Gary Segal was one of 12 people appointed to the Order of British Columbia this year. The province’s highest honour celebrates people who have distinguished themselves and excelled in their field of endeavour. Segal was recognized in the category of Community Leadership for his philanthropic contributions to health care. A special investiture ceremony will be held at Government House in Victoria on Sept. 4.
Gary Segal (photo from Order of BC)
Born and raised in Vancouver, Segal is known for his philanthropic endeavours that transcend geographical and cultural boundaries. Described as a catalyst for change, Segal’s commitment to humanitarian causes has left an indelible mark on communities near and far. Notably, as capital campaign chair for Ronald McDonald House BC and Yukon, he played a pivotal role in raising $32 million to establish a new, state-of-the-art facility at BC Children’s Hospital, vastly expanding support for more than 2,000 families annually across BC and Yukon. His dedication extends globally through the Bring Back Hope initiative he founded following a transformative experience in Ethiopia, where he champions accessibility to life-saving surgeries for severely disadvantaged children in dire medical need.
Segal’s efforts have garnered prestigious recognitions, including the Order of Canada, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and appointments to boards such as the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
At the University of British Columbia, Segal’s impact is profound, particularly through his support for the faculty of medicine’s branch for global surgical care, where his contributions have funded groundbreaking initiatives and the development of a master of global surgical care program. As chair of the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, Segal continued to drive innovation in health care, ensuring sustainable and exemplary care.
Fourteen people who have made an outstanding provincial, national or international impact will be appointed to the Order of British Columbia, the province’s highest form of recognition and an official part of the Canadian Honours System. Among the recipients is Jewish community member Samuel Leon Feldman.
The Order of B.C. investiture ceremony will be at Government House in Victoria in the late fall. This year’s honourees bring the total membership of the Order of British Columbia to 503. Members have been appointed from all parts of the province and biographies of all the 2023 recipients can be found at news.gov.bc.ca/files/biographiesobc2023.pdf.
Feldman’s biography notes that he might have lived anywhere. Born in Shanghai, China, of Jewish parents whose ancestors had been persecuted in Russia, he and his family moved to the first place a visa was acceptable – Vancouver – in the 1950s.
The Feldmans loved the peace they found in this sleepy Commonwealth outpost. Although young Sam Feldman experienced some degree of antisemitism growing up, this paled in comparison to the positive experience of growing up in Vancouver and the many lifelong friends he has made.
In the early 1970s, Vancouver’s entertainment scene was booming. It was very early in Feldman’s business career that he identified an opportunity and a desire to be part of that musical environment. He established himself by representing and booking musical artists for what became a launch pad for many iconic artists.
Feldman continues to turn that humble start into an international juggernaut, primarily through artist representation by building an internationally known talent agency and management firm that has been responsible for more than 250 million records and countless tickets sold from past and present clients, such as Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan, Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Tracy Chapman, Bette Midler and Norah Jones. While the numbers are impressive, Feldman measures success through long-standing relationships and the positive musical influence his clients have brought to the community and beyond.
After 50-plus years, Feldman’s involvement in various aspects of the entertainment business is still growing and his legacy is intact. Uniquely, at a time when Los Angeles, New York and London were the epicentres of the music industry, he chose to stay in Vancouver. He has been quoted as saying: “I wouldn’t move elsewhere, as there is no better place than British Columbia to bring up your family.”
Contributing to the culture of this community and beyond is another part of Feldman’s legacy. From Expo ’86 and the 2010 Olympics to countless sold-out stadiums, he’s brought some of the biggest musical acts in the world here to record and perform, and he’s sent some of British Columbia’s biggest stars into the world. He’s proud to have contributed to the excellence of culture here, sharing values he learned from his mother, a high-level concert pianist, and his father, an amateur actor and salesman. His parents were a huge influence on him, and their mid-life immigrant status framed tough times. They urged him to work harder and shine brighter. Having watched their struggles, the lesson was not lost.
In an era when it was difficult for female artists to succeed, Feldman helped female clients through the headwinds of what can only be characterized as a sexist industry, to access what their male counterparts were already achieving.
Having been born in Shanghai in 1949, immigrating to Canada, having a Russian Jewish heritage and building an entertainment empire in a province most people had never visited, Feldman knows firsthand what it feels like to have to work twice as hard to succeed.
To be a successful music business entrepreneur, one must straddle the divide between art and commerce, and treat both with equal respect. Feldman is an interpreter – he has bridged those worlds. This is a skill set he has been able to bring to many good causes, using his connections and resources to support the revitalization of Chinatown, plus many health initiatives particularly targeted at youth.
Feldman has been recognized repeatedly, garnering awards such as the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award for extraordinary contributions to the Canadian music industry, and the SOCAN Special Achievement Award for contributions to Canada’s music industry and heritage. He has been inducted into the Music Managers Forum Honour Roll, the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame.
Feldman is a huge believer in the positive change music can bring to people’s lives. It’s in the mission statement of his business and it’s key to his support of the Sarah McLachlan School of Music, Odd Squad Production Society, Zajac Ranch for Children, music therapy for children on the autism spectrum, and many others.
It’s all part of giving back to the province he committed to so many years ago. Celebrity can be exciting, but it can also disappear overnight, unless you build a solid platform through exceptional relationships and hard work. Feldman has demonstrated that by building something honest and sustainable, you can literally change the world.
The Washington Capitals have signed forward Andrew Cristall to a three-year entry-level contract.
The Capitals selected Cristall, 18, in the second round (40th overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft. Cristall was ranked fifth among North American left wings and 15th among all North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
The 5’10”, 175-pound forward spent the 2022-23 season with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL), leading the team in goals (39), assists (56) and points (95). Cristall’s 1.76 points-per-game rate ranked fourth in the WHL, while his 95 points ranked tied for sixth. Cristall was named Kelowna’s team MVP and was selected to the WHL B.C. Division First All-Star Team.
During the 2021-22 season, Cristall set a Kelowna Rockets franchise record for goals by a 16-year-old (28) and tied the franchise record for points by a 16-year-old (69). In 129 career WHL games with Kelowna, Cristall has recorded 169 points (69 goals, 100 assists).
The Vancouver, B.C., native won a gold medal with Canada at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, finishing the tournament with six points (1 goal, 5 assists) in five games. In addition, Cristall served as an alternate captain at the 2023 Under-18 World Championship, where he registered six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in seven games and helped Canada to the bronze medal.
Or Shalom Synagogue’s new children’s programs teacher is Sammy Fogel, a creative, curious and community-driven educator and facilitator passionate about Jewish education, social justice and mental health. Having grown up at Camp Miriam, and having been a Saturday childminder at Or Shalom as a teenager – and 10 years later as an adult! – Fogel’s connection to the Vancouver Jewish community is longstanding.
Fogel was raised in North Vancouver, had her bat mitzvah at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture, and has held several roles working with youth at synagogues including Congregation Har-El in West Vancouver and Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Montreal. She has a bachelor’s in liberal arts and women’s studies from Concordia University and a master’s in social justice and community engagement from Wilfrid Laurier University. She currently works full-time as the administration and facilities coordinator at the Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia and, in her spare time, you can find her swimming in the ocean, reading her book in the sunshine or enjoying a London fog at her local café.
– from Or Shalom
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From left, FINN Partners colleagues Gil Bashe, chair, health and purpose; Vancouver-native Nicole Grubner, partner and environmental innovation group lead; and Goel Jasper, managing partner. (photo from FINN Partners)
The Israel office of FINN Partners, a global integrated marketing and communications agency, has launched an environmental innovation group. FINN Israel will play a communications role on behalf of Israeli companies in the environmental innovation sector.
Vancouverite Nicole Grubner, partner at FINN Partners, will lead the innovation group. Named “PR Guru” in the 2019 PM360 ELITE Awards as a rising communications leader, Grubner has a decade of experience working with Israeli clients. She will spearhead strategic communications programs for Israeli companies making an impact within the environmental innovation sphere.
“Our goal is to effectively communicate Israel’s groundbreaking, market-ready offerings in the environmental innovation sector, accelerate their growth, and foster meaningful connections with key stakeholders worldwide,” she said. “With more than 100 Israeli companies attending this year’s COP28 in Dubai, we are witnessing Israel’s expanding role in implementing solutions for both climate change mitigation and planetary adaptation to the impacts of our changing climate. Implementation begins with creating awareness that these solutions exist today.”
According to Start-Up Nation Central, there are more than 850 companies in the environmental innovation ecosystem, developing solutions for clean energy, food and agricultural systems, industry, mobility, nature and carbon, water and construction. According to Israel’s climate tech industry group, PLANETech, investments in Israeli climate tech companies between 2018 and the first half of 2022 totaled $6.67 billion.
On the dock where they officiated the conversion ceremony are, left to right, Rabbi Alan Bright (Montreal), Rabbi Tom Samuels (Kelowna), Rabbi Jeremy Parnes (Regina) and Cantor Russell Jayne (Calgary). (photo from Steven Finkleman)
The Okanagan Jewish community in Kelowna recently completed a formal conversion ceremony.
Ten months of formal study, with weekly Tuesday evening Zooms, culminated in a long weekend of events July 14-17. There was a bet din (rabbinical court) and mikvah (ritual bath) in Lake Okanagan and the Shabbaton weekend included Friday night and Saturday morning services. Each of the students participated in the Torah service on Shabbat.
The rabbis supervise the mikvah ceremony on Lake Okanagan (photo from Steven Finkelman)
The dedication of these students who have chosen Judaism as their faith was remarkable, as was the dedication of the clergy during the teaching process.
Twelve people participated in the course, run as a Conservative conversion under the directorship of Rabbi Alan Bright of Shaare Zedek Synagogue in Montreal; Rabbi Jeremy Parnes of Beth Jacob Synagogue in Regina and Cantor Russell Jayne of Beth Tzedek Congregation in Calgary joined in the teaching. The OJC was so lucky to have all three clergy in Kelowna for the conversion ceremony, as well as Elizabeth Bright, who officiated at the women’s mikvah, along with the OJC’s Rabbi Tom Samuels. The occasion was the first time ever that four clergy were present in the OJC sanctuary at the same time.
Thank you to all the students and teachers who were involved in this event. Further information can be found at ojcc.ca.
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Fran Belzberg (photo from jewishvancouver.com)
Sixteen people will be appointed to the Order of British Columbia, the province’s highest form of recognition, Lt. Gov. Janet Austin, chancellor of the order, recently announced. Among them is Jewish community member Fran Belzberg.
Since arriving in British Columbia more than 40 years ago, Belzberg has championed numerous causes, from health care and medical research to education and nurturing the next generation of Canadian leaders. After her husband of 68 years, Samuel, z”l, died in 2018, Belzberg continued their family’s lifelong legacy of community leadership. Now in her mid-90s, her commitment remains unwavering.
In 1976, Belzberg co-founded the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (DMRF), with the mission to advance research, promote awareness and support the well-being of those affected by the disease. Forty-five years later, she is still actively involved in the foundation.
In the early 1990s, Belzberg was instrumental in the establishment of the Think Aids Society to advance research and funding, and raise awareness for HIV/AIDS. In 1995, she was awarded the Order of Canada in recognition of her numerous achievements. In 2003, the Government of Canada partnered with the Belzberg family to create Action Canada, a joint initiative to inspire and support young Canadians and future public policy influencers.
As a champion of education, Belzberg and family have made transformational impacts to the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. In 2016, Frances and Samuel Belzberg were honoured by SFU with the President’s Distinguished Community Leadership Award “for their many years of philanthropy and commitment to education, leadership and equality.”
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Bonnie Sherr Klein’s children’s book, Beep Beep Bubbie, illustrated by Élisabeth Eudes-Pascal and published by Tradewind Books, has been selected to be a PJ Library choice in 2022. PJ Library is a philanthropy that sends free, award-winning books that celebrate Jewish values and culture to families with children from birth through 12 years old. Now, many of these families will meet a grandma who introduces her grandchildren to the adventures they can share in a scooter, including an intergenerational march for the climate. (See jewishindependent.ca/shabbat-with-bubbie.)
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The American Jewish Press Association’s annual conference took place virtually in June. Its 40th Annual Simon Rockower Awards, recognizing excellence in Jewish journalism, took place virtually as well, on June 24. The Jewish Independent took away three honours this year, for work done in 2020.
In its division – weekly and biweekly newspapers – the JI once again won first place for its coverage of Zionism, aliyah and Israel. The three-part series by Kevin Keystone – “Hike challenges one’s views” (Sept. 11), “Seeking to understand views” (Sept. 25) and “Contemplating walls” (Oct. 9) – recounts some of Keystone’s experiences on Masar Ibrahim Al-Khalil, the Path of Abraham the Friend, in the West Bank, which he visited in 2019.
In most categories, awards were given out in each of three divisions: weekly and biweekly newspapers; monthly newspapers and magazines; and web-based outlets. However, for excellence in editorial writing, all entries (which comprise three articles each) competed as one large group, and the JI editorial board – Basya Laye, Pat Johnson and Cynthia Ramsay – came in second. The JI won for the set of editorials “Blessings in bad times” (Aug. 28), “Racism is a Jewish issue” (June 12) and “When is never again?” (Jan. 31). The first is about the communications technologies that have made COVID restrictions less isolating; the second asks our community to consider our complacency and complicity in upholding racist systems; and the third reflects on the fragility of democracy and civil order.
Another award that was considered as one large division was that of general excellence – best newspaper. In this category, the JI received an honourable mention (or third place). The judges commented about the paper: “Diverse content, from news to cultural writing, including unique reporting on Jewish media in Canada. Fun and easy to read.”
All of these articles and other award-winning content can be found at jewishindependent.ca. Thank you to all of our readers and advertisers for your support – we are proud to share these honours with you.
Following a North American call for submissions and an exhaustive selection process, Jewish Family Services (JFS) in Vancouver has been chosen by the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies for participation in Year Two of the NJHSA Jewish Poverty Challenge, an offering of the network’s Centre for Innovation and Research. The goal of the program is to help NJHSA member agencies better analyze the marketplace, launch and manage solutions, and implement sustainable measures for success to address the many dynamics associated with responding to Jewish poverty.
NJHSA has partnered with Start Co., a venture development consultancy firm based in Memphis, Tenn., with an expertise in launching startup, entrepreneurial initiatives and engaging municipalities, corporations and nonprofits in poverty reduction responses. The team at Start Co. will provide expert consultation assistance as JFS rethinks and redesigns products and services, adjusting assumptions and organization models. Throughout, special attention will be paid to the impact of COVID-19 on service delivery methods.
“We are so honoured to have been selected to participate in this challenge,” said Tanja Demajo, JFS chief executive officer, in a press release. “The demand for our services has increased during COVID-19 and we have had to pivot quickly. Although we have adapted, we are experiencing growing pains. This opportunity through the NJHSA and with Start Co. is timely in helping us address our pain points in an innovative way so we can be more efficient and can operate at a pace our clients are demanding during this crisis.”
Reuben Rotman, president and chief executive officer of the network, added, “The COVID-19 pandemic has even further heightened the critical need for innovative solutions to the challenges of Jewish poverty. With newly vulnerable clients reaching out for assistance in unprecedented frequency, the agencies are challenged to identify new ways of working and new efforts to achieve sustainable solutions for those in need.”
For more than 80 years, JFS has delivered a continuum of social services to individuals and families of all ages and in all stages of life in the Greater Vancouver area; its pillars of support include food security, counseling and mental health, care management, financial aid and home support.
The Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies is an international membership association of more than 140 nonprofit human service agencies in the United States, Canada and Israel. Its members provide a full range of human services for the Jewish community and beyond, including healthcare, career, employment and mental health services, as well as programs for youth, families and seniors, Holocaust survivors, immigrants and refugees, persons with disabilities and caregivers.
Dr. Mel Krajden is among those who will be appointed to the Order of British Columbia this year. The announcement of the 13 new appointments was made on BC Day, but the investiture ceremony will be postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions and held for recipients and invited guests at Government House in Victoria in 2021.
Krajden is medical director of the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) Public Health Laboratory and has made significant contributions to fields of research, including hepatitis, HIV, HPV and, most recently, COVID-19.
With the emergence of COVID-19, British Columbia and Canada needed urgent access to rapid, validated tests for the virus. Under his leadership at BCCDC, and relying heavily on his expertise, Krajden and his team were able to rapidly develop an assay for the province to commence testing in January 2020, weeks before other jurisdictions. Access to this test was an essential element in the management and control of the outbreak and the safety of British Columbians.
Krajden created the world-leading B.C. Hepatitis Testers Cohort, which integrates de-identified data on 2.4 million individuals tested for, or diagnosed with, hepatitis B, C, HIV and TB infections, linked to their corresponding healthcare administrative data since 1990, to create longitudinal medical histories. This cohort has produced influential pieces of evidence that shaped clinical and public health guidelines and policy in Canada and globally. He was instrumental in the development and continued progress of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research-funded Canadian Network on Hepatitis C, a multidisciplinary group committed to developing a national strategy for hepatitis C elimination.
Krajden was one of the key personnel in the STOP HIV initiative in British Columbia. This public health endeavour saw the implementation of acute HIV testing, allowing diagnosis during the most infectious period of the disease, resulting in timely interventions and communication to partners to reduce transmission. This undertaking helped lead to the lowest HIV incidence on a provincial scale in decades.
Krajden also played a pivotal role in global public policy changes in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine dosing regimen and the associated reduction of financial access barriers to care. Similarly, his work with respect to assessing the utility of HPV testing versus traditional Pap smears is expected to contribute to guidelines that will benefit women worldwide.
In his educational capacity, Krajden has the reputation of being a wonderful teacher and valued mentor, training researchers, health professionals and students at all levels. He is known for his willingness to provide input and advice despite numerous other commitments, contributing to the success of others. His dedication further extends into the clinical realm, where he always has patient interests at heart and never hesitates to devote his own time to make a difference in client outcomes.
In appointing Krajden to the Order of British Columbia, it is recognized that, over many decades, he has demonstrated exceptional innovation, leadership and sustained contributions to the province, country and the world. He is a highly respected visionary, scientist and educator who has inspired countless researchers and health professionals with his clinical excellence, dedication and generosity of spirit.
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Rabbi Mimi Micner
Tamara Micner, Rembrandt Koppelaar, Karen and Jack Micner and Dr. Talie Lewis are extremely proud to announce the ordination of Mimi Micner to the rabbinate. The virtual ceremony took place June 7 from Hebrew College in Boston. Mimi and Talie live in Watertown, a half-hour drive from Mimi’s new position, rab- bi at Temple Beth Torah in Holliston, Mass.
Mimi is the granddaughter of Kela (z’l) and Lito (z’l) Guincher, who are kvelling on the Richter scale above. She is also the granddaughter of Chaim (z’l) and Susie Micner, who are surely enormously proud as well.
