Shay Keil, this year’s Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver annual campaign chair, will share his story at the opening event on Sept. 10. (photo from Jewish Federation)
Gifts to the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver annual campaign inspire stories with direct human impacts, says Shay Keil, this year’s campaign chair. He’s knows – because he is one of those stories.
“There are real people behind those gifts and I am one of those people,” he told the Independent. “I was a beneficiary of generosity from this community in my earlier days, when my family required financial assistance in order for me to participate in Jewish life in Vancouver – that means being on subsidies to go to the Jewish day school and Jewish day camps. I will share my story of how their Federation gifts decades ago inspired my Jewish journey that would never have happened without their financial support.”
Keil will bring his personal experience to hundreds of community members at the annual campaign opening event Sept. 10. Keynote speaker for the evening will be Eric Fingerhut, president and chief executive officer of the Jewish Federations of North America. Prior to this role, Fingerhut was the head of Hillel International. He is also a former U.S. congressman.
The event’s musical centrepiece will feature vocal trio Citizen West, made up of Marc Devigne, Cody Karey and Omer Shaish. The trio is known for their multilingual repertoire and three-part harmony, which spreads the message that “we are all global citizens, and through music, we can connect with individuals of all cultures and backgrounds,” according to the group’s website.
Keil, who is a senior wealth advisor at ScotiaMcLeod, said the opening event will emphasize the importance of every individual’s contribution to the greater whole.
“The campaign only has success when we all come together,” he said. “Little gifts matter just as much as big gifts, and increases of all sizes really have impact.”
While he hesitates to put a number to his fundraising goal, Keil said he aims to meet or exceed last year’s campaign achievement of $10 million.
While the pandemic is largely behind us, challenges remain for major undertakings like the annual campaign, he acknowledged.
“The main one is the high cost of living [and] the financial challenges that come with higher interest rate costs,” said Keil. “Although that will affect some, it will affect others less so and our objective will be to continue to ask for increases among those who have the ability to do so.”
As someone who knows personally the impact of the annual campaign on its many beneficiaries, Keil is deeply devoted to the community in general and to the Federation campaign in particular.
“I remain committed to community and this is just yet another example of how I express that,” he said.
The campaign opening event takes place at 7 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 10, at Congregation Schara Tzedeck. Tickets ($18) are at jewishvancouver.com.
For the SOS – Starting Over Safely summer campaign at chwsos.ca on Aug. 22, donated funds will be matched three times. (photo by Ben Kelmer)
CHW (Canadian Hadassah-WIZO) is in the midst of its third annual SOS – Starting Over Safely – summer campaign, aimed at empowering victims of domestic violence in Canada and Israel. Building upon the success of last year’s campaign, CHW has expanded its support for Franny’s Fund, ensuring an availability of funding in Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto. Franny’s Fund was created to fill gaps for urgent needs like therapeutic counseling and legal support for women and their children who are navigating the criminal justice system.
In Canada, where domestic violence remains a critical issue, one woman is killed in a violent act every 48 hours. The spike in domestic violence that began during the pandemic is not diminishing and instead continues to increase. In Canada, it has increased by 27% since 2019. Similarly, Israel has experienced an escalation, with a 50% increase in femicide in 2022 – 17 women have lost their lives to domestic violence in Israel in the first six months of this year.
SOS – Starting Over Safely focuses on three campaign priorities: Franny’s Fund in Canada, WIZO programs, and the Michal Sela Forum in Israel. The campaign goals include empowering at-risk women and children to break the cycle of violence, access to critical resources, provision of essentials and opportunities for economic independence, and the establishment of a supportive network for women in similar circumstances. Additionally, the campaign aims to fund specially trained canine protection and respite summer camp experiences for at-risk youth.
“CHW firmly believes in the right of every individual to achieve their full potential while living in safety and security,” said Lisa Colt-Kotler, CHW chief executive officer. “Together, we have the power to empower.”
Established in 1917 by Jewish women, CHW (chw.ca) is a non-political, non-partisan national network of volunteers that believes in the advancement of education, healthcare and social services, transcending politics, religion and national boundaries. To support the SOS – Starting Over Safely 2023 campaign, there have been events held across the country. The CHW Montreal Walk took place on Aug. 6 and the CHW Vancouver Walk on Aug. 13, at Jericho Beach Park. The CHW Calgary Walk will take place on Aug. 20 and Montreal’s Online Bridge Tournament on Sept. 6. On Sept. 10, people can empower victims of domestic violence by supporting the CHW National Garage Sale held in cities across Canada.
Most importantly, on Tuesday, Aug. 22, CHW will host a 27-hour online crowdfunding campaign, beginning at 9 a.m. PST. The fundraising target for the campaign is $400,000, with all donated funds being matched three times by a dedicated group of donors known as the “Matching Heroes.” To contribute or learn more about CHW’s initiatives, visit chwsos.ca.
“I think what we should all take away from this incident is that we need to move closer to the institutions and find ways to move forward that are more inclusive and diverse,” Maytal Kowalski told the Independent.
Kowalski was fired from her marketing and communications role at the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver on July 25, the day after she disagreed with Federation chief executive officer Ezra Shanken at a meeting that included seven people from Federation and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and 25 to 30 members of UnXeptable, a group started by expat Israelis who oppose the Israeli government’s proposed judicial reforms. Kowalski recorded both the gathering, even though attendees were asked not to, and her dismissal. She shared the recordings with the Independent and other Jewish media. The story was broken by Haaretz, and followed by a piece in the Canadian Jewish News. As they did for the Haaretz and CJN stories, Federation declined to comment when contacted by the Independent, responding: “We cannot comment on individual employee matters due to privacy considerations.”
“I chose to approach Haaretz [first] and specifically Judy Maltz because, while this specific story is Vancouver-focused, this is an incident within a broader context of diaspora Jewish institutions throughout North America, and that’s a subject area that Maltz covers,” said Kowalski. “I didn’t want to single out Vancouver, because this is a systemic problem within our institutions, and my hope was, through Haaretz, maybe someone in
Edmonton or Winnipeg or Phoenix would read it and feel brave enough to come forward with their own story, or feel compelled to push for positive change within their own Jewish federation.”
Kowalski, who describes herself as “someone who really cares about the future of our Jewish institutions and the role they play in our Jewish community,” said a lot of the support she has received “explicitly or implicitly calls for progressive Jews to distance themselves from the institutions, and I want to say to those people that I think that’s the wrong approach.”
Both New Israel Fund of Canada and JSpaceCanada – on whose boards Kowalski sits – have supported her and, she noted, “if you look at how both of those organizations addressed the situation overall, they have talked about how we need to work together as a diaspora Jewish community to do better and be better.”
She said, “I know people will probably expect that I’ll distance myself from the community, but I’m going to do the opposite. I’ve been pushed out by the community before – I am the child of an intermarriage, and my mother’s partner after her divorce was also not Jewish, so I’ve only known being an intermarriage kid, and that was more contentious within our institutions back when I was growing up than it is today.
“But I’ve always stayed connected and, while they can knock me down, I’ll always get back up. Because building strong diaspora Jewish communities is important to me, and if I choose to walk away in defiance now, then it allows a system of discrimination to persist…. I hope that, if someone is reading this and also feels that we need to work for change, that they reach out. Maybe we can have these conversations within our shuls or other spaces that are open to it, and talk about how we use this story as a catalyst for change. If someone is planning to donate to this year’s annual campaign, they should ask about what concrete steps the Federation is going to take to make those changes.”
Born in Winnipeg, Kowalski’s family made aliyah in 1994. She lived in Israel until she moved to Toronto to pursue a degree at York University. “I lived in Toronto until March 2021, at which point my husband and I moved to Vancouver,” she said. “I have always worked in marketing and communications in the nonprofit/charity sector, and was with the Vancouver Foundation prior to coming to the Federation.”
She was with Federation for just under a year, having initially applied for a job with Federation’s Connect Me In team. “I had worked at the Miles Nadal JCC in Toronto early in my career and really loved working in my own community and I wanted to get back to that,” she said. “I was already very involved in other Jewish organizations on a volunteer basis and wanted to also be involved professionally.”
About recording the July 24 meeting, Kowalski explained, “I recorded or transcribed incidents that I felt could become contentious later on, since I didn’t have any workplace protections such as a union, so I felt I had to find means to protect myself.”
Parts of the two recordings have been cited in both Haaretz and the CJN, including that Kowalski was accused of “screaming” at the UnXeptable gathering. In the dismissal meeting, Becky Saegert, vice-president, marketing and communications, at Jewish Federation, says: “So, I heard last night that the registered speakers were passionate and articulate and compelling and my understanding is that you didn’t register as a speaker, but that what happened is that you interrupted our CEO and began, as several people have characterized it to me, and used the words, ‘began screaming,’ and then only stopped when asked by the moderator to sit down.”
Listening to her remarks, Kowalski does interrupt Shanken and speaks with emotion, but she doesn’t seem to be screaming, and she stops speaking once she has made her point, which she does in less than a minute. For Kowalski, that her manager told her several people had characterized her remarks as “screaming” was particularly important.
“It’s like that quote, she said, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ It’s so hurtful to me to know that all those people were good people who did nothing in this situation, which allowed for this deceitful narrative about my actions to be cemented. So, I think this should also be a learning moment where we ask ourselves, when we see something happening in our community that is wrong or unjust, what action will we take?”
The Lando family donated to the federal government the islet that is now West Grebe Islet Marine Park. The park will be held in perpetuity for wildlife conservation and is off limits to people. (photo from Barbara Schloss)
Barbara Schloss remembers the day in the 1970s when her father came home and announced, “Guess what I did? I just bought an island.”
Her father, Esmond Lando, was a familiar face in Vancouver’s Jewish community, known to everyone as Bud. Snapping up an island may have been a little out of the ordinary for most dads, but Bud Lando had a finger in all sorts of pies, his daughter recalls.
Neither the father nor, until recently, the rest of the family, though, had any idea of the value of the island – “islet,” to use the precise terminology – he had bought. And, while the tiny West Grebe Islet is located just off West Vancouver’s Lighthouse Park – and, therefore, a short kayak ride from some of the world’s priciest real estate – the value isn’t so much in dollars as in ecological biodiversity. So rich in bird and animal species is the one-third-hectare (about 0.8 acres) island that the federal government was delighted to accept the rocky outcrop from the Lando family through Canada’s Ecological Gifts Program.
The islet is known to some West Van locals as “Seal Rock,” due to the prevalence of the sea mammals hanging about on or around the place. But, according to North Shore News reporter Brent Richter, who wrote about it last year, birders have identified 89 different bird species that either inhabit West Grebe or drop in during migration, including black oyster catchers, turnstones, marbled murrelets and one of the highest densities of surf scoters in the region. A pair of eagles are routinely spotted on the Coast Guard light beacon.
Schloss, who is a longtime resident of Montreal, says she didn’t know the ecological richness of the place when she contacted the feds on behalf of her siblings and the family to offer it to the federal government. Now that she knows, she likes to think her late father had an inkling of the gem he rescued and preserved from development. The family will celebrate their father’s foresight this weekend at a dedication ceremony where a plaque will be unveiled acknowledging Esmond Lando’s contribution to preserving West Grebe.
But, there is a larger story.
The Landos lived in Shaughnessy – Schloss’s sister, Roberta Beiser, still lives in the family home – but Bud had a special connection with West Vancouver. That connection is a tale of discrimination and civil rights in British Columbia.
Jews were not welcome on golf courses anywhere in Metro Vancouver when the nine-hole Gleneagles Golf Course came on the market in 1951. It had been developed two decades earlier and named after the legendary links in Scotland.
Bud Lando and pal Dave Sears snapped up the golf course – and opened it to Jewish players. Golf courses would become a sideline for Lando, but only one of many.
“He really was like a Renaissance man,” said Schloss. “He loved creating, he was very creative. He painted, he sculpted – this was all on the side. At home, we had a kiln. He decided he was going to make wine, so he got a whole bunch of grapes somewhere and went to a distillery somewhere and made sure that that wine had ‘Esmond Lando’ on it. It was just another passion of his.”
Esmond “Bud” Lando (photo from Barbara Schloss)
Lando was a successful practising lawyer, and he partnered with friends in a vast range of entrepreneurial pursuits.
“If anyone would suggest something, he would look it over and, if it looked like a possibility, he was in it,” Schloss said of her father.
With a couple of friends, he launched Queen Charlotte Airlines, she recalled, as well as a box company, a lumber mill in Chilliwack and a trucking company. “He was into everything he could possibly find,” she said.
The golf sideline was important – not just because Lando loved to play, but because the discrimination rankled him. Sears and he soon sold Gleneagles so they could construct the full 18-hole course that is now the Richmond Country Club. Lando then developed courses in Delta and Surrey.
“Gleneagles was a very important purchase for my father, who was very plugged into the Jewish community,” said Schloss. “He was part of Canadian Jewish Congress and was very active in the Jewish community. Plus, he was on a council for Christians and Jews. He was very ecumenical, but Jews were very important for him. That’s why he got involved with Gleneagles.”
Bud Lando came by his entrepreneurial spirit and sense of adventure naturally. Bud was born in England and his parents, Lou and Sara Lando, trundled the family of six off to Prince Rupert, B.C., in 1911, when Bud was a tyke.
“That was supposed to be the metropolis,” Schloss said of the northern B.C. port town. “That was going to be where everything was happening.” She added with a laugh: “Didn’t happen.”
The family moved to Vancouver and got into the fur trade. They opened Lando’s Furs, opposite the Canadian Pacific Railways station (now Waterfront station, where Seabus and Skytrain meet).
Bud Lando graduated from law school at the University of Alberta and practised for decades, becoming Queen’s Counsel. He and his wife, Edith Mitchell Lando, originally from Winnipeg, raised four children. In addition to Schloss and Beiser, daughter Juli Hall now lives in Houston, Tex., and son Barry Lando lives in Paris. Barry was a producer for the American TV newsmagazine 60 Minutes. (Mike Wallace, the late longtime cohost of the program, said that, without Lando, “there would have been no 60 Minutes.”)
The four siblings, their children and grandchildren will gather this weekend at Gleneagles Golf Course to dedicate two plaques – one at the course itself and another a short walk away, from where the islet can be viewed.
“When my father passed away, we each took on part of the heritage of my father, whatever he left behind we divvied up and decided who would be in charge of what,” said Schloss. “I got Grebe. That was one of the things that I was involved with.”
It was Barry Lando who told her about the federal program and that the government might be interested in the property. Indeed, they were. The island was formally transferred to the federal government last year, but under an agreement with the District of West Vancouver, it will be cared for by the municipality and was officially designated as West Grebe Islet Marine Park earlier this year.
The islet will be held in perpetuity for wildlife conservation and is now off limits to bipeds in order to conserve its ecological value. Barry Lando and some of his family members are, therefore, among the few people to have set foot on the place. They once approached by boat and then swam up to the islet but its geography meant it was never a welcoming spot for casual visitors.
“My father would be so pleased and proud to know that he had the foresight to recognize a treasure and to save it from development,” said Schloss, adding that he would be happy knowing that his legacy and the island is preserved forever. “I think it would mean a lot to him to know this.”
On Sept. 1, burial plot costs and funeral prices are set to increase. (photo from Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board)
After Lorna Krangle’s husband, Larry, passed away last year, she determined to put her own final plans in place and not to leave funeral arrangements for her family.
“After burying him, I just thought, I’ve got to do something,” she told the Independent. “I’m not going to have all the kids being worried and putting money together or whatever. They’ve got their own families.”
Krangle, 87, has deep roots in Vancouver. She was born here, and grew up around the city, first on Main Street, near the Ivanhoe Hotel, and, later, at 19th and Cambie. She and Larry raised their six kids on the North Shore.
Larry and his brother, Jack, ran Regent Tailors, adjacent Victory Square at the heart of Vancouver’s downtown. Lorna was a ceiling-busting female saleswoman, taking orders from retailers and outfitting the Canadian Pacific Airlines female flight crews with their uniforms.
It was only recently, though, that she turned her attentions to a different kind of business: making final arrangements. Now, she is urging everyone to take the step. Krangle is a bit of an evangelist for pre-arranging.
Howard Jampolsky, executive director of the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board, agrees wholeheartedly. He is also urging people to consider taking the step before Sept. 1, when prices for both cemetery plots and funeral services go up significantly.
The cemetery board is the not-for-profit charity that operates Jewish burial facilities in New Westminster, Surrey and at the historic Jewish cemetery located in Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery.
Planning ahead can bring peace of mind to families, Jampolsky said, and it also presents the opportunity to spread the not-insignificant costs over an extended period. Without prepayment, costs of the burial plot and funeral services are due at the time of burial. Prepaying allows the fees to be spread out over months or years, with no interest or service fees. All funds, by law, are held in trust, he said.
The cemetery board now sells plots and funeral services as a package, which is a fairly new approach. It used to be common for people to prepay for the plot, but not the funeral.
“The fact of the matter is, if you pay for the plot and not the funeral, the funeral price is still going to continue to go up,” he said.
The term “pre-planning” is a common term in the funeral sector. However, it doesn’t really apply in this case, Jampolsky said. In other cities, Jewish funeral providers may be for-profit entities and offer a diversity of services. The Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board’s philosophy is that the type or quality of a funeral should not be determined by the wealth of the deceased.
“There is really no planning for a Jewish funeral,” he said. “A Jewish funeral, as we provide one, is pretty much the same for everybody.” Unlike in other traditions or places, there is no music to choose, no flowers to select. The caskets Schara Tzedeck offers are simple pine boxes intended for speedy decomposition per Jewish tradition.
“We believe that everybody comes into the world equal, they should go out of the world equal and, to the best of our ability, that’s what we try to do,” he said.
There is another fundamental tenet of the nonprofit funeral provider, Jampolsky said: “Every Jewish person has the right to a full and proper Jewish burial.”
“If you do have financial constraints and you would like to discuss options available, certainly we can work something out,” he said. “That’s when I sit down and talk to people one-on-one and find something that works for them and works for us.”
The financial situation of a household is also a factor in considering prepayment. Preparing in advance is a good plan, he said – but not if it causes financial hardship.
“If people are struggling, if they are on a fixed income, I don’t want people to prepay their funeral and have to sit in the dark or not have their television or have to give up a vacation,” he said. “You have to live. Living is most important. But, for those who just want to get it out of the way and taken care of, it’s a great set-up.”
On Sept. 1, the cost for a plot at the New Westminster cemetery will rise to $14,000 from the current $12,500. Plots at Schara Tzedeck’s Surrey cemetery will go up to $7,500 from $6,500. There are still several dozen plots available at the old Jewish cemetery at Mountain View – Jampolsky acknowledges that some people may be under the impression the cemetery is full – and those prices are rising to $27,000 from $23,500, keeping in line with prices in the non-Jewish section of Mountain View.
Funeral services at all locations are increasing to $13,000 from $12,000.
Getting affairs in order ahead of time can make a sad and stressful time a little easier, said Jampolsky.
“I’ve seen this so many times when we are dealing with a family,” he said. “We’re talking about picking up their loved one and we’re talking about doing a burial tomorrow, because it’s so quick, and then we have to talk about the money and what it’s going to cost and they have to figure that out.”
Pre-arranging can take that element out of the mix for the survivors.
“It’s a very significant gift to give to your loved ones,” Jampolsky said. “You can remove that burden from the ones you love.”
Monica Lewinsky may have been the first person in history to experience international cyberbullying. Lewinsky was an intern in the White House during President Bill Clinton’s administration and her relationship with the U.S. president led to worldwide notoriety – contributing to the impeachment of the chief executive.
Lewinsky’s experiences took place before the dawn of social media, but her experience of being publicly judged and condemned was exacerbated by the then-new technology of the internet. Today, with almost every young person now on some form of social media platform, the potential for victimization or harassment exists everywhere.
The lessons of how decisions in early life can have long-lasting impacts – as well as considering how the #MeToo movement might invite a reconsideration of Lewinsky’s role in those events – are among the reasons Congregation Beth Israel will welcome Lewinsky to Vancouver for an evening that includes Selichot services Sept. 9.
“We were trying to think about someone who would be appropriate for Selichot, which is really the kickoff to the High Holiday season,” said Beth Israel’s Rabbi Jonathan Infeld. “We wanted someone who would be addressing key High Holiday concepts, such as personal renewal, dealing with personal choices made throughout one’s life, but especially at a young age, the effect of those choices on one’s life. Also, very à propos to today, someone who is still dealing with body image and life image, dealing with online harassment and dealing especially, again in the modern period, with gender power-related issues.”
Monica Lewinsky will touch upon several topics when she speaks at Beth Israel on Sept. 9. (photo from chartwellspeakers.com)
Lewinsky has been speaking on these topics for several years. And this will not be her first time speaking about them to Vancouver audiences, as she did a TED Talk here in 2015, where she told the audience she was subjected to “global humiliation” by “mobs of virtual stone throwers.”
“In 1998, I lost my reputation and my dignity. I lost almost everything,” she said at the time. “I almost lost my life.”
Lewinsky’s presentation here is presented by RBC Global Assets Management PH&N Institutional in addition to Beth Israel, King David High School and Hillel.
Beth Israel invited King David and Hillel to participate because of the relevance to younger audiences of the issue of cyberbullying and how decisions and actions at a young age can change one’s life, said the rabbi. He noted that some younger people might not know of Lewinsky’s experience, while people his age recall it vividly.
Infeld dismissed the idea that Lewinsky’s visit might be controversial.
“Our goal is not to deal with the political issues,” he said. “Our goal is to deal with the personal growth and harassment and mental health issues. Obviously, everyone has their own view of the political issues involved, but the intention here is really not to deal with Democrats versus Republicans or anything like that but really to deal with how one’s experiences as a 20-something-year-old, and the decisions that a person makes at that point, can affect one’s life…. She speaks openly about suicide ideation at one point and how did she overcome that, how is she alive today, to be able to speak, and how does this affect our young people today, who are also making challenging decisions that affect their lives potentially forever, like we all did.”
Infeld also wonders how Lewinsky would have been portrayed, and how different the perceptions might have been, had the events taken place today, when the #MeToo movement and other social changes have given us a different perspective on workplace and gender power dynamics.
“Had this played out in the 2020s and not in the 1990s, what would the storyline look like?” he asked. “I think that may have changed in a very significant way – what the gender and power dynamic looks like in terms of how people would perceive who has responsibility for what took place.”
Tickets to the event were made available first to Beth Israel members, King David families and Hillel students. Tickets were opened to general audiences on Aug. 15. The 8:30 p.m. fireside chat between Infeld and Lewinsky is free and will be followed by musical Selichot services, led by Debby Fenson and Harley Rothstein. People who donate or pledge $90 or more to Beth Israel’s High Holidays campaign are invited to a 7 p.m. seudah shlishit dinner with Lewinsky. Selichot services will be livestreamed but Lewinsky’s presentation will not be. Information and tickets are available at bethisraelvan.ca.
On Sept. 9, Dr. David Suzuki will speak at Temple Sholom on the topic We Claim We Are Intelligent: Then Why Are We in Such a Mess? (photo from Temple Sholom)
Temple Sholom has invited Dr. David Suzuki to speak at their annual Selichot program on Sept. 9, at 8 p.m. The award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster will present on the topic We Claim We Are Intelligent: Then Why Are We in Such a Mess?
Following Suzuki’s presentation, Temple Sholom’s Senior Rabbi Dan Moskovitz will join him in a conversation about our responsibility as people of faith and citizens of the planet to do the Jewish act of teshuvah, return and repair, for the harm we have caused in abdicating our commanded obligation to be guardians of the earth.
The theme of the program comes from Temple Sholom’s ongoing engagement with the environmental crisis through the lens of Jewish moral tradition. A responsibility further amplified by a sermon Moskovitz gave on the issue on Rosh Hashanah in 2019 that sparked a larger effort by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver.
Suzuki has taught recently that the COVID-19 crisis has had two enormous and related consequences – it brought much of human activity to a halt and it has given nature a respite. Both provide an opportunity to reset society’s priorities and head in a different direction.
Confrontation with the reality of a new epidemic should have subdued political and economic imperatives to scientific reality and the United States and Brazil have shown what happens when science is ignored or brushed aside. In a time of accusations of fake news, deep conspiracies and relentless trolls, scientists should have regained authoritative prominence. People have had to confront important questions about purpose, values, opportunities and constraints in the way we choose to live. The murder of George Floyd in the United States and the outbreak of racist attacks against Asians in Canada have revealed deep-seated racism and inequities that must be dealt with in a post-COVID world.
In this exploratory presentation, Suzuki touches on some of the stark questions and answers we’ve encountered, from our impact on the environment and our ability to change it, to our dependence on the human creation called the economy and the unfair treatment of our elders, Indigenous people, homeless people, and others. Suzuki puts out a call to action for all of us to rethink our priorities and learn the ultimate lesson in front of us – that nature can be far more forgiving than we deserve.
Temple Sholom’s Selichot program on Sept.9 is open to the community. Pre-registration is required via templesholom.ca.
Marie Henry, left, and Barbara Halparin (photo by Barbara Halparin)
Don’t yearn to push your pedals to the max up the Sea to Sky Highway among thousands of lean, spandexed superbodies? Then do I have a fondo for you: the Grannyfondo, aka Solidarity Cycle 2023.
On Sunday, Sept. 10, Grandparents Day, a team of 30-plus grandmothers and their grand-others will conquer 100 kilometres of dike trails and farmlands in the Fraser Valley, all in the service of the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign.
Among the cyclists will be grandparents Darcy and Marty Billinkoff and Marie Henry, as well as myself. We’re all members of Tikun Olam Gogos, one of 18 Gogos groups in the Lower Mainland. Gogo is an African term for grandmother (or the oft-used “granny”), and the Hebrew phrase tikkun olam means repairing the world. We are grandmothers and grand-others aiming to alleviate the scourge of HIV/AIDS that continues to ravage Africa.
We ride in solidarity with our African partners, the millions of grandmothers in 15 sub-Saharan nations who are raising their grandchildren, orphaned by a disease that continues to overwhelm, despite the progress that has been made worldwide in the areas of treatment, prevention and education.
Inspired by these intrepid women, we ride with hearts full of the knowledge that we are a part of a life-changing movement in which aging women who feel increasingly powerful in their lives are moving the world forward.
Darcy and Marty Billinkoff (photo by Darcy Billinkoff)
Darcy Billinkoff, an avid cyclist, and Janine Reid of Royal City Gogos, conceived the idea for the Solidarity Cycle after learning of similar events in Victoria and Ottawa. Reflecting local inclinations, they envisioned an experience that would be challenging yet doable: a one-day, 100-kilometre ride with a 50-kilometre option. Cyclists are fully supported with nourishing meals and treats, insurance, route maps, GPS, first aid, a service vehicle, a photographer and, of course, a Solidarity Cycle T-shirt. To date, Solidarity Cycle, now in its seventh consecutive year, has raised more than $308,000 for the Grandmothers Campaign.
If you love to cycle, we would love to have you along for this fun-and-fund-raiser, whether or not you are a member of a grandmothers group. If you wish to support the team with your donation, we would love that too! To register or donate, go to solidaritycycle.weebly.com.
UnXeptable Vancouver has been rallying for Israeli democracy for 28 weeks. Here they are on 41st Avenue near Oak Street. (photo from UnXeptable Vancouver)
It has been many months since we first wrote to the Jewish Independent with our plea to voice our concern for democracy in Israel.
On Jan. 17, when the new government came to power, we saw the writing on the wall: the end of Israel as was envisioned in its Declaration of Independence – that Israel “will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture; will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and holy places of all religions; and will dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations” – meaning Jewish and democratic.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been going to the street for 31 weeks, holding flags and demanding democratia, democracy. And we have been echoing this outcry in Vancouver for 28 weeks – we joined 64 other cities around the world, as part of UnXeptable.
You might have seen us at Robson Square or, lately, around 41st Avenue and Oak Street. As we gather for our weekly rallies, holding Israeli flags, we try to hold onto the fabric of the Israel that we know and love. We try to hold onto one another in this ongoing rollercoaster, and we end each rally with Hatikvah (The Hope). We hope that Israel’s forces of liberty, freedom and diversity will overcome the agenda of this government – a government that is working towards its own personal interests rather than the good of the Israeli people.
We are fully aware of what happens when good people are silent, as bad things are happening. We cannot be silent as we see Israeli democracy crushed in front of our eyes. Dictatorship, orchestrated by a government that has lost its legitimacy, is turning out to be the biggest existential danger to our country.
We fear for Israel. We fear a civil war, as the rift and hatred that was stoked by the prime minister is growing. We fear for the security of Israel and its ability to defend itself, as soldiers no longer feel that they can commit to a government that does not adhere to the basic agreement, based on the accountability of the government to the judicial system.
The Knesset’s passing of the clause limiting the Supreme Court’s power to rule on the “reasonableness” of government decisions was a fatal blow to Israeli democracy. This clause provides the temporary majority of 64 members of the parliament (out of 120) the ability to legislate any unreasonable law. The government has more than 200 laws in its queue as the beginning of sweeping changes that will make Israel unrecognizable to us, or anybody that has any reference to Israel.
Day after day, things are getting darker for Israeli democracy. We fear that a constitutional crisis is looming. In the past week, the prime minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu, when approached, would not guarantee to the Israeli people that he would obey the ruling of the court if this law were to be struck down.
What illuminates the darkness is the rising of the Israeli liberal forces, protesting and reviving the spirit that brought about the “Israeli magic” – Israel’s economic, political, cultural and scientific rise. Their nonviolent, spirited and creative protests, week after week, are the engine that drives the locomotive of hope. It carries the young and the elderly, Sephardim, Ashkenazim, religious and secular people to resist, sometimes facing the violent response of police acting under government orders. Our group seeks to resonate this protest and, at the same time, provide support to our families and friends in Israel.
After many efforts, the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver agreed to set up a meeting between chief executive officer Ezra Shanken and Nico Slobinsky of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and members of our group, UnXeptable, plus a limited number of people of the community at large. Our members addressed the meeting, illuminating different concerns we all share, as Israel is facing these contentious times. The meeting took place on July 24, just two days before Tisha b’Av, and we could hear the wings of history. We reiterated our two main requests:
A town hall meeting, open to the whole community, not limited by the size of the room, with the objective of clearly bringing forth the complex issues Israel is facing.
A clear and public statement from the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver to the community that outlines where they stand, as our leaders, on the judicial overhaul.
If not for the amazing protest movement, Israel would already be a dictatorship, a government in which a small group possesses absolute power without effective constitutional limitations.
UnXeptable voices Israel’s cry for democracy all over the world. Recently, the Philadelphia UnXeptable group, through its continued protests, succeeded in getting billionaire Arthur Dantchik – a main contributor to the Kohelet Policy Forum – to withdraw his donations to the organization, one of the designers of the judicial coup in Israel.
At the moment, 64 members of the Knesset are derailing Israel from being a strong country, of law and order, with a strong economy and a strong army, to being a dark, weak country – economically, militarily, internationally – ruled by a prime minister indicted on three charges, an MK convicted of bribery, Haredim trying to legitimize their refusal to serve in the army and, last but not least, religious zealots seeking to legitimize the occupation and to govern Israel by religious law. There have been warnings from all sectors, including the previous head of Israel’s General Security Service and Israel Defence Forces, banking professionals, the International Monetary Fund and many heads of state.
We believe that the Federation, based on its support of human rights and Jewish values, should take a stand supporting the protesters in Israel and the values they are trying to protect, helping us save the national homeland of the Jewish people, which was established, after thousands of years in exile, with a vision to be Jewish and democratic. In historian and philosopher Yuval Harari’s words: “either a messianic dictatorship will rise or a democracy for all [will be established]. It is in our hands.”
We call for our local leaders to stop sitting on the fence. Come to Israel’s defence to prevent it from becoming a messianic, poor state that discriminates against minorities. Help us protect and keep Israel Jewish and democratic as per the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
– The UnXeptable Vancouver team (Rina Vizer, Dalite Har Toov,
David Berson, Edna Leyland, Ornit and Ron Haber,
Noga and Gideon Levit, and Daphna Kedem)
Fourteen people who have made an outstanding provincial, national or international impact will be appointed to the Order of British Columbia, the province’s highest form of recognition and an official part of the Canadian Honours System. Among the recipients is Jewish community member Samuel Leon Feldman.
The Order of B.C. investiture ceremony will be at Government House in Victoria in the late fall. This year’s honourees bring the total membership of the Order of British Columbia to 503. Members have been appointed from all parts of the province and biographies of all the 2023 recipients can be found at news.gov.bc.ca/files/biographiesobc2023.pdf.
Feldman’s biography notes that he might have lived anywhere. Born in Shanghai, China, of Jewish parents whose ancestors had been persecuted in Russia, he and his family moved to the first place a visa was acceptable – Vancouver – in the 1950s.
The Feldmans loved the peace they found in this sleepy Commonwealth outpost. Although young Sam Feldman experienced some degree of antisemitism growing up, this paled in comparison to the positive experience of growing up in Vancouver and the many lifelong friends he has made.
In the early 1970s, Vancouver’s entertainment scene was booming. It was very early in Feldman’s business career that he identified an opportunity and a desire to be part of that musical environment. He established himself by representing and booking musical artists for what became a launch pad for many iconic artists.
Feldman continues to turn that humble start into an international juggernaut, primarily through artist representation by building an internationally known talent agency and management firm that has been responsible for more than 250 million records and countless tickets sold from past and present clients, such as Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan, Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Tracy Chapman, Bette Midler and Norah Jones. While the numbers are impressive, Feldman measures success through long-standing relationships and the positive musical influence his clients have brought to the community and beyond.
After 50-plus years, Feldman’s involvement in various aspects of the entertainment business is still growing and his legacy is intact. Uniquely, at a time when Los Angeles, New York and London were the epicentres of the music industry, he chose to stay in Vancouver. He has been quoted as saying: “I wouldn’t move elsewhere, as there is no better place than British Columbia to bring up your family.”
Contributing to the culture of this community and beyond is another part of Feldman’s legacy. From Expo ’86 and the 2010 Olympics to countless sold-out stadiums, he’s brought some of the biggest musical acts in the world here to record and perform, and he’s sent some of British Columbia’s biggest stars into the world. He’s proud to have contributed to the excellence of culture here, sharing values he learned from his mother, a high-level concert pianist, and his father, an amateur actor and salesman. His parents were a huge influence on him, and their mid-life immigrant status framed tough times. They urged him to work harder and shine brighter. Having watched their struggles, the lesson was not lost.
In an era when it was difficult for female artists to succeed, Feldman helped female clients through the headwinds of what can only be characterized as a sexist industry, to access what their male counterparts were already achieving.
Having been born in Shanghai in 1949, immigrating to Canada, having a Russian Jewish heritage and building an entertainment empire in a province most people had never visited, Feldman knows firsthand what it feels like to have to work twice as hard to succeed.
To be a successful music business entrepreneur, one must straddle the divide between art and commerce, and treat both with equal respect. Feldman is an interpreter – he has bridged those worlds. This is a skill set he has been able to bring to many good causes, using his connections and resources to support the revitalization of Chinatown, plus many health initiatives particularly targeted at youth.
Feldman has been recognized repeatedly, garnering awards such as the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award for extraordinary contributions to the Canadian music industry, and the SOCAN Special Achievement Award for contributions to Canada’s music industry and heritage. He has been inducted into the Music Managers Forum Honour Roll, the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame.
Feldman is a huge believer in the positive change music can bring to people’s lives. It’s in the mission statement of his business and it’s key to his support of the Sarah McLachlan School of Music, Odd Squad Production Society, Zajac Ranch for Children, music therapy for children on the autism spectrum, and many others.
It’s all part of giving back to the province he committed to so many years ago. Celebrity can be exciting, but it can also disappear overnight, unless you build a solid platform through exceptional relationships and hard work. Feldman has demonstrated that by building something honest and sustainable, you can literally change the world.
The Washington Capitals have signed forward Andrew Cristall to a three-year entry-level contract.
The Capitals selected Cristall, 18, in the second round (40th overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft. Cristall was ranked fifth among North American left wings and 15th among all North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
The 5’10”, 175-pound forward spent the 2022-23 season with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL), leading the team in goals (39), assists (56) and points (95). Cristall’s 1.76 points-per-game rate ranked fourth in the WHL, while his 95 points ranked tied for sixth. Cristall was named Kelowna’s team MVP and was selected to the WHL B.C. Division First All-Star Team.
During the 2021-22 season, Cristall set a Kelowna Rockets franchise record for goals by a 16-year-old (28) and tied the franchise record for points by a 16-year-old (69). In 129 career WHL games with Kelowna, Cristall has recorded 169 points (69 goals, 100 assists).
The Vancouver, B.C., native won a gold medal with Canada at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, finishing the tournament with six points (1 goal, 5 assists) in five games. In addition, Cristall served as an alternate captain at the 2023 Under-18 World Championship, where he registered six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in seven games and helped Canada to the bronze medal.
Or Shalom Synagogue’s new children’s programs teacher is Sammy Fogel, a creative, curious and community-driven educator and facilitator passionate about Jewish education, social justice and mental health. Having grown up at Camp Miriam, and having been a Saturday childminder at Or Shalom as a teenager – and 10 years later as an adult! – Fogel’s connection to the Vancouver Jewish community is longstanding.
Fogel was raised in North Vancouver, had her bat mitzvah at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture, and has held several roles working with youth at synagogues including Congregation Har-El in West Vancouver and Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Montreal. She has a bachelor’s in liberal arts and women’s studies from Concordia University and a master’s in social justice and community engagement from Wilfrid Laurier University. She currently works full-time as the administration and facilities coordinator at the Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia and, in her spare time, you can find her swimming in the ocean, reading her book in the sunshine or enjoying a London fog at her local café.
– from Or Shalom
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From left, FINN Partners colleagues Gil Bashe, chair, health and purpose; Vancouver-native Nicole Grubner, partner and environmental innovation group lead; and Goel Jasper, managing partner. (photo from FINN Partners)
The Israel office of FINN Partners, a global integrated marketing and communications agency, has launched an environmental innovation group. FINN Israel will play a communications role on behalf of Israeli companies in the environmental innovation sector.
Vancouverite Nicole Grubner, partner at FINN Partners, will lead the innovation group. Named “PR Guru” in the 2019 PM360 ELITE Awards as a rising communications leader, Grubner has a decade of experience working with Israeli clients. She will spearhead strategic communications programs for Israeli companies making an impact within the environmental innovation sphere.
“Our goal is to effectively communicate Israel’s groundbreaking, market-ready offerings in the environmental innovation sector, accelerate their growth, and foster meaningful connections with key stakeholders worldwide,” she said. “With more than 100 Israeli companies attending this year’s COP28 in Dubai, we are witnessing Israel’s expanding role in implementing solutions for both climate change mitigation and planetary adaptation to the impacts of our changing climate. Implementation begins with creating awareness that these solutions exist today.”
According to Start-Up Nation Central, there are more than 850 companies in the environmental innovation ecosystem, developing solutions for clean energy, food and agricultural systems, industry, mobility, nature and carbon, water and construction. According to Israel’s climate tech industry group, PLANETech, investments in Israeli climate tech companies between 2018 and the first half of 2022 totaled $6.67 billion.