Tag: Ed Lewin

Community milestones … Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation, Chabad Richmond

The Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation announces David Zacks, KC, as chair of the 2023/24 The Brier, Their Home campaign.

photo - David Zacks
David Zacks (photo from Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation)

Born and raised in Vancouver, Zacks has been an active member of the Jewish community for more than five decades. He practised banking and finance law and was recognized globally for his professional achievements. He is a Life Bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia and was appointed King’s Counsel in 2002. In his retirement, Zacks is devoting time and energy to a variety of charitable causes, including the Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation. He is most proud of his two sons and their spouses and his five grandchildren.

The Louis Brier Home and Hospital is the home of 32 Holocaust survivors. The Brier understands the depth of the complexity of care to be delivered in providing clinical, spiritual and psychological attention to this sector of our community. Most residents come to Louis Brier older, frailer and with more complex health needs than ever before. Holocaust survivors are an especially fragile group because of their cumulative trauma. Aging, for them, can often be a time of severe crisis, and presents the risk of retraumatization.

The Brier is one of the most important and resource-demanding establishments in the Vancouver Jewish community. For more than 60 years, 24/7, 365 days a year, the home and hospital cares for the most susceptible and often extremely ill members of our community with both clinical and emotional support. They are carefully guided through their most vulnerable and difficult times by the staff, who know that caring for this generation means not only providing critical clinical care, but equally providing opportunities for enjoyment and engagement – the Brier strives to be a joyous place for elders to live.

The Brier campaign takes place every two years. It is the main source of funding, and the Brier Foundation’s main fundraising endeavour. The funds raised cover the basic annual needs of the home that are not funded by government. The needs of a Jewish home extend far beyond the basic human requirements provided – every Jewish component of the Louis Brier Home and Hospital is completely reliant on community donors. Examples include having a chaplain/chazzan, a fully kosher facility, a shul, Holocaust education for staff, and the celebration of all Jewish holidays. The Brier Foundation also supports extras that most other long-term care facilities cannot, such as full-time infection control, quality-and-risk practitioners, security, medical equipment, music, art, physio, rehabilitation, and occupational therapy.

It is thanks to the commitment and consistency of community donors that Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation provides the Brier with stability of funding that provides the best possible quality of life for residents, one of dignity and happiness. The board members and executive director of the Louis Brier Foundation, Ayelet Cohen, are acutely aware of the immense responsibility they hold, and thank everyone for sharing this responsibility with them over the years.

May 1 marks the start of this year’s campaign – The Brier, Their Home – which runs until June 16. The Brier Foundation, together with the leadership of Zacks, hopes to raise $1.8 million to keep up with the home and hospital’s needs. This amount will just allow the Jewish home to cover expenses through 2023/24. Over the last six years, the Brier Foundation’s funding responsibility has more than tripled in an evolving healthcare environment. It takes immense resources to manage such an operation. The needs are great and ever increasing.

The Brier Foundation works to fulfil these essential needs, but cannot do this without the community’s help. If it is not done as a community, there is the risk of losing the ability to provide a dignified and gratifying end-of-life process for Jewish seniors. It is our collective duty to care for our elders, those who built our community for us.

* * *

Chabad Richmond depends on a devoted team of volunteers. From delivering Light of Shabbat meals to assisting with programs, assembling Pesach packages, and so much more, Chabad’s cohort contributes not only their time but their enthusiasm. Leading the charge, along with Chabad Richmond co-directors Rabbi Yechiel and Chanie Baitelman, is the new board of directors, comprised of lay leaders who bring a multitude of talents to the table and have an ambitious vision for the future of Chabad.

New president Ed Lewin takes over from past president Steve Whiteside, and welcomes Phil Levinson as first vice-president and Jeff Wachtel as second vice-president and secretary. New recruits Gayle Morris and Brent Davis join existing board members Sheldon Kuchinsky, Shelley Civkin, Shaun Samuel (treasurer), Louise Wright and Yael Segal.

Lewin was born and raised in Vancouver, the middle child of Holocaust survivors. An avid sportsman and community worker, he has served on many nonprofit boards in the Jewish community and is past president of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. He is proud to have represented Canada in basketball three times at the Maccabi Games in Israel, winning two bronze medals. He recently sold his business law practice in Vancouver and is currently associate counsel with Arora Zbar LLP. He moved to Richmond in 1987, and has been married to Debbie for almost 42 years. The Lewins have two children, both married, and a 1-year-old grandson, all of whom call Richmond home.

The board of directors supports Rabbi Baitelman’s dream of an expanded Chabad Centre in Richmond, recognizing the potential for growth in a community whose Jewish population is close to 4,000.

“The vision of a larger Chabad centre with increased capacity and a variety of amenities for all ages is on the horizon. With board and community support, it will become a reality,” said Lewin.

Chabad Richmond recently launched a young professionals group for 19-32-year-olds, and is expanding several of its programs.

“Education, community outreach and gathering as a community to celebrate Jewish holidays and lifecycle events are only part of what we currently do,” said Rabbi Baitelman. “We want to expand our reach and nurture every Jew in every way we can. We have much work ahead of us, but we’re blessed to have a steadfast and conscientious board who works to help us grow. Each one of them brings their unique talents to assist us in realizing our mission.”

Artistic tribute to Shoah survivors

The Schara Tzedeck Shoah Survivors Tribute Wall was created for the congregation by John Nutter. The sculpture, which includes the names of 230 survivors, was dedicated May 3. (photo from John Nutter)

Congregation Schara Tzedeck has a new art installation in its main sanctuary. The Schara Tzedeck Shoah Survivors Tribute Wall – a Tree of Life rendered in sandblasted glass – includes the names of 230 survivors. It was dedicated May 3.

Full of shared memories and friendship, the pre-Shabbat dedication ceremony featured several speakers: the synagogue’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt; its executive president, Howard Kallner; younger family members of the survivors; Ed Lewin, co-chair of the project with Hodie Kahn; and the man who started the entire project, Dr. Robert Krell, a child survivor.

“We wanted to honour the Holocaust survivors who found their way to Canada, before and after the war, and wound up as members of this shul,” Lewin told the Independent. “Most of them came here in 1948. Their names are all there, on the wall. My parents’ and grandparents’ names are among them.”

Explaining how the project started, Lewin said, “We had this empty space, and Krell suggested a tribute to Holocaust survivors. It was several years ago. It took us awhile to find the talented glass artist, John Nutter, who transformed our ideas into a sculpture.”

The synagogue is publishing a commemorative book about the installation, as well. While the Tribute Wall features survivors’ names only, the book also contains photographs of the survivors; there are family and group photo pages. Together, the book and the wall serve as a memorial to those who not only survived the Shoah but contributed greatly to Schara Tzedeck and to the development of Greater Vancouver and the province over the past seven decades.

One page of the book is dedicated to Nutter, who has created numerous art installations for churches and synagogues, mostly in New York. His works decorate many institutions in the United States and Canada: hotels, museums, hospitals. He collaborated with local artist Bill Reid on a glass sculpture at the Vancouver International Airport. A few years ago, Glass Magazine named Nutter one of the top three architectural glass artists in the country.

About how he came to design the Tribute Wall, Nutter said, “A few years ago, I did a small glass sculpture for the Louis Brier Home, a collaboration with a wonderful artist and friend, Diana Zoe Coop. Camille Wenner, Diana’s daughter, works for Schara Tzedeck. I’ve known Camille since she was a young child. She contacted me about this project and, of course, I said, yes.”

He explained his work process. “They knew exactly what they wanted – a Tree of Life, made like a Vancouver cherry tree in bloom. Usually, I start with a small draft, show it to my clients, make changes until they’re satisfied, before I transfer the design to glass. But the people from Schara Tzedeck were very nice. They approved my first draft of the design.”

The first step in making the sculpture was creating a life-size drawing out of the small-scale draft. “I hire a company for that,” said Nutter, “give them my small drawing, and they blow it up to the size I want.”

Once he has the full-size paper draft, he starts working on the glass. For this sculpture, he used nine separate glass panels. The three bottom panels are roots. “The words ‘Schara Tzedeck’ are carved among the roots, to symbolize the Jews who had set their roots with the congregation,” Nutter explained.

The middle panel is the trunk, and the five panels around it are carved with leaves and flowers. “I sandblasted each petal of each flower individually,” Nutter said. “It gives more depth to the sculpture.”

The work is made of 15-millimetre laminated glass; two layers joined together. The carving is on the back, and the names of the survivors are written on the front, in black, which adds to the visual depth.

Nutter has been working with architectural glass for decades. “I started as an architecture student at the University of Manitoba,” he recalled. “A couple years into my studies, I took a summer job with a stained glass company. I loved it so much, I left my schooling and stayed with the company for several years, before I founded my own company. I never finished my architectural degree, but I taught stained glass making at the same faculty years later.”

He loves architecture, and most of his works are large-scale glass. “Sometimes,” he said, “my background in architecture helps me to win the contracts. I often build small-scale models of my proposed installations when I bid for a job. I like the details and hardware used in the models. I learned that during my years of architectural studies.”

Frequently, Nutter’s sculptures and windows tell a story, like the one he created for Schara Tzedeck. “In the past, when artists made glass installations in churches and other religious institutions, it was always to tell a story, as most of the population were illiterate,” he said. “Now, people can read, so the art became more decorative, but it still tells a story.”

To learn more about the artist, visit johnnutterglassstudio.com or visit his studio on Granville Island. For those interested in purchasing the hardcover, full-colour commemorative book ($54), visit scharatzedeck.com/event/-shoah-survivors-tribute-book-order.html; the order deadline is June 30.

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].