continuity

Or Shalom reopens its doors

On May 28, Or Shalom Synagogue reopened its doors after a year of renovations. (photo by Wendy D)

On the evening of May 28, Or Shalom Synagogue reopened its doors after a year of renovations, welcoming celebrants for the Chanukat HaBayit, or homecoming. Co-chairs Sally Thorne and Dalia Margalit-Faircloth emceed the event.

“It is our pleasure to welcome you back to our expanded and renewed bayit, our spiritual home, and the first carbon-neutral shul in North America,” said Margalit-Faircloth, thanking Harriet Frost for opening the gathering with song and the shul’s Rabbi Arik Labowitz for receiving everyone into the space.

“Thank you all for joining us here today to celebrate this incredible milestone, the completion of our More Or renovation and expansion project,” she said. “It’s such a pleasure to see this sanctuary full once again and to share this joyful occasion with so many members of the community, supporters and friends.”

After thanking the elected officials and community leaders in attendance, Margalit-Faircloth read a message from Premier David Eby, which the congregation has framed. The premier congratulates Or Shalom on its reopening.

“Or Shalom began as a havurah in 1982, meeting in members’ living rooms. Today, it has grown into a vibrant community of almost 200 households,” he writes, noting that the present location – at 10th and Fraser – was purchased in 1993. “Or Shalom’s success is a testament to the perseverance and contributions of its congregation as well as the vital role it plays in the community.”

Margalit-Faircloth stressed the vital role congregant John Fuerst played in being “the driving force behind the More Or project.”

Fuerst shared with those gathered the story of how the renovation began eight years ago with a question he asked Rabbi Hannah Dresner, who led the congregation at the time: “How are things going?”

Her response was, “We’re growing out of our clothes. We just don’t have the space we need. We need classrooms – we don’t have those classrooms. We need accessibility – our accessibility for people who need it is so awkward, so difficult. We have water damage in our outside walls – we need those fixed.

photo - Rabbi Hannah Dresner addresses those gathered on May 28 for Or Shalom’s Chanukat HaBayit, or homecoming — Rabbi Hannah Dresner addresses those gathered on May 28 for Or Shalom’s Chanukat HaBayit, or homecoming. *(photo by Wendy D)*

“Well,” said Fuerst, “it’s eight years later and here we are. Actually, not quite so simple. We’re only here today because of the many people who have helped to put this together and it’s my honour to be able to thank them.

“First and foremost, our thanks to the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation. You often hear at events like this, ‘without your donation, this project, this program, wouldn’t have happened.’ Well, without hyperbole, I can say, without [the foundation’s] contribution, this project would not have happened.”

Fuerst also thanked the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Vancouver for the “elevator that will be working on Monday”; the Lutsky family Foundation, whose donation allowed Or Shalom to “expand and completely renovate our kitchen”; the Phyliss and Irving Snider Foundation, whose contribution towards the new classrooms was “made in honour of our teacher and our mentor Gloria Levi”; and both the Jewish Federation of BC and the Government of British Columbia, who gave the congregation grants for its security systems.

“My thanks to the Adamah Climate Action Fund, who gave us an interest-free loan, which enabled us to put together our decarbonation system, our heat pump system,” said Fuerst, who thanked RBC Dominion for the shul’s mortgage and architect Erika Gerson, who recently retired. “She heard what we needed and she designed it,” he said, expressing appreciation to Chris Boni and Anthony Boni of Boni Maddison Architects; to the general contractors, Novacom Building Partners; and to Jon Hardybala of PCA Pacific Construction, who was the site superintendent. Instrumental in the decarbonization aspect was Chris Higgins of BC Hydro, said Fuerst. And, offering the congregation a home for the months that the renovations took was Cityview Church, whose spiritual leader, Pastor Trevor Josh, joined the celebration, along with the church’s Pastor Jeff Groulx.

photo - John Fuerst, the driving force behind the renovation project, speaks with attendees after the ceremony — John Fuerst, the driving force behind the renovation project, speaks with attendees after the ceremony. *(photo by Wendy D)*

Fuerst thanked rabbis Dresner and Labowitz, and the synagogue’s Efrat Gal-Or – “Coordinating a construction project needs the skills of a surgeon, the vision of an eagle, the patience of a kindergarten teacher. You’ve shown all three and you’ve helped bring this project to where it is.” He voiced appreciation for Or Shalom staff Tracey Fagg and Katy Ormiston.

Or Shalom members contributed $1.8 million toward the project and there were many volunteers on various committees and on other tasks, Fuerst said. “What a wonderful contribution for our little East Side shul.”

He added, “I do want to mention one member in particular, Jackie Levitan, of blessed memory. Jackie served on the housing task force. She’s actually responsible for much of the redesign of the office space. And, a month before Jackie’s passing … she called me up and said, ‘I want to make a donation.’ Jackie donated the largest single donation towards this project.”

David Bogdanov, a director of the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation, said, “Or Shalom offers a unique and important pathway to Jewish life in Vancouver,” and noted how thrilled he was that it is the first carbon-neutral shul in North America, as decarbonization is a priority of the foundation.

Mira Oreck, who is a board member of the synagogue, spoke as a parent.

“What is a shul without classrooms for learning, playing, sneaking away from services, and forming Jewish identity and friendships?” she asked. “Our new classrooms will enable our kids, so many of whom do not attend Jewish day school, to be together to learn songs and prayers, holidays and text; a place to study for their simchat mitzvah; and a place to grapple with and hopefully connect to our traditions.

“More than that,” said Oreck, “I want to acknowledge the founders and stewards of Or Shalom for creating a Jewish spiritual community fit for Jewish life and Jewish families today…. The first net-zero synagogue in Canada. A shul with access for people with disabilities. A place where you can come as you are…. A place of songs without words, niggunim, creating more open access to Jewish families of all backgrounds. A Jewish home that incorporates nature, culture, place and community. There is nothing like us in Vancouver.”

photo - Guests check out the synagogue’s new classroom — Guests check out the synagogue’s new classroom. (photo by Wendy D)

When Labowitz returned the bimah, he said, “This moment was built through thousands of visible and invisible acts of devotion, through generosity and patience, through courage, through people saying yes again and again, even when the road was long.” He thanked not only major donors but “those whose gifts may never appear on a plaque but are written into the soul of this place.”

“Judaism understands that there is a holy relationship between the vessel and the light that it carries,” he said. “The vessel alone is not enough, but light without a vessel can scatter and disappear. This renewed bayit is a vessel for the light of Or Shalom. And it is preparing the way for more or [light]: more song, more questioning, more justice, more tenderness, more learning and more becoming, more or.

“This building will continue to hold so much life,” said the rabbi. “These walls will hear children playing, elders teaching, mourners grieving and community growing. They will hold disagreement and reconciliation, search and discovery. They will shelter people who feel at home in Judaism and people still searching for their spiritual home.

“My hope is that everyone who walks through these doors will feel there is room for their whole self here,” said Labowitz, because “that is what sacred community is and can be at its best…. So, we return not simply to a renovated space but to a renewed sense of possibility.”

In calling Dresner up to speak, Labowitz praised her “wisdom, vision, determination and relentless devotion helped bring this dream into a reality.”

“I’m thrilled to be here to mark this milestone in the unfolding of Or Shalom’s history,” said Dresner. “I did put the renovation bug into John Fuerst’s eager ear and, later, I was privileged to write the story of Or Shalom for our seminal Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation grant. Now, I shep nachas, meaning ‘at rest,’ as in resting on my laurels. And I derive profound satisfaction in your achievement bringing this project to near-enough completion. The blessing we celebrate today is not just of a refurbished bayit and what it can hold. We also celebrate the courageous innovations of our leaders who keep Or Shalom on the cutting edge of inclusion and on the cutting edge of social justice work, of dialogue and of spiritual expression in the Jewish world.

“For our elders who created this outreach organization to answer their own unmet needs, this is a celebration of an era and its threshold of paying it forward, as they have given way to renewed policies and modalities that centre you who will carry Or Shalom into its next era,” she continued. “They decided not to wind the experiment of Or Shalom down with their eldering, but instead to outfit her for the next generation, midor l’dor, to bless the next generation with a well-run organization, comfortable in its finances, strong in its professional and lay leadership…. In response and in gratitude, the youngers, you must care for our current role models, taking over their delivery of gemilut chesed, institutional loving kindness, taking over their heroic volunteerism more and more so that they too have a chance to shep nachas, rest in the stewardship of Or Shalom’s younger members, delight in the gorgeous kindness and creativity of the next wave.”

Dresner offered the congregation a benediction framed around the week’s Torah portion, Naso, in which Moshe finishes setting up the tabernacle and sanctifies it. After, Labowitz introduced the mezuzah hanging.

“So, we started this process with a shovel and we’re going to end with a hammer,” he said. “And we have a very special mezuzah that has been gifted to us by our members Harriet Lemur and Ron Einblau.”

photo - Rabbi Arik Labowitz, left, and Jewish Federation of BC’s Ezra Shanken participate in the mezuzah hanging — Rabbi Arik Labowitz, left, and Jewish Federation of BC’s Ezra Shanken participate in the mezuzah hanging. *(photo by Wendy D)*

The mezuzah contains shards from the glass that was broken at the renovation’s groundbreaking ceremony last year. Before it was affixed to the door coming into the sanctuary, Josh presented to Labowitz and Or Shalom the gift of a painting. The pastor said he would miss having the congregation as Cityview’s guests.

“I’m going to miss the oneness of spirit,” said Josh. “I’m going to miss the love, the deep love, the gracious love that we show to one another. And I’m going to miss the friendship, the deep, deep friendships that we’ve made. And can I tell you that we would not have known any of those things if we had stayed closeted in our buildings and not reached out.”

Josh was the first person to help Labowitz hang the mezuzah, followed by Jewish Federation of BC chief executive officer Ezra Shanken, Hardybala, Dresner and Fuerst.

“Thank you all for being here,” said Labowitz. “Thank you for being a part of this moment.”

Road to independence

The 96-year-old history of the Jewish Independent, which serves as a continuous record of Jewish communal life in British Columbia, was the topic of the second lecture in the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture’s 2026 Doikayt Speaker Series.

In a webinar titled “A Labour of Love: A Brief History of the Jewish Independent,” publisher Cynthia Ramsay discussed how the paper might even be more than 100 years old.

In 1925, there was a mimeograph – copies were printed using a hand-cranked machine – called the Vancouver Jewish Bulletin. Its connection to the 1928 mimeograph called the Centre Bulletin, the known origins of the JI, are unclear. Regardless, it wasn’t until the newspaper, by then called the Jewish Western Bulletin, was launched in tabloid form in 1930 that the clock on its history began.

image - Dr. JI Gorosh (pictured here in the Jewish Western Bulletin in 1952) was the first printer and editor of a local Bulletin, in 1925. That publication’s connection to the Jewish Independent’s predecessor, the JWB, first published in tabloid form in 1930, is unclear — Dr. JI Gorosh (pictured here in the Jewish Western Bulletin in 1952) was the first printer and editor of a local Bulletin, in 1925. That publication’s connection to the Jewish Independent’s predecessor, the JWB, first published in tabloid form in 1930, is unclear.

In its early years, the paper had to compete for local readers with a few other publications, both in English and Yiddish. Volunteers from the Vancouver Jewish Administrative Council, a precursor to the Jewish Federation of BC, initially oversaw the running of the paper.

“In 1937, one of the sales guys, Harry Musikansky, had the idea that the paper’s costs could be shifted over to a publisher, and the publisher could get all the advertising and keep all of the revenue, while the council kept editorial control,” Ramsay said.

This model, despite facing continual monetary challenges, endured into the 1960s. While David Sears took over as publisher for a year, in 1939, Musikansky took over the position and held it until 1945. There were several different editors during the publication’s early decades.

One subsequent publisher, Goodman Florence, demonstrated his frustration with trying to please the community in a 1949 editorial, shortly before he resigned. Florence observed that though “readers want everything under the sun and up to date, I have yet to be able to completely sell the simple fact that to do all of this requires considerable revenue.”

In 1949, Abe Arnold took over the reins of the paper as publisher, while his wife, Bertha, handled advertising. “As is the case in the newspaper in the early years, the male counterpart is front and centre. [Abe] Arnold ran the paper, but Bertha was in the background doing a hell of a lot of stuff,” Ramsay said.

The couple stayed on until 1960. Their 11-year tenure was filled with issues concerning revenue and salary, criticisms over the direction of the newspaper’s coverage, and debates on editorial partiality and council’s control over editorial decisions. In the 1950s, the main controversies seem to have been the United Jewish People Order’s expulsion from council (Zionist/right versus left) and kashrut-related letters/ads (orthodoxy versus other forms of Judaism), said Ramsay.

In 1960, Sam and Mona Kaplan came in from Winnipeg to steer the paper, and they would remain at the helm for 35 years. By 1962, the couple were able to turn down the decades-old community subsidy.

“The Kaplans really didn’t want to be at all connected financially to the council. There continued to be a publications committee; however, its role seemed to be reduced. The council still was able to put pretty much any advertising and event listings into the paper, but it seems like they really didn’t have much control over the paper,” Ramsay said.

The Kaplans used this independence to advocate for Soviet Jewry, Syrian Jews, Israel, Jewish education and other Jewish causes and institutions.

Ramsay’s history with the paper started in the summer of 1998, when she arrived as a proofreader. (For a short time in the late 1990s, an American publishing company managed the paper after the Kaplans retired.)

An economist by training, Ramsay’s intention was to return to Ottawa after her temporary position had ended. However, the lure of journalism proved too strong, and she decided to stay. In 1999, she, along with Pat Johnson and Kyle Berger, purchased the paper.

Johnson and Berger eventually moved onto other work, and Ramsay became the sole owner. In 2005, she chose to change the name, for several reasons. (See jewishindependent.ca/oldsite/archives/july05/archives05july22-11.html.)

“We had a contest for names,” she told the Peretz audience. “I didn’t like any of the names, so I picked the Independent. I had wanted to do the Optimist, but found out there was the Delta Optimist already.”

Ramsay shared a quote from the initial manifestation of the community publication, when Dr. JI Gorosh penned an editorial on July 15, 1925. He said the Bulletin would “work steadfastly and faithfully for the welfare of the Jewish community as a whole.” The aim then, as it is now, was to be the medium through which the Jewish community can express its ideals and announce its activities.

“We will strive not to deteriorate into a mere social gossip sheet, but to be a real service paper with a definite place in the life of the community,” Gorosh wrote.

Echoing that sentiment, Ramsay wrote in an editorial for the 95th anniversary issue of the paper: “While not ignoring the hurtful, the divisions, the controversies in our community or the larger universe, we try to cover stories in a way that doesn’t depress and paralyze action, but rather opens the door for solutions or at least positive attempts at change. We don’t want readers to put down the newspaper in despair, but rather to think about what they can do to contribute to a better world, whatever that means to them.”

The Independent may be the longest continually running Jewish newspaper in Canada, as countless other publications across the country have come and gone, or merged, over the last 96 years.

Ramsay said she would like to pass the paper on to another owner or owners after the paper celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2030, when she’ll be 60 and ready to retire.

“I’d like to get it to that point,” she said. “I truly think it is a treasure. I do want its future to be long, so I’ll be very careful with who I pass it on to. Hopefully someone wants it, because it is a labour of love at the end of the day.”

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Preserving links to past

Screenshot from Jordan Amit’s video on the former Jewish settlement of Edenbridge, Sask. The synagogue and the Jewish cemetery are cared for by the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation.

Almost 120 years ago, 56 Jews fled Lithuania and ended up in a remote Saskatchewan prairie that would become the community of Edenbridge. The town and its people have scattered to the winds – but the spirit of the place comes to life again in a short video by North Vancouver filmmaker Jordan Amit.

In addition to filmmaking – which he hopes to turn into his main gig – Amit has a window-washing business and, for years, traveled to Alberta and Saskatchewan for seasonal work. Through the Chabad rabbi in Saskatoon, he learned about the abandoned Jewish settlement, which lies about two-and-a-half hours northeast of Saskatoon – the last leg on a dirt road.

The shul is beautifully maintained – or it was when Amit took his camera there – and the small synagogue is open to the public. Said to be the oldest shul in the province, the site, which includes the Jewish cemetery, is cared for by the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, which was granted a 40-acre plot in 1987, when the rest of the Jewish settlement’s land was sold.

photo - The Jewish cemetery at the former Jewish settlement of Edenbridge, Sask — The Jewish cemetery at the former Jewish settlement of Edenbridge, Sask. *(photo by Jordan Amit)*

The Litvaks, Lithuanian Jews, who came here did not set out for one of the coldest, most unforgiving places on earth. They traveled first to South Africa, where one of their party, Sam Vickar, saw an ad for cheap land in the Canadian West. They uprooted again, arriving in 1906 at what they would call Edenbridge.

Originally, they wanted to call it Jewtown, but the government balked. They chose Edenbridge as a sort of Anglicization of “yidden bridge,” reflecting the bridge that traversed the small Carrot River nearby.

On their initial 160 acres, bought for $10, they built Beth Israel Synagogue. Expanding out into other fields, three schools, a Jewish community hall and numerous houses would eventually form the structures of a community that, at its peak in the 1920s, was home to 170 people.

Indigenous neighbours helped teach them how to survive the first winter with sod-roofed dugouts.

While other Jewish settlements in Saskatchewan were funded by Baron Maurice de Hirsch, Edenbridge does not appear to have received such support, Amit said, though he doesn’t know that for sure.

The Depression and the general trend toward urbanization started a decline in the town and, by 1964, the synagogue ceased operation. The exact date of Edenbridge’s transition into ghost town status is vague, in part because local farmers moved to Saskatoon and returned seasonally to farm.

At the cemetery, the last gravestone is dated 2000, a departed resident who chose to be interred in the cemetery of the abandoned village. The last bar mitzvah at the shul was more recent – the child of one of the community’s descendants, in 2021. Amit had his own bar there, too. Born in Israel, he came with his family to Vancouver as a child and never became bar mitzvah. So, his friend and rabbi in Saskatoon suggested he have a belated ceremony at the historical site, and it was the first since 1976.

As more people have seen the video online, descendants of the settlers have reached out to him. He is piecing more history of Edenbridge together, and also is on the lookout for additional off-the-beaten-path Jewish (and non-Jewish) sites to explore for his growing online video explorations.

photo - Jordan Amit — Jordan Amit (photo from Jordan Amit)

“I always have this feeling when I see Jewish sites that are kind of in the middle of nowhere, there’s something so fascinating about it,” he said, recalling a trip to the Indian province of Kerala, where he explored three abandoned synagogues. “When you go into the synagogue, it’s a special experience. You go in and you just feel this presence of the building and the silence.”

Amit invites anyone with knowledge of Edenbridge, or ideas for future videos, to contact him at streetgemstravels@gmail.com. He also recommends road-trippers make the diversion to the remote location to see the place themselves.

“It’s fully open to the public,” he said. “You just open the latch and walk inside. You only see that in Saskatchewan, that kind of trust. They just trust that it’s going to get taken care of and respected.”

In the story of Edenbridge, Amit contemplates the settlers’ tenacity and the opportunities, sometimes hard won, of newcomers to a land.

“[It is] something we could learn from, that despite difficulties of life and all the odds against us in realizing our dreams, really, if we put our mind to it, we can do whatever we want,” he said. “We can self-realize and create the life that we want, just like they did.”

Multiple membership models

Years ago, I briefly served on a synagogue board and did some research into membership dues. Some congregations had flat rates. Others had scales according to income or age. Others had no set dues, members gave according to what they felt they could give, with the congregation merely offering suggested amounts. There are plenty of articles on this topic, and even a book by rabbis Kerry Olitzky and Ari Olitzky. Synagogues cost money to run: salaries, buildings and activities are expensive. If we want Jewish life to continue, we need to consider this because synagogues offer us education, community, lifecycle events and more. However, there is no one size fits all when it comes to membership models.

Just as there are many models for dues, there are different ideas about new members. Some congregations post their membership application forms online and indicate where to submit the finished paperwork. Others offer membership information via email or post when it’s requested. Still others insist that the potential congregant meet with the executive director to gain access to the paperwork or the requirements for membership.

My husband and I have moved a lot in nearly 25 years of marriage. That has included “shul hopping” within communities sometimes. We’ve formally belonged to seven congregations, and attended services at many other places. Our experience hasn’t been limited to one North American movement. Due to our families’ diverse affiliations, geographic limitations and shifting needs, we’ve been members at Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox and unaffiliated congregations. We joke, when asked, that “we get around.”

All this resurfaced while I read about Toronto Congregation Beth Tzedec’s recent experiment with membership. This congregation saw that members under age 40 paid only 5% of their total operating income. By waiving dues for members under 40, Beth Tzedec gained 900 members in eight months, according to a recent JTA article. This remarkable leap in membership shows just how much of an obstacle membership dues are for many younger Jewish people in Canada.

For years, when I joined a congregation in a new place, I was asked to join committees, lead services, teach, volunteer or provide other services. Only very rarely did any of these congregations ask first, “What can we do to meet your needs?” or “What are you hoping to gain from this experience?” While it sounds crass to see this as a solely “transactional” experience, it can be painful to spend a lot of money to support a place that sees no obligation to create a relationship or a meaningful experience with its new and/or younger members.

Few congregations have new members start by meeting with a rabbi or cantor or other engagement professional. The first interaction is almost always with an executive director who is essentially asking, “How much can you pay us?” While congregations almost always state that they don’t turn down anyone due to lack of funds for membership, in practice, many people are turned away. They’re turned away or turned off because they don’t even make the embarrassing first appointment where they must admit they cannot afford the full costs of membership.

We just signed on the dotted line at a big, established congregation because our twins are nearing b’nai mitzvah age. We’ve been regular synagogue attendees for years. We had asked about membership when I was pregnant and, at the meeting with the executive director, we felt as though we were being interviewed to join a country club. As older first-time parents, we saw the membership cost was delineated by age and we fell into a more expensive category. Our roof was leaking, we were expecting twins. Our decision was easy – we fixed the roof. Synagogue membership could wait.

Over the years, we briefly joined two other congregations to access their educational opportunities or community events. In the end, though, we faced the same process over a decade later, with a different executive director. He told us that no one was turned away. However, the paperwork indicated that, unless we paid the building fee plus membership dues plus b’nai mitzvah charge, we couldn’t have a lifecycle event at the congregation. That upfront cost was about 4% of our gross annual income, which is a large chunk of change. That’s before paying for a Kiddush luncheon or family celebration.

There’s no one answer to this challenge. Here are some ideas based on our anecdotal experience.

Make synagogue membership paperwork and financial information easily available on a website or via email. It shouldn’t be a secret, offered only in a face-to-face meeting with the executive director. This isn’t a good first impression. Potential members might also want to meet with a rabbi, cantor or other professional rather than the executive director.

Second, consider a membership model that provides multiple options based on income rather than age or a flat fee. There will always be older members who earn less income and younger people who can afford more.

Third, create an environment where members will not begrudge further donations. If the membership fee is a suggestion, and is affordable enough so that people can manage it, then a happy member may want to donate more money in the future. A supportive congregation and positive community experience is worth a lot! Members who sense that level of support are willing to pay for it.

Finally, recognize that many “middle-class” incomes don’t cover the cost of living the way they used to. Due to inflation, a professional who, for instance, works as a teacher or at a nonprofit may not have much expendable income. Find ways in which professionals might volunteer hours in lieu of part of their membership fees. Despite education and experience, these professionals have often been asked to volunteer for work in a Jewish context that one would have paid for elsewhere. They pay for membership that they perhaps couldn’t afford – for the privilege of also volunteering expertise.

We need each other for many reasons. Membership dues are not just for a minyan but also for the building where the minyan meets. Our tradition teaches us that every person is valuable, that embarrassment should be avoided at all cost, and that Jewish communities are essential. Synagogue membership models should reflect those teachings, too.

Joanne Seiff has written regularly for CBC Manitoba and various Jewish publications. She is the author of three books, including From the Outside In: Jewish Post Columns 2015-2016, a collection of essays available for digital download or as a paperback from Amazon. Check her out on Instagram @yrnspinner or at joanneseiff.blogspot.com.

Building sense of community

This past summer at Camp Hatikvah, the 13-year-old campers were asked to re-create a camp photo from the 1960s. (photo from Camp Hatikvah)

If any Camp Hatikvah alumni stepped onto the property for the first time since the early 2000s, they would be in awe. With the exception of the chadar (dining hall), every single building on site has been rebuilt over the years thanks to the generosity of the community. The facilities are safe, modern and thoughtfully planned to ensure the best program possible can be delivered to the close to 700 participants Hatikvah hosts each summer.

However, even more impressive than what has changed at Camp Hatikvah over the years, is what hasn’t.

“Our site has certainly improved a lot over time and the new facilities have led to exciting program

opportunities for our campers but, with great pride, our program remains deeply steeped in the same traditions that existed when the camp was founded some 75 years ago,” shared executive director Liza Rozen-Delman.

Rozen-Delman went on to say that, while alumni from any previous era who visited the camp may not recognize the buildings, they would feel immediately at home.

“Everything would be familiar to them. The mifkad (flag raising/lowering) ceremony is performed verbatim to how it was done in the ’40s. We still start every meal by singing ‘Anachnu od lo achalnu shum davar …’ followed by the blessings. The Kochot campers still try to sneak past shmira (night watch) after bedtime and final banquet is still the most special night of the summer,” she said with a smile.

It’s hard not to smile with her, as you can see the passion for Jewish camping all over her face as she speaks about the generations of children who have been impacted by Hatikvah.

“It’s a place like no other,” Rozen-Delman said. “It is where thousands of kids had the chance to experience a fully Jewish environment for the first time in their lives. It’s beautiful and I am grateful to be able to be a part of it.”

Joanna Wasel, board president, couldn’t agree more. She said Jewish camp is one of the most impactful ways to help children form a strong and proud Jewish identity. It works, she said, “specifically because the learning at camp is informal. It doesn’t come from lectures but from immersive Jewish experiences that are shared amongst a community of peers. It’s powerful and effective. Quite frankly, it’s brilliant.”

photo - One of the photos from the 1960s that Camp Hatikvah 13-year-olds re-created last summer — One of the photos from the 1960s that Camp Hatikvah 13-year-olds re-created last summer. *(photo from Camp Hatikvah)*

During these complicated times, when youth are experiencing mental health issues at an unprecedented rate, Hatikvah’s focus on tradition is also helping campers go back to a simpler time. “We are a technology-free zone,” noted Rozen-Delman, who went on to say that camp offers children a much-needed respite from social media. “Being unplugged is freeing,” she said. “It’s one of the greatest gifts we can give the children of today.”

Rozen-Delman spoke about the joy she feels when kids engage in the type of back-to-basics fun that the camp environment can provide. She recalled a program the 13-year-old campers did this past summer, where they were given an historical camp photo from the early 1960s and asked to re-create it.

“It’s not always easy to get a 13-year-old excited about a program, so I was unsure what the reaction would be,” she said. “But these kids reveled in the opportunity to do something creative and different. They went to their cabins, got dressed up and had the most amazing time giggling with each other as they performed their task. It was so pure. And I loved the photos they took, as it connected them with the past and reminded them that they are a part of a community of people who have been touched by this special camp.”

– Courtesy Camp Hatikvah

Getting back into traditions

Camp Miriam adapted during the pandemic, but nothing quite compares to being back in the old stomping grounds of Gabriola Island. (photo from Camp Miriam)

Camp Miriam is a place that holds fast to tradition. This tendency is obvious if you just look around: tables in the chadar (dining hall) are signed and dated by the former chanichimot (campers) who painted them, with the oldest table proudly displaying an impressive “1997.” Besides the tables, Camp Miriam has been running educational and Labour Zionist-oriented programming since it opened in 1948. Camp Miriam has a solid foundation of tradition and is not a place accustomed to rapid or unexpected change.

If Camp Miriam is so deeply rooted in tradition, how, then, to return to its customs after they were so rapidly and unexpectedly interrupted during the past couple of years? With 2022 constituting the first year that Camp Miriam could offer campers a full-capacity summer on Gabriola Island since 2019, there were many traditions to get back to. I, for one, had started to forget what it feels like when all of camp holds hands on Saturday nights during Havdalah. I was also having a hard time recalling the early morning energy that fills machaneh (camp) at 8 a.m., when around 200 chanichimot and tzevet (staff) are just waking up, eager to meet the day.

Of course, I did get around to remembering both the longstanding customs and everyday activities that take place at camp. But I didn’t do it alone. This summer, I worked as a madatz madrichol (counselor-in-training counselor), one of four madatz madrichimot, meaning I spent a lot of time with youth aged 16 to 17. As future leaders of Camp Miriam, the madatz were grateful to have the chance to take part in the leadership development program, especially after having lost valuable experiences to the pandemic. Throughout the summer, I watched them grow, face challenges and become people who will be important guides in the lives of Camp Miriam campers for years to come. I was impressed and humbled by all they accomplished, and it is largely through them that I was able to remember what it means to be at Camp Miriam.

So what does it mean? Camp offers lots of opportunity for personal development and growth and, at the same time, it provides a nearly criminal amount of fun, both for chanichimot and tzevet. There is avodah (labour) and a chance to take care of their summer “home,” and there are chuggim (interest groups), where kids chose an activity that interests them, like pretending to be Vikings, or swimming or making friendship bracelets. We all explored Gabriola and Vancouver Islands on tiyul (out trips), shared Shabbatot together, and contributed to meaningful conversations in daily educational programming blocks, during which we covered topics from consumerist culture to antisemitism.

While Camp Miriam adapted during the pandemic, nothing quite compares to being back in the old stomping grounds of Gabriola Island. Sure, maybe madrichimot had to explain basic elements of camp to kids more times than usual, but the synapses of the Camp Miriam community were firing and, together, we remembered. It is not a far cry to consider the summer of 2022 as a triumph – both in recovering the institutional memory of Camp Miriam, and in providing campers with meaningful summers. I, for one, know that more than one madatz went home with stories they’ll be telling to their own children.

Reflecting back on the summer, I can’t help but feel a certain amount of pride. There is pride in remembering, and it is thanks to this recovered memory that Camp Miriam will continue to grow.

Emma Paidra has been a chanichol (camper) at Camp Miriam since 2009 and she is a fifth-year madrichol (counselor).

A religious pilgrimage

Bohras in prayer at the marble open-air mosque located on the grounds of Barzilai Medical Centre. (photo from Ron Lobel)

The Barzilai Medical Centre in Ashkelon, Israel, is known for treating victims of border skirmishes with Gaza. It is also the former home of a tomb where a Shi’a Muslim sect known as Dawoodi Bohras (or Bohras) still make pilgrimages. Bohras believe that the head of Husayn ibn Ali, a grandson of the founder of Islam, Prophet Mohammed, was buried here in 680 AD, following his death in battle.

While many Shi’as believe that Husayn’s complete body was buried at Karbala, Iraq, others, like the Bohras, claim that his head was hidden in Ashkelon and then taken away centuries later to Egypt to prevent desecration by European Crusaders. Despite that its final resting place might be in Egypt, the location in Ashkelon continues to attract pilgrims.

Dawoodi Bohras number around one million adherents worldwide – though some estimates are as high as five million – and trace their ancestry to Egypt during the Fatimid Caliphate. They eventually migrated to India via Yemen after the Caliphate ended in 1171 AD. Today, Bohras live mostly in Western India, with smaller communities in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Kenya and elsewhere.

Dr. Ron Lobel, former deputy director of the medical centre, has met with various pilgrims and described them as “very decent people who visit quietly and respectfully.” He continued, “You hardly notice when they’re here.”

Lobel said, wherever Bohras hail from, they converse in Lisan U Dawat, which is similar to Gujarati, with Arabic and Farsi influences, reflecting their Middle Eastern roots. Unlike the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, there is no specific time prescribed to visit Ashkelon. Therefore, pilgrims visit whenever they are able to do so.

Bohras are of the Ismaili Shi’a subdivision and have a centralized leadership, currently headed by the 53rd da’i al-mutlaq: Mufaddal Saifudeen. The Bohras’ leadership lineage can be traced directly to Prophet Mohammed. The Druze, who today live in Israel and the Levant, split off from Ismaili Shi’as in 1017 AD and now identify as a different religion altogether.

The pilgrimage site in Israel has had structures atop that were constantly demolished and rebuilt throughout history. The last standing one was a mosque named Mashhad al-Husayn, which was razed in 1950 by Moshe Dayan despite protests by Shmuel Yeivin, then director of the Department of Antiquities. The Barzilai Medical Centre was opened in 1961, and they contend that they “had no clue that the hill within the premises was a sacred site.”

Although pilgrims had visited prior to 1948, the first known group to visit after Israeli independence came in 1980, shortly after relations between Israel and Egypt were normalized. According to Aliasgher Zakir from Kenya, these pilgrims were Indian and Kenyan Bohras who had recently moved to Egypt for business purposes. Most pilgrims also visit Jerusalem, for its religious and historical significance.

In 2000, the 52nd dai, Mohammed Burhanuddin (the father of Da’i Al-mutlaq Mufaddal Saifudeen), visited during an excavation that uncovered remnants of historic structures barely a metre below the ground. Subsequently, a marble platform was installed, which now serves as an open-air mosque for pilgrims.

“Just like us Jews, they are very stubborn about keeping their old traditions, language and customs alive,” Lobel said with a chuckle. He added that, while Muslims from other sects have also visited, only Dawoodi Bohras show consistency in making pilgrimage as an organized community.

Avi Kumar is an historian and freelance writer. He has lived in six countries and speaks 10 languages. His work has been published in many countries, from his native Sri Lanka to Israel and Ireland, and he has written on a variety of topics, including history, wildlife and linguistics.

New foundation established

Mark Gurvis returns to Vancouver as head of the new Ronald Roadburg Foundation. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver)

Feb. 1 was Mark Gurvis’s first full day on the job as chief executive officer of the Ronald Roadburg Foundation. A newly established Vancouver-based organization, the foundation aims to bolster Jewish communities locally and internationally while developing innovative solutions to challenging societal issues.

A fixture in the community when he headed the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver from 2002 to 2013, Gurvis is excited to be back in town.

“I had a wonderful professional experience and my family had a wonderful life experience being part of the community,” he told the Independent. “We had a great run with the Federation. It is great to come back to a fresh opportunity. We are looking forward to getting involved again.”

At the outset, Gurvis will be busy doing many of the things needed to get a young foundation up and running: sorting out technical matters, getting the office organized, and reaching out to and reconnecting with people to determine the needs of the community.

“This is a complete start-up,” said Gurvis. “As with any new organization, an awful lot goes into the beginning to work out vision, goals and priorities. We have all of that ahead of us. We have a lot to learn about the current state of affairs in each area of focus we want to dive into and explore how we can best make a difference with the resources that will become available. There is a lot of organizational development stuff to tend to as well in starting up an organization from scratch.”

The foundation will be active in examining and assessing the needs of the community. “It’s too early to be putting oars in the water and say this is where we are going,” Gurvis stressed. “I encourage everyone to be patient as we do all the things to get the focus of the organization in place and then see how we can have a positive impact on the community and the region.”

Gurvis has had a full schedule since leaving his job at the Jewish Federation. He was executive vice-president of Jewish Federations of North America through 2020. In 2021, he created Community Network Consulting, a venture that focused on the strategy of nonprofits, community planning and organizational development.

Upon learning of the new position opening up, however, it seemed like the right opportunity to return to Vancouver, he said.

The Ronald Roadburg Foundation was founded by Jack Bogdonov, Stephen Gaerber and Bernard Pinsky, all of whom serve on its board. Gurvis, as CEO of Federation, worked with Gaerber, who was chair of the Coast-to-Coast partnership with the Galilee Panhandle in Israel, and with Pinsky, who was involved with the Jewish Federations of Canada (JFC-UIA).

“We recognized Mark’s intellect, creativity, calm demeanor, and ability to build consensus among constituencies as second to none among all Jewish professionals we had encountered,” said Pinsky. “When Jack, Stephen and I looked for a CEO that could help us accomplish the transformational change we aim for, there was only one person we reached out to: Mark Gurvis.”

Pinksy added, “Our board agrees that we are very fortunate to have Mark join us and, in our view, Mark gives us a big leg up on other start-up foundations because of all of the qualities mentioned above, as well as Mark’s depth and breadth of knowledge of the Jewish community, in Vancouver, Canada, the United States, Israel and the world.”

Ronald Roadburg, the foundation’s namesake, was a local businessman who passed away in 2021. Born and raised in Vancouver, he learned business from his father, Al Roadburg, who also headed the family enterprise, Broadway Properties.

“Two things his father taught him that he especially took to heart were: own property that is where people immediately know its location; and try not to sell properties, ever. These two principles led to the Roadburgs’ great success in the property business. Ron’s will left most of his assets to charity, and the foundation named after him will carry out his intention,” Pinsky said.

To those who knew him, Ronald Roadburg stood out for his sense of humour and compassion. “He loved helping people and he loved animals. He loved art, supporting local artists, and he collected many whimsical and unusual pieces,” Pinsky recalled. “During the last 10 years of his life, he was a director and participated wholeheartedly in making donations to worthy causes through a foundation established by his father.”

Roadburg commissioned numerous murals, which still appear on buildings that he owned around town. He championed several causes to help the less privileged in society and was an unwavering supporter of Israel.

The Ronald Roadburg Foundation will be situated on West Broadway. Over the next few months, the leadership will be honing its focus on specific areas of philanthropic investment and establishing its grant-making policies and practices. To learn more about the foundation, visit roadburgfund.org.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Opening of Dayson Residences

The Dayson and Barnett families were on hand to celebrate the opening of Tikva Housing Society’s Ben and Esther Dayson Residences. (photo from Tikva Housing)

Although the weather was not ideal, almost 100 people attended the opening of Tikva Housing Society’s Ben and Esther Dayson Residences on Sept. 26.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event had to be held outside under tents. Rhonda Sacks, chair of Tikva, welcomed everyone and thanked the Ben and Esther Dayson Charitable Foundation and the Dayson and Barnett families for their ongoing generosity and support. She acknowledged the three generations of the Dayson and Barnett families who were present and the importance of the younger ones to witness this momentous occasion.

Sacks recognized the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver for understanding the immediate need for affordable housing in the Jewish community and thanked them for their leadership and advocacy. Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation, brought greetings and reiterated the importance of not only saying thank you but also showing the younger generation how, because of their great-grandparents, the community is taking care of those in need of affordable housing.

Philip Dayson spoke on behalf of the family and mentioned that it was the desire of his mother, Esther Dayson, to help those less fortunate and to have a lasting legacy, like these townhomes.

photo - The younger generation of the Dayson/Barnett family cut the ribbon at the opening of Tikva Housing Society’s Ben and Esther Dayson Residences — The younger generation of the Dayson/Barnett family cut the ribbon at the opening of Tikva Housing Society’s Ben and Esther Dayson Residences. *(photo from Tikva Housing)*

Many of the residents in attendance took the opportunity to personally thank the donors and their families.

Hannah Amar, one of the residents at the Dayson Residences, spoke on behalf of the 32 families who live there. She spoke of the importance of having safe and secure accommodation, especially during COVID, and how grateful she is to Tikva and to its donors for her beautiful home.

This housing development is part of a partnership of the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Community Land Trust; there were many donors and partners on the project.

More than 100 people live in the residences, including almost 60 children. As one of the residents said, “The sense of community and Jewish life is beyond what we could have imagined. We are so fortunate to be living here.”

The event also paid tribute to Susana Cogan, z’l, who was the driving force behind Tikva Housing from 2009 to 2017. Cogan was instrumental in developing these residences, as well as others that Tikva owns and/or operates. A commemorative bench in her memory sits adjacent to the children’s playground.

For more information about Tikva Housing, call the office at 778-998-4582.

– Courtesy Tikva Housing

A sapling grows in Jerusalem

A sapling seeded by Anne Frank’s horse-chestnut tree in Amsterdam is growing at Yad Vashem, near its International Institute for Holocaust Research. (photo by Gil Zohar)

treJerusalem and its environs have many historic trees, including the grove of gnarled olives in the Garden of Gethsemane, under which Jesus may have sheltered two millennia ago; the looming cypress planted by Godefroy de Bouillon, today the site of Hôpital Saint Louis, but where French knights camped in 1099 during the first Crusade; and the 700-year-old Kermes Oak that stands alone in Gush Etzion, south of the city. And now, there is another – a sapling seeded by Anne Frank’s white horse-chestnut tree in Amsterdam, which is growing at Yad Vashem, near its International Institute for Holocaust Research.

Initially, Yad Vashem was concerned that the chestnut tree would not acclimate to Jerusalem’s long, dry summers, but it is doing well.

For more than two years until her arrest on Aug. 4, 1944, Frank (1929-1945) hid in her family’s secret annex at Prinsengracht 263-265. Through a window in the attic that was not blacked out, she admired the chestnut tree, planted around 1850, that stood in the courtyard of a neighbouring residential block, at 188 Keizersgracht just north of the landmark Westerkerk. The tree was her only connection to the outside world and the changing seasons.

Frank wrote about the tree three times in her diary. On the last occasion, on May 13, 1944, she observed: “Our chestnut tree is in full bloom. It’s covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year.”

A month earlier, on April 18, 1944, she wrote: “April is glorious, not too hot and not too cold, with occasional light showers. Our chestnut tree is in leaf, and here and there you can already see a few small blossoms.”

The first reference was on Feb. 23, 1944, when Frank noted: “The two of us [Peter van Pels and Frank] looked out at the blue sky, the bare chestnut tree glistening with dew, the seagulls and other birds glinting with silver as they swooped through the air, and we were so moved and entranced that we couldn’t speak.”

For decades, the storied tree was cared for by Amsterdam’s Pius Floris Tree Care at the behest of the city’s Central Borough Council. In 2005, it was determined that the tree was ailing, and valiant efforts were made to save it.

In the meantime, Anne Frank House asked permission of the tree’s owner to gather and germinate chestnuts. The saplings – grown and cared for by Bonte Hoek Nurseries – were donated to schools around the world named after Anne Frank, and other organizations. In 2009, 150 saplings of the tree were donated to Amsterdamse Bos woodland park.

A sapling was recently planted in Vienna’s 2nd district – a neigbourhood that had many Jewish residents before the Anschluss in 1938. Another was planted in Ajaccio, Corsica, to honour the Righteous Among the Nations there. And 11 chestnut trees are growing in the United States, including one at Manhattan’s Liberty Park commemorating 9/11, thanks to the sapling project of the New York-based Anne Frank Centre for Mutual Respect.

As for the original tree, in 2008, the Support Anne Frank Tree Foundation placed iron struts around it to prop it up, hoping the tree would remain standing for further decades. But it was already too rotten. During a violent rainstorm on Aug. 23, 2010, the tree collapsed together with the girders supporting it, leaving a one-metre high stump.

On its website, the Dutch-based Support Anne Frank Tree Foundation responds to the question, was the battle to save the tree all for nothing?

“The answer is a resounding no!” they say. “The tree and the struggle to preserve it … has fulfilled an important task in an extraordinary manner: the reawakening of the world’s collective memory of the Holocaust and a call for tolerance and mutual respect. The seedlings planted all over the world will continue to spread the message, a grand and dignified final stage in the life of this tree. This would not have happened were it not for the battle for its preservation.”

Gil Zohar is a journalist based in Jerusalem.