The grand opening of Essential Kosher on March 26. Cutting the ribbon are Rebbetzin Chani and Rabbi Meir Kaplan, centre, and Essential Kosher co-managers Zev Kantorovich, left, with wife Andrea and daughter Stephie, and David Franco, second from the right, with his wife, Claudia, and son, Jacob. (photo by David J. Litvak)
Victoria’s observant Jewish community can now do one-stop shopping – at a new kosher market.
Essential Kosher opened March 26. The brainchild of Rabbi Meir Kaplan of Chabad of Vancouver Island, the market is co-managed by two Mexican Jews, David Franco and Zev Kantorovich, who came to Victoria with their respective families to embark on a Canadian adventure together.
Until now, Jewish residents of Victoria had limited options in purchasing kosher food. They could buy challah from Chabad before Shabbat, a selection of kosher products from Fernwood General Store, and products with hechshers (kosher certifications) in various local supermarkets. Kosher meat and poultry would have to be shipped in from places like Omnitsky’s in Vancouver.
Kaplan said he conceived of the idea of a kosher market after concluding that “no affordable kosher food was available on the island, which made it very difficult for people to keep kosher in Victoria and the rest of Vancouver Island.
“The idea became a reality once we realized that we had a space next to the synagogue that could accommodate a market, and we had two Jewish families who moved here from Mexico and who were looking to do something for the community,” he said. “It turned out be a great opportunity and a match made in heaven for all of us.”
Both the Franco and Kantorovich families had established businesses in Mexico.
Kantorovich’s grandfather, Kiva, migrated from Russia during the Second World War and, starting from scratch, opened a hardware store in downtown Mexico City. The store survived for more than 70 years and could have continued, but, after managing it for 30 years, Kantorovich decided to sell the business, hoping for a fresh start someplace else.
Franco had a company that sold plastic bags used for food packaging but decided to leave Mexico, he said, because of “the growing insecurity and increasing crime rates” and out of a desire “to look for a better place for our son to grow up.”
The two families chose to move to Victoria because Franco’s wife, Claudia, and Kantorovich’s wife, Andrea, both had an opportunity to pursue master’s degrees at Royal Roads University. While the Franco family had never been to Victoria before, the Kantoroviches had fallen in love with the city when their cruise ship to Alaska stopped there for a day. This short stay was the catalyst for the two families, who are close friends, to move to Victoria together.
The families were invited by Kaplan for a Shabbat dinner, and their connection to Jewish life in Victoria began.
The Chabad community “has been especially kind to us, even though we are not Orthodox,” said Franco. “They include all kinds of Jewish families in their programs and events and make everyone feel at home.”
Franco likes that the Victoria Jewish community is growing, and offering more educational opportunities and activities for children. He remarked “how warm and welcoming people have been here.
“Back home, people tend to be a bit more distant or indifferent,” he said.
Mexico City’s Jewish community is much larger than that of Victoria.
“Victoria feels calm, friendly and full of nature,” said Franco.
Initially, Franco and Kantorovich were thinking about opening a business on their own, however, Kaplan convinced them to open a kosher store “because the community really needed one and he also explained how kosher supplies were missing.”
The three of them decided to run the store together.
“Rabbi Kaplan supports and guides the store, and we manage the store on a day-to-day basis,” said Franco.
The market, which is open Sundays to Fridays, offers a variety of kosher items, including meat, cold cuts and poultry, Chalav Yisrael dairy products, grape juice and gefilte fish, Israeli snacks and fresh baked challah every Friday, which is baked by Rebbetzin Chani Kaplan, with her family sometimes sharing baking and cooking duties with her. Soon, customers should be able to shop online, and additional products will be available. Opening just prior to Passover, Essential Kosher offered customers kosher-for-Passover items.
For more information about the market, visit chabadvi.org or email [email protected].
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.