Chabad of Nanaimo’s annual Hanukkah menorah lighting gathering is one of its most publicly visible events. Last year, it was held in Maffeo Sutton Park. (© Norm Wolf)
When Rabbi Bentzi Shemtov and his wife Blumie established Chabad Nanaimo and Central Vancouver Island in 2015, there was no Orthodox organizational presence in Nanaimo. Their arrival ignited a spark of Yiddishkeit that has helped Jews in the area make a deeper connection to their Jewish roots.
Rabbi Shemtov’s path to the Island led him through various places. Growing up in Toledo, Ohio, he attended yeshivah in Detroit, studied in Israel for two years, spent time in Chicago, and then moved back to Detroit. Eventually, he ended up in New York, where he finished his rabbinical studies and married Blumie, who is the sister of Rabbi Meir Kaplan – Kaplan, with his wife Chanie, established Chabad of Vancouver Island in Victoria. Before the Shemtovs settled in Nanaimo, Rabbi Shemtov gained experience running services and teaching classes in places all over the world, including St. Thomas, Colombia, Moscow and Uruguay.
Chabad of Nanaimo and Central Vancouver Island was established with the encouragement of Rabbi Kaplan. Prior to 2015, Kaplan would travel from Victoria to Nanaimo and the Cowichan Valley (Ladysmith, Parksville, Qualicum Beach) on Sukkot with the Sukkah Mobile and for the public lighting of a Hanukkah menorah in Nanaimo. On these journeys, he would speak to Jews residing in these areas, and he saw the need for a Chabad House in the region.
“Rabbi Kaplan called me up and told me that he was visiting Nanaimo for 10 years and he was doing a menorah lighting and the population was growing and he was getting requests for more Yiddishkeit here and asked if I could check it out,” Shemtov told the Independent. So, they came to Victoria for Pesach and spent it with the Kaplans. “And then, after Pesach, we came up here to visit with some of the families and then we decided to move here,” he said.
Shemtov said he thought Nanaimo was a beautiful place and, by being there, he and his wife could serve a need in the community, though he admits they didn’t really know how many Jews resided in the area at the time.
“We did a women’s circle a couple of weeks later and there were about 28 women who came, many who may have met before but didn’t realize they had common Jewish ancestry,” he said.
Events and classes have been added over time. Today, Chabad of Nanaimo offers programming both at and away from its physical space. It commemorates all the Jewish holidays, offers weekly Shabbat services, has a Hebrew school that meets twice a month, a teen event that’s held twice a month, a camp in the summer, a Jewish woman’s circle and weekly classes for adults. The best-attended events, according to Shemtov, are holiday-related, including Rosh Hashanah and Passover dinners, the Megillah readings on Purim, Shavuot services, and the Hanukkah gathering. For special events, Jews come from all over Vancouver Island and the surrounding area, including Cormorant, Hornby and Galiano islands.
According to Shemtov, Chabad of Nanaimo is strategically located in northern Nanaimo and not downtown.
“We wanted to be as close as possible to the northern communities of Lantzville, Nanoose Bay, Parksville and Qualicum Beach because a lot of retired Jews live there and north Nanaimo is right in the middle.”
There are a lot of young families, as well, who don’t live in the downtown core, or even the city, he said.
Chabad is not the only Jewish organization in town. The Central Vancouver Island Jewish Community Society preceded them, and they still hold monthly discussions and a yearly Hanukkah party. The society was founded by Dr. Phillip Lipsey, a Montrealer who moved to Parksville, and Arlene Ackerman, a former Torontonian.
“They have been here for a long time and have kept the Jewish community here together … because they wanted to make sure there was a Jewish community for the kids growing up here,” said Shemtov.
While the two groups serve different constituencies, Shemtov said, “There is overlap between our two groups and I have a great relationship with the organizers, and I learn every week with them.”
The presence of Chabad, though, has helped Jews in the region deepen their connection to Judaism, with some community members now lighting Shabbat candles regularly, keeping kosher, attending Shabbat and holiday services, and planning lifecycle events like bar mitzvahs for their children. The synagogue’s first bar mitzvah will take place Dec. 6.
One older member of the community was even inspired to have a brit milah (circumcision) later in life after connecting with Chabad of Nanaimo, said the rabbi. Another member, who attends services infrequently, told Shemtov that Chabad is the only place in the city he feels at home in – he’s “grateful we are here because it gives him a sense of comfort knowing that there’s a Jewish presence in town, especially after Oct. 7,” said Shemtov.
One of the most publicly visible events Chabad of Nanaimo hosts is its annual Hanukkah menorah lighting, which last year was held in Maffeo Sutton Park, drawing more than 200 people. For information about this year’s event on Dec. 14, people can check out Chabad’s website. It is open to Jews and non-Jews alike and provides an opportunity for non-Jews to show their support for the Jewish community of Nanaimo and celebrate shared values, said Shemtov. Usually, local elected officials attend, from all levels of government.
“It was the Rebbe who pioneered the idea of the public menorah lightings, which encountered opposition from Jews initially who were afraid to publicly express their Judaism,” said Shemtov. “Today, everyone does it and they have no reservations about it, and they feel good about publicly expressing their Judaism and are proud to show that they are Jewish.”
Shemtov said Hanukkah is “an exciting time for the Jewish community of Nanaimo and the holiday is all about bringing light to the darkness and acknowledging our right to be good people out in public.
“It also gives a sense of pride for the Jewish community in Nanaimo to celebrate their Judaism in public by lighting a menorah with our non-Jewish friends and supporters” he said. “The message of Hanukkah is that we should always focus on increasing the light, which is the vision of the Rebbe, who loved every Jew and wanted to make sure that no Jew will be left behind, which are values that Chabad represents.”
For more information about Chabad of Nanaimo, visit jewishnanaimo.com.
David J. Litvak is a prairie refugee from the North End of Winnipeg who is a freelance writer and publicist, and a mashgiach at Louis Brier Home and Hospital. His articles have been published in the Forward, Globe and Mail and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. His website is cascadiapublicity.com.