NCJW – Page 4

NCJW anniversary draws crowd

At NCJW’s 90th anniversary party, left to right, Robyn Lenn, Ezra S. Shanken, Debby Altow, Catherine Stoller, Sharon Allentuck and Cynthia Ramsay. (photo by Joanne Emerman)

photo - Left to right: Gloria Hendin, longtime supporter of NCJW Vancouver section, hosted Sharon Allentuck and Robyn Lenn and members of the organizing committee following the celebration of the section’s 90th birthday — Left to right: Gloria Hendin, longtime supporter of NCJW Vancouver section, hosted Sharon Allentuck and Robyn Lenn and members of the organizing committee following the celebration of the section’s 90th birthday. *(photo by Linda Arato)*

The Vancouver section of National Council of Jewish Women of Canada welcomed national president Sharon Allentuck of Winnipeg and Robyn Lenn, president of International Council of Jewish Women, to a jam-packed 90th anniversary party at VanDusen Botanical Garden on Nov. 16.

Vancouver president Catherine Stoller and anniversary committee members greeted the approximately 125 people to a farmers’ market of food, bubbly and partner-agency displays. Council members had a chance to renew friendships, visit the displays of B.C. Transplant Society, Vancouver Coastal Health, HIPPY/MOSAIC, the JCC Jewish Book Festival, Children of the Street, Elizabeth Fry Society, and Council’s signature projects, Books for Kids, Operation Dressup and ALUMA of Israel.

Council of good deeds

Sarah Marel Schaffer, left, and Sandy Hazan pause while sorting clothing for Operation Dress-Up, a social action project sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women, Vancouver section. (photo from NCJW Vancouver)

Shlepping bags of new underwear and socks plus bundles of gently used, donated clothing to inner-city Vancouver gives Sarah Marel Schaffer and Sandy Hazan a sense of fulfilment.

The two women spearhead Operation Dress-Up, a social action project of the National Council of Jewish Women, Vancouver section. The clothing they buy, collect and distribute goes to needy children identified by school counselors and principals, by neighborhood youth and family workers, or by the Jewish Family Service Agency.

On Sunday, Nov. 16, the Vancouver section of NCJW will celebrate 90 years of education, advocacy and social action projects such as Operation Dress-Up. The event is set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at VanDusen Gardens, and all are welcome.

Operation Dress-Up, begun 20 years ago, is supported by NCJW fundraising and by grants. United Way recently awarded the project $6,000. Schaffer said they are “quite lucky” to get this amount at one time and will soon call schools to see what’s on their wish lists and determine where the money will be best used.

Both women have been involved in Operation Dress-Up for 10 years. Schaffer said that for her it’s a way to give back to the community. “It’s a joy to dress your own kids in nice clothes and it’s a joy to help out in this way,” she said.

Hazan has found her participation to be a learning experience. “When you see the desperate need in Vancouver, it’s very humbling. I never knew that the poorest postal code in Canada is on the Downtown Eastside. I was shocked,” she said.

While Operation Dress-Up is a hands-on project, NCJW works with many local organizations, mainly by providing grants. One recipient is Children of the Street, whose mission is to intervene to prevent the sexual exploitation and human trafficking of children and youth.

Human trafficking, a modern form of slavery, is a focus for NCJW nationally and internationally. Council has advocated for passage of Bill C-36, to protect girls and women from sexual exploitation, sponsored by MP Joy Smith (Kildonan-St. Paul, Man.).

International Council of Jewish Women has joined with Stop the Traffik (stopthetraffik.org), devoted to ending human trafficking worldwide. ICJW also works on various projects with nongovernment organizations at the United Nations.

In Israel, ICJW lobbies on behalf of women kept captive by unfair divorce laws (agunot), and supports the Women of the Wall in its quest for gender equality. NCJW of Canada supports ALUMA, formerly known as IFCA, Israel Family Services Association.

At the 90th anniversary celebration, a roving magician, speakers – national NCJW president Sharon Allentuck from Winnipeg and international president Robyn Lenn from Australia – and finger food will be part of the fun. Organizations that partner with Vancouver NCJW will be arranged in a “farmers market” of informational booths. Some of these will include the Vancouver Public Library, Richmond Jewish Day School, Vancouver Coastal Health, Elizabeth Fry Society, Jewish Book Festival, Children of the Street, Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), B.C. Transplant Society, Barefoot Books and the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. Council’s own projects, Books 4 Kids and Operation Dress-Up, will also be on display.

Tickets to the 90th celebration are $18, available at Vancouver NCJW’s office at the JCCGV. Call the NCJW office at 604-257-5180 for reservations.

Mystery photo … Sept. 26/14

Women with thrift sale goods, National Council of Jewish Women, 1960. (photo from JWB fonds; JMABC L.13961)

If you know someone in this photo, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish Western Bulletin’s) collection at the Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C. by contacting [email protected].

More Than Just Mrs. exhibit online

NCJW members unload boxes of toys headed for Israel as part of the Ship a Box to Israel program launched by NCJW Tikvah branch, Vancouver Harbor, 1947. (photo from JMABC L.11998)

Much of the work of Jewish women in Vancouver has occurred, both historically and still today, behind the scenes. The Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia is trying to change that with its online exhibit, More Than Just Mrs. Accessible at morethanjustmrs.wordpress.com, the exhibit discusses the history of the National Council of Jewish Women, Hadassah-WIZO (CHW) and Na’amat, the three predominant Jewish women’s organizations mid-century. It includes audio clips from local women who worked for these organizations and focuses exclusively on the work of the B.C. chapters.

“We’re trying to raise awareness of the Jewish community in B.C. and its history,” said Michael Schwartz, coordinator of development and public programs at JMABC, located in the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture in Vancouver. “When it came to these chapters of the organizations, I knew a few of the stories but wanted to fill in the gaps and learn more. I thought we should look at the organizations in greater detail, at the differences in their philosophies and the influential women who worked for them.”

The website has an introduction and then individual sections on each of NCJW, Hadassah and Na’amat, each one containing letters, certificates and other historical material relevant to the work the organizations performed. There are a total of six audio clips online but those who want to hear entire interviews may visit the Jewish museum offices to listen to them.

The exhibit offers a fascinating glimpse into Jewish life in Vancouver in the 1940s and ’50s: its fashions, the organizations’ priorities and their fundraising strategies. These women were professional volunteers, individuals who were not content to be “just Mrs.,” and insisted on devoting their time and talents to improving and meeting the needs of their local communities and communities in Israel and elsewhere. The name for the exhibit was drawn from an interview with one of the volunteers some 20 to 30 years ago, wherein she mentioned the phrase, “More than just Mrs.,” adding that, for her, doing this volunteer work was an opportunity to step out of her husband’s shadow.

NCJW supported an orphanage in Holland, for example, sending regular shipments of food and clothing to the aid of the 220 destitute war orphans being cared for in Bergstichting. The exhibit includes a letter from the orphanage dated April 1947, describing the difficult conditions at the orphanage. “The physical condition of our pupils being still rather week [sic], we had to fight with a scarlatina [scarlet fever] epidemic during five months,” wrote the director. “Sixty of our people were taken with this illness. But fortunately, your valuable gifts reached us just in those distressful months.”

The online exhibit was launched in September 2013 and some 2,500 people have visited the site since it was launched. Schwartz estimates it takes 60 to 90 minutes to read the material, which was produced by Annika Friedman last summer with the aid of Young Canada Works, a granting program subsidized by the federal government. Schwartz said another online exhibit is being produced this summer under the same program. Called Oakridge: The Final Frontier, it will chart the rise and decline of the Jewish community in the neighborhood. Elana Wenner, a master’s candidate in Jewish studies at Concordia University, will be interviewing community members and gathering photographs, videos and other relevant materials for the new exhibit. To contribute and for more information, Wenner can be reached at [email protected].

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond, B.C. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.