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How best to treat addiction
The Feb. 22 panel discussion at Congregation Schara Tzedeck featured, left to right, moderator Dr. Auby Axler and panelists Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt, Dr. Jenny Melamed, David Berner and Rebecca Denham. (photo by Zach Sagorin)
Approximately 5,000 Jews in the local Jewish community need support around addiction, according to Jewish Addiction Community Services Vancouver.
JACS offers various support programs for those battling addiction, and their families and friends, and organizes events for community education and awareness. On the evening of Feb. 22, at Congregation Schara Tzedeck, the agency partnered with Schara Tzedeck and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver for a panel discussion on the fentanyl crisis and addiction in the Jewish community in general. Participating panelists were Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt, addiction medical specialist Dr. Jenny Melamed, addiction therapist David Berner and director of services at JACS, Rebecca Denham; the moderator was Dr. Auby Axler.
“JACS Vancouver is a new agency trying to tackle a taboo and shame-filled topic that can ignite passionate responses and strong resistance,” explained Denham in an email. It is committed to supporting community needs relating to substance use, and values a diversity of perspectives on addiction treatment.
At the panel discussion, Rosenblatt spoke about some of the community concerns and the internal conflicts that some people experience when trying to determine the best approaches to addiction support.
Melamed, an addiction doctor who has been treating people with opioid addiction for 15 years, said, “People have been dying from heroin, people have been dying from all drugs…. There are many drugs out there that are as dangerous. Alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs out there, 90% of the trauma seen in the [emergency room] after midnight is from alcohol. A heroin addict is a calm, sedated person who is nodding off in a corner, he’s not violent; he’s a danger to himself, and he’s not a danger to anybody else.”
She explained, “Addiction is a … disease situated in the primitive part of the brain…. The addiction goes and sits there and it says, ‘if you do not use me, you will die, you need me.’ This is where the team comes in…. We’ve got the ability to say, ‘I’m not going to listen to you anymore.’ But the power to overcome that is what is needed and it is strong and it requires meetings, it requires therapy, it requires a team, it really is a village to keep somebody sober in the long term.”
About 40 people attended the discussion and Melamed commented, “When you look at how big the Jewish community is and how small the attendance is here tonight … we live with our heads in the sand and we don’t realize how many of us have family members who are in addiction.
“We need to remove the stigma related to addiction. When we tried to get somebody in recovery to talk tonight, we couldn’t find anybody in the Jewish community who would come and stand up, because we put that big addiction sticker on people’s forehead. But we all know that it can happen to anybody. Yes, there is an enormous genetic component, a 40% genetic component when it comes to addiction, but there is trauma. Sexual abuse happens in any religion. Everything happens across the board.”
While the Downtown Eastside is often considered the centre of addiction and drug use, Melamed said this is not the reality. “The people on the DTES make up maybe one to five percent of the drug-using population. Seventy-five percent of people using drugs are what we call functional … nobody knows what is going on out there. If you can afford your heroin habit, then you’re OK until you overdose and it takes you over to the other side.”
Berner, founder and executive director of a residential treatment centre for drug addicts and alcoholics, has conducted almost 11,000 therapy groups.
“Addictions are coping mechanisms…. I’ve never met someone in addiction who hasn’t had a terrible upbringing, who hasn’t had severe trauma, serious trauma,” Berner said. “I’ve rarely met anyone who has addiction who hasn’t suffered physical or sexual abuse, or emotional-psychological abuse, or financial abuse.”
Berner posed the rhetorical question, “Can you change? No.” But, he said, “You can change the things you do, including picking up [drugs or alcohol].”
He said, “Every week I give a lecture, every Tuesday morning, and then do group therapy. One of the things I say week in and week out is, I don’t want to hear about your substance.”
Berner also commented on the government’s spending on addiction services in Vancouver.
“We’ve got harm reduction, that’s it!” he said. “And then prevention, treatment and the law are not only ignored officially … they are officially denigrated by the health department, by the ministry of health, and anyone that can make a decision.”
In response to an audience question – “How does the word recreational fit in with the level of risk that’s involved in drugs?” – Melamed responded, “I think you have to replace the word recreational now with Russian roulette because that’s the word we’re using. There is no safe use.”
“Even with marijuana?” asked another audience member.
Melamed said she knows, based on urine samples she has taken, that “some of the marijuana is laced with fentanyl.”
However, a man in the audience, identifying himself as a federal prosecutor who works with the police on narcotics, countered that assertion. “My understanding, after looking at various police files on where this has been reported, [is that] marijuana laced with fentanyl … is anecdotal. It is from people who have overdosed in a non-fatal manner and have reported it to hospital authorities, doctors, police officers, [saying] ‘all I used was marijuana,’ and this is to avoid, in my understanding, the stigma of being labeled a hard drug user…. There has been no actual seizure by police in B.C. of marijuana laced with fentanyl.”
However, the prosecutor added, “We see cocaine laced with fentanyl, we see a lot of heroin laced with fentanyl, we see methamphetamine laced with fentanyl.”
With Purim approaching, Rosenblatt noted, “Drinking on Purim happens a lot, especially in the Orthodox Jewish community, because there is a statement in the Talmud – a person is obligated to drink on Purim until they don’t know the difference between cursed be Haman, who is the villain of the story, and blessed by Mordechai, who is the hero.”
He said, “Maimonides says the way you should be happy on Purim is by spending most of your effort feeding the poor on Purim. Why? You would think that maybe Maimonides was democratic and would say something very nice like the poor deserve a holiday, too.… That’s not what Maimonides says at all. Maimonides says that there is no greater joy in the world than helping another person.”
“JACS was born out of a necessity and I think it is important to remind you that JACS is here to support you,” said Denham in wrapping up the event. “If a question doesn’t get answered tonight or if an issue gets triggered for you, reach out to us and we will support you just as the community has supported us. We wouldn’t be here today without the kind accepting spirit that runs deep throughout this community. From the support of the rabbinical leaders, professionals, individuals, family foundations, the support of the Federation … all of whom continue to strengthen JACS services … we are bringing this much-needed discussion away from shame and into a supportive light.”
To learn more about JACS Vancouver, Denham can be reached at [email protected].
Zach Sagorin is a Vancouver freelance writer.
Treating intergenerational trauma
Left to right: Nina Krieger (Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre), speaker Mark Wolynn, Richard Fruchter (Jewish Family Service Agency), Nicky Fried (Congregation Beth Israel) and Shanie Levin (Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver). (photo by Rhonda Dent Photography)
On Feb. 15, Mark Wolynn, director of the Family Constellation Institute, spoke to an audience of almost 1,000 people at Congregation Beth Israel on the topic Understanding Intergenerational Trauma: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle. The crowd sat in rapt silence as he unfolded his own story and the stories of some of the people his therapeutic approach has helped.
Introduced by Rabbi Adam Stein, assistant rabbi at Beth Israel, and Richard Fruchter, chief executive officer of the Jewish Family Service Agency, Wolynn quipped upon taking the stage, “The last time I stood at a synagogue pulpit was at my bar mitzvah.”
Wolynn said his work on intergenerational trauma has particular relevance for those who have survived genocide and war, such as First Nations people, refugees and Jews. His efforts to understand the effects of trauma began when, as a young man, he found himself going blind. He had “the bad kind of central serous retinopathy,” he said, “the five percent kind where it can lead to becoming legally blind.”
Plagued by grey blotches and blurs distorting his vision, Wolynn said he was terrified. He tried a litany of alternative medical cures, which didn’t help, and headed off on a quest for enlightenment.
After marathon meditation sessions and audiences with several gurus, Wolynn said he waited for hours for a satsang (sacred meeting) with a swami in Indonesia. When he finally made it to the front of the line, the guru looked at him for a moment and said, “Go home and make peace with your parents.” It wasn’t until he heard the same message from the next guru he visited that Wolynn returned home to begin his journey into healing his relationships with his family.
Years later, after making both personal and scientific study of the impact of family dynamics and inherited trauma (and healing his blindness), Wolynn has emerged with a persuasive vision of the role that unaddressed trauma can have in our lives – even if the trauma happened in previous generations, and even if you didn’t know about it. “Many of us spend our whole lives believing we are the source of our own suffering when we are not,” he said.
Wolynn presents his findings in terms of epigenetics, the study of how life experience can turn on or off certain genes. He points to findings in both humans and animals showing that the children of traumatized parents react with stress, fear or aversion to stimulus that traumatized their parents, even if the children themselves have no previous negative exposure to the trigger. “We think the effects – the alteration in the genes – may last for three generations,” he said.
Wolynn described several case studies in which patients had symptoms that could be addressed only after patients understood their source in something that had been done to (or by) a mother or grandfather. Wolynn challenged the audience to ask themselves what their greatest fear was and to put it into words, explaining that this was a clue to their “trauma language,” which could, in turn, be used “like breadcrumbs” to lead them back to the unrecognized traumas in their past.
Wolynn laid out a series of steps for uncovering intergenerational traumas and healing the brain. He also shared stories of his use of visualization, ritual and family communication to free both adults and children from chains they didn’t fasten themselves.
Alan Stamp, clinical director of counseling at JFSA, a co-sponsoring agency of Wolynn’s talk, told the Independent, “What Mark is doing is putting a new spin on how to get to the heart of it and resolve the difficulty. The past is alive in the present.”
Stamp said he knows of two people who attended a follow-up training session offered by Wolynn in Vancouver after the public lecture, and who have had success applying Wolynn’s method clinically; one of them being a counselor at JFSA. “It works,” said Stamp.
JFSA offers counseling for a wide variety of issues, and Stamp is hoping that attendees at Wolynn’s talk will be inspired to pursue healing, through JFSA or elsewhere.
JFSA, the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver, Congregation Beth Israel and the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre partnered to bring Wolynn to Vancouver, and the talk was additionally sponsored by the Lutsky families and Rabbi Rokie Bernstein. Banyen Books hosted Wolynn the day after his talk at the synagogue.
Matthew Gindin is a freelance journalist, writer and lecturer. He writes regularly for the Forward and All That Is Interesting, and has been published in Religion Dispatches, Situate Magazine, Tikkun and elsewhere. He can be found on Medium and Twitter.
Building a dream on Main
Among the offerings at Olive+Wild are mezuzot, textiles and fragrances. (photos from oliveandwild.com)
Judaica. Most of us have some in our homes. A mezuzah, Shabbat candlesticks, a seder plate, a menorah. As much as synagogues are a crucial part of Judaism, the Jewish home is a place to celebrate and perpetuate our traditions and faith.
For many years now, in Metro Vancouver, there has been hardly anywhere to buy Judaica locally. Many people order lovely things online or buy them when traveling, but it has been nearly impossible to buy a beautiful challah or matzah plate in the city – until recently.
In September, Bella Zaidel, a friendly and charming woman, opened Olive+Wild. It was her dream and she told her husband Simon it was now or never, so they did it.
Located between 27th and 28th avenues on Main Street, Olive+Wild is nestled among an increasingly interesting group of shops. At first blush, the store reflects her years of experience in design and décor retail. The displays are natural and artful and feature a carefully chosen, unique collection of home décor; the pottery is eclectic, attractive, and dishwasher and microwave safe; and the furnishings would help update any room. It’s the kind of store I love to wander through when I’m on holiday, to see local artists along with other striking pieces from around the world.
Walking past the stunning candles and the Vancouver Island-made pottery, shoppers find near the back two large display cabinets with collections of sparkling Judaica. One case is full of renowned South African artist Carrol Boyes’ work. A portion of this case is dedicated to decorative objects and the rest features mezuzot, Kiddush cups, candlesticks and challah plates. Most of Boyes’ work has an organic, modern appeal. Made of a combination of pewter, aluminum and stainless steel, these objets d’art don’t tarnish and stay looking silver and shiny.
On the other side of the store stands a cabinet full of Judaica from a variety of artists. Zaidel explained that most of the work comes from American designers like Michael Aram and Mary Jurek. She has one Israeli line and is actively looking to expand the number of Israeli-designed and -made items. She also hopes to increase her selection of matzah and challah covers.
There is an entire shelf with mezuzot, making it possible for most anyone to find their match. They also have many candlesticks and chanukiyot, matzah and challah plates, and decorative dishes for apples and honey. As Pesach approaches, new items like seder plates will be prominently featured in this area of the store.
While Judaica is not Olive+Wild’s core business – they also sell textiles, home décor, fragrances, dishware for entertaining and artisanal foods – both Zaidels have been pleased with the enthusiastic response they have received from customers.
“It’s interesting to see the number of younger people in the neighbourhood who walk in and don’t know there is Judaica in the store and end up buying things for their homes,” said Zaidel. “There are certain things every Jewish person should have and our pieces are heirloom quality, so they will last a lifetime.”
When asked why she decided to carry Judaica, she replied, “Not many places in Vancouver carry it, you had to search high and low. We love the young, modern Judaica and decided to carry it. It’s been very successful.”
Although she assumes most of the people buying ritual Jewish objects are Jewish, she knows some of them are not.
“We had a non-Jewish lady come and buy all of our hand-dipped Israeli Chanukah candles,” she said. “I think she was giving them to her child’s friends at the JCC daycare.”
The packages of Israeli hand-dipped Shabbat candles caught my eye and I couldn’t resist buying them, as they are a perfect hostess gift.
Zaidel wants people to know that there is a place in Vancouver to buy meaningful gifts for weddings and b’nai mitzvahs. Buying online may seem appealing, but seeing an item in person and having excellent service makes a big difference, especially if it’s for an important occasion. In addition, Olive+Wild has a great return policy.
“We will give a full refund with receipt up to two weeks after the purchase,” said Zaidel. “In retail, everyone expects lots of returns after the big number of gifts sold in December. Even though we tell our customers about our return policy, we didn’t get one return in January! We have this policy because we want people to be happy.”
In addition to the Judaica, Olive+Wild carries some Israeli art and jewelry.
“We like to support Israeli artists, as well as local artists,” noted Zaidel. “I tell people we carry eclectic ‘must-haves’ for the home.”
For more information about their collection, visit oliveandwild.com.
Michelle Dodek is a freelance writer living in Vancouver.
Queen Esther in Vancouver
Goldie Kassen at Louis Brier Home and Hospital’s Purim party last year. (photo from Barbara Taranto)
There are not many news stories in print or online that laud the everyday work of women. Occasionally, studies are published regarding the status of women’s salaries relative to men’s, the position of women’s roles relative to men’s, the division of labour in the household, etc., but very little is published about the everyday life and sacrifices of women. When stories are published, they are most often about how women have contributed, as a female actor in a traditional male role, to the social and economic welfare of the greater community.
I do not have many “heroes.” I never quite got the appeal of adoring a public figure or wanting to model myself after a stranger regardless of his or her qualities. One person I do admire, however, is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg – obviously for her remarkable contribution to the U.S. Supreme Court, her leadership and her example to American women – but more for the non-public and under-appreciated value she has added as a mother and a grandmother.
Bader Ginsberg is very much like Queen Esther of Purim – a woman with a private life who serves the greater good in the public sphere. There were not, and are not, many opportunities to have a life like hers. But, ordinary women, women not in the spotlight, have been serving the greater good throughout human history – volunteering in the community, giving time, food, sustenance and support to help their communities not only survive, but thrive.
When I grew up, I often came home from school and stopped at the Jewish community centre to see my mother – Goldie Kassen – who was working in the kitchen with the other women of Hadassah, an organization’s whose name is Queen Esther’s Hebrew name. The women of Hadassah were very active in Saskatoon. There wasn’t a week that went by that they weren’t involved in some sort of social action or charity event. And, on the days they were not busy with Hadassah, they were involved in the sisterhood at Congregation Agudas Israel, performing vital ritual tasks for the mikvah, the chevra kadisha or distributing mishloach manot (loosely translated as gift baskets) on Purim.
This culture of volunteerism that was widespread and common in my youth seems to have disappeared. Many smaller Jewish communities do not have the congregation or the means to support these activities and many services have been taken over by professionals. Frankly, many women understandably do not want to volunteer for no pay.
When my father, z”l, died, my mother left Saskatoon and moved to Vancouver. She immediately volunteered for a seniors group, Hadassah and the sisterhood at Temple Sholom. She became an active member of her new community by giving first and receiving warmth and welcome in return.
For the past 28 years, my mother has volunteered at the Louis Brier Home and Hospital. She started out as a salesperson, one day a week, in the gift shop. Over the years, she took on more and more responsibility. Today, she manages the staff and the staff schedule. She does the buying for the shop, she does the books for the shop and she does special requests for those who have no family or aid. She works four days a week, every week.
The proceeds from the shop have been used to purchase diagnostic medical equipment, hospital beds, a barbeque for the residents and much, much more. She greets all the customers in a quiet and gentle way, and I know she is loved for her patience and her concern.
On the Louis Brier’s website, there is a very brief paragraph about the shop. No mention is made of the women who work there, not that they expect it, but it would be nice. I know that the shop is an integral part of the life of the residents and the staff at the home. I know that there are not many women left like my mother.
So, when my mom called and told me she was going to the Purim party last year as Queen Esther, I was especially proud. She was worrying over what dress to wear. In the end, she chose the evening gown my father bought her in Jerusalem in 1962. It was a beautiful dress then and it is a beautiful dress now. More importantly, the woman wearing the dress is beautiful – as beautiful as Queen Esther and as important as all those women who have kept the traditions alive and without whom we would be impoverished.
Barbara Taranto lives in Tel Aviv. A version of this article was published last year on her blog, btarantoaretz.com.
Korts fund education
Sol and Shirley Kort (photo from Alisa Kort)
Catherine Stoller, president of the Vancouver section of the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, announces the Shirley and Sol Kort Family Award to HIPPY, which will enable HIPPY home visitors to pursue higher education in an accredited program. The award, $5,000 annually for five years, will be divided between two qualified applicants, to be adjudicated by the HIPPY board of directors.
The HIPPY program, originating in Israel and now operating in many countries around the world, is dedicated to ensuring that immigrant and refugee women can achieve the training and education they need to support their families and create a better future. The Kort family thus continues the dedicated and creative work of Shirley Kort, who was a longtime member of NCJW, and one of the key supporters of establishing HIPPY here in Canada.
Both Shirley and Sol Kort were community activists, focusing largely on the immigrant community. They were equally committed to the role of education as the key to better lives for everyone.
NCJW of Canada will be celebrating its 120th birthday this year – the Vancouver section has a history of 96 years! NCJW’s commitment to education, service and social action is demonstrated locally, nationally and internationally. Its members have worked with immigrant and refugee agencies for decades and NCJW is proud to celebrate the Kort family’s dedication to these issues.
IDF orphans tree plant
Orphans from the IDF Widows and Orphans organization plant olive trees in the Givat Koah forest along with Tami Shelach, IDFWO chair, herself an IDF widow. (photo from IMP Group Ltd.)
Eleven-year-old Maya Keidar lost her father, Lt.-Col. Dolev Keidar, in Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in 2014. But, on Tu b’Shevat this year, she was smiling as she helped plant some olive trees with other orphans in the Givat Koah forest near Rosh HaAyin in Israel – a site where many trees had been devastated by the recent forest fires. The initiative was organized by the Israel Defence Forces Widows and Orphans organization.
“It’s fun to spend time outdoors, with nature, and even more fun to do it with the friends from IDFWO,” said Maya.
Eliyah Asulin, 10, and her sister Ophir, 14, were part of the group. The Asulin sisters’ father, policeman Sgt. Maj. Shlomi Asulin, was stabbed and killed in 2011 when chasing after car thieves in 2011. Also participating were Jonathan Zilbershlag, 7, and his older brother Ido, 11, who were digging hard to break ground with a spade. Helping them was 8-year-old Yaron Berkovic. While they worked, the children tried to protect as much of the native Israeli flowers that had grown within the past week among the trees in the forest.
“These children’s fathers implanted the values of sacrifice and love of Israel in all of us,” said Tami Shelach, chair of IDFWO, herself an IDF widow. “Now, we must take the values they’ve modeled and continue maintaining them. It’s our fervent hope and wish that these orphans will, indeed, see new beginnings sprout from the darkness.”
The olive tree was chosen as a symbol of peace and hope. And, added 11-year-old Michael Zacharia – whose father, Sgt. Maj. Gil Zacharia, collapsed while his reserve unit was training in 2015 – “It’s a tree with strong roots, so it’ll live for a long time.”
IDFWO is the only nonprofit organization recognized by the State of Israel to work with widows and orphans of the IDF and Israel’s security forces. They care for approximately 8,000 widows and orphans every year through recreational events, programming, retreats, b’nai mitzvah trips, etc. For more information, visit idfwo.org/eng.
Making Israeli cities bloom
Planting trees as a community project in Jerusalem. (photo by Ariella Tzuvical)
Are Israeli city-dwellers still attached to the land? The answer is yes, but the connection to the land plays itself out in a surprising way.
By and large, today’s Israelis are an apartment-bound lot, but many dream of having a house with a garden. Those who are lucky enough to have a small garden – or an apartment with a patio – plant flowers and even grow fruit. Depending on the season, many Israelis grow grapes, oranges, tangerines, pears, grapefruits, lemons, kumquats, olives and pomegranates. Interestingly, some of these items have been grown in Israel since ancient times: “a land of wheat and barley, and grapevines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey … you shall eat and be satisfied.” (Deuteronomy 8:7-10)
Community gardening is a budding and not insignificant phenomenon taking root in Israeli cities. In Jerusalem alone, there are 70 community gardens. Municipalities, community centres, local branches of national nature preservation organizations (like Hachevra L’haganat Hateva), pro-environment charitable bodies (like Keren Sheli) and the Ministry of Environmental Protection are teaming up to help urban residents create these gardens. They are assisting interested apartment dwellers by providing seed money, land or know-how to get projects off the ground and onto porches, patios and even rooftops.
Why do urban Israelis grow fruits and vegetables? One young mother from Tel Aviv commented in a Yediot Ahronot article that she wants her children to understand that produce does not come from the supermarket.
Of course, most people want to use their homegrown fruits and vegetables in their regular cooking and preserving. But some grow fruit, such as the pomegranate, for special holiday consumption. For these gardeners, the following Rosh Hashanah blessing takes on added significance: “May the desire of our G-d and the G-d of our Fathers be to increase our merit like the [seeds of the] pomegranate.”
The Jerusalem-based Melamed family says it gardens for exercise, art and culture. They maintain that gardens produce cultured people. Another Jerusalemite looks at her blossoming pear tree and says that keeping a garden enriches a person’s life.
Although Israel, like most other Western countries, has largely switched from being an agrarian society to a technological society, places like the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens believe that gardening has a place. With that in mind, the facility has hired staff to make urban gardening more relevant to those living in Jerusalem.
As well, many Israelis seem to maintain the notion that G-d provides the ingredients for surviving off the land. Thus, when Jews celebrate the rebirth (or reproduction) of the Jewish year, they read: “See, I give you every herb, seed and green thing to you for food.” (Genesis 1:28-30) The annual Torah reading about producing in order to have food has helped fix the idea in the Jewish psyche.
Dr. Rabbi Dalia Marx wrote in A Torah-Prescribed Liturgy: The Declaration of the First Fruits: “The declaration of the first fruits is a bold text.” In Deuteronomy 26, Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, “calling upon the Israelites wandering in the wilderness with no permanent ties to the earth to imagine themselves as farmers securely living in their own land. But simultaneously, the text demands of farmers living in their own land that they remember their days as wanderers in the wilderness – and necessarily … ponder the fragility of their own lives.”
When bringing the first fruits of the land to the Temple, the farmer thanks G-d for the bounty in a manner providing for “the entire recapitulation of national history.” In essence, “the farmer teaches himself that the final chapter in the national story is unfolding in real time.”
It should not come as a surprise that Israelis still seriously celebrate the agricultural component of their Jewish pilgrimage holidays. At Sukkot, Israelis everywhere erect sukkot, or booths, just as growers did in their fields thousands of years ago. And, of course, during Sukkot, observant Jews around the world purchase and bless the following combination of plants and fruit: the etrog (citron), lulav (palm), hadas (myrtle) and aravah (willow). These are known as the arbah minim, the four species.
The Passover seder plate contains greens that remind Jews that spring has arrived in Israel, while Shavuot commemorates the harvest that began around Pesach time and ended seven weeks later. For many years, this agricultural holiday had special meaning for those living in Israel, as the early settlers lived off farming. Today, Israel holds a variety of festivals showing off the bikurim, or first produce of the season. These holiday celebrations focus on the production of dairy products and honey.
In early winter, Jews throughout the world celebrate Chanukah by eating foods prepared in oil. Some food researchers maintain this may be related to the fact that Chanukah coincides with the end of the olive harvest. In late winter – except during the Shmitah year, when Jewish law dictates that the land be given a chance to rest – Israeli schoolchildren are out in force planting new trees on Tu b’Shevat, the birthday of the trees, which is increasingly celebrated with a special seder.
Avi Eshkoli, a veteran Jerusalem-area gardener, reported that he had seen more people trying to observe the Shmitah than he had ever witnessed before. He noted that the practice covers the gamut of Israeli religiosity and spirituality.
Part of what continues to tie Israelis to gardening is deeply implanted in Jewish tradition. There is no escaping the fact that Jewish holidays are connected to natural events. Every Jewish holiday begins with a blessing over the wine, the fruit of the vine, and special holiday texts such as Shir HaShirim (the Song of Songs), which is read on Pesach, and Megillat Ruth (the Book of Ruth), which is read on Shavuot, are ripe with references to gardens and fields.
The blessing over the wine is even part of the Jewish wedding ceremony. And, moreover, before the Sabbath eve meal, Jews recite the Kiddush that recalls G-d’s creation. Thus, at least once a week, many Jews are reminded of the process of birth, growth and production in the natural world.
Dr. Rabbi Marx points out that the “new” liturgy for Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, incorporates the concept of first fruits, reflecting “that we are home now, but acknowledg[ing] both the process leading to this moment and the fact that the dwelling in the land of Israel is not obvious or guaranteed.”
For Israelis then – and perhaps for many Jews in the Diaspora – urban gardening is not just about growing plants, but about growing spiritually as a people.
Deborah Rubin Fields is an Israel-based features writer. She is also the author of Take a Peek Inside: A Child’s Guide to Radiology Exams, published in English, Hebrew and Arabic.
High-tech, fashionable art
Fashion designer Noa Raviv (photo by Ryan Duffin)
Avant-garde fashion designer Noa Raviv says her award-winning fashions were triggered by her interest in the power of mistakes.
Born in Tel Aviv in 1987, Raviv is currently developing her couture brand in New York City, after achieving global industry recognition for her Hard Copy garments combining hand-sewn, 3D-printed polymer synthetic tulle with laser-cut appliqués.
“Hard Copy was a really long process that came out of my thinking about the concept of originals and copies in our era,” she told Israel21c. “When I started working with 3D software and printing, I was intrigued by the mistakes I made. If you input a command that can’t be executed, you get unexpected results. It was kind of magical to me. I was fascinated by mistakes created by a perfect machine and started exploring how it could be my answer to designing something original – because a mistake is something you can’t replicate.”
Hard Copy features ribbed polymer shapes printed out on a Stratasys Objet Connex multi-material machine and stitched to voluminous pleated tulle, silk and organza.
Named Fashion Designer of the Year 2014 at the 3D Printshow in London, Raviv has exhibited in Carrousel du Louvre, Paris; Old Billingsgate, London; New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, among other venues.
In November 2015, Raviv gave a keynote talk on The Power of Mistakes, at Futurescan 3, a conference organized by FTC (Association of Degree Courses in Fashion and Textile) at Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. She spoke on the same topic at the Museum of Design in Atlanta, Ga.
Raviv was one of four innovative Israeli women honoured at the 10th annual Israel Day at the New York Stock Exchange, Nov. 10, 2016.
Raviv, who appeared on Forbes Israel’s 2016 “30 Under 30” list, said she is “fascinated by the tension between harmony and chaos, tradition and innovation,” and wants to continue experimenting with technology.
Her current collection, Off-Line, was released in spring/summer 2016.
Though it’s not 3D-printed, Off-Line combines elements of complex handwork and machine work, beginning with graphic design software and topped off with Swarovski crystals.
Raviv’s collaboration with Swarovski involves sending design files to Austria, where the company custom-makes molds from which millions of tiny crystals are applied onto a flexible transparent material and sent back to New York for finishing.
“Once every crystal is in the right place, they’re applied by heat to organza,” said Raviv, acknowledging that the more complicated pieces take a few weeks to complete.
“Hard Copy explored computers and digital errors. Off-Line explores the more intimate side of the creation process,” she said.
Most of the pieces in Off-Line are ready to wear and others can be made to order. Prices start at $1,800 US.
“My collections are not meant for the masses,” she admitted. “I’m still establishing my clientele – women who appreciate art, fashion and quality and care a lot about uniqueness.”
Neither is 3D fashion for the masses. In fact, Raviv doesn’t believe it will be available on the retail level anytime soon.
“Maybe in the very far future,” she said. “Fashion is far too complex to make in one machine, technique or material. There are so many nuances and the technology isn’t there yet to create what people want to wear. For now, it’s a romantic idea.”
A 3D dress made by another Israeli designer, Danit Peleg, was worn in a dance performance by U.S. snowboarder Amy Purdy at the opening ceremony of the recent Paralympics in Rio.
An intuitive choice
Always captivated by art and fashion, Raviv wavered between art school and fashion school after two years of army service and another 12-plus months pursuing other interests, including learning to speak Spanish – a very practical skill, as she is married to an Argentine-born startup entrepreneur.
“At the last minute, I intuitively went for fashion,” she said.
Raviv graduated in 2014 from Israel’s Shenkar College of Engineering and Design. Hard Copy was her senior project. Her designs also were included in 2013’s Here Comes the Bride exhibition, which opened at Beit Hatfutsot-Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv and traveled to other countries.
Raviv moved to the New York City borough of Queens a little more than a year ago and is getting used to the more formal work culture in the United States.
“Israel is very small and the fashion scene is small, and it’s hard to manufacture in Israel,” she explained. “It’s important for me to be very close to the development and production of my designs.”
For more information, visit noaraviv.com.
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