Okanagan Jewish Community (OJC) president Bob Bidner and his business
partner, Danny Mandelbaum, did more than their usual business on
a recent visit to Paraguay. They took the time to reach out to the
Jewish community in Asuncion and had the pleasure of meeting their
rabbi, Yehoshua Forma.
Forma was shortly thereafter invited, by the Lubavitch, to a convention
in New York. He then decided to repay the OJC's visit to Paraguay
with a visit to Kelowna. An evening for the entire community took
place Nov. 5 at the Okanagan Jewish Community Centre, with Forma
speaking on the topic of the similarities between and the problems
facing small Jewish communities.
Asuncion has a Jewish community of 350 families and every Friday
night service has a turn out of at least 80 people, said Forma.
The rabbi conducts lectures every Sunday and on Mondays his wife
meets with the female members of the community for discussion and
learning.
Forma's belief is that, if you truly want to do something, go ahead
and the problems such as financing will be taken care of. To this
end, the Asuncion synagogue purchased land a year ago and is going
ahead with a 3,000-square-metre building to house the shul, mikvah,
kindergarten and other educational classes as well as a kosher bakery.
– Courtesy of Peter Barwin of the Okanagan Jewish Community