News – Page 293

Federation sustains success

As the 2014 Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver annual campaign draws closer to a record $8 million mark, preparations are well underway to build on that success in 2015.

Cindy Behrmann, campaign director since 2012 and one of the primary drivers behind this year’s campaign will be heading off to a well-deserved retirement. Over the past few months, Federation was hard at work reviewing the financial resource development (FRD) department in advance of Behrmann’s departure at the end of December and has announced the following changes.

photo - Michelle Pullan — Michelle Pullan *(photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver)*

Michelle Pullan, Federation’s women’s philanthropy director since 2011, will assume the role of campaign director. Pullan has considerable experience in philanthropy and fund development, having enjoyed success as a fundraising manager at Ballet BC and director of development at Vancouver Heritage Foundation before joining Federation’s FRD team. She has taken on leadership and volunteer roles on behalf of Jewish schools in the community and has served on the boards of Camp Solomon Schechter and Camp Hatikvah.

Campaign coordinators Eva Bach and Anna Vander Munnik have been promoted to the role of campaign managers. Vander Munnik, with Federation since 2011, will focus her effort on managing the men’s philanthropy division, while Bach, who joined Federation in 2013, will manage the women’s philanthropy portfolio. Also returning in January from maternity leave will be director, marketing and communications, Becky Saegert.

Led by associate executive director Marcie Flom, the FRD team is well positioned to capitalize on and sustain the success enjoyed in 2014.

First Lamplighter Award

Young philanthropist Yosef Nider receives recognition. (photo from Naomi Nelson Photography)

On Sunday, Dec. 21, the Centre for Judaism in Surrey/White Rock held its annual menorah lighting at Semiahmoo Centre, and awarded its inaugural Young Lamplighter Award to Yosef Nider, pictured here. The young violinist, a student at Vancouver Hebrew Academy, received the award for raising more than $10,000 for cancer research. Mayors Wayne Baldwin and Linda Hepner presented the award.

The lighting was attended by local city councilors and Jewish community members, all welcomed by the centre’s Rabbi Falik and Simie Schtroks.

To nominate for next year’s award a youth between ages 5-18 who is illuminating his or her part of the world by promoting goodness and kindness, email c4j@shaw with Lamplighter Award in the subject line. Nominations will be accepted through September 2015.

Aliyah: a 10-year high

According to initial end-of-year figures released by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, aliyah hit a 10-year high in 2014, with the arrival of some 26,500 new immigrants. This marks a 32 percent increase over 2013.

For the first time, France tops the list of countries of origin for immigrants to Israel, with nearly 7,000 new immigrants in 2014, double the 3,400 who came the year before.

Some 5,840 new immigrants came from Ukraine, compared to some 2,020 in 2013. This dramatic 190 percent increase is due primarily to the ongoing instability in the eastern part of the country.

Aliyah from western Europe is up 88 percent, with the arrival of some 8,640 immigrants. Some 620 came to Israel from the United Kingdom, a 20 percent increase over 2013. The number from Italy doubled to some 340. Aliyah from Belgium saw a modest decrease, to 240. German aliyah remained stable, at approximately 120.

Aliyah from the former Soviet Union was up 50 percent, with the arrival of some 11,430 immigrants, with 4,830 from Russia, Belarus and the Baltic states, 300 from the Caucasus and 390 from Central Asia.

Aliyah from Latin America remained stable, with the arrival of some 1,070 immigrants. Aliyah from Brazil saw a 45 percent increase, with 300 immigrants, and approximately 297 came from Argentina, 76 from Mexico, 70 from Venezuela, 62 from Colombia, 58 from Uruguay and 52 from Chile.

Aliyah from North America increased modestly, with the arrival of some 3,870 immigrants compared to 3,600 in 2013. Approximately 3,470 immigrants came from the United States and 400 immigrants came from Canada, compared to 384 the year before.

Eastern Europe saw 232 people make aliyah, compared to approximately 270 in 2013. Approximately 126 came from Hungary, 32 from Poland, 24 from Romania and 24 from Bulgaria.

Some 190 immigrants came to Israel from South Africa, roughly the same as 2013, while 200 came from Australia and New Zealand, a slight decrease from the year before.

More than half of the immigrants who came to Israel in 2014 were under the age of 35. The eldest immigrant was born in 1910 and made aliyah from France at the age of 104. The youngest came from the United States and was only several weeks old. Tel Aviv led the chart of cities receiving new immigrants, with approximately 3,000 new Tel Avivians. The coastal city of Netanya came second and Jerusalem came in third.

Oil spill heightens urgency

A ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the new Regional Collaboration Centre for Research and Development and Renewable Energy near Eilat. (photo from Jewish National Fund via jns.org)

The worst oil spill in Israel’s history was the unplanned backdrop for a recent international conference on green energy held in Eilat, the country’s southernmost city. A busy port and popular resort city located at the northern tip of the Red Sea, Eilat is at the epicentre of the Jewish state’s renewable energy industry.

The Eilat-Eilot Green Energy Sixth International Conference and Exhibition, held Dec. 7-9, was the culmination of six events that comprised Israel Energy Week and offered participants from around the globe a concentrated encounter with the emerging world of alternative energy in Israel. The conference focused on challenges facing the renewable energy industry, including storage and supply of electricity, development of methods to manage electricity flow and financing to advance projects.

It also focused on the key role renewable energy plays in the southern Arava, a stretch of Negev Desert from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba in which Eilat and the Hevel Eilot Regional Council are located. This arid, sun-drenched area is Israel’s main locale for sustainable development and functions as an international showcase for Israeli innovation in the field of green energy.

“Renewable energy, with an emphasis on solar, is a major focus of our municipal activity and plays a key role in the region as a whole,” Meir Yitzhak Halevi, the mayor of Eilat, told conference attendees. “The city of Eilat and the Hevel Eilot Regional Council, which together account for 13 percent of Israel’s land area but less than one percent of the country’s population, have recognized the potential offered by the sunlight and open space that exist here in such abundance, and are concentrating on renewable energy as a catalyst for regional growth.”

According to Udi Gat, head of the Hevel Eilot Regional Council, the area has already reached nearly 60 percent daytime energy independence and in eight months will generate nearly 100 percent of the energy consumed each day in the southern Arava. By 2020, the municipality and regional council anticipate that the area will be completely energy-independent and free of fossil fuel and carbon emissions.

“We want to generate more electricity, even beyond the needs of Eilat and the regional council. We want to help the country produce electricity from an inexpensive source – the sun – and to be Israel’s electricity storehouse or ‘bank,’” Gat said.

The importance of achieving energy independence was conveyed to the conference in a dramatic way when, four days prior to the start of the gathering, an oil pipeline ruptured during maintenance work at a construction site about 12 miles north of Eilat. Five million litres of crude oil spilled out and fouled an estimated 250 acres of scenic desert, including a nature reserve. Delicate coral reefs beyond the nearby shoreline were also threatened.

סניף ונקובר של קק”ל מברך את פרושאור

תעלומה סביב הלוטו הכרטיס

UNRWA needs reform

Bassem Eid, a Palestinian human rights activist, has launched a campaign against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), tasked with providing “assistance and protection” for five million Palestinian refugees around the world. In Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, UNRWA provides food, other aid and runs schools.

Eid said a recent study by well-known Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki shows that 70 percent of Palestinian refugees are seeking financial compensation rather than the “right of return” to their former homes in what is today Israel. He said that UNRWA, however, has an interest in perpetuating the right of return, in part, to justify its large budgets. These assertions are part of Eid’s blistering attack on UNRWA, which operates with a $1.2 billion budget from donor countries, including the United States.

“Palestinians in refugee camps are suffering, while UNRWA is gaining power and money,” Eid, who grew up in the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem, told a small group of journalists. “In Gaza, you hear more and more voices saying that UNRWA is responsible for delaying the reconstruction of Gaza” after the heavy fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza last summer.

In an article in the Jerusalem Post earlier this month, Eid called for a five-point program to reform UNRWA including a call for an audit of all funds allocated to UNRWA and a demand that the organization dismiss employees affiliated with Hamas, which controls Gaza.

“Hamas has never denied that the majority of UNRWA employees are affiliated with Hamas and coordinate with the organization,” Eid said.

During the past summer’s fighting in Gaza, Israel accused UNRWA of allowing Hamas to use its schools to fire rockets at southern Israel, a charge UNRWA denied. Later, UNRWA found rockets in two empty schools and issued a strong condemnation.

Gold Plate celebration

This year’s Gold Plate Dinner marks 40 years that Lubavitch B.C., led by Rabbi Yitzchak Wineberg, third from the right, has been in Vancouver. (photos from facebook.com/LubavitchBC)

Chabad Lubavitch BC held its 39th Annual Gold Plate Dinner, paying tribute to the Rebbe, his vision and 40 years in British Columbia on Dec. 2, at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue. Guests enjoyed a reception, followed by a five-course meal, during which several speakers shared how Chabad Lubavitch has impacted their lives. Throughout the evening, several prizes were raffled, including hockey tickets, vacation packages, 40-year-old scotch and the grand prize of a 2014 BMW i3. The evening concluded with an entertaining performance by comedian Marc Schiff.

For more photos of the event, visit facebook.com/LubavitchBC; for a video, youtube.com/watch?v=gzWVr9iVY-g.

עמר ארבל – היוצאות דופן והחדשניות

עמר ארבל (צלם: Gwenael Lewis)

עמר ארבל שנולד בירושלים שנחשב לאחד האדריכלים והמעצבים הבולטים כיום בקנדה

עמר (בלי וו) ארבל בן ה-37 נחשב כיום לאחד האדריכלים והמעצבים הבולטים ביותר בקנדה, ובזכות עבודותיו היוצאות דופן והחדשניות הוא רכש לעצמו גם שם עולמי. ארבל זכה ביותר מ-30 פרסים חשובים וזה הרבה בהתחשב בגילו הצעיר. עבודתיו מוצגות במוסדות האמנות החשובים ביותר בעולם בהם בניו יורק, לונדון ומילאנו. ויש לו לקוחות בכל קצוות העולם כולל מהמזרח הרחוק.

בעצם ארבל במשולב מעצב תעשייתי, מעצב תאורה ואדריכל בתים. ולמרבית ההפתעה הוא פועל בוונקובר, שנחשבת לעיר שרחוקה מעיצוב, קריאטיביות ואמנות. “ממש מדבר תרבותי כאן ואתה בוודאי נחשב לחלוץ”, אני אומר, בראשית הפגישה עימו בסטודיו הגדול שלו, שממוקם בקומה שישית במבנה תעשייתי צבוע לבן, ומלא חללים משונים שלא נגמרים. ארבל: “אכן זה מדבר ולאף אחד כאן לא אכפת מאמנות ועיצוב. למרות הכל זו עיר יפה ורגועה ומשפחתי כאן ולכן זה ביתי”.

ארבל עבר עם הוריו ואחותו מירושלים לוונקובר בגיל 13. המשפחה חילונית ולהורים נמאס מתהליך ההתחרדות והחיים במתח בישראל. הוא מסביר כי דווקא בוונקובר יכל היה ליצור דברים חדשים למרות שאין כאן קהילת יוצרים, ואין לקוחות שעבודותיו יעניינו אותם. “לא היה ממי ללמוד כאן, לא ללכת עם זרם מסויים או להתנגד לו. התחלתי מאפס וזה אילץ אותי לחפש חדשנות תוך ביצוע מחקר מקיף ללא השפעה מהסביבה. העסק שהקמנו כאן הוא הקהילה היוצרת שלנו ואחד מפרה את השני”.

לאחר שסיים אדריכלות באוניברסיטת ווטרלו ורכש ניסיון מעשי בברצלונה, חזר לוונקובר ועבד כשכיר בשני משרדי ארדריכלים, ב-2005 פתח בקריירה עצמאית. אחד מסיפורי ההצלחה הראשונים שלו הוא כיסא מיוחד שעיצב. ארבל טוען שהפרוייקט נכשל אך תלוי מי שואלים. הוא יצר רק 20 כיסאות כי נגמר לו הכסף והם נחטפו על ידי אספנים שונים. שני כיסאות מוצגים קבוע במוזיאון אטצ’נום בשיקגו ובגלריה לאמנות של ונקובר. ארבל: “עוד כשכיר בשעות הפנאי התחלתי להשתעשע בניסיונות בחומרים שונים בהם ניפוח זכוכית”. הוא מראה לי יצירות שנולדו מהנסיונות שלו, מחזיק בגופי תאורה משונים ויפים ומלטף אותם כמו ילד שעבר ממשחקי לוגו, למשחקי יצירה ועיצוב, תוך שהוא מקבל השראה מהחומרים עימם הוא עובד. כך החל המסע הארוך והמעניין שלו לעיצוב גופי תאורה חדשניים. ב-2005 נולדה החברה לעיצוב ‘בוצ’י’ בה הוא שותף עם היזם רנדי בישוף’, שאחראי על הצד הפיננסי, שהביאה לעיצובי התאורה, הרהיטים ומוצרים נוספים של ארבל – הכרה בינלאומית והצלחה מסחרית. “אצלנו התהליך מתחיל מהאיכויות הפנימות של החומרים ולא מהרעיון. קודם כל אנו מבצעים ניסיונות כימיים ומכניים במוצרים שכמחציתם אגב נכשלים. ולאחר מכן מגיע שלב העיצוב והפיסול, ובסוף היישום הטכנולוגי. כך שאנו שולטים בכל התהליך מתחילתו ועד סופו. כמעט את כל המכונות הייצור בנינו בעצמנו. וזאת בניגוד למעצבים אחרים שמשאירים את היצור לגופים אחרים”. בוצ’י שמוצריה נחשבים לאיכותיים ויקרים נמכרים בכל העולם. בחברה מועסקים כ-40 עובדים ויש לה סניפים בלונדון וברלין.

ארבל שהושפע מאוד מהבאוהאוס הגרמני יודע שבתל אביב יש הרבה בתים בסגנון זה. במקביל לעבודתו בבוצ’י הוא מעצב בתים, ולדבריו שני התחומים דווקא משתלבים זה בזה ותורמים זה לזה. הפרסים לא מעניינים אותו ולעומתם חשובים לו ההישגים. בהם: מייצג תאורה מרשים בגובה 30 מטר, שכולל סבך של עשרות חוטים ומנורות צבעוניות, שהוצב באולם הכניסה למוזיאון וקיטוריה ואלברט בלונדון. מייצג תאורה שנראה חללי ומורכב מסט מנורות בשלל צבעים וגדלים שמוקם בכניסה למרכז לעיצוב לומינייאר בשיקגו (ארבל נתבקש גם לקיים הרצאה בשיקגו). ובית יחודי בצורת משולש שבנוי על 100 קורות ענקיות מעץ, שעיצב לא הרחק מכאן – בעיר סרי, וזיכה אותו ‘בפרס רון תום להישגי תכנון מוקדמים’. ארבל עיצב גם את המדליות לאולימפיאדת החורף ונקובר 2010.

לסיום אני שואל מתי ביקר בישראל והאם ירצה לעבוד בה?. ארבל: “לפני כשש שנים ביקרתי בארץ. ישראל מאוד מעניינית מבחינת עיצוב, אדריכלות וקריאטיביות. ובצלאל נחשב למוסד ברמה גבוהה מאוד. אולי יום אחד אעצב בארץ בית בגלל הרגשה סנטימנטלית שלי ולא דווקא מהבחינה מקצועית”.

Campaign nears $8m

Harvey Dales, 2014 Federation annual campaign general chair, speaks at a Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver donor event. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver)

As he tallied up the fundraising dollars earlier this month for this year’s Federation annual campaign, Harvey Dales noted with satisfaction that almost $7 million had been pledged in Vancouver since the campaign began in September. With a month to go until it wraps up in January, he’s aspiring to reach the $8 million mark.

“Our campaign had been relatively stagnant for the past few years, with only slight increases,” he reflected. “This year, which is my last year as campaign chair, I felt it was important to reach the $8 million mark because there are just so many needs.”

Dales and his team established a matching fund, where six donors promised a total of $125,000 in matching funds; that meant every unrestricted dollar of increase to the campaign made by any other donor would be matched. Another matching campaign was established with a focus on 20-to-35-year-olds, this one a two-for-one match.

The two matching funds have been so successful that Federation found itself on the verge of running out of matching funds a few weeks ago. “We went out and raised further funds, another $30,000, to top up the fund and ensure we could continue with the matching,” Dales said. “We’re still seeking additional funds for the match fund, and I’m very confident it will bring us to our $8 million goal.”

For the first time in many years, each one of Federation’s divisions has seen an increase in the dollars pledged compared with gifts from the same donors last year. That includes major donors, men’s philanthropy, women’s philanthropy, community and young adults. “The gifts that have come in have been incredible,” he told the Independent. “One individual who hadn’t made a gift before pledged $750. Another newly wedded couple explained they’d really stretched their budget by giving us $360 last year, but this year they were giving us $540 because of the matching funds.”

“I believe it’s so important for the community to know how vital Federation is,” he continued. “It’s our social needs network for the community, whether it’s funding for social services, education, youth, outreach or seniors. Both here, overseas and in Israel, there are so many recipient agencies that rely on Federation for the bulk of their funding to provide desperately needed services.”

Vancouver’s community is extraordinary for how many individuals commit to volunteering and canvassing for the annual campaign, he added. “In campaigns in other cities, the canvassing is done by professionals, but here in Vancouver our community is just so involved.”

To contribute to this year’s campaign, visit jewishvancouver.com.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond, B.C. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.