Judaism – Page 2

A healing Shabbaton

Or Shalom hosts Rabbi Tirzah Firestone for a Shabbaton in Vancouver June 12-13. (photo form tirzahfirestone.com)

A community Shabbaton featuring teacher, author and psychotherapist Rabbi Tirzah Firestone will take place June 12-13, offering participants the opportunity to explore ancestral healing, resilience and spiritual transformation through the lens of Jewish wisdom.

Drawing from the insights of her book Wounds into Wisdom, Firestone guides individuals and communities in transforming inherited pain into sources of strength, compassion and clarity. Through storytelling, guided meditation, embodied practice and real-life case studies from around the world, Shabbaton participants will engage in an experiential journey of healing across generations.

Jewish tradition has long recognized that we inherit not only the blessings of our ancestors, but also the residues of their unhealed wounds. While these inheritances can offer resilience and meaning, they can also shape us in ways that keep us reactive rather than reflective. This Shabbaton invites participants to approach these inheritances with awareness, tenderness and courage, transforming what has been carried unconsciously into wisdom and renewed possibility.

Over the course of the weekend, Firestone will explore what Viktor Frankl described as humanity’s “uniquely human potential to transform personal tragedy into triumph.” The Shabbaton will include a community dinner and Kabbalat Shabbat June 12, 6 p.m. (registration required); morning services with Firestone June 13, 10 a.m.; and a beachfront gathering focused on sacred stories and teachings June 13, 8 p.m. (registration required, after which location will be disclosed). To register and for more information, contact programs@orshalom.ca.

– Courtesy Or Shalom

Yellowknife seder a first

Yellowknife held its first community-wide Passover seder, with support from the Jewish Federation of British Columbia, at the Sundog Trading Post on April 1. (photo from Jewish Federation Facebook page)

Yellowknife held its first community-wide Passover seder, with support from the Jewish Federation of British Columbia, at the Sundog Trading Post on April 1. Now, the small Jewish community in the Northwest Territories capital is planning more events.

Jewish celebrations are not unknown in the Northwest Territories, of course. Rosh Hashanah dinners, Hanukkah gatherings and seders have been held in various homes over the years. Yet, according to a community member interviewed by the Independent, there has never been an effort to identify and bring together the larger community in a more formal way. That changed in December 2025, when seven Yellowknifers formed the NWT Jewish Cultural Society.

“We are still in infancy and working to create a website, but right now we have a WhatsApp group with 30 adults in town. People have been added in from word of mouth,” said a Yellowknife organizer who wished to be identified by only her first name, Sari.

When the group thought about hosting the first community seder, there were talks of having it at a home; yet, in the end, due to the growing interest, that option was not possible. Two weeks before Passover, in an effort to find a venue, they reached out to Sarah Mackenzie, associate director of community engagement at the Jewish Federation, for support, which came through shortly after the request.

The seven-member board scrambled to organize everything, bringing in seder plates and setting up the tables. They used the PJ Library Haggadah. For food, there was a potluck. Decorations were ordered, Passover crafts were arranged for the children, and wine and juice were placed on each table.

“All the Jewish people I’ve met in town grew up with a connection to their culture. I think it has just fallen to the wayside without the opportunities to gather,” said Sari.

“One Jewish person hadn’t been to a seder in decades. This was my second in the 18 years I’ve been in Yellowknife. It was definitely the first seder for some of the young kids and probably only the second or third for some non-Jewish partners.”

Sari added that several people in Yellowknife are part of multi-faith households. After the Oct 7, 2023, terror attacks on Israel, she explained, there had been feelings or questions from parents of how are we going to share Jewish identity with our kids here?

A crucial moment for the more formalized Jewish community in Yellowknife happened earlier though, in August 2023, when an out-of-control wildfire caused the city to be evacuated. At the time, Sari was in Edmonton, where she visited Temple Beth Ora and picked up a copy of the Alberta Jewish News. In it, she found an article about another Jewish resident of Yellowknife.

“While I was evacuated, PJ Library reached out to me and asked me if I needed anything and provided a bunch of support. You can always count on the Jewish community,” said Sari.

“When I returned home, I had a new Jewish connection in town, and having another person to connect with nearby was a lifesaver. In the months that followed, we knew we needed more community. Our Jewish identity, which was a small piece of ourselves, suddenly skyrocketed to a top concern in our lives.”

They decided to take part in a one-week Momentum Canada trip to Israel. This presented a challenge because, typically, one must do so through a Jewish organization, but there were none in Yellowknife.

In her efforts to raise funds for the trip, Sari emailed contacts who had supported her during the evacuation in Edmonton, and they suggested reaching out to the Jewish Federation in British Columbia.

“There, Sarah Mackenzie took it upon herself to become a champion for our little community. We just happened to reach the right person,” Sari said. “She related to the experience of being disconnected from large cities with high numbers of Jewish people. She offered to take Yellowknife under her wing and do the same for us in the Northwest Territories.”

For her part, Mackenzie said, “Jewish Federation … is honoured to come alongside the Yellowknife Jewish community in alignment with our mission of creating vibrant, caring and inclusive communities, together.”

Looking to the future, the goal of the NWT Jewish Cultural Society is to organize community gatherings for the Jewish holidays. They have started an informal Hebrew school that meets once a month; it is currently in members’ homes, but they are looking for a space.

“We hope to also do small things – maybe a Purim mishloach manot (Purim basket) exchange. It will depend on capacity and resources,” said Sari, noting that many of the people who live in Yellowknife are transient.

“Two of our board members will be leaving this summer,” she said. “Grassroots events definitely depend on the efforts of a small group of determined people.”

In his weekly message on April 17, Jewish Federation chief executive officer Ezra Shanken had this to say about the Yellowknife seder: “For those involved, it was described simply as a powerful beginning for Jewish communal life in a place where opportunities to gather are few and deeply appreciated.”

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

Ishai energizes, unifies

Anat Ishai, aka Challah Mom, energizes the crowd at Beth Israel Synagogue June 13, at an event spearheaded by National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, Vancouver chapter. (photo from NCJWC Vancouver)

Anat Ishai swept into the hall at Beth Israel Synagogue the night of May 13 in a twirl of silver, dancing exuberantly as Israeli music played loudly on speakers. The room, filled with 300 Jewish women and children of all ages, exploded with sound and energy as Ishai enticed onlookers onto the dance floor.

Ishai, known on social media as “Challah Mom,” was in town at the invitation of the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada’s Vancouver chapter. Attendees gathered around tables to bake challah using Ishai’s recipe, to reflect on the meaning of challah-making and to hear her story.

Ishai describes herself as a digital content creator and blogger who “shares her Jewish life through challah, dance, hair-wrapping tutorials, Israel and Jewish wisdom.” Born in Israel to Russian-Israeli parents, she grew up in a secular home and the family moved to Toronto when she was 5 years old.

Ishai – who is now married and has kids – started the Challah Mom social media account during the COVID lockdown. It was an attempt to find happiness during a sad time, she said. To date, Challah Mom has a global platform with 300,000 followers across Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Ishai and her family made aliyah in September 2023, but she flies all over the world for Challah Mom events in different Jewish communities. In May alone, she appeared in Toronto, Winnipeg, Washington, DC, and Vancouver.

“I allow my Challah Mom community to enter my world and to see Judaism and Israel through my eyes,” writes Ishai on her website. “I share my insights, my perspective and my thoughts about Judaism, growth, Israel and everything in between. In courageously showing up as a proud Jewish woman, I hope to inspire my community to unleash their Jewish soul within.”

Jordana Corenblum, president of NJCWC Vancouver, said the goal of the recent event was “to create a community-wide, grassroots gathering, free and accessible, where women and children from different backgrounds could come together in a warm, inclusive environment.”

The event was supported by many Jewish community partners, including Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Schara Tzedeck, Chabad Lubavitch of BC, Chabad Richmond, Community Kollel, Congregation Beth Tikvah, Temple Sholom, Or Shalom, PJ Library and Bitachon, a Jewish Federation of BC security volunteering initiative.

Yamila Chikiar, a member of the local NJCWC board and a Jewish Federation staff member, said the Challah Mom event was incredibly moving. “It was filled with energy, music, and a real sense of togetherness,” she said. “There was such diversity in the room, women and children from different walks of life, ages and levels of connection to Jewish practice, all coming together with a shared openness.

“That translated quickly into a sense of belonging,” she added. “What might have started as a large gathering very quickly felt intimate, connected, and a moment of genuine community-building. Through baking, music and storytelling, Ishai creates an experience that feels joyful, nonjudgmental and unifying.”

While NCJWC Vancouver has hosted impactful programming in the past, this event stood out for its scale, accessibility and cross-community collaboration. “It reflects the kind of programming the organization hopes to continue building,” Corenblum said.

“This event was a reminder of what is possible when community is built intentionally, when it is open, collaborative and grounded in shared values. It brought together people from different backgrounds in a way that felt both simple and meaningful,” she continued. “At its heart, it wasn’t just about baking challah. It was about connection, inclusion and creating space for people to come together.”

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond.

A Lag b’Omer to remember

Chabad Richmond hosted a barbecue on Lag b’Omer, May 5. (photo from Chabad Richmond)

Families in Richmond gathered on May 5 for a Lag b’Omer barbecue organized by Chabad Richmond. Fun for the kids included a bouncy castle, archery, crafts – and s’mores. It was an afternoon of community, connection and celebration. It was especially meaningful to celebrate the upsherin (first haircutting) of local community member David Safonik.

photo - Kids playing at Chabad Richmond's Lag b'Omer BBQ — Kids playing at Chabad Richmond’s Lag b’Omer BBQ. *(photo from Chabad Richmond)*

Lag b’Omer is a festive day, honouring Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar, the primary text of kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). The numerical value of the Hebrew letters lamed and gimmel (Lag) is 33, and b’Omer means “of the Omer,” the 49-day counting period from the second day of Passover to Shavuot. The 33rd day of the count falls on the 18th of the Jewish month of Iyar, the day of the rabbi’s passing, which he had instructed his followers to mark as “the day of my joy.”

photo - A photo-op at the Lag b'Omer party — *(photo from Chabad Richmond)*

“The Chassidic masters explain that the final day of a righteous person’s earthly life marks the point at which all their deeds, teachings and work achieve their culminating perfection and the zenith of their impact upon our lives,” explains Menachem Posner on chabad.org. “So, each Lag b’Omer, we celebrate Rabbi Shimon’s life and the revelation of the esoteric soul of Torah.

“Lag b’Omer also commemorates another joyous event. The Talmud relates that, in the weeks between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot, a plague raged among the disciples of the great sage Rabbi Akiva (teacher of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai), ‘because they did not act respectfully towards each other.’ These weeks are, therefore, observed as a period of mourning, with various joyous activities proscribed by law and custom. On Lag b’Omer, the deaths ceased. Thus, Lag b’Omer also carries the theme of loving and respecting one’s fellow (ahavat Yisrael).”

photo - Party-goers at Chabad Richmond's Lag b'Omer BBQ — *(photo from Chabad Richmond)*

Last August, Chabad Richmond welcomed shluchim (emissaries) Rabbi Menachem and Esther Miriam Wolf (née Golomb). The Wolfs work alongside Rabbi Yechiel and Chanie Baitelman, founders of Chabad Richmond, who have led the community for more than 25 years. The couple leads Shabbat meals, weekly classes and holiday programs geared toward young adults and families, as well as CTeen Richmond and the Hebrew school, which is a partnership of Chabad Richmond and the Bayit.

– Courtesy Chabad Richmond & chabad.org

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.”

Taking life a step at a time

Feeding teenage boys healthy, homemade food is no joke. It’s a marathon and not a sprint. Every time, I start with “Where did the leftovers go? Did you eat them all?” and “What else can I possibly throw together from the produce in the fridge and meat in the freezer?”

For anyone who is immersed in household routines, food production easily moves from creative enjoyment to drudgery. This morning, I pondered what to make for dinner, as I walked the dog. Just like the need to think up meals, the dog walk feels heavy, each step weighing me down. Then I hear a noise and look up to see Canada geese migrating home. It’s a sign of spring and, after a long winter, a sign of joy.

We’re experiencing what looks like a failing ceasefire, ongoing wars and, in North America, ongoing antisemitic upheaval. I feel I have that sentence on repeat. The situations change but the worry about world conflicts and about friends and family remains. I’m afraid to invest in commenting on today’s news because tomorrow, we’re still going to wrestle with these issues, but the specifics will change. I feel swamped by it, and I’ll guess that I’m not alone in that.

I continue to study Daf Yomi, a page of Babylonian Talmud a day. Lately, I’ve been trying to follow the rabbis in Menachot, as they cover the particulars of grain sacrifices and how they were carried out in the Temple. The Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed just under 2,000 years ago, and these rabbis were discussing this more than 1,500 years ago. On one hand, the rabbis’ debate feels important – they worried that, should the Temple be rebuilt, they would need to understand and replicate these sacrifices. On the other hand, the incredible level of nuance in these discussions feels over the top. It’s way past “How one loads the dishwasher” and up there with “How do you clean out the sink drain?” and “Do you sort coffee grounds from tea leaves in your compost?”

It’s between these extremes that a lot of spiritual discussion happens. It’s something like “We are but a grain of sand on an endless beach” and, at the same time, “Listen to your heartbeat, as its beat is the centre of the universe.” As individuals, our lives are nothing in the eternal universe and, also, we are the centre of everything all at once.

I get mired in the minutiae, particularly when it comes to household management. Societally, this is common for middle-aged moms with kids at home. This past week, we bought our kids an old-fashioned clock radio, in hopes they would wake up on their own. Despite the clock, their dad goes in first to tell them to wake up. I come in 15 minutes later, to rouse them again. This morning, something occurred to me as I sang “Modeh Ani” at high volume to my teenagers and then a little Paul Simon, “Oh, my momma, she loves me, she loves me, she gets down on her knees and hugs me, she loves me like a rock!” (I can be annoyingly loud and cheery in the morning.) Maybe, even at 7:15, my boys like seeing us do this. Maybe these will be things they remember. Maybe this is how they are reminded that their parents love them.

Slogans that urge us onwards, to do “great things,” like “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives,” can really rub me the wrong way. After the raucous wakeup, I was outside, dressed and walking the dog 15 minutes later, wondering if this meant that picking up dog poop or reminding a kid not to forget his lunch was indeed how I’d spend my life. In a “loud” world full of people who boast of big world-changing endeavours, where does that leave me?

Some people I went to school with are, indeed, in big important positions in business or nonprofits, making change in the world, and that can make a person feel small and hopeless. The notion of tikkun olam, or fixing the world, feels far off. This umbrella phrase is a concept consisting of many individual mitzvot (commandments). It’s misleading and too broad when the individual commandments (visit the sick, provide food for the poor in your community, etc.) are accessible. Example: I saw a new mom of twins feeling desperate online. I knew, from experience, how to help.

“You can do this,” I wrote. “Take it one feed, one diaper change, one snack and one nap at a time. Take all the help you are offered. Think forward but only to the next thing you have to do.”

When I was in the trenches, alone, with my twin infants, I felt furious when smiling people said, “Enjoy it! It will all go by so quickly.” It was painful and slow, like being a grain of sand on an endless beach. Now, though, as I jostle my teens off to school with their lunch bags, I’m reminded that we can do big things, like raise a whole new generation, through these small details.

The rabbis spent a lot of energy trying to reconstitute what Temple sacrifice looked like. This seems a bit much to me until a kid loses his brand new, handknit mittens. Suddenly we’re retracing our steps, calling the places where he might have left them, and getting into the nitty-gritty. These little steps, how we spend our days, are, I believe, how we find our humanity. The global conflicts and issues change, but, if we can just focus on doing these small tasks for others, we can make enormous change over time.

It’s OK to be annoyed, bored and frustrated by all of life’s mindless tasks. That’s a real feeling that many of us share! It’s legitimate. Now, though, I have to go make chicken meatballs, with onions and dill and matzah meal in them, for supper, which we’ll have with potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets and a salad.

These endless details? They’re about nothing. They mean everything.

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.

Rabbi marks 13 years

Over the weekend of May 8, Temple Sholom celebrates Rabbi Dan Moskovitz’s “bar mitzvah” year as leader of the congregation. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Rabbi Dan Moskovitz will celebrate his bar mitzvah for the third time on May 9. Marking 13 years since his arrival as senior rabbi at Vancouver’s Reform Temple Sholom, the congregation is fêting him with a 1980s-themed bar mitzvah party.

Moskovitz may experience a sense of déjà vu, since he had not one but two bar mitzvahs in 1983.

“My dad was president of the Reform congregation and vice-president of the Conservative synagogue,” the rabbi said of growing up in Foster City, in the San Francisco Bay Area. “I’m a Jewish mutt, I like to say.”

He had a Reform bar mitzvah on Friday night and a Conservative one on Saturday morning. The weekend of his Temple Sholom celebration will be similarly packed.

Friday night Shabbat services are open to the entire community, with speakers reflecting on his tenure, something that makes Moskovitz feel awkward.

“It’s weird to say, ‘Can you talk about me?’” he said. “I love showering praise on others. I truly don’t want to be the centre of attention.”

He understands, though, what the moment represents, not just for him, but for the congregation.

“I recognize that I play a significant role in people’s lives at the most important times,” he said. “That’s a privilege.”

Letting people say thank you, he added, is part of that relationship.

Moskovitz, commonly known as “Rabbi Dan,” has no similar reluctance when it comes to the menu for the Friday night Oneg, which will be stocked with his favourite desserts – Rice Krispie squares and caramel apples.

Saturday morning will belong to someone else entirely: a bar mitzvah boy whose thunder Moskovitz is not about to steal. “This is all about you,” the rabbi assured him.

The Saturday night party will be ’80s nostalgia – but tasteful, Moskovitz promised. Members of the congregation will speak, as will Rabbi Philip Bregman, Temple Sholom’s rabbi emeritus, and leaders of the broader community. Tickets are available on the shul’s website, templesholom.ca.

Sunday morning will feature a bagels-and-brunch gathering for the religious school’s 220 kids and their parents.

The festivities are in support of causes that are close to the rabbi’s heart. Funds raised will go into two endowments.

The first is a pastoral care initiative, led by Rabbi Sally Finestone, whose sole focus is seniors, including regular visits, supporting their families, even driving people to appointments. As the congregation has grown to more than 1,000 households, Finestone is able to take some of the burden off Moskovitz, Associate Rabbi Carey Brown and Cantor Shani Cohen. This program, and Finestone’s position, began through an endowment in memory of Michael Jacobson.

The second endowment, originated by Susan Mendelson and her husband, the late Jack Lutsky, supports a scholar-in-residence program, which has allowed Temple Sholom and the broader community to learn from Israeli writer and thinker Yossi Klein Halevi for the past several years.

Though Moskovitz’s visit to Vancouver before being hired was in a typical Vancouver rainstorm, he instantly felt he had found a home.

“I just fell in love with this congregation,” he told the Independent.

What stands out most, he said, is that, in Vancouver, congregants don’t simply attend services, they participate. “They own it,” he said.

It’s a contrast, he suggested, to parts of American Reform Judaism, where it can feel like congregants outsource their religion to the rabbi, drop their kids off at shul and pick them up after. “I call it drive-by Jewing,” said Moskovitz.

“Our congregation shows up. The parents don’t just drop off their kids. They come in the building. They stay for minyan,” he said.

Something else that surprised him about Vancouver is the level of collaboration among Jewish institutions, exemplified by the inter-denominational Rabbinical Association of Vancouver. It’s a model, he believes, that could reshape Jewish communal life elsewhere.

Of course, not everything has been easy. Rising antisemitism in Canada has forced him into a more public, defensive role than he ever expected. It’s not why he became a rabbi, he said, but it has become part of the job.

Thirteen years in, Moskovitz has no plans to leave.

“I never want to,” he said.

Neither, apparently, does the congregation ever want him to go. They gave him a life appointment, or to age 67: “Whichever comes first,” he said.

Aside from missing his extended family and Trader Joe’s, Moskovitz has no regrets about the move to a new city and country – the citizenship test for which, he noted, he aced, with 20 right answers out of 20.

“My parents are older now. It’s hard for them to travel,” he said. “My father-in-law is older also, so that’s hard. My kids grew up without that drop-by grandparenting, which is so special. So that’s been a trade-off.”

His family has likewise found a home at Temple Sholom, Moskovitz added. His wife, Sharon Mishler, is a true partner in the work, he said.

“When I’m in the front of the congregation leading the synagogue and services, she’s in the back of the congregation creating relationships and connecting people,” said the rabbi. “She takes brides to the mikvah. She meets with our seniors. She takes people out to lunch. She makes phone calls. She’s a great source of information for me when people tell her things that they think I should know about somebody being sick or whatever it is.”

Their son Judah, 20, studies political science and history at the University of Ottawa and works on Parliament Hill for Vancouver Granville Member of Parliament Taleeb Noormohamed. He was just selected as the co-chair of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee Fellowship.

Son Levi, 18, graduates from King David High School this spring and was accepted early to Western University’s Ivey Business School.

Daughter Estee, 14, also a student at King David, has an aptitude for science and, like her brothers, is very involved with BBYO (formerly B’nai B’rith Youth Organization), where she is vice-president of the chapter board.

“I never thought that I would be the rabbi of a synagogue that I’d want to join,” Moskovitz said. “I thought that I would always have to compromise my spirituality to serve the masses of my community.”

At Temple Sholom, he is truly at home.

“It is Judaism in the way that I like my Judaism,” he said. “It’s traditional but inclusive and egalitarian. Progressive in what I think are all the right ways in terms of trying to adapt and respond to modernity, but not watered down Judaism in the process. And it’s a loving, caring congregation.”

Gala fêtes Infeld’s 20th

Rabbi Jonathan Infeld, centre, with his wife Lissa Weinberger, and their kids, left to right, Yair, Naomi and Avishai. Congregation Beth Israel’s Be the Light Gala on June 4 celebrates Infeld’s 20th year as the synagogue’s spiritual leader. The rabbi says he and his family have “been very lucky to raise a family here and help build a synagogue.” (photo from Beth Israel)

At Congregation Beth Israel’s Be the Light fundraising gala on June 4, the star of the show will be Rabbi Jonathan Infeld, who is celebrating his 20th anniversary as the congregation’s spiritual head. Known for his warmth, charisma and approachability, the rabbi has spearheaded profound changes in the BI community, both physically and spiritually.

The synagogue building itself has been completely transformed, but the heart of BI has grown exponentially, too, both in congregation numbers and in participation. Gary Averbach, a BI member since the 1970s and chair of the committee that fundraised for BI’s rebuild, recalled a younger Infeld, who was 33 when he first applied for the position at Beth Israel.

“He was young and was anxious to live in Canada, and especially in Vancouver,” he said. “He and his wife had decided on their honeymoon that, if there was one place to live other than Israel, it was Vancouver. That impressed me because we didn’t want a rabbi who would see Vancouver as a steppingstone to Los Angeles or New York. We wanted someone who would see Vancouver as a home and a place to raise their family.

“The total change in the physical and human structure of Beth Israel over 20 years is a testament to Rabbi Infeld,” Averbach continued. “As an overseer of the community, he is humble, never arrogant. One example of this is his reluctance to sit on the bimah during services. He designed the bimah such that he could sit with the congregation because he felt the rabbi’s place was with the congregation, not above the congregation. That shows his humility.”

Peter Lutsky, a past board member and past president at BI, spoke fondly of Infeld. “He’s caring, approachable and able to blend the practical and the spiritual,” said Lutsky. “For me, from a Jewish perspective, he’s connected the head and the heart, truly endearing himself not just to me, but to all shul members over the years.”

Infeld is proud of what the congregation has achieved over the past two decades. “The best part of it has been the building of a community with so many people involved,” he reflected. “We’re the largest egalitarian, twice-daily minyan on the West Coast, and we’ve been able to maintain that. When my family and I first arrived in Vancouver, BI Shabbat morning attendance averaged between 35 and 40, but today it’s grown to 150 to 200. And that’s on an ordinary Shabbat! Seeing that growth is fabulous.”

Beth Israel’s “culture of chesed” is also a point of pride for the community, Infeld noted. For example, One Heart Dinner delivers a free monthly meal to those with food insecurity, and the Soup Troupe offers a litre of soup each month to families receiving assistance from Jewish Family Services’ the Kitchen. The Vancouver Jewish Community Garden, a partnership between BI, JFS and Vancouver Talmud Torah, allows students, seniors, congregants and others to participate physically and meaningfully in the act of growing fruit and vegetables. Last year, the garden team donated 1,000 pounds of produce to families in need.

Emily Greenberg, head of school at VTT, worked closely with Infeld on the vision for the community garden. “We envisioned a place where everyone could come together to be Jewish and get their hands dirty in what it means to be Jewish and part of the community,” she said. “It’s been a tremendous project to do together alongside JFS.”

Greenberg said VTT is deeply indebted to Infeld for the many years he has committed to actively promoting Jewish education.

“He truly understands how important it is that we plant the seeds of Jewish education early, and he works with our Grade 5s all year, investing in those relationships and getting them jazzed up for their b’nai mitzvah. As a parent whose kids went through Beth Israel for their b’nai mitzvah, I’ve gotten to know him well. Rabbi Infeld just exudes so much care about what he does. His work is incredibly genuine and purposeful.”

Looking back on his job acceptance 20 years ago, Infeld said it was a great decision to come to Vancouver. “We’ve been very lucky to raise a family here and help build a synagogue,” he said. “All our kids have gone from preschool at the JCC, to VTT and then to KDHS, so we’ve been direct recipients of the excellent Jewish institutions in Vancouver.”

In terms of what he’s accomplished at Beth Israel, he insisted “it’s never about me – it’s always about us. At Beth Israel, we’ve built our community together, and it’s taken fabulous leadership, lay and spiritual. Yes, we rebuilt the entire physical structure of the synagogue, but we’ve also worked on the soul, and continue to build the soul of the congregation.”

Infeld reflected on the growth of key Jewish organizations since 2006, including JACS, JFS and the Jewish day schools. “When we first arrived, KDHS was just getting off the ground and now it’s one of the vibrant hearts of our community,” he said.

A rabbi’s job is never easy, but Infeld said he and his family are grateful to have found a warm, lovely home in Vancouver and at Beth Israel.

“We’ve found people who are extraordinary, and who are more than just congregants, but who are friends and family,” he said. “They’ve been there for us in challenging times and in times of celebration, such as the gala. I’m looking forward to the gala, and kudos to Jacci Sandler, the gala committee, donors and participants, who are working hard to make it a success.”

Infeld’s contract takes him through to retirement, and Averbach said he hopes that’s a long way away. “He’s still young,” said Averbach, “and I hope this 20th anniversary represents not even half of his term in Vancouver!”

For gala tickets, go to bethelightgala.com.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond.

Challah Mom comes to Vancouver

Anat Ishai, aka Challah Mom, leads a women’s bake session on May 13. She teaches challah baking as a form of therapeutic self-care, mindfulness & spiritual grounding. After years marked by grief, conflict & collective trauma, this gathering is an intentional, welcoming & apolitical space for joy, connection & togetherness. (photo from thechallahmom.com)

Click here for tickets (by donation) to the Vancouver in-person event presented by NCJW Vancouver and sponsored by PJ Library.

– NCJW Vancouver

New law a desecration

Israeli Minster of National Security Itamar Ben G’vir holds up a champagne bottle in the Knesset on March 30, toasting the passage of Israel’s new death penalty law. (screenshot)

On March 30, two days before erev Passover, Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir celebrated the passing of his racist, dangerous, vengeful and unjust death penalty law by raising a champagne bottle and drinking to victory. The customary toast in Jewish tradition, of course, is to exclaim “L’chaim!” (“To life!”) Partly for this reason, the name chosen for the Jewish anti-death penalty group I co-founded, which now includes thousands of members in Israel and abroad, is “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty.” Those members of the Knesset who support this law have upended the phrase meant to evoke Judaism’s core life-affirming principles.

While Ben-Gvir claims to be a pious and observant Jew, his actions once again reveal his blatant disregard for Jewish values, and an essential mockery of Jewish ritual symbolism. He might as well have screamed “Lamavet” (“To death”) for his celebratory toast. Make no mistake: the passage of this death penalty law will certainly bring death for both convicted terrorists and innocent Israelis and Jews across the world. It is an abomination that will prove disastrous for multiple reasons.

Wine at Passover

One of the most well-known facts about the Passover seder, which both Jews and many non-Jews are keenly aware of, is that it traditionally involves drinking four cups of wine or grape juice. These four cups are a mandatory rabbinic commandment, representing the four expressions of redemption God used in Exodus 6:6-7 to promise freedom to the Israelites. Consumed at specific intervals in the seder, they symbolize freedom, joy, and key stages of liberation, from slavery to becoming a nation.

Perhaps one of the most widely understood reasons for drinking wine on Passover, as on Purim and on any Jewish holiday, is its symbolism of life, joy, sanctification, and transformation used to elevate holy moments like Shabbat, holidays and weddings. It signifies “cheering the heart,” redemption (specifically the four cups at Passover) and divine blessing, while also serving as a reminder of the need for temperance and balance. By lifting a glass for death just ahead of Passover, Ben-Gvir has effectively desecrated this sacred tradition with inverted, grotesque symbolism.

Another tradition of the Passover seder highlights the extent of the sacrilege of Ben-Gvir’s celebration. It is customary for seder-goers to remove 10 drops of wine, one for each of the plagues they chant, symbolizing how the suffering that each affliction produced for our people’s enemies diminishes our joy. This list culminates in the 10th plague of the death of the firstborn of Egypt at the hands of Malakh Hamavet, the Angel of Death. Instead of honouring this Passover ritual, Ben-Gvir profaned it by using wine to glorify killing.

The 10 Plagues

It is most fitting, with Passover only recently having ended, for L’chaim to use the 10 Plagues – with which God cursed the Egyptians in response to Pharaoh’s “hardened heart” – as symbols of the many reasons to oppose the death penalty. We align these biblical maladies with 10 damning strikes against the death penalty to highlight that capital punishment itself is a plague on any society that enacts it. Capital punishment condemns any government that wields it, including Israel now, infinitely more so than any of the individuals it condemns to death.

Dam (Blood): Israel’s death penalty law could increase terrorism, making it more enticing to would-be martyrs (shahids).

Tzifatdeiya (Frogs): It will undoubtedly endanger Jews worldwide.

Kinim (Lice): From Adolf Hitler to Donald Trump, Machiavellian politicians wield the death penalty as a political tool, particularly for election campaigns, and that is the case with this law. Consider the recent examples in Israel of Ben-Gvir’s noose-shaped lapel pin and his video promoting the death penalty law, illicitly filmed at a gallows museum in Jerusalem, as well as Limor Son Har-Melech’s Nazi-inspired Purim costume featuring an injection syringe.

Arov (Wild Animals): Jewish tradition makes the death penalty virtually impossible to carry out. Passage of this law has betrayed the life-affirming core of that tradition.

Dever (Pestilence): Terms like “deterrence,” which is a fallacious delusion when applied to the death penalty, and “retributive” or “proportional” justice, are veils for vengeance. Unequivocally, revenge does not bring closure for murder victims’ loved ones.

Sh’chin (Boils): The death penalty is racist, and this law in particular is viciously discriminatory.

Barad (Hail): The death penalty inherently violates the human right to life. Relatedly, it often results in physical torture, and always is psychological torture, for individuals counting down to their execution day. There is no humane way to execute human beings against their will.

Arbeh (Locusts): Many execution methods are direct Nazi legacies, including firing squad, gassing and lethal injection.

Choshech (Darkness): Capital punishment will traumatize the executioners within the Israel Prison Service. This law also risks placing anyone involved in contravention of human rights treaties.

Makat Bechorot (Death of the Firstborn): The death penalty inevitably risks executing the innocent.

Onward toward repeal

On March 30, the same day that the Knesset passed this barbaric law, a vast coalition of Jewish organizations across Israel and the world immediately petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to repeal it. The next day, the Supreme Court ordered that the state must respond to the petition and the request for an interim injunction by May 24. The members of L’chaim, together with Jews of good conscience and all of civilized humanity, will continue to do all we can to support this vital, sacred effort.

None other than death penalty abolitionist Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) aptly referred to capital punishment as the “Angel of Death.” It is high time to banish this medieval plague from Israel once and for all. The final uplifting song of the Passover seder is “L’shanah haba’ah b’Yerushalayim” (“Next year in Jerusalem”). It is our consummate hope and intention that next Passover, Jerusalem will see the repeal of this monstrous legislation.

Cantor Michael Zoosman is a certified spiritual care practitioner and received his cantorial ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He sits as an advisory committee member at Death Penalty Action and is co-founder of L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty. Zoosman is a former Jewish prison chaplain and psychiatric hospital chaplain. He lives with his family in Vancouver.