Beth Tikvah

“We will dance again”

Rabbi Susan Tendler at Beth Tikvah’s aron hakodesh, where two Torahs feature covers memorializing heroes lost in the latest war. (photo by Pat Johnson)

On Simchat Torah, Jews worldwide celebrate the completion of the annual Torah reading and the beginning of another cycle. The day of rejoicing, which across centuries has been marked with often ecstatic festivities, is a time of dancing and spiritual uplift. How, though, do Jews celebrate this day after Oct. 7? The mass murders and litany of horrors perpetrated on Simchat Torah 5784 cast a pall over the occasion.

Rabbi Susan Tendler of Richmond’s Beth Tikvah Congregation expressed the emotional challenge of marking the festive holiday in the changed world.

“I can get through Oct. 7,” she said, “but how am I supposed to joyfully sing and dance on Simchat Torah?”

Last summer, a friend was headed to Israel and told Tendler about the Simchat Torah Project. The friend was going to attend a ceremony at the Kotel, the Western Wall, with family members of individuals killed on Oct. 7 and in the ensuing war. At the ceremony, specially crafted Torah covers would be transferred to individuals from around the world, who would carry them back to their congregations.

Each cover has the name and date of death of the person it commemorates. So far, 635 Torah covers have found homes in 525 congregations in 287 cities in 31 countries. Two of those are in Beth Tikvah’s ark. Another is at Congregation Schara Tzedeck in Vancouver.

The project is inspired by ancient and modern words. King Solomon declared: “There is a time for everything under the heavens … a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” More recently, Israelis, in defiance of the enemy’s determination to break their national spirit and in emphatic solidarity with those murdered at the Nova music festival, declare, “We will dance again.”

For Tendler, the resonance was crystal clear. With most of the other congregational rabbis in Metro Vancouver, she was part of a trip to Israel in December 2023, which included an emotional visit to the Nova site, where 364 young people were murdered and crimes against humanity were perpetrated, including torture and rapes.

At the same time, in Tel Aviv, the exhibition commemorating the Nova festival pogrom was just opening and everywhere the rabbis saw the defiant declaration, “We will dance again.”

When Tendler heard about the Simchat Torah Project, it was the answer she had been seeking.

“I thought, that’s the pathway for me to be able to breathe and dance again on Simchat Torah,” she said. “On Simchat Torah, as we lifted up the sefer Torah, we would symbolically be lifting up those human beings and enabling them to dance again.”

The rabbi’s family and another family, Mindy Zimmering and Allan Seltzer, purchased a Torah scroll in honour of the bat mitzvah of Daniella Sadoff, the daughter of Tendler and her husband Ross Sadoff. The Beth Tikvah community united to provide a home for a second cover.

photo - Rabbi Susan Tendler holds one of two Torahs featuring memorial covers from the Simchat Torah Project — Rabbi Susan Tendler holds one of two Torahs featuring memorial covers from the Simchat Torah Project. *(photo by Pat Johnson)*

One of the covers honours the life of Itamar Shemen, a 21-year-old medic in the Israel Defence Forces who fell in battle on Dec. 23, 2023. He was also a volunteer for Magen David Adom and was known to spend his days off volunteering to help the emergency responders.

The other cover is dedicated to Ermias Mkurio, a 19-year-old known for his leadership and constant smile. He died a national hero on May 10, 2023.

The Torah covers note the date of death and not the date of birth because, as Tendler describes Jewish tradition, it is the totality of a life that is marked on a yahrzeit.

“We’ve done nothing when we come into this world,” she said. “But the day of our death is about the culmination of the life we’ve lived and our deeds and our legacy.”

The two Torah scrolls – blue lettering on white cloth – stand in Beth Tikvah’s aron hakodesh.

On Simchat Torah, it was these two Torahs that the community lifted first and foremost.

“We wanted to make sure that these were the ones that were lifted the highest and that sense of connection, that sense that it’s up to us to ensure that these individuals are still rising and still connected and that their lives were not for want or that they are quickly forgotten but instead they are still impacting us and they are still dancing and they are still teaching us,” she said.

“The symbolism of having brought out the scrolls and people going and kissing them was incredibly emotional,” she said. “Watching people, knowing that these are very much in memory of people who have fallen for the state of Israel, recognizing what we are doing, and having these individuals symbolically pass around the congregation, and people finding holiness and treating them with holiness and respect, reaching out to kiss them, to interact, to engage with them, recognize them, and knowing that, no, they’re not here, but symbolically they are with us, and we are grateful and we are moved and we are humbled by your service, by the sacrifice of your life, that you’re still here with us and we are going to continue to keep your memory alive, brought many of us to tears.”

Action and prevention

Rabbi Susan Tendler, left, Lonnie Belfer and Lynne Fader were panelists at a dialogue on antisemitism in Richmond Jan. 26. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Communities need to be more proactive and less reactive toward antisemitism – to focus less on what to do after an anti-Jewish hate crime occurs and to prevent them from happening in the first place.

That was one of the recommendations at a meeting on antisemitism convened by Richmond Multicultural Community Services Jan. 26. Panelists were Rabbi Susan Tendler of Beth Tikvah Congregation, Lynne Fader, co-executive director of the Kehila Society of Richmond, and Lonnie Belfer, a program manager in skills training for employment programs, experience and disability support services.

Panelists and participants noted that expressions of concern by officials in the community are not always backed up by actions.

“In the days in particular after Oct. 7, it meant a lot to many of us that the RCMP was there,” said Tendler. However, during one instance when police were called, the response time proved not as immediate as the police had assured the congregation it would be.

Likewise, legislation and other steps “look really great on paper,” she said. The City of Richmond adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism and the provincial government is making Holocaust education mandatory in secondary schools across the province. But these are not silver bullets to the problem, she said.

“In the four-and-a-half years that I’ve lived here, I’ve noticed a change that’s scary to see,” said Tendler.

She tells clergy from other religions that Jewish congregations pay for private security and they acknowledge that such an expenditure would gut some of their budgets.

“The province has tried to offer some more grants and make them accessible to ensure that we all do feel safe but, again, it’s a shame that that’s the situation in which we all live,” she said.

Fader’s father was a cab driver in East Vancouver and taught his kids to “never roll over and never stay quiet,” she said.

She recalled minor and more significant incidents of antisemitism across her career and was critical of elected officials who are visible for PR opportunities but absent when substantive action is needed.

“I do hold our politicians accountable because in my opinion they’ve done nothing and they’ve allowed hatred in all our communities to grow because they are more worried about photo opportunities,” she said.

Fader endorses restorative justice, which was the approach taken when some young people were caught after spray-painting swastikas on Beth Tikvah’s building. The perpetrators were brought to meet a family in the congregation and to hear the family’s Holocaust survival experiences.

“There are huge systemic issues, not just in Richmond, not just in BC, not just in Canada, but globally, on antisemitism, racism and all the rest,” Belfer said. “That needs to be addressed.”

However, he is hopeful.

“There are issues, but there are wonderful people in this community who are doing wonderful things,” he said. “It’s unfortunate when I look around the room that I see so few non-Jewish people in the room because we know the problem. We face the antisemitism.”

Breakout groups developed tangible steps the community could take to address antisemitism and enhance multicultural well-being. These included having the City of Richmond hold a multicultural day at which cultural communities provide food and entertainment, and taking the show on the road, bringing cultural communities out of their own congregations and community centres and meeting in less familiar territory.

Community-building grants are available from the city, said one participant, “but there are too many hoops to jump through to get them.”

Doors Open Richmond is an annual program where religious and cultural groups welcome non-members to their facilities, but participants said Jewish institutions are challenged both by the fact that the event takes place on Saturdays as well as Sundays, and because security concerns largely preclude Jewish participation.

One participant stressed that approaches to antisemitism are generally reactive.

“You’ve had hate speech thrown at you, what do you do?” he asked. “The question isn’t what do you do after, it’s how do you prevent it from happening? There needs to be more forward motion in how to stop it from occurring versus what you do after you’ve been beaten up on the street.”

Alan Hill, inclusion coordinator at Richmond Multicultural Community Services, facilitated the event, which took place at City Centre Community Centre. He explained that the panel was part of a larger series funded by Heritage Canada to build bridges and connections. Other events have focused on Indigenous leaders, Ukrainian refugee groups, youth groups, the Filipino community, Islamophobia, gender perspectives, the experiences of women, and a Black History Month event. A symposium on anti-Asian hate is coming up. In March, all groups will come together to review experiences and consider next steps.

Politicians make their pitches

BC New Democratic Party candidate Kelly Greene, left, represented the incumbent party in Richmond-Steveston, and BC Conservative Party candidate Michelle Mollineaux, who is challenging Greene for the seat, spoke at a candidates forum last month, hosted by Beth Tikvah and CIJA.

British Columbia’s Oct. 19 election is now short days away. While provincial politics has not traditionally been a forum for issues of culturally specific concerns to Jewish voters, matters like public safety in response to rising antisemitism, and problematic developments in the education system, have focused attention for Jewish voters.

These concerns took centre-stage at a candidates forum co-organized by Beth Tikvah Congregation, in Richmond, and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs Sept. 22. Hate crimes, British Columbia’s Anti-Racism Act, the definition of antisemitism, communal security, law enforcement and a host of other issues were addressed by election candidates representing the BC New Democratic Party and the BC Conservatives. The BC Green Party was invited to send a representative but did not.

Kelly Greene, the NDP member of the legislative assembly for Richmond-Steveston, represented the incumbent party. She said she has been having conversations with parents and students who are experiencing antisemitism.

“There is fear where there wasn’t before,” Greene said, declaring that schools need to be safe and welcoming for everyone. She pointed to the NDP government’s commitment to implementing mandatory Holocaust education and said the NDP government has instituted a “suite of actions,” including improved antiracism data collection, new hate crime policies for prosecutors to address wilful promotion of hatred, and the creation of a racist incident hotline.

More needs to be done, she acknowledged. “It is a work in progress, to be honest,” she said.

On the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, Greene said the government needs “to be nimble” and should avoid including specific definitions in legislation. She cited the spike in anti-Asian hate during the COVID pandemic as an example of unanticipated incidents, responses to which could be hindered by narrowly defined descriptions of the problem.

The Conservatives disagree on this point. Michelle Mollineaux, the Conservative candidate challenging Greene in Richmond-Steveston, said her party – win or lose – will bring the adoption of the IHRA definition to the floor on the first day of the new legislative session.

Mollineaux noted that her party has released a comprehensive antisemitism strategy, in which they promise a special advisor on antisemitism and Jewish community affairs, collaboration for safety in the community and schools, and an investigation into bias in classrooms.

“Antisemitism is the most heinous crime against the Jewish community,” said Mollineaux, who called for more antisemitism programs in schools and increased education about Jewish people, history and the Holocaust.

“Oct. 7 was a reflection of the ignorance of what the Jewish people have been facing,” she said.

No ideologies – or Palestinian flags – should be allowed in public school classrooms, Mollineaux said. “Children need to feel safe,” she said. “Students are not safe”

Mollineaux said, “Universities should limit the amounts of protests that are going on. Those kinds of ideologies have to stop.… What they’re doing is wrong because it breeds hate.”

Addressing legislation that would create “bubble zones” around sites such as Jewish schools and community centres to prevent disruptive protests, New Democrat Greene called it a “sad reflection” that any institution needs such protections, as hospitals did during the pandemic to prevent anti-vaccine activists from impeding access to facilities.

Mollineaux did not disagree with the possibility of using bubble zones but said there needs to be more focus on the underlying problems. Education, embracing all cultures and “understanding where we came from,” must be the means to making such bubble zones unnecessary.

“How many bubbles do we have to keep building?” she asked.

Shane Foxman, a former journalist and now director of development for Vancouver Talmud Torah elementary school, moderated the forum, and asked why public expressions that seem to contravene hate crime laws are not resulting in criminal charges.

Greene responded that the New Democrat government has hired more prosecutors to reduce the workload and provided new guidelines to the Crown on suspected hate crimes.

Mollineaux said “police are under-resourced” and alleged that courts give “a slap on the hand” to perpetrators so that victims are revictimized and offenders “get off scot-free.” She called the court system a “revolving door.” She also called for mandatory antisemitism training for all police and politicians.

“We need to get this under control,” she said.

On the cost of living and issues affecting children and families, both candidates agreed that more needs to be done.

Mollineaux said children with special needs are not getting the educational supports they require and children in provincial care are aging out and becoming homeless adults.

On housing, Greene noted that the most recent statistics show rental prices declining in Metro Vancouver, even as they rise across Canada. She said the speculation and vacancy tax has freed up 20,000 more units of housing, while the government is building more.

Access to family doctors is improving, Greene added, with more than 800 family doctors hired in the last year alone.

Beth Tikvah’s Rabbi Susan Tendler delivered an Indigenous land acknowledgement and blew the shofar.

Another Jewish community election forum, featuring candidates in the riding of Vancouver-Langara, was to take place Oct. 9, after the Independent’s deadline.

The election landscape took a dramatic turn last month, when an agreement between Conservative party leader John Rustad and BC United leader Kevin Falcon resulted in BC United (formerly the BC Liberals) suspending their campaign in an effort to unite the right-of-centre vote. Some former BC United candidates are now running as independents, including two in Richmond.

Election day is a Saturday, but there are many ways to vote. Anyone can vote by mail. Advance voting is available at designated locations in every constituency Oct. 10-13 and Oct. 15-16 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting is also possible at any district electoral office. Full details are available at elections.bc.ca.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has a BC Election Hub at cija.ca/bc_election_hub. This resource outlines community priorities and contains a range of other information. CJPAC, the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, has election-related information at cjpac.ca.

Songs released since Oct. 7

At Beth Tikvah Synagogue on April 2, Israeli music expert and radio personality Josh Shron will present A Musical Hug from Israel. (photo from Josh Shron)

Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Richmond welcomes Israeli music expert and radio personality Josh Shron on April 2. Shron, longtime host of the radio show and podcast Israel Hour Radio, will be in Calgary and Vancouver as part of a North American tour. He will present A Musical Hug from Israel, which explores songs that have been released in Israel since Oct. 7.

For Shron, Israeli music has always meant more than just nice tunes in Hebrew. It’s been a window into Israeli society, providing a meaningful glimpse into the heart and soul of the Jewish state. “I’ve long believed that Israeli music has the power to connect us to our homeland unlike anything else,” Shron said. “The songs are great, but the stories behind them often teach us a great deal about the amazing spirit of Israel.”

It’s that amazing spirit that has enabled Israelis to cope with the horrific events of Oct.7. Music has been a large part of the healing process.

“The music that’s emerged from this tragedy has been nothing short of inspirational,” said Shron. “It makes us cry, makes us sigh and makes us proud to be supporters of Israel – sometimes all in the same song.”

The presentation will feature a selection of Israeli songs, seen on video with English subtitles. The music will highlight the unity, optimism and determination that have characterized the Israeli people throughout this challenging period, showcasing the resilience and strength that unite them in the face of adversity. The repertoire will include songs that touch on themes of sadness and death. Other songs will shed light on the plight of Israeli hostages in Gaza, serving as a reminder of the desperation felt around the world to bring them all home.

Several Vancouverites have previewed Shron’s presentation and agree that it is a powerful and unique way for the local community to understand the rollercoaster of emotions that Israelis and other Jews around the world have been experiencing.

A former resident of New Jersey, Shron recently fulfilled a lifelong dream by making aliyah with his wife and four of his five children, moving to Modi’in in August 2023.

“I’ve immersed myself in Israeli music for more than 25 years,” he said, “and the more I listened, the more I felt like I belonged there. We put it off for years, but, with our kids getting older, we realized it’s now or never – and we weren’t prepared to say never. Obviously, we wish the circumstances were different, but, during this challenging time, it just feels right to be there. It’s only been a few months, but we can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

Thanks to sponsor support from the Kehila Society, Richmond Jewish Day School and the Vancouver Israeli Folkdance Society, tickets to A Musical Hug at Beth Tikvah April 2, 7 p.m., are only $10 each. As part of the event, Hadas Klinger will lead an Israeli dance session immediately following Shron’s presentation.

The event is for adults 19+ and registration is recommended, as space is limited. Visit tinyurl.com/28anpjab.

– Courtesy Beth Tikvah

Community milestones … Federation, Glustein, Adler & Sadoff

Shelley Rivkin, left, Candace Kwinter and Ezra Shanken

Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver’s annual general meeting on June 27 at King David High School celebrated Shelley Rivkin, vice-president of local and global engagement, for her contributions to the community. The meeting also honoured several volunteers for their leadership and contributions: Catherine Epstein (Dennis Frankenburg Award), new board chair Lana Marks Pulver (Harry Woogman Award), Stan Shaw (Bob Coleman Award), Brent Davis (Young Leadership Award) and SUCCESS (Community Partner of the Year).

In an email sent after the meeting, chief executive officer Ezra Shanken and immediate past board chair Candace Kwinter shared their joint message that will appear in Federation’s 2022-2023 annual report. In it, they cover much ground, noting that the organization’s “impact resonates farther afield than what the ‘Greater Vancouver’ in our name might suggest. From the Sea-to-Sky to Langley, and all points in between, Jewish community life is thriving – and we are proud to be at the centre of it through our Connect Me In program. On Vancouver Island and in Kelowna, we are now providing security training for volunteers and professionals in their growing Jewish communities.

“As part of her role on the Jewish Agency’s board of governors, Candace traveled to Ethiopia and accompanied some of the 3,000 Jews who were making aliyah. Together, we traveled to Mexico City with the Jewish Agency to see more of their international work, and from Ukraine to Turkey and Syria and beyond, we helped those in need when disaster struck.

“We continued to improve the quality of life for residents of our partnership region in northern Israel. Our work is focused on strengthening the region’s development and regionalism through leadership development and capacity-building while investing in academic excellence. Our long-term investments are helping residents tackle some of the most difficult and complex challenges they face living in Israel’s periphery.

“The political situation in Israel has proven challenging for many in our local community who care deeply about the country,” continue Shanken and Kwinter. “We and our partners have offered multiple events over many months to help people learn more about what is happening and to facilitate discussions.

“Here at home, inflation continued to take a toll on our partners and the people they serve. Across the board, our partners report that inflationary pressures are affecting every part of their work. Ninety-one percent are concerned or very concerned that inflation will affect community members’ ability to fully participate in Jewish life. And 100% of our social service partners are concerned or very concerned that inflation will affect their ability to support their clients’ needs.

“For five years, we have been bringing community together around issues of affordability. Together with key partners, we co-hosted an Affordability Summit on the experiences of children and youth in low-income homes. The three areas of focus identified by our planning council are advocacy for a national breakfast program, creation of a single application point for assistance from multiple organizations, and development of more inclusive, respectful processes.

“This year, we made strides in combatting antisemitism. We were proud to see Vancouver city council and Richmond city council adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism and the province of B.C. commit to using it as a tool to identify and combat hatred. Identifying antisemitism is the first step in combatting it, which makes these milestones important for all of us, and we want to thank our partners and our advocacy agent, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, for their work on this.”

Federation also has started “an organizational design initiative intended to build significant capacity within the Federation over the next several years with greater potential for scalability, efficiency, excellence and agility going forward.

“Our unparalleled impact is possible thanks to the strength of our partnerships and the cherished trust of our donors,” Shanken and Kwinter write. “Collective giving is deeply rooted in our tradition, and we play a leadership role in raising the funds our community needs to grow from strength to strength. We invest strategically in initiatives that keep our community strong today, tomorrow and for years to come – as well as in times of crisis. Our partners depend on us to generate the support they need to deliver the vital programs and services on which thousands of people rely.”

The 2022 annual campaign generated more than $13 million for the community: $10.24 million directly through the campaign and $2.91 million in additional support, including special project funding, community relief and emergency relief. The Jewish Community Foundation’s contributions this year surpassed $12.7 million.

“This is more than double the contributions received in the previous fiscal year, which itself exceeded the contributions of the year before that,” write Shanken and Kwinter. “The Foundation strategically disbursed a total of $3.7 million into local, national and worldwide causes, including funding for the Foundation’s Unrestricted Grant Program, which allows response to critical emerging needs in the community.

“JWest also achieved unprecedented milestones. As one of the three lead organizations working together to bring JWest to life, we are excited at the progress made this year. From announcing the capital campaign cabinet to securing $75 million in funding and philanthropic gifts to a $36 million matching gift, this project has gained tremendous momentum.”

* * *

Ada Glustein received a silver medal for Canada-West Region, non-fiction, in this year’s Independent Publisher Book (“IPPY”) Awards for Being Different (self-published).

The “IPPY” Awards are a broad-based, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the independent publishing industry worldwide who produce books written in English that are appropriate for the North American market. The awards are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent, university and self-published books released each year.

A memoir, Being Different tells a universal story about feeling different and longing to belong. Glustein recounts tales of growing up in a Jewish immigrant family during and following the Second World War, and the experiences that stand out during her school days, not knowing how to fit in to the world beyond home. She reflects on her years of teaching diverse children who also experienced life as “different.” She finds her own sense of belonging through helping those children find theirs.

* * *

Barbara Adler is the new artistic director of the Only Animal Theatre.

“After a rigorous national search by a leadership transition committee comprising board members and affiliated artists, we are delighted to have Barbara take the lead at the Only Animal,” said board chair Eleanor Stacey. “When we began the search process, we knew it would be an immense challenge to find a successor to founding artistic director Kendra Fanconi, who built such a visionary and essential company. Barbara’s distinctive combination of experience, artistry and vision for the future positions her uniquely to lead the company into its next chapter.”

Adler is an interdisciplinary artist and performer whose practice incorporates text, music, event-making and design. Recent projects centre slow and process-led creations that focus work around relational time and seasonal cycles. As a poet and musician, Adler spent over a decade touring North America, Europe and rural British Columbia as a solo artist and with ensembles, including the Fugitives, Proud Animal and Ten Thousand Wolves. She holds a master of fine arts (interdisciplinary studies) and a bachelor’s in art and cultural studies from Simon Fraser University.

Adler is “thrilled to join a company whose irresistible artistry and deeply held ecological values have brought both innovation and care to the climate crisis.” She added, “The Only Animal’s vision of enduring environmental stewardship reminds me that none of us will individually finish the work. I am honoured to add myself to the beautiful story that Kendra and the company have told for 17 years, and humbled by this opportunity to prepare the way for the next generation of voices in the climate struggle.”

* * *

photo - Rabbi Susan Tendler, her husband Ross Sadoff and their kids — Rabbi Susan Tendler, her husband Ross Sadoff and their kids.

Beth Tikvah Congregation brought the community together for a Shabbat BBQ at Gary Point Park July 7. Sponsored by the Sadoff family in honour of Ross Sadoff’s birthday and under the leadership of Rabbi Susan Tendler, the event drew around 100 attendees. Amid a picturesque setting, the atmosphere buzzed with ruach(spirit). Laughter and joy filled the air as families and friends relished the food, conversations and Shabbat traditions.

photo - Left to right: Ian Felgar, Elena Felgar, Yvette Tarko-Sabi and Donna Felgar — Left to right: Ian Felgar, Elena Felgar, Yvette Tarko-Sabi and Donna Felgar

photo - Roy Freedman and Caryl Koshen — Roy Freedman and Caryl Koshen

photo - Estelle Bleet, left, and Ann Kramer — Estelle Bleet, left, and Ann Kramer

photo - Jeff Rothberg and Stacey Kettleman of Star Catering — Jeff Rothberg and Stacey Kettleman of Star Catering.

photo - Libby Seltzer, left, and Mindy Zimmering — Libby Seltzer, left, and Mindy Zimmering

Accessibility seems improved

(image from flickr / Province of British Columbia)

Last November, the American advocacy organization Respect Ability announced some good news. New research it had conducted in 2021 suggested that disability awareness and inclusion was improving in Jewish communities across North America and Israel. According to its most recent survey, more synagogues, Jewish community centres, schools and private institutions are designing programs that consider the needs of people with disabilities. And more individuals are able to find Jewish organizations that support individuals with invisible disabilities like autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders.

Respect Ability’s goal for the survey was to determine the health of disability rights in diverse Jewish communities, particularly in countries where there were laws against employment and housing discrimination. Its last survey had been in 2018, and researchers wanted to know whether accessibility and acceptance had improved in the past three years.

There were just over 2,000 respondents in total, primarily from Canada, the United States and Israel. The overall message was that inclusion and accommodation was expanding. Accessibility for wheelchairs and improved opportunities for individuals with sight or hearing challenges were on the rise, as were outreach efforts for individuals with disabilities in general.

What is more, the number of faith organizations hiring rabbis and staff who had disabilities and, therefore, understood firsthand the challenges of a physical or cognitive disability, had increased by more than 73%. More than half (57%) of the survey-takers also said that the organizations had made public commitments to support diversity.

But the survey also identified a key obstacle: many community leaders wanted to help expand opportunities for inclusion, but “didn’t know how.” Roughly one-fifth of all respondents said that expanding opportunities in their faith communities was limited by leaders’ lack of knowledge or experience in making settings more accessible. This meant, in some cases, that members with invisible disabilities like autism or ADHD didn’t have access to resources or were turned away from programs and activities.

Most of the responses to the survey came from Respect Ability’s home base: U.S. states like California and New York, where laws and advocacy initiatives are different from those in Canada. Only about 7% of the responses came from Canada, where disability rights are protected by the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The survey also did not reveal how much, or if any, of the Canadian data came from the Vancouver area. So, are the survey’s findings reflective of diversity inclusion here?

The last three years have been challenging for many, but particularly for organizations that rely on in-person community participation. The 2020 shutdown of schools, synagogues and community centres due to COVID forced many organizations in the Vancouver area to suspend programs that offered disability-inclusive services. Still, the Jewish Independent found that a number of organizations were able to develop creative ways to maintain their inclusive classes and programs.

Trying to inspire inclusion

In 2018, the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver launched its Inspiring Inclusion grant program to assist community organizations in designing or improving inclusive programs. The grant competition was created as part of its 2020 Strategic Priorities, and it offered up to $2,500 to organizations that developed a new program or idea that would expand disability inclusion.

Four one-year grants, which were awarded in 2020, went to Vancouver and Richmond applicants. Each offered a unique way for engagement, ranging from new educational strategies that catered to individual learning approaches to special equipment that helped expand creative participation in the classroom.

The Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver’s Family Yoga Fundamentals program was designed to appeal to a variety of abilities and offered options for in-person family participation. It later gave rise to a virtual format that attendees could link up with from home. According to the JCC’s adult programs coordinator, Lisa Cohen Quay, Family Yoga Fundamentals integrates adaptable exercises that are non-stigmatizing and fit a variety of abilities. Quay said the program has also been shown to help with pandemic stress and loneliness.

Richmond Jewish Day School turned to music as a way to inspire inclusion. According to principal Sabrina Bhojani, the grant provided funding for specially adapted Orff percussion instruments, or xylophones that could be used by students with special needs. “Music education is an integral component of both our B.C. and Hebrew curriculum at RJDS,” Bhojani said. “Weaving music into [the] curriculum is a meaningful way to help our students develop their Jewish identity and better understand their culture.”

Congregation Beth Tikvah used the funding to help develop Kavod. According to Rabbi Susan Tendler, the program aims to ensure that the synagogue’s services and activities are open to everyone, “regardless of personal physical, financial, or accessibility limitations.” Kavod’s development is ongoing.

Congregation Beth Israel received a grant to create new Hebrew school programming. Beth Israel’s director of youth engagement, Rabbi David Bluman, said the funding helped make the Hebrew reading program more inclusive to children with learning challenges. “We always strive to be [as inclusive] as we can,” he said, adding that many of Beth Israel’s youth programs are adaptable to students’ abilities, such as the use of “shadow” companions who function as a “big brother or big sister” for a child during activities and lessons. The shadow program can be used for age levels. “We want our teens to be as independent as possible,” Bluman said.

B’nai mitzvah programs

Both Beth Israel and Temple Sholom tailor their b’nai mitzvah programs to meet the specific abilities of the child. Temple Sholom School’s principal, Jen Jaffe, said about 10% of the student body have varying needs.

“All b’nai mitzvah-aged children are given the opportunity to have a b’nai mitzvah, and the clergy works with each family to make sure expectations and goals are feasible and met. Each child is given the chance to shine regardless of any disabilities,” Jaffe said. The school also trains madrachim, or helper students, to support students with invisible disabilities.

Beth Israel is also known for its inclusive b’nai mitzvah program, which is led by ba’allat tefilla Debby Fenson. She said the program is designed to ensure that a child, irrespective of ability, can participate in the service: “I think that the expectation is that every child should be called up to [the bimah]. It’s not about how well they read the Torah, it’s about welcoming them into the community.”

Fenson said the community has celebrated more than one b’nai mitzvah in which a child’s medical challenges needed to be considered. In one case, the child, who was nonverbal, was aided by his mother in saying the Shema. “There was clear understanding on his part,” Fenson said. “His mother helped him in forming the words and saying along with him. He was welcomed into the community.”

Leadership by inclusion

Respect Ability’s survey of North American and Israeli Jewish communities highlighted two factors that are often important to creating inclusiveness: the top-down commitment to diversity and a leader’s personal experience. All of the above synagogues, schools and community services – as well as others – benefit from clear initiatives that attract families with accessibility needs and see inclusion as an expanding mission. In some cases, they also benefit from leadership that is open about their own health challenges as well.

Beth Israel Rabbi Jonathan Infeld said he is aware that his willingness to talk openly about his own challenges can help create a supportive environment for others. Infeld was born with a congenital heart defect.

“Unfortunately, I have firsthand experience with health issues that I am happy to share with people about, certainly because I want to be transparent about who I am as a human being…. I would hope, had I been born with a whole heart and not a hole in it, that I would still have a whole heart,” he said, noting that when we’re forced to reflect on our own abilities and limitations, it can inspire empathy for others faced with similar challenges.

One area that was not addressed in the survey was accessible housing, which helps expand disability inclusion. Tikva Housing Society’s very first housing project in 2008 contained accessible units. The organization’s third inclusive property, Dogwood Gardens, opens this year in the West End. This will be the subject of a future story in the Jewish Independent.

Jan Lee is an award-winning editorial writer whose articles and op-eds have been published in B’nai B’rith Magazine, Voices of Conservative and Masorti Judaism and Baltimore Jewish Times, as well as a number of business, environmental and travel publications. Her blog can be found at multiculturaljew.polestarpassages.com.

Opening of Dayson Residences

The Dayson and Barnett families were on hand to celebrate the opening of Tikva Housing Society’s Ben and Esther Dayson Residences. (photo from Tikva Housing)

Although the weather was not ideal, almost 100 people attended the opening of Tikva Housing Society’s Ben and Esther Dayson Residences on Sept. 26.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event had to be held outside under tents. Rhonda Sacks, chair of Tikva, welcomed everyone and thanked the Ben and Esther Dayson Charitable Foundation and the Dayson and Barnett families for their ongoing generosity and support. She acknowledged the three generations of the Dayson and Barnett families who were present and the importance of the younger ones to witness this momentous occasion.

Sacks recognized the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver for understanding the immediate need for affordable housing in the Jewish community and thanked them for their leadership and advocacy. Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation, brought greetings and reiterated the importance of not only saying thank you but also showing the younger generation how, because of their great-grandparents, the community is taking care of those in need of affordable housing.

Philip Dayson spoke on behalf of the family and mentioned that it was the desire of his mother, Esther Dayson, to help those less fortunate and to have a lasting legacy, like these townhomes.

photo - The younger generation of the Dayson/Barnett family cut the ribbon at the opening of Tikva Housing Society’s Ben and Esther Dayson Residences — The younger generation of the Dayson/Barnett family cut the ribbon at the opening of Tikva Housing Society’s Ben and Esther Dayson Residences. *(photo from Tikva Housing)*

Many of the residents in attendance took the opportunity to personally thank the donors and their families.

Hannah Amar, one of the residents at the Dayson Residences, spoke on behalf of the 32 families who live there. She spoke of the importance of having safe and secure accommodation, especially during COVID, and how grateful she is to Tikva and to its donors for her beautiful home.

This housing development is part of a partnership of the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Community Land Trust; there were many donors and partners on the project.

More than 100 people live in the residences, including almost 60 children. As one of the residents said, “The sense of community and Jewish life is beyond what we could have imagined. We are so fortunate to be living here.”

The event also paid tribute to Susana Cogan, z’l, who was the driving force behind Tikva Housing from 2009 to 2017. Cogan was instrumental in developing these residences, as well as others that Tikva owns and/or operates. A commemorative bench in her memory sits adjacent to the children’s playground.

For more information about Tikva Housing, call the office at 778-998-4582.

– Courtesy Tikva Housing

Lessons from the pandemic

Zoom presentations became a regular affair at Beth Israel during the pandemic. Inset: JFS director of programs and community partnerships Cindy McMillan provides an overview of the new Jewish Food Bank. (screenshot from BI & JFS)

As Vancouver-area synagogues cautiously edge their way toward reinstituting in-person religious services, many rabbis are doing a rethink about the impact that the past 17 months of closure has had on their congregations.

Finding a way to maintain a community connection for thousands of Jewish families became an imperative for all of the synagogues early on in the pandemic. Not surprisingly, for many, the answer became cutting-edge technology. But careful brainstorming and halachic deliberations remained at the heart of how each congregation addressed these urgent needs.

“We immediately realized that services per se were not going to work over electronic medium,” Congregation Schara Tzedeck’s Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt told the Independent.

He said Orthodox rabbis across the world were already discussing halachah (Jewish law) in light of the pandemic when the province of British Columbia announced the shutdown in March of last year. “We realized that we weren’t going to offer any services,” he said. “We can’t have a minyan online.”

But that didn’t mean they couldn’t offer support. Schara Tzedeck’s answer to that need was only one of many innovative approaches that would come up. For example, to help congregants who had lost family members, the Orthodox shul devised a new ritual, as the reciting of the Mourner’s Kaddish requires a minyan (10 men or 10 men and women, depending on the level of orthodoxy, gathered together in one physical location).

“What we did is immediately [start a Zoom] study session in lieu of Kaddish. [The Mourner’s] Kaddish is based on this idea of doing a mitzvah act, which is meritorious for the sake of your loved one, so we substituted the study of Torah for the saying of Kaddish,” he explained.

For many other communities, such as the Conservative synagogue Congregation Beth Israel, the deliberations over how to apply halachah in unique moments such as these were just as intense. For these instances, said BI’s Rabbi Jonathan Infeld, rabbis saw another imperative.

“This is what is called she’at had’chak, or a time of pressure,” Infeld said. “It’s a special time, it’s a unique time, and so we adapted to the time period.”

The concept allows a reliance on less authoritative opinions in urgent situations. So, for example, with respect to reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish, Infeld said, “We felt that, especially in this time period, people would need that emotional connection, or would need that emotional comfort of saying Mourner’s Kaddish when they were in mourning, and so we have not considered this [internet gathering to be] a minyan, except for Mourner’s Kaddish,” Infeld said. He noted that the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly, which reviews halachic decisions for the Conservative movement, has adopted the same position.

Rabbi Shlomo Gabay, who leads the Orthodox Sephardi synagogue Congregation Beth Hamidrash, said that although his congregation would not hold Mourner’s Kaddish online, venues like Zoom played a vital role in allowing the congregation to meet during shivah, the first seven days of mourning. Like a traditional shivah, which takes place in the mourner’s home, often with a small number of visitors, an online shivah gave community members a chance to attend and extend support as well.

“That was actually an especially meaningful [opportunity],” Gabay said. “The mourners, one after another, told me that, first of all, you don’t often get the opportunity to have so many people in the room, all together, listening.”

For members of the Bayit Orthodox congregation in Richmond, an online shivah meant family on the other side of the country could attend as well. “What was most interesting, of course, was the people from all across the world,” remarked Rabbi Levi Varnai. “You can have people who are family, friends, cousins, from many places in the world, potentially.”

screenshot - Temple Sholom uses a variety of online media to provide inclusive content for those members who can’t attend in person. Pictured here are Rabbi Dan Moskovitz and Rabbi Carey Brown — Temple Sholom uses a variety of online media to provide inclusive content for those members who can’t attend in person. Pictured here are Rabbi Dan Moskovitz and Rabbi Carey Brown. *(screenshot from Temple Sholom)*

Vancouver’s Reform Congregation Temple Sholom also came to value the potential of blending online media with traditional venues. Rabbi Dan Moskovitz said the congregation had been streaming its services and classes as much as a decade before the pandemic arrived. But lifecycle events, he said, demanded a more personal approach, one that would still allow families to actually participate in reading from the Torah scroll, while not violating the restrictions on large public attendance.

“The big change is that we brought Torah to everybody’s home,” he said. Literally. Moskovitz or his associate, Rabbi Carey Brown, would deliver the scroll in a large, specially fitted container, along with a prayer book, instructions and other necessary accoutrements.

“We had a document camera so, when we streamed, you could look down on the Torah as it was being read on screen. Those were very special moments on a front porch when I would deliver Torah, socially distanced with a mask on, early on in the pandemic,” he said. “I had a mask and I had rubber gloves and they had a mask, and you put something down and you walked away. We got a little more comfortable with service transmission later on.”

International classes

Switching to online media also has broadened the opportunities for classes and social connections. Infeld said Beth Israel moved quickly to develop a roster of classes as soon as it knew that there would be a shutdown.

“We realized right away that we can’t shut down. We may need to close the physical building, but the congregation isn’t the building. The congregation is the soul [of Beth Israel]. We exist with or without the building,” he said. “And we realized that for us to make it through this time period in a strong way, and to emerge even stronger from it, we would have to increase our programming.”

He said the synagogue’s weekly Zoom and Learn program has been among its most popular, hosting experts from around the world and garnering up to 100 or more viewers each event. The synagogue also hosts a mussar (Jewish ethics) class that is regularly attended. “We never had a daily study session,” Infeld said. “Now we [do].”

For Chabad centres in the Vancouver area, virtual programming has been a cornerstone of success for years and they have expanded their reach, even during the pandemic. “We have had more classes and more lectures than ever before, with greater attendance,” said Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman, who runs Chabad Richmond.

Zoom and other online mediums mean that the centres don’t have to fly in presenters if they want to offer an event. Like other synagogues, Chabad Richmond can now connect their audiences directly with experts from anywhere in the world.

“We can’t go back”

All of the synagogues that were contacted for this story acknowledged that online media services had played an important role in keeping their communities connected. And most felt that they will continue to use virtual meeting spaces and online streaming after the pandemic has ended.

“As our biggest barrier to Friday night participation was the fact that many families were trying to also fit in a Shabbat dinner with small children, the convenience of the Friday livestream is worth including in the future,” said Rabbi Philip Gibbs, who runs the North Shore Conservative synagogue Congregation Har El.

“We’re scoping bids to instal a Zoom room in our classroom space so that we can essentially run a blended environment,” Rosenblatt said. “We anticipate, when restrictions are lifted, some people will still want to participate by Zoom and some people will want to be in person.”

However, some congregations remain undecided as to whether Zoom will remain a constant in their services and programming.

Rabbi Susan Tendler said that the virtual meeting place didn’t necessarily mesh with all aspects of Congregation Beth Tikvah’s Conservative service, such as its tradition of forming small groups (chavurot) during services. “We are talking about what that will look like in the future,” she said, “yet realize that we must keep this door open.”

So is Burquest Jewish Community Association in Coquitlam, which is looking at hybrid services to support those who can’t attend in person. “But these activities will probably not be a major focus for us going forward,” said board member Dov Lank.

For Or Shalom, a Jewish Renewal congregation, developing ways to bolster classes, meditation retreats and other programs online was encouraging. Rabbi Hannah Dresner acknowledged that, if there were another shutdown, the congregation would be able to “make use of the many innovations we’ve conceived and lean into our mastery of virtual delivery.”

For a number of congregations, virtual services like Zoom appear to offer an answer to an age-old question: how to build a broader Jewish community in a world that remains uncertain at times and often aloof.

The Bayit’s leader, Rabbi Varnai, suggests it’s a matter of perspective. He said finding that answer starts with understanding what a bayit (home) – in this case, a Jewish house of worship – is meant to be.

The Bayit, he said, is “a place for gathering community members and for coming together. The question, how can we still be there for each other, causes us to realize that we can’t go back to as before.” After all, he said, “community service is about caring for each other.”

Jan Lee’s articles, op-eds and blog posts have been published in B’nai B’rith Magazine, Voices of Conservative and Masorti Judaism, Times of Israel and Baltimore Jewish Times, as well as a number of business, environmental and travel publications. Her blog can be found at multiculturaljew.polestarpassages.com.

Listening and learning

Juneteenth webinar panelists (clockwise from top left) Heather Miller, Dr. Tameika Minor, Rafi Forbush and Kendell Pinkney. (photos from internet)

The United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) held a webinar entitled Juneteenth Through the Eyes of Jews of Colour: Sharing Stories and Perspectives on June 17, the same day the United States declared Juneteenth (June 19) a federal holiday. Slaves were freed from Texas, the last Confederate state with institutionalized slavery, on June 19, 1865.

The objectives of the evening were to establish better dialogue, to create a space to honour the Jewish and Black communities, to learn about the challenges people of colour have in the Jewish community, and to find the means by which people of colour can feel welcome in the Jewish community. Marques Hollie, a theatre artist, storyteller and musician, led the evening with a rendition of the post-Civil War song “Oh Freedom.”

“Our people crossed the Red Sea. People of colour are still in Egypt. For Black people, freedom has not come fast enough and not in a straight line,” said Ruth Messinger, a former politician and head of the American Jewish World Service, in opening remarks that preceded the introduction of the panel discussion.

The four panelists were Heather Miller, Dr. Tameika Minor, Kendell Pinkney and Rafi Forbush. Rabbi Ari Lucas of Congregation Agudath Israel in Caldwell, N.J., moderated the event. Lucas encouraged the audience to listen before asking questions.

“In a lot of ways, I feel like I came out as a Black person last year,” said Miller, president of the Jewish Centre in Brooklyn and a future rabbi. “In the Jewish spaces I have been in, people have tried not to see my colour. The stakes are different for us than the majority of people in this Zoom room. I was afraid this would just be a moment for everyone else and that the world would go back to not seeing this stuff again after the pandemic. I was afraid of being left exposed without a community.”

Minor, a professor in clinical mental health counseling and rehabilitation counseling at Rutgers University, said she would like to see Juneteenth become a day of reflection and not just celebration. “Reflection of where we have come from and how far we have to go,” she said. “It’s not a day we should sit back and not look at the wealth gap, mass incarceration and police brutality. Now it is a federal holiday, and yet so many states are banning critical race theory in schools.”

“For me, the question isn’t what does Juneteenth mean to me now but what might it mean to us moving forward,” said Pinkney, a Brooklyn-based theatre writer, Jewish-life consultant and rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary. “The Jewish people are so, so good at crafting stories, creating rituals. What rituals might be created 20 years from now around Juneteenth? Which stories and voices will we finally open our ears to?”

He added, “I like to think of it more as a promise of what might be and what we might become as a Jewish community.”

Rounding out the panel was Forbush, youth director at Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota Heights (St. Paul) and founder of the Multiracial Jewish Association of Minnesota, which focuses on creating space for Jews of colour to connect to one another, through the community, education and advocacy.

“If you had told me that our community would be having this conversation at the beginning of the pandemic, I would have laughed at you,” said Forbush. “There is a bright light in our community starting to see outside of ourselves. If we are a people and not a race, then we owe it to each other to get to know who we are. The idea here is, extend the tent and not move it to exclude somebody else.”

Like Pinkney, Forbush spoke of the potential the holiday holds for the future and the sense of inclusion it can bring to the entire community. He pointed out that young Jews of colour often feel excluded.

Throughout the webinar, the panelists touched on various points of exclusion they feel as part of a community – of not believing they are entirely heard and of the microaggressions that occur in Jewish spaces, such as being quizzed on aspects of Jewish life or being viewed as staff and not a member of the community. Understandably, these are the sorts of issues that drive Jews of colour away from synagogues and other Jewish institutions.

The hope was expressed that Jews of colour could achieve more positions of leadership within Jewish organizations. There was also a sense that the community as a whole is not achieving its full potential without engaging more actively and openly with Jews of colour.

“This year, as we expand upon the understandings of diversity and inclusion, we have, despite COVID, actively widened the doors to our tent so to speak,” said Rabbi Susan Tendler of Richmond’s Congregation Beth Tikvah, which has been promoting the recent USCJ webinars on reaching out to interracial families and building a larger sense of inclusion for all Jews.

“We have actively listened and considered with compassion the feelings of people who may want to enter and yet find barriers to feeling authentically accepted within the larger Jewish community,” she told theIndependent. “United Synagogue’s program on Juneteenth is one example of many in which we have taken the opportunity to listen and learn.”

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Issues surrounding inclusivity

On June 9, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) hosted the webinar Embracing Diversity: Wisdom from an Interfaith, Interracial Jewish Family. The event addressed the issues involved in creating an inclusive setting within a congregation and keeping an open mind about Jewish intermarriage.

Keren McGinity, the USCJ’s interfaith specialist, led the inaugural event, which took place on Zoom. Interfaith is one of four areas of diversity synagogues should hope to include, she said; the others being LBGTQ+, people of colour, and people of all neurological and physical abilities; occasionally, there is overlap.

It was mentioned that the webinar took place close to Loving Day (June 12), which marks the anniversary of the 1958 marriage – and subsequent arrest – of Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving, an interracial couple in Virginia. In 1967, the United States Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage in its Loving v. Virginia decision.

Guest speakers for the afternoon were Shira and Derrick, an interfaith and interracial couple. Shira grew up in the northeast United States and was raised in the Conservative movement; Derrick was born to Ghanaian parents and raised in an evangelical Christian environment in the Midwest. The pair met at university and began dating in their senior year. Because of their different upbringings, neither believed at the outset that the relationship would last. To their surprise, however, it did. They fell in love, ultimately got married and are now raising a baby daughter.

“There was a lot of internal struggle for both of us,” Shira admitted, explaining that they both wondered whether they were going to go through with it. Also, from Shira’s friends and family, there was concern, not that Derrick is black but that he is Christian.

“When I came to the realization that I would be marrying the love of my life, and not a Christian, it led to a lot of changes in thinking about what relationships meant,” Derrick told the Zoom audience.

“Whenever two people come together, there are always gaps that need to be bridged. What really matters is what are the things that are important to you and what are you willing to talk about,” he said, when asked about the cultural, religious and geographic differences the couple had when entering the relationship.

Intellectually, Shira understood that getting a rabbi to officiate would be challenging, yet, emotionally and spiritually, she could not come to terms with that fact because she knew in her heart that her relationship with Derrick was “the right thing.”

After sharing aspects of their personal journey as a couple, Shira and Derrick were asked by McGinity what the Jewish community could do to be more inclusive. Derrick described the reactions he generally receives when entering a synagogue with Shira. First, people look shocked, then, when they realize they are not supposed to make that face, they come over and make some awkward small talk.

Though Derrick understands the need to maintain certain traditions to make a religious setting what it is, the problem for him “is constantly feeling like the other, despite having a desire to being a part of that space, and not being treated like others who are entering the space.”

For her part, Shira said she thinks people are overcompensating because they are uncomfortable. “We have an idea of what Jewish looks like and assume that Jews look a certain way, even though there are examples in front of us.” One of those examples is their daughter.

“I don’t expect everyone to be completely comfortable with me walking into a room, because I look a little bit different than the majority of those in the Conservative shuls I have attended. What I do recognize is that there is going to be progress,” Derrick said, referencing the Loving case. He pointed out that the Supreme Court verdict was only 54 years ago and that his own marriage would have been illegal in a different era.

“To expect that not everyone in a Conservative shul is going to be comfortable is reasonable,” he stressed. “What I do expect is an openness and recognition that change is coming, and the recognition that there are going to be some awkward conversations. I expect that. What I don’t want is to be the warrior to help explain that to everyone.”

“If someone is in a Jewish space, they’re there to do Jewish things,” Shira said. “And that’s what matters.”

Richmond’s Congregation Beth Tikvah is one of the participating synagogues in the USCJ’s Embracing Diversity program.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.