Great mitzvah project

DAVID J. LITVAK

This Sukkot marked an historic first for Jews who live and work in Downtown Vancouver. On a cold and rainy October day, for the first time ever, they received door-to-door sukkah service, thanks to Chabad of Downtown and Rabbi Binyomin Bitton, the congregation's spiritual leader.

Driving a truck supplied by Sam, Andre and Yoni Gabay (who own Autolease, a Surrey car dealership) with a sukkah mounted on its back, Bitton, accompanied by his son, Menachem Mendel, cruised the streets of Downtown Vancouver in search of Jews who were willing to fulfil the mitzvot related to the holiday. Bitton thought that the Sukkah Mobile would "give every single Jew the opportunity of doing two important mitzvot – eating in the sukkah and shaking the lulav and etrog."

Bitton found scores of eager Jewish volunteers when he initially parked the Sukkah Mobile on the corner of Hornby and Howe, across from the Vancouver Art Gallery. He then drove through the streets and back alleys of the area, eventually winding up in Yaletown, across from the Roundhouse. Along the way, by dialing furiously on his cellphone, Bitton coaxed scores of Jews out of their offices or apartments. They clambered into the back of the Sukkah Mobile to say the special holiday blessings and noshed on cakes and pastries that were provided for the occasion by Sabra Kosher Bakery and Restaurant.

Appropriately enough, one of the Sukkah Mobile's stops was Joe Segal Court, which Ran Cohen, who works in an office nearby, jokingly called "a Downtown Jewish alley," since it also faces the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. Wherever the Sukkah Mobile was parked, curious and delighted Jews wandered by to say hello to the rabbi and say the blessings with him. Most of them had never seen a Sukkah Mobile before. In fact, Aviva Kaminsky, a Vancouver native who lives in Yaletown across from Urban Fare with her husband William and son Gabriel, exclaimed, "I've never seen anything like this." Elli Segev, an active member of the Chabad Downtown Jewish community, noted that, "The Sukkah Mobile is great – it's part of the great mitzvah mobile project."

While mitzvah mobiles and sukkah mobiles may be a common sight in major centres of Jewish life, like London or New York, the sight of a such a vehicle cruising the streets of Vancouver elicited curious glances and perplexed "What the heck is that thing?" stares from passersby. Nonetheless, most people who saw the Sukkah Mobile were delighted to see it.

A Sukkah Mobile is a novelty in Downtown Vancouver, but, for Bitton, driving one through the city streets is nothing new. "In New York during Sukkot, I used to drive a Sukkah Mobile from morning until night, cruising the streets of Manhattan, through 42nd Street and onto Times Square," he said.

Alik Schastlivenko, a pastry chef from Ukraine, who created a delicious chocolate menorah for one of Downtown Chabad's Chanukah parties, quipped that Bitton "was making Vancouver seem like New York." He added that the last time he saw something like the Sukkah Mobile was when he was living in the Israeli Negev town of Be'er Sheva: "Where yeshivah bochers were standing on the street next to the bus station, asking people to put on tefillin."

And, indeed, for an afternoon at least, thanks to the Sukkah Mobile and Downtown Chabad, Vancouver seemed a little bit like Israel or New York.

For additional information about Downtown Chabad programs, visit www.chabadcitycentre.com.

David J. Litvak is a freelance writer living in Vancouver.

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