|
October 9, 2009
Now is time to donate
Choices' theme is "Leading with a Jewish Heart."
JEANIE KEOGH
“Leading with a Jewish Heart" is this year's theme for the all-women Choices event, hosted annually by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver.
Choices co-chair Stacy Lederman said the focus in this time of greater economic need is on creating value around outreach and getting more people involved. "It is important for all of us as a community to come together and look after each other, especially in a year where things are tough, because if it is tough for people to give, it is really tough for people receiving the money," she said.
Lederman added that she hopes the event will shift the paradigm of generosity from people being "not necessarily feeling motivated to do it" to "that wow moment where they go, 'This is why I'm here.'"
On why the Choices committee chose keynote speaker Amy Hirshberg Lederman for the event this year, Lederman said: "We wanted her to speak about why she does it, why we should do it, why we should feel good about it and why it's even more important when it's not such an easy year to give or when you feel it a little bit more."
Hirshberg Lederman, an award-winning author, educator and lawyer, said she will address the topic of Leading with a Jewish Heart using Jewish texts and stories to encourage people to examine how they want the world to be in terms of their legacy. In order to do this, she said, the Jewish community has to prioritize its commitments. "Do you have to give up a vacation sometimes to help support your local community food bank or Jewish community nursing home? Maybe," she said by way of example.
She pointed out that the language around giving has changed because of the increased breadth of financial struggle.
"I think we're seeing a tremendous amount of conversations now regarding middle- and even upper-middle-class who have lost their jobs," Hirshberg Lederman said. "The conversation now is, 'It could be me, it could be my neighbor, it's not someone I won't ever know or meet who lives on a different side of town.' And I think that consciousness is helping people be more aware of how endemic a problem this really is."
Hirshberg Lederman said that people should regularly ask themselves a series of questions about their giving behavior.
"Ask yourself weekly or monthly perhaps on Shabbat, why do I give. Each new moon, should I be giving now, should I be giving differently? Is the need different than the last time I asked myself this question," she posited.
One of the reasons to do this exercise is that giving tends to be very personal, she explained.
"If you have little kids ... my bet is, you're going to give more in those years to the playground that is trying to be built at the Jewish community centre than you are the old-age home.... So I think what happens to people is that, as they grow and change, their sense of priority as to where they want to see the needs addressed grow and change," she said.
This year's Choices event will be held at Beth Israel Synagogue on Thursday, Oct. 29. Rather than a sit-down meal, as there has been in previous years, there will be cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, starting at 7 p.m., and a dessert reception will follow. To attend, there is a $36 cover charge, plus women must have made a minimum donation of $136 to the Federation campaign and have increased their annual donation by at least $36 this year.
For more information and tickets, visit jewishvancouver.com or call 604-257-5100.
Jeanie Keogh is a freelance writer living in Vancouver.
^TOP
|
