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“Moses” does standup at JFL

“Moses” does standup at JFL

Samson Koletkar, dubbed the “world’s only Indian Jewish standup comedian, performs Feb. 15 as part of Just for Laughs Vancouver. (photo from Just for Laughs Vancouver)

This year’s Just for Laughs Vancouver features several members of the Jewish community, including Samson Koletkar, aka Mahatma Moses. He comes as part of Desi Comedy Fest – On Tour, which takes place at the Biltmore Cabaret Feb. 20, 9 p.m.

Koletkar is a co-founder of the Desi Comedy Fest with fellow San Francisco Bay Area comedian Abhay Nadkarni, who also hails from India. The biggest South Asian comedy festival in the United States, it is described as “celebrat[ing] subcontinental diversity with punchlines that transcend boundaries.”

Desi Comedy Fest isn’t Koletkar’s only entrepreneurial venture. He has a background in technology and also started Comedy Oakland, which “features funny, diverse, industry pros alongside up-and-coming comedians at various venues across Oakland,” according to its website.

Koletkar, who claims to be the “world’s only Indian Jewish standup comedian,” spoke with the Jewish Independent earlier this week.

JI: How does one go from being a techie to a standup comedian? Are there overlaps in skill sets? Do you still work in both areas or are your entrepreneurial endeavours your focus?

SK: I have tried a few things in my life, and standup started the same way. It seemed like a fun thing to do, I gave it a try and, the first time I was on stage, I was hooked. There is definitely an overlap from my tech life into standup – bulletproof logic in my jokes. If I am making a point, and I like to make many, there is no room for bugs, the jokes have to be tested thoroughly and any gaps in logic have to be fixed.

Standup has also helped make my day job easier with the ability to inject humour during tough situations. One of my ex-bosses actually made me realize the value of my standup comedy at work – he used to invite me to the tough customer meetings because invariably I would make the room laugh and the meetings got much easier after that.

JI: What were you like growing up – have you always seen the world with a humourous eye?

SK: I think so. I have always had this urge to crack a joke. There were a lot of inappropriate ones at inappropriate times, but isn’t that how we all learn, by making mistakes? Now, every time I meet parents who think their kids are funny, the one thing I advise them is to accommodate their kids’ misspeaks, and keep that funny bone intact. More often than not, the only mistake we as comedians make is saying out loud what everyone is thinking but politely holding back.

JI: When did you move from Mumbai to the San Francisco Bay Area?

SK: I took the first opportunity I got to move as far away from my parents as I could and, at the age of 24, I moved to the Silicon Valley in October 2000. I felt like the needle that burst the Y2K bubble.

JI: When did you first perform standup?

SK: Late 2005, but then jumped all in in January 2006.

JI: What led you to start Comedy Oakland?

SK: Standup is the one art form you can’t practise in your garage. You need a live audience. After grinding through three years of empty open mics and sub-par independent shows, I decided I could either sit and complain about how poorly some shows were produced, or try to do it myself. That led to Comedy Oakland, in May 2009, starting with one show on Friday nights. My goal was to create a space where comedians needed to only bring good jokes and audience experience was optimized for the art.

Just before the pandemic, I used to run 250+ shows (five shows a week), featuring 400+ comics entertaining 12,000-13,000 [person] audiences every year. In 2024, 15 years running, I am back to five shows a week at three venues in Oakland. These venues are 40 to 90 seaters.

JI: When you envisioned the Desi Comedy Fest, did you think it would become as huge as it is?

SK: I don’t think it is huge enough yet. Yes, the fest has grown from its early days, but we have a long way to go, and partnering with JFL is a big step in that journey. What I knew was that it was going to be fun, and it continues to be one of the most fun shows every year in my calendar.

JI: In what ways have you experienced racism and antisemitism, how do you handle such incidents and how do they impact you?

SK: Those stories are more fun to hear in my standup than they are to read, although they only form a small part of my routine because racism and antisemitism are a small part of my life. The world has a lot more good than bad in it and I don’t let the bad overshadow the good. An optimistic comedian – go figure! But, yes, they do impact me, not only when it happens to me but when I see it happen to others. So, some of my content is driven out of that and I tend to focus on the logical hypocrisy/fallacy of it.

JI: You’ve had much success. What are one or two things that you’d still like to achieve or do professionally?

SK: When my joke offends someone in America, it’s “Go back to where you came from.” When my joke offends someone in India, it’s “Go to Pakistan.” I want to tell an offensive joke in every single country in the world, just to see where they send me next, sort of like The Offensive Joke World Comedy Tour!

JI: If there is anything else you’d like to add, please do.

SK: Come watch a show, nothing gives me more happiness than seeing you laugh!

***

Desi Comedy Fest – On Tour also features Alisha Dillon, Amar Singh and UK Shah. For the full Just for Laughs Vancouver line-up and tickets, visit jflvancouver.com. 

Format ImagePosted on February 9, 2024February 8, 2024Author Cynthia RamsayCategories Performing ArtsTags comedy, Desi Comedy Fest, Just for Laughs, Mahatma Moses, Samson Koletkar, standup
Lanyi’s live Canadian debut

Lanyi’s live Canadian debut

The Vancouver Recital Society hosts London, England-based pianist Ariel Lanyi on March 3. (photo © Kaupo Kikkas)

“Art is there to remind us that there is something bigger and greater than the present moment, something that will remain long after we are gone, which is worthy of our devotion and commitment,” pianist Ariel Lanyi told the Independent in a recent interview. Lanyi will perform an afternoon concert at Vancouver Playhouse March 3.

Hosted by the Vancouver Recital Society, Lanyi will play works by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) and Max Reger (1883-1916). In a Facebook post, the London, England-based pianist noted his pleasure at working on Reger’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Bach, calling it an “underrated masterpiece of the late-Romantic era” that he couldn’t wait to bring to the stage in 2024.

“Max Reger had a problem: writing fugues was too easy for him. He could jot down fugues with the same ease that Picasso could scribble drawings. Hence, his music sometimes falls into a trap of gratuitous polyphony. However, when he put his heart and soul into a work, as he did with the Bach Variations (which he considered to be his finest work), the result is worthwhile,” Lanyi explained to the Independent. “We hear a multitude of styles in this work – at times, we hear the world of Brahms and his traditional harmonic language; at times, we enter the post-Wagnerian sphere, and we even get a glimpse of more decadent music that was yet to be written. Still, it hangs together organically, and comes to a rousing ending, as all threads convene and the piano truly emulates the sound of the organ. 

“The reason this work is underrated and underplayed is quite obvious,” he added. “People tend to avoid Reger, and it takes a Herculean effort to learn this work. However, I earnestly believe that it is a masterpiece of piano literature.”

Last spring, Lanyi was awarded the Prix Serdang, which is given to young pianists at the beginning of their careers who excel in musicianship and artistic vision. The head of the selection panel, Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder, said of Lanyi: “His playing is precise, nuanced and virtuosic, but he is no superficial virtuoso. What sets him apart is his ability to delve deeply into the music and to establish a connection with it. He doesn’t simply play the notes, he lives the music, seeks to capture its essence, and reflects it with extraordinary intensity, sensibility and expressive maturity.”

If one reads Lanyi’s posts and blogs, one gets a hint of the research that he puts into his performances, which have garnered critical acclaim. In addition to the Prix Serdang, Lanyi won third prize at the 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition. Also in 2021, he was a prize winner in the inaugural Young Classical Artists Trust (London, England) and Concert Artists Guild (New York) International Auditions, as well as being a finalist in the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition. Other honours for the 26-year-old pianist include first prize at the 2018 Grand Prix Animato Competition in Paris and first prize in the 2017 Dudley International Piano Competition in the United Kingdom.

Born in Jerusalem, Lanyi studied piano at the Conservatory of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and moved to London in 2015 to study at the Royal Academy of Music. He remained in the city after graduating in 2021. Last month, he was among those selected by the Royal Academy for a 2023-2024 associate honour, which will be conferred in April: the award recognizes former students who have made “significant contributions to the musical landscape.”

Lanyi has performed around the world, both as a soloist on his own and with orchestras, and as a chamber musician. When he plays concertos or chamber music, he said of his preparation, “I always make sure to study the full score, in order to grasp the music from all points of view, not just through the prism of my individual part. When playing alone, obviously, this doesn’t apply.”

Among the highlights listed on Lanyi’s website for this season is the VRS concert next month. In 2021, during COVID, the recital society shared Lanyi’s Virtually VRS recorded performance on its YouTube channel. The March concert will be his live debut in Canada. In addition to the Reger composition, it will feature Beethhoven’s Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109; Chopin’s Mazurkas, Op. 59; and Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61.

“Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 109 is a work that has been in my repertoire for quite awhile,” Lanyi told the Independent. “It was the first of the late Beethoven sonatas I worked on as a teenager, so coming back to it now feels enormously gratifying, as my idea of it has evolved in the years since. (It is also, if I remember correctly, the first work for piano to have ever moved me to tears.) The first two movements are concise and contrasting – from the relative serenity of the first movement to the fearful obsessiveness of the second. The third movement begins and ends with a hymn of gratitude and, in between, we are taken on a comprehensive journey through six distinct variations, each inhabiting its own world, deviating from the theme in the most fascinating ways while retaining the same epicentral connection to it.

“The two Chopin works in this program – the Op. 59 Mazurkas and the Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61 – both stem from the composer’s late period, which is characterized by harmonic and structural exploration we seldom find in his earlier works. The mazurkas are elegant and poignant at the same time – in the midst of mellifluous music, Chopin finds ways to express intense distress with bold, dissonant harmonies, often left exposed. The Polonaise-Fantaisie is among his most symphonic works, I find. He never wrote any symphonies and, in my view, some of the late works make up for that by using the piano orchestrally. In the slow middle section of the Polonaise-Fantaisie, we almost hear a foretelling of Bruckner in the long, interwoven lines, which lead to the most unexpected places.”

Lanyi said he doesn’t have any specific formula for choosing performance repertoire.

“Usually, I have an idea of one or two central works I want to include in a program, and look for works which will complement them in a balanced way,” he said. “In the case of this program, the Reger has been on my mind for many years, so I was looking to combine it with works which aren’t as heavy.”

Lanyi’s March 3 performance takes place at 3 p.m. and is followed by a talkback. For tickets, visit vanrecital.com/concert/ariel-lanyi-2. 

Format ImagePosted on February 9, 2024February 8, 2024Author Cynthia RamsayCategories MusicTags Ariel Lanyi, Beethoven, Chopin, piano, Reger, Vancouver Recital Society, VRS
Show Your Heart

Show Your Heart

Natalie Portman, Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen (photos from Variety)

On Feb. 25, 1-5:30 p.m., the 58th annual Variety Show of Hearts Telethon will be broadcast on Global BC. The fundraising event will feature celebrity guests, including appearances by Natalie Portman, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen and others, as well as musical performances by renowned artists. Viewers will hear directly from the children and families that have been supported by Variety and the impacts the organization has had on their lives.

“Variety is committed to stepping in for families who need urgent support and specialized care when there is nowhere else to turn,” said Andrea Tang, chief executive officer of Variety BC. “The essential programs, services and resources made possible by our generous donors not only transform daily realities for children – they change the trajectory of their future and positively affect entire communities across the province.”

Every donation made during the Variety Show of Hearts campaign will be matched, allowing donors to make twice the impact in a child’s life. Donors who join Variety’s monthly giving program or make a one-time donation of $169 or more will receive a limited-edition poster of Robert Bateman’s “Northern Reflections – Loon Family.” This artwork was commissioned in 1981 by the Government of Canada as a gift for HRH the Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) on his wedding.

To donate, visit variety.bc.ca or call 310-KIDS (5437) toll-free. To make an automatic $25 donation, text the word KIDS to 45678.

A full list of Variety Show of Hearts guests and performers can be found online at variety.bc.ca.

– Courtesy Variety

Format ImagePosted on February 9, 2024February 8, 2024Author VarietyCategories LocalTags children, Evan Goldberg, fundraiser, healthcare, Natalie Portman, Seth Rogen, Show of Hearts, telethon
A way to support Israel

A way to support Israel

Raquel Benzacar Savatti, chief executive officer of Israel Bonds Canada. (photo from Israel Bonds Canada)

The phones at Israel Bonds Canada have been ringing off the hook since Oct. 7, according to Raquel Benzacar Savatti, chief executive officer of the organization that sells bonds for the Israeli Ministry of Finance in this country.

Canada has always shined in terms of its large base of retail purchasers of Israel Bonds, Savatti told the Independent earlier this month. That base has grown substantially.

“Jews to Israel are like firefighters to a burning building. When that building is on fire, they run towards it. When Israel is in trouble, Jews in the diaspora run towards it,” Savatti said. 

Israel Bonds can be purchased online and Savatti noticed that many new accounts were opened in October.

“The volume was incredible – people I have not heard from in years, people I have never heard from before, young people. We always asked, how are we going to capture the next generation? This was it,” she said. “People understand it’s a very direct way to show their support of Israel.”

Savatti stressed that Israel Bonds is looking to engage as much as it can with the community in Vancouver and beyond. She praised the work of Ross Sadoff, executive director of the organization for British Columbia, noting that a lot of people in the province reinvested after their bonds reached maturity in recent months.

“We have to be together in our support of Israel and for each other. We have to have hope…. Israel has historically proven that after any conflict it has come out stronger and more innovative. I firmly believe we are going to see more of that when this is over,” she said. 

Savatti underscored that the war has caused economic devastation in Israel, yet the country still has to operate and, ultimately, rebuild. The majority of Israel’s budget comes from taxpayers and there are a lot of people not working right now. Concurrently, there are challenges with sustaining the farming sector, the shuttering of businesses, the need to house evacuees and missing tourism dollars as a result of the war.

More than $50 billion has been invested through Israel Bonds by people from all over the world since its inception in 1951, creating a direct connection with Israel for many in the diaspora. In 2023, Israel Bonds had set a global goal of $1.5 billion US – by the end of the year, the amount exceeded $2.7 billion US, the bulk of which arrived after Oct.7. In Canada, more than $130 million US was sold last year and the goal for 2024 is $120 million US, though needs could change.

“I am so proud of us as a country,” Savatti said. “We punch so high above our weight given the size of our Jewish community. Per capita, we do better than any other country.”

The bonds are loans to the state of Israel to be used as it sees fit. When a particular bond – there are several to choose from – reaches maturity, the loan is repaid with interest. In the 73-year history of Israel Bonds, the country has never defaulted on the payment of the principal or interest of its debt.

In February 2021, with Savatti as CEO, Israel Bonds (officially Canada-Israel Securities) became a registered broker-dealer.

“This decision to become regulated came under the behest of the government of Israel,” Savatti said. As such, anyone who sells Israel Bonds must take the Canadian Securities Course, which would allow them to serve in an advisory capacity regarding investments as well.

“Whatever investments are being made by the purchaser, we, as the bonds organization, want to make sure they are suitable,” Savatti said. “We are not advising on a full portfolio, only on how Israel Bonds could work in that portfolio.”

For example, a person can invest in a given Israel Bond as part of a Registered Retirement Savings Plan, a Registered Education Savings Plan, a Tax-Free Savings Account and even a First Home Savings Account, depending on the goals of their portfolio. A person can select a variety of bonds with different dates of maturity.

“They really suit everybody and still make very good bar and bat mitzvah gifts,” Savatti said.

Of the types of bonds on offer, there is, for example, the eMazel Savings Bond, which is only available online; it starts at $36, with a maturity of five years. The Jubilee and Maccabee Bonds last as long as 15 years, with a $25,000 Cdn and $5,000 Cdn minimum, respectively.

Savatti has been connected with Israel Bonds since 2001. Before becoming CEO in 2016, she was the director of women’s and synagogue positions, divisional director, human resources manager, and chief customer officer. She was also the executive director of Ezer Mizion, an Israel health support organization, in Canada for two years.

For more information, visit israelbonds.ca or call 1-866-543-3351. Questions can also be put to Sadoff in the BC office, at 604-266-7210 or ross.sadoff@israelbonds.ca. 

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

Format ImagePosted on February 9, 2024February 14, 2024Author Sam MargolisCategories NationalTags Diaspora, investing, Israel Bonds, Israel Bonds Canada, Israel-Hamas war, Oct. 7, Raquel Benzacar Savatti
Why pick segregated funds?

Why pick segregated funds?

Segregated fund products can offer greater peace of mind for those looking to participate in the market but wanting the reassurance of insurance guarantees to help them sleep better at night. (photo from pxhere.com)

Looking for an investment option that can help you sleep at night? Segregated fund products can guarantee you’ll get back some or all of the money you invest.

Segregated fund products, available exclusively through insurance companies, provide the growth potential of market-based investments with the benefits of an insurance contract. They first came into popularity more than 25 years ago, when interest rates began to fall and conservative investors turned to them as a secure alternative to guaranteed investment certificates (GICs). They continue to provide a safe way to grow your assets while providing you with some protection from market downturns.

Are segregated funds a good investment?

Ninety-eight percent of Canadians surveyed as part of the 2015 Retirement Now report said it’s important to have some form of guaranteed income in retirement. At the same time, Canadians are living longer than ever before and many are underestimating their longevity and are underfunding their retirement.

Segregated fund products can offer greater peace of mind for those looking to participate in the market but wanting the reassurance of insurance guarantees to help them sleep better at night. They’re particularly suitable for those who are:

• Seeking enough return on their investments to reach savings goals.

• Looking for a broad range of quality investment options.

• Building their savings but looking for protection against market downturns.

• Seeking insurance benefits, including prompt estate settlement and guarantees.

• Looking for guaranteed income for life.

Segregated funds vs alternative investments such as mutual funds

Segregated fund products have some similar features to mutual funds in that they can hold a range of assets and enable you to benefit from holding a diverse mix of investments. They differ in that they offer the following unique benefits:

• Maturity guarantee: Even if the value of your investment declines, you are still guaranteed to get back 75% to 100% of the money you have deposited, less any withdrawals, in either 15 years or at age 100, depending on the type of product you have selected.

• Death benefit guarantee: Segregated fund products offer a 75% or 100% death benefit guarantee that can protect the value of your estate. The greater of your market value or death benefit will bypass probate and flow directly to your beneficiaries, depending on the type of product you have selected.

• Potential creditor protection: Small business owners and entrepreneurs can benefit from the fact that, under provincial insurance legislation, segregated fund products may offer protection against creditors in the event of a bankruptcy.

Segregated fund products also provide a variety of investment options to meet the needs of people in specific life stages:

• Competitive fees: In the past, segregated funds have typically been more expensive than mutual funds. But some of today’s segregated funds come with lower maturity and death benefit guarantees and carry management fees not much higher than standard mutual funds.

• Lock in market gains: Some segregated fund products provide the option of resetting the maturity guarantee up to several times a year. If your funds go up in value, you can lock in a higher guarantee.

• Guaranteed income options: Looking to fund your retirement? Some segregated fund products are designed to function like an annuity and provide you with a guaranteed income for life.

• Naming beneficiaries on non-registered accounts so that it bypasses the estate and goes straight to the beneficiaries. This is a good tool for estate planning and to avoid any wills variation issues.

• Designate an irrevocable beneficiary who needs to sign off on any account withdrawals or changes. Owner retains control while providing a gift to children or grandchildren. 

Philip Levinson, CPA, CA, is an associate at ZLC Financial, a boutique financial services firm that has served the Vancouver community for more than 70 years. Each individual’s needs are unique and warrant a customized solution. Should you have any questions about the information in this article, visit zlc.net or call 604-688-7208.

Disclaimer: This information is not to be construed as investment, legal, taxation or account advice, nor as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. It is designed only to educate and inform you of strategies and products currently available. The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author alone and are not necessarily those of ZLC Financial. As each situation is different, please seek advice based on your specific circumstance.

Format ImagePosted on February 9, 2024February 8, 2024Author Philip LevinsonCategories LocalTags investing, segregated funds, ZLC
Rallies help keep hope alive

Rallies help keep hope alive

Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver chief executive officer Ezra Shanken addresses those who gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery Jan. 14. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Vancouverites gathered Jan. 14 to mark the 100th day since the Oct. 7 terror attacks and to demand the release of hostages. The weekly vigils – which have taken place since the day after the attacks with the exception only of two weeks during the December holidays – continue to gather hundreds, with police escorts accompanying marchers through downtown streets after speeches outside the Vancouver Art Gallery.

“This is the moment for leaders of the world to take a stand against terrorism, to call on Hamas to release the hostages,” said event organizer Daphna Kedem. “Where are you, world leaders? You stay silent while girls are held in tunnels and Hamas are abusing women of all ages. Where are you? [There are] 136 hostages: 17 women, two children, 15 men and women over the age of 65, 94 men and youngsters, eight foreigners. We will not rest until they are all back.”

Kathryn Zemliya spoke of the commitment she made to Israel when she became a Jew by choice 17 years ago.

“Israel is the Jewish homeland,” she said. “Israel is also the birthplace and source of our Jewish faith. Our religious holidays reflect all the seasonal changes in the state of Israel and we celebrate those throughout the year.”

Her commitment to Israel, she said, is also a very personal one. 

“Israel is one of a very few handful of Middle Eastern countries where people are not punished as criminals simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Zemliya. “For me, this is tremendously important. There are lots of places in the world where I could not travel with my family, where I could not travel with my wife, but I know that I would always be welcomed in Israel.”

She called for justice and defined what that justice would look like.

“Justice requires that we listen to and believe those who have given testimony of rape, brutality and torture that they have experienced or witnessed at the hands of terrorists,” she said. “Justice requires that we recognize and care for those who have been displaced from their homes due to conflict on all fronts in Israel because the war is not happening just in Gaza. Justice requires that we recognize and care for those who have lost family members, who have been traumatized and who, because of their life circumstances, are retraumatized daily by this terror. My hope is that we will see this justice soon and in our time, that is what we pray for.”

Rabbi Hannah Dresner, senior rabbi at Or Shalom Synagogue, and Rabbi Arik Labowitz, assistant rabbi, addressed the crowd.

“We are here to console one another through the power of gathering in such a difficult time,” said Dresner. She noted that the week’s Torah portion featured the demand by the Israelites to the tyrant of their time to let their people go. “We, likewise, are commanded by everything we know to be decent, to demand of the tyrant of our time, let our people go.”

Labowitz spoke of “waves of grief, fear and deep concern for the existential realities of our precious home in the land of Israel.”

“We are all heartbroken by the loss of life, the ever-deepening chasm and the generations of repair that will be required to heal from this moment in our shared history,” he said. “We know that the Jewish people have a heart that is bigger than any malicious attempts against us. The love and support that has come together to repair the fabric of Israeli society, of our local communities and of each of our hearts, is made up of the strength whose origin is in the plight of our ancestors to be free people in a land of our own, a land where our people were sovereign for centuries and a land that we returned to after 2,000 years of exile.”

photo - Rabbi Arik Labowitz, assistant rabbi of Or Shalom, standing next to his colleague, Rabbi Hannah Dresner, the congregation’s senior rabbi. The two spoke at the Jan. 14 rally marking 100 days since Oct. 7
Rabbi Arik Labowitz, assistant rabbi of Or Shalom, standing next to his colleague, Rabbi Hannah Dresner, the congregation’s senior rabbi. The two spoke at the Jan. 14 rally marking 100 days since Oct. 7. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Adi Keidar, who moved to Vancouver from Israel in 2000, shared the lesson she has learned since Oct. 7.

“Life, I used to think, matters to all,” she said. “But these past 100 days, I am sad to say, I’m wrong.”

Evil exists, she said, but must not be allowed to be the dominant voice. 

Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, acknowledging the day’s below-freezing temperatures, said of the hostages: “The least we can do is stand here in the cold if they live in the cold depths of the tunnels.

“Let them know that, even in the coldest days of the year, we will stand out here and we will stand with them because we know that they need it,” he said, urging attendees to “keep showing up.”

Kedem, who has organized the events week after week, read aloud the names of the 136 hostages.

107 days

A week later, the King David High School community was front and centre at the Jan. 21 rally. Students of the Jewish school sang and spoke at the gathering, which ended in a downpour of rain as the group marched through city streets.

“You’re a link in a chain that has been growing stronger for thousands of years,” event organizer Daphna Kedem told the students.

Erica Forman, a 2022 alumna of King David, and brother Max Forman, a Grade 12 student, spoke of the strength they gathered during this time of unprecedented antisemitism from their respective communities at the University of British Columbia Hillel and at King David.

Rutie Mizrahi, parent of a Grade 12 student, spoke of her uncle and aunt, Oded and Yocheved Lifshitz, who were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz Oct. 7. Yocheved, 85, was among the first hostages released, after 17 days in captivity, because her captors believed she was near death.

The captors underestimated her aunt, Mizrahi said, and she has survived, despite arriving back in Israel appearing to be about half the weight she was when kidnapped. Yocheved had been rolled in a carpet and driven away on a motorcycle, but not before she saw her 83-year-old husband being savagely beaten outside their home. She did not believe he could have survived, but another hostage, freed later, confirmed that Oded was alive in Gaza but, without his blood pressure medication, had repeatedly fainted and was then taken to a hospital. 

“The odds that we will see him back alive are close to zero,” Mizrahi said.

King David’s head of school Russ Klein said he is grateful his father, Emerich Klein, a Holocaust survivor who passed away earlier in 2023, is not witnessing the hatred in the world since Oct. 7.

“He instilled in us the need for Israel,” the principal said. “Only Jews, he said, would take care of Jews. I spent much of my time growing up not believing him. As I found with so many things as I got older, I learned my father was right.”

Klein called the school assembly on Oct. 10, when students and faculty gathered to mourn the Hamas murder of alumnus Ben Mizrachi, 22, and the other victims of the pogrom, the hardest moment of his career.

He urged people of all ages to inform themselves of facts to better engage in the discussion around events in Israel and Gaza, specifically directing attendees to resources released recently by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, an online toolkit called “The Power of One” and a messaging guide called “Real Peace Now.” Both are available at jewishvancouver.com. 

Format ImagePosted on January 26, 2024January 24, 2024Author Pat JohnsonCategories LocalTags antisemitism toolkit, Daphna Kedem, hostages, Israel-Hamas war, Jewish Federation, KDHS, King David High School, Oct. 7, rally, terrorism
Protests, picketing alarm Jews

Protests, picketing alarm Jews

Screenshot of Nelson City Council’s Oct. 22, 2023, meeting. Left to right, Topaz Zafrir, Yael Finer and Judy Banfield of the Kootenay Jewish Community Association present their concerns about the rise in anti-Israel and antisemitic events to the council.

Last October, as tensions in Canada were mounting over the Israel-Hamas war, three members of the Kootenay Jewish Community Association in Nelson paid a visit to the city council meeting to convey a request: that the council refrain from taking sides when it came to the emotionally charged protest rally that had taken place the day before. Nelson residents Judy Banfield, Yael Finer and Topaz Zafrir said they were also there to ask the police to continue its protection of Jewish community events, as it had in previous years. “We are very grateful for that,” Banfield said. “Right now, our community is frightened.” 

The week before the meeting, Hamas had called to its supporters for a “day of rage.” The response was swift in Nelson, a college town that has seen an escalation of pro-Palestinian sentiment and anti-Israel demonstrations in recent years. About a hundred people turned out to hear speakers who gave accounts of what they believed was happening in Gaza. According to Kootenay Jewish community leader Yael Finer, the presentations included assertions about Israel’s role in Gaza that had already been debunked. The purpose of the rally, she felt, was to incite antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment in the city. Finer, an Israeli-Canadian who moved to Nelson in 2016, told the council that one of the speakers also made a pitch on behalf of Hamas.

“A final speaker said, ‘Don’t hate Hamas. They’re our brothers, our sons, our fathers,’” Finer recounted.

“The event was supposed to be about peace and education,” she said. “I actually reached out to the organizer, asking to speak at the event as one of the Israeli or Jewish [residents].”

Finer told the council that she empathizes with the Palestinian people and shares concern over the current situation in Gaza. She had gone to the rally to learn. She said her request to speak at the event was denied. 

Finer added that one of the speakers was a city council member, “creating a perception of legitimacy” for the demonstration. The mayor later released a statement clarifying that only the mayor’s office represented the views of the city government, including at public events.

Not a new phenomenon

Banfield, who is a former Selkirk College instructor and has lived in Nelson since 1990, said antisemitism isn’t a new phenomenon in the city. She said the planned speech in 2013 of Greta Berlin, an accused antisemite, put the community on edge. Eventually, the Nelson library rescinded the offer for her to speak, but she was later offered a venue at the United Church. Although the gathering remained peaceful, Banfield said anti-Israel and antisemitic behaviour have only grown more evident.

“I have been in Nelson a long time and we’ve always been very open that we’re here and inviting,” she told the Jewish Independent about the local Jewish community. She said that, until recently, religious celebrations used to be open to the Nelson public. However, a couple of years ago, demonstrators picketed a Jewish holiday celebration.

“People were picketing us, basically as being Jews, being responsible for what is going on in the Middle East,” said Banfield. Since then, she said, the community has had to ask for police protection at religious and other community events and to conceal their locations from the public. “We do not feel safe gathering together in an announced venue,” she told the Nelson council.

Last November, demonstrators held another rally, this time calling on the city to formally advocate for a ceasefire. According to several attendees, there were also calls for boycotting local businesses that were assumed or known to do business in or with Israel.

Jeff Shecter, another long-time resident and one of the Jewish community’s first leaders, said even more people turned out for that rally. He said the protests and “river to the sea” chants have unnerved the Israeli members of the community.  “[They] were more shocked than the rest of us who were maybe used to it,” Shecter observed. While he said he is not afraid, “to have a demonstration supposedly in support of Palestine without anyone, not a single soul, denouncing what happened on Oct. 7 was a travesty.”

Zafrir, one Nelson’s most recent arrivals from Israel, told the council that the community isn’t trying to stifle anyone’s voice. “We’re not asking you to take sides,” she said. “The Palestinians and whoever supports them have the right to protest, as we have to do so, and still feel safe in our community. Any person in Nelson should feel safe, despite disagreement or place of origin.” 

On Dec. 5, acknowledging that it had received numerous calls for action, the city issued a formal letter “calling for peace in Gaza” and appealing for a “cessation of hostilities from all involved parties.” While the information shared among council members briefly mentioned the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the letter that was disseminated to the public did not. Nor did it mention the death toll from the terror attack or that more than 240 people had been abducted by Hamas and most were still missing.

Banfield said she is sympathetic of the pressure that the city council is under. “I mean, they did end up passing a resolution promoting a ceasefire. And I know there was a lot of discussion about it on council and they made it as lukewarm as possible,” she said. “And I guess at this point, the biggest thing for us is that they have given us protection.”

Asked whether she felt the city council understands the Jewish community’s concerns about safety at this time, Finer shook her head. “No,” she said, adding that she had hoped others would understand that anti-Israel protests and picketing of Jewish sites is alarming. “[Even] though there was no direct threat to the Jewish people in the town, it was implied. And that makes me feel terrified,” Finer told the council.

Still, Finer hasn’t given up hope that things could change in Nelson. As the new leader of the Kootenay Jewish Community Association, she’s already thinking about ways to bridge differences and enhance dialogue with those who don’t know, or don’t understand, Nelson’s small Jewish community. 

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

Format ImagePosted on January 26, 2024January 24, 2024Author Jan LeeCategories LocalTags anti-Israel, antisemitism, British Columbia, city council, Nelson, Oct. 7, protests
Help vs antisemitism

Help vs antisemitism

The Antisemitism and Israel Crisis Response Team’s hands-on guide can be found at jewishvancouver.com/toolkit.

Since Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver launched the Antisemitism and Israel Crisis Response Team (AICRT) in November 2023, the team has been dedicated to helping Jewish community members navigate the challenges of a post-Oct. 7 world.

Last week, AICRT – co-chaired by Rabbi Dan Moskovitz and Nico Slobinsky – launched a hands-on guide for community members. It covers everything from tips on engaging in social media, to reporting an antisemitic incident, to hosting neighbours at events so non-Jewish friends can connect with the Jews in their lives in positive ways.

On the day before Federation launched this guide, the Vancouver Police Department released a report that the Vancouver Jewish community experienced a 62% increase in police-reported antisemitic hate incidents in 2023 compared to 2022 – and 33 of 47 incidents occurred after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas. (See vpd.ca/news/2024/01/16/israel-hamas-war-fuels-increase-in-hate-crimes-protests-in-2023.)

Antisemitism is a real and present threat, and it’s a growing problem. That’s why Federation, the response team and the Jewish community are coming together to push back against it.

The toolkit is a guide to help people take meaningful actions – as well as advice on where to turn if you need help. All of it is based on two key factors – what the response team has heard from community members about what they need to navigate these dark times, and professional polling of the broader community.

The guide at jewishvancouver.com/toolkit is a living document and will be updated as the situation changes, and new resources are needed. Right now, the contents include:

• Information on well-being and mental health
• Key messages
• Engaging on social media
• How to be a grassroots organizer
• Dealing with antisemitism in K-12 schools
• University resources
• How to write a letter to the editor
• How to engage BC MLAs and MPs
• How to report an antisemitic incident
• How to have difficult conversations with family and friends

The toolkit is designed to help people stand up when needed, and to draw in those who are already inclined to support the community. Write to the Antisemitism and Israel Crisis Response Team at AICRT@jewishvancouver.com with any ideas or comments.

Antisemitism Legal Helpline

The Antisemitism Legal Helpline aims to connect those facing antisemitism with legal information and resources. It is being hosted through Access Pro Bono, a nonprofit providing referrals and legal assistance. Their newly hired coordinator, Dan Rothwell, is a Vancouver lawyer with experience in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. He is keen to connect with community partners to help make this project a valuable tool in the fight against antisemitism, and he can be reached by email: drothwell@accessprobono.ca.

The helpline can be reached at 778-800-8917. 

– Courtesy Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

Format ImagePosted on January 26, 2024January 24, 2024Author Jewish Federation of Greater VancouverCategories LocalTags AICRT, Antisemitism and Israel Crisis Response Team, antisemitism toolkit, Dan Moskovitz, Jewish Federation, Nico Slobinsky
Mission endorses Canada’s Antiracism Strategy

Mission endorses Canada’s Antiracism Strategy

Left to right: Michael Sachs, director of JNF Pacific Region, with Mission Mayor Paul Horn and city councilor Mark Davies, councilor Danny Plecas, Mission resident Eitan Israelov, councilor Angel Elias, councilor Carol Hamilton (back) and councilor Jag Gill. (photo from Michael Sachs)

At its Jan. 22 meeting, Mission city councilors voted on a motion moved by Mayor Paul Horn: “That the City of Mission Council endorses Canada’s Antiracism Strategy and refers the strategy to the newly formed Accessibility, Inclusion and Diversity Committee as a tool in their work.” The motion passed unanimously. Canada’s Antiracism Strategy uses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance “Working Definition of Antisemitism,” which defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” 

Format ImagePosted on January 26, 2024January 24, 2024Author The Editorial BoardCategories LocalTags antiracism, IHRA, International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, mission
What happens after the war?

What happens after the war?

Area of Gaza controlled by the Israeli Defence Forces on Jan. 11, 2024.

While the war in the Gaza Strip continues between Hamas guerillas and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in the labyrinth of tunnels burrowed beneath Khan Yunis and in the alleys of the devastated city (population 205,000), another battle is being fought across Israel over the postwar fate of the coastal enclave.

Ultra-nationalist members of Knesset Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the National Religious Party, and Itamar Ben Gvir, head of Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), recently called for Gaza’s 2.2 million residents to be voluntarily resettled elsewhere. Congo was cited as a destination for the exodus. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called the statements by Smotrich and Ben Gvir “inflammatory and irresponsible.”

Egypt is adamantly opposed to allowing the two million displaced Gazans to shelter in the Sinai Peninsula, lest Israel prevent the refugees from returning. Similarly, the Jewish state is no more likely to allow them to pass through its territory to fly out of Ben-Gurion Airport than it is to resettle those refugees who fled their nearby villages in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948.

photo - One controversial postwar scenario is for Israel to rebuild some of the post-1967 Gaza Strip settlements from which it unilaterally  withdrew in August 2005
One controversial postwar scenario is for Israel to rebuild some of the post-1967 Gaza Strip settlements from which it unilaterally  withdrew in August 2005. (photo by Gil Zohar)

Further limiting the options, Israel’s high-tech Erez Crossing at the north end of the Gaza Strip – similar in scale to a massive airport terminal – was destroyed during Hamas’s Oct. 7 rampage in which some 1,200 Israelis and other nationals living in cities and kibbutzim near the Gaza frontier were massacred and 240 kidnapped.

Concurrently, the black market is burgeoning for fixers with links to Egyptian intelligence; they are making a fortune in “fees” extorted from Gazans desperate to exit through the Rafah Crossing at Gaza’s south end. The bribe for being placed at the head of the legal exit list for passage across the Rafah border into Egypt and on to Cairo International Airport has now soared to $10,000.

In the face of the vast human suffering, staggering damage to infrastructure and environmental catastrophe caused by the conflict, which marked its 100th day on Jan. 14, another controversial postwar scenario is for Israel to rebuild some of the post-1967 Gaza Strip settlements from which it unilaterally withdrew in August 2005. The forcible evacuation of 8,600 Jewish residents from Gush Katif (the Harvest Bloc) – a cluster of 17 villages in the southern Gaza Strip – set the stage for Hamas’s 2007 coup d’état when it seized power from Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah in the West Bank.

On Dec. 22, 2023, a group of settlers held an organizational meeting at the agricultural village of Kfar Maimon near the Gaza Strip demarcation fence to launch their plan to create a beachfront community on the barren dunes at Gaza’s southern edge. The day was symbolic since Asarah b’Tevet (the 10th of the Hebrew month of Tevet) is a fast day in the Hebrew calendar, marking the date 26 centuries ago when Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon began his six-month siege of Jerusalem, which resulted in the destruction of Solomon’s Temple and the downfall of the Kingdom of Judah.

Though Gaza was allocated to the Tribe of Judah in the Hebrew Bible, the ancient Israelites never vanquished their Philistine nemesis who dwelt there and in the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gat and Ekron. Jewish and Samaritan communities intermittently flourished in the territory of Gaza over many centuries. Shaken by the riots of 1929, however, the Gazan Jewish community ended in 1948. In Gaza City’s historic Zaytoun quarter, the Ottoman-style Hammam al-Sammara (the Samaritan bathhouse) bears witness to the ancient Samaritan community that was exiled in 1917 by the Turkish army during the battles of the First World War.

The group of would-be settlers – who staged a car rally just outside Gaza on Jan. 11 – are encouraged by the report that Israel’s Knesset will be hosting a conference Jan. 28 on rebuilding settlements in Gaza after the war, and will offer precise maps and plans. The news site mako.co.il says that Knesset members and other public figures are expected to speak, and thousands of Israelis have already applied to join the settlement nuclei in Gaza.

The organizers of the event stated, “We are working both on the political level and on the practical side towards the moment when they can get on the ground. There is a great demand in the public that the victory of the war includes within it Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip.”

Meanwhile, senior ministers among Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s right-wing allies have criticized the IDF over its plans to probe Oct. 7 intelligence failures. And Israel’s future may be hurtling backward to the widespread protests over judicial reform that divided the country in the months that preceded Hamas’s devastating surprise attack. Such is public anger that calls for a spring election are becoming vociferous.

Were Netanyahu and Abbas to both step down, and Saudi Arabia and Israel to establish ties, a postwar scenario of regional integration – including high-speed trains whisking cargo from Haifa to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi – could emerge. The trauma of the Gaza War could give birth to Mideast peace.

More than 50,000 Israelis responded to the Ashkenazi and Sephardi chief rabbis’ call for a day of prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem to mark the new moon of Shevat.

In Judaism, the full moon of Shevat is celebrated as the New Year of the Trees. Besides the pink-white almond blossoms, which mark the beginning of spring, the blood-red anemones also carpet the fields of the western Negev by the Gaza Strip. Like the poppies in Flanders Fields, this year those wildflowers will symbolize the tragedy of war. 

Gil Zohar is a writer and tour guide in Jerusalem. A longer version of this article can be found at religionunplugged.com/gil-zohar.

Format ImagePosted on January 26, 2024January 24, 2024Author Gil ZoharCategories IsraelTags Gaza, Hamas-Israel war, postwar, settlements

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