health care

JSA leads BC-wide campaign

Jeff Moss, executive director of the Jewish Seniors Alliance, speaks at the June 2 launch of the Health Care Needs Home Care campaign. (screenshot)

The Jewish Seniors Alliance of British Columbia is leading a broad coalition calling on the provincial government to eliminate fees for publicly funded home-support services, arguing that helping older adults remain safely at home would improve their quality of life while reducing pressure on hospitals and long-term-care facilities.

The Health Care Needs Home Care campaign was launched June 2 at the 411 Seniors Centre in Vancouver. Its partner organizations collectively represent or serve more than 400,000 seniors, caregivers and supporters across the province. The coalition is calling for access to home support to be determined by medical and practical need, rather than by a senior’s income or ability to pay.

Home-support workers assist people with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, preparing meals, taking medication and moving safely around their homes. Unlike many physician and hospital services, publicly delivered home support in British Columbia can require income-tested co-payments. The campaign argues that these charges place potentially essential care beyond the reach of many seniors. Its website says a senior earning $31,000 annually can be charged about $10,000 for one hour of home support a day over the year. Ontario and Alberta provide comparable publicly funded services without such fees.

Jeff Moss, executive director of the Jewish Seniors Alliance, said the campaign is not seeking merely to reduce the co-payments. It wants them abolished.

The principle of universality is important, Moss said, because means-testing adds another layer of complexity to a system that can already be difficult to navigate, particularly for people experiencing cognitive changes, language barriers or other challenges.

“It’s the opposite of being a hospitable system,” he said. Under the proposed approach, once someone is assessed as requiring support, “we’ll get it for you.”

Questions inevitably arise about why affluent seniors should also receive publicly funded home support. Moss argued that seniors able and willing to buy customized private care would probably continue doing so. A universal public program, however, would avoid forcing vulnerable people to prove repeatedly that they are sufficiently poor or otherwise deserving of assistance.

The campaign’s broader argument is economic as well as humanitarian. When people cannot obtain affordable help at home, relatively manageable difficulties can escalate into emergencies. Seniors may end up in hospital after falls, medication problems, malnutrition or other preventable complications. Others may be moved into long-term care earlier than necessary because they lack sufficient support to remain at home.

The campaign estimates that an average 24-day hospital stay for a senior can cost about $24,000, compared with approximately $1,200 for 24 days of home support. It also says 61% of people entering long-term care received no home support during the preceding 90 days.

Moss said governments cannot build long-term-care spaces quickly enough to meet the anticipated demand from an aging population. New facilities are expensive, require years of planning and construction, and often replace older beds rather than adding substantially to the total supply. In the Vancouver Coastal Health region, he said, projects completed or anticipated between 2009 and 2029 represent approximately 600 long-term-care beds, but only about 200 are net additions. A bed can cost more than $1 million to build, he added, while the provincial waiting list is already in the thousands and projected to grow substantially.

Providing more home support would not eliminate the need for residential care. It could, however, reserve those limited spaces for people whose medical and personal care needs genuinely cannot be met at home, said Moss.

The coalition involved in the campaign includes the Jewish Seniors Alliance, the Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of BC (COSCO), the Independent Long-Term Care Councils Association of BC, Family Caregivers of BC, the BC Health Coalition, the BC Care Providers Association, and Seniors First BC.

Together, they represent a range of perspectives, including seniors themselves, unpaid family caregivers, long-term-care residents and families, care providers and advocates for the public health-care system.

The campaign developed from advocacy work already underway at the JSA when Moss became executive director about two years ago. Its advocacy committee had identified home-support co-payments as a major barrier to aging in place and had begun meeting with public officials.

As the 2024 provincial election approached, the organization shifted from contacting individual MLAs to seeking commitments in party platforms. Moss said the proposal was included in the platforms of both BC United and the Conservative Party of BC.

After the election, advocates continued meeting with politicians, government representatives and seniors’ organizations. As more groups endorsed the objective, the effort grew into the present province-wide coalition.

Moss hopes the public campaign will generate at least 1,000 letters to MLAs and create sufficient pressure for meetings with the premier, health minister and finance minister during the coming fall legislative session.

The campaign website provides a form through which British Columbians can contact their MLAs. It is also collecting personal experiences from seniors and families who have experienced difficulty accessing home support because of the required fees.

“Seniors are a big voting bloc,” Moss said. If the government does not move on the issue, he said, the coalition will continue approaching opposition parties to build support for a future policy change.

For Moss, JSA’s leadership in a campaign serving seniors of every background is significant in another respect. At a time when Jewish individuals and organizations have sometimes experienced exclusion from coalitions and public institutions, he views the campaign as an opportunity to demonstrate the Jewish community’s investment in the well-being of society as a whole.

The Jewish Seniors Alliance is rooted in Jewish tradition but provides programs and advocacy intended to benefit older adults throughout the province, regardless of identity. Moss said he deliberately connects the organization’s public work to Jewish values, whether he is addressing political caucuses, seniors’ organizations or community audiences.

“Too often,” he said, “people see our Jewish organizations as only focused on the Jewish community when, in reality, we all know that the Jewish community, as part of tikkun olam, [tries] to repair the world for all.” The home-care campaign, he said, is “a living testament to that.”

And its message is straightforward: home support should be considered part of health care, said Moss, not as an optional service available only to those who can afford it.

Companionship is vital

By supporting the Al and Lola Roadburg Special Companion Endowment Fund at the Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation, community members can help ensure that more Louis Brier Home and Hospital residents receive the compassionate presence they deserve. (photo from LBJAF)

At the Louis Brier Home and Hospital, care is measured not only by clinical outcomes, but by moments of connection, dignity and compassionate human presence. It is often the quiet moments, rather than the clinical ones, that leave the greatest impact on a person’s quality of life.

Within a home where residents range in age from 40 to over 100, and where many live with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or complex geriatric health challenges, the smallest acts of care often carry the greatest meaning: a hand held during moments of confusion, a calming voice during agitation or a familiar presence that transforms uncertainty into comfort. A companion’s presence can mean the difference between fear and reassurance, confusion and grounding, isolation and connection. This is the heart of the Louis Brier Companion Program.

Companions at Louis Brier provide an essential layer of care support that extends far beyond what is publicly funded through government care. While essential medical services and daily care needs are covered, companions fill a critical gap in quality of life by offering something health care cannot always provide: time, consistency, emotional connection and genuine human presence.

Their role includes emotional reassurance, cognitive stimulation and one-on-one support, from mealtime assistance and accompaniment to medical appointments, to the gentle redirection of residents who may wander or become disoriented. Equally important, companions provide continuity of presence, particularly for residents experiencing isolation or those without family nearby.

One of the most meaningful yet often unseen contributions of companions is the preservation of personal dignity in daily care. While government-funded services may provide bathing support once per week, companions help residents maintain greater comfort, hygiene and well-being between scheduled care by offering additional personal support. These acts make a profound difference in how residents feel in their daily lives. These are not extras. Through these quiet, consistent moments, residents are reminded that they are seen not simply as patients, but as individuals with histories, preferences and inherent worth.

The Louis Brier Home and Hospital, together with the Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation, is grateful for the generous support of the Al Roadburg Foundation, which has established the Al and Lola Roadburg Special Companion Endowment Fund. This enduring contribution will help sustain and strengthen the Companion Program for generations to come.

Approximately 75 Louis Brier residents, notably those in extended care, have been identified as needing companion support. Because each resident’s needs vary, the number of hours required differs widely. The endowment is expected to provide approximately 3,000 hours of companion support each year, allowing more residents to receive it than otherwise would be possible.

While this extraordinary gift has transformed the program, it does not fully meet the growing need: demand continues to exceed available resources, and families are often left to make difficult choices. Some residents needing mealtime assistance may receive support for only one or two meals a day despite requiring help at all three. Many others would benefit from additional companion hours that provide emotional support and enhanced quality of life.

Louis Brier is recognized as a leader within British Columbia’s health-care community, with honours including Nonprofit Employer of Choice (2021-2025), Stars of Vancouver Awards (2021-2025), BC’s Top 100 Employers (2025, 2026) and Accreditation Canada’s Commendation Standing designation. These achievements reflect the home’s commitment to excellence, innovation and compassionate, person-centred care rooted in the Jewish values of chesed (lovingkindness), dignity and tikkun olam, the shared responsibility to care for one another and help repair the world.

Above all, the Companion Program reflects a simple yet profound truth: no one should experience aging alone. Every hour of companionship creates moments of comfort, connection and dignity that cannot be measured, yet are remembered. By supporting the Al and Lola Roadburg Special Companion Endowment Fund, community members can help ensure that more residents receive the compassionate presence they deserve.

For more information, visit thelouisbrierfoundation.com, email foundation@louisbrier.com or call 604-261-5550.

– Courtesy Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation

Organ donation saves lives

Jordan Zwicker and Debbie Litvack after Zwicker’s kidney transplant last November. Litvack donated the organ. (photo from JMABC)

When Debbie Litvack found out her longtime friend Jordan Zwicker needed a kidney, her decision was instant.

“Jordan needed one. I had two. It felt like the right thing to do and not a big deal. Every single donor I speak to feels the same way,” Litvack said. “I have such good fortune with my health, that I wanted to share it. In addition, the community has been very kind to my family over the years. It’s a case of what goes around comes around.”

Litvack found out her friend was in need of a transplant shortly after she noticed his medical alert bracelet. He explained he is a Type 1 diabetic and, as a dialysis social worker, knowing the link between Type 1 DM and kidney disease, she asked about his kidney function. He denied any concerns although later learned he was in kidney failure and needed a transplant.

Zwicker is a “good guy” and someone who has had an outsized impact in the Vancouver Jewish community, said Litvack. As a DJ, he has mentored many of the community’s teens by hiring and training them in the event and DJ business.

Litvack said some people, like her, donate to someone they know. Others donate to family members. Others give the gift of life to someone they don’t even know. Either way, she sees it as pikuach nefesh, an active, sacred duty per halachah (Jewish law) to save a life. If you save one life, you save an entire world.

It took a battery of tests over the course of a year, including multiple and repeat blood tests, X-rays, mammogram, CT, renogram and more. There were also meetings with a nephrologist, a urologist and an anesthesiologist, as well as a comprehensive social work assessment. These assessments are vital to ensure both Litvack’s health and that she was a match. In fact, the transplant team had never seen such a strong match between a recipient and an unrelated donor.

“From the moment I decided to donate, I knew we would be a match,” she said. “It wasn’t a question of if I would donate, it was when.”

A potential donor and recipient go through the process separately. Because Litvack and Zwicker are friends, they shared a lot of their journey that is not normally shared. They also spoke often and at length about the “what ifs” in case the transplant was unsuccessful and about advanced care planning.

The transplant went ahead on Nov. 24, 2025, at Vancouver General Hospital, where Litvack works. The experience was quite different than being a professional at work and it has helped her connect in different ways with patients. She and Zwicker realized that there was an entire community of support that made the whole donation process possible.

Zwicker summed up his experience as life-changing.

“It’s given me the opportunity to continue my passion of working with people, an opportunity to be there for my son and family and a real opportunity to have the next 30 years of quality of life,” he said.

Litvack’s life-saving donation inspired the Jewish Medical Association of BC to highlight their member’s story by partnering with Temple Sholom, King David High School, BC Transplant, the Kidney Foundation of BC/Yukon and the Jewish Federation of BC to host an event that will look at organ donation from multiple angles – religious, ethical, medical, as well as personal perspectives from Litvack and Zwicker and other donors and recipients. The session will include information on how to become a donor.

The Gift of Life: Organ Donation from a Jewish Perspective takes place June 17, 7:15 p.m., at Temple Sholom. Registration is required for the free event: templesholom.ca.

Litvack encourages everyone from the Jewish, medical and local community with an interest to attend. “I really hope we will inspire someone at our event to donate,” she said. “And give the gift of life.”

– Courtesy Jewish Medical Association of British Columbia

Donors needed

There was an organ donation awareness and swab drive held at Beth Tikvah Synagogue May 25. It highlighted the work of Renewal Canada, which helps match people in kidney failure with donors to save their lives. An inspiration for the event was Jewish community member Robert Moutal’s need of a living donor kidney transplant. If you or someone you know is interested to learn how to be a living donor, visit transplant.bc.ca/organ-donation/living/kidney-donation, email donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca or call 604-806-9944. You can also contact Renewal Canada for more information: renewalcanada.org/moutal.

Other community members are also in need.

Temple Sholom member Libby Goszer has been diagnosed with end-stage renal failure requiring a kidney transplant. Her blood type is A+, which corresponds to an ideal donor of A+ or O blood type. Even if you do not have these blood types, it is still possible to pursue donation through the Living Donor Paired Exchange Program, where you donate to another person in exchange for a matched kidney for the recipient. If you or someone you know is interested in investigating being a living donor, go to renewalcanada.org/libbygoszer.

Additionally, last year, Daphne was diagnosed with myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN), a rare blood cancer, and her only hope for a cure is a stem cell transplant from a matching donor. All that’s needed is a simple cheek swab to see if you are a match. To order a kit, go to blood.ca/en/stemcells/donating-stemcells/stem-cells-questionnaire (ages 17-35) or giftoflife.org/dc/daphne (ages 36-60).

– from various community organization enewsletters

Expanding the healing

Elana Epstein shares her family’s narrative of recovery in Today I Will Be Fearless. (photo from Elana Epstein)

When Elana Epstein and her husband, David, confronted the reality that their son, Noah, was an addict, her life shifted on its axis.

In her emotional, practical, moving book, Today I Will Be Fearless: Rising Through My Son’s Drug Addiction, Epstein shares her family’s narrative of recovery, while digging into complex related issues like intergenerational trauma, societal silence and stigma, and finding purpose, resilience and power in the darkest moments of life. In the process of writing and sharing her story, Epstein has found new meaning and mission for her life.

“Writing the book was how I got better, deepened into my own recovery and saw the pattern of what recovery asks of us,” the Vancouver mother of three adult sons told the Independent. “And, the deeper I went into the story, the deeper I uncovered the gems of the why I was doing things.

“This is happening for more than just my own son’s healing,” she said. “It’s my healing.”

She took her son’s recovery as an opportunity for her own self-understanding and improvement. The book, though, intends to expand the healing.

“It’s for a wider community,” Epstein said. “I was determined to be a channel for whoever needed support and a companion along this journey because people do this alone.”

Epstein, a yoga teacher, reiki master and spiritual practitioner, had long understood the language of healing. But addiction, she said, stripped her of any illusion of mastery.

“It felt as if everything I had learned was a waste because I did not know my son was struggling with addiction,” she said. “It felt as if the tools were more of a hindrance than a help. But quickly my spirit reminded me the tools I had were the ones that would support me to get through this if only I could go deeper with them. That was the pivotal moment of my knowing I could and would get through this.”

She also realized that Noah was not the only one who needed to adapt to changing realities.

“I took the lens of recovery and turned it onto me and took the opportunity to delve into the 12 steps and see where I needed to release myself from the clutches of my ego and some of my ancestral teachings or just threads that were hanging around,” she said, adding that she began to see the impacts of intergenerational trauma.

“I needed to peel back the layers and see that I was codependent and I was a people-pleaser and I didn’t know how to love myself well enough – all while my son is learning to do the same thing.”

Several months into Noah’s recovery, Epstein broke her leg while skiing. She took it as a sign from the universe to step back, focus inward and accept help.

“Maybe four days after surgery I was at home. I was sitting on the couch and I was feeling really sorry for myself. What has happened to my life? Isn’t it enough? How many more things … COVID and Noah and the war. And then I break my leg and I hear immediately, ‘You are going to write your book.’”

There has always been a book in her, Epstein said. She just didn’t know what it was going to be about. Now, it became clear.

“This is my story, how I got through the journey of loving my son through his own addiction,” she said. “So, I started just journaling, and one thing led to the other and, a year later, I had a blueprint.”

As the book came together, she realized the writing process was no longer just for her own healing. “This was how I was going to show up for people,” she said.

Among the self-doubts she had to overcome was the realization that she has wisdom to share.

“I would say things like, ‘in my opinion’ and ‘in my humble experience,’” she said. “That was classic Elana. I started to accept that I actually do know what I’m talking about and there’s no reason to hold back and let’s go and let’s be authentically who we are.”

It turns out there was a demand for the wisdom of someone who has been through what Epstein’s family has.

“Although I had a desire that this would be a companion, I couldn’t have imagined it would be this well received … not just by families who are wading in the waters of addiction and recovery, but by people who are curious,” she said. “People are telling me this is a blueprint and a companion for life. One woman just said to me yesterday, ‘I keep you by my night table and, every once in awhile, I just pick it up and I read a sentence and it’s my teaching for what I’m struggling with in my own life.’”

Finding light in darkness is a recurring theme in the book.

“When bad things happen, people look for the reasons and they look for the why. And they definitely want to blame something or somebody,” Epstein said. “You don’t have to do that. You can accept what happens as a gateway to becoming and connecting to a version of yourself that is more beautiful than you can ever imagine and stronger that you can ever imagine. Stop being afraid of the potential things.”

Her family’s Jewishness infuses the book.

“My message to the Jewish reader is this book is filled with mystical wisdom that can guide you to a more peaceful existence one day at a time with what is coursing through our blood and bones,” said Epstein. “I had the vision early on that I was going to be a part of bringing more awareness into the Jewish community because we have lost too many. Many children and too many people suffer in silence.”

When Rabbi Josh Corber took over the Jewish Addiction Community Service and Jewish Family Services took the group under their umbrella, Epstein discussed how she might contribute to the work.

She took the lead on running a group for families navigating a member’s addiction or recovery. She said she hopes that the book might land in the right place, just when an individual or family needs to hear her message.

“If that person can pick up my book, then we’re living that old adage that the Talmud teaches: if you save one life, it is as if you are saving an entire world,” she said, “And I truly believe that.”

Sheba Promise here May 7

On May 7, in Vancouver, Dr. Noya Shilo, director of Sheba Medical Centre’s Back to Life Clinic, will share firsthand insights into the journey from trauma to healing. (photo from Sheba Medical Centre)

Following the success of last September’s event featuring Sheba Medical Centre’s Prof. Amitai Ziv, Canadian Friends of Sheba are returning to Vancouver with the Sheba Promise Journey: From Trauma to Recovery, taking place May 7.

The special evening in support of Sheba Medical Centre will feature Dr. Noya Shilo, director of the centre’s Back to Life Clinic and a global leader in trauma recovery. Having led the care of returned hostages – work recognized internationally, including at the White House – Shilo will share rare, firsthand insights into the journey from trauma to healing, and how Sheba’s care extends far beyond the bedside. Additional voices from Sheba will also contribute to the evening’s conversation.

At a time when the need for mental health support is greater than ever, Sheba is leading critical initiatives, including the establishment of a clinic for children in northern Israel who are suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. Proceeds from the May 7 event will support these efforts, as well as the Bibas Healing Gardens – therapeutic environments inspired by Yarden Bibas, a survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. Bibas was held hostage for 484 days, separated from his wife and two young children, who were murdered by Hamas during their captivity.

The Bibas Healing Gardens will support women and children through counseling, emotional care and nature-based healing. These restorative spaces will serve hundreds of families each year as part of their long-term rehabilitation journey.

The Sheba Promise Journey event will begin with an exclusive VIP reception and meet-and-greet, followed by a curated theatre-style program designed to inspire, inform and connect. Sponsorship opportunities and tickets are available, and everyone is invited to join the event and/or support the initiatives. The Sheba Promise Journey also takes place in Toronto (May 4) and Montreal (May 5).

For a reminder of Sheba’s September event in Vancouver, go to jewishindependent.ca/innovative-approach-to-care. For tickets to the May 7 gathering, go to www.shebacanada.org/news/the-sheba-promise-journey.

– Courtesy Sheba Medical Centre

Women share experiences

Left to right, at CHW Vancouver Centre’s SHE DAY event March 8: Ruthi Akselrod, Laura Lewko (kneeling a bit), Pam Wolfman, Toby Rubin, Jocelyn Brown, Ruth M’Rav Jankelowitz, Tamara Shenkier and Laura Mossey. (photo by Shula Klinger)

On March 8, CHW (Canadian Hadassah-WIZO) launched its first SHE DAY event. Hosted at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, the celebration of International Women’s Day included a panel discussion, a shuk (market) of women-led businesses and kosher refreshments.

CHW Vancouver Centre president Toby Rubin, who introduced the panel, also shared that, starting in October, the Vancouver CHW team would be under the joint leadership of Pamela Wolfman and Jocelyn Brown, who moderated the discussion between Dr. Tamara Shenkier, Ruth M’Rav Jankelowitz and Laura Mossey.

Shenkier, who is an oncologist, educator and advocate, recently retired. Her 30-year career included numerous leadership roles in medical education and governance, and she spent the last decade-plus focusing on breast cancer. She is a founding member of the Jewish Medical Association of British Columbia.

Jankelowitz has spent three decades in commercial and hospitality design, and her portfolio includes many household names, including DKNY, Timberland and Nike. Her company, Janks Design Group, has created the spaces of such eateries as OEB, Nando’s and Tap and Barrel.

Mossey brought her voice as a non-Jewish Zionist and educator to the panel, sharing some of the influences that have helped frame her identity and worldview.

The conversation was dominated by the topic of antisemitism and its marked increase since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel.

“Things were bubbling in the cauldron but, since then, I have felt as though I am ‘the Jew,’” said Shenkier, who spoke of feeling more exposed and more vulnerable in recent months than ever before. She talked about changes to medical curricula that followed consultation with “thought leaders,” rather than medical experts, and how students were being encouraged to contemplate their practice through the lens of race – though, she noted, “Jews were never mentioned as a marginalized, persecuted community.”

Mossey, too, has seen efforts to erase Jewish identity. For example, the Coquitlam school district now asks parents to share their identity in questionnaires, she said, and “Jewish wasn’t included.”

Brown asked panelists about the biggest challenges they have faced – as Jews and/or Zionists – in their personal and professional lives.

“The hardest thing for me was the silence – from colleagues, friends, employees,” said Jankelowitz. “I gave them countless chances to learn and nobody asked. It was pretty astounding. So, I made my voice louder.”

Mossey addressed the dangers of misinformation and disinformation, highlighting the need for strong leadership.

“We are all vulnerable,” she said, describing a history lesson she gave to Grade 10 students. She taught them about the origins of Black Friday: when, on Nov. 18, 1910, suffragists protesting at Parliament in London, England, for the right to vote were physically and sexually abused. Given that today’s students can graduate without being taught about democracy, she said, “it’s imperative that they hear about the challenges that have been faced by women, somehow, from anyone who’ll show leadership.”

Mossey pointed to the hypocrisy of “safe classrooms” after the provincial teachers’ federation donated $50,000 to UNWRA, many of whose teachers and doctors have been shown to be Hamas operatives.

Asked to speak about resilience, all three women talked about the importance of setting boundaries. Jankelowitz said she had let go a client of 10 years. “I designed all of their stores. They had unionized and the team made a statement about genocide and apartheid, citing Amnesty International and Francesca Albanese [of the United Nations]. I don’t want to create spaces that will alienate my own community,” she said.

Jankelowitz also shared a positive experience: meeting a woman at a Business Network International event who asked to be educated about Zionism. “In one week,” said Jankelowitz, “I put together a historical dossier, links, books … to this day, she’ll come and ask me to verify what she’s heard, she tells me, ‘So I can fight it.’”

Mossey also has not been shy about living according to her values. She has worn emblems in support of Israel and shows her solidarity with Jewish students in various ways. When a principal asked her to hide her social media feed from public view, her response was unequivocal: “No.”

She recalled a conversation with a Jewish student, where she explained her purpose: creating a safe learning environment for all kids.

Asked to offer their advice to other women, Shenkier talked about her own life, cautioning against falling into unhelpful extremes: “being in denial, moving ahead as if nothing has happened,” and, on the other side, “absolute paralysis, anxiety, rumination, catastrophizing.” Find a middle ground where healing can really be possible, she said. “You need to acknowledge and sit with your pain. The community will sit with you, without trying to fix it.”

Shenkier advised people to “separate who you are as a human being from your thoughts, feelings and projections.” She added, “expunge the word, ‘should,’ from your vocabulary. Focus on your strengths. Say ‘no.’ Stop comparing yourself to others, do what brings you joy.”

Earlier in the discussion, Shenkier had spoken of the mythical person who can “have it all,” and the damage caused by such a mindset, which she described as “oppressive.” She stressed the importance of “self-awareness gained through introspection.”

Mossey recommended: “carry your burden, share it, talk and let friends help you. Be physical to get through the stress.”

“Focus on what you can control,” said Jankelowitz. “You don’t need permission to use your voice. The room doesn’t decide if you belong to it.”

Mossey asks one question when she is challenged on her position on Israel: “Do you believe in the Jews’ right to self-determination?” She said the response helps her decide, in an instant, whether the conversation is worth pursuing.

“Don’t waste your time talking to people who aren’t interested in learning,” said Mossey, who has read dozens of books about Judaism and Israel, yet said she would not call herself an expert on the topics.

The panelists explored the theme of resilience at some length.

“What does resilience look like in the current climate?” Brown asked.

“Showing up for the community, for my team at work, being consistent in my beliefs,” Jankelowitz shared. “Equip yourself with the facts.”

Mossey responded with stories about her mother – a 17-year survivor of a high-risk cancer surgery – who taught her the word’s meaning: “Lean into your faith, keep your family close, and do something every day” to stand up for your cause.

Commitment to personal values and professional ethics are also vital, added Mossey. “I’m not going to make myself smaller to avoid offending a kid who knows nothing about history,” she said.

Brown asked panelists to share an example of when their identity had felt like a strength as opposed to something they “needed to explain, manage and protect.”

Shenkier’s happy childhood in Montreal was a “grounding, not a cloak I can put on and take off,” she said. She considers herself lucky to have been a physician, a career where “the constant questions, the examination of one’s ethics and the practice of empathy were all congruent with my faith.”

Mossey recalled a meeting where she was asked to “identify herself.” She felt that traditional labels, such as “white,” “heterosexual” and “cisgendered woman,” were unhelpful. On that day, she said, “What differentiates me is my character. So, now I identify as a Zionist.”

Jankelowitz, who was once a logistics officer in the Israel Defence Forces, agreed: “owning the identity is more powerful than hiding it,” she said.

As the questions came to an end, the audience rose in a standing ovation.

Toby Rubin reminded attendees that, if anyone faces antisemitism, they can find support through CHW.

Event sponsors included Sylvia Cristall, Laura Lewko, Ruth Freeman, Brown (Acubalance Wellness Centre), Rubin and Wolfman; the national corporate partner was real estate development company Israel Canada. The afternoon was catered in part by Ricci Leigh-Smith’s team at Perfect-Bite, and organized by Amanda Aron Chimanovitch, community engagement and event officer for CHW, Western Canada.

Proceeds from SHE DAY events – which took place in Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Delray Beach, Fla. – went to the Eden Association Trauma Therapy Centre. Founded in 1997, the centre provides trauma care to young women and girls in southern Israel, where the need has increased greatly since Oct. 7.

The next CHW Vancouver Centre event is Games Day on May 6 at Richmond Country Club. Proceeds from it will go to supporting post-traumatic stress disorder therapy at Shamir Medical Centre and psychological rehabilitation at Hadassah Hospital in Israel. To register, go to chw.ca/region/western-region.

Shula Klinger is an author and journalist living in North Vancouver.

BC budget fails seniors

Brenda Bailey, BC minister of finance, delivers the government’s 2026 budget. (photo from flickr.com/photos/bcgovphotos)

British Columbia’s 2026 budget sends a message that should concern every family in this province: seniors can wait. Indefinitely.

Seven scheduled long-term care projects have been delayed. These designated projects were to be built in Abbotsford, Campbell River, Chilliwack, Kelowna, Delta, Fort St. John and Squamish. They now have no completion dates. Are these “delays” just another broken government promise?

This is not a minor policy adjustment. It is a policy choice with real consequences. The reality is that this reinforces an all too familiar pattern: the fastest-growing demographic in the province continues to receive the slowest response. What is government waiting for?

When long-term care beds are delayed, the need does not disappear. It shifts. It shifts into overcrowded hospitals, onto exhausted family caregivers, and into the homes of seniors who are increasingly isolated and struggling to cope without adequate support.

Despite the fiscal challenges facing the province, delay of critical infrastructure for seniors leaves seniors living in isolation and without proper supports. Government knows this produces worse outcomes for seniors.

The province is aging faster than its systems are evolving. Every year of delay widens the gap between need and capacity. While governments talk about sustainability, the current approach is neither sustainable nor strategic. Even with the completion of these planned beds, demand for long-term care beds vastly outpaces availability. It always will.

Delaying long-term care without rapidly expanding home support is not a cost-saving measure. It not only shifts the burdens of care, but the costs. It shifts costs to emergency departments. It shifts costs to family caregivers who reduce work hours or leave the workforce. It shifts costs in its impact on seniors’ physical and mental health as isolation deepens. And, ultimately, it shifts even greater costs back onto the health system.

This is why the 2026 budget was a missed opportunity for bold solutions.

If capital projects must be delayed, then investment in home support should surge. Instead, innovation in home and community care remains an afterthought – despite overwhelming evidence that it is the most cost-effective way to support aging populations.

Jewish Seniors Alliance of British Columbia knows that most seniors want to age at home. Supporting them there is dramatically cheaper than institutional care. Preventing crises is cheaper than responding to them. Keeping people connected is cheaper than treating the consequences of isolation.

The math is not complicated. The policy response should not be either. This is why JSABC has long been a leading advocate for universal free access to home support for all BC seniors.

Across British Columbia, community organizations are already proving what works: volunteer-driven wellness checks, culturally appropriate outreach, transportation assistance, social programs and coordinated home-support initiatives that keep seniors healthier and independent longer. These are not luxury services. They are preventive health care in its most practical form. Yet they remain chronically underfunded, and our community organizations can’t keep pace to support our seniors’ needs province wide.

Home support is not a side program. It is the backbone of a modern seniors care strategy focused on providing alternative service delivery models and providing support for people to age well in place.

It is time for government to prioritize seniors. Ignoring the problem today won’t change the system for when we ourselves are looking for extra support not so far into the future.

Jeff Moss is executive director of Jewish Seniors Alliance of British Columbia.

Multiple benefits of a break

It’s been an incredibly stressful time in our community for more than two years. The relief I felt when Ran Gvili’s body, the last hostage in Gaza, was returned home, was huge. When I saw others at synagogue, all our body language said the same thing. We’re exhausted as a people. It sometimes feels like there is no end in sight to our worry – about the antisemitism, the ongoing violence.

Along with all this, of course, there are the usual life events. For example, we’ve watched the gradual blossoming of independence for our teens. This culminated for me recently when my husband took our twins on a skiing trip with extended family. I got the chance at a staycation – by myself – with our dog. I can almost hear those who would say, “What?! You didn’t join them? You didn’t want to go?”

Reader, I’m not a skier. I’m happiest at home. Staying in a ski house with 15 extended family members isn’t everyone’s idea of bliss. So, for the first time, I wrote the special letter that says I consent to my children traveling outside of Canada without me. I helped everyone pack, drove them to the airport and came home to a quiet house. Once or twice a day, I reminded our worried dog that they weren’t coming home today, while she lingered by the door, waiting.

Friends at synagogue asked what special things I would do. Are you ordering take out? What movies are you watching? What are your plans? At first, I had no answer for them. It’s been 15 years since I was actually by myself for so long. I didn’t even know what I wanted to do.

In the end, what I wanted was small, but it was meaningful. I took walks outdoors every day with my dog, particularly reveling in adventures on the frozen Nestawaya River Trail, right in the middle of the city. I dawdled outside in my crisp winter backyard looking at the stars. I listened to music my household wouldn’t have chosen and ate everyday things that my family doesn’t like. I read a whole book.

I also made inroads, each day, on routine chores that needed to be done. I vacuumed. Did a load of laundry. Cooked and polished silver. Nothing was crazy or so different. In embracing daily rituals, I kept things feeling normal and predictable. The dog got fed and walked. The lights got turned on and off. The phone got answered. The bed got made.

To many, this might not seem like a break or a particularly meaningful experience, but I had exchanges with multiple women, moms in mid-life, who absolutely knew what it meant when I said I was going to be staying home – alone. They offered smiles and good wishes. There was a wistful jealousy there, too. I recognized it well. Everyone asked if I was getting the chance to sleep a lot.

Truth is that I had nightmares more than once. There’s a lot to process. It was harder than I thought it would be to relax and rest. Yesterday though, my children, relatively new to downhill skiing, were finally off the mountain and on their way to an airport and back to the prairies, with my husband. They regaled me with what they’d accomplished. Their cross-country skiing experience, learned in Winnipeg public school gym class, had helped them. They joked that the biggest hill they’d ever gone down on a Manitoba school ski trip was small compared to the bunny hill in the Rockies. Their texts and calls showed 14-year-olds alternately nervous and boastful, a normal teen experience. They grew during their trip away, but I did, too.

Lately, I’ve thought about the many pressures parents face as we’re juggling households, kids, work and community. There are frequently calls to volunteer, donate, “get involved” and do more. This is particularly true in a (relatively small) Canadian Jewish community, in which every one of us helps keep things afloat. However, I’d gotten to a place where I kept showing up, feeling completely exhausted. Yes, I’d woken everyone up and dropped them off to volunteer, or I’d helped at another “do something to help others” event myself. The weekend break reminded me viscerally that when your own “cup” is empty, it’s hard to fill everyone else’s.

Everybody needs breaks to rest and restore themselves. Without that space – and, for this introvert, silence – there’s no way to offer our best selves to others. We often quote the famous Pirkei Avot 2:5 passage from Hillel: “In a place where there are no men [people], strive to be a man [person].” There are many takes on this, including, where there are no leaders, strive to be responsible. Another take is, when people behave as monsters, or aren’t behaving in an upstanding way, try to be a mensch. Yet, when, I woke up after several days by myself, rested and happy, I realized something else.

In a place where there are no other people, self-regulate. Strive to be a good person, one who does the chores and shows up and does her work, even when there’s no one else to hold us accountable. Take responsibility. Make space for recovery, so that we can all “treat others as we wish to be treated.” In the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat 31a, Hillel says to the gentile who asks to convert, with the condition that Hillel teach him the whole Torah while he stands on one foot, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, the rest is its interpretation. Go study.”

Right in one of our most popular Jewish quotes is a good answer for why a staycation – or a break when you’re tired – matters. Don’t demand something from others that you cannot manage. Instead, give space for others to learn, grow and change. Sometimes, the best restoration and learning happens in the same way we absorb and appreciate music. How do we best appreciate and learn music? In the rests between notes.

Joanne Seiff has written regularly for the Winnipeg Free Press 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.

Empowerment & more

CHW’s SHE DAY is a multi-city celebration in honour of International Women’s Day, activating communities across Canada, including in Vancouver on March 8, and elsewhere.

Programming explores themes of women’s empowerment, leadership, health, mental wellness, fashion and beauty. Across the country, participants will experience a lineup of speakers, artists and performers who spark conversation, creativity and change.

SHE DAY Vancouver will feature guest speakers Dr. Tamara Shenkier, Laura Mossey and Ruth M’Rav-Jankelowitz in a panel discussion moderated by Jocelyn Brown.

photo - Dr. Tamara Shenkier — Dr. Tamara Shenkier *(photo from chw.ca)*

Shenkier is a Vancouver-based medical oncologist and educator who retired from BC Cancer in November 2025 after a 31-year clinical career, which was focused on breast cancer care from 2014. She held various leadership roles in medical education and governance, including at the University of British Columbia and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and was the inaugural medical director of the After Breast Cancer Service, a BC Cancer-BC Women’s Hospital collaboration supporting survivorship care. More recently, she served as vice-chair of the Provincial Health Services Authority Health Authority Medical Advisory Committee (PHSA HAMAC). She was recognized with the YWCA Women of Distinction Award (education, training and development) in 2024.

Outside of work, Shenkier has raised significant funds through sponsored cycling events for Callanish, a local nonprofit that offers a restorative retreat and healing community for people whose lives have been irrevocably changed by cancer (callanish.org). She also supports the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver as a long-time volunteer canvasser and is an inaugural and ongoing board member of the Jewish Medical Association of British Columbia, founded in early 2024 to help create a supportive professional home for Jewish physicians and health professionals, foster mentorship across generations, and strengthen Jewish voice and belonging in health care.

Mossey joins the SHE DAY Vancouver event as an ally.

Raised in Ontario, Mossey earned a bachelor’s in history from the University of Western Ontario, where she was first introduced to Middle Eastern history. She completed her teaching degree at UBC and returned to Ontario for a full-time career as an elementary school teacher and literacy consultant with the Durham District School Board. In 2013, her family relocated to Port Moody.

photo - Laura Mossey — Laura Mossey *(photo from chw.ca)*

Today, Mossey works as a teacher-on-call with SD43 Coquitlam, often teaching history and using the classroom as an opportunity to clarify misconceptions about Israel. She has committed herself to listening and learning so she can speak with factual integrity in defence of Israel and Canada’s Jewish community. Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, she has read more than 30 books on Islam, Israel and the broader conflict. In March 2025, she traveled to Israel with Jewish National Fund Greater Toronto.

Also in 2025, Mossey received an Allyship Award from the Vancouver Jewish community, presented through the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. She is an outspoken advocate for social justice and Israel on social media.

Raised in the Anglican Church, Mossey has always understood Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. Her resolve to stand up for Canada’s Jewish community is rooted in a respect for the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and for the Jewish values of ethical responsibility, social justice and compassion. She is currently studying the Torah through participation in Israel’s 929 Project (named for the number of chapters in the Hebrew Bible).

photo - Ruth M’Rav-Jankelowitz — Ruth M’Rav-Jankelowitz *(photo from janksdesigngroup.com)*

Jankelowitz is an interior designer with more than 30 years of experience in commercial and hospitality design. Known for her strategic and practical approach, she brings expertise in translating brand identity, operational needs and customer experience into built environments that perform.

Jankelowitz has worked internationally with leading fashion and lifestyle brands including Timberland, Bebe, Polo, DKNY, Nike, Balle and Nine West. Her portfolio spans retail, restaurant, corporate and hospitality environments. She currently works with restaurant groups and commercial clients, including OEB Breakfast Co., Tap & Barrel, Earnest Ice Cream, Field and Social, and Return-It.

photo - Jocelyn Brown — Jocelyn Brown *(photo from chw.ca)*

The panel moderator, Brown, is a health and hospital administrator and project manager with more than 25 years’ experience. She has been employed by BC Children’s Hospital, GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the College of Family Physicians of Canada. Currently, she works as a project manager and health-care consultant.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Brown has lived in the Lower Mainland since 1997. She and her family currently live in Steveston. She has served the Jewish community as a board member of Hillel BC, CHW, Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, Richmond Jewish Day School, and the Kehila Society of Richmond.

In addition to the speakers, SHE DAY Vancouver will feature a community shuk (market) featuring local, women-led businesses, vendors in beauty, fashion, health and wellness.

Proceeds from SHE DAY events will support the Eden Association Trauma Therapy Centre, which was founded in 1997. The association opened a new treatment centre in the heart of the Gaza Envelope communities following the events of Oct. 7. The centre provides trauma-focused care for girls and women from the northern Negev and Gaza Envelope regions and is strategically located in Kibbutz Dorot, near the city of Sderot.

Since Oct. 7, there has been an urgent need for therapeutic support for women. Untreated trauma worsens over time, affecting mental and physical health, daily life and relationships. For women, the impact extends to their families, communities and Israel’s social resilience. With support from CHW, Eden is expanding its trauma therapy centre to prevent long-term suffering, restore hope and build a healthier future.

To attend SHE DAY Vancouver on March 8, register at chw.ca/she-day.

– from chw.ca

Farm transforms lives

Danny’s Farm is a leading Israeli centre for holistic healing, offering animal-assisted trauma care, among other services. (photo from Danny Stirin)

After Canadian-Israeli media personality Shai DeLuca was critically wounded in 1996 during his service in the Israel Defence Forces, the instructions from his peers were as blunt as they were unhelpful: be a man, move on.

The injury – that left him with temporary loss of use of his legs – kept him in hospital and rehabilitation for nearly a year, in an era when post-traumatic stress was rarely named, let alone treated. “Back then, PTSD wasn’t understood the way it is today,” said DeLuca. “No one had language for it. No one recognized the symptoms.”

At the end of July 2025, DeLuca traveled to a ranch southeast of Rehovot, Israel, with a Canadian organization supporting IDF veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, families of Oct. 7 victims and Israelis living with trauma caused by terror. What began as just a visit to Danny’s Farm, a unique therapeutic centre, turned into a revelation.

At the end of the tour, ranch owner and chief executive officer Danny Stirin sensed something about DeLuca and asked a pointed question – why had he not dealt with the mental after-effects of his injury?

“I felt like I didn’t even need to say a lot and he understood what I meant,” recalled DeLuca. “He said, ‘the moment you’re ready, just message me. I will be there with you every step of the way.’”

The visit was “life-changing” for DeLuca and returning to the farm later allowed him “to understand parts of my own story buried for years.”

DeLuca credits Stirin as “the person who freed me in a lot of ways from a lot of weight that I’ve been carrying for so many years.”

photo - Danny Stirin, left, and Shai DeLuca in conversation. DeLuca credits Stirin as “the person who freed me in a lot of ways from a lot of weight that I’ve been carrying for so many years" — Danny Stirin, left, and Shai DeLuca in conversation. DeLuca credits Stirin as “the person who freed me in a lot of ways from a lot of weight that I’ve been carrying for so many years.” *(photo from Shai DeLuca)*

Since its inception in 2016, Danny’s Farm has become a refuge for Israelis grappling with trauma, be it from war or terror. At first glance it looks like a ranch – stables with dozens of horses and many small animals about – but amid the pastoral view is a clinic, recognized as a leading Israeli centre for holistic, animal-assisted trauma care. Treatment rooms for art, music, bodywork and complementary medicine sit alongside the barns, and a multidisciplinary staff of psychologists, social workers and emotional-therapy instructors anchors the work with patients. The farm treats some 1,500 people each week.

Even before Oct. 7, the farm was treating children with special needs, survivors of sexual violence, and adults with complex trauma, filling a gap in an under-resourced mental-health system. Since the Hamas attacks and ensuing war, it has become a safe zone for reserve soldiers, evacuees from the south and north, and families coping with loss, dislocation and rocket fire.

For Stirin, the farm grew out of his own brush with crisis and a decision about what kind of fulfilment he sought professionally. “It’s like there’s a point in your life when you’re looking for a purpose,” he said, adding that he wanted the farm to be a tangible example for his children: “so they can see that somebody is going with his heart, all the way.”

A deeper motivation, though, was to help other people with their pain. “I felt that I have to hold the hope for others having a crisis, as I did,” he said.

Stirin’s choice to place animals at the centre of this work came from his childhood. “Since I was a boy, I had a long attraction to animals. All my life I was near them,” he said.

Born in Argentina to a grandfather who worked as a “gaucho,” or cowboy, he grew up with horses and dogs and carried that bond into adulthood. “I realized in the best way, the very powerful way, I felt the energy of the healing, just being near the simplicity of these creatures,” said Stirin.

On the farm, that idea has been formalized into a program that pairs equine therapy with group and individual treatment, and specialized tracks for traumatized children and families. The model, developed in partnership with the resilience organization Tkuma and supported by various funders, is designed to give long-term structure to people who might otherwise never access, or have access to, sustained care.

If there is a single principle guiding Danny’s Farm, it is that trauma is both ubiquitous and intensely personal. “The human soul is very fragile, and very different from one to one,” Stirin said. “The trauma … it plays with you. It can come in all kinds of different ways, shapes.”

Because the nature of trauma depends on a person’s personality, history, physical and mental structure, he said, therapists must approach treatment with “a lot of flexibility.”

“Each one needs something else. That’s what I believe,” he said.

For veterans like DeLuca, who was told to tough it out, the encounter with this kind of care was “liberating.”

Coming back to the ranch last month to introduce visiting media to the farm, he said he found at the farm the space to see his injury “through a different lens,” as part of a story that “did not have to end in silence.”

He said, “With PTSD, the challenge is not closing the door, but opening it, and dealing with it. And what Danny did was [tell] me that I don’t have to keep that door closed.”

Dave Gordon is a Toronto-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in more than 100 publications around the world. His website is davegordonwrites.com. His trip to Israel was co-sponsored by the Or Ofir Foundation.