Tag: JFVVI

Vancouver Island campaign

Jewish Family Services Vancouver Island will extend its hours for the Sept. 18 community resource fair that launches the Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island’s annual campaign this year. (photo from jfsvi.ca)

The Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island (JFVVI) is trying something a little different for its annual United Jewish Appeal campaign launch this year. On Sept. 18, they will celebrate Jewish diversity in British Columbia with a community resource fair. The event will be held at the Jewish Community Centre of Victoria, from 1 to 4 p.m., and will feature presenters from both Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.

“We are changing things up this year,” said Coral Grant, executive director of JFVVI. “Usually, we have a guest speaker. The past few years, it has been on Zoom. This year, we wanted to reach the wider community by having a launch we could do in person. We are really hoping that, with this fair, we can encourage people to come out and see what is available in the Jewish community in British Columbia, as well as locally.”

As it does every year, the JFVVI campaign runs from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31. Mailings and outreach through fliers to members of the community are currently underway and, soon, volunteer canvassers will continue these fundraising efforts. For 2022/23, the campaign’s objective is to raise $175,000 – or $10,000 more than it did in 2021/22. The previous year’s campaign exceeded its target, as it included a separate campaign raising funds for Ukraine.

The response to the call for fair presenters was tremendous – JFVVI quickly ran out of available display space at the Victoria JCC. The fair will take place in the main area of the building, the same location as the Lox, Stock and Bagel Deli, which ordinarily operates Tuesdays to Fridays, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Many of the 20 tables will be operated by representatives from Vancouver-area organizations, such as the Jewish Museum and Archives, the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, the pluralistic Jewish teen movement BBYO, the Canadian Jewish Political Action Committee (CJPAC), Birthright Israel and March of the Living.

Among the local groups will be the JFVVI, the Victoria Jewish Choir, PJ Library, the Victoria Shoah Project, Canadian Hadassah-WIZO, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the Jewish Burial Society, the theatre group Bema Productions and the Hebrew school from Congregation Emanu-El. All of the Victoria congregations – Chabad of Vancouver Island, Congregation Emanu-El and Kolot Mayim Reform Temple – will be participating and the Mekorah Institute, co-founded by Rabbi Matt Ponak and dedicated to bringing integrated and sustainable spiritual transformation to individuals and religious lineages, will be there, too.

At the fair, the Victoria JCC will highlight the Victoria International Jewish Film Festival, now in its eighth year, which takes place both online and in person at the Vic Theatre in downtown Victoria Nov. 1-6. Jewish Family Services Vancouver Island, which sells fresh produce at wholesale prices every second Sunday in the summertime from the JCC parking lot, will extend its hours for the occasion.

Recent estimates on the size of the Jewish community in Victoria range from 1,500 to 3,000 people. One point on which most can agree, however, is that, whatever the number, it has been increasing. The city is now home to three synagogues, a secular humanist group, a kosher bakery and numerous other organizations and social and cultural activities.

“There are a lot of folks who have moved here recently, and it may be interesting for them to find out what is happening here,” Grant said. “For the locals, having some of the organizations from the Mainland may be an eye-opener. We are really hopeful that, in covering a broad spectrum of organizations, the community will find something which is new and exciting for them.

“I am really excited,” she said, “because this is an in-person gathering and I’m excited that we have been able to collaborate with people on the Mainland to showcase the diversity in the province and bring some of that to the Island. To do this as a campaign launch is kind of a novelty for us and, hopefully, it will all come together and work.”

About to embark on its 36th year of operation, JFVVI is the umbrella organization of the Jewish community in the capital region and Vancouver Island. It raises funds for local groups and supports organizations, individuals and families both regionally and in Israel with grants and scholarships and through partnerships with community leaders. It coordinates, plans and promotes social, educational, cultural, health and welfare programs and activities in the Jewish community. The JFVVI is committed to building strong, vibrant Jewish communities throughout the Island.

For more information about how to donate to the Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island, visit jewishvictoria.ca.

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

Controversy over instructor

A proposed fall semester course at the University of Victoria has raised concerns that it will become what B’nai Brith Canada described as “a forum for antisemitism.” The concerns were sparked by inflammatory comments the course’s instructor, Dr. Shamma Boyarin, wrote on social media earlier in the year.

In a May 26 Twitter post, for example, Boyarin used an obscene verb before labeling Abraham Foxman, former president of the Anti-Defamation League, a “Zionist pig.” On June 3, he ridiculed an individual who had been the recipient of a torrent of antisemitic abuse online. This was followed the next day by a post in which Boyarin remarked, “[It’s] hard for North American Jews to admit the truth: What is happening in Israel is ethnic cleansing and slow genocide.”

An online description of the UVic course, entitled Introduction to Antisemitism, has been modified since it was first posted. At an earlier stage, the description began, “What is antisemitism? As soon as one attempts definitions, it becomes clear that even the most fundamental aspects of antisemitism are controversial.” The course’s current title is also different from the original, which was Towards an Understanding of Antisemitism. Gone, too, is a study of present-day antisemitism.

photo - Prof. Shamma Boyarin
Prof. Shamma Boyarin (photo from uvic.ca)

The changes occurred in early August after B’nai Brith, among others, raised objections to UVic about Boyarin teaching a class on modern antisemitism. The course’s subtitle on the UVic website now reads, “A Historical Survey of Key Texts and Moments from Augustine to Luther.” Its description: “What is antisemitism? The term itself was coined in the late 19th century, but when does the phenomenon begin? Is it the same or different from ‘anti-Judaism’? Should we spell it ‘anti-Semitism’ or ‘antisemitism’? Beginning with these basic questions, we will focus on the particular role Christianity has played in developing and sustaining antisemitism in Europe.”

“Moving this course away from modern antisemitism is an important first step,” said Michael Mostyn, chief executive officer of B’nai Brith Canada. “However, we are still concerned that, instead of educating students on the scourge of Jew-hatred, there is a risk, albeit a reduced one, that hostility toward Jews will instead be promoted.

“UVic must provide assurances to the Jewish community that academic freedom will not be used as cover to falsely accuse Jews, as a whole, of contributing to genocide, among other antisemitic canards,” he added.

When contacted by the Independent, UVic expressed the position that it “does not condone antisemitism” and “that it is highly committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and to social justice in its many forms.”

“We are aware that a faculty member has expressed personal views in public communications which are disturbing to people. Those views are personal. They have not been made on behalf of the university or in the context of their work,” said Karen Johnston, a spokesperson for the university.

“Canadians have a constitutional right to free speech, subject to limits under the law,” she said. “And so it cannot be the role of the university to judge or censor its employees’ exercise of free speech in their private lives. While all faculty enjoy the privilege of academic freedom, there are also limitations to this right. In this specific instance, there is no evidence at this time that the faculty member has or will exceed those limitations in teaching this course.”

The university also said it “will act on any allegation that there has been a violation of university policies against discrimination or harassment, which apply to all members of our community.”

Rob Philipp, executive director at Hillel BC, has been monitoring the situation and has spoken with Dr. Kevin Hall, the president of UVic. Philipp said, “If the course does run, we will check to see what the reading material is and what is being taught.” However, he added, while the organization is keeping on top of things, there is not much that can be done to stop the course from going ahead.

Jeff Kushner, president of the Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island (JFVVI), said they, too, will be following the UVic course and will remain in contact with senior administration staff.

“The JFVVI does not have any serious concerns about the course material, such as we know it,” said Kushner. “Our concerns are more about the academic and emotional safety of the students enrolled in the course. In this particular case, a professor at UVic made some very objectionable comments on his private Twitter feed. We wish that he had not made such incorrect and inflammatory statements, both in his role as an academic and as a Jew.

“He has not made these comments in any official capacity, and the university has been very clear that these objectionable views are not the views of the university. Our concern is that an individual having these views, and expressing them as he has, may find it difficult to leave them at the classroom door and, through explicit statements or implicit actions, may create an unsafe learning environment for Jewish students holding views contrary to his own.”

In a letter to the university, B’nai Brith urged UVic to publish the syllabus of the revised course online, to cancel the course if it is used to attack the Jewish community in any way and to follow other universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, in adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism to “avoid future confusion.”

Boyarin has taught at the University of Victoria since 2008 in religious studies and medieval studies, and in the English department since 2009. According to his profile at UVic, his current research and teaching interests include medieval literature (particularly the literature of Spain and the Near East), comparative literature (particularly Hebrew and Arabic), literature and religion, Jewish studies, and the religious roots of antisemitism. He has additional expertise, his profile continues, in the connections between medieval and contemporary culture, especially as they manifest in heavy metal music and white supremacist ideologies.

The Independent tried to reach Boyarin for comment, but had not heard back from him at the time of publication.

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