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March 29, 2002
Branching out to kids
Yosef Wosk unveils his projects to local students.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
More than 100 students from Jewish schools from across the Lower
Mainland packed the gym of Vancouver Talmud Torah elementary school
to welcome two new initiatives introduced by Rabbi Yosef Wosk.
Wosk, who will be honored at this year’s Jewish National Fund,
Pacific Region (JNF), Negev Dinner, unveiled his two projects at
the school because of the special connection they had with the students.
Speaking to the gym crowd himself, Wosk announced that he would
purchase at least 1,000 trees through the JNF in honor of each child
participating in Hebrew school programs throughout the Greater Vancouver
area.
Wosk told the Bulletin that the idea for this project came
from the success of a similar initiative he led through the Burquest
Jewish community.
“When I was helping out as the rabbi in Burquest one Yom Kippur,
I announced that I would purchase one tree for every member of the
shul,” he said. “Then they set up a matching program and
almost everyone bought another tree.”
With this year’s Negev Dinner focusing on the next generation
of the community, Wosk decided, this time, to focus on the students.
Representatives of Vancouver Hebrew Academy, Richmond Jewish Day
School, Temple Sholom Hebrew school and Talmud Torah were presented
with certificates recognizing the trees to be planted in their name.
The second project introduced by Wosk will twin British Columbia’s
mighty Fraser River with Israel’s much smaller Jordan River
as sisters.
“The Fraser River has rapids and it’s a very large river
that flows through about two thirds of British Columbia,” Wosk
explained. “The Jordan river is also pretty long but I’ve
never seen it wider than this room. So we have to be very careful
about water in Israel.”
Wosk said that for the twinned rivers venture he will hire someone
based in Vancouver who will bring scientists from Israel and British
Columbia together in order to share ideas, resources and scientific
projects.
The presentation at Talmud Torah also featured a video about the
JNF and its contributions to Israel’s agricultural environment.
The Negev Dinner will take place April 14 at the Four Seasons Hotel.
For more information about the event or Wosk’s initiatives,
call the JNF office at 604-257-5155.
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