Join a circle of friends

DEENA LEVENSTEIN

Malky Bitton, rebbetzin of Chabad of Downtown Vancouver, began organizing the Jewish Women's Circle (JWC) a couple of years ago. It now runs on a monthly basis, with the exception of a summer break in July and August.

The JWC offers a workshop on a different topic every meeting. Bitton's goal with the JWC is "to bring all the [Jewish] women of Vancouver together."

Women from any part of the community are welcome to come learn a new skill at the different workshops, socialize and enjoy the refreshments. Bitton said she believes this is an important program because there aren't many social events for Jewish women in Vancouver. In planning the different topics offered, "you really have to try and be creative," said Bitton. While she comes up with many of her own ideas, Bitton said she is thankful for good networking with other Chabad women around the world who are running women's circles.

Bitton explained that the really tricky part is finding people to implement the ideas. She wants to insure that every workshop is run by a professional. It is a challenge, and sometimes even at the last minute things don't look like they're going to work out, but "there is always a brachah [blessing] involved," Bitton said.

Besides creating a fun and comfortable outing for women in the Jewish community, another goal of the JWC, according to Bitton, is to "bring Yiddishkeit to people who are not necessarily involved or are not so exposed to Judaism." To that end, Bitton always brings a Jewish connection into the workshop. At one past event, before the women learned how to create professional-looking gift baskets, Bitton explained the different kinds of gifts that we give people on a daily basis and how we can choose to wrap them however we want.

"It's not only tangible gifts," Bitton said to the women gathered around the dining room table that was piled high with the items that would be going in the gift baskets. "We give gifts of our time, we give gifts of our energy to people; a kind word, a bit of attention to somebody.

"What comes into play," she said, "is how we wrap those gifts. How do we give of our time to someone? Is it with resentment? How are we coloring the kindness that we're doing for someone? Are we coloring it with enthusiasm and joy, like we're really happy to do it? Or do we just want to cross it off our list, like 'I did my good deed for the day'?"

The gift baskets that the participants prepared were going to be distributed to Jewish families in need for Chanukah. Bitton contacted the Jewish Family Services Agency for the names of community families who could benefit from such a gift.

The JWC has been growing over the two years it's been running. There are a few women who have been there from the beginning.

Victoria Bernshtein, 30, has attended all the JWC events. Bernshtein said the JWC helps her learn how she can continue to grow spiritually and how she can get closer to God. She said that the events educate her and open her heart.

Bernshtein also enjoys having made so many Jewish friends through the JWC. "The Jewish Women's Circle really brought us all together," she said. "And always, when there is a community effort, you can do so much more than you'd be able to do alone."

Bitton said she thinks it's important that there be a chance for a women's night out. "There's a lot of power in women when they gather. I think there's a lot of inspiration in that," she said. "Women connect to women in a certain way that men cannot relate to. And I think we need that," she added.

Bitton's hope is that the JWC will continue to grow. With approximately 20 women at every event to date, she is aiming for 100 participants every month.

The cost is $10 per event or $75 for a yearly membership. For more information, go to www.chabadcitycentre.com or contact Bitton at [email protected].

Deena Levenstein is a freelance writer from Toronto, Jerusalem and now Vancouver. You can read her blog at www.deenascreations.wordpress.com. She also works at L'Chaim Adult Day Centre.

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