Rally in support of Israel drew a few hundred people to the Vancouver Art Gallery on Sunday afternoon. (photo by Shahar Ben Halevi)
Nearly 300 people gathered around the Vancouver Art Gallery on Sunday, July 27, at noon, to show support for the state of Israel and for peace in the Middle East.
The rally – organized by a Facebook group of Israelis in Vancouver – went peacefully, and there were no apparent counter protests in the area. The supporters carried signs calling for an end to the conflict, and emphasizing that Israel is fighting terrorists and not the people of Gaza.
The rally was covered by several local media representatives, but there were no speeches. The crowd sang together a few traditional Jewish songs and ended the event with Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem.
The PNE is hosting a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance! and, on Aug. 24, 4:30 p.m., there will be a show featuring 2014 participants in the program, Perry Ehrlich’s ShowStoppers and Sound Sensation troupes, as well as some past participants in these programs. (photo from Perry Ehrlich)
There are several anniversaries in Vancouver’s arts scene this year. It’s the 50th for the Arts Club and the 25th for Bard on the Beach, for example, but the one that hits closest to home is the 20th for the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver’s resident summer musical theatre program, Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance! (GSGD).
The brainchild of local lawyer Perry Ehrlich, this program grew from a relatively inauspicious start to become one of the premier children’s musical programs in the Lower Mainland. In an interview with the Independent, Ehrlich noted that it all started when he tried to enrol his daughter, Lisa, in musical theatre classes.
“I realized that when I was looking around at the various offerings that I could do a better job and, if I participated with Lisa, it would be an outlet for my creativity and a playground for my daughter and myself. I thought when my kids were finished, that would be the end of it. I never thought it would last for more than five or six years – but I fell in love with the kids and the process and here we are 20 years later!”
Perry Ehrlich (photo from Perry Ehrlich)
Ehrlich, a pianist, has a strong musical background. While at law school at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, he played for dinner theatre at a downtown hotel and was the musical director of the faculty’s annual Legal Follies. He also was co-director of Sound Sensation, which rehearsed in Richmond. GSGD owes its name to that group: when Ehrlich was looking for new members for the group, he put an ad in the Vancouver Sun setting out the required qualifications, “Gotta sing, gotta dance.” When searching for a name for his “baby,” he was reminded of that ad and the rest is history.
Over the years, hundreds of youngsters from 9-19 have come to the JCCGV every summer from all over British Columbia, the United States, Europe and Israel to participate in one of the two three-week sessions. Each session culminates in a public performance at the Rothstein Theatre with a bespoke Broadway-like production penned by Ehrlich.
“By writing my own show, we get to do not 10 but 30 songs, all choreographed, so everyone of the kids gets to do something. My philosophy is to teach the kids to get along with each other and to work as a team to develop both personally and artistically – the younger ones work with the older ones and we are like a family.”
Ehrlich treats participants like adults and the program is set up like a school, six hours a day, and the kids are expected to behave responsibly and with respect towards their fellow students and the teachers. Ehrlich has high expectations for his charges and pushes the kids to their limits.
“I don’t want them to be second rate,” he said. “Mediocrity is not an option. With only 13 days from start to end of rehearsal and then three days of performance, this is a pretty intense experience.”
The teachers are a world-class staff with the likes of choreographer Lisa Stevens, actor Josh Epstein and musician Wendy Bross-Stuart. Noting that one of the dance teachers choreographed the Olympic opening ceremonies, Ehrlich said, “The kids are exposed to that message of excellence.”
His three keys to success? “To stand up, speak up and know when to shut up.”
In addition to the base program, Ehrlich runs a finishing school for two hours after each day of GSGD for serious students who get instruction in auditioning techniques from local professionals.
Ehrlich takes the crème de la crème from his annual programs and invites them to participate in a year-round group appropriately named – from what this writer observed while sitting in a rehearsal – ShowStoppers. This mix of energetic, talented young teens performs together up to 20 times a year at such events as the BMO Vancouver Marathon, the Santa Claus and Canada Day parades and the opening ceremonies of the Special Olympics. On Aug. 24, 4:30 p.m., there will be a 20th-anniversary performance at the PNE.
Andrew Cohen, who recently emceed Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation’s Eight Over Eighty event, is an alumnus, one of the founding members of ShowStoppers and now a faculty member of the program. “I remember looking forward to summer vacation every year knowing that I would be going to GSGD,” he told the JI. “It grounded me and taught me respect and the work ethic you need to succeed in the industry. It gave me an edge over other kids when it came time to audition for parts. Theatre is an incredible outlet for growing kids. It teaches them the necessary social skills, to have confidence and speak out and up for themselves.” As to the success of the program, Cohen said, “I would say that GSGD is synonymous with children’s talent in Vancouver.”
Parent Mark Rozenberg was effusive in his praise of GSGD, in which two of his children participated. “It allows kids with a passion for singing, acting and dancing to learn and to practise their passion. It is the most amazing program with some of the best instructors. When I sent my children off to the JCC every day in the summer, I knew they were in good hands.”
Nathan Sartore, a current ShowStoppers participant, could not contain his enthusiasm for the program. “It is such an important part of my life and means everything to me,” he said. “I can’t imagine my life without it.”
“I watch these kids coming in as shy, quiet youngsters and see them leave as confident performers…. I teach and expect the kids to make a full-out commitment but also to have fun and laugh.”
Ehrlich said that he was bullied as a child and feels that many young people involved in musical theatre have faced some sort of bullying for their artistic passions. “I see my job as providing a safe, happy, nurturing, learning space where all the kids can develop confidence and self-esteem,” he explained. “I watch these kids coming in as shy, quiet youngsters and see them leave as confident performers. They get the opportunity to work as a team and make lifelong friends in an environment where people are loving and caring. I teach and expect the kids to make a full-out commitment but also to have fun and laugh.”
Ehrlich is grateful to the community for its financial support of GSGD through scholarship funds like the Babe Oreck Memorial Fund and the Phyllis and Irving Snider Foundation, so that no child is turned away from the program for financial reasons.
“I am no different than any father who coaches basketball or baseball,” said Ehrlich. “I am doing exactly what they are doing, creating teams, teaching excellence, building confidence and skills. All of us, in our own way, are giving these kids something productive to do, not just hanging around the local 7-Eleven.”
Productivity aside, walk by the Rothstein Theatre on any given summer weekday and you will hear the sounds of joy coming through the doors. You gotta love it.
Tova Kornfeldis a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.
Left to right: Simon Bonettemaker, Hinda Avery, Claire Cohen and Colin Nicol-Smith. (photo by Olga Livshin)
“We decided we’ll be the Peretz Painters,” said Colin Nicol-Smith, one of the collaborators of the inaugural art show that opened on July 16 at the new art gallery in the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture. The other “Peretz Painters” include Claire Cohen, Hinda Avery and Simon Bonettemaker.
Nicol-Smith knows both Avery and Cohen through the Peretz Centre, and Bonettemaker was his long-term business partner in their engineering consulting firm. In an interview with the Independent, Nicol-Smith said that the idea for the show and the gallery first came up after a conversation with Avery.
“She said that the lounge would be an ideal place for an art gallery. I agreed and put it in front of the board – I’m a member. The board agreed, too. So, I contacted the others, and we decided we would be the first to exhibit here.” The plan is for an annual summer show at the gallery. “All other months of the year the lounge is too busy,” Nicol-Smith explained.
The stories of the four Peretz Painters are as different as their art.
Cohen is a professional artist. She has a bachelor’s degree in fine art and a master’s in art therapy. Her paintings feature the theme of music. The instruments in the paintings blend and dance with other forms, producing multiple and complex associations. Architecture and flowers, people and history mesh with musical nuances – a string, an elegant cello neck, a snippet of notes – as lines and shapes flow into each other. The paintings vibrate with color. They are festive, celebrating the artist’s love of classical music. “Classical music is part of my life. I always listen to it when I paint,” said Cohen.
Art makes her whole and happy, and that’s why she went into art therapy. “I wanted to give more meaning to my art, help others with it,” explained Cohen, who has worked with private clients and addicted teenagers. “I tried to help them focus on expressing themselves through art. Addiction stopped them from feeling, but art is a tricky way to help one to open up. Talking about themselves is hard for them. But, through art, they can.”
According to Cohen, art helps all of us deal with problems, with voids in our lives, and Avery can testify to the therapeutic effect of art in her own life. A former academic who taught at the University of British Columbia, she has been painting full time since she retired. Her artistic journey started after a trip to Europe in search of her family roots.
“Many women in my family, the Rosen family, were murdered by the Nazis because they were Jews. No records exist, but I needed to know them, so I started painting them.” At first, she used old family albums and war photographs to produce her paintings. Her compositions resembled real life and were imbued with sadness, reflecting the Holocaust.
“I depicted the murdered women as grim resistance fighters, but it felt constrained. I wanted to distance myself from the sombre historical reality, wanted the women to win. My latest paintings are like giant graphic novels. The women transitioned into gun-slinging folks. They mock the Nazis. They are not victims anymore, not intimidated. I wanted to confront atrocities with my absurd revenge fantasy.”
The show has two Avery paintings on display. One is a giant panel of “Rosen Women,” dressed in bright yoga tank tops and fitted cropped pants in neon colors, laughing and brandishing their weapons at Hitler. The second is a small, black and white caricature of Hitler. The pathetic little man depicted doesn’t stand a chance against the droll defiance of the Rosen heroines. The artist’s humor keeps her family alive long after they perished in the Holocaust.
Nicol-Smith is another retiree who found an artistic second wind. “I always drew,” he said. “But, as a consulting engineer, my drawings were technical. After I retired 16 years ago, I wanted to paint. I studied painting for two years at Langara.”
He paints from photographs, his own or those taken by others. One of his best paintings, of a Vancouver beach, is based on a photo taken by his grandfather in the 1900s. Unfortunately, it is not in the exhibit. “My wife likes it so much she refused to allow me to sell it,” he said. “My series of paintings on display at the show, ‘Four Significant Figures,’ is comprised of four male images. I’m interested in the topic of a male body.”
Unlike Nicol-Smith, who retired to paint, his former partner, Bonettemaker, hasn’t retired yet. “I’m an architectural technologist, semi-retired,” he said. “I have been painting watercolors for years. As an artist, I’m self-taught, but my paintings are close to architectural designs, very realistic, with distinctive details: landscapes, seascapes, still life.”
Sharp lines and quiet, subdued colors characterize his artwork. His Vancouver streets and shores, totem poles and sailing boats blend reality with fantasy. “I combine photos and imagination in my paintings, sometimes use elements from several different sources in one picture.” All of his paintings are from the 1990s. He hasn’t painted in awhile. “I’m thinking about retiring,” he said. “Then I’ll have more time to paint.”
The Peretz Painters exhibit runs until Aug 13.
Olga Livshinis a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].
When Fiona (Lindsay Warnock) asks her savior to take off his helmet so that she can meet her prince, Shrek (Matt Palmer) is reluctant. (photo by Milan Radovanovic)
An ugly ogre and a beautiful blonde. You wouldn’t think they’d have much in common, but the similarities stand out when you see Shrek: The Musical and Legally Blonde: The Musical back to back, as the Jewish Independent did this month at Theatre Under the Stars.
In Shrek, the title character was sent out into the world by his parents at age 7. A brave, kind, generous soul, he is feared and harassed (think pitchforks and torches) for his gruesome exterior. He chooses to live in an isolated swamp, alone. But, when Lord Farquaad exiles all the fairy-tale creatures from Duloc – because they are different/special/freaks – they end up in Shrek’s backyard. In need of a hero, they ask for Shrek’s help, which he provides, despite his complaining, because that’s just who he is. Unwillingly accompanied by his soon-to-be best buddy and faithful sidekick Donkey, who is also fleeing Farquaad’s soldiers (because he can talk – and talk he does), Shrek travels to Duloc. There, he makes a deal with Farquaad, who is also in need of a hero – to retrieve Princess Fiona, who has been locked in a dragon-guarded tower by her parents, who assure her that, one day, her prince will come. Farquaad’s intentions are anything but noble, however, and Shrek must ultimately save Fiona from her prince.
Scott Walters as Emmett and Jocelyn Gauthier as Elle Woods work very well together on stage. (photo by Milan Radovanovic)
In Legally Blonde, we have Elle. When the musical begins, Elle has her prince and they are set to live happily ever after; that is, until her prince, Warner, dumps her to go to Harvard Law School, where he hopes to find a more serious and appropriate wife for someone of his station. A smart, caring and optimistic soul, she is ridiculed and discounted for her attractive exterior. Instead of running away, as did Shrek initially, Elle fights back, putting her nose to the books and getting into Harvard so that she can show Warner just how serious she is. While she doesn’t have to fend off dragons and soldiers, she must defend herself against unwanted advances and prove herself worthy, not only to her fellow lawyers but to herself. She, like Shrek, doesn’t have to fight alone, but is supported by a trio of besties from back home (who most often appear as a figment of her imagination, as her own Greek chorus, supplemented by other Delta Nu sorority sisters) and a new friend, Paulette. As must the fairy-tale creatures, Paulette also must find her voice, the confidence to stand up for herself and her rights.
Both age-old stories of finding the courage to be oneself, and proudly so, are creatively and humorously told. Though Shrek drags a bit in parts and Legally Blonde doesn’t quite measure up to last year’s production, both are a lot of fun and the talent of the TUTS actors and crews is clear.
Matt Palmer as Shrek, Lindsay Warnock as Princess Fiona and especially Victor Hunter as Lord Farquaad stand out in Shrek, along with great performances from Ken Overby as Donkey, Sharon Crandall as Dragon and John Payne as Narrator – and, truth be told, the entire cast of fairy-tale misfits. Shrek is a top-notch ensemble work in every sense, with the sets (Brian Ball), costumes (Chris Sinosich) and choreography (Julie Tomaino) almost characters themselves. Sarah Rodgers’ direction keeps things moving when they threaten to lull, and the actors’ comedic timing is brilliant, as are their facial expressions and body language.
Legally Blonde didn’t run as smoothly on opening night and, while Valerie Easton’s choreography is once again energizing – it was hard not to dance all the way back to the car after the show – there were a few scenes that seemed rushed, or ill-timed. Jocelyn Gauthier does a solid job as Elle, and she really is the star of the production, although she too is supported by a fabulous cast, notably the actors reprising their lead roles from last year: Cathy Wilmot as Paulette, Peter Cumins as Warner, Jewish community member Warren Kimmel as Callaghan (who seemed even better this year than last) and Scott Walters as Emmett, though Walters once again overplays the part – no one is that cheery … well, except for Elle, but it works for her, not so much for him. Then there’s Jacob Woike as the walking-porn UPS guy, Kyle – so funny.
There is really no reason not to go to TUTS this year. Two high-quality musicals with grade-A performers in an idyllic setting. Quadruple snaps!
Visit tuts.ca for information on showtimes and tickets.
Gena Perala plays at Harmony Arts Festival on Aug. 3. (photo from Gena Perala)
“Creating songs, writing music and poetry, is its own reward,” said Gena Perala. The young poet and songwriter is still striving to find her niche in the Vancouver poetic community but she knows exactly who she is. “I’m a creative, an artist. I love words,” she said in an interview with the Independent. “I started performing my poems in the Vancouver Poetry Slam but I love music, too. Sometimes, I just write music or sing but I consider myself a writer first.”
Her artistic life began in touring carnivals. “My parents were carnies. My dad ran a bunch of games on the carnival circuit. He traveled year round, only sometimes coming home. My mom, with the kids, stayed home in White Rock during the school years and then, every summer, we would join the carnival and travel with my father. I loved it. There were people from all walks of life and all nations in the carnival. I was exposed to many cultures.”
She is mostly self-taught. “I took some lessons in piano, guitar and voice but, for my poetry, I read a lot. I read classics. I read lots of Russian literature.… You can’t really ‘teach’ writing poetry. There is no formula. I facilitate poetry workshops in high school; have been doing it for the last few years. I’m trying to show teenagers how to express themselves poetically. Of course, there is some structure, some poetic devices, but there are so many ways to write poetry. I help students to access those ways.”
She also leads poetry seminars for young offenders. “A teacher who knew me from my high school poetry workshops asked me to do the same at a correctional facility for teenagers, ages 13 to 17. It’s the same process, and the kids are like any other kids, they just lacked some love in their lives. During the workshops, I try to let them know that they’re valuable, that their thoughts and ideas are interesting.”
Not surprisingly, her poetry often slants towards social themes. A few years ago, she participated in a B.C. poetry competition about the importance of voting – and won it. “I think it’s important to vote,” she said, “especially for us, women. We have only been allowed to vote for the past hundred years or so. We should exercise that right.”
Going from writing and reciting poetry to writing and performing songs was a small and logical leap. While the activity itself is highly rewarding, however, it’s not a lucrative career. “I make money by waitressing,” Perala said with a laugh. “With my songs and poetry, I’m lucky if I break even.”
Lately, she has been touring, and that has helped financially. “I’ve had several tours recently, after I released my album Exactly Nowhere. I performed in Toronto, New York and on the West Coast. Touring is very reassuring for me. When I tour, I’m usually the feature of a concert. I sell out my discs. I connect with people. My songs resonate with them. They come to me after the shows and we talk. Once, I met a group of surfers, young guys, in California. They loved my songs. But, in Vancouver, it’s hard to get exposure. It’s a tough town to get shows here. It’s probably the hardest challenge.”
Perala keeps trying, and she is constantly learning new skills. One of the most fascinating projects for her was the making of her first music video, Living Proof. She expounded on its creation: “I hired a bunch of professionals to help me, but the vision was mine. I wanted to be floating, but to film that would be terribly expensive. The director, Blake Farber, suggested we use a fan and some scarves and ribbons. It came out very well. And I have tons of other ideas. As soon as I scrounge some money….” She smiled. “Fortunately, my fan base is growing.”
Locals might see her this summer playing piano around Vancouver as part of the Keys to the Streets project. “I first learned about a similar project, Street Piano, when I lived in New York,” she said. “They installed 60 pianos in the streets during the summer, and anyone who wanted to play could. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I was walking down a street and, suddenly, there was a piano and a guy was playing it. I stopped and listened. Later, we talked. He was a professional pianist in the past but hadn’t played for awhile; he didn’t have an instrument at home. I didn’t either, so I played it, too.
“Vancouver started a similar project – put 10 pianos in the streets during July and August. I played one last year. I have a keyboard at home now, but that was a real piano. I’m going to do it this year, too. You always meet people there. Some listen, others play. I love people.”
Perala’s next performance will be at the Harmony Arts Festival on Aug. 3, 3 p.m., at Millennium Park in West Vancouver (harmonyarts.ca/gena-perala). To learn more about Perala and her work, visit genaperala.com.
Olga Livshinis a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].
I was 15 during the summer of 1962 when a visiting Lubavitcher rabbi named Zalman Schachter came to Camp Ramah. He sang his soft and expressive melody for the first blessing of the Birkat HaMazon (Grace after Meals), which I remember to this day. It was the first time this yeshivah boy had experienced a different way of giving thanks for the gift of nourishing food, one that focused on the Source of the food. In a sense, I became his chassid that summer, although I didn’t know it at the time.
Six years later, while visiting a friend in Boston, we attended Shabbat services at Havurat Shalom and I moved closer to knowing that I was his chassid when I heard him sing “Eyl Adon,” the Shabbat poem in praise of the many realms of light, to the Yiddish folksong “Donna Donna.” And, four years after that, searching for a spiritual practice that affirmed the first 25 years of my life, and immersion in Jewish practice and study, I wrote him from the B.C. Interior and asked to learn with him, consciously becoming his chassid.
Reb Zalman always said that a chassid must have a rebbe and one becomes a rebbe only when one has a chassid. When he asked me if I would accept semichah (ordination) from him, we created new possibilities for others with what has become the movement for the spiritual renewal of Judaism and a current ordination program of 80 students. He offered me a semichah that I could accept and, as he put it, I gave him permission to begin a lineage which is both new and old.
On July, 3, 2014, I was teaching at our Semichah Week summer gathering at a retreat centre outside of Portland, when one of our students opened the door to my classroom. After waiting politely for a break in the conversation, he said that he had the sad duty of informing us that our beloved rebbe had peacefully passed into the next world that morning. Supported by my students and dear friends, together we affirmed Reb Zalman’s death with the traditional words, “Baruch Dayan HaEmet (Blessed be the True Judge).”
Memories and images passed before me, arising from the years of learning and friendship that we had shared. In the summer of 1971, my life partner, Hanna Tiferet, and I immigrated to British Columbia and settled in the Kootenays. It was a year of living in harmony with the earth and seeking spiritual meaning. Our first son, Noah, was born the following summer, after our house burned down. I had written Zalman for spiritual guidance. He was living in Winnipeg at the time and teaching at the University of Manitoba. He invited me to come to Winnipeg. After Hanna and Noah were settled, I hitchhiked 1,500 miles there and back to officially meet and begin my studies with my rebbe.
In 1976-77, Hanna and I lived in Philadelphia with Reb Zalman, learning how the rebbe “tied his shoelaces.” Mordecai and Hana Wosk visited him that year and they encouraged me to apply for both the University of British Columbia Hillel director position and to become Congregation Beth Tikvah’s first rabbi. This provided the opportunity for us to bring this new-old form of Judaism to a place we loved in a country where I, as the son of a Toronto-born Jewish pioneer, felt at home.
Inspired by the havurah movement and Reb Zalman’s mystical teachings, we slowly gathered people to form the Hillel Minyan, which became “The Minyan,” then Havurat Sim Shalom, which is now Or Shalom. I served the Vancouver Jewish community for 10 years and then went back to the United States to work as the rabbi at Dartmouth College. After another 10 years, we settled in Boston, where I became the director of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal and, eventually, a teacher in the rabbinic program. Reb Zalman’s teachings became my life’s work and I worked closely with him to translate and transcribe his thought in several books and manuals, including Credo of a Modern Kabbalist, The Kabbalah of Tikkun Olam, Renewal Is Judaism Now, and Integral Halachah.
Reb Zalman revealed to us a Judaism that is open and inclusive. He said that, once we were witness to the profound image of the earth from outer space, we could begin to comprehend the oneness of all life beyond the limitations of national borders. How could we then separate the fate of the Jewish people from that of all people, or the fate of humanity from the condition of all of life on this planet? He taught about deep ecumenism and showed us how to relate to Christians, Muslims, Hindus and First Nations people, embracing and respecting the holiness in each tradition. His mission was to maintain the integrity of Klal Yisrael while also embracing the shared truth in all the spiritual and ethical paths present in our world. Inspired by him, we opened spiritual leadership to women, created services that others could help lead as they developed their skills, designed tallitot that were colorful and beautiful, included gays and lesbians and then all the wonderful and various expressions of identity in our growing communities.
Reb Zalman, together with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, had a spiritual assignment to redeem the Jewish people after the Holocaust. These two shlichim (messengers) from Chabad revitalized Judaism and sparked the renewal of spirituality in every facet of Jewish life.
When I received and accepted semichah from Reb Zalman in 1974 in the Winnipeg home of Rabbi Neal and Carol Rose, I was the first and only member of this new lineage. Now, there are more than 100 ordained as a Renewal rabbi, chazzan or rabbinic pastor, and students keep arriving, though we don’t advertise or recruit. Meditation, retreats, ecstatic prayer, new music, poetry, art and movement are now available options everywhere that Jews gather to pray. So much of this results from the vision, intelligence and spiritual depth of this one man, whose life we celebrate and whose presence on this earth plane we will miss so deeply.
With gratitude for the blessing of his presence in my own life these past 52 years, I say my own Kaddish for my rebbe and spiritual father, Meshullam Zalman Chiyya ben Chayah Gittel v’Shlomo haKohen, z”l. May his memory be a blessing and awaken in us the deep desire to live in peace and harmony with all of creation.
L’Chaim Adult Day Centre member Shirley Kort, right, and her friend Zoe Oreck, who came to visit, listen to Kort’s daughter, Shoshana Litman, tell a story. (photo from L’Chaim)
I was invited into a very special world on June 30 – that of L’Chaim Adult Day Centre. Described as a therapeutic day centre for home-bound elderly, a place where safe, caring monitoring is provided along with kosher, home-style meals in a happy, embracing atmosphere, with multilingual staff, it is all that and more.
I was asked by Shoshana Litman, a gifted maggidah (storyteller), to come and watch one of her sessions at L’Chaim. After receiving permission to attend from Annica Carlsson, who is in charge of the centre, I arrived in time to see 14 seniors, mostly women, actively enjoying a ball exercise led by Marla Simcoff. When that ended, Litman entered the circle, smiled, introduced herself and explained why she was there, and that I was there to take photographs.
Litman opened with a blessing over the water, which she drank, and then introduced her mother, Shirley Kort, a member of L’Chaim and her mom’s friend, Zoe Oreck, who had come to visit.
The story Litman had chosen was one of Peninah Schramm’s – The Innkeeper’s Wise Daughter – which included riddles and a song. It easily invited audience participation and the listeners were only too glad to do so.
After I listened, enjoyed and participated in Litman’s storytelling, and I heard the various questions and answers, I began to realize the scope of what is accomplished under the watchful eyes of L’Chaim staff and Carlsson, who explained that the wide range of work on cognitive skills is easily managed because of the small size of the group.
In honor of her visit and in her mother’s name, Litman presented a copy of a calendar commemorating the 151 years of Congregation Emanu-El in Victoria. She showed photos of the costumes worn on the anniversary evening last year, as the event included a reenactment of those times. The photos brought back precious memories for one audience member, who was reminded that she had attended that event.
I left with a good feeling, and the others, who were chatting away over lunch with one another, also seemed relaxed and happy. We are fortunate to have this facility in our midst. Let’s grow old together.
Binny Goldmanis a member of the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver board.
As the conflict rages in Israel and Gaza, so it does, in a different way, worldwide. As is always the case when Israel is involved in a conflict, the rage level escalates swiftly among commentators, social media, street activists, politicians and diplomats. While both sides are engaging in heated and contentious “debate” – we should take nothing away from Zionists’ ability to engage in slapfests on social media – something darker is emerging.
Protests in France and Germany have been especially grisly. In Paris, one synagogue was firebombed while, at another, Jews were forced to barricade themselves inside the shul as a mob attacked with bats and chairs. Jewish-run businesses were ransacked in a Paris suburb. In Germany, overt neo-Nazis are marching daily, some chanting, “Gas the Jews.” “Anti-Israel” rallies worldwide are rife with anti-Jewish imagery and messaging. Individual Jews have been assaulted around the world. One man in Australia, badly beaten, told media that the antisemitic onslaught he experienced after going public was worse than the assault itself.
There are certainly examples of anti-Jewish prejudice amid the public discourse in Canada, though we have seen nothing near to what is happening elsewhere. In fact, the brightest spot in the whole sad global discourse around the conflict comes from right here in Canada. For the better part of a decade, the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been an unequivocal voice of reason and support for Israel’s right – obligation, he said – to defend its citizens from terrorism. Our foreign policy has been steadfast in defending our closest ally in the region, and the only democracy there, amid a cacophony of vitriol and hatred.
Significantly, what was a few years ago considered a surprising and unusually unambiguous position has become the dominant Canadian political consensus. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has issued a statement echoing the Conservatives’ strong support for Israel.
More remarkable has been Thomas Mulcair’s extraordinary success at turning his New Democratic Party from what was once a nest of Canada’s most vocal anti-Israel zealots into a moderate party in line with the other two mainstream parties. He has done this in the face of a small but venomous clutch of extreme Israel-haters. A writer on the website Rabble recently referred to “Mulcair’s abhorrence of Palestinian rights.” (We have been known to employ some extravagant semantics in this space, but for a really eccentric level of rhetoric almost unknown since the fall of the Berlin Wall, head over to Rabble for a nostalgic walk down memory lane.)
Mulcair’s accomplishment, of course, is derided by Israel’s enemies as proof that the craven Zionists have finally got their talons into the last of the major parties’ platforms. In reality, it is an acknowledgement that Canada’s body politic has recognized, alas, that morality and pragmatism demand that we stand with our allies and against those who seek to slaughter them. There is nothing novel in this – what was novel was the years when we went off the rails trying to play an “honest broker” role between a democratic, peace-seeking, pluralist Israel and the genocidal terrorists determined to destroy the country and kill its citizens.
There is a place for extreme views in a democracy – in extreme, fringe parties. Which may explain why Green party leader Elizabeth May is right now taking up an anti-Israel cudgel just as the rest of the civilized political spectrum is affirming the only position mainstream, moderate parties can justify.
There are tactical reasons, too. Israel-bashers insist that Harper’s Israel policy (and now that of the Liberals and NDP) is a sop to win Jewish votes, which suggests they are as bad at math as they are telling terrorists from allies. The “Jewish vote” in Canada is miniscule and shrinking, while the number of new Canadians coming from places where hatred of Israel is something akin to a birthright is growing.
While the three main parties are doing the right thing, the Greens seem ready to welcome those who have been left out in the cold by a consensus that our country should stand with democracies when they are under assault from terrorists. It may be a political strategy for a tiny party seeking a foothold, but it doesn’t seem like a moral one.
NCJW members unload boxes of toys headed for Israel as part of the Ship a Box to Israel program launched by NCJW Tikvah branch, Vancouver Harbor, 1947. (photo from JMABC L.11998)
Much of the work of Jewish women in Vancouver has occurred, both historically and still today, behind the scenes. The Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia is trying to change that with its online exhibit, More Than Just Mrs. Accessible at morethanjustmrs.wordpress.com, the exhibit discusses the history of the National Council of Jewish Women, Hadassah-WIZO (CHW) and Na’amat, the three predominant Jewish women’s organizations mid-century. It includes audio clips from local women who worked for these organizations and focuses exclusively on the work of the B.C. chapters.
“We’re trying to raise awareness of the Jewish community in B.C. and its history,” said Michael Schwartz, coordinator of development and public programs at JMABC, located in the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture in Vancouver. “When it came to these chapters of the organizations, I knew a few of the stories but wanted to fill in the gaps and learn more. I thought we should look at the organizations in greater detail, at the differences in their philosophies and the influential women who worked for them.”
The website has an introduction and then individual sections on each of NCJW, Hadassah and Na’amat, each one containing letters, certificates and other historical material relevant to the work the organizations performed. There are a total of six audio clips online but those who want to hear entire interviews may visit the Jewish museum offices to listen to them.
The exhibit offers a fascinating glimpse into Jewish life in Vancouver in the 1940s and ’50s: its fashions, the organizations’ priorities and their fundraising strategies. These women were professional volunteers, individuals who were not content to be “just Mrs.,” and insisted on devoting their time and talents to improving and meeting the needs of their local communities and communities in Israel and elsewhere. The name for the exhibit was drawn from an interview with one of the volunteers some 20 to 30 years ago, wherein she mentioned the phrase, “More than just Mrs.,” adding that, for her, doing this volunteer work was an opportunity to step out of her husband’s shadow.
NCJW supported an orphanage in Holland, for example, sending regular shipments of food and clothing to the aid of the 220 destitute war orphans being cared for in Bergstichting. The exhibit includes a letter from the orphanage dated April 1947, describing the difficult conditions at the orphanage. “The physical condition of our pupils being still rather week [sic], we had to fight with a scarlatina [scarlet fever] epidemic during five months,” wrote the director. “Sixty of our people were taken with this illness. But fortunately, your valuable gifts reached us just in those distressful months.”
The online exhibit was launched in September 2013 and some 2,500 people have visited the site since it was launched. Schwartz estimates it takes 60 to 90 minutes to read the material, which was produced by Annika Friedman last summer with the aid of Young Canada Works, a granting program subsidized by the federal government. Schwartz said another online exhibit is being produced this summer under the same program. Called Oakridge: The Final Frontier, it will chart the rise and decline of the Jewish community in the neighborhood. Elana Wenner, a master’s candidate in Jewish studies at Concordia University, will be interviewing community members and gathering photographs, videos and other relevant materials for the new exhibit. To contribute and for more information, Wenner can be reached at [email protected].
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond, B.C. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.
Jared Miller has been appointed by the Victoria Symphony as its new composer-in-residence (photo from Jared Miller)
Jared Miller has always loved music. “When I was around 3 years old, I would beg my parents every single day to watch the movie Fantasia because I loved the music in it so much,” he told the Independent in an interview from his home in New York, where he has been studying for his doctoral degree at the Juilliard School. “I also loved the animation, but got quite scared whenever the sorcerer appeared on screen. I would hide under a special blanket with holes in it. The blanket would protect me from what seemed like an evil sorcerer, but the holes in it still allowed me to enjoy my favorite movie and music, unscathed.”
Miller still loves music and, today, he is among its creators. Recently, the Victoria Symphony announced his appointment as its new composer-in-residence. According to Miller, the primary function of a composer-in-residence is to compose original pieces of music for the organization that employs him – in his case, the Victoria Symphony – and be a musical emissary to the local community. He is uniquely suited to both aspects of his new appointment.
On the composition front, one of his piano compositions, “Souvenirs d’Europe,” debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2011 and won the 2012 ASCAP Morton Gould Award. It was also used as the required piece for the 2013 Knigge Piano Competition. His orchestral works have been performed by several North America orchestras. And his efforts to promote classical music started before he was in his teens. He has been playing and talking about music at every possible venue, from nursing homes to elementary schools.
“I began playing in care homes when I was about 9 years old, and my grandparents were staying at Louis Brier in Vancouver,” he said. “Initially, I would just play the piano there, while we were visiting my grandparents, to occupy my time. Eventually, I drew a bit of a crowd and got sincere enjoyment out of it. This stopped in 2005, when my grandmother passed away. Then I began playing in care homes again in 2008, when I got a job as an Artsway Ambassador with B.C. Health Arts Society. I tried to keep it interesting by playing a variety of music – from Mozart to my own compositions to 1920s and ’30s pop music.”
During those performances, he spoke to his audience about each piece, inviting their participation. At about the same time, while he was a music student at the University of British Columbia, he widened his activities to encompass groups of schoolchildren.
“I began in 2007 as a post-secondary-music-student ambassador for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Connects program. For this program, I got to visit a bunch of different elementary schools in the Lower Mainland and teach them about classical music in a manner to which they could relate. One of the modules I taught focused on how music could tell a story. Since then, I have worked with Vancouver Opera in the schools, as well, and with New York’s Opportunity Music Project, which provides underprivileged children in the New York City area with free music instruments, lessons and performance opportunities.”
“I feel incredibly privileged to have been exposed to classical music and to be able to pursue it as a career. It has made my life extraordinary and, in doing musical outreach, I can share this feeling with other people who may not necessarily have access to classical music otherwise.”
For a busy young composer, he invests a great deal of time in outreach programs and he feels strongly in their mission. There are many reasons he participates in these programs. “For one, it’s fun. It allows me to find creative ways to introduce audiences to classical music, which is very satisfying for me,” he said. “I feel incredibly privileged to have been exposed to classical music and to be able to pursue it as a career. It has made my life extraordinary and, in doing musical outreach, I can share this feeling with other people who may not necessarily have access to classical music otherwise.”
He sees his work with the community as a way of introducing the future generation to his beloved art form, and to push back against school budget cuts. Furthermore, by doing the outreach, especially in schools, he might also plant the seeds for classical music’s future audience. Because no matter how much the music profession has evolved throughout the ages, one aspect has remained consistent, he said: “… a composer’s need to self-promote. From Handel, to Beethoven, to Aaron Copland, composers have always had to be rather active about looking out for their own careers. These days, with the plethora of social media outlets, it is easier than ever to do this, albeit more time-consuming.”
Despite his packed schedule, he also finds time for some musically unrelated fun. “I love food,” he admitted. “New York, where I’ve been based for the past four years, is definitely the place to be in this regard (although I do miss Vancouver’s sushi). I love cooking and trying new restaurants. To counter this abundance of calories, I also love running. It’s a great way to see the city and to escape the everyday pace of life.”
After settling in Victoria, with his schooling finally out of the way, he might also try a new hobby or two. “I’m interested in attempting to paint and maybe learn some kind of martial art. Who knows? The sky is the limit.”
Olga Livshinis a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@ gmail.com.
