School campaign is critical

As the capital campaign that holds the hopes of a Jewish community high school in Greater Vancouver heads into its 11th hour, one of the co-chairs, Jody Dales, has called the next six weeks their most critical time.

The campaign has raised approximately 90 per cent of the $18.3 million goal that was set two years ago, leaving just under $2 million left to be raised by a strict deadline of July 31. However, according to Dales, as close as they may be, there will be no new Talmud Torah high school if the goal is not met in its entirety.

When the campaign opened, the Diamond Foundation pledged to donate the land, valued at $6.2 million, located adjacent to the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver (JCC). The foundation made this pledge with one important provision; the campaign needed to raise the entire $18.3 million, which would ensure long-term financial stability for the school. While Dales acknowledged that many other community projects might have begun construction once 90 per cent of the funds had been raised, the provision that the Diamond Foundation placed on their donation is important.

"One of the challenges for Maimonides (the former Jewish community high school) was that they were constantly trying to cover deficits," she said. "The Diamonds didn't want that for us. They were very clear that they didn't want to burden this community with yet another albatross.

"We also want the school to be a community high school so that those who have money and those who do not are equally welcome and equally entitled to a Jewish education," she continued.

This all-or-nothing deadline has left Dales, co-chair Lorne Cristall and a long list of community professionals and lay leaders frantically trying to raise the final $2 million.

"I am ever hopeful, but very concerned," Dales said. "We have this opportunity to provide our community with a legacy for substantial continuity and we absolutely cannot afford to let it get away.

"We will be teaching our children, not only about Judaism in general, but about morality, social responsibility and obligation to the community. We will be opening the doors to families who are dedicated to Jewish values and, more importantly, we will be teaching our children about themselves at a time when their questions become very difficult to answer. I can't believe that this community would let this opportunity slip by."

Mark Gurvis, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, insisted that it is imperative for the community to support the future of Jewish life in Vancouver.

"Investing in an intensive, dynamic, high-quality, Jewish educational experience for our youth during the years when they are making critical life decisions is an important reason for us as a community to support this effort," he said. "In the face of rising assimilation, which affects every aspect of life in the community, where will a literate core of the community come from in the future, who will provide leadership for our community and for our Jewish institutions and who can become our next generation of rabbis, educators and communal workers?"

More than 40 parlor meetings were held around the Lower Mainland in January in order to inform the community about the plans for the new school. According to Dales, one of the biggest challenges at the meetings was convincing people that the new Talmud Torah high school would be a substantial organization and facility compared to the community high school projects of the past.

"We have had to convince people that what we are doing is vastly different than what Maimonides was," she explained. "There are 34 new Grade 8 students already enrolled for next year so there will not be five-student classes. And it's going to look like a real school with high-quality resources offered throughout the campus."

If the project is completed, the school will join the JCC as part of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Jewish Community Campus of Greater Vancouver. Once the school is built, they will share facilities with the JCC, enabling students to make use of the gym, swimming pool, library and other amenities and enabling the centre to use the school's facilities for events and meetings. The campaign's relationship with the centre has helped convince many donors to contribute to the project, most significantly the Weinberg Foundation, which has pledged $3 million for the school to become a part of the campus.

Dales explained that everything is in place so that as soon as all the funds have been raised, construction will begin for a possible September 2004 opening.
"We are at the starting line, just waiting for the gun to go off," she said.

For more information about the project or to make a donation, call Dales at 604-266-5541.

Kyle Berger is an award-winning freelance journalist and a graphic designer living in Richmond.