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May 23, 2003
An OJC special evening
Rabbi gives lecture and JNF emissary says goodbye.
PETER BARWIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
In the Okanagan, the evening of May 1 was heralded in with an introduction
by Mel Kotler of a very special guest speaker – Rabbi Yosef
Wosk. The event included an intriguing lecture and an emotional
farewell.
Jerry Adler, president of the Pacific Division of the Jewish National
Fund (JNF), thanked the Okanagan Jewish Community (OJC) for its
special involvement with the JNF. Among other contributions, Adler
highlighted the two Negev Dinners. Adler then explained the functions
of the JNF and its ongoing support for Israel.
Next to speak was an old friend of the OJC, Col. (ret.) Ran Bagg,
the Jerusalem emissary for the JNF in British Columbia. Bagg has
been very supportive of the Okanagan community and has, on many
occasions, arranged speakers for the OJC and its ongoing Philosophers'
Café series. Sadly, Bagg announced his farewell to British
Columbia and the JNF. He is returning to Israel, a country that
he has served so well. To honor him, the OJC presented Bagg with
a signed painting by Alex Fong.
OJC president Bob Bidner introduced Wosk. Not only is Wosk dedicated
to the Jewish community, but he is also highly focused on the enhancement
of society for the benefit of everybody. Wosk, who is the holder
of the Order of British Columbia, has also been entrusted with many
government appointments and serves on library and museum boards
and on commissions for urban and mental health rights.
Wosk's involvement with Simon Fraser University's continuing studies
programs led to his founding of the largest series of café
discussion gatherings in the world, the Philosophers' Café.
This program has become an integral part of the OJC's continuing
education effort.
The rabbi's lecture, with the title of International Jewish Conspiracy,
was fascinating. As a recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Award,
which is given to one who is a genuinely caring human being –
a person who has been instrumental in opening paths to improve the
quality of life – the community could not have wished for a
more sincere and qualified speaker.
Among the points that Wosk stressed were the importance of a healthy
self-identity in the face of the theoretical extinction of the Jewish
race two and a half thousand years ago. Topics ranged from 4,000
years of anti-Semitism to the various aspects of assimilation. Attendees
were treated to insights on the debate between Toynbee and Chaim
Hertzog and listened to very appropriate quotes by Goethe and George
Bernhard Shaw. The Jewish people's history was traced from the first
generation of Jews from Iraq to the biblical tribe after whom we
are named, and even to the meaning of the word Jew.
Wosk thanked the OJC for its accomplishments and its involvement
in and inspiration to all the people of the Okanagan.
Peter Barwin is a member of the Okanagan Jewish Community.
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