Brown of Temple Sholom
Rabbi Carey Brown of Temple Sholom (photo from templesholom.ca)

Rabbi Carey Brown of Temple Sholom will be part of the next cohort of Shalom Hartman Institute’s Rabbinic Leadership Initiative (RLI).

The intensive three-year fellowship program immerses North American rabbis of all denominations in the highest levels of Jewish learning, equipping them to meet contemporary challenges with ever-increasing intellectual and moral sophistication. It is one of the few structured frameworks for ongoing rabbinic study, enrichment and intellectual leadership training. In addition to rigorous study, the program fosters a deep sense of community for diverse rabbis in an environment of open dialogue, collaboration, peer-learning and personal support. The next cohort begins next month.

Waldman’s 2024 Human Library

Participants in the Human Library event at the Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library on April 7. (photo from Waldman Library)

photo - Jewish Independent publisher Cynthia Ramsay (inset, middle) was one of the “books”
Jewish Independent publisher Cynthia Ramsay (inset, middle) was one of the “books.”  (photo from Waldman Library)

The Human Library event at the Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library on April 7 drew a diversity of “human books” (volunteers who shared some of their life experiences) and readers (people who came out to learn about those experiences). Titles included Police Officer; Coping with Dementia: A Mother/Son Story; More than just MS; Brain Cancer Survivor; Your Jewish Community Newspaper; and Partners in Care. Books and readers gathered at the library, had snacks and shmoozed, before participating in three separate reading sessions over the course of the afternoon. The purpose of the event is to connect one-on-one or few-on-one with individuals from different cultural backgrounds and lifestyles, celebrating our differences and fostering understanding.

The strength of community

Shai DeLuca and Alexandra Smith flew in Sunday from Toronto to address Vancouver’s weekly vigil for Israeli hostages on the six-month anniversary of the atrocities committed on Oct. 7. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Unity, defiance and determination were the overriding messages at the community rally Sunday, April 7, marking six months since the atrocities of Oct. 7.

“Our hearts are heavy with the weight of loss and sorrow,” said Michael Sachs, regional director of the Jewish National Fund of Canada. As Israelis were called up for service at the start of that war, another battle began in the diaspora, he said.

“Jews worldwide were drafted for a different, yet related, war,” said Sachs. “In the wake of Oct. 7, we witnessed a disturbing and radical rise in antisemitism and Jew-hatred right here in Canada.”

Canada today does not resemble the Canada of Oct. 6, he said, as anti-Jewish ideas and actions have “emerged from the alley and are now openly displayed on our streets and threatening the very fabric of our society.

“We should always draw strength from the resilience and courage of the survivors,” Sachs said. The souls of those murdered that day, he said, live on “in our commitment to build a world with compassion, justice, that will triumph over the cruelty and ignorance that we are seeing.

“The brave soldiers, of all faiths, who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defence of Israel – we mourn you and we will never forget you,” said Sachs.

The Jewish response to evil is goodness, he said.

“In the face of their darkness, let us shine our light on them by rejecting forces of division, and continue to embrace the power of the unity of our community and our amazing allies,” he said. “Let us stand together, hand in hand, to be the hope and strength to the families of those held hostage. Let us show the world that our Zionism – not the Zionism that they have created – our Zionism, our love of Israel, is stronger than any hate they can throw at us.”

Aron Csaplaros, BC regional manager of B’nai Brith Canada, recalled his own family’s history.

“For hundreds of years, we have overcome expulsions, pogroms, massacres,” he said. “During the Holocaust, my grandmother spent months hidden in a dark basement, constantly hearing the footsteps of Nazi officers walking above her head, knowing that she could be found and murdered at any minute. But she, like Jews have done throughout our history, survived. She is here today standing in the crowd and we, the Jewish people, are still here, stronger and more united in our resolve than ever.”

He reiterated the demand of the weekly events, that the hostages be released, and added that Hamas should accept its defeat and unconditionally surrender to facilitate a new era of peace between the Palestinian and Israeli people.

“We will never stop fighting those who wish to destroy us,” Csaplaros said. “And we will not stop fighting to defend our indigenous homeland, the land of Israel.”

Until the hostages are released, he said, “We will not stop rallying. We will not stop marching. We will not stop advocating and we will not stop calling on our elected leaders in government to act until every single one of our brothers and sisters held hostage is safely returned.”

photo - Calls for the return of the hostages being held by Hamas rang through the streets of Vancouver Sunday
Calls for the return of the hostages being held by Hamas rang through the streets of Vancouver Sunday. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Shai DeLuca, an interior designer who lives in Toronto and Israel, is a familiar face to audiences of Toronto’s CityTV and Global television. During the Hamas war in 2014, he pivoted to being a voice for Israel and has led battles against anti-Zionist campaigns in Toronto. He said he was nonchalant when he awoke to alerts on Oct. 7. But, as he and his husband took refuge in a shelter, he realized this was not routine.

“I have lived through enough attacks, hundreds upon hundreds of Hamas rocket attacks throughout my life, to know that this felt different,” said DeLuca.

Soon, Israeli phones were lighting up with push notifications, videos and images showing murder, rape and other atrocities. 

“It was from numbers we did not recognize,” he said. “Only later did we find out that these were targeted push notifications from Hamas.”

Last week, DeLuca was back in Israel and visited the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds were murdered. The site is about 15 minutes from his family home.

He spoke with Rotem, a young woman who had been a vocal advocate for reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. She had spent 30 hours in a safe room with her children before the terrorists gave up and sought out easier prey.

That day, Rotem told DeLuca, was “the day that I realized they really don’t care who we are.”

“A Jew is a Jew,” she told him. “They want us all dead.”

Many of Israel’s most avid peace activists lived on the kibbutzim that were attacked.

“The belief that one day we would have peace with our neighbours wasn’t something she could foresee anymore and that was heartbreaking to see,” said DeLuca. “She had strived to work toward a better tomorrow for all and was met with the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust, on her community specifically…. A community that employed Gaza workers and worked daily to build bridges. That bridge no longer exists, she said, they torched it.”

Now, in the diaspora, Jews are faced with what DeLuca equates to the antisemitic marches of the 1930s and ’40s.

“We have never been able to depend on others,” he said. “Our history has proven that.… The difference today, unlike times past, is that we have our home to go to. While the hate marches we see repeatedly across cities and across countries call to deny the existence of the only indigenous home the Jewish people have ever known, they continue to prove why its existence is so very important.”

Alexandra Smith, director of End Jew Hatred Canada, came with DeLuca from Toronto on a delayed flight, arriving just in time for the event. 

“Today, we are called upon not only to demand the immediate and unconditional release of those unjustly held, but to reaffirm our commitment to each other as members of a shared community, a shared nation, a shared destiny and, indeed, a shared humanity,” said Smith.

“Starting on Oct. 8, for many in the Jewish community, the open, brazen, unashamed Jew-hatred exhibited on college campuses and on our streets came as a terrible shock and a deep sense of betrayal,” she said. “But, for those of us who have been working in this space for a length of time, it came as no surprise. Antisemitism has always been there, only hidden under wraps. It took a war in the Middle East for it to rear its ugly head. It’s not an exaggeration to call this a profound crisis. In moments of crisis, however, the strength of a community is seen not only in its leaders but in the spirit of its people. Unity is our beacon of hope. Shoulder to shoulder, regardless of backgrounds, beliefs and life experiences, we embody the resilience that has helped communities throughout history overcome adversity.”

Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt of Congregation Schara Tzedeck chanted El Moleh Rachamim, invoking the name of Elad Katzir, a hostage whose body was recovered by Israeli soldiers the day before the rally. Rabbi Susie Tendler of Beth Tikvah in Richmond said the prayer for the hostages. 

Diverse & happy show

Members of the Clore & Roll Ensemble will perform in Vancouver on May 13. (photo from Clore Centre)

Every year, it is sobering to experience the transition from Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance for Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism, into Yom Ha’atzmaut, the celebration of Israel’s Independence Day. This year, it will be even more so. And it will be especially poignant, given that the musical group headlining the local community gathering on May 13 is an ensemble from Kfar Blum, a kibbutz in the Galilee Panhandle, in northern Israel, where some 60,000 people have been evacuated because of the threats posed by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Clore & Roll Ensemble is an initiative of the music school of the Clore Centre for the Performing Arts, which also has a dance and theatre school. The centre was established in 1996 and approximately 1,000 students (which include adults) study there. They come from kibbutzim and moshavim in the area, as well as Druze and Arab towns.

“I’m glad to say that the conflict doesn’t get inside the centre,” Telem Chorin, chief executive officer of the Clore Centre and director of the ensemble, told the Independent. “Music is an international language and also an emotional language that connects people,” he said.

While the Clore Centre’s offerings remain afterschool programs, the centre has played a more important role in students’ lives since the Oct. 7 terror attacks that led to the current war.

“For some kids, the Clore is like a second home,” said Chorin. “Because, for some students, it is a more stable place than the hotel they were evacuated to, or the school that is currently closed or working partially.”

Despite being displaced, ensemble members have been coming together weekly to practise for the show in Vancouver. Rehearsals are at the centre.

“Last week, we had matriculation exams in dance and, during April and May, we will have matriculation exams in music playing,” said Chorin. “It is interesting to see how committed the students are to performing arts subjects even in such a period, and how much effort they have to invest – time, long journeys, sometimes even risking [their safety] and coming to Kfar Blum, even though it is relatively more dangerous here than in their homes or the hotels they have moved to. This shows how important it is to them and how much they don’t give up on it despite everything, and maybe even this is what keeps them ‘sane’ amidst all the chaos currently prevailing in the north.”

Some members of the ensemble have been playing together for more than five years in different capacities, but the group that is coming to Vancouver has only been playing together for the past three months, said Chorin. Due to the war and the evacuations, the group had to rebuild. “We’ve added additional musicians to the band so that you will have an amazing show!” he said.

Coming to Vancouver are Menachem Ofri (17, singer), Yaron Shir (18, singer), Kachtan Aviv (17, flute), Maman Moria (17, alto saxophone), Moyal Ido (17, tenor saxophone), Shem Tov Ido (19, trombone), Kovesh Gil (24, drums), Primor Adi (17, electric guitar), Fitzer Tal (16, piano) and Deutscher Goni (16, bass guitar). Also coming are Ziv Greenberg (music director), Ferry Stefan (dance teacher and dancer), Malki Smadar (administrative manager) and Kashri Noam (technical manager). 

“Ofri, Ido Shem-Tov, Aviv and Noam were evacuated from their homes, and they are coming from all over the country to the rehearsals at the centre – sometimes, under rocket attacks!” said Chorin, who will join the band in the performance, on clarinet. 

“Some of the students have already appeared in Edmonton and Calgary,” he said. “I have performed in Edmonton, Calgary, Windsor and Hamilton, but this is my first time in Vancouver and I am very excited! Some of the students were in Vancouver on student exchanges with their schools in Israel.”

Of what it means for the Clore & Roll ensemble to play a Yom Ha’atzmaut concert in the diaspora, Chorin said, “It is a great pride and honour to represent the state of Israel in general, and the Upper Galilee in particular, in such a show, on the eve of Independence Day, in a challenging time like now.”

The ensemble will present a wide-ranging repertoire.

“We are going to play modern Israeli songs (Idan Raichel, Mizrachit [Israeli pop]), classic Israeli songs and also some songs in English,” said Chorin. “A very diverse and happy program.”

“Bringing the Clore ensemble serves as a reminder of the unbreakable bond we share across borders,” said Dafna Silberstein, associate director of Israel connections and partnerships at the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. “It is also an amazing opportunity for the ensemble of teens and young adults to take a break from what they have been through for the past six months. And, for us, it feels like it is exactly what we need this year: coming together as a community united for and with our brothers and sisters in Israel.”

Jewish Federation has supported the Clore Centre as part of the Coast-to-Coast Federations’ Collective and independently, “as the centre is in our partnership region of Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee Panhandle,” explained Silberstein.

“We have wanted to bring the Clore ensemble for awhile now, to showcase the impact our support has had on its students and have been waiting for the right opportunity,” she said, noting that it is “with mixed emotions” that Oct. 7 created that opportunity.

“This year, the commemoration of Israel’s 76th Independence Day holds an even deeper meaning and significance,” said Silberstein. “It is an opportunity to stand together in solidarity and celebrate our shared values. Considering the spike in antisemitism, the need for community unity has become more important than ever.”

For tickets ($18) to the May 13, 7:30 p.m., concert at Congregation Beth Israel, as well as information about other Israel@76 activities, visit jewishvancouver.com/israelhere.