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Vancouver Talmud Torah Capital Campaign Launching
Following a recent Jewish Federation board meeting at which Vancouver Talmud Torah (VTT) presented their capital campaign plans, I have been meeting actively with the school’s leadership to assist with their fundraising efforts. Working with our beneficiary agencies on major capital development efforts is one of the important, but often less visible aspects of Federation’s role in strengthening their capacity. VTT will be publicly launching their campaign this coming Wednesday evening. Already housing 502 students in an aging facility built to house 440, the school is in urgent need of renovation and expansion. To learn more about VTT’s plans and their community launch this Wednesday, click here.
High School Symposium on the Holocaust Reaches 800 Students
As part of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre's (VHEC) 37th Annual Symposium on the Holocaust, more than 800 students were privileged to hear from history Professor Chris Friedrichs, local survivor Robbie Waisman, and Eloge Butera, who survived the Rwandan genocide. Over the years that Robbie and Eloge have spoken together, they have forged an abiding friendship and have become allies determined to educate young people about the dangers of racism. Most students who participate in one of VHEC’s symposia count the day among the most memorable of their years in high school.
New Coalition Government in Israel
Prime Minister Netanyahu engineered a tremendously surprising manoeuver in Israeli politics this week, bringing the Kadima Party into his coalition government, and forestalling an early election in September. The agreement caught virtually everyone in Israel and out off guard. For Netanyahu, it creates the broadest coalition government in Israeli history, providing stability for the next year and a half until the next scheduled election. It also creates balance within his coalition government between variant political forces and, therefore, pushes his government to centrist positions. For some smaller parties who were at risk of losing ground in a September election, it forestalls that likelihood and puts (or keeps) them in government. But in a parliamentary system like Israel’s, it also creates an opposition that is so small and fragmented that it may not be able to serve as an effective check on the coalition in power. Any way you look at it, it demonstrates the ongoing trend towards greater and greater complexity in Middle East affairs.
Parashat Emor
In this week's parasha God provides Moses with a lengthy set of instructions on the observance of the major Jewish festivals: Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. In the midst of the description there is a reminder that "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger” (Leviticus 23:22).
We are being reminded in the midst of most important celebrations, some of which also coincide with harvest seasons, that we have responsibilities to care for the less fortunate. The Etz Chayim commentary notes that when we share with the poor, it is perhaps as if we were making a sacrifice to God. Indeed, in our time, when we no longer observe the sacrifices, acts of tzedakah, giving of ourselves to others, are among the most tangible ways we can demonstrate our faith.
Shabbat shalom!
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