Richmond

Survivor urges vigilance

Resilience and determination were the themes at an International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration at the Bayit synagogue in Richmond Jan. 27. It was the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Marie Doduck, a child survivor who was the youngest Jewish orphan admitted to Canada after the war, spoke of her survival story, as well as her life in Canada, and she urged vigilance in the face of rising contemporary antisemitism.

Doduck was born Mariette Rozen in Brussels, Belgium, in 1935, the youngest of 11 children. She was 5 years old when the Nazis invaded her hometown in 1940. She and her siblings were scattered across the city and countryside, hiding with non-Jewish families, in convents and orphanages, and at times assisting the resistance. While her parents and three of her siblings were killed, eight survived, a remarkable number given that an estimated 85% of Belgian Jewish children were murdered.

In 1947, she immigrated to Canada as a war orphan and, with three of her surviving siblings, was brought to Vancouver. Her memoir, A Childhood Unspoken, was published in 2023. (See the Independent’s review of the book at jewishindependent.ca/an-intense-urgent-read.)

Doduck spent the war years being shuffled from one place to another, even serving as a messenger between her siblings and for the resistance, because of her photographic memory.

“I lived mostly in darkness, literally in hiding places where the Nazis could not find me,” she recounted. “When I returned to Brussels years later, I could not recognize the city in the daylight, for my Brussels was a place of darkness.”

Her survival – and that of seven other siblings – is a result of series of near-miracles and near-misses.

“At one of the orphanages, the mother superior hid me in a rat-infested sewer after one of her nuns found out that I was a Jewish child and reported me to the Gestapo,” she said.

After liberation, Doduck was one of 1,123 orphans sponsored by Canadian Jewish Congress to migrate to Canada. Her adaptation to life in Vancouver, while smoother than many of the children, was very difficult.

“When I first tried to tell people what happened to me, they said, ‘Forget the past,’” she recalled. “We all find our own ways of dealing with pain. I became more resilient and learned from life’s harsh lessons to depend only on myself. I, as a child, had a strength to go on despite the mistrust, fear and pain that I then felt. I went on. I went on because I would not consider the alternative. Those lessons are, in a significant way, responsible for whom I am today.”

Doduck explained that the word “holocaust,” which came into the use in 1950s, originally meant a sacrifice burnt entirely on the altar. She contrasted her own experience with that nihilistic image.

“The person you see before you tonight, Marie Doduck, is a happy Jewish mother, a successful businesswoman, an author, a grandmother, a great-grandmother,” she said. “I’ve also been president of my synagogue and on the board of many Jewish organizations in our community.”

photo - Marie Doduck mingled with attendees after the International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration at the Bayit — Marie Doduck mingled with attendees after the International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration at the Bayit. *(photo by Pat Johnson)*

She is a co-founder of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (VHEC).

Doduck’s personal story of success and happiness is replicated among countless survivors of the trauma of that time.

“Although our childhood was ripped away from us, we survived and continued and we thrived,” she said. “We have achieved so much for ourselves, our families, and for our community. And I and many others will continue to speak about our stories and to remember, to acknowledge those who perished, who cannot speak for themselves. It is estimated that only 11% of Jewish children who were alive in Europe in 1939 lived to see 1945. As many as 1.5 million of the six million Jews cruelly murdered by the Nazis were children under the age of 18.”

Doduck said the world needs to learn from the past.

“No society is immune to the danger of prejudice, antisemitism and racism, and we must work together to stand up when we see injustice in the world around us,” she said.

She explained that the vision of the VHEC is a world free of antisemitism, discrimination and genocide, with social justice and human rights for all.

“This noble idea can only be achieved when governments, schools, educators and organizations work together hand-in-hand to teach future generations about the danger of racism and discrimination,” Doduck said. “Together, we must remember the past and pass on the teaching of the Holocaust together.… We must make ‘never again’ a reality, not just an ideal.”

Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, took exception to the term “survivor” to describe people like Doduck.

“They’re not survivors. They’re thrivers,” he said. “Survivors just get by. Survivors are what they thought we would have as a Jewish people after the Shoah. They thought we would have a group of survivors who could not make it in the world beyond the Shoah.”

The lives of these individuals defied expectations, he said.

“We have thrivers that not only found meaningful relationships, not only built families, not only had kids, but cured diseases and became artists and won Nobel Prizes,” said Shanken. “They did for the world, but the world didn’t do for them.”

The countries where survivors made their homes and contributed so much have become rampant with antisemitism, he said.

Shanken called on those in the room, especially elected officials, to demonstrate clear leadership.

“It is critical that people understand what is in bounds and what is out of bounds within our society…. I know it’s hard as politicians to get that done,” he said. “But I have to tell you, please, on our behalf, keep doing as much as you can because we need you.”

Parm Bains, member of Parliament for Steveston-Richmond East, sent greetings from Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Kelly Greene, member of the BC Legislature for Richmond-Steveston and minister for emergency management and climate readiness, brought greetings from Premier David Eby. Also in attendance were fellow MLAs Hon Chan (Richmond Centre), Steve Kooner (Richmond-Queensborough) and Teresa Wat (Richmond-Bridgeport).

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, in attendance with city councilors Laura Gillanders, Kash Heed, Andy Hobbs, Alexa Loo and Bill McNulty, read a proclamation from the city. He noted that there are fewer Jews in the world now than there were in 1939.

Doduck was joined in lighting memorial candles by three fellow survivors, Amalia Boe-Fishman, Miriam Dattel and Regine Fefer. Brodie and Dave Chauhan, chief superintendent of the Richmond RCMP, also participated in the candlelighting.

Sherri Barkoff, vice-president of the Bayit, emceed the event, which was presented by the Richmond Kehila Society, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, the VHEC, the Bayit, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver.

Rabbi Levi Varnai welcomed guests to the event, Cantor Yaakov Orzech chanted El Moleh Rachamim, Café McMullen, program officer at the VHEC, spoke of the organization’s work, and violinist Lior Perry played before and during the ceremony, including a piece from the film Schindler’s List.

Candidates share views

Parm Bains, incumbent MP and Liberal candidate in Richmond East-Steveston, and his Conservative opponent, Zach Segal, spoke at Beth Tikvah April 15. (photo by Alan Marchant)

Liberal and Conservative candidates made their pitches to the Jewish community in a candidates’ forum at Beth Tikvah Congregation April 15.

Parm Bains, incumbent member of Parliament and Liberal candidate in the riding of Richmond East-Steveston, and his Conservative opponent, Zach Segal, who hopes to unseat Bains as MP on April 28, shared their visions, and those of their parties, to a crowded sanctuary at the Richmond synagogue.

Both candidates spoke of their lifelong roots in Richmond.

Bains explained that his engagement with at-risk youth and combating gang violence first emerged through coaching sports. He became a community liaison for the provincial government under premiers Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark.

Segal worked in Ottawa during the Stephen Harper administration for the ministers of defence and transportation. He credited the former Conservative government for making Canada a “moral compass in the world.” However, he suggested that Jewish Canadians are wondering if there is a better tomorrow in Canada, not just because of rising antisemitism, but because of challenges around housing, affordability and community safety.

On the issue of antisemitism, Bains pointed to his Liberal colleague Anthony Housefather, who is the government’s special advisor on Jewish community relations and antisemitism, and urged members of the community to ensure authorities are made aware of every incident of antisemitic bias and hate.

“You have to report it,” Bains said. “If it’s reported, it’s a data point that we can take action on.”

Both candidates spoke of the challenges in enforcing existing anti-hate laws.

Bains said it is crucial that police understand the definition of hate crimes and that they are educated to enforce the laws as they stand.

Segal condemned an “explosive rise in antisemitism” and credited it in part to “a horrible lack of moral leadership.” The intimidation of Jewish people and the employment of incendiary language has been tolerated by federal leaders and others on the basis of free expression, he argued.

“This is hate speech,” Segal said. “This is inciting hate and it is illegal.”

Police have said they don’t have the support to go after perpetrators, said Segal, adding that funding to increase security at Jewish institutions, for example, is a Band-Aid solution that deals with the symptoms and not the causes. He said that his party’s leader, Pierre Poilievre, has been “rock solid” in condemning hate rallies and marches. He said that a Conservative government would “close loopholes” that allow hateful events like the annual Al-Quds Day rally in Toronto to continue unchecked.

Existing laws need to be enforced, said Bains, and he suggested there is a need to understand why police are not calling for charges and Crown prosecutors are not pursuing them.

“Why is there a reluctance?” Bains asked. “Where does that leadership need to come from?”

Canada has seen some of the “most obscene” anti-Israel activism of any Western democracy, Segal asserted, citing Charlotte Kates, who was arrested in November, and her Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which had been declared a terrorist entity shortly before her arrest, “years after Jewish and other community leaders sounded the alarm on them,” Segal said.

Segal also took exception to the fact that Canada instituted a military embargo on Israel before it recognized the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.

“We were literally being tougher on Israel than Iran,” he said.

Bains said Israel has a right to defend itself and the hostages need to be freed. Canadians, however, want to play a role as “honest broker” and in peacekeeping. “Right now, Canadians want to see the violence stop, the bloodshed stop,” he said.

Segal condemned the Liberal government for resuming funding for UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency that functions as a quasi-governmental body in the Palestinian territories, some employees of which participated in the Oct. 7 pogroms.

“That is out of step with our allies in the Western world,” Segal said. Where the Harper Conservative government voted against one-sided resolutions of the United Nations, under the Liberals, said Segal, Canada has again begun supporting demonizing resolutions against Israel.

Both candidates called for more affordable housing, supports for seniors and economic opportunities for young people.

The candidates asked to speak were selected based on independent polling information which showed the Liberals and Conservatives to be the two parties leading or competing in both Richmond ridings. The Beth Tikvah Community Awareness Committee, which sponsored the event with support from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, chose to give those candidates likely to form government or be in the official opposition the opportunity to address the issues.

Rabbi Susan Tendler opened the event with reflections on reconciliation and noted the significance of the event taking place during Passover, the celebration of freedom, while Jews remain captive in Gaza.

Continuing a giving legacy

Rose’s Angels co-founder Courtney Cohen, left, with May Stefanov, tenant relations coordinator with Tikva Housing Society. (photo from Rose’s Angels)

Rose’s Angels recently completed its 12th year of giving, donating collected items to 14 Richmond not-for-profits, including Richmond Family Place, Colt Young Parent Program, Mamas for Mamas, Turning Point Recovery Society, Jewish Food Bank, Tikva Housing Society and Pathways Clubhouse.

Rose’s Angels, which operates under the auspices of the Kehila Society of Richmond, was created in 2012 by Courtney Cohen and co-founder Lynne Fader, in memory of Cohen’s grandmothers, Rose Lewin and Babs Cohen, who were both philanthropic and believed in giving back to community.

This year, an abundance of personal care items, non-perishable food, children’s arts and crafts, books and baby formula was donated. For many recipient agencies, baby formula and diapers are among their top priority items, and Rose’s Angels was able to give a large quantity of these items this year.

Donors, volunteers and other community members are integral to the success of Rose’s Angels. Letters were sent out to partner agencies, family, friends and others in January. Last month, monetary and physical donations were collected, Richmond Jewish Day School hosted a hygiene-item drive, and gift cards to grocery stores were purchased. Donations were then packaged and delivered by volunteers.

Cohen reflected on her hope to continue the legacy of her parents and grandparents.

“I hope to instil in my children the importance of tikkun olam (repairing the world) by focusing on one mitzvah at a time,” she said.

To learn more about or donate to Rose’s Angels, email [email protected] or call the Kehila Society at 604-241-9270.

– Courtesy Rose’s Angels

The Holocaust in Hungary

Dr. Peter Suedfeld speaks at the International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration at the Bayit. (photo by Pat Johnson)

As a child in Budapest, Dr. Peter Suedfeld’s family spoke Hungarian in the home and considered themselves Hungarians first and Jews second.

“If you asked us, ‘What are you? Who are you?’ The answer would be Hungarians,” he said. “Interestingly, we thought that that’s what the people around us thought also, that that’s what we were – Hungarians. It turned out a little later that we were mistaken.”

Suedfeld shared his family’s Holocaust story and his survival Jan. 26 at the International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration (IHRD) at the Bayit synagogue in Richmond.

Miklós Horthy, the regent of Hungary during most of the war, did not share Hitler’s determination to destroy the Jewish people, Suedfeld said. As a result, the status of Jews in the country was not markedly worse than that of other Hungarians during the early war years.

“By 1944, things were very different,” Suedfeld said. “It was increasingly likely that Germany, contrary to all expectations, was not going to win the war.”

The Soviets had pushed back the German advance on the Eastern Front and the Western Allies were close enough to bomb Budapest routinely. Food was scarce, as resources were being pilfered and transported to Germany.

Realizing that the Hungarians had chosen the wrong side in this war, as they had at other times in history, Horthy went on the radio and announced that his country was surrendering, Suedfeld explained, whereupon Hitler directly occupied Hungary for the first time. Horthy’s government was replaced with an overtly fascist regime, the Arrow Cross.

“They took it upon themselves to carry out the full Nuremberg Laws and all the persecution that had happened in Germany and Poland,” said Suedfeld. “It came later to us than it had many other countries in Europe but, when it came, they were determined to catch up.”

Adolf Eichmann himself, mastermind of the “Final Solution,” was sent to oversee operations in Hungary. Jews were forced to wear the yellow star for the first time and executions of Jews began in earnest.

Jews were taken to the banks of the Danube, where they were lined up in groups of three, tied together, their shoes removed, and then the middle person in the trio was shot. When the middle person fell into the river, the other two were dragged down and drowned, accomplishing the objective with one bullet rather than three. Suedfeld said 30,000 are estimated to have been murdered in this fashion.

Suedfeld’s paternal grandfather, a hero from the First World War, had died a few years earlier. He had assumed that his military accomplishments would shield his family from whatever antisemitic legislation was passed.

“He died before he found out that he was wrong,” said Suedfeld, whose paternal grandmother astonishingly survived the Holocaust. His mother’s parents entered the ghetto, where they soon died from the privations there.

Young Peter’s own story of survival was improbable. His mother was taken from their home while 8-year-old Peter watched, not knowing it would be the final time he saw her. She was taken to a holding camp in Hungary and from there to Auschwitz.

His father was drafted into forced labour and later experienced a death march and incarceration at Mauthausen, “one of the worst of those cruel, vicious camps.”

“But he survived,” Suedfeld recounted. “After the war, he was given a job, because he spoke English, interrogating suspected war criminals and SS officers captured in the vicinity. He enjoyed it.”

Young Peter survived after his mother was arrested because his aunt discovered him alone at home. She took him and decided, with his grandparents, that he should be hidden.

“They somehow found out that the International Red Cross had some orphanages started around the city. They were for war orphans but they smuggled a few Jews in when they thought they could get away with it,” he said. “I was a good candidate for hiding because I was blond and had blue eyes so I could get away with pretending I wasn’t Jewish.”

Like many survivors, Suedfeld’s existence is a result of an incalculable number of close calls and lucky chances. In just one instance, near the end of the war, the group of orphans he was with were being transported from one location to another. They were lining up to cross over a little fence when some soldiers saw them and may have assumed they were enemy forces. Machine gun fire burst forth.

“Shots were fired and the kid on my left was hit,” said Suedfeld. “And the kid on my right was hit. But when it was pointing at me was the time that the next cartridge was being fed into the gun and so there was no shot. Pure dumb luck.”

Peter and his father fled Hungary when the communists took power. Suedfeld made his way to the United States in 1948, served in the US Army, eventually received a doctorate from Princeton University in 1963 and taught at American universities before moving to Vancouver. He was appointed professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in 1972. His work and research are concerned with how human beings adapt and cope with challenge, stress and resilience.

At the commemoration, the Bayit’s Rabbi Levi Varnai reflected on the word zachor, remember.

“We are obligated to remember, today, tomorrow and really every single day,” he said. “Zachor is always important but it feels like today it’s even more important than ever before.”

He acknowledged the nine Holocaust survivors in attendance and expressed regret that, after their childhoods were stolen, their golden years are now tarnished by witnessing a new surge of antisemitism.

“As much as we want to focus on the future and as much as we want to continue to build and not always think about our dark past, the only way to ensure a proper future is by remembering the atrocities, the hardships of the past,” the rabbi said. “We are lucky that we still live in an age that we can come into a room to witness survivors and share their testimonies. It is our obligation to take these stories and make sure that they will never ever be forgotten.”

Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, noted the significance of the presence of elected representatives at the event.

“If only our ancestors had public officials showing up like this and talking about how we have to create a safer space,” said Shanken, who said that people have asked him how bad antisemitism needs to get in Canada before Jews consider leaving the country.

“When do we get out of here?” he asked. “We get out of here when the government starts making laws against us.” Governments in Canada of all parties, he said, “have been steadfast in trying to voice the need for safety and security for the Jewish people and for all people across our country, our province, our cities. I want to thank them for spending time with us tonight.”

Michael Sachs, director for Western Canada of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre and a past president of the Bayit, who initiated the annual Holocaust remembrance event six years ago, noted that the commemoration was taking place “amidst the worst, most sustained amount of antisemitism that Canadian Jews have ever experienced.”

“Survivors are a constant source of inspiration and wisdom for us,” he said. “No one can speak with a greater authority on what can happen when hate is left unchallenged than these survivors. For them, having witnessed firsthand and paid a dear price for society not standing up to the worst impulses of humanity, this is not academic.”

He asked everyone in attendance to redouble their efforts toward education about the Holocaust and about modern-day manifestations of antisemitism.

“Jews cannot fight antisemitism alone, nor should we – not if we want a better society for all,” said Sachs. “The light of education shall lead our way.”

Steveston-Richmond East Member of Parliament Parm Bains represented the federal government and read greetings from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Kelly Greene, MLA for Richmond Steveston and minister of emergency management and climate readiness, brought greetings from Premier David Eby. All three of Richmond’s other MLAs – Teresa Wat (Richmond-Bridgeport), Steve Kooner (Richmond-Queensborough) and Hon Chan (Richmond Centre) – were present. Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brody read a city proclamation and was joined by councilors Bill McNulty, Andy Hobbs and Alexa Loo. Richmond RCMP chief superintendent Dave Chouhan was also in attendance. Bayit president Keith Liedtke emceed.

Nine Holocaust survivors lit candles. Cantor Yaacov Orzech chanted El Moleh Rachamim. Dr. Abby Wener Herlin, associate director of programs and community relations at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, introduced Suedfeld.

The event was co-sponsored by the Bayit, Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and Kehila Society of Richmond.

Action and prevention

Rabbi Susan Tendler, left, Lonnie Belfer and Lynne Fader were panelists at a dialogue on antisemitism in Richmond Jan. 26. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Communities need to be more proactive and less reactive toward antisemitism – to focus less on what to do after an anti-Jewish hate crime occurs and to prevent them from happening in the first place.

That was one of the recommendations at a meeting on antisemitism convened by Richmond Multicultural Community Services Jan. 26. Panelists were Rabbi Susan Tendler of Beth Tikvah Congregation, Lynne Fader, co-executive director of the Kehila Society of Richmond, and Lonnie Belfer, a program manager in skills training for employment programs, experience and disability support services.

Panelists and participants noted that expressions of concern by officials in the community are not always backed up by actions.

“In the days in particular after Oct. 7, it meant a lot to many of us that the RCMP was there,” said Tendler. However, during one instance when police were called, the response time proved not as immediate as the police had assured the congregation it would be.

Likewise, legislation and other steps “look really great on paper,” she said. The City of Richmond adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism and the provincial government is making Holocaust education mandatory in secondary schools across the province. But these are not silver bullets to the problem, she said.

“In the four-and-a-half years that I’ve lived here, I’ve noticed a change that’s scary to see,” said Tendler.

She tells clergy from other religions that Jewish congregations pay for private security and they acknowledge that such an expenditure would gut some of their budgets.

“The province has tried to offer some more grants and make them accessible to ensure that we all do feel safe but, again, it’s a shame that that’s the situation in which we all live,” she said.

Fader’s father was a cab driver in East Vancouver and taught his kids to “never roll over and never stay quiet,” she said.

She recalled minor and more significant incidents of antisemitism across her career and was critical of elected officials who are visible for PR opportunities but absent when substantive action is needed.

“I do hold our politicians accountable because in my opinion they’ve done nothing and they’ve allowed hatred in all our communities to grow because they are more worried about photo opportunities,” she said.

Fader endorses restorative justice, which was the approach taken when some young people were caught after spray-painting swastikas on Beth Tikvah’s building. The perpetrators were brought to meet a family in the congregation and to hear the family’s Holocaust survival experiences.

“There are huge systemic issues, not just in Richmond, not just in BC, not just in Canada, but globally, on antisemitism, racism and all the rest,” Belfer said. “That needs to be addressed.”

However, he is hopeful.

“There are issues, but there are wonderful people in this community who are doing wonderful things,” he said. “It’s unfortunate when I look around the room that I see so few non-Jewish people in the room because we know the problem. We face the antisemitism.”

Breakout groups developed tangible steps the community could take to address antisemitism and enhance multicultural well-being. These included having the City of Richmond hold a multicultural day at which cultural communities provide food and entertainment, and taking the show on the road, bringing cultural communities out of their own congregations and community centres and meeting in less familiar territory.

Community-building grants are available from the city, said one participant, “but there are too many hoops to jump through to get them.”

Doors Open Richmond is an annual program where religious and cultural groups welcome non-members to their facilities, but participants said Jewish institutions are challenged both by the fact that the event takes place on Saturdays as well as Sundays, and because security concerns largely preclude Jewish participation.

One participant stressed that approaches to antisemitism are generally reactive.

“You’ve had hate speech thrown at you, what do you do?” he asked. “The question isn’t what do you do after, it’s how do you prevent it from happening? There needs to be more forward motion in how to stop it from occurring versus what you do after you’ve been beaten up on the street.”

Alan Hill, inclusion coordinator at Richmond Multicultural Community Services, facilitated the event, which took place at City Centre Community Centre. He explained that the panel was part of a larger series funded by Heritage Canada to build bridges and connections. Other events have focused on Indigenous leaders, Ukrainian refugee groups, youth groups, the Filipino community, Islamophobia, gender perspectives, the experiences of women, and a Black History Month event. A symposium on anti-Asian hate is coming up. In March, all groups will come together to review experiences and consider next steps.

A successful year for Angels

Courtney Cohen with Richmond Jewish Day School students, who generously collected personal hygiene items for this year’s Rose’s Angels. (photo from Rose’s Angels)

The 11th annual Rose’s Angels event just wrapped up. This year, the initiative was able to give donations to 15 not-for-profits in Richmond that service some of the most vulnerable people in the city, including Richmond Family Place, Mamas for Mamas, Turning Point Recovery Society, JFS Grocery Program (formerly the Jewish Food Bank), Richmond Food Bank, Tikva Housing and Pathways Clubhouse.

Rose’s Angels was created in 2012 by Courtney Cohen and Lynne Fader, in memory of Cohen’s grandmothers, Rose Lewin and Babs Cohen, both of whom modeled philanthropy and instilled in Cohen the importance of giving back within her community. Rose’s Angels is run under the umbrella of the Kehila Society of Richmond.

Among the goods donated were essential personal care items, non-perishable food, pet food, children’s arts and crafts, books and baby formula. For many of the receiving agencies, baby formula was one of the top priority items this year – Rose’s Angels was able to donate many

baby formula cans and ready-to-feed bottles to Mamas for Mamas and the food bank, for instance.

“Being a new mom myself, I can’t imagine the feeling of not having the accessibility or means to get my baby formula,” said Cohen. “With the ever-rising cost of inflation and the toll it’s having on families and single parents, formula is becoming more of a challenge to obtain. We received this email post-event from one of our partner agencies regarding our donation of formula: ‘I can’t tell you what it means to us and so many families! We had another mom come in from the hospital yesterday. They use one of the types of formula you donated, and she felt like her prayers had been answered!’ Stories like these make me so proud to carry on the Rose’s Angels legacy year after year.”

photo - For many of Rose’s Angels’ receiving agencies, baby formula was one of the top priority items this year — For many of Rose’s Angels’ receiving agencies, baby formula was one of the top priority items this year. *(photo from Rose’s Angels)*

The success of Rose’s Angels would not be possible without the support and dedication of donors, volunteers and community members. This year, donation letters were sent out to partner agencies, family friends and community members in January. In February, monetary and physical donations were collected, Richmond Jewish Day School hosted a hygiene items collection drive and grocery store gift cards were purchased. Earlier this month, donations were packaged and delivered with the help of volunteers to the 15 not-for-profits.

“My parents and grandparents taught me to recognize and respond to the needs of others with kindness and generosity,” said Cohen. “I hope to instil in my daughter the importance of tikkun olam (repairing the world), by focusing on one mitzvah at a time.”

If you would like to learn more about or donate to Rose’s Angels, email [email protected] or call the Kehila Society of Richmond at 604-241-9270.

– Courtesy Rose’s Angels

Creating light in dark times

Hundreds attended the lighting of the Silber Family Agam Menorah on the first night of Hanukkah Dec. 7, where politicians from all levels of government offered holiday greetings and support. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Hundreds gathered outside the Vancouver Art Gallery on the first night of Hanukkah, Dec. 7, to kindle light in the darkness. The decades-old annual event led by Chabad Lubavitch BC had even more than the usual sense of familiarity, as the Jewish community has been gathering weekly on the same site since the Oct. 7 pogrom, and Hanukkah’s messages of hope amid tragedy reinforced the words that have been shared from the podium over recent weeks.

The art gallery event, as well as a community menorah lighting Sunday in Richmond, was attended by many elected officials – including the premier of British Columbia and the provincial opposition leader at both ceremonies. Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, reiterated his gratitude for the support shown to the community in times of trouble.

The first night event was co-hosted by Karen James and Howard Blank and was produced by Richard Lowy, who sang and played guitar. Children from Jewish schools and public schools sang Hanukkah songs. Spoken word artist Vanessa Hadari performed.

The first candle on the Silber Family Agam Menorah was lit by Etsik Mizrachi and Dan Mizrachi, father and brother, respectively, of Ben Mizrachi, the Vancouver man who was killed Oct. 7 while attempting to save others under attack at the music festival in Israel, where more than 360 people were murdered by Hamas terrorists.

photo - The first candle on the Silber Family Agam Menorah was lit by Etsik Mizrachi and Dan Mizrachi, father and brother, respectively, of Ben Mizrachi, z”l — The first candle on the Silber Family Agam Menorah was lit by Etsik Mizrachi and Dan Mizrachi, father and brother, respectively, of Ben Mizrachi, z”l. *(photo by Cynthia Ramsay)*

“This is a time of darkness in the world,” said B.C. Premier David Eby. “British Columbia is a place of tolerance and we need to be like the light on the menorah – we need to be a light against hatred.”

Speaking on behalf of the provincial government, Eby promised to do “all we can to push back against the tide of rising hate around the world.”

He spoke of meeting Dikla Mizrachi, mother of Ben, before addressing the assembly.

“It’s moving to meet the mother of a hero, a man from Vancouver who didn’t run away from danger. He ran back to help a friend,” said the premier, “and it cost him his life.”

In a message he repeated in Richmond a few days later, Eby said he prays for the release of the hostages and for peace.

Kevin Falcon, British Columbia’s leader of the opposition, also spoke both in Vancouver and in Richmond.

“I cannot think of a time in my lifetime that the message of Hanukkah, the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, has resonated and been so meaningful to all of us,” he said on the first night of Hanukkah. “In the wake of that horrific tragedy, we’ve seen unfortunately some really vile antisemitism in the weeks that followed. Sadly, we’ve seen some of that even here in British Columbia and in Canada.”

Falcon received a resounding ovation on both occasions when he acknowledged Israel’s right to defend itself.

“Something must be made really crystal clear, and that is that Israel has a right to exist, Israel has a right to defend itself and the Jewish community here in British Columbia has the right to feel safe and secure,” said Falcon.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, flanked by many Vancouver city councilors, said, “It’s a really tough time.”

“While we can’t unwind what’s going on, I can tell you that … we love you and we will always be here for you,” said the mayor. “You are our family, you are our friends, you are our neighbours. We have your back. We are not going to stand for any acts of hatred.”

Messages of support from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal opposition leader Pierre Poilievre were read aloud.

“In a country built by immigrants, the contribution that Jewish Canadians have made and continue to make every day to our shared nation are indeed invaluable,” Trudeau wrote.

“For generations,” Poilievre wrote, “the menorah has been a symbol of strength and comfort to the Jewish people. In times of darkness, it has carried a message of hope. In times of oppression, it has been an emblem of freedom. Today, it continues to bring encouragement to Jewish people in Israel, here in Canada and around the globe. Unfortunately, this message of hope is needed now more than ever.”

Jim DeHart, consul general of the United States to British Columbia and Yukon, also spoke, promising that the United States will not stand by in the aftermath of such attacks.

“We won’t be silent in the face of antisemitism and we will continue to work to defeat hate and prejudice in all of its forms,” he said.

Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld compared current events with the Hanukkah story.

“In the glow of these menorah lights, we find inspiration and the triumph of light over darkness, hope over despair and freedom over oppression,” he said. “Even in the face of challenges that may seem insurmountable, the human spirit can prevail and miracles can unfold.… In the face of darkness, we choose to be the light.”

Herb Silber, son of the late Fred Silber, who donated the menorah that is lit annually at the Vancouver Art Gallery, spoke of the vision of his father and his father’s contemporaries, who built British Columbia’s Jewish community.

“It would be with a heavy heart if those pioneers like my father were here today to witness a rise in antisemitism that, while bubbling on the surface these last few years, has now burst into the open and become mainstream,” he said. “So, I come back to the holiday of Hanukkah because it reminds us that the story of antisemitism is not a new phenomenon. It is 3,500 years old, and the attempt to separate the Jewish people from their indigenous land of Israel is also not a new phenomenon. But what history has shown us is that Jews like my father and his contemporaries and those that came before him, and indeed the story of the Jewish people, is that we are a resilient people.

“One disappointment that marks these historic outbreaks of antisemitism,” he continued, “has been the silence of the non-Jewish community and, regrettably, we have seen evidence of that in events of the past two months. But, gathering here tonight reminds us that we have friends on the stage and elsewhere. And we know that the silent majority of our Canadian neighbours and our friends cherishes each one of us as Canadians, as we do them.”

Lana Marks Pulver, chair of the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, thanked the Vancouver police for ensuring the safety of the community, and noted that antisemitic hate incidents reported in October were up 350% over the same month a year earlier.

Members of the Rabbinical Association of Vancouver stood on stage, days before most of them left Sunday for a three-day mission to Israel.

Rabbi Dan Moskovitz, flanked by seven other rabbis who are on the mission, said he will carry the light of the Vancouver community to the people of Israel.

“We are going because of your light, which shines so brightly in this dark time,” said Moskovitz, senior rabbi at Temple Sholom. “We are going to bring that light, the message of Hanukkah, of resilience, of dedication, of rededication, of religious freedom, of the few fighting to preserve freedom against the many who seek to destroy it, and us in its process. We are going to assure Israelis that they are not alone, that the people of Vancouver stand with them.”

The rabbis, according to Moskovitz, will meet with Israeli thought leaders, Oct. 7 survivors, the wounded, Jewish and Arab Israelis, and others, “to hear with our own ears what people experienced on Oct. 7 and what it has been like in the months since.”

They will also bring cold weather gear to soldiers, especially in the north, who have not been able to leave their posts to replenish supplies.

On Sunday, Dec. 10, almost every one of Richmond’s elected officials at the federal, provincial and municipal level was present to hear rabbis speak and to see the premier and Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie light the shamash and the first candle. Community leaders Jody and Harvey Dales lit the successive candles.

The Richmond event began 35 years ago and joining Eby on Sunday was Bill Vander Zalm, who was premier at the time and lit the menorah on the first year a public lighting was held.

photo - The Dec. 10 candlelighting was a chance to celebrate the 35th year that there has been a community menorah lighting in Richmond. Among those in attendance were, left to right, Rabbi Avraham Feigelstock, lighting organizer Joe Dasilva, former BC premier Bill Vander Zalm, BC Premier David Eby and Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman — The Dec. 10 candlelighting was a chance to celebrate the 35th year that there has been a community menorah lighting in Richmond. Among those in attendance were, left to right, Rabbi Avraham Feigelstock, lighting organizer Joe Dasilva, former BC premier Bill Vander Zalm, BC Premier David Eby and Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman. *(photo by Pat Johnson)*

Rabbi Levi Varnai of the Bayit emceed the Richmond event and said it was the Lubavitcher Rebbe who revived the ancient tradition of public menorah lightings, which, over the centuries, had fallen out of favour for fear of persecution. Richmond was among the first communities to institute the celebration, he said, thanks to Rabbi Avraham Feigelstock, who also spoke Sunday.

In addition to the rabbi and the former premier, numerous people who were at the first menorah lighting 35 years ago were also in attendance Dec. 10, including Joe Dasilva, who has organized every annual menorah lighting. He retired from the Ebco Group of Companies, whose founders, Helmut and Hugo Eppich, donated the Arthur Erickson-designed menorah. Richard Eppich, now president of the family business, attended Sunday.

Helping animals and people

Pets & Pickers producer Tyson Hepburn confers with Regional Animal Protection Society chief executive officer Eyal Lichtmann during the film shoot.

The Regional Animal Protection Society (RAPS) in Richmond operates a cat sanctuary, a fostering network, thrift stores and a full-service animal hospital, along with an adoption and education centre. RAPS has grown into one of Canada’s largest and most innovative nonprofit animal-serving organizations – and it will be featured in the TV show Pets & Pickers, the second season of which airs Saturdays at 5 p.m. Pacific on Animal Planet.

RAPS began in the 1980s as the Richmond Homeless Cats Society. Driven by a small team of volunteers, it housed countless feral, abandoned and surrendered cats. In 2005, the organization pivoted to become the Richmond Animal Protection Society, extending its standard of care and no-kill animal policy to all of Richmond’s animals. In 2017, it became the Regional Animal Protection Society to better reflect the geographic diversity of its patient base.

For Jewish community member Eyal Lichtmann, executive director and chief executive officer of RAPS, “pets are part of the family.”

Lichtmann joined RAPS in 2016. His resumé before RAPS included a stint as executive director of the Vancouver Hillel Foundation, where he helped raise $10 million to build the University of British Columbia’s current Hillel House. With proven capabilities in fundraising, he was asked to lead a fundraiser with RAPS, and eventually became their CEO.

Lichtmann is passionate about “taking nonprofit organizations to the next level.” At RAPS, he created a new mission and vision for the organization, centred around helping both animals and their owners. He contends that saving more animal lives can be accomplished by helping individuals overcome any financial obstacles they may encounter in caring for their pets.

Recognizing that many pet owners cannot afford quality animal care, Lichtmann has made affordability a core focus of RAPS: “we are the only clinic we know of that offers interest-free payment plans based on the person’s ability to pay,” he said. In addition to giving annual community subsidies amounting to $1 million, he said, RAPS still generates profits, directing them towards the cat sanctuary, which houses more than 500 cats at the moment.

“Everyone is entitled to have a pet as part of the family,” said Dr. Joseph Martinez, one of RAPS’s veterinary staff. Martinez has been with RAPS since Lichtmann joined in 2016. His passion lies in treating exotic animals, such as reptiles and small mammals, an area not many veterinarians are knowledgeable about.

Having grown up on a farm in the Negev Desert in Israel and being the son of a farmer from Sicily, Martinez developed a deep love for animals. He even became a vegetarian at the age of 10, despite his family’s meat-loving Italian culture. Animal care is second nature to him, he said, noting that “animal welfare started in the Bible,” and has only been enhanced by modern-day science and technology. When he moved to Vancouver 30 years ago, Martinez was drawn to RAPS by a drive to help the less fortunate – “the idea is to not leave anybody behind in terms of funding,” he said.

“Jewish values are definitely ingrained in all of us,” said Lichtmann about his staff, many of whom followed his transition from Hillel to RAPS. Lichtmann said he is “programmed” by tikkun olam and views himself as part of a “Jewish family” at RAPS – even though not all the staff are Jewish, they are growing familiar with Jewish values and culture, he said. Last year, for example, 60 staff members attended a Passover seder with the organization. Lichtmann added, “my mother is cooking for the staff all the time,” treating the team to home-made matzah ball soup, hamantashen, challah and more.

photo - Ayala Dafni is assistant manager at RAPS — Ayala Dafni is assistant manager at RAPS. (photo from RAPS)

In addition to its subsidy programs, RAPS partners with organizations such as Jewish Family Services Vancouver, Tikva Housing Society, women’s shelters, homeless shelters, and senior care facilities. Martinez said veterinarians “should be open to different cultures,” to build positive relationships with pet-owning families.

Ayala Dafni, an Israeli animal technician and assistant manager at RAPS, has been “working with animals since forever,” aspiring to be a vet since the age of 4 – “everything that was legal to keep as a pet, I had growing up.” After getting her bachelor in animal science at Hebrew University, she went on to study animal assistant therapy, and manage a chain of pet stores in Israel.

Dafni is driven by “mitzvot,” she said, especially helping the community and donating to certain causes. At RAPS, she said, this translates to being compassionate and committed to understanding different perspectives. Dafni emphasized that “empathy is most important in this job” and, despite years of experience in the veterinary field, she still finds herself emotionally invested in difficult cases.

Lichtmann attributed RAPS’s corporate culture as part of the reason that Pets & Pickers was attracted to feature them. The unscripted series follows animals, their owners and the veterinarians who care for them.

To learn more about RAPS, visit rapsbc.com and tune into Season 2 of Pets & Pickers, which is also on Animal Planet in the United States. Season 1 can be streamed on Crave.

Alisa Bressler is a fourth-year student at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. She is an avid reader and writer, and the online director of the arts and culture publication MUSE Magazine. Bressler is a member of the Vancouver Jewish community, and the inaugural Baila Lazarus Jewish Journalism Intern.

Petitioning for change

Richmond educator Alisa Magnan is petitioning Richmond city council to create, adopt and publish a truth and reconciliation policy. (photo from Alisa Magnan)

On Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Richmond educator and Jewish community member Alisa Magnan hoped to attend a commemoration event in her home city – but couldn’t find one. Instead, she went into Vancouver for a special naming ceremony, where Trutch Street was renamed Musqueam View Street.

“[Former] Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart spoke about being a settler himself, and about wanting to do more for reconciliation,” she recalled. “On the City of Vancouver’s website, they have a whole policy and framework for reconciliation, but the City of Richmond’s website has nothing, and even their history starts with settlers in 1860. There’s almost no mention of Musqueam except that they came to Richmond to work in the cannery!”

Magnan, a teacher at Spul’u’kwuks Elementary in Richmond for the past 10 years, initiated a petition with her co-worker, Katherine Myers, that she plans to present at a Richmond city council meeting on Nov. 21. The petition requests that Richmond city council adopt a truth and reconciliation policy that includes signage around historically significant places like the midden at Spul’u’kwuks Elementary, a commemorative event in the city for the annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and a policy on the city’s website that shows what Richmond is doing.

Last month, Magnan attended the all-candidates meeting in Steveston, where she asked Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie what he did on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. She said Brodie’s response was that he had worked on his campaign.

Magnan also reached out to Richmond city councilor Carol Day to ask why there was no land acknowledgment made prior to council meetings. Day responded that the city is in litigation with both the Cowichan and Musqueam First Nations and that, until it has been resolved, making the land declaration would compromise the city’s legal position. Particularly with the litigation with the Cowichan tribe, Day wrote, “it’s very, very serious, affecting private land that regular people own, land owned by the Port of Vancouver and city-owned land. The court case is groundbreaking and, if the Cowichan win, it will set a precedent for the entire country.”

The Richmond School Board has been very proactive on truth and reconciliation, said Magnan, doing land acknowledgment and scheduling professional development days where educators learn about truth and reconciliation and pass that onto their students. “Our kids are learning about this but not their parents,” she noted. “One parent commented that there was so much negative being taught about the residential schools. ‘Aren’t there any positives?’ the parent wondered.

“In order for Indigenous voices to be heard, you have to know what they’re going through. People need to be educated without having to go searching for it,” Magnan said. “Our goal for the petition is to encourage the City of Richmond to create a truth and reconciliation policy that’s public, so we can see what’s being done, or at least to show they’re working towards it. We want to be proud of what Richmond’s doing, not embarrassed that there’s no ceremony on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.”

To sign the petition, go to change.org/t-r-policy.

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

Angels still giving

Courtney Cohen with students from Richmond Jewish Day School holding donated items for care packages. (photo from Rose’s Angels)

The ninth annual Rose’s Angels took place over the months of February and March. With the generous help of family, friends and community, it was possible to donate to 10 not-for-profit agencies servicing the most vulnerable in Richmond.

Rose’s Angels has been a community event since 2012, donating more than 6,000 care packages to date in honour of Rose Lewin and Babs Cohen, Courtney Cohen’s grandmothers. The event runs under the umbrella of the Kehila Society of Richmond, where Cohen and Lynne Fader, co-executive director of the society, established the project together.

photo - Courtney Cohen at the Richmond Food Bank, one of the agencies with which Rose’s Angels works — Courtney Cohen at the Richmond Food Bank, one of the agencies with which Rose’s Angels works. *(photo from Rose’s Angels)*

With the increasing cost of living and many families struggling to make ends meet, Cohen and Fader decided to alter this year’s individual care packages to be primarily gift cards to local grocery/drug stores, rather than comprised of many different items. A gift card allows an individual to go independently and purchase what they require when they need it most. The goal is to return to the large care-package event for 2023, if the COVID safety guidelines allow for it.

Rose’s Angels would not be possible without the support of the Kehila Society, family and friends, community volunteers and donors. Throughout the years, Cohen and Fader have created a strong connection with recipient agencies and so are able to purchase specialized items that are most needed by each agency, making the donations more personal. For example, for one not-for-profit this year, Rose’s Angels put together packages that included new hygiene items for both parent and baby, non-perishable snacks, crayons, gift cards to a local grocery store and a reusable bag.

To learn more about the community-based work done by Kehila Society of Richmond or to donate, visit kehilasociety.org or 604-241-9270.

– Courtesy Rose’s Angels