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August 1, 2003
Lubavitch heads to the island
Rabbi Mayer Kaplan and his family will soon make their home in
Victoria.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
The Jewish communities on Vancouver Island are going to have new
opportunities to make connections to their Judaism starting this
fall. And, according to Rabbi Mayer Kaplan, those opportunities
will be available to any Jewish person on any part of the island.
On Sept. 1, Kaplan, his wife Chani, and their three-month-old daughter
Mussi, will move to Victoria in order to serve the entire island
as a Chabad Lubavitch shaliach (emissary) rabbi and family.
Like Rabbi Yitzchak Wineberg and Yechiel Baitelman, who serve the
Lower Mainland Jewish communities as Chabad Lubavitch shlichim,
Kaplan hopes he can provide the island's Jews with anything they
need when it comes to connecting to Judaism.
"We don't know yet exactly what we are going to do [on Vancouver
Island]," Kaplan told the Bulletin. "We just know
that we are going to be there for all the Jews on the island, for
whatever they need. It could be for physical things and obviously
for spiritual things."
Born in Tsfat, Israel, Kaplan studied in a rabbinical college in
Kfar Chabad, near Tel-Aviv. He then spent several years studying
in yeshivot in New York City and Detroit, Mich.
Most recently, he served as a teacher at a yeshivah high school
in New York, but was ultimately looking for a community that was
more in need of the services of a Lubavitch rabbi. The small Vancouver
Island Jewish communities were exactly what he and Chani were looking
for.
"There are places that have bigger communities and more educational
opportunities already in place," he said. "But on Vancouver
Island our job will be to start a lot of things from scratch because
there is not a lot going on over there in any aspect.
"We could have gone to a place where we knew exactly what job
needed to be done," he continued. "But this is a place
with a lot of opportunity and that's why
we came."
Chani Kaplan, whose own background has given her a great appreciation
for the Chabad Lubavitch tradition of rabbinic emissaries, is looking
forward to sharing her home with the Jews of Vancouver Island.
"My parents were also emissaries," she explained. "That's
what I did all my life as a child; that's the type of education
I had and I was waiting for the day when I could go out myself and
do the same thing. So I'm very excited."
Wineberg, who is the head Lubavitch shaliach for all of British
Columbia, said he interviewed seven couples for the Vancouver Island
job. He liked the Kaplans' backgrounds and eagerness to make their
lives on the island a reality.
"Part of the reason we were able to [bring a Lubavitch rabbi
to Vancouver Island] is because the Kaplans decided to take this
mission on their own," Wineberg explained. "They took
the responsibility to seek the necessary funding to get started
and they are doing it from the ground up.
"They both have a good background educationally," Wineberg
continued, "and I felt that they were both strong enough people
to climb the big hill that they are going to have to climb."
Although they hope to decrease the size of that hill by increasing
the yiddishkeit on the island, the Kaplans, who plan on spending
the rest of their lives in British Columbia, are aware of the challenges
that lay ahead for their observant family.
"We know that it's very possible that we are going to have
to send our children out of town [for a more formal Jewish education]
at a young age and we know it's going to be far away," Mayer
explained. "But we believe that a child should be brought up
to know that his whole life is to help others and we believe that
this is the strongest education we can give our children."
As they both have extensive experience as teachers, Kaplan explained
that educational programs for both adults and youth will definitely
be included in the services he and Chani will offer.
"We are bringing ourselves totally," he said. "Whatever
we have, we are ready to share it with others. We know we have to
bring the Jews closer to Judaism and see them take part in more
Jewish activities. This is our goal."
Until now, Chabad Lubavitch has had only an occasional presence
on Vancouver Island, such as when yeshivah students would visit
for the summer or during the annual lighting of the Chanukah menorah
at the legislature. The Kaplans have not yet determined how they
will spend their first High Holy Days on the island.
Kyle Berger is a freelance journalist and a graphic designer
living in Richmond.
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