University of British Columbia

Exchange of expertise

Among the activities in which Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Dr. Shiran Reichenberg, left, took part while she was in Vancouver was a lunch and learn at Lawson Lundell LLP, hosted by Peter Tolensky. (photo from CFHU Vancouver)

Dr. Shiran Reichenberg, executive director of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem law faculty’s Clinical Legal Education Centre, was in Vancouver recently, as part of a professorship exchange with the University of British Columbia.

The exchange program started in 2010, with funding from Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and members of the local legal profession and judiciary. From 2013 to 2019, it was named in honour of Mitchell Gropper, QC, and, since 2021, in recognition of the Koffman family’s financial support, it has been formally called the Morley Koffman Memorial Allard School of Law UBC and Hebrew University Law Faculty Professor Exchange Program.

Koffman was an alum of UBC law school in 1952. He practised at Freeman, Freeman, Silvers and Koffman, and was awarded Queen’s Counsel in 1986. His firm, Koffman Kalef, was established in 1993.

One of the founders of the exchange program was Bruce Cohen, whose career has included, among other things, almost three decades as a BC Supreme Court justice. In the CFHU and UBC announcements of the Koffman family’s donation, Cohen says, “Given the high level of respect and regard for Morley’s reputation in the legal, university, Jewish and general communities as a wise counsel and recognized leader it is perfectly appropriate for the program to be named in his honour as a reflection of the importance placed by him and his family on scholarship, professionalism and tikkun olam.”

On the CFHU website, Cohen notes, “The ability of the program to operate in the initial few years of its existence was due in large measure to Morley’s assistance.”

The CFHU Vancouver organizing committee for the exchange program consisted of Cohen, Sam Hanson, Peter Hotz, Shawn Lewis, Randy Milner, Phil Switzer, Peter Tolensky, Dina Wachtel and the late Allen Zysblat. The annual exchange even operated during the pandemic, albeit virtually.

photo - Dr. Shiran Reichenberg, left, visits Temple Sholom’s Oct. 7 memorial with the synagogue’s Associate Rabbi Carey Brown — Dr. Shiran Reichenberg, left, visits Temple Sholom’s Oct. 7 memorial with the synagogue’s Associate Rabbi Carey Brown. *(photo from CFHU Vancouver)*

Reichenberg’s February-March visit to Vancouver was for just over two weeks, during which time she taught a course at UBC and spoke to various groups, including at Lawson Lundell LLP for a lunch and learn hosted by Peter Tolensky and at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, as well as at Temple Sholom for a lunch and learn organized by the Sisterhood, said Wachtel, vice-president, community affairs, at CFHU.

While Reichenberg regularly attends international conferences and lectures, this was her first time in Vancouver and, she said, “It was a very, very different experience to teach an intensive course for two weeks, each class three hours.”

Reichenberg, who is also the director of the Clinical Legal Education Centre’s Children and Youth Rights Clinic, said the course she gave here focused on the development of children’s rights and covered international documents, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and other agreements, like the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

“We got very deep into several aspects of the convention and main principles, mainly best interest [of the child] and the right to participation. We talked about youth at risk, in criminal proceedings, in care proceedings,” she said.

Reichenberg graduated with her bachelor and her master of laws from the Hebrew University. She also studied in London, England, having received the Leonard Sainer Chevening Scholarship for LLM studies at University College London. She became interested in children’s rights law when she was a second-year student and participated in the Clinical Legal Education Centre’s Street Law Program, which is still part of the Children and Youth Rights Clinic she now directs.

“Each of us was put in a different residential care facility for youth at risk,” said Reichenberg, who was placed with a locked facility in Jerusalem. “When we entered this place and got an explanation about the girls and their life and what happened to them, it changed the course of my life. I stayed and I did another legal clinic in my third year of law school: representation of children’s rights, of children in court proceedings.”

In doing her PhD, Reichenberg focused on the right of youth at risk to participate in care proceedings, and her research included interviews with some of the girls from the Jerusalem care facility.

Children’s rights have their origin in labour law, Reichenberg said.

“Children, from the beginning of humanity until maybe the Industrial Revolution … died a lot, so parents didn’t get attached to them that much,” she explained. “And they were also considered as property of their parents, mostly their fathers, so they were sold, they were used to work, they were part of supporting the family; they weren’t what we consider them today. There is evidence that, in ancient times, children weren’t even given names, just numbers, because they died so much.”

But when children came to be working in mines and in factories, for example, “legislation gave them rights, to work only 12 hours a day and sleep at night, and things like that,” said Reichenberg, adding that the invention of the printing press, which meant that people needed to learn how to read, was an impetus for the establishment of schools.

The first child-related labour laws were English laws, passed in the early 1800s. The first youth court took place in the United States in 1874, and it involved the first case reported of child abuse, said Reichenberg. “[Mary Ellen McCormack] was abused by her stepmom and when the people wanted to help her, there was no law that protected children, so they used the law that protected animals from abuse.”

The Children and Youth Rights Clinic is one of nine offered by the Clinical Legal Education Centre. There are also clinics on climate change and environmental law; human rights in cyberspace; multiculturalism and diversity; representation of marginalized population groups; criminal justice; international human rights; the rights of people with disabilities; and wrongful convictions.

The centre can take a maximum of 140 students, with each clinic having, on average, 16 to 20 students.

“We have many more people who want to enrol than the places that we can give,” said Reichenberg, explaining that the clinics must be kept relatively small, given that they are working on legal cases.

“Each clinic is taught by a lawyer and there is a maximum number of cases that one person can handle, so we can’t have too many students,” she said. “Also, it allows us to have in-depth discussions in our classes with our students. And we always sit in a circle and there’s always dialogue, and it’s something that can be accomplished only in small groups.”

The Clinical Legal Education Centre takes a three-pronged approach. It handles upwards of 1,000 cases a year, providing legal aid and representation to individuals from marginalized groups. It also works for policy change, through test cases and position papers, for example, and offers public lectures and workshops to raise awareness, increase knowledge and promote discussion.

Since the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the centre has taken on an increased role in teaching and advocating for human rights. It has represented groups like the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in front of different United Nations bodies, for example, and has been operating Hamal Hevrati (War Room), a Facebook page providing legal aid to vulnerable populations, which has handled about 100 inquiries to date.

As well, the centre serves diverse clients and has a multicultural staff and student body, all of which include members of the Palestinian minority.

“We are not in war with the entire Palestinian people, we are in war with Hamas, and there is a difference,” said Reichenberg.

“So, we help those who need our help. And we work together, we study together,” she said.

It’s been hard, she admitted. “But we have to believe in working together and living together because none of us is going anywhere and we have to live together and work together for a long time … we have to find a way to do that and this is what we do.”

Reichenberg is proud of how the centre has adapted to the situation.

“In class, we have students who came from military reserves, still with their uniforms and their weapons. We have Arab students who have family in Gaza, which they haven’t heard from,” she said. “We have students who lost people they loved on the 7th of October and since. I personally have a student who I loved deeply and he died in the war, in his military reserve [service] in Gaza. And, also, in the staff, as I said, we’re a mixed staff and a lot of emotions came out on the 7th of October and we did a lot of preparation for staff, how to work with the students in this environment.”

While it’s not perfect, Reichenberg said, “it is certainly an amazing thing to see how everyone is sitting together, learning together, doing legal work together, for the same goal.”

Non-Jews must speak out now

As a student at the University of British Columbia, I want the Jewish community to know that the encampments at universities across Canada do not reflect all students’ values. In my view – and I have spoken with many other students who feel the same way – these encampments are not places of peaceful protests but instead places that allow for the exclusion of students who hold different views and the spreading of antisemitism. Advocating for Jewish students on campus has become controversial, and I want to change that.

The student protesters at these encampments have resolutely turned their back on any form of dialogue. The recently disbanded encampment at UBC, for example, was set up on April 29 and, as early as May 9, a statement from the encampment’s Instagram – Peoples University for Gaza UBC – read “F*** a discussion, we want divestment” in response to their perception of UBC president Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon’s handling of their demands.

At UBC, openness to discussion with Jewish students of differing views has never been demonstrated, and only self-proclaimed anti-Zionist Jews were allowed into the encampment. The anti-Zionist group Independent Jewish Voices was allowed in, with the group having taken part in protests against Hillel BC on campus. From what I saw, if a Jewish student identified as a Zionist and tried to engage in dialogue or enter the encampment, they were intimidated off the premises.

On May 31, I created an Instagram post from my personal account (@zaranybo) titled “A Canadian non-Jewish ally’s response to the university encampments.” That post has received more than 1,200 likes and hundreds of shares. I prepared myself for an onslaught of hate comments, but, instead, I have received only support.

In the statement, I share two photos that were taken at the UBC encampment: a sign saying “Zionists F*** Off” and “F*** Colonization, another saying F*** KKKanada, F*** Israel.” These signs were prominently displayed on the outer fence for all passersby to see. The encampment was demonizing Israel and trying to convince my peers to believe Hamas propaganda and antisemitic rhetoric.

photo - One of the signs that were posted on the fence of the encampment at the University of British Columbia — One of the signs that were posted on the fence of the encampment at the University of British Columbia. (photo by Zara Nybo)

I see such encampments as tiny, hypocritical echo chambers for my peers to radicalize in. It is my understanding that it is illegal to protest with a face mask or face covering under the Canadian Criminal Code and yet they do so. The encampment at UBC took university equipment and furniture to use as barricades. UBC is on unceded Musqueam land, thus the encampment was “colonizing” Maclnnes Field, against the law and on unceded land. The protesters were doing exactly what they contend Israel is doing to Palestinians.

From the response to my Instagram post, I realized that students across Canada are hungry for a community of students who are against the hypocrisy of the encampments and willing to speak out. I received a direct message from a student at the University of Toronto who felt they’d gone crazy, watching their peers spew pro-Hamas rhetoric. I also received an outpouring of support from many Canadian Jews, thanking me for standing against antisemitism.

After the first statement was so well received, I posted another one – “The time is now. Non-Jewish allies need to stand up.” We, as Canadian university students, have been silent for too long. I hold us collectively accountable for our silence. I know that it feels difficult for my peers to speak out. Understandably, they fear ostracization from their social circles and other repercussions. However, I challenge that, it should not be controversial to speak out against hate.

What if social media had been around during the 1930s and 1940s? If we in Canada had seen the Jewish buildings being targeted then, saw that Jews were no longer allowed to attend school, and saw “no Jew” zones created, would we have said something? Would we have done something?

Across Canada today, synagogues are being targeted, Jewish schools are being targeted, and the elders and children attending both are the target. If we believe we would have spoken up in the 1930s and 1940s, then we need to speak up now. We cannot let history repeat itself on our watch.

It is vital that other non-Jewish students speak out, whether that is on social media or in their friend groups. Even though it feels nerve-racking to have a “controversial” or differing opinion from our friends, we must speak up nonetheless. Social media is a tool we can each use on an individual level to create a collective paradigm shift.

To post or reshare support for Israel or call for the release of the hostages can create a rift in our friends’ online echo chambers. Social media algorithms work by showing users posts similar to what they have previously liked, reinforcing a certain worldview for users. This is what we call confirmation bias. If one person can alter that echo chamber, even with one post, it can begin to change what individuals see on their feeds. With the amount of disinformation and terrorist propaganda circulating, this small action can make a difference.

In the BC high school curriculum, we learned of the Nazis, antisemitism and the death camps. I always believed I would have risked my life to hide a Jewish family, but now I see it’s easier for most of us to be quiet in the face of antisemitism.

After seeing my peers’ reactions and lack of courage to stand with the Jewish community after Oct. 7, I no longer believe that if social media had been around during the Second World War it would have made a difference. Many people knew then what was happening in Europe, even though media was less immediate and visually powerful, and people certainly know now what is happening. Yet, most of us are silent still.

We’ve reached a point where standing up for Jewish people and against antisemitism seemingly require an in-depth understanding of the Middle East’s complex political history. This is a harmful conflation and double standard for fighting antisemitism – any other form of racism does not require this level of knowledge.

In my speech at the launch of Be An Upstander for Upstanders Canada on June 23, I said, “I’d like to tell you that the extreme anti-Israel rhetoric we are seeing on campus is not going to change the reality in the Middle East – but it is making life for Jewish students in Canada difficult and, in many cases, dangerous.” This is the truth. These protests aren’t going to change the outcome of this war, but they are creating a nearly unbearable campus culture for Jewish students.

But I am hopeful. After the outpouring of support for my statements on Instagram from Canadian university students, I believe that, if more of us speak out against antisemitism, others will follow. There is still time to change the deafening silence of the non-Jewish community since Oct. 7.

Now is the time. Canadian non-Jewish allies need to speak up. How much more do our Jewish peers have to go through before we believe it’s gotten bad enough to sacrifice our comfort for our integrity?

Zara Nybo is a third-year student at the University of British Columbia. Connect with Zara via Instagram: @zaranybo.

Small wins amid gloom

The rescue of four Israeli hostages from Gaza last week and their reunions with their loved ones is a bright spot amid much dismal news – though there remain 120 hostages whose reunions with their families we dream of and hope will happen soon.

This rescue has been a source of tempered joy for Israelis and others. In a time of tragedy and despair, these moments are worth appreciating. Amid the relief, we mourn the life of the Israel Defence Forces officer who died from wounds received during the operation and we mourn the lives of the many innocent Gazans lost. Holding this tension is weighing mightily on many of us, knowing that placing hostages among civilians is a deliberate and overwhelmingly cruel strategy of Hamas.

Closer to home, we are not without bleak news, but neither are we bereft of hopefulness.

The arson attack on Schara Tzedeck Synagogue two weeks ago is deeply troubling and scary. The outpouring of support and empathy from so many is a silver lining. Clergy, elected officials, multicultural community leaders and ordinary folks have expressed solidarity with Schara Tzedeck and the broader Jewish community.

A few less monumental but hopeful items crossed our desks recently.

The Vancouver Comic Arts Festival, which had earlier canceled the participation of artist Miriam Libicki, issued an apology for their actions – and announced that “the vast majority” of individuals who had perpetrated Libicki’s banning had resigned from the organization’s board.

Suffice to say, this is not the foremost news story this year. But it is surprisingly uplifting when a glimmer of common sense emerges where intolerance had once prevailed.

Libicki had been canceled ostensibly because she had served, once upon a time, in the Israeli army. IDF service was also the excuse used when inspirational speaker Leah Goldstein, a BC resident, was canned from an International Women’s Day event in Ontario in March.

Assertions that an artist (or performer or whoever) is being excluded because they served in a military that we see every day in the news engaged in a tragic conflict may seem legitimate, or at least not quite as blatant as, say, posting a sign that reads “No Jews allowed.” Notably, though, no such litmus test, to our knowledge, has ever been applied to any artist (or whoever) in Canada based on their service in any other national armed forces – and, given the diversity of our country, we can be pretty much assured that we have citizens who have served in many of the world’s most tyrannical and nasty, even genocidal, militaries.

Other excuses to ban Jews or pull Jewish- or Israel-related work from events, exhibits, performances, etc., have also included enough plausible deniability to steer just clear of indisputable antisemitism.

Goldstein’s cousin, local photographer Dina Goldstein (it’s sadly becoming a family affair), was recently removed from a group exhibition. In this instance, the gallery claimed financial considerations were the deciding factor.

Then there are cases where venues pull an event or performer based on security concerns, as the Belfry Theatre in Victoria did with their scheduled performance of the play The Runner. They had reason to fear violence – the theatre was vandalized amid the controversy. But cancelations based on security concerns, as valid as they may seem, give an effective veto to those who are potentially violent.

In the shadow of the Belfry decision, The Runner was pulled from the PuSh Festival in Vancouver, the stated reason being that another artist threatened to pull their work from the event if the play was mounted.

In addition to cancelations, there is plenty to raise alarm bells about anti-Israel bias in the public education system, as well, as we are forced to outline in discouraging detail elsewhere in this issue, with the BC Teachers’ Federation making some controversial decisions. But, again, here some reason prevails, though not from the BCTF.

The Burnaby school district took what it called “immediate action” when it became known that elementary students had been given an exam question asking them to make a case for and against the existence of the state of Israel. We could fill volumes with outrage about the unmitigated nerve of a teacher thinking this was a legitimate subject for grade sixers (if it was on the exam, one can only imagine what the same educator said in the classroom) but let’s take some solace that there were reasonable people in a position of authority to respond when this became public.

In further good news in the education realm, on June 1, the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver Senate soundly rejected (by a vote of 49 to 16) a motion urging the university to cut ties with institutions in Israel.

In challenging times, it is even more necessary to acknowledge and celebrate small victories and acts of decency. It is an act of individual and communal resistance to remain hopeful and steadfast in pursuit of peace and justice.

Pride despite facing hatred

Ben Freeman (photo by Pat Johnson)

A couple of dozen loud and aggressive protesters accosted people arriving to an event at Hillel House at the University of British Columbia March 13. One masked woman raced up and screamed into the faces of those arriving. Another shoved her phone, presumably filming, into the faces of those trying to enter. Marchers, carrying communist banners and flags, screamed “You are on the wrong side of history!”

Inside, a packed audience listened to gay, Jewish, Scottish writer and activist Ben Freeman contextualize the state of world Jewry since Oct. 7. The author of Jewish Pride: Rebuilding a People and Reclaiming our Story: The Pursuit of Jewish Pride, in conversation with Vancouver media personality Shane Foxman, spoke while, throughout the entire presentation, the dull roar of protesters screaming provided background.

“We need to understand very, very clearly that we have done nothing to deserve that rabble outside,” Freeman said. “It is not our fault. This is their problem and not ours. Jew-hatred is a non-Jewish problem. We need our non-Jewish friends and allies to set up on the task of dismantling it. We have other work to do.”

Jews, of course, fight antisemitism, he said, but it is up to non-Jews to defeat it.

“This [protest] is not a commentary on Israel or Zionism,” he said. “This is an expression of Jew-hatred. We need to understand that.”

It is not only Jew-haters who try to separate diaspora Jews from Israel, said Freeman. Many Jews fall into the trap as well. The accusation of dual loyalty is a tool to dissuade Jews from expressing their natural connection to the land of Israel, he said.

“The canard of dual loyalty has led some Jews to say, ‘No, no, no, no, I’m not connected to Israel. I’m an American or I’m British or I’m Canadian’ or whatever the case may be,” Freeman said. “The reality is we are the diaspora. That word gives us a really incredible clue to the aspects of our identity. If we are in the diaspora, Israel is our home. You can be Canadian and Jewish, you don’t need to choose. That is what the non-Jewish world tries to make us do. They try to make us choose. Are you Canadian or are you Jewish? That’s the message that we get, you have to choose. But you don’t.”

He recounted a conversation with his dermatologist, a Briton of Pakistani descent, who said he was “going home” to Pakistan on vacation.

“I said, oh, wonderful, were you born there? And he said, no, I was born here,” recalled Freeman. “And I thought, yes! You get it. And he’s allowed [to visit what he calls home], but somehow we are told we are not allowed.”

Freeman argued succinctly that it’s time Jews stopped fearing accusations of divided loyalties.

“I do have dual loyalty,” he said. “Suck it.”

In addition to refusing to succumb to false accusations, Freeman argued that Jews need to set boundaries on personal and professional relationships.

“After Oct. 7, I spoke to Jewish friends who were in relationships with non-Jewish people and they said, oh, it’s hard, because my partner isn’t sure how they feel about Israel,” Freeman said. “My jaw kind of hit the floor. We have to have bottom lines. We have to have boundaries. There should be conversations we are willing to have and conversations we refuse to have. Each of us will make those ourselves but recognizing that Israel has a right to exist, Israel has a right to defend itself, that should be a bottom line. And I think I would encourage all Jews, whether it’s in romantic relationships, whether it’s in friendships, to be able to prioritize yourself, to be able to centre yourself and create those boundaries. We are not accepting half-assed empathy or friendship.”

Probably all Jews have had difficult conversations with friends and others in recent months, he said, and Freeman urges a little more resistance.

“I say to my friends in those situations – it’s a little bit arsey, to be honest, but I am so done with being a nice Jew – I say to them, let’s be really clear before we have a conversation about Israel: I know more about this than you do, so don’t come for me. Have some respect. Not only is this my work, but I’m a Jew. That should be respected. And then, I care more about this. My friends are people in the world who might see a headline, they might see a tweet by those bozos outside, and they get enraged and inflamed. They can’t point out which river or which sea. We care deeply, we think about it.”

photo - As author Ben Freeman spoke at Hillel House at the University of British Columbia, the dull roar of protesters provided background — As author Ben Freeman spoke at Hillel House at the University of British Columbia, the dull roar of protesters provided background. *(photo by Pat Johnson)*

Ignorance should be challenged and invitations to learn extended, he said. “But there will be those who are malicious,” he added. “There will be those who think that we are bad, evil Zionists, we’re colonizers, we’re white oppressors and we are murdering the Indigenous people, we are committing genocide. There are people who believe those things and, if they do, those people are not interested in a conversation, so we block them…. They’re not worth our time. They’re not worth our energy. We’re not dealing with those people.”

He admits, though, this can be easier said than done. All the hatred can get into one’s psyche.

“I’m the author of books about Jewish pride. I’m very proud to be Jewish. I love Israel,” said Freeman. “And there have been flickers of weakness in the past five months, when I have been weighed down by what is happening in the diaspora, what happened in Israel and what is said to me online and you do think, Are we the bad guys? What is happening? No. We are not. We have a right to be in that land. We have a right to defend ourselves. We need to make the world understand crystal clearly that you do not get to murder Jews and get away with it. Jewish blood is not cheap. We will defend ourselves and we have a country to do that. We lost our sovereignty.… We are not losing it again.”

Tight security ushered attendees out a back door and away from the still-chanting protesters circling the front of the building.

To heal a fractured campus

Last November, I interviewed my grandmother for an oral history project – one I had been meaning to do for a long time – about her experience surviving the Holocaust. As the grandson of two Holocaust survivors, I can affirm the reality of intergenerational trauma. Yet, as I listened to her story, I realized she was teaching me valuable, timeless lessons which the University of British Columbia community can apply on campus. That is why I am obligated to share her story – so that we avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

My grandmother was 13 years young when her parents and most of her family were taken away from her and deported, either to be shot on their way to Bergen-Belsen or exterminated in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. My grandmother, my safta (as I call her in Hebrew), was a little girl, orphaned, vulnerable and left all alone. She had every right to be bitter and resentful, to identify herself as a perpetual victim and to rightfully blame the Nazis for her suffering. But she did not.

She could never forgive nor forget the evil perpetrated by the Nazis. However, with this in mind, she had to move on with her life. The way she redeemed tragedy was not to define herself as the victim of the past, asking, “Who did this to me?” but rather by taking responsibility for the future, asking, “Given these circumstances, how can I help to put this situation right?”

This is the greatest eternal lesson I have learned from my grandmother and all the Holocaust survivors I have met: never internalize a victim mentality. Otherwise, you will not only become consumed with hate but also enslaved to the past. As the late chief rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks once said, “To be free, you have to let go of hate.”

My grandmother took the negative energy and elevated it toward a higher purpose: toward marrying my grandfather, toward raising a family, toward giving back to her community. Her all-encompassing identity, attitude and purpose in life has been not based on the hate of others. Rather, her identity is based on the love of her fellow Jews, of being grateful for her heritage and everything else she had.

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent,” Eleanor Roosevelt once said. There was one thing from my grandmother that even the Nazis could never take away: her will to be proudly Jewish.

UBC campus today

For my grandmother, the Hamas massacre that took place on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered painful memories from the Holocaust. “Never again,” the lesson we learned from the six million Jews murdered, has now become “ever again.”

The amount of toxic hate I have seen on my campus (and other universities as well) since Oct. 7 has been both disheartening and overwhelming. From disrespectful comments on social media posts, to provocative posters on campus demonizing the other side, to verbal and physical harassment of students, there is a small, yet vocal, minority of students who create a highly flammable atmosphere on campus.

At UBC, I have witnessed students chanting the phrase “globalize the intifada,” a term that has historically been used in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict not for “peaceful resistance,” but for terrorizing Jews with suicide bombings, shooting attacks, stabbings and other means of armed violence. I have witnessed students blacklisting other students because they do not agree with their opinions. I have witnessed students rudely spamming hateful comments (which are now taken down) on UBC’s social media page to take advantage of International Holocaust Remembrance Day to push a political message. When I hear that “hate has no place on campus,” I unfortunately continue to observe the opposite.

This is the reason why I dropped my Middle East studies minor. Every time I walked into the classroom, the negative energy was palpable. I was walking on eggshells bringing up my Jewish identity or even mentioning the word “Israel.” Every day, I had to hide my kippa under my hat so that my classmates with different viewpoints would not identify me as Jewish and publicly shame me. In short, I did not feel welcome.

At a university, a safe space should not be a place where you are protected by those with whom you agree from those with whom you disagree – that is called groupthink. Rather, a safe space should be a place where you make space for those who disagree with you so that each can listen to the other with respect.

Whether or not you agree with Israeli, Jewish, Palestinian, Arab, Muslim or any other claims, there is no justification whatsoever to scream, silence or slander those with whom you disagree. Right now, the university needs more civility and calm for all students.

Yes, we must acknowledge that there are significant casualties on both sides of the conflict. Yes, we must acknowledge each other’s suffering. At the very least, we can all agree that every human life is sacred with equal dignity.

While we cannot control external circumstances halfway across the world from us, we can control how we respond to it. We can choose to wallow in misery and demonize the other (asking “Who did this to me?”), or we can take action to recognize each other’s suffering and elevate it to something positive (asking “Given these circumstances, how can I help to put this situation right?”).

Now, how do we do that?

Listening, not labeling

Opening yourself up to someone whose colour, culture, class or creed is different from yours can seem daunting. In an age of echo chambers, filtered media and narrowcasting, we all have a tendency to tune in to that which aligns only with our own viewpoint, while tuning out others. However, it is precisely the people not like us that make us grow.

From clubs tabling on campus to classmates sitting next to you, there are plenty of opportunities to actively seek out diverse perspectives. We need to learn how to listen for the sake of learning, not labeling.

If one has a monopoly on the truth, then why bother listening to others? Because, as a mystical Jewish saying goes: “A full vessel cannot receive.” It is only by acquiring humility, the sense of opening ourselves up to something beyond ourselves, that we realize our own perspective is merely one finite fragment of an infinitely fractured truth. Thus, I’ve reflected on three ideas worth sharing.

First: there is no justice for any person or people without listening to the other side.

Second: true peace, in our relationships with others and toward ourselves, comes as a result of active listening.

And third: in the words of C.S. Lewis, “Humility is not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less.”

Listening to the other is the first step toward recognizing the “dignity of difference.”

The antidote to hate

Hate, like COVID-19, is a virus. Viruses do not distinguish between different types of people, but rather fester and grow into an infectious force that threatens us all. Historically, for example, the Nazi regime may have started with targeting Jews, but it didn’t end with Jews. Nazis also targeted Roma, Sinti, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities and political dissidents. Hate knows no bounds.

With this in mind, I offer three practical suggestions for what each of us can do on an everyday level to bring more hope to campus – and perhaps other places.

First, take a moment to unplug your AirPods or headphones. Just do it! Whether it’s while sitting on the bus or walking on campus, withdraw from your isolated world for five minutes and acknowledge someone you don’t know by saying hello with a genuine smile. Give them your full, undivided attention and start a friendly conversation. Humanizing starts with acknowledging the other.

Second, take a class from a perspective you have never heard from before. I am a history major. I had never considered taking an environmental history course before simply because I was not interested. But it is precisely for this reason that I am taking the course. Now, I realize how I could see my preexisting knowledge and interests from a new, oblique angle I would never have seen otherwise.

And third, follow social media accounts of people with different viewpoints from your own. Just like our earbuds, we are constantly using our phones. Every time we open Instagram or Twitter, we are training ourselves to focus on our interests and are quick to judge other accounts as not worth our time. Instead of judgment, be curious and interact with accounts to train yourself to learn from others, not label them.

We are first and foremost a community, of students and professors, of friends and family, of human beings with human emotions. Divided, we are more susceptible to hate. United, however, we have the potential to become force multipliers of hope over hate.

Each one of us should ask ourselves: Are we taking actions to further fracture our world, or heal it?

If we are to heal our fractured world, we must first recognize that each and every one of us has the power and influence to turn negative energy into positive energy, just like my grandmother did. If she could continue to spread light after going through the darkest chapter in human history, how much more so can every one of us dispel the darkness of hate by becoming beacons of light in our communities at UBC and elsewhere.

It all starts with one positive thought, one friendly compliment, one good deed.

It all starts with you.

Eitan Feiger is a fourth-year history student and the vice-president and treasurer of the University of British Columbia’s Chabad Jewish Student Centre. This article was originally published in the Ubyssey.

Provincial campuses roiling

On Nov. 1, about 200 Jewish students and their supporters engaged in a low-key demonstration at the University of British Columbia, with many holding posters of kidnapped Israelis. Since the terror attacks of Oct. 7 and the start of the Israel-Hamas war, universities and colleges worldwide have been hotbeds of conflict. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Jewish students and their supporters at the University of British Columbia celebrated a victory last week after the student government overwhelmingly rejected motions that critics say were openly antisemitic.

The Alma Mater Society (AMS), which represents UBC students, voted in the early hours of Feb. 29 not to include a number of referendum questions on the ballot during upcoming student elections.

One proposed question accused Israel of genocide and called for an end to UBC’s exchanges with Israeli institutions. It would have also invited students to vote on whether they believe Hillel BC, the organization that has represented Jewish students, faculty and staff at the university since 1947, should be evicted from campus. (Hillel’s lease is with the university and the AMS has no jurisdiction over whether Hillel does or does not remain on campus.) This question was rejected by a vote of 23 to 2.

A second proposed referendum question would have asked students to massively revamp the governing structure of the AMS, adding dozens of additional elected representatives of marginalized groups. The change would have assigned designated groups representation on student government, including the Social Justice Centre, UBC Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, UBC Trans Coalition, Black Student Union, Indigenous students, and the Women’s Centre. Explicitly excluded from representation were Jewish students and groups that represent them. This proposal was rejected 25-0.

Referendum questions can be submitted anonymously, so it is not known from which individuals or groups these proposals emerged, though they had support from the Social Justice Centre, which calls itself “a resource group that works toward progressive social change, inclusivity and equity through a survivor-centric, harm-reduction, radical, feminist, decolonial, anti-oppression framework.”

“I was very pleased and relieved that the AMS leadership chose not to include what I would say are very antisemitic referendum questions on the student voting ballots,” Rob Philipp, executive director of Hillel BC, told the Independent. The intention of the proposed ballot question was to intimidate Jewish students and the vote is a reassurance to Jewish students, he said. “It’s surprising that it took them close to five hours to discuss this. But the vote, in the end, was pretty overwhelming to turn it down, so that was very heartening for us.”

A few hours later, across town at Simon Fraser University, referendum results were announced, with an anti-Israel ballot question receiving overwhelming support. The compendious policy, adopted by the Simon Fraser Student Society in 2022, was put to a vote by the broader student population, endorsing the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign and repeating the boilerplate condemnations of Zionism as “a colonial ideology” bent on “ethnically cleansing the Indigenous population.”

The referendum question passed 1,801-442 and, while the statement of results did not indicate percentage turnout, there are around 40,000 students at SFU. It appears perhaps one in 20 students voted in the elections, in which a new president was elected with a tally of 878 votes.

These are just two of the foremost fires the Jewish community has been attempting to put out on campuses across the province recently. Universities and colleges worldwide have been hotbeds of conflict since the atrocities of Oct. 7 and the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas. Administrators have struggled to balance preservation of free speech with often dangerously inflammatory, sometimes clearly antisemitic expressions. The presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University were forced to resign after their remarks before a congressional hearing late last year were viewed as insufficiently condemnatory of overt calls for violence against Jews.

Philipp emphasized that postsecondary administrators in British Columbia have all been supportive of the Jewish community’s concerns – the administrations are not where the problems are coming from, although they are inevitably placed in the middle of these dramatic conflicts.

At Langara College, a months-long controversy over the fate of Natalie Knight, an English instructor who called the Oct. 7 mass murder of Israeli civilians “an amazing, brilliant offensive,” may not be over. Knight was put on leave while the college undertook an internal investigation. She returned to work, albeit in a non-instructional role, after the investigation determined her comments were “not clearly outside the bounds of protected expression.” She then spoke at a rally on campus, where she declared: “I’ve been reinstated as an instructor with no disciplinary actions, which means we won. It means we won. It means I did nothing wrong.”

Knight was then fired. While not mentioning her by name, the college said that an employee had engaged “in activities contrary to the expectations laid out by the college and as a result this employee is no longer an employee.” Her union has taken up her case.

Philipp commended Langara’s president, Dr. Paula Burns, for her leadership.

At Emily Carr University of Art and Design, some instructors have encouraged students to leave classes to attend pro-Palestinian rallies, and what Philipp calls “very, very aggressive posters” have appeared on campus. Hillel has been in conversation with administrators there.

“They understand the issue and they are in process right now of making changes to help protect the student body,” said Philipp.

“All our relationships are pretty strong,” he said of administrators at the many institutions at which Hillel BC has a presence, adding that he was recently in Victoria and had dinner with the president of the University of Victoria.

“These administrators,” he said, “are encountering very, very challenging situations that are really stressing their organizations at different levels. Nobody’s able to figure out exactly how to handle these very tricky situations.”

Hillel is also dealing with a lawsuit from the Social Justice Centre, about which they are unable to speak publicly except to say that an independent contractor, not acting on behalf of the organization, participated in the distribution of contentious stickers around the UBC campus. Hillel terminated its relationship with the contractor but is facing a case that attempts to hold the organization responsible.

These are not easy times for Jewish students, but, in some cases, individuals are finding resources they did not know they have.

Rachel Seguin, a graduate of Vancouver Talmud Torah elementary and King David High School and a second-year psychology student at UBC, has become an accidental activist.

“Since Oct. 7, I’ve seen a new part of me that I didn’t even know existed – neither did my parents, honestly,” she said. The anti-Israel actions of the Social Justice Centre and the repeated stonewalling by the AMS in response to her complaints have driven Seguin to become a public voice against antisemitism on campus, including addressing the council last week in opposition to the referendum proposals.

“I didn’t imagine myself doing something like that,” she said. The fact that the AMS did what Seguin believes is the right thing was, she said, “really refreshing and satisfying.”

Remembering, learning

Hillel BC’s Holocaust Education Week takes place on campus at the University of British Columbia Jan. 29-Feb. 2. Every day of that week, there will be something going on to attend and learn from, including the exhibit from Yad Vashem called Shoah: How Was It Humanly Possible?, which will be on display the whole week.

photo - Rachel Mines — Rachel Mines (photo from Hillel BC)

Jan. 29, 6 p.m.: Unheard Echoes: Jews in Lithuania Before, During and After the Holocaust. Presentations about the Jewish connection to Lithuania throughout history, focusing on the Holocaust, by Rachel Mines and Gene Homel, two members of the Lithuanian community. Register at forms.office.com/r/s4uAFqv8gc.

Jan. 30, 6 p.m.: Unheard Echoes: The Far Reach of the Holocaust in Asia. Ryan Sun is a PhD candidate in the department of history at UBC, working with Prof. Leo Shin and Prof. Richard Menkis. His transnational project expands the geography of Jewish exile outside Europe and beyond Shanghai, and onto the British colonies of Hong Kong and Singapore. He is particularly interested in Jewish refugees’ ship-bound experiences, how transiting colonial port-cities and encountering local inhabitants informed their understanding of “the Orient,” as well as how these ship-moments disrupt the standard narratives of the Holocaust and survivor testimonies. Register at forms.office.com/r/aQx4LG2Fhi.

photo - Ryan Sun — Ryan Sun *(photo from Hillel BC)*

Jan. 31, 5 p.m.: In a partnership between Hillel, brothers of the AEPi chapter of Vancouver and Chabad UBC, there will be a reading of the names of those who were murdered in the Holocaust. Meet at Hillel, then walk over to the fountain at the main mall, where the reading of the names will begin at 5:30 p.m. The reading can also be joined online, live on Hillel BC Facebook and Instagram, as well as the Instagram page for AEPi.

photo - Marie Doduck — Marie Doduck (photo from Hillel BC)

Feb. 1, 5 p.m.: A Fireside Chat and Q&A with Survivor Marie Doduck & Dr. Lauren Faulkner Rossi. Marie (Mariette) Rozen Doduck was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1935. She immigrated to Canada in 1947 as a war orphan with three of her siblings and settled in Vancouver. She is actively involved in Holocaust education and is a cofounder of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.

Rossi is currently researching child survivors of the Holocaust, the significance of their memoirs to Holocaust studies and the shared language of trauma among child survivors of different genocides.

Feb. 2, 5 p.m.: Students-only Shabbat Dinner with Honoured Guests: Holocaust Survivors will feature a candlelighting ceremony and survivors spread out among the dining tables with students. Students can register at forms.office.com/r/ayufQr3Zmy.

For more information or help with the registration links, email info@hillelbc.com or call 604-224-4748.

– Courtesy Hillel BC

Prof: “no choice but to resign”

Dr. Ted Rosenberg (photo from BC College of Family Physicians)

Ted Rosenberg has stepped down from his post as a clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of medicine, citing an unsafe environment, following his repeated attempts to have the school do more to address antisemitism.

In a Jan. 1 letter to UBC, the award-winning geriatrician, who has taught at the medical school for more than 20 years – prior to that, he had a position at the University of Manitoba – wrote that because the faculty has failed to address concerns, he had “no choice but to resign.”

A tense atmosphere developed following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks when a petition titled “A Call for Action on Gaza” first appeared at the faculty of medicine and was signed by more than 225 of its students. The petition went beyond calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Rather, it condemned Israel as “a settler colonial state,” accused it of “collective punishment through indiscriminate bombing of civilians” and claimed that “Palestinian people have been continually abused, traumatized and killed by the settler state of Israel and its Western allies for over 75 years.”

In a Nov. 29 letter to UBC president Benoit-0Antoine Bacon, medicine faculty dean Dermot Kelleher and other top officials at the university, Rosenberg wrote, “This petition and other similar statements on campus, as well as the inaction by UBC, makes me wonder if antisemitism has become systemic in this institution.”

While praising UBC’s efforts to redress discrimination and promote diversity and inclusion, he asked, “Why do these efforts for diversity and inclusion come to an abrupt halt when it involves ‘including and protecting’ Jewish/Zionist students and faculty?” According to Rosenberg, the petition not only made him feel unsafe but also traumatized a medical student “who was left distressed, anxious and sleepless after reading it, and enduring the hostile reactions of colleagues and faculty.”

A Dec. 21 letter, co-signed with 283 other physicians – both Jewish and non-Jewish – stressed the growing polarization at the medical school due to events in the Middle East.

“This is resulting in hate speech, student intimidation and the feelings of many students and teachers that they are working in a toxic environment. Several of us have expressed concerns to you in writing and are waiting for specific responses,” the letter read.

The letter also called into question the validity of the anti-Israel petition, emphasizing that it contained several inaccuracies, caused deep divisions within the medical student community, and was one-sided and unrelated to medical care.

In requesting a response from university leadership to take action to protect the integrity of the medical school and the safety of medical students and staff, the letter urged that those who signed the petition “be made aware of the significance of their choice of contentious language.”

Additionally, the letter called on the offices of equity, diversity and inclusion (at both the university and the medical school) to receive sensitivity training regarding Jewish issues and antisemitism, encouraged the university to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, and asked the university to form a clear policy on the boundaries of free speech, “having zero tolerance for any speech that crosses the boundary to antisemitic or hate speech or language used to incite violence, either openly or covertly.”

Both letters received responses from Dean Kelleher of the medical school. Rosenberg, however deemed them inadequate. In the resignation letter, he said they “did not address any of our specific concerns re: the medical student’s petition, antisemitism within the faculty, or concerns that politicization and polarization of the Middle East conflict are creating a toxic work environment.

“I checked the recommended links to your and the president’s statements on respect and compassion…. Two words are conspicuously absent from all these documents: 1. Jew(ish) and 2. Antisemitism.”

Rosenberg added that he searched the websites for the offices of equity, diversity and inclusion at the university and the medical school for “antisemitism” and did not find the word included among the several anti’s that were mentioned.

In his most recent letter, Rosenberg said he lamented the deaths of innocent civilians on both sides, but denounced the “oversimplistic ahistorical demonizing narratives and rhetoric” taking place.

Rosenberg also expressed the hope “that the faculty of medicine and UBC will recognize this serious threat of antisemitism/Jew-hatred and the dangers of politicization and polarization of the faculty and student body.”

In his concluding remarks, he advised the school to consult with the physicians who collectively wrote the school leadership in December. “They can work with you to constructively, collaboratively and proactively rectify this situation and ultimately help restore respect, compassion, empathy and trust among colleagues and students,” he said.

Rosenberg told the CJN that he is aware of other faculty members who have considered resigning because of the present atmosphere at the medical school. Since his letter, he also has heard from people at the faculty who are prepared to do more to recognize antisemitism – and to do something about it when it appears at the school.

In response to a request for comment about Rosenberg’s resignation, a spokesperson for UBC wrote, “The faculty of medicine and the University of British Columbia have been very clear that antisemitism, or discrimination of any kind, is completely unacceptable. We are committed to creating a safe and respectful environment for all of our community members and will continue to take steps to do so.

“In response to concerns raised by faculty and learners, the faculty of medicine is also working expediently to develop educational opportunities for inclusive learning and respectful dialogue within the faculty in areas that directly reflect our stated values, including how we address issues such as discrimination, harassment and hate speech,” they added.

Rosenberg, a Victoria-based physician who makes house calls, is an advocate for keeping the elderly in their homes for as long as possible. His company, Home Team Medical Services, aims to improve quality of life and increase independence for older people and their families. The company provides home-based health care for people 75 to 105 with physiotherapists, rehabilitation aides and care coordinators, in addition to a team of nurses and physicians.

In 2016, Rosenberg received the BC College of Family Physicians Award of Exceptional Contribution in Family Medicine.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC. This article was originally published at thecjn.ca.

Rx for antisemitism?

A resident doctor in Vancouver was confronted by a fellow medical student demanding to know why Israel is exchanging three or more Palestinians for each Israeli hostage kidnapped by Hamas and held in the Gaza Strip. Is an individual Palestinian life of less value than a Jewish life? the student demanded.

This is one of many anecdotes making the rounds among Jewish doctors in British Columbia. These experiences, as well as an inflammatory anti-Israel letter signed by a sizeable number of University of British Columbia medical students, caused more than 100 doctors to assemble to discuss the issues Dec. 5.

“If the university doesn’t take these things seriously, I’m prepared to give up my UBC appointments,” said a Vancouver neurosurgeon who asked that their name not be used because they suspect activists would target them with vexatious complaints to professional governing bodies or harass them online or otherwise. “I don’t need to be associated with a university that does not speak out against antisemitism.”

Medical students in the province are trained in Indigenous awareness among other culturally relevant education, said the neurosurgeon.

“I consider myself to be part of the indigenous people of the land of Israel, and a minority,” the doctor said. “We’ve been labeled as settler-colonialists by a quarter of the medical students and our history has been completely ignored. I think those people should be forced to have some education about the indigenous people of Israel.”

The meeting, held at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, brought together about 50 doctors in person, with another 60 attending virtually. The neurosurgeon left uplifted after hearing from community leaders about strategies and actions being taken.

Addressing the meeting were Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, Nico Slobinsky, Pacific region vice-president for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and Ohad Gavrieli, assistant executive director of Hillel BC. The event was convened by Larry Barzelai, a recently retired family doctor, and Marla Gordon, a physician working in elder care and medical director for long-term care in Vancouver.

The gathering was a reunion of sorts, including some doctors who had been part of an informal cadre of Jews in the field who would get together informally a couple of times a year in recent decades. However, the turnout far exceeded expectations.

Gordon contacted Barzelai, thinking 10 or 20 doctors might want to get together over coffee. As of last week, 240 Jewish doctors, most of them in British Columbia, were part of a WhatsApp group of professionals concerned about antisemitism in their discipline, especially affecting younger doctors. About half attended last week’s event.

The letter that precipitated much of the meeting’s concern was signed by more than 300 UBC medical students – an estimated 20 to 25% of the total student body. The letter called on UBC’s new president, Benoit-

Antoine Bacon, to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but also called Israel a “settler state” that is “dispossessing Palestinians of their homes” and stated that Palestinian people “have been continually abused, traumatized, and killed by the settler state of Israel and its Western allies for over 75 years” through “colonialism and imperialism.”

Gordon said the doctors are asking for the medical school’s diversity, equity and inclusion education modules to address antisemitism.

“Just knowing that we are teaching these students who signed this letter, there is discomfort,” Gordon said. “We feel that everyone should be safe in their workplace. If you are a patient, you should feel safe getting care. What if one of your care providers had signed that letter and knows you’re Jewish?”

As much as the meeting had an agenda of fighting antisemitism and biased approaches to international affairs in the medical sector, Gordon said, it is also important for people to gather in mutual support when the community is feeling isolated.

Barzelai echoed Gordon, noting that several doctors told him that any future meetings should continue to be in person, or hybrid, rather than exclusively virtual, because the camaraderie was crucial.

“People are hurt,” said Barzelai. “They are having all sorts of negative experiences in their workplace, with the faculty, with other professors. They want to do something about it.”

Right now, the letter signed by hundreds of medical students is the foremost concern, he said.

“The fact that that many students would sign a letter I think shows the ignorance of the situation, or their lack of knowledge of what’s going on,” he said. “It just pointed to us that we need to educate these people, that it’s too easy to sign a letter and take sides. But the situation itself is a complex situation. To blithely sign a letter like that is kind of distressing. For us, as doctors, we think that people who get into medical school should have done some critical thinking to get there and would be a bit more nuanced about their opinions about the Middle East.”

A lawyer at the meeting stressed the importance of documenting each and every incident on campus, in the workplace or elsewhere. Pro bono legal assistance is available for students and an antisemitism hotline is likely to be operational in the new year.

An alternative letter, signed by Jewish and non-Jewish doctors and medical students, may be drafted and presented to university administrators. Successive meetings will determine next steps.

Food insecurity at UBC affects Jewish students, too

Food insecurity is a growing problem on the University of British Columbia campus. The Alma Mater Society (AMS) Food Bank saw a 600-visit spike in the past year. Around “40% of undergraduate students and 50% of graduate students said they were worried about running out of food at least once in the past 12 months,” according to the 2022 AMS Academic Experience Survey.

In an open letter to the UBC board of governors, UBC Sprouts highlighted how “[d]espite UBC’s self-proclaimed dedication to reconciliation and equity, they perpetuate food insecurity which disproportionately affects Black, Indigenous, racialized, immigrant, low-income, houseless and/or disabled UBC community members.”

However, Jewish students are also an underrepresented minority group that is subject to this inequity.

Keeping kosher has been one of my greatest personal, physical and spiritual challenges so far in my life. Finding meals on campus that nourish myself and that are within the dietary restrictions of kashrut, all while staying true to my faith and not compromising my values, has been an uphill battle.

As one representing hundreds of Jewish UBC students, I believe there needs to be more access to kosher food on campus.

In Hebrew, the word kosher means “fit” or “acceptable,” according to halakhah, which is Jewish law. Any food grown from the earth is naturally kosher. However, any food that has been processed and prepared by humans must be carefully supervised by an Orthodox rabbi.

You can think of keeping kosher as a form of hygiene. The facility, the kitchen and production line in which a product is manufactured, processed and prepared must be kept very clean – undergoing frequent checks by an Orthodox rabbi – and must avoid cross-contamination with non-kosher food (like pork and shellfish), all with zero signs of any animal infestations (like rats).

In Jewish tradition, mixing milk (representing life) with meat (representing death) is another big no-no. For example, I cannot eat a cheeseburger or order a meal at a café that cross-contaminates dairy utensils with meat utensils. So, even a restaurant that advertises as 100% vegetarian or vegan is not officially kosher until it strictly meets the dietary, hygienic and/or rabbinical supervision requirements above.

Many vendors throughout campus incidentally sell kosher, pre-packaged snacks with a hekhsher, an official certification by an Orthodox organization approving a product as kosher. Although pre-packaged snacks are available, they do not constitute a sufficient meal on their own. There needs to be fresh kosher meals that are healthy, ready-made and affordable.

Since last summer, I have been doggedly persistent at trying to improve vendor availability of kosher food at UBC. I had been in correspondence with UBC Hillel BC, Chabad Jewish Student Centre, UBC Food Services and UBC’s VP Finance and Operations team to arrange a supplier setup and establish “requestor” contact on campus, along with a potential supplier such as the vegan Kosher Experience food truck. But UBC’s bureaucratic system has delayed this process indefinitely.

Kosher food has the potential not only to serve Jewish students, but vegan, vegetarian and Muslim students as well.

While UBC food security initiatives like the UBC Meal Share program, AMS Food Bank, Sprouts, Acadia Food Hub, Agora Café, and the residence meal plan (which has provided some kosher meals since 2020 and kosher meals can be requested in advance, but are only available at designated times for students living in select residences) offer nutritional support for students facing food insecurity, none of them provides kosher-certified meals from a kosher-certified kitchen. For example, the dining halls collaborate with UBC Chabad “to provide support and consultation on kosher food availability at UBC,” but they do not provide kosher-certified meals from a kosher-certified kitchen, according to a statement.

Regarding the plethora of options above tackling food insecurity, one UBC student remarked, “I really like the diversity that the market offers. When I was walking by, you can see a lot of different ethnic foods, a lot of foods that people would enjoy.” Yet, the diversity of food options (such as halal) and the accommodation of dietary needs (such as gluten-free foods) at UBC happens to include everything except kosher-certified meals. Or, namely, it excludes Jewish students.

For many Jewish students applying to university, kosher food is the deciding factor in their enrolment. If other top Canadian universities, such as the University of Toronto or McGill University, offer access to kosher food, then why can’t UBC?

In my personal experience living off campus, there are some days where I wake up late, rush out the door with no meal and, with no access to kosher-certified meals on campus, go hungry throughout the day. I am tired of it.

With UBC’s recent approval of allocating $500,000 toward food security programs and the AMS’s recent launch of their food security initiative, the AMS Food Bank can establish a contract with the leading Orthodox kosher certification organization in British Columbia – Kosher Check – to supervise the preparation of kosher meals (such as falafel and sandwich wraps) in the facilities of the AMS Food Bank.

While establishing and maintaining a kosher kitchen may not be feasible, having access in the Nest to a microwave, refrigerator and a dry goods rack designated only for kosher-certified meals would be the first most practical action to take.

I stand tall and proud to share my identity with others on campus. But, if there is not even any access to kosher-certified meals on campus, it furthers the marginalization of Jewish students like myself.

If the AMS and the UBC are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, then they must commit to making kosher-certified meals accessible on campus.

Eitan Feiger is a third-year history student at UBC

Editor’s note: The original version of this letter to the editor was published in the Ubyssey.