At Hillel, 1987. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.11123)
If you know someone in this photo, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish Western Bulletin’s) collection at the Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C. by contacting [email protected] or 604-257-5199. To find out who has been identified in the photos, visit jewishmuseum.ca/blog.
Schara Tzedeck dedication, circa 1965. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.14350)
If you know someone in this photo, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish Western Bulletin’s) collection at the Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C. by contacting [email protected] or 604-257-5199. To find out who has been identified in the photos, visit jewishmuseum.ca/blog.
Prize winner Irene Behrmann, left, and speaker Ranka Burzan. (photo by Binny Goldman)
On March 3, 75 people attended the Jewish Seniors Alliance Snider Foundation Empowerment Series workshop Don’t Agonize, Organize/Downsize, led by author and professional organizer Ranka Burzan, founder of Solutions Organizing Simple.
Rev. Dr. Steven Epperson of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver welcomed those gathered at JSA’s headquarters, telling the crowd he enjoyed having a Jewish organization as part of his community’s centre. He shared that, over the years, he has dealt personally and professionally with life-changing events in his church members’ lives: marriages, births, health setbacks, deaths. He said these difficult times are especially hard if no plans have been made in advance for the transitions.
JSA president Marilyn Berger pointed to her walker when introducing Burzan, and said this reflected her home, too, as the walker held a coffee cup, papers and other items. Berger spoke of Burzan’s work to assist people with the physical and emotional demands of transition and change, and said she looked forward to learning some pointers that would help her and others.
When Burzan asked the crowd how many of them were organized, a few hands went up. When she asked how many of them would like to be organized, everyone’s hands shot into the air. According to her, time is wasted searching for things like keys, scissors, staples, papers, which leads to time spent being overwhelmed with frustration and not able to start the task we set out to do.
Change is very difficult and we are afraid of it, she said. We procrastinate, we stress, we start but do not finish tasks, we hold onto things given to us, because of guilt.
Quoting Gandhi – “You must be the change you want to see” – Burzan illustrated that it is up to us to initiate change, and proceeded to give tips on how to do so.
She said, ask yourself these questions: Do I like where I live and with whom? Do I like what I am doing in my job? Do I need this item or do I just want it around emotionally?
Then – listen to your answers.
We only use 20% of what we own, she said. The other 80% we keep, just in case – our children, grandchildren, friends or neighbors may want it. Some people rent storage to keep those “just in case” items, she said.
Commit five to 15 minutes of time, she continued, recommending that people set a kitchen timer and stay with the planned task until the time has elapsed.
Simple tools – such as boxes, bags, tape, markers – gathered before the task is started will aid in its accomplishment. She advised people to start with a small area to sort, like a junk drawer or purse. This will give the boost of confidence needed to carry it and other tasks through to completion.
To show how simple it can be to discard things within a planned five-minute period, Burzan had someone pass around a small wastebasket into which she asked people to toss any unwanted item from a purse or pocket. Serge Haber wryly remarked he would prefer a truck sent to his house to help him get rid of items there rather than a tiny wastebasket, which caused a ripple of understanding laughter in the audience. And, indeed, the wastebasket rapidly filled up and its contents were tossed – proving that it can be quite easy to throw something away: a theatre stub, an old gum wrapper, a cash receipt.
Burzan said the benefits of organizing are multiple: higher productivity, less stress, more free time to enjoy socializing or working; feeling the pleasure of knowing that others might be benefiting from your accumulated clutter, that the discarded “trash” might be treasure for someone else.
Clutter is a barrier to life, she said, and it creates guilt. We keep things because of emotional attachment. We start projects – scrapbooks, for example – that go untended. But if, after three months we have not completed a project, it should be discarded, she said.
So, ask yourself what’s holding you back. Start organizing when your energy level is highest during the day. Consider what would you take with you in the event of a fire. Ask for help – from family and positive-thinking friends who can help you reach your goal. Burzan pointed to her friend and assistant, Mara Lees, without whom she said she could not accomplish as much in her own day.
After Burzan’s talk, Empowerment Series chair Gyda Chud highlighted the lecture’s key points and thanked the speaker. She then invited the crowd to enjoy bite-size noshes while mulling over which bite-size portions of change they will attempt at home.
Complementing the workshop session was a talk by archivist Alysa Routtenberg of the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia, who spoke of the JMABC’s work in collecting hundreds of thousands of items documenting the history of Jews and Jewish life in the province. The JMABC provides material for research, mounts exhibitions and stores family memories. Routtenberg asked attendees to not throw away their personal family treasures before checking with the JMABC (604-257-5199 or [email protected]), as there may be items that would enrich their collection, such as letters, photographs, pins and medals.
To those planning to promptly put to use what they had learned at Burzan’s session, this was a most welcome request. We walked away with our minds full of ideas, knowing that we needed to start now, before we procrastinated, so that we could reduce, reuse and recycle and see the results – a rewarding experience.
A raffle basket donated by Burzan containing her cleaning tips, tools and one of her books was won by Irene Behrmann. Karon Shear, Rita Propp and volunteers Bev Cooper, Jackie Weiler and Jennifer Propp contributed to the event’s success, and Stan Shear filmed it. The video can be viewed and more information about JSA can be found at jsalliance.org.
Binny Goldman is a member of the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver board.
The Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia is currently researching an exhibit on the Jewish community in the Oakridge area. (photo from Gail Dodek Wenner)
Oakridge was for many years the heart of the Vancouver Jewish community. First opened for development in the 1940s, the new residential neighborhood was attractive to young families seeking suburban living only a short drive from downtown.
Many Jewish families had previously made their homes in Strathcona, Mount Pleasant and Fairview. With the economic boom of the postwar era, many achieved financial success and, with it, the opportunity to move to the comfort of Oakridge. Jewish community institutions followed, most notably with the construction of the new Jewish Community Centre, which opened in 1962.
Today, the neighborhood still holds a warm place in the hearts of many. For this reason, the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia has been working to develop an online exhibit celebrating the heyday of Jewish Oakridge. Making use of numerous oral history interviews, this exhibit will share the recollections of community members, and aim to provide a comprehensive picture of this era in our community’s history. A new series of interviews are currently underway, filling in gaps in previous research.
Under the supervision of the JMABC’s exhibition development team, made up of coordinator of programs and development Michael Schwartz and archivist Alysa Routtenberg, two volunteers are undertaking this series of interviews.
Junie Chow has volunteered for the JMABC for almost a year now, and recently produced the online exhibit Letters Home. Drawing upon the Seidelman Family fonds, the exhibit shares the letters written by Pte. Joseph Seidelman to his family at home in Vancouver as he fought on the frontlines of Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele during the First World War.
The second volunteer, Josh Friedman, brings to the project his training as a recent alumnus of Indiana University graduating with a BA in Jewish studies and political science. New to Vancouver, Friedman is excited about discovering how the Jewish community in Oakridge reflected similar and different perspectives to trends in North American Jewry during the 1940s-1960s.
Listening to earlier rounds of interviews, essential themes have appeared. These include the initial motivations for moving to Oakridge, the overwhelming sense of community among residents, and even the eventual reasons for moving out of the neighborhood. However, through this process, new questions have also emerged and are guiding the ongoing research. For instance, how did the local community react and respond to world events affecting Israel and international Jewry? Acknowledging that Oakridge is a multi-ethnic neighborhood, the team is seeking insight into the types of relationships that existed between non-Jewish and Jewish neighbors. All of the results will be shared in the forthcoming exhibit.
Currently online are the exhibits Letters Home and New Ways of Living: Jewish Architects in Vancouver, 1955 to 1975 (see jewishindependent.ca/the-west-coast-style). As well, the JMABC has launched On These Shores: Jewish Pioneers of Early Victoria, which traces the early foundation of the Victoria
Jewish community from their arrival in 1858 to the establishment of Congregation Emanu-El in 1863, and Sacred Sites: Dishonor and Healing, which reflects on Victoria citizens’ response to the desecration of the Jewish cemetery there in 2011, and places this incident in context among other similar events elsewhere. Sacred Sites was produced through a partnership between the JMABC and the University of Victoria.
To visit all the online exhibits, go to jewishmuseum.ca/exhibit.
Pioneer Women meeting for the Hadassah Bazaar, 1958. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.12594)
If you know someone in this photo, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish Western Bulletin’s) collection at the Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C. by contacting [email protected] or 604-257-5199. To find out who has been identified in the photos, visit jewishmuseum.ca/blog.
Eitz Chaim students enjoy the dressing-up festivities of Purim, 1989. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.10948)
If you know someone in this photo, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish Western Bulletin’s) collection at the Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C. by contacting [email protected] or 604-257-5199. To find out who has been identified in the photos, visit jewishmuseum.ca/blog.
Oberlander Residence II, Vancouver. Peter Oberlander and Barry Downs, architects, 1969. Photograph by Selwyn Pullan, 1970. Courtesy of West Vancouver Museum.
New Ways of Living: Jewish Architects in Vancouver, 1955 to 1975, “focuses on two significant expressions of modernism in the practices of Jewish architects and landscape architects in Vancouver,” explained curator Chanel Blouin at the exhibit’s launch Jan. 28. “First, the integration of the West Coast Modern home into the natural landscape in a way that invites the outdoors in. And, second, in creating home designs that respond to the specific needs and living habits of the family within.”
For her research, Blouin interviewed architect Judah Shumiatcher; architects Kate and Erika Gerson, daughters of the late architect Wolfgang Gerson; University of British Columbia professors emeritus Andrew Gruft and Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe; Leslie van Duzer, head of UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) and author of House Shumiatcher; and landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, whose late husband, architect Peter Oberlander, is featured in the exhibit, as well.
In addition to the interviews, Blouin traveled to the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal to consult their collections, in particular that on Hahn Oberlander. A highlight of the online exhibit, which can be found at jewishmuseum.ca, is the photography of the houses featured, including photos by Michael Perlmutter, Selwyn Pullan and Fred Schiffer.
“Architecture and the design of cities have always been interests of mine, and I’ve known for awhile that there are and have been members of our community who are or were innovators in these fields,” said Michael Schwartz, coordinator of programs and development at the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia, about the exhibit’s origins. “As we move from theme to theme in each of our exhibits and in each issue of The Scribe, it seemed fitting to turn the lens on this group. Chanel has a footing in architectural history, so when we hired her, this was the topic she was most drawn to. As she progressed through her research, it became clear what era and which individuals to focus on.”
Blouin was hired by the JMABC for the summer of 2015 with support from the Canadian Heritage program Young Canada Works. An extension to the grant allowed her contract to continue through January 2016, said Schwartz, “giving her time to dig much deeper into the topic and produce a more comprehensive result.”
Blouin, a master’s student in art history at UBC, will begin her PhD at University College London in September. “My current research was influenced by my work on New Ways of Living and considers the complex genealogy of the mid-century modern residential designs conceived by the Oberlanders and Wolfgang Gerson,” she told the Independent. “I want to examine how these figures’ exposure to Central European modern art and architecture of the Bauhaus and Werkbund in the Weimar period, as well as their exile and studies at the Architectural Association and the Harvard School of Design with Walter Gropius, influenced their practices in Vancouver.”
About 200 people attended the launch of the exhibit at Inform Interiors. There was a panel discussion between Blouin, Shumiatcher and Windsor-Liscombe; and Hahn Oberlander, the Gersons and van Duzer were in attendance. “There were also representatives from the Jewish Federation, the City of Vancouver and Canadian Heritage, all strong supporters of the JMABC,” said Schwartz.
In his opening remarks, Schwartz noted, “Not only are we very pleased to launch this new exhibit, New Ways of Living, but this week marks the 45th anniversary of the Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C.
“We have with us tonight our founder, Cyril Leonoff, who had the original vision of an organization that would preserve and celebrate the history of Jewish life in B.C…. With a small, dedicated corps of volunteers, Cyril collected documents and carried out oral history interviews with some of our community’s earliest pioneers – people who, in the 1960s, were already in their 80s and 90s.
“From this founding collection, our archives have since grown to comprise over 300,000 photographs, 750 oral history interviews and 300 metres of documents recounting all aspects of the rich 150-year history of our community.”
In the panel discussion, Blouin spoke about the process of developing and curating the exhibit. “I also provided an introduction to the major themes in the exhibit, such as the features of the West Coast style of architecture, site specificity and the important events that introduced Vancouverites to the modernist ethos in the postwar period,” she said. “Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe elaborated further on Jewish involvement in the development of the West Coast Modern home and considered questions of Jewish identity. Judah Shumiatcher shared the story of House Shumiatcher. He described the experience of designing his home and the challenges that the steep slope of the landscape posed as well as the property’s incredible views. We also had a lively Q&A period with many interesting questions from the audience.”
This interaction and excitement is why the JMABC does a launch event. While online exhibits are more cost-efficient and “have no expiry date,” said Schwartz, meaning that researchers around the world will be able to access this material years from now, “there is still value in creating an occasion for people to come together to learn about and celebrate our past. This is why events like the exhibit launch are so important; they give us the chance to dig deeper into the topic and share with our audience a glimpse into the exhibit creation process. This shared experience so essential to museums is generally missing from an online exhibit, hence the need to supplement the exhibit with public programs.”
Blouin said, “One of the most interesting ideas that I hope people will take away from this exhibit is the fact that Vancouver is home to an extraordinary regional style. Many iconic West Coast Modern homes are located in Point Grey and West Vancouver and it’s possible to visit some of them – the West Vancouver Museum provides annual tours. The West Coast style is complex and the Jewish architects who arrived to the city in the postwar period played a prominent role in its development. It’s a fascinating history!”
The exhibit online, the content of which Blouin wrote, explains that Vancouver “underwent a period of momentous transformation and modernization” after the Second World War. “Returning veterans and new immigrants alike prompted a need for more affordable housing, transportation systems, civic spaces and infrastructure. Between 1940 and 1970, Vancouver required 45,000 new housing units to accommodate the city’s growing population. The city’s expansion was informed by new thinking on improved civic living.”
Blouin explained, “The vibrant art and architecture community that converged around the newly founded School of Architecture at UBC introduced the modernist ethos in Vancouver through various means, including a series of Richard Neutra lectures. The first director of the school, Frederic Lasserre, and B.C. Binning promoted modern architecture in response to the shifting needs of the city.”
The regional domestic architecture of this period “was the post-and-beam house built of locally sourced cedar with wide overhangs and large horizontal windows. Regional West Coast innovations included an exposed timber frame, which allowed for open fluid spaces and immense freestanding ribbon windows oriented toward the picturesque views of the Pacific Northwest landscape.”
While parts of the modernist project will not carry into the future – Marine Gardens, for example, 70 family-sized units designed by Hahn Oberlander and Michael Katz in the 1970s, will be replaced by large residential towers comprising more than 500 units – it will leave a legacy, believes Blouin.
“I think the modernist project has and will continue to inform our thinking about sensitive architecture that responds to both the landscape and the people who inhabit their interiors,” she said. “I hope that New Ways of Living and similar projects, such as the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) West Coast Modern homes book series, will raise awareness about the significance of the West Coast-style homes and the importance of preserving them as they become endangered by escalating land values.”
Pioneer Women meeting, circa 1960. Cissie Eppel is sitting second from left. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.12598)
If you know someone in this photo, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish Western Bulletin’s) collection at the Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C. by contacting [email protected] or 604-257-5199. To find out who has been identified in the photos, visit jewishmuseum.ca/blog.
Women organizing a mail-out for State of Israel Bonds, circa 1960. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.14497)
If you know someone in this photo, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish Western Bulletin’s) collection at the Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C. by contacting [email protected] or 604-257-5199. To find out who has been identified in the photos, visit jewishmuseum.ca/blog.
United Synagogue Youth Cycle-athon, Vancouver, 1971. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.09839)
If you know someone in this photo, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish Western Bulletin’s) collection at the Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C. by contacting [email protected] or 604-257-5199. To find out who has been identified in the photos, visit jewishmuseum.ca/blog.
