News – Page 33

JI picks up four Rockowers

Israeli writer Gil Zohar (standing, seventh from the left) with other 2024 Rockower Award winners in Nashville, Tenn., last month. (photo by Bill Motchan)

At the annual conference of the American Jewish Press Association, which took place in Nashville, Tenn., June 2-4, Israeli freelance writer and tour guide Gil Zohar was there in person to collect his Rockower Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism. He won an honourable mention for the article “Identifying the victims,” published by the Jewish Independent Nov. 10, 2023. The Independent picked up four Rockowers this year, for work published in 2023.

Zohar’s article (jewishindependent.ca/identifying-the-victims) won in the Wild Card Category – Award for Excellence in Writing about the War in Israel: News and Feature Writing. It explains how staff at the Israel Defence Forces’ Shura base were working around the clock at the time to identify the remains of the 1,200 people murdered in Israel by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, a process made more grisly and difficult because of the extreme brutality of the attack.

Winning first place in the Wild Card Category for weekly and biweekly newspapers was “New era for world Jewry” by Chaim Goldberg, published by Intermountain Jewish News (Denver, Colo.). Taking second place was “A letter from Israel: It’s okay to start dreaming” by Chaim Steinmetz, published in the Jewish Journal of Greater LA (Los Angeles, Calif.).

The Jewish Independent won first place for weekly and biweekly newspapers in the category of Excellence in Single Commentary with Helen Mintz’s article “Opportunity for healing” (jewishindependent.ca/opportunity-for-healing). Originally presented as a d’var Torah at Or Shalom Synagogue, it was “intended as a beginning of a conversation about how we, as Canadian Jews, can heal our relationship with Ukrainians and Ukraine.” Of the article, the Rockower jury wrote: “A powerful reminder that there are many ways to view complex histories. The beautiful way the story is told is both intimately personal and ultimately universal.”

Taking second place in the Single Commentary category was “Wokeism and the Jews: A reckoning” by Monica Osborne (Jewish Journal of Greater LA), with “The inside story of how Palestinians took over the world” by Gary Wexler (also for the Jewish Journal of Greater LA) receiving an honourable mention.

Local musician, composer and bandleader Moshe Denburg earned the Jewish Independent second place for Excellence in Arts – Review/Criticism, weekly and biweekly newspapers, with his review “Erez’s new CD shows mastery” (jewishindependent.ca/erezs-new-cd-shows-mastery). The Rockower jury wrote: “Sounds like a great CD.”

Placing first Excellence in Arts – Review/Criticism was “Oppenheimer, and the lesson of brainy Jews” by Thane Rosenbaum (Jewish Journal of Greater LA) and Tabby Refael received an honourable mention for the article “For a deaf woman from Iran, freedom never sounded so good” (Jewish Journal of Greater LA).

Winnipeg freelance writer Joanne Seiff won the Independent its fourth award, placing second in the category of Excellence in Writing about Jewish Thought and Life. The JI submitted three of her articles for consideration: “Women’s rights evolve,” “Honouring others in death” and “A yearly reminder to return.” The first article (jewishindependent.ca/womens-rights-evolve) talks about parallels between modern events and talmudic discussions – in particular laws that limit women’s ability to control their own bodies. The second article (jewishindependent.ca/honouring-others-in-death) is about how Jewish tradition could inform the debate that ensued after the remains of four murdered Indigenous women were found in Winnipeg-area landfills, and the third piece (jewishindependent.ca/a-yearly-reminder-to-return) connects the renovation of Seiff’s home with the month of Elul and teshuvah, usually translated as repentance, but also meaning return. “Returning to our best selves might require us to listen, pay attention to our gut feelings, do some renovation,” she writes.

In summing up Seiff’s articles, a member of the Rockower jury commented: “I would love to live in Winnipeg, only to read Joanne Seiff regularly. She is an intelligent writer.”

First place in this category for weekly and biweekly newspapers went to “Ten measures of beauty, of fragility, of hope” by Tehilla Goldberg (Intermountain Jewish News) and Refael won another honourable mention, for the article “I’m an observant Jew, and I need Christmas music more than ever before.”

To read the writing of all the 2024 Rockower winners, visit ajpa.org.

Talkin’ about the JI

Pat Johnson and Cynthia Ramsay after their presentation about the Jewish Independent at Congregation Har El’s Seniors Lunch July 17. The pair were asked to participate by lunch organizers Tim Newman and Kala Solway. They each received a certificate of thanks and a thank-you gift from Noga Vieman, the synagogue’s programming and education director. (photo by Lorraine Katzin)

A picture is worth a thousand words

In the first few years of 1900, my paternal grandparents – who had been married since 1886 – came to a decision. Economic life in Pinsk was too challenging and a drastic lifestyle change was required. So, in 1905, my grandfather, Yehiel Rubachka, age 34, journeyed alone from Pinsk (then under control of czarist Russia) to find work in Toronto. He knew Yiddish and a bit of Russian, having served in the Russian army for three years. He left behind my 27-year-old grandmother, Liba, and their four young children, Bessie (born in 1899), David (1902), Minnie (1903) and Herschel (1905), in Pinsk Karlin. Today, Karlin might be called a suburb of Pinsk.

On the one hand, Pinsk, with its sizeable and well-organized Jewish population (according to Yad Vashem, 21,819 or 77.3% of the city’s population, in 1896) offered the comfort of the familiar. On the other hand, living conditions were not good. By the time my grandfather left Pinsk, he and my grandmother had buried five children. There were also political and social issues, such as the fact that, in czarist Russia, Jews by and large lived under restrictions: forbidden to settle or acquire land outside the cities and towns, legally limited in attendance at secondary school and higher schools, virtually barred from legal professions, denied the right to vote for municipal councilors, and excluded from serving in the navy or the guards. Not to mention the repercussions of the failed 1905 Russian revolution, and the deaths and damage done by periodic Cossack attacks.

It is not clear what my grandfather’s relocation ultimately meant. For all intents and purposes, entering Canada was fairly easy; he did not need a passport or a visa to enter the country. But did he go to Toronto to test the waters so to speak – perhaps Canada would turn out to be no better than eastern Europe? Or was his plan, from the start, to make enough money to bring over the rest of the family? Or was it all left open-ended? On the birth certificate of one of my aunts, his occupation in Canada was listed as a (humble) rag collector.

In any case, around 1906, my grandparents decided a family portrait was needed. (Since my Uncle Herschel still looks like an infant, this photo was probably produced earlier than the 1910 date my father held to.) The problem, of course, was that the family was based in two distant locations, Toronto and Pinsk. So how was such a picture taken?

photo - Deborah Rubin Fields' grandfather and family — A family living on separate continents in the early 1900s has a photo with everyone in it. *(photo from Deborah Rubin Fields)*

According to Rita Margolin, a Yad Vashem historian, glass plate negatives were in use from the 1850s through the 1920s. They were popular with both amateur and professional photographers. In these years before courier and other delivery services, it would have been tricky to safely send glass negatives, they might have shattered in mailing. This suggests that some other method was used for putting together the two photos that became the family portrait.

Margolin further elaborated that a Pinsk photographer named Rendall might have made the composite image, as he was active in Pinsk in 1910. She pointed out, however, that photographers generally displayed their name on the photos they took, and my family’s photo is lacking a signature both on the front and the back side. (It is probably not a good idea with my unskilled hands to search for a signature by separating this very old photo from the cardboard to which it is pasted.) The lack of signature might mean that the photo I have is a copy and not the original.

Early 20th-century photo studios preferred photomontage – the production of images by physically cutting and joining combined photos – to create, for instance, tall-tale postcards. Tall-tale postcards are also known as “exaggerations.” Examples of these kinds of postcards include hilarious old farming photos in which farmers are seen pushing a wheelbarrow or a wagon containing giant harvested onions or enormous potatoes.

According to my father, the late Sidney (also known by his Yiddish name, Sheya) Rubin, z’l, my grandfather was added to the picture. One photographer with whom I consulted agreed that this is a likely scenario, as normally the head of the family would be prominently featured in the front, rather than the back, row of a photo.

In my family’s photograph, my grandmother is standing, facing the camera, straight on and straight-faced. My Aunt Bessie is sitting on a wooden chair while my Aunt Minnie is sitting on what might be a tree stump. My Uncle Dave is sitting on a suitcase. The baby, my Uncle Herschel, dressed in some sort of baby’s gown, sits atop a stack of cases. My grandfather, with a somewhat wistful look on his face, is cleverly placed behind a trunk, with only his upper torso visible.

My grandfather’s family left Pinsk and joined him in Canada in 1911. Sadly, all the relatives who remained in Pinsk were killed in the Shoah. My father’s family settled at Toronto’s 13 Leonard Ave. Between 1880 and 1928, 70,000 Jews left Russian-held territory for Canada.

Four more children were born in Toronto. These included two more aunts, one uncle and my father. Rachel or Rae was born in 1911, Birdie (often called by her Yiddish name Faigel) was born in 1913, Harvey (often called Mo) was born in 1915 and my father was born in 1917. My father’s family, however, did not remain in Toronto. In 1920, they moved to the United States, settling in Chicago. Along the way, the family name was changed to Rubin. My grandfather’s first name was anglicized to Joseph and my grandmother’s first name was anglicized to Elizabeth (or Lizzie). My grandfather became a naturalized American citizen in 1953. By that time, he had been living in the United States for more than 30 years but, still, he signed his naturalization papers in Yiddish.

As a child, I remember visiting the street where my father had lived as a young child. Perhaps surprisingly, the missionaries still had a close-by storefront. According to reports, missionaries had been “working” in the area since the time my grandfather was living in Toronto. Although they apparently succeeded in converting very few Jews, it did not stop them from trying for years on end.

Photoshop and other digital photo editing tools are a great help to today’s photographers. In the early 1900s, of course, computers and such programs did not exist. Yet, in the early 1900s, photographers on two continents managed to make a composite image nonetheless.

Deborah Rubin Fields is an Israel-based features writer. She is also the author of Take a Peek Inside: A Child’s Guide to Radiology Exams, published in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

משמרות המהפכה של איראן ארגון טרור

ממשלת קנדה הכריזה על משמרות המהפכה של איראן כארגון טרור. זאת לאחר שבמשך שנים הממשלה של ג’סטין טרודו סירבה לקדם את המהלך למרות לחצים מצד הקהילה האיראנית במדינה

לאור זאת בנקים בקנדה יוכלו להקפיא נכסים השייכים לפעילי הארגון, והמשטרה המקומית יכולה להעמיד לדין אנשים שתומכים בארגון מבחינה כלכלית או פיזית

ההחלטה הנוכחית מגיעה אחרי שבמשך שנים חברי פרלמנט מהאופוזיציה הקנדית וחברי הקהילה האיראנית בקנדה דרשו להכיר במשמרות המהפכה כארגון טרור – אך עד כה, הממשלה של ג’סטין טרודו סירבה לעשות זאת. הלחצים לפעול נגד משמרות המהפכה התעצמו בינואר לפני ארבע שנים, אחרי שכוחות הארגון הפילו מטוס קנדי שטס מעל טהרן, כשבאירוע נהרגו מאה שבעים וחמישה נוסעים כולל שמונים וחמישה קנדיים

שר החוץ של ישראל, ישראל כ”ץ, בירך על ההחלטה ואמר שאיראן ביחד עם תשתיות הטרור שלה, חייבת להיות אחראית לפשעים ולזוועות שביצעה ולטרור שהיא מפיצה ברחבי המזרח התיכון וברחבי העולם. חייבים לעצור את איראן עכשיו לפני שיהיה מאוחר מדי

ועוד בנושא המזרח התיכון הבוער: ארגון סטודנטים פרו-פלסטיני הודיע שישיק מחנות קיץ לנוער בקנדה. בתוכנית: פעילות גופנית, דיונים פוליטיים, לימודי ערבית, ושיעורי היסטוריה מהפכניים. בתוכנייה של מחנה הקיץ מופיעים רעולי פנים עטופים בכאפייה ומנופפים במקלעים. ארגון סולידריות למען זכויות האדם הפלסטיניותיערוך מחנה קיץ לנוער באוניברסיטת מקגיל במונטריאול. יכללו בו אירועים של פעילות גופנית, לימודי ערבית, מלאכת יד תרבותית, דיונים פוליטיים ושיעורי היסטוריה המוגדרים מהפכניים

ארגון מצעד החיים הבינלאומי הפועל ממונטריאול, גינה בתוקף את מחנה הקיץ המתוכנן להתקיים בקמפוס האוניברסיטה. הארגון אמר שהוא מבוהל מההכרזה על הקמת המחנה, שבתוכנייה שלו מופיעים מחבלים רעולי פנים עטופים בכאפייה המנופפים במקלעים מהסוג שמשתמשים בו ארגוני הטרור חמאס, שיזם את המתקפה הרצחנית בשבעה באוקטובר, וחיזבאללה, שתוקף את צפון ישראל בימים אלה. עוד נמסר מהארגון כי פעילויות כאלה המכוונות לצעירים אינן מקובלות במוסד המוקדש לחילופי רעיונות חופשיים. יוזמה זו עלולה להכתים קשות את המוניטין של אוניברסיטת מקגיל, שהיא אחד מהמוסדות האקדמיים הוותיקים והיוקרתיים ביותר בקנדה, עם היסטוריה ארוכת שנים של מחקר ומלגות. הארגון הפציר באוניברסיטה לגנות את גילויי השנאה והאלימות המסוכנים הללו, ואף להסיר את המאהלים הבלתי חוקיים ברחבי הקמפוס. כמו כן, הארגון דורש להסיר מיד פוסטים מסיתים לאלימות נגד ישראלים ויהודים ברשתות החברתיות השונות

שמואל רוזנמן, יושב ראש מצעד החיים, ופיליס גרינברג היידמן, נשיאת הארגון, התייחסו למקרה ואמרו שחינוך לצעירים לעולם לא צריך לעודד שימוש באלימות. כאשר פעולות של סטודנטים, המקודמות על ידי מדיה חברתית, גורמות לניצולי שואה לחשוש מדריסת רגל בקמפוס וחשש לעתיד נכדיהם. זה ברור שגם האוניברסיטה וגם ארגוני מדיה חברתית איבדו את דרכם עכשיו. הגיע הזמן למצוא את הדרך חזרה

ניצולת השואה אנג’ל אורוש, תושבת מונטריאול, אמרה בעת אירוע מוזיאון השואה של העיר שמה שקורה היום במקגיל כל כך מפחיד אותה. היא נולדה באושוויץ-בירקנאו. והגיעה לקנדה באלף תשע מאות שבעים ושלוש כדי לברוח מהאנטישמיות. עכשיו הנכדים שלה סובלים. ירו לעבר בית הספר ובית הכנסת שלהם. זה פשוט בלתי נסבל. היא מבועתת מהסטודנטים האלה. היא הוסיפה כי מדובר במוסד אקדמי ברמה הגבוהה ביותר. זה בלתי נסבל שהנכדים שלה צריכים לעבור את מה שהיא ברחה בגללו מהונגריה. היא כל כך מתוסכלת וכועסת ולא מוצאת את המילים לבטא את הרגשות שלה כאשר הדמעות זולגות

Teachers file rights complaint

A screenshot of the Anti-Oppression Educators Collective’s resources page. The AOEC is a provincial specialist association of the BC Teachers’ Federation.

A group of BC teachers has filed a complaint against their union with the BC Human Rights Tribunal, alleging a culture of discrimination against Jews.

BC Teachers Against Antisemitism filed a complaint last week, after the BCTF rejected a proposal to create a provincial specialist association devoted to developing resources around antisemitism and Holocaust education.

The provincial government announced last year that Holocaust education would become mandatory in BC public schools for the first time in 2025. Provincial specialist associations within the BCTF develop and disseminate resources on areas of relevance, such as social studies, culinary arts and Aboriginal education. The proposal to create a PSA to develop the materials teachers will need when Holocaust education becomes a mandatory part of the Grade 10 social studies curriculum next year was rejected by the branch of the BCTF that vets the groups.

Paul Pulver, the lawyer representing the teachers, said this is only part of the complaint. He did not provide the text of the complaint to media, as he is adhering to the letter of the tribunal’s regulations and waiting for the quasi-judicial body to formally make the documents in the case public.

“There is a whole raft of allegations,” he said. “They involve the fact that pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel groups and members within the BCTF are able to, and encouraged to, state their position and lobby for their position and encourage change in support of their position, and those who do not agree with them are silenced and oppressed and discriminated against.”

The rejection of the PSA focused on antisemitism and Holocaust education is but one example, he said.

One PSA, called the Anti-Oppression Educators Collective (AOEC), with the imprimatur of the BCTF, is publishing and distributing and disseminating materials Pulver calls “quite anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, frankly anti-Jewish.”

“It publishes false accusations about occupation and genocide,” he said.

The TeachBC website, an official BCTF platform advertised as “your go-to site for free downloadable lesson plans, posters and classroom resources,” contains no materials about the Holocaust or about antisemitism, Pulver said, but includes “some really harsh anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, anti-Jewish materials,” including a poster that says “Zionists, f*** off.” After controversy around some of these items, the BCTF appeared to remove some of the AOEC’s materials from the website.

“As a teacher who isn’t interested in putting on a keffiyeh and lobbying for pro-Palestinian goals and objectives, or pro-Hamas goals and objectives as the case may be, you’re persona non grata, you’re a second-class citizen,” Pulver said. “And they are sick of it,” he said of his clients.

Rich Overgaard, director of BCTF’s communications and campaigns division, told the Independent, would not comment on the substance of the complaint.

“The Federation values the critical role of the Human Rights Tribunal in upholding the BC Human Rights Code and, in respect for this process, as well as any members that may be involved, will not comment before the tribunal has reviewed the matter,” he said in an email.

Pulver does not expect a speedy resolution, although the BCTF could resolve the case by entering discussions to find a solution.

“But, if that doesn’t happen, it’s just like any other human rights complaint,” he said. “It goes to the Human Rights Tribunal and information is exchanged and, ultimately, there’s a hearing and they make a decision.”

If the complaint goes to a hearing, the process could stretch late into the year or further.

“Unfortunately, the wheels of justice within a number of administrative bodies in the province grind slowly and the Human Rights Tribunal is no exception,” he said. “We are looking at months, plural.”

The teachers’ complaint is a tip of the iceberg, in one professional area, of what Jews in British Columbia and beyond are experiencing today, said Pulver.

“This is a microcosm of what’s going on in our daily life and in the daily work life of people who are Jewish or have pro-Israel or pro-Zionist views,” said the lawyer, who is a partner with Pulver Crawford Munroe LLP. “They are facing discrimination, they’re facing oppression, intimidation, they are being ostracized. In this case, they are being prevented from exercising democratic rights that, as union members, they ought to have and be able to exercise. They are in fear on a regular basis because they hold views or have origins that are not well-received in the current climate. I think anybody who cares about that sort of thing – which should be everybody – would look at this and say they deserve to be treated fairly, and they are not right now.”

Vigil marks nine months

The weekly rally at Vancouver Art Gallery marked nine months since the pogrom of Oct. 7. (photo by Anna-Mae Wiesenthal)

Selina Robinson, the former BC cabinet minister whose planned speech at Vancouver’s weekly rally for the hostages was canceled over security concerns earlier this year, was the surprise speaker Sunday at the vigil marking nine months since the pogrom of Oct. 7.

“I was out here nine months ago, representing government and the Jewish community … as we mourned together the slaughter of young people, the rape of women, the death of so many innocent people perpetrated by Hamas,” Robinson said. “I took it upon myself to make sure that we did right by the Jewish community and I took that honour with great reverence and commitment. I did so at the request of [then-premier] John Horgan and then I did it at the request of [current premier] David Eby and I did it diligently, as best I could. And we watched as a government what happens when hate goes unchecked. I never thought in my life, really, that I would see this level of hatred directed toward Jews.”

photo - Selina Robinson speaks at the July 7 vigil — Selina Robinson speaks at the July 7 vigil. *(photo by Anna-Mae Wiesenthal)*

She lauded fellow elected officials who stand with the Jewish community and said there should be unanimity.

“On this issue, we should not be divided,” said Robinson, a former minister of finance who was minister of postsecondary education when Eby, the premier, demanded her resignation after comments she made on a webinar calling pre-state Israel a “crappy piece of land.”

She credited Jewish organizations and allies for the work they are doing, but warned of a steep road ahead.

“We have a lot of work to do, my friends,” she said. “The antisemitism that has been unleashed is going to be hard to put back in the bottle.”

Congregation Beth Israel’s Rabbi Jonathan Infeld had harsh words for Robinson’s treatment at the hands of colleagues.

“Let’s tell the truth of why Selina was kicked out of cabinet,” Infeld said. “The reason is because Selina was the one representative of the Jewish people in cabinet. Selina was the one person in cabinet, in our government, willing to stand up not for some people’s human rights but for all of our human rights. Selina was kicked out of cabinet because she was a strong woman who stood for all that our province is supposed to stand for and she was kicked out of cabinet because she is a Jewish hero.”

BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad spoke, and was joined at the rally by fellow Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko and a number of Conservative candidates standing in October’s provincial election.

“I am proud to say that I stand here with you,” said Rustad. “I stand against terrorism. I stand against Hamas and what they have done.”

The government in British Columbia needs to do more to counter antisemitism, he said.

“People who come to this province, to live here, come here with the expectation that they will live in peace,” Rustad said. “They come with the expectation to be able to raise a family, to be able to build the future, and what we are seeing today, with the antisemitism that is happening throughout our communities, I just find completely wrong.”

Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, expressed pride in the community he serves. He urged elected officials to stand with the community.

“We remember who was there on day one and we see who’s there now and that’s something that we have to stand up for here in our province and in our country,” he said. “We need them side-by-side by us and you need to be the ones to continue to tell them at all levels of government that we need them now more than ever.”

photo - Approximately 120 hostages are still being held in Gaza, more than nine months after the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 — Approximately 120 hostages are still being held in Gaza, more than nine months after the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7. *(photo by Anna-Mae Wiesenthal)*

Lior Noyman, an Israeli-Canadian educator and filmmaker, expressed sorrow for victims of violence in Israel and Gaza. He warned the audience to be vigilant against expanding antisemitism.

“Leaders, teachers, parents, Canadians, I am calling to you all,” he said. “Don’t let them walk us back in time.”

Dov (David) Rosengarten, a Vancouverite who is chief of staff for donor communications at United Hatzalah, Israel’s network of 7,000 volunteer first responders, brought greetings and gratitude from Israel.

“Your display of unwavering solidarity every weekend here continues to give us strength through this difficult period,” he said.

Noting the nine-month period since Oct. 7, Rosengarten drew parallels with the human pregnancy term, except that these past 40 weeks have been a time of unprecedented trauma. He sees hope in news of a ceasefire plan and hopes that “these painful birth pangs will end and the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people at large, including here in Vancouver, will be reborn again. After these many painful months, these cries of sorrow will be transformed to jubilation and we will finally hold our beloved hostages and loved ones again and celebrate the victory of unity and, like with a newborn child, we will shape for ourselves a bright future full of new dreams and possibilities.”

Photos depict Oct. 7 trauma

Batia Holini’s photo of Israeli soldiers sleeping on the floor of a grocery store near Kfar Aza on Oct. 8 is one of the works in the exhibit Album Darom. (photo by Gil Zohar)

Album Darom: Israeli Photographers in Tribute to the People of the Western Negev, which opened recently for a six-month temporary installation at the Petach Tikva Museum of Art, is the first group artistic endeavour in Israel to confront the tragedy of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and the subsequent Gaza War, now in its 10th month. The ambitious tripartite installation Album Darom (Hebrew for Southern Album) incorporates a Facebook diary; a printed book of photographs accompanied by essays (published by Yedioth Ahronoth); and the museum exhibit.

Initiated by Prof. Dana Arieli, dean of the faculty of design at the Holon Institute of Technology, together with chief curator Irena Gordon, the project showcases 150 photographs, art installations and texts documenting the story of the western Negev region before and after Oct. 7. The exhibit includes the perspectives of 107 photographers and artists. Some of the participants in the album are world-renowned, others are amateurs. Lavi Lipshitz, the youngest featured photographer, lost his life fighting in Gaza. His mother penned the text accompanying his images.

The works in the album represent different photographic practices: artistic, personal and some staged, the intense images are upsetting. As well they should be in confronting mass murder.

Before walking around a corner to see Lali Fruhelig’s gruesome 3-D installation suggesting a corpse sprawled on the floor of a living room, a sign cautions: “The exhibition contains some potentially disturbing contents. Viewer discretion is advised.”

Arieli, a history professor and a photographer who explores remembrance culture and cultural manifestations of trauma, began the Album Darom project shortly after the Gaza war broke out.

“When something’s traumatic, you have to work or do something,” she said.

Shocked by the murder of her friend Gideon Pauker from Kibbutz Nir Oz – who was killed just before his 80th birthday – she posted 100 daily historic and contemporary images of the Western Negev.

Initially, Arieli intended Album Darom to be exhibited at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai Museum just north of the Gaza Strip frontier. After the museum was damaged by rocket fire, this wasn’t feasible. Instead, she selected Petach Tikvah as the venue. She explained that the site – the first Yad Labanim memorial to fallen Israel Defence Forces soldiers from the War of Independence – is meant to be relevant to all Israelis. The museum offers free admission on Saturday, so observant Jews may visit on Shabbat.

Speaking to a group of journalists, Arieli compared Oct. 7 to the Nov. 4, 1995, assassination of then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. “Everyone is frozen in their memory of where they were,” she said.

Arieli and Gordon emphasized the intended cathartic nature of the exhibit. The two said the museum is a “safe space” and a “place for healing.” After experiencing the horrors of Oct. 7, Gordon found solace in this project, she added. “This is part of how we are coping with it all,” she said.

Miki Kratsman is one of the photographers whose depiction of his Oct. 7 nightmare is in the exhibit. Terrorists took his aunt Ophelia hostage from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. She was later released from Gaza in the November hostage exchange deal.

Kratsman’s photograph, “In Aunt Ophelia’s Neighbourhood,” captures a modest kibbutz home collapsing as it is immolated in a fireball.

“These are the kinds of things that need to be in a museum,” Arieli said of the photograph. “You’re looking at the destruction of Nir Oz.”

While vividly showing the devastation of the kibbutz, the burning home photograph is an enigma, and creates dialogue, she added.

But it is the human toll rather than the destroyed real estate that is most painful. Paradoxically, perhaps, Batia Holini’s peaceful photo of exhausted IDF soldiers sleeping on the floor of a grocery store near Kfar Aza on Oct. 8 hints at the savage warfare in which they have been engaged.

photo - “Funeral of Five Members of the Kutz Family who were Murdered in Kfar Aza,” a photo by Avishag Shaar-Yashuv — “Funeral of Five Members of the Kutz Family who were Murdered in Kfar Aza,” a photo by Avishag Shaar-Yashuv. *(photo by Gil Zohar)*

Avishag Shaar-Yashuv’s photograph, “Funeral of Five Members of the Kutz Family who were Murdered in Kfar Aza,” captures the searing emotion of the funeral of a family annihilated in the Hamas attack.

“I tried to focus and also wipe the tears at the same time,” Shaar-Yashuv said.

For this reviewer, the most symbolic part of the exhibit was a taxidermy display of a doe entitled “Bambi.” The exhibit references Felix Salten’s 1923 novel Bambi: A Life in the Woods and the 1942 animated movie produced by Walt Disney. Metaphorically, the hapless baby deer represents both the Six Million victims of the Holocaust and the 1,200 people murdered on Oct. 7.

Viewing Album Darom, one could conclude that the myth of the state of Israel protecting its citizens has been shattered. Arguably, Israelis today are no more secure than their ancestors were facing the Kishinev Pogrom of 1903, the Hebron Massacre of 1929 or the Farhud in Baghdad in 1941.

Gil Zohar is a writer and tour guide in Jerusalem.

Tory leader woos Jews

BC Conservative leader John Rustad speaks with an audience member at a June 20 event at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue. (photo by Pat Johnson)

It has been 96 years since the Conservative party won a provincial election in British Columbia. The last time a Conservative was elected to the BC Legislature was a 1978 by-election. So, the rapturous reception BC Conservative leader John Rustad and several of his local candidates received from a mostly Jewish crowd at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue recently may have been a phenomenon unseen in generations.

Public opinion polls over the last year have consistently put the BC Conservatives in second place, ahead of the BC United party, which was known as the BC Liberals before a rebranding last year. The four sitting Conservative MLAs, including Rustad, were all initially elected as BC Liberals and later crossed the floor.

The June 20 event was convened by Saul Kahn, a Jewish community leader who acknowledged he has not been politically active before. The synagogue, he noted, was a venue and the Conservatives’ presence there did not represent an endorsement.

Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt, Schara Tzedeck’s senior rabbi, said he would welcome any politicians who want to meet and answer questions from the community. He noted that the event took place three weeks to the day after an arson attack on the synagogue and said the Jewish community is deeply concerned about developments in education in the province at all levels – primary, secondary and post-secondary.

Rustad, the MLA for Nechako Lakes, an enormous riding sprawling across central British Columbia, lamented the situation.

“We shouldn’t need to have security,” he said, noting that churches and other institutions rarely even have to consider the issue. “We’ve allowed antisemitism to take root. We are not standing up and saying it’s wrong. It starts in our schools.”

Anybody who is promoting hate in the province should be criminally charged, he said, and, if they are not Canadian citizens, the federal government should consider deporting them.

Schools should be “teaching kids how to think not what to think,” said Rustad, and he promised to rescind the provincial government’s policy on sexual orientation and gender identity, commonly called SOGI. While promising to remove SOGI, Rustad pledged to support all students and pursue anti-bullying policies.

The leader, who has been in the legislature since 2005 and served in cabinet under premier Christy Clark, promised to go through all material in the education system “with a very critical eye” toward issues of ideology, gender and the environment. He said he assumes the BC Teachers’ Federation will fight back on issues like SOGI, which he calls the “sexualization of our children,” but said some of the things being taught in school could not be put on television or said in the legislature.

The party leader condemned anti-Israel protesters on BC university campuses.

“How is it that this is OK?” he asked. “People do not have the right to incite hate.”

He floated the possibility of holding back funding or otherwise putting pressure on universities to respond to this sort of activism.

Rustad condemned the province’s approach to addiction, saying that safe supply is “creating the next generation of addicts.” He called for long-term care and supports that help people get off drugs.

“I don’t think it’s OK as a society to say it’s OK for them to live on the street,” said Rustad.

Addressing the physical addiction is one thing, he added, but providing supports so that people coming off substances do not fall back into old habits and relationships must be part of the recovery process.

Rustad would like the province to gain the sort of autonomy over immigration that Quebec has been granted, “not from the perspective of saying people can’t come, but identifying those with the skill sets we need,” he said.

Housing construction needs to be ramped up and immigrants who can work in those sectors need to be encouraged, he said. Likewise, the province should be working with post-secondary institutions overseas to address issues of credentials before new Canadians move so that people can integrate smoothly into the economy when they arrive.

The foreign buyers’ property tax allows British Columbians to, he said, point at others and say “they are the problem” for high housing costs.

The province’s new densification policies overrule municipalities’ official community plans, he said. These “sound great” in terms of housing, said Rustad, but do not consider sewers and other infrastructures.

Dallas Brodie, the Conservative candidate taking on BC United leader Kevin Falcon in Vancouver-Quilchena, shared her “Israel coming-of-age story.” She had practised law for 10 years and served as a legal aid criminal defender for young offenders before getting into broadcasting. She intended to do legal analysis but broadened her scope to become a producer for CBC in Toronto and Ottawa and later for CKNW talk radio in Vancouver. She noted a media double standard in which, for example, if a pro-Israel speaker were booked, management would demand equal time for an anti-Israel voice. The process became so onerous, she said, “you just stop covering the topic of Israel altogether.”

Eventually, Brodie became host of a weekly program on the University of British Columbia campus station CITR, which she refers to as a “viper’s nest of Marxist thought.” There, she said, she was told not to say the word “Israel” on the air because it is upsetting to people. This UBC connection put Brodie in touch with staff at the campus Jewish organization Hillel, who included Brodie on trip to Israel that she says presented a balanced introduction to the region.

“Even the Palestinian perspective was presented to us,” she said.

The next year, she participated in March of the Living, where participants visit the Nazi death camps.

Running for the provincial legislature, Brodie said some people suggested that including her strong support for Israel in her political biography might hurt her chances, but she insisted on including it.

“My party more than supports my position and stands firmly and strongly behind me,” she said. “I will never go wobbly.”

Vancouver-Langara Conservative candidate Bryan Breguet, an economist who teaches at Langara College, noted that his institution became “internationally famous” last fall after a colleague (later fired) celebrated the atrocities of Oct. 7.

Breguet reflected on a recent incident in which a Burnaby public school teacher engaged in a “thought experiment,” asking students whether Israel had a right to exist. He questioned what the public reaction would have been to a thought experiment asking whether slavery should or should not have been abolished.

Breguet said he traveled to Israel in 2007 and was shocked to see the separation barrier in the process of construction. What shocked him, he said, was that the wall “hadn’t been built decades earlier.”

John Coupar, the party’s candidate in the newly created riding of Vancouver-Little Mountain, cited his 12 years of experience as an elected Vancouver park commissioner and his efforts to save the Bloedel Conservatory.

He condemned the provincial government’s “failed experiment to legalize drugs” and called for “treatment, recovery and safe streets.”

He addressed antisemitism and condemned the governing New Democrats for their choice of candidate to run in the riding he is contesting.

“Your community is suffering deeply,” he said, before criticizing the governing NDP who he says “doubled down” by nominating Vancouver city councilor Christine Boyle as the NDP candidate in Little Mountain, “the only councilor to vote against IHRA [the adoption of a working definition of antisemitism] not once but twice.”

“This is absolutely appalling to me,” Coupar said.

A question from the audience addressed concerns that a failure to unite Conservative and BC United voters could result in a reelected NDP government. Rustad said discussions to fuse the parties, or to form some sort of electoral alliance, were unsuccessful, a failure Rustad placed on the other party.

He claims his party’s polling and analysis suggest that, if the two parties merged under the Conservative banner, the election would result in a six-seat majority for the Conservatives while, if they coalesced under the BC United banner, the NDP would win by 20 seats.

The election is on Oct. 19.

Support Victory Square 100

Victory Square 100 will create banners featuring photographs of veterans, which will be flown about Vancouver around the time of this year’s Remembrance Day commemorations, when the Victory Square Cenotaph in Vancouver turns 100. (images from RCL BC/Yukon Command)

Every year, from the last Friday of October to Nov. 11, tens of millions of Canadians wear a poppy as a visual pledge to honour Canada’s veterans. This year, the Victory Square Cenotaph in Vancouver will turn 100 years old and so the Royal Canadian Legion BC/Yukon Command has created the Victory Square 100 program.

Victory Square 100 invites all interested individuals and organizations to participate in creating banners adorned with pictures of veterans, which will be flown around the city of Vancouver.

If you are a veteran or if you have a loved one who served in the military, submit a high-quality picture of yourself, or the veteran, in uniform. Pictures need to be submitted digitally.

These photographs will be transformed into banners that showcase the faces of Canada’s veterans. Each banner will be crafted to ensure the dignity and respect befitting heroes.

There is a cost to creating and displaying the banners. The legion encourages the community, businesses and organizations to join them in the Victory Square 100 initiative and to sponsor a banner. If veterans or their loved ones who submit a photo choose to do so, they can also donate to the program.

There are a couple of options: a general donation to support the banner program (any amount), and $229 to support the banner program and have a veteran featured on the banner.

Victory Square 100 is more than just a gesture of appreciation – it’s a tangible expression of gratitude and respect for Canada’s veterans. By participating, you are helping ensure their legacy lives on and their service is never forgotten.

For additional information, visit legionbcyukon.ca or call Danny Redden, president of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Shalom Branch #178, at 604-739-1571.

– Courtesy Shalom Branch 178

Fundraising for vital services

Larry Vinegar, left, and Marcy Schwartzman with Daniel Steiner, who presented them with the Lighting the Way Award at JFS Innovators 2024 on May 28. (photo by Kliri Photography)

JFS Innovators 2024: 18 Years of Lighting the Way raised more than $420,000. “With donations raised by Innovators 2024, we can provide holistic, wrap-around care – the kind that recognizes individual needs, situations and life stages,” Tanja Demajo, chief executive officer of Jewish Family Services, told the Independent. “Picture this: a single mom dealing with a debt after divorce, trying to care for her child with autism on a limited income, as her caretaker role and employment conflict each other. With these funds, we are not just filling their fridges, we are nourishing their well-being and giving them the fuel to keep going when it’s hard.”

The annual fundraising event, which was presented this year by Pollock Clinics, took place the evening of May 28 at Parq Vancouver. Originally a luncheon affair, the new approach was well-received, said Innovators 2024 committee co-chairs Candice and Todd Thal. In an email, they shared some of the feedback they had received: “Great event. Positive responses to the change in format. Open bar and food elevated the evening. Video was informative and touching.”

photo - Innovators 2024 co-chairs Candice and Todd Thal — Innovators 2024 co-chairs Candice and Todd Thal. *(photo by Kliri Photography)*

The Thals have been involved with JFS as donors and volunteers for many years, because they value that JFS “supports our local community, regardless of age, race or religion.” As co-chairs of Innovators, they were responsible for, among other things, marketing and communication, corporate sponsorship and overall event planning, which included sourcing a venue, integrating new fundraising strategies, and developing a menu.

The event started with a welcome and land acknowledgement by actor Christina Chang, who was the night’s emcee. Demajo spoke, offering an overview of JFS and Innovators, and Daniel Steiner presented the Lighting the Way Award to Larry Vinegar and Marcy Schwartzman. After a video featuring former JFS clients Sammy and Tadelu, auctioneer Fred Lee got people bidding. The proceedings wrapped up with remarks from the Thals, who told the Independent that their favourite part of the night was “watching over 350 happy and engaged people come to support the new Innovators format.”

“Having so many people come together to support JFS on this special anniversary of the Innovators event was very inspiring and such a lovely way to spend the evening,” agreed Demajo.

The presentation of the Lighting the Way Award was a highlight. The honour was established to recognize and celebrate “exceptional leadership and commitment within the community,” Demajo said. “This award serves as a tribute to individuals or companies who embody the core values and mission of JFS, particularly in their dedication to uplifting lives and contributing to a world repaired.

“By recognizing individuals or companies JFS not only celebrates their achievements but also encourages others to follow their lead in making the world a brighter place. The Lighting the Way Award serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration, reminding us of the collective responsibility we share in creating a more compassionate and inclusive society.”

photo - Members of the Innovators 2024 committee, left to right: Jessica Hanick, Candice Thal, Tamar Bakonyi and Cydney Shapiro — Members of the Innovators 2024 committee, left to right: Jessica Hanick, Candice Thal, Tamar Bakonyi and Cydney Shapiro. *(photo by Josh Bowie Photography)*

Vinegar and Schwartzman were given the award in recognition of their contributions to JFS and the community at large.

“They truly embody JFS’s values and demonstrate innovation in their commitment to social good, reminding us that finding a way through darkness can lead to a more resilient, compassionate and inclusive society,” said Demajo.

“Larry and his son Moishe had volunteered with the food bank since Moishe was a kid, demonstrating great passion and commitment to food security. In early 2021, Moishe left this world far too early. Larry and Marcy turned their grief into an amazing opportunity to engage young adults in food and environmental justice through the Moishe’s Farm Retreat,” she explained.

“Wanting to do more, they also planted an acre of land with squash in the Okanagan valley with the intention to donate the produce to the JFS Kitchen. Two years ago, Larry came across a piece of land in Richmond, which he, Marcy and their friends transformed into a thriving farm. Their vision attracted numerous supporters who have helped Larry and Marcy grow and donate fresh food to JFS and other organizations. Each week, Larry and Marcy deliver fresh produce to the JFS Kitchen. Since starting the farm, they have donated over 20,500 pounds of food. Their produce enriches lives by not only ensuring food security but also advancing food justice.”

photo - Former JFS clients Tadelu and Sammy — Former JFS clients Tadelu and Sammy. *(Photo by Kliri Photography)*

Steiner, who presented the award to Vinegar and Schwartzman, has a special connection to JFS and Innovators. His wife, Naomi Gropper Steiner, z”l, and her friends Hildy Barnett, z”l, and Kristina Berman started Innovators in 2006. Steiner has been involved since the beginning, and continues to do what he can to continue her legacy.

And there is always more to be done.

“Due to an increase in poverty, hunger, homelessness and mental health issues, JFS faces an unprecedented number of requests for help and support in the community each and every day,” said Demajo. “For every person who receives care and services, there are five more waiting for support. Our mission is to ensure that every single person who crosses our path receives the care they deserve, precisely when they need it most.”