ORT South Africa Cape chief operating officer Debbie Staniland, right, with Harris Lorie, former education development manager of World ORT and programming co-chair of Limmud UK 2013, and Dr. Lydia Abel, ORT SA Cape director, at Limmud UK in 2013, where they were among the presenters. (photo from ORT SA Cape)
While there are innumerable reasons why people choose to volunteer, children often are inspired by the actions of their parents. Therefore, it is not surprising when two sisters who live on opposite sides of the world are both engaged in tikkun olam, repairing the world.
Linda Steiner is a longtime resident of Richmond and a stalwart at Congregation Beth Tikvah, notably for her leadership role in Isha l’Isha. Formerly known as the Women’s League, Isha l’Isha is a grassroots shul-based organization that promotes friendship and sisterhood through a wide array of programming, including self-improvement activities like Zumba and self-defence. The group also supports the synagogue’s youth program and hosts Shabbat programs that encourage women to find their place on the bimah.
Supported in part by Beth Tikvah’s gift shop, another aspect of the group’s mandate is tikkun olam. The 80 women currently involved contribute to organizations like Covenant House, Dress for Success and Chrysalis, all local charities that help those less fortunate in Greater Vancouver. And, they host speakers, the next of which will be Steiner’s sister, Debbie Staniland, from ORT SA Cape, the branch of ORT servicing South Africa’s Western Cape. On Sept. 15 at Beth Tikvah, Staniland’s topic will be LEGO Robotics for Under-privileged Youth in South Africa: Getting Children Off the Streets and into Enriching Environments.
Staniland explained in a Skype interview with the Jewish Independent that ORT in South Africa and, specifically, ORT SA Cape functions differently from ORT in most of the world. She said that, before the general elections of 1994, which saw the African
National Congress elected with Nelson Mandela at the helm, ORT South Africa was primarily a fundraising organization feeding funds to ORT programs internationally – it had little to do on the local front. In 1994, however, it gained new status as a nonprofit organization and was able to focus on educational programs for students and teachers in South Africa, as a way to build the country one child at a time.
Staniland is ORT SA Cape’s chief operating officer. When in Vancouver, she will describe the great strides ORT has made in reaching children through after-school education programs, as well as in teacher training. According to Staniland, as ORT helps educate teachers and children in the Western Cape, they are planting the seeds for lasting social and economic improvement. Having worked for ORT first as a volunteer for five years and then as a professional for the past four, Staniland is very familiar with the successes and challenges of the organization.
Her talk will focus on the specialized LEGO robotics programs that ORT SA Cape uses in its after-school education program, which is designed to provide hands-on enrichment in technology, mathematics and literacy. ORT SA Cape director Dr. Lydia Abel said of the program, “The kids are instantly enthralled by the LEGO robotics and they soon discover that the only way they can build them is by reading the how-to program and, suddenly, it’s all they want to do.”
Staniland hopes to reach a wide audience when she speaks at Beth Tikvah. She is aware of the significant immigration of South Africans to the Lower Mainland in the late 1980s and 1990s, her sister being one of those immigrants. Staniland hopes that many “ex-South Africans” will be interested in reconnecting and finding out how those who stayed in the country are helping to build a better South Africa. “It’s a way to help those who have immigrated to connect,” said Staniland. “They understand many of the challenges we face and it will be nice for them to know what we are doing.”
Staniland’s lecture on Sept. 15 will start at 7 p.m. Admission is $10 (refreshments will be served) and an RSVP is requested by Sept. 9 to the synagogue office, 604-271-6262 or [email protected].
Michelle Dodek is a freelance writer living in Vancouver.
Ezra S. Shanken has been busy since arriving in Vancouver. (photo from Ezra S. Shanken)
“I said at our AGM that I want a Federation today that is with you in your brightest and darkest times, not because of what you give but because of who you are, and I intend to spend my years here using that statement as a driver of my performance.”
A praiseworthy benchmark for Ezra S. Shanken, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver’s new chief executive officer. Since he began in June, he has been busy, attending the launch of JHub in Richmond, participating in Federation’s June 16 annual general meeting, attending several community events, appearing on the radio show JFSA Voice, helping organize the community response to the Israel-Hamas conflict, joining volunteers at the Surrey Fusion Festival’s first-ever Israel pavilion, visiting various local community institutions, traveling to Israel, the list goes on.
Born in New York City, Shanken grew up in Teaneck, N.J. He is the third generation of Shankens to be involved in Jewish communal service. “For me, this is a family business of sorts,” he told the Independent, adding, “… that is something I take great pride in.”
His father was cultural arts director at the Jewish community centre when Shanken was in nursery school, before becoming an inner city high school teacher. Shanken’s grandfather flew 55 missions over Europe in the Second World War as a bombardier and then became a rabbi; he also participated in the Freedom Rides, which successfully challenged segregation in interstate bus terminals in the American South. “He is a true inspiration and I keep a picture of him and his bomber crew on my wall in my office,” said Shanken.
While Shanken has become a community professional, he admitted in an interview with ejewishphilanthropy.com that his career in this field was unexpected. About his move to Colorado after college, he told the online publisher, “The idea was to go for a year to escape from NYC, but that one year turned into eight years and into the building block to who I’ve become as a Jewish communal professional.”
Needing a job, he applied to the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado. He credits Susan Kramer, now JEWISHcolorado chief development officer, with seeing something in him. “I went from somebody seeing something in me to me seeing something in myself to having an opportunity to see something in other people and help them along,” he told ejewishphilanthropy.com.
Shanken was at JEWISHcolorado for six years, working there in different capacities, ultimately becoming senior manager of the young adult department and major gifts. He also co-founded E-3 Event in Colorado, an organization focused on arts-based events for younger Jews (20s through early 40s). Shanken comes to Vancouver from New York, however, where he directed Emerging Leaders and Philanthropists at UJA-Federation of New York from mid-2011.
Growing up through the public school system – but attending Jewish summer camp (Ramah in the Berkshires) – Shanken did his undergraduate degree in political economics at the University of Hartford, where he was president of Hillel, and his graduate work in nonprofit management at Regis University.
“As a kid, I wanted to be a garbage man, fireman, fighter pilot but by high school I had the experience of going to Washington, D.C., and volunteering during the Clintons’ second inauguration, and that got me on to the idea of being involved in public service,” Shanken told the Independent.
Internships in his “junior and senior years of high school for a local Jewish congressman … connected to internships and experiences far out into the future,” he added.
Now, at 34, he is one of the youngest CEOs in the Federation system. And his approach has reflected that, with Shanken having been an avid user of social media throughout his career.
“I have been a big believer in social media as an outreach tool in Jewish communal work,” he said. “There is no question in my mind that if we want to engage the next generation of Jews, we are going to have to engage in the social media space. I am active on Twitter under the handle @eshanken, Facebook and Instagram. I love to share what I and we are doing every day with my followers and friends because what we do and where I get to be is truly special.”
While encouraging people to follow him on any of these media, he noted that the internet has limitations with respect to its ability to bring people and ideas together.
“To this date, I never turn down an offer to have coffee, and judge the success of my week by how many people I get together with.”
“It is my opinion that, to date, there is not a platform that replaces two chairs, a table and cups of whatever you choose,” he said. “My goal in using online platforms is to move the relationship offline. When I was developing the young leadership department at the Colorado Federation, I found the best thing we did was have hundreds of coffees where we asked young professionals, ‘Under what circumstances could you see yourself getting more involved in the organized Jewish community?’ To this date, I never turn down an offer to have coffee, and judge the success of my week by how many people I get together with.”
Informal and formal discussions will determine Federation’s – and the community’s – future trajectory.
Said Shanken, “We will be entering into a strategic visioning process with the goal of having these types of conversations. The ultimate goal is to move from strength to excellence in each of our fields of practice. For me, personally, I am more interested in the processes over the product. Creating long-lasting change in Jewish communal life is like speeding up the rotation of the earth a little at a time so people don’t fall down.”
About relocating to the other side of the continent? “Rachel and I feel truly blessed to be here in Vancouver,” said Shanken of his and his wife’s move here. “We have been blown away by the beauty of the scenery and the warmth of the community. The biggest challenge for us was figuring out how to sort our garbage at the house but once we figured that out we saw such value in it. Work-wise, my summer has been dominated, like many in our community, by the crisis [in Israel-Gaza]. However, through the crisis, I have seen the community come together in beautiful ways to show their support for Israel and each other during this difficult time.
“This community has one very special thing going for it because of the hard work of those who are around me and came before me,” he said. “We have rabbis who have built relationships across the streams of Judaism and agencies that, on the whole, get along with each other. I take it as a personal mission to keep those relationships strong because with relationships like we have, the sky is the limit to what we can accomplish.”
Project Isaiah is the annual High Holy Day food drive that assists those members of the community who are in need. All donations go directly to the Jewish Food Bank to assist individuals in the community – seniors, families and newcomers.
Sponsored by Jewish Family Service Agency and Jewish Women International-British Columbia, Project Isaiah is inspired by Isaiah 58:7: “… share your bread with the hungry.”
The Jewish Food Bank’s 2013-14 report, released last week, notes that the situation of the Jewish community mirrors that of the larger community, wherein most people living on fixed incomes or earning minimum wage in British Columbia spend 60 percent of their income or higher on housing, leaving 40 percent or less to cover utilities, medication and clothing, as well as food. With the rapidly growing cost of living, and lower economy, more families are having to access food banks for help:
• 12 percent of B.C. residents are unable to meet basic needs and do not have access to adequately nutritious food in sufficient amounts.
• For the past eight years, British Columbia has been ranked as the highest province in Canada for children living in poverty.
• Food bank usage is at an all-time high.
• 7.7 percent of B.C. residents are considered “food insecure” and go without or on reduced food intake.
The Jewish Food Bank supports almost 400 Jewish individuals. Each time clients visit the food bank, they receive approximately two to three days’ worth of food per individual.
All of the households served live at or below the poverty line and 80 percent of all households spend at least 60 percent of their income on rent. All clients are assessed and authorized by a JFSA caseworker. Currently, the food bank helps 55 children and teenagers, 248 adults and 91 senior adults.
Annually, more than 45 volunteers provide operational support to the food bank. The volunteers do the ordering, pick up donated goods, set up, as well as deliver to more than 50 homebound clients. With additional volunteers for its annual food drives, Project Isaiah, and the newly established Project Sustenance in the spring, volunteers contribute close to 3,500 hours of support.
The food bank is fully funded through the generosity of JFSA donors, the fundraising efforts and donors of JWI-BC, gift-in-kind donations of food through various food drive events, such as Project Isaiah and Project Sustenance, and ongoing donations collected by community partners. This past year, it had an operating budget of $149,200, with in-kind donations of food making up a value of $30,000 of the annual budget.
Close to 40 community partners provide ongoing food donations, supplies and space to support the Jewish Food Bank. These partners help lower the cost of operations and play a critical role.
This year’s Project Isaiah is underway, and the food bank is hoping that you will consider sharing your bread with the hungry (now and throughout the year). Take a bag home from a local synagogue or Jewish day school and return it, filled with food. A suggested shopping list includes high-nutrition items such as canned fish (tuna/salmon/sardines), peanut butter (plastic bottles only), canned fruit, canned vegetables, cooking oil (plastic bottles only), whole grain pasta/rice/cereals, legumes (canned or dried), dried fruit (prunes/apricots) and toiletries (includes children’s diapers). Note: check the “best before date” on products, as expired products cannot be accepted.
If you are unable to contribute food, JFSA and JWI-BC gratefully accept monetary donations (and issue a tax receipt).
For more information about Project Isaiah, contact Debbie Rootman at JFSA (604-257-5151, ext. 230) or [email protected], or Sara Ciacci at JWI-BC (604-838-5567).
Over the 11 days of the Vancouver Queer Film Festival, which ended Aug. 25, two directors withdrew their films from the program because the festival included an advertisement from Yad b’Yad, a Vancouver-based group that supports the Jewish LGBTQ community. The advertisement depicted an Israeli flag alongside a pride flag and wished VQFF mazal tov on its 26th anniversary.
“We formed a few months ago and decided to put ads out in the community to let people know we exist,” said Jonathan Lerner, chair of Yad b’Yad. “Our intention was to celebrate pride and congratulate the film festival on 26 years, and we used the two flags to show our solidarity with the community. The ad was not intended to be political.”
Patty Berne, director of the film Sins Invalid, was the first to withdraw from VQFF, on Aug. 14, stating she was “angered and disappointed” that VQFF accepted the ad. The ad, she said, “attempts to portray the state of Israel as a friend to LGBTQ communities, particularly in the current moment as the people of Palestine are living through hell and dying in staggering numbers daily.”
Can Candan, director and producer of My Child, withdrew his documentary a few days later because, he said in an open letter to VQFF organizers, the festival had not taken a “public and vocal stand against the Israeli government’s unacceptable policies.” He cited an obligation to join the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaign “as filmmakers and human rights activists with conscience.”
The filmmakers’ withdrawal from the festival was disappointing, said Drew Dennis, VQFF executive director. “We had many conversations encouraging them to keep their films in the festival, so I was saddened that they withdrew, but we want to respect them for the decision they made for themselves.”
Dennis said neither of the two withdrawn films contained any content relevant to the Middle East and insisted that VQFF had no political stance. “We heard from a number of filmmakers who were voicing concerns about the ad, but the festival is a place where we bring people together and allow a diversity of viewpoints. Our mandate is pretty simple: to bring communities together and provide a platform for safe, open dialogue around those films.”
Mik Turje, another director who raised concerns but did not withdraw his film, also issued a statement, as did Queers Against Israeli Apartheid and the Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group, a student-run centre. Their statements claimed that ads like Yad b’Yad’s attempt to “pinkwash” Israel’s image by focusing on the state’s gay rights rather than on its treatment of the Palestinians. Turje said although the VQFF has made it clear it has no position on the issue, “I believe that choosing neutrality in a situation of oppression is a form of complicity. The project of pinkwashing dehumanizes Palestinians in our name, it frames Israel as a liberal democracy in our name, and it fuels Islamophobia and racism in our name.”
After concerns about the ad were raised back in July, VQFF decided to donate Yad b’Yad’s $630 in ad revenue to Just Vision, an organization whose stated goal is to use film and multimedia to help foster “peace and an end to the occupation by rendering Palestinian and Israeli nonviolence leaders more visible, valued and effective in their efforts.” Dennis said there’s “concern, compassion for what’s happening in the region right now, but it’s not part of our mandate to look at this, so we chose to make the donation in an effort to contribute in a more productive way.”
That didn’t sit well with Lerner and members of Yad b’Yad. “By treating our ad revenue differently from every other group and ad, they essentially bowed to the pressure, succumbed to the bullies,” he said. “The gay community knows full well what it feels like to be alienated and excluded, but that’s what the VQFF is promoting by treating our ad revenue differently. They’ve made us feel unwelcome because of our religion and our nation of origin.” Lerner said Yad b’Yad was not given a choice about where its ad money would be donated. “I don’t know much about Just Vision, but we don’t support our money being donated. It’s not what we paid for,” he said.
Dennis said the VQFF board would be meeting in the fall to review its policies and practices, and that the controversy over this year’s film festival had raised the fact that “something as complex as this issue is not served by our policy. There wasn’t a large organizational decision around advertisements,” Dennis said. “We focus much more on the films than on the ads, but there’s an opportunity for us to look at that in the fall.”
Lerner told the Independent that VQFF has asked for public input on the issue be sent to [email protected].
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond, B.C. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.
A copper awl from the fifth millennium BCE that was discovered at the site in Tel Tsaf. (photo by Yosef Garfinkel via Ashernet)
Excavations at Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley, near the Jordan River, revealed in a woman’s grave a small copper awl. Generally speaking, this would not have been regarded as special except, in this instance, the grave where the awl was found dates from 5200 BCE.
This find, announced by archeologists from the Zinman Institute of Archeology of Haifa University on Aug. 24, pushes back the time that metal technology was thought to have been introduced into the region by at least 500 years. The awl is probably the oldest metal object ever found in the Middle East.
The find also adds another dimension to the Tel Tsaf community itself. Discovered in 1950, it was not until about 10 years ago that it was established from excavations directed by Prof. Yosef Garfinkle that Tel Tsaf dated to about 5200 to 4700 BCE, the Middle Chalcolithic period.
It was clear that Tel Tsaf was a centre of regional commerce. There were silos that could store up to 30 tons of grain in each individual silo, and excavations, including burial sites, had revealed painted pottery, bullae (seals), basalt and obsidian beads, seashells, but no copper – until now.
The discovery of the copper awl would point to a population with advanced technology, and the fact that a copper implement was discovered at the site has a significant bearing on understanding the history of the period, both in Tel Tsaf and the rest of the Middle East.
With the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are asking when and how reconstruction of the battered coastal enclave will begin. United Nations workers in Gaza say that 55,000 refugees are still taking shelter in 41 UN schools, raising questions about how the school year will begin in two weeks, already delayed from its scheduled opening in August.
Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah told representatives of several international organizations that the PA will repair homes that have been partially destroyed and will rent homes, as well as secure temporary homes and even tents, for displaced people. It was the first sign that the PA will take a more active role in Gaza, which has been controlled by Hamas since 2007. In the spring, Hamas and Fatah announced a unity government, but it has not met or functioned since the fighting began soon after the announcement.
A report by Shelter Cluster, which is co-chaired by the United Nations Relief and Works Authority (UNRWA) and the Red Cross, found that 17,000 homes were destroyed or severely damaged in the seven weeks of fighting. An additional 5,000 homes still need repair from previous rounds of fighting while, even before the latest conflict started, there was a deficit of 75,000 homes. According to Shelter Cluster, at the rate of 100 trucks with building materials crossing the border into Gaza, it would take 20 years to rebuild the densely populated strip.
What began as a last-minute visit to one of the most solemn places in history has grown into a nationwide campaign supported by many distinguished people and groups, including the Canadian and Polish ambassadors and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. Canadians Remember is a grassroots campaign relying on the goodwill of average Canadians to spread the word of the need for preservation and restoration at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland. The former German Nazi concentration camp – where more than 1.1 million Jews, Roma, Sinti, Poles, Russians and other Europeans were systematically killed during the Second World War – is reaching out for support of its Perpetual Fund.
“Since visiting Auschwitz, we’ve learned that a remarkable number of connections to the camp exist in Canada,” said campaign director Rob Carter. “Many Canadian success stories began with the small number of people who survived the Holocaust.”
Funds raised by Canadians Remember will be presented to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation in 2015 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the camp’s liberation. The foundation’s director, Piotr Cywinski, endorses the Canadian campaign and has pledged to install permanent recognition at Auschwitz, listing Canadians as a “Pillar of Remembrance” if the campaign can raise one million euro. All net funds raised go to the foundation’s Perpetual Fund, created in 2009 to enable the redevelopment of the museum and the preservation of the historic facility. In 2012, Canada’s federal government donated $400,000 to the fund. The Canadians Remember team hopes to raise $2.5 million, a figure in line with donations pledged by other countries, including Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States.
Each year, many more than one million visitors from around the world arrive at Auschwitz-Birkenau to view the museum and memorial. The remains of the concentration camp stand today as a cemetery and as evidence of the horrors of which humanity is capable. The site is also a warning to future generations about the realities of the Holocaust, genocide and prejudice.
In addition to Auschwitz survivors like George Brady (widely known from Hana’s Suitcase, the story of his sister), the campaign’s early supporters include Canada’s Ambassador to Poland Alexandra Bugailiskis and Polish Ambassador to Canada Marcin Bosacki. “We believe that Canadians of all walks of life will recognize the importance of this initiative not only for Auschwitz, but its relevance in today’s socio-political environment,” said Bosacki.
For only $1, donors can add a photo of themselves to the website’s donor wall. By encouraging Canadian citizens – of all ages, religious affiliations and cultural backgrounds – to donate just $1 each, the Canadian public can make a gesture of remembrance and support for Holocaust education. Canadiansremember.ca provides the details of the campaign, and accepts donations via PayPal.
Teens on this year’s March of the Living helped Lillian Boraks-Nemetz face down haunting memories. (photo by Adele Lewin Photography)
Lillian Boraks-Nemetz, a Vancouver poet and author who was a child survivor of the Holocaust, initially declined the offer of a trip to her Polish homeland. She had been there, and written books and poems about her experiences as a child and as a returning adult. She didn’t know that an invitation to go again would lead to an emotional and psychological closure for which she had waited seven decades.
When first invited to participate in last spring’s Canadian contingent of March of the Living, Boraks-Nemetz demurred. March of the Living is a program that brings Jewish young people from around the world to the sites of Nazi atrocities in Europe and then to the Jewish homeland of Israel, marching from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust memorial day, and traveling to Israel in time for Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s remembrance day for fallen soldiers, and Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli independence day. March of the Living’s teenage participants are accompanied by Holocaust survivors.
“I thought, how am I going to keep up with a bunch of 16-, 17-year-olds?” Boraks-Nemetz said in a recent interview. But she was assured that survivors are well taken care of on the trips and she was convinced to go.
“There were difficulties, but I rose to the occasion,” she said, laughing. On the extremely long day traveling from Canada to Poland, which then continued immediately with more travel and programming, Boraks-Nemetz was aided by one of the young participants. “One of the girls had chocolate that had extra caffeine in it, so she gave it to me,” she explained.
Boraks-Nemetz was accompanied by another survivor, chaperones and young people from Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa, as well as eight Jewish teens from Vancouver. In all, there were 78 people on the trip. (Young people from Ontario and Quebec made up their own contingents and traveled on different buses.)
The program was intensive. The week in Poland involved stays in Krakow and Warsaw, where they visited the Museum of Polish Jews, and they went to the extermination camps Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek.
“The young people who came with us are so beautiful and so good and so well behaved and so moved by everything. You could just see how they took it all in. For them, it was a life-changing experience.”
“The young people who came with us are so beautiful and so good and so well behaved and so moved by everything,” she said. “You could just see how they took it all in. For them, it was a life-changing experience.”
In Warsaw, they also went to the orphanage that had been run by Janusz Korczak. A Polish Jew who was a respected published author, Korczak was offered multiple opportunities to save himself from the advancing Final Solution. When the Warsaw Ghetto was created, Korczak’s orphanage, its staff and nearly 200 young charges were forced to move into the ghetto. When the ghetto was liquidated, in 1942, Korczak was again offered immunity, but instead stayed with his orphaned children as they were deported to Treblinka.
In Lodz, the group visited the cemetery and the place where the second-largest Nazi-enforced Jewish ghetto had been. (More than 200,000 Jews were held in Lodz Ghetto during its existence. About 10,000 of those were alive in 1945.) There, the Canadians boarded one of the rail cars that had transported Jews to the camps.
“It was dark and there were many of us,” said Boraks-Nemetz. “It was tight. It was scary. We got the feel of it. Of course, the fear wasn’t there, but there was something foreboding about it.”
At the camps, the participants said prayers and sang mournful songs.
“There was a lot of poetry,” she said. “I brought my book Ghost Children, which was written after one of my trips there. And, whenever we went to a certain place, I would read a poem and it really got to them.”
An unexpected insight came during conversations with young Polish Jews during an arranged dinner at the hotel in Warsaw.
“They sat down, one at each table of students, so they were able to talk,” said Boraks-Nemetz. “At the end of the dinner, I saw the five or six of them standing in the lobby of the hotel, the Polish Jews, and so I went to talk to them. We went to the side and it was really interesting what they told me. They’re quite modern. They’re a little bit shy. They’re a big change from the Israeli youth,” she said, laughing.
The young Polish Jews told her that things were pretty good for them. Some go abroad – to France or elsewhere – to study, but jobs are hard to find and the standard of living isn’t great. They had a question about March of the Living.
“They said, ‘Why do you always come here looking for what’s dead?’ And I explained to them that this is an educational trip,” said Boraks-Nemetz. “But they said, ‘You know, there are some of us here, there is beauty here too, we are alive and there is a Jewish community – small, but there is a Jewish community. And I could see that that was maybe something to address.”
From Poland, the group flew El-Al to Israel.
“It’s like walking in from the shadow into light,” she said. “The Jerusalem of Gold! And we went straight to Masada off the plane.”
There, the other survivor on the trip, Max Iland, an octogenarian from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., celebrated his bar mitzvah, a few decades late.
“The students were singing and he and I were dancing, it was really fantastic,” said Boraks-Nemetz.
The entire experience, she said, was life-altering for the participants.
“They felt that their Jewishness was strengthened, that they are a part of history,” she said. “They cherish their homes and their families after finding out what happened to Jews over there. And, above all … they were becoming witnesses to my story. That’s what one of them said. She felt she was a witness to it. I did speak to them about the legacy that we, survivors who were on our way out, are leaving them.”
Boraks-Nemetz found especially notable the connection of young Canadian Jews to those who had given their lives in defence of the Jewish state.
“What I didn’t realize was how strongly they feel about the fallen soldiers who fought for Israel,” she said. “They read poetry again to the fallen soldiers.”
When the national moment of silence came, the experience was transfixing.
“We’re standing on [Tel Aviv’s central street] Ben Yehuda and the sirens sounded and, all of a sudden, it was like everyone was made of wax figures. That was an incredible thing.”
For Boraks-Nemetz, the trip provided an unexpected closure to the darkest chapter of her life.
For her, the climactic moments of the March of the Living took place in the small Polish village of Zalesie. It was here that young Lillian survived the Holocaust in hiding. After spending two years in the Warsaw Ghetto, she was smuggled out by her father before the ghetto was liquidated and its residents – more than a quarter million Jews – were sent to Treblinka and other death camps. Outside the ghetto, she was met by a Christian woman who transported her to a little white home in Zalesie, where her grandmother was in hiding, posing as the wife of the Polish man who lived there.
Boraks-Nemetz has written about that time in her poetry and in her book for young adults, The Old Brown Suitcase. As an adult, she has returned to the little house at Spokojna Street, Number 16. But this visit was different.
“These two buses went down this dusty road, and there were all these [people in] houses wondering what was going on,” she said. “Nobody bothered us. We filed out and we went into the garden. We all stood in the garden and I told them the story of hiding.”
There was one part of the story she hadn’t intended to tell, but she had developed closeness and trust with the participants accompanying her. She felt confident and compelled to share more than she ever had before, which led to an unprecedented emotional catharsis after almost seven decades.
“I told them something about the man with whom we were in hiding. He was both good and bad,” Boraks-Nemetz said. “How does a child of eight take that? That, on the one hand, he saved us, our lives, and, on the other hand, he was a drunk who could have given us away and didn’t, and, thirdly, he abused me when my grandmother wasn’t there. This is life and that’s how it was.”
In small groups of six or eight, the young people accompanied Boraks-Nemetz into the home.
“When we went into the house, I explained where I slept and where I stood by the window and watched for my parents to come, the road, the garden, the whole thing,” she said. “They were very moved, and a funny thing happened. Each time a group would come out, I would come out with them onto the little porch and they would all hug me. Every one of them. And I think what happened to me was probably, for the first time in my life, I was able to face what happened there. That was an awesome experience for me. I had been there before many times but I always blocked it out. I never faced it properly. And, this time, because of the kids … I just couldn’t believe how it opened me up, this experience with the kids.”
The ambulance being sent to Israel by the Winnipeg CMDA is the same type as the one pictured here. (photo from CMDA)
With the recent violence and tensions in Israel, Magen David Adom (MDA) is, once again, being pushed to its limits – working in a state of high alert and keeping most of its equipment in service 24 hours a day. And though tensions are high in Jewish communities outside of Israel, as well, the recent Operation Protective Edge seems to be bringing out the best in people, including additional financial support for Israel.
One such Canadian example is in Winnipeg, where people are pouring their energy into helping to send ambulances and medical equipment to Israel via Canadian Magen David Adom (CMDA). Winnipeg’s local CMDA chapter sent an ambulance to Kiryat Shmona last year. Now, it is sending its second ambulance to Israel, which will be stationed in the south.
While most of the support has come from the local Jewish community, there is growing support from Manitoba’s Christian community, who are eager to show their support for the Jewish state.
One of the leading figures in that group is Pastor John Plantz, who has been leading tours to Israel every year via his Beauty Field Tours to Israel. Plantz said he was looking for a tangible way to help Israel aside from visiting the country with his tours. He was first introduced to CMDA through materials he came across at a local Jewish community centre and, later, around 2009, through a meeting with CMDA Winnipeg member Ami Bakerman. Plantz invited Bakerman to set up a CMDA table at a local Bible conference he organizes each year.
Looking for even more ways to support Israel, Plantz recently purchased a grove of 1,000 trees, along with Beauty Field Tours group-mates John and Janice Thiessen, through the Jewish National Fund. The grove will be planted in the Yatir Forest.
“My joining the Winnipeg CMDA chapter came through an invitation from Ami [Bakerman],” said Plantz. “I was very excited about the opportunity to help this organization get ambulances for the state of Israel and to be able to help get practical resources to people in a time of need in a country that I’ve truly come to love.”
Some 25 years ago, Plantz discovered that his grandfather was Jewish. Since then, he said, “I decided to support, in practical ways, the Jewish community here, in Winnipeg, and also the state of Israel.”
Plantz sees it as “a privilege” to introduce many more Christians to CMDA at the many events he attends by handing out CMDA tzedakah boxes and other CMDA materials. Also, Plantz said, “By informing people of the need[s] in the state of Israel, it gives them the opportunity to give and help.
“I was so pleased to hear when CMDA had sent their first ambulance to Israel just over a year ago, as I was a part of that through our Bible conference, along with many others from that event.
“And now to think that another ambulance will be sent this month brings great joy to my heart and it should be celebrated by all who’ve had a part. I’d like to give the glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for putting it into the hearts of many to respond.”
He added, “I believe that the time to help is now, for the need is great in Israel and lives are at stake. Let’s get involved today.”
Another local CMDA chapter member is Laurelle Harris, a lawyer and a director of Levene Tadman Golub Law Corp.
“I’m thrilled to have been able to play a very small role in the chapter having been able to send two ambulances so far,” said Harris. “To be able to contribute to the safety and well-being of people in Israel is amazing.”
Harris joined the Winnipeg chapter of CMDA about two years ago. “The ability for MDA to provide emergency services is essential to the well-being of all those living in or visiting Israel,” she said.
“At the time, I didn’t know how long it would take to be in a position to send one ambulance. Actually sending two makes me believe that we’re on a roll and can achieve our goals in the future.
“To be able to send a second ambulance – an intensive care unit (MICA), no less – during the current conflict with Hamas makes me feel that Winnipeggers have done something tangible to make a difference right now,” she added. “Winnipeggers have, quite literally, helped MDA save lives in real time.”
According to Harris, the Winnipeg chapter’s ability to send more ambulances depends on the continued financial support of the general community in Winnipeg and throughout the province, as well as adding more volunteers with diverse skill sets and backgrounds.
“During this particularly difficult time for Israel, as she remains under attack, there are a number of ways that people can help,” said Harris. “But, most importantly, is to give to any cause that will have a direct impact on service provisions. CMDA is one such organization that will not just be of benefit in the immediate, but will also have a lasting impact in times to come. When this crisis is over, gifts given now will continue to have a lasting impact for years into the future.”
For more information or to donate to the Winnipeg chapter ambulance drive, email Winnipeg chapter treasurer Bakerman, [email protected]. You can also donate online at cmdai.org or by calling 1-800-731-2848. CMDA is a registered charity and all donations receive a tax receipt.
Weapons recovered from a Hamas tunnel. (photo from IDF/FLICKR)
“One hundred Israeli schoolchildren killed in Hamas attack.” Israelis say this would have been just one of many similar headlines announcing untold loss of civilian life had Operation Protective Edge not been launched last month. The goal of the operation was to silence the seemingly endless barrages of Gaza rockets aimed at Israeli cities and towns, and to detect and destroy the vast network of underground tunnels dug beneath Gaza and into Israel by the Islamist Hamas terror organization.
As details of the tunnel system became public, Israelis were at once fascinated and infuriated to learn specifics of the intricate Trojan-horse-like network lurking beneath their communities; an engineering feat so potentially lethal that the national discussion is rife with unsubstantiated worries about terrorist plans for the execution of “an Israeli 9/11.”
Frequently heard were comments like, “Surely the high-tech nation should have the ability to detect tunnels!” while others ask how such an elaborate feat of engineering and construction could have proceeded right under the noses of the military in a security-savvy country with vast counter-terrorism experience.
In October 2013, Israeli army intelligence located entrances to one such tunnel just a couple of hundred metres from the entrance to Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, a collective community in southern Israel near the border with Gaza.
On a tour of that network, standing at ground level, one can see the tunnel split in the middle, its branches extending deep into the earth, with one entrance/exit nearly a mile away – through Israeli territory and into the Gaza Strip – and the other a mere 600 metres (almost 2,000 feet) to the right: exiting into Israeli territory.
Moving closer required man- oeuvring through a steep downward 46-foot trek, assisted by the steadying hand of an IDF officer to navigate the distance from the surface to the underground passageway itself. Crawling through the deceptively small opening and out of the desert’s summer heat into the coolness of the subterranean concrete-encased structure, it was surprising to find myself standing upright, able to see far enough to sense the vast distance it covers. Though visibility was limited by the dearth of ambient light, helped only slightly by the lighting unit attached to our camera, the immense dimension of the tunnel was perceptible, the elaborate nature of the structure striking. From the sophisticated construction to the array of cables, conduits, finished ceilings, communication lines and pulley systems, it made sense that each tunnel was estimated to have required several years and millions of dollars to build – mostly by hand, with jackhammers and shovels.
Also discovered in many of the recently destroyed tunnels was a variety of weapons, army uniforms, motorcycles, chloroform and handcuffs: macabre “kidnapping kits.”