Yoram Issachar, who owns a contracting company in Jerusalem with his father and two brothers, has carried a Baretta 765 for the past 25 years. He works in Jewish communities on land Israel acquired in the West Bank, employing 15-30 Palestinian laborers, and carries the gun for his protection. Now, after the attack in Jerusalem that killed four worshippers and a police officer, he plans to upgrade to a larger gun. Immediately after that attack, he said, he took out his gun and cleaned it to make sure it was ready for use.
“I want to buy a Glock because each bullet is larger, and it shoots faster,” he said. “It will give me more security if I need it.”
He’s only used the gun once. In 1992, several young Palestinians threw stones at his car as he drove through the Palestinian town of El-Bireh, damaging his car although he was not hurt. Angry, he jumped out of the car and pursued them, opening fire at their legs, although he did not hit them.
In the wake of a series of attacks that have left 11 Israelis dead over the past weeks, Israelis are lining up to get a gun licence. Those who already have licences are carrying their guns with them more often. The Israeli government has asked everyone who has a gun to carry them in public, to help reinforce Israel’s security situation, and some who would leave their guns at work, such as security guards, are urged to bring them home.
“People are nervous after recent events, and anyone who has a gun should carry it around rather than leave it at home,” Yakov Amit, the director of the gun licensing department for the Ministry of Public Security, told the Media Line. “We want as many people as possible to be able to respond to an attack.”
Amit said there are about 300,000 guns held legally in Israel – half of them by individuals such as Issachar who carry them for self-protection, and the other half by security guards at public institutions. Israelis must demonstrate a need for the gun, and pass a psychological test as well as a shooting test before they receive a licence. The licence must be renewed every three years.
In the past decade, there have been a series of incidents in which people have been killed by guns at home, either in accidents or intentionally. At least 16 women have been killed by their partners using licensed guns, since 2002, according to women’s groups. Yet, Israelis who carry guns say they make them feel safer.
“When I moved to Israel in 1976 from Memphis, Tenn., I brought two hand guns with me,” said Alon Kirschner, a physiologist. “In Tennessee, if you don’t have a gun by the time you’re 8, you’re considered a sissy.”
Vancouver Israeli Tech Club Fall Meetup keynote speaker Daniel Friedmann of communications company MDA, left, with presenters Yaron Bazaz, co-founder of the app Downtown and a VIT organizer, centre, and Meir Deutsch of IKOMED. (photo by Baila Lazarus)
If you’ve ever tried to start a business, you’ll know how crucial it is to have the proper support around you. This includes finding the right management and staff, marketing and growth strategists and, not least, connections with investors. Add to that the challenge of being an immigrant, and the hurdles seem impassable.
It was out of this need to support startups that Yaron Bazaz, Eran Elizur and Ronen Tanne launched the Vancouver Israeli Tech Club and its affiliate Meetup group one year ago. Bazaz had seen in California the models of business “ecosystems” that support the tech community.
“They provided a stage for local entrepreneurs to present their companies and expose themselves to potential investors, employees, media, etc.,” said Bazaz. “We didn’t have this in Vancouver. This type of ecosystem is 80 percent of the success. When you start a company, what you need is the first co-founder, the first investor, employees that are not necessarily looking for the hefty salary but have the entrepreneurial spirit to see your vision and are willing to participate.”
Within the Vancouver Jewish community, interest in VIT has garnered the group almost 350 members, as well as sponsorship from the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and the tech hub Discovery Parks.
So far, VIT has held four networking events. At its most recent, which took place in November, Bazaz presented his app – in Beta testing – called Downtown. It allows crowd-sourced data to let users know where the highest concentration of hip, good-looking young adults can be found in the downtown club scene at any given time.
Meir Deutsch, chief executive officer of IKOMED, also presented. His medical device company aims to reduce “the exposure to ionizing radiation during minimally invasive medical procedures.”
Events also include keynote speakers who are local businessmen connected to the Israeli community. At the November event, Daniel Friedmann, president and CEO of global communications company MDA, presented on MDA’s work in satellite technology and spoke about Israel’s contributions to unmanned vehicles, especially in how information-gathering has changed.
“During the Cold War, everyone knew where to look [for enemies],” he told the audience of about 200. “Today, we don’t know where the bad guys are. We don’t know where to look.”
There are also too many factors to look at, he said, and it’s impossible for any one organization to have the human-power to keep tabs. So reconnaissance crafts, such as satellites and drones, as well as the software, have to be more technically adept at recording even subtle changes on the ground.
“If the software shows us where some cars have been moved, we can detect bombs that were placed on the road overnight,” explained Friedmann.
Entrepreneur Shahar Ben Halevi has attended all of VIT’s events.
“You learn about other entrepreneurs’ journeys and lessons they have learned on their path,” he said. “You can always learn more about life, about business, about setting goals and the right mind set to get them.”
Ben Halevi, who came to Vancouver nine years ago, is the founder of Cornfield Media, which has media projects in different stages of development.
“One is an online streaming platform for children’s stories on multilingual channels,” he said. “The service allows parents and children to read the same stories in different languages.” Ben Halevi has a book on Amazon and had a short in this year’s Vancouver Jewish Film Festival.
He said he’s taken away lessons from VIT on team building, courage, being visionary and how to turn your vision into reality. “How to be happy with what you achieved and not depressed about the things that you haven’t done yet.”
Baila Lazarusis a freelance writer, painter and photographer. Her work can be seen at orchiddesigns.net.
Approximately 50 students from Richmond Jewish Day School and Az-Zahraa Islamic Academy distributed 1,000 brown bag lunches to the homeless and needy. (photo from Richmond Jewish Day School)
They huddled together to warm up on a frosty November morning, but the 50 Grade 6 and 7 students from Richmond Jewish Day School and Az-Zahraa Islamic Academy didn’t let the cold dampen their spirits. Their goal was to hand out warm clothing, blankets and 1,000 brown bag lunches to the homeless and destitute in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. With a long line of eager recipients, their effort was completed in less than an hour.
The food, sponsored by Save-On Foods Ironwood location in Richmond, included sandwiches made a day earlier by volunteers, juice boxes and yogurt. Store manager George Clarke said he was glad to supply the $4,000 worth of food. “This started last year when the schools approached us and wanted to bring random acts of kindness to the Downtown Eastside,” he said. “We’re happy to participate and I’m really pleased to see the project continue this year.”
“I learned there are a number of homeless people here,” said Askari Mehdi, a Grade 7 student at Az-Zahraa. “We’re just a small band of kids, but it’s nice to know we can make a difference.”
With the principals of both schools and members of the RCMP closely watching the interactions, the students actively interacted and distributed the food and clothing. “If our students were nervous, it melted away with the first kind word,” said Abba Brodt, principal at RJDS. “They were so excited to do a mitzvah…. We’re excited that they had the opportunity to work with their friends at Az-Zahraa again and bring more warmth and kindness into the world. You can’t teach this type of educational experience. You have to live it.”
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond, B.C. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net. This article was originally published by the Richmond Review.
Hand in Hand was started in 1997, with the goal of creating integrated schools wherein both Arab and Jewish kids could study together in a bilingual (Hebrew and Arabic) framework within the public school system. (photo from Hand in Hand)
Starting with just two classes in 1998 – a kindergarten and a Grade 1 class – Hand in Hand now has five schools throughout Israel, serving 1,200 students.
Hand in Hand is the brainchild of Lee Gordon and Amin Kalaf. Gordon grew up in Portland, Ore., before making aliyah; he lived in Israel for 20 years, returning to the United States a few years ago. Kalaf grew up in a small village near Afula and now lives in Jerusalem. They founded Hand in Hand in 1997, with the goal of creating integrated schools wherein both Arab and Jewish kids could study together in a bilingual (Hebrew and Arabic) framework within the public school system. The concept involves both improving the quality of education and being a model for partnership between Jewish and Arab citizens, as well as the public and private sectors.
“We have mayors in the various towns supporting our projects and giving us buildings to use and some funding … so, it’s a public-private partnership,” said Gordon. “There is public funding from Israel and also a lot of private philanthropic support [from] around the world,” he said, referring to the United States, Canada, Europe and, of course, Israel. When Gordon moved back to the United States, he created (and heads) American Friends of Hand in Hand, a nonprofit fundraising organization.
Kalaf’s oldest child graduated from Hand in Hand’s first class of Grade 12 graduates. “We’ve had four high school graduating classes now at our only high school in Jerusalem,” said Gordon. “That’s our biggest school, with 600 students from pre-k to 12th grade.”
Two years ago, Hand in Hand added another component to the organization. “We’ve been doing a community initiative, which we call Shared Communities, in which we’re working to build relationships between Jewish and Arab adults, not just kids,” said Gordon.
Today, there is a whole range of programs for adults, including language classes, holiday celebrations, discussion groups and a men’s basketball team. “We probably have about 3,000 adults in programs around each of our schools,” said Gordon. “Sometimes, the programs are at the schools in the evenings, or in other places.
“They really stood out this past summer when there was all the violence – the kidnappings, the revenge murder of the Palestinian teen, and the two-month-long war in Gaza.”
Shared Communities was active throughout Operation Protective Edge. Despite the tensions and differing views, participants found common ground. One example of this was the program organizing Jerusalem adults and kids going on evening walks together, wearing T-shirts that read, “We refuse to be enemies.”
“They weren’t really protests, but they were saying not everything about Jews and Arabs is about war and conflict,” said Gordon. “Here, we are working together in our school … and, in a little town, people came out onto the side of the roads with signs that read, ‘We are neighbors in peace,’ which is more than just saying, ‘We are peaceful neighbors.’”
Today, there is a whole range of programs for adults, including language classes, holiday celebrations, discussion groups and a men’s basketball team. (photo from Hand in Hand)
At the schools, Hand in Hand works toward keeping the numbers balanced between Arabs and Jews, and between boys and girls.
“These are the main prerequisites,” said Gordon. “Earlier on, we had more Arabs than Jews. Now, we have waiting lists on both sides, though there’s a larger waiting list on the Arab side.
“Most importantly, they are growing fast. For example, in the new school in Tel Aviv (which is a preschool and kindergarten for now), last year, we had one class of 30 students. This year, we have three classes with 100 students in total. And, there was enough interest that we could’ve had 150 kids if we’d have had enough room.”
Gordon added, “There are great teachers and a wonderful curriculum. It looks at multiculturalism, backgrounds and narratives of different religions, because we have Christians, Muslims, Arabs and Jews…. In the younger grades, they have two full-time teachers in each class, one Arab and one Jewish.”
Gordon spoke of the schools’ broad reach.
“You can have an Arab friend the same way you can have a Jewish friend,” he said. “It can help you in the workplace, academia or your social life, and I think that’s a direct impact of Hand in Hand…. From the very beginning, when a Jewish child was invited to an Arab’s home for a birthday party, this involved the parents taking that child in and they’d meet each other. So, there are a lot of friendships happening beyond the walls of the schools … and sometimes the parents’ friendships were long-lasting, even if the children changed friends…. And the families aren’t just the parents. They are uncles, aunts, sister, brothers, cousins…. People hear about it and are impacted.
“We want to be visible because we want the rest of Israel to know about this and to be an example, as an alternative. Things can be different. Jews and Arabs can get along.”
Canadians can make a tax-deductible donation to Hand in Hand via the Jerusalem Foundation of Canada, with which it has a partnership.
“Our goal is to bring this model to as many places as there is interest and to work with populations to help them build a model school in the community,” said Gordon.
Ofer Biton with a therapy dog. (photo from Ofer Biton)
For years, therapists and other professionals have used animals to break down barriers and achieve breakthroughs in a multitude of situations. Recently, a pair of educators from Israel found a way to combine two of their passions – dogs and helping children with mental challenges.
Ofer Biton and Liat Bartov succeeded in getting recognition for the practice of canine therapy, and have since been teaching the how-to’s at universities across Israel.
Biton and Bartov met 20 years ago while working in special education. Some 10 years ago, “We started to think about dog training and teenagers [at risk],” said Bartov. “We started doing courses for teenagers in a youth group, and we had a lot of people wanting us in other schools in Jerusalem.”
Bartov and Biton found it challenging to find others to take on some of the rapidly increasing workload, which led them to teaching, beginning with one course in Jerusalem and one at Bar-Ilan University. Two years ago, they moved their base of operations to the Broshim campus of Tel-Aviv University, offering a one-year course that teaches both dog training and therapy methodology.
Ofer Biton with a therapy dog. The dog is the tool for the therapist, facilitating the initial connection with the client. (photo from Ofer Biton)
“We really like to teach the students how to deal with dogs and special education kids,” said Bartov. “The students who come to learn this dog training love animals, and dogs in particular. They come because they had a dream, they remember when they were kids, when the dog was their best friend, and now they still want to do something with dogs.”
Bartov emphasized that students learn that it is not the dog that is the therapist. The dog is the tool for the therapist, facilitating the initial connection with the client.
“The kids enjoy working with the dogs,” she said. “They feel like someone is waiting for them and they want to take care of someone else, so it gives you a very good starting point. Then, you must do what you learn in the course – build on that connection and create a triangle of trust.”
Anyone can benefit from this kind of therapy, according to Bartov. “It could be a very young child and it could be a very old man. It depends if there is connection with animals and dogs, especially. And, if you have this connection, you can do [the therapy] with anyone.”
Contrasting canine therapy to equine (horse) therapy, she explained, “The difference is in the size of the animal and the connection to it. The dog is waiting for you, wants to connect with you. You can do lots of things with him and he can come to your place, the hospital or your school.”
While schools that specialize in working with young students with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were the initial focus for Bartov and Biton’s canine therapy, they are also doing some work with young offenders. As well, private therapists who have heard about the program are approaching Biton and Bartov for advice.
“Typically, people with the financial ability have started to use the service, because of the name of it,” said Bartov. “They like to show their kids that they’re not going to a ‘psychologist’ – that they’re taking them to a dog trainer or to play with dogs, then they move on to very long-term therapy.”
She added, “These are mainly private [clients] as well as special education schools. Regular education schools don’t have the funding to support it, so they’re not doing it yet.”
Overall, Bartov said canine therapy is currently “very trendy … and it’s been growing for the last five years. It begins with schools, and then people hear about it and are really interested. We can see it in how much work our students get. There are over 100 practising dog therapists in Israel, with over 50 students graduating every year.”
The university offers a summer and winter session course for dog therapy. The summer course has had waiting lists.
“My dream is that every school will use dog therapists,” said Bartov. “I hope we can do this and that people will understand the benefit of the school. Ideally, every place that has kids will have a small kennel with a few dogs, and the children can be with the dogs and can have this therapy.”
Bartov and Biton hope to one day bring government-supported canine therapy to public schools. Currently, no Israeli insurance provider covers the costs associated with canine therapy, although Bartov and Biton have begun working with insurance companies to one day make that part of the coverage options.
The Hon. Lynne Yelich, Canada’s minister of state (foreign affairs and consular), right, with two fellow panelists, moderator Melissa Eddy, New York Times correspondent in Berlin, and Miroslav Lajcák, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign and European affairs, Slovak Republic. (photo from Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada)
On Nov. 13, the Hon. Lynne Yelich, Canada’s minister of state (foreign affairs and consular), concluded her participation at the High-Level Commemorative Event and Civil Society Forum on the 10th Anniversary of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE’s) Berlin Conference on Antisemitism.
The Berlin Declaration was proclaimed 10 years ago; it spelled out a series of commitments for OSCE member states, including Canada. Canada is deeply engaged in the fight against antisemitism, both at home and abroad, and remains committed to enhancing Holocaust education, remembrance and research.
Yelich participated in a panel that reviewed efforts over the past 10 years in addressing antisemitism throughout the OSCE. The panel analyzed ways that member states can counter contemporary antisemitism and discussed recommendations put forward by civil society groups.
Yelich reiterated that Canada encourages all states to take a similar, zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism. “As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Berlin Declaration on antisemitism, we must acknowledge that antisemitism continues to be a sad reality,” she said.
The complete address delivered by Yelich at the conference, as it was written, follows:
It is both a pleasure and a privilege to represent Canada at this important event in Berlin today and to reflect upon what has been achieved in fighting antisemitism throughout the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe over the past 10 years.
As a matter of priority and principle, Canada supports efforts to combat all forms of racism and discrimination. However, the Government of Canada understands that hatred can manifest itself in specific ways requiring specific responses.
We recognize that antisemitism constitutes a unique form of racism, whose extreme manifestations have led to some of the darkest hours in the history of mankind. As Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said, antisemitism is “a pernicious evil that must be exposed, confronted and repudiated whenever and wherever it appears, an evil so profound that it is ultimately a threat to us all.”
As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Berlin Declaration on antisemitism, we must acknowledge that antisemitism continues to be a sad reality.
Our Nationally Standardized Data Collection Strategy on Hate-Motivated Crime indicates that Jews are the most likely religious group to be targeted for hate crimes, even though Jews constitute less than one percent of the Canadian population.
Too often, not enough is done to ensure our societies, and especially our younger generations, remember the lessons of the Holocaust.
On April 23, 2013, the Government of Canada announced that a site had been selected in our capital city of Ottawa to build Canada’s National Holocaust Monument. This monument, to be inaugurated in fall 2015, will encourage people to reflect upon the events of the Holocaust, remember the victims and pay tribute to the survivors. It will also encourage people to reflect on the responsibilities each of us has to protect human rights and dignity.
In the same spirit of education, reflection and prevention, the recently opened Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Man., houses a permanent exhibition devoted to the Holocaust.
With respect to law enforcement and protection, the Canadian government continues to develop its systems for collecting data on hate crime. Combined with law enforcement training, these systems allow the authorities to better address violence against groups at risk, including the Jewish community.
In this context, to help protect communities against hate-motivated crimes, we created a program called Communities at Risk: Security Infrastructure Program. Renewed in February 2013, this program allows not-for-profit organizations to apply for funding to allay the costs of security infrastructure improvements for places of worship and community centres vulnerable to hate-motivated crime.
Canada is also at the forefront of the fight against antisemitism on the international stage.
In November 2010, Canada hosted the second Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism Conference. Parliamentarians from around the world came together to develop mechanisms to combat antisemitism and address antisemitic propaganda in the media and on the Internet.
By unanimous consent, parliamentarians issued the Ottawa Protocol on Combating Antisemitism, which seeks commitments from governments to collect and report data on hate crimes, including antisemitism; to monitor and share best practices; to propose a common working definition of antisemitism; and to engage further with the United Nations on this issue.
Through our Office of Religious Freedom, established within Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada and headed by Andrew Bennett, Canada works internationally to combat antisemitism and other forms of intolerance on the basis of religion or belief, including by supporting projects implemented by the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
The Government of Canada also recognizes the scourge of the “new” antisemitism. This sometimes-violent movement, which often portrays itself as anti-Zionism, rejects the right of the Jewish people to a homeland. We made our stand clear when Canada – the first country to do so – decided to withdraw from the United Nations Durban Review Conference because of profound concerns about the manifestations of antisemitism that had marred the first Durban Conference, as well as the participation of such overtly antisemitic regimes as Iran in the planning of the review conference.
As we collectively seek ways to improve our response to antisemitism, Canada encourages all states to take a similar, zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism. This can include supporting the principles of the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust, the London Declaration on Combating Antisemitism and the Ottawa Protocol; further developing data collection systems on hate crimes; and fully implementing the provisions of the 2004 OSCE Berlin Declaration on antisemitism.
Fifty-four cyclists from Toronto, Vancouver, New Jersey and New York City participated in Beit Halochem Canada, Aid to Disabled Veterans of Israel’s annual Courage in Motion bike ride in Israel recently. The organization is devoted to helping the more than 50,000 Israeli disabled veterans and victims of terrorism rehabilitate. For five days, the group cycled from Jerusalem to Eilat, raising funds to support ongoing cycling programs and purchase equipment for rehabilitative sports and cultural centres in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem, Nahariya and Beersheva. More than 50 members of the Israeli centres joined them, riding hand bikes and tandems, inspiring participants with their strength, determination and positive outlook.
Left to right are Judith Cohen, Rachel Shanken, Alina Spaulding, Ezra Shanken and Diane Switzer. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver)
Close to 500 women, inspired and united by one cause – strengthening community through tzedakah – gathered at Congregation Beth Israel on the evening of Sunday, Nov. 2, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Choices.
Choices co-chair Melanie Samuels, left, women’s philanthropy chair Judith Cohen, centre, and Choices co-chair Lisa Pullan. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver)
To mark the anniversary, this year’s event featured Alina Spaulding, who was the inaugural Choices keynote speaker. Spaulding emigrated from Russia to the United States in 1979 with the help of many Jewish agencies funded, in part, by Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. Ten years since sharing her inspirational story here, Spaulding’s continued involvement in humanitarian causes in the United States and overseas provides proof of how the support of those in need can have a profound impact on lives and communities around the world.
Event sponsors – Manulife Financial, Browns, Inflection Alternative Assets, Marni Tritt and Shannon Ezekiel Real Estate Outside the Box, Max Mara and Scotiabank – contributed to the evening’s success.
To take part in Federation’s annual campaign, which provides the financial resources to support many programs and services in the community, visit jewishvancouver.com.
