{"id":30530,"date":"2018-10-19T03:56:13","date_gmt":"2018-10-19T10:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=30530"},"modified":"2018-10-18T15:20:20","modified_gmt":"2018-10-18T22:20:20","slug":"shapiro-to-give-lecture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2018\/10\/19\/shapiro-to-give-lecture\/","title":{"rendered":"Shapiro to give lecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

American political commentator Ben Shapiro will give the Faigen Family Lecture on Oct. 30. (photo by Gage Skidmore)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a world where opinions are formed, far too often, based on preconceived notions and emotion. A hallmark of the critical thinking that we impart in schools today is the ability to hear differing viewpoints and draw informed conclusions. We need to be able to engage, debate and discuss. We may \u2018agree to disagree,\u2019 but there needs to be an avenue for dialogue,\u201d Rabbi Don Pacht, Vancouver Hebrew Academy\u2019s head of school, told the Independent<\/em> about the importance of the Faigen Family Lecture Series.<\/p>\n

The series has featured five speakers to date: Israeli journalist Caroline Glick, American activist David Horowitz, American radio talk show host Michael Medved, British journalist Melanie Phillips and American political commentator Daniel Pipes. On Oct. 30, 7:30 p.m., at Congregation Schara Tzedeck, Ben Shapiro will join that list. The next day, he will speak to a sold-out event at the Chan Centre for Performing Arts, hosted by the University of British Columbia Free Speech Club.<\/p>\n

Among other things, Shapiro is editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com, host of The Ben Shapiro Show<\/em> and author of seven books.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in touch with him almost two years ago,\u201d said Pacht. \u201cIt took months and months to find a date that worked for him and did not conflict with other events in our community.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was certainly a household name when we first approached him, but it is not an exaggeration to say that he has grown considerably in his craft and has become quite the celebrity in recent years. We have already sold more tickets to this event than to any of our past lectures \u2013 including a packed house for Caroline Glick [in 2011] \u2013 and we anticipate that we will have another sell-out on our hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Faigen Family Lecture Series \u201cbegan as a friendship between myself and Dr. Morris Faigen (of blessed memory). We would speak at length about politics and Israel and we often saw eye to eye on issues,\u201d explained Pacht. \u201cMany Jews often feel as though Israel gets a raw deal when Middle East politics are reported in the news. Dr. Faigen wanted to create a vehicle to spread a more balanced \u2013 and decidedly more pro-Israel \u2013 view.\u201d<\/p>\n

The process of selecting speakers was set in place by Faigen, who passed away in 2012. \u201cHis daughter, Gina [Faigen], leads a committee who meet to discuss various possibilities,\u201d said Pacht. \u201cThe committee has a mandate \u2013 based on Dr. Faigen\u2019s wishes and stated goals \u2013 and they will shortlist possible speakers based on these criteria.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pacht said the selection of Shapiro reflects the values of open debate and respectful dialogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my board chair, Glenn Bullard, and I spoke with Ben recently, we asked him directly whether he thought he was maintaining Jewish standards of respectful speech. He acknowledged it was a challenge, but he said, \u2018If people want to cherry-pick something I\u2019ve said on Twitter, all I can say is, you don\u2019t look to Twitter for meaningful conversation.\u2019 He hoped instead that people concerned about his tone would look at his work on many issues over many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past,\u201d said the rabbi, \u201cwe have had people who disagree with a point expressed by our speaker. That is your right. Our expectation is that conversations will focus on the corroboration of evidence and, as always, maintain the highest standards of menschlichkeit.\u201d<\/p>\n

With regards to the school\u2019s mission, the lecture series gives VHA an opportunity \u201cto step outside of our \u2018zone\u2019 and provide a service to the community,\u201d said Pacht. \u201cObviously, our primary mission is that of Jewish education. This lecture series is a way that we can reach \u2013 and benefit \u2013 many within our community who will never see the inside of one of our classrooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt fits well with our value of Israel as central to the life of every Jew and as the ancestral homeland of our people,\u201d he added. \u201cWhile our lectures are not geared towards elementary school children \u2013 we are more likely to see parents and grandparents in the audience \u2013 the message is one that is supported by the philosophy of the school.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the physical future of the school, Pacht said VHA \u201chas secured an eight-year lease with the Vancouver School Board. That gives us the security that we have been lacking for years. We know that we have room to grow in our current location.\u201d<\/p>\n

To support that growth, aging portables will be replaced with one large modular building. \u201cWe are currently on schedule for this renovation to be carried out in the summer of 2019,\u201d said Pacht. \u201cWe are also thrilled to report that we are over 90% towards our fundraising goal for this project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Encouraged by \u201cthe generous response of our community,\u201d he said, \u201cWe have no doubt that we will be able to make up the difference and reach our goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The campaign will resume after the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver\u2019s annual campaign has closed. \u201cMeanwhile,\u201d said Pacht, \u201cwe are moving forward with the process itself and our permit application has been submitted to the City of Vancouver.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on VHA, visit hebrewacademy.com<\/a>. To purchase tickets ($45) to hear Shapiro, email contact@faigenlecture.com<\/a> or call 604-266-1245.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American political commentator Ben Shapiro will give the Faigen Family Lecture on Oct. 30. (photo by Gage Skidmore) \u201cWe live in a world where opinions are formed, far too often, based on preconceived notions and emotion. A hallmark of the critical thinking that we impart in schools today is the ability to hear differing viewpoints […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8427,7724,8426,711,2873,529,3332],"class_list":["post-30530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-ben-shapiro","tag-civil-discourse","tag-don-pacht","tag-faigen-family-lecture-series","tag-free-speech","tag-vancouver-hebrew-academy","tag-vha"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}