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Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

Good morning.

Our Shabbat Message was not emailed on Friday afternoon due to technical issues with our system, so we’re sending it to you today. It was, however, posted on Social media on Friday afternoon, so if you aren’t already following us on Facebook and Twitter, today is a great day to start.

We hope you had a meaningful Tisha b’Av yesterday and we wish you a shavua tov.

July 20, 2018 | 8 Av 5778 | Candlelighting at 8:49 p.m.

This message has 895 words and will take about 4 minutes to read.

It continues to be a busy summer here at Jewish Federation, with lots of activity on every front - FEDtalks tickets went on sale yesterday and we had fantastic visits to two of the overnight summer camps we support. 

As you know, our Board chair, Karen James, participated in a meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau recently, and last Thursday were pleased to participate in another productive meeting, this time with Leader of the Opposition Andrew Scheer and leaders of Vancouver's Jewish community, including our advocacy partner, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), and the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC). We discussed a variety of domestic and foreign policy issues, and Mr. Scheer expressed his strong support for the ever growing Canada-Israel relationship, and for fighting hatred and anti-Semitism. It is wonderful to see the strong relationships CIJA, CJPAC and others are forging on behalf of our community with parties across the political spectrum and at every level of government, and summertime, when parliament is in recess, is a great opportunity to build on them.

Another great opportunity that only comes along in summertime is the chance to visit Jewish summer camps that we support through the Annual Campaign and the Jewish Community Foundation. Karen and I were delighted to visit Habonim Dror Camp Miriam, and Shelley Rivkin, our vice president, planning, allocations and community affairs, joined us for a great visit to Camp Hatikvah. A visit to Camp Solomon-Schechter is planned soon. We met with campers and counselors and got to hear directly from them about the incredible impact camp is having on them, and we met with staff about the successes and challenges they’re having. For many children and teens, camp is the first and sometimes the only immersive Jewish experience they have, which may be part of why it is so powerful.

For Karen, it was the first time she had ever visited a Jewish overnight camp, so it was an especially eye-opening experience for her. “What struck me the most were the personal stories of two young women we met. One had grown up in an interfaith family in Northern BC, and being introduced to Jewish summer camp as a teen opened up a whole new world for her and helped her understand and connect with the Jewish side of her heritage. The other young woman has been wrestling with her feelings about Israel, and camp has given her an important opportunity to learn and to explore what she has been feeling. She was quite clear that without this experience at camp she would likely have spent her summer supporting BDS groups on campus. To think that her camp experience was what made the difference will stay with me for a long time.”

Many of the Jewish benefits of camp were defined in the 2011 Camp Works study, which shows that adults who attended Jewish overnight camp as children are:

  • 21% more likely to feel being Jewish is very important;
  • 37% more likely to always/usually light Shabbat candles; and
  • 55% more likely to feel very emotionally connected to Israel.

We want every child to have the chance to attend camp, but as the cost of living continues to rise more and more families are making difficult choices about their Jewish community connections – camp being one of them. We are very proud to fund camperships through both the Federation Annual Campaign and the Jewish Community Foundation that help children have a summer camp experience at Camp Hatikvah, Habonim Dror-Camp Miriam, JCC Camp Shalom, Camp Solomon-Schechter, or new this year the Sephardic Adventure Camp. The camp experience was better for everyone because of all the campers who were able to participate because of our support and the support of our donors.

Our support goes beyond camperships, too. Our ShinShiniyot (volunteer teen emissaries from Israel) are once again attending Camp Hatikvah, and JCC Camp Shalom to help campers better understand what life is like in Israel. Camp Hatikvah has received a grant to fund nighttime security services this year, as they have in the past, and we continue to fund their “Camp Bubbe”, a registered psychologist who supports campers, counselors and staff.

One group that has taken supporting Jewish summer camp to heart is our young adult program, Axis. Four years ago they chose to direct the proceeds of their annual Axis Camp Classic softball tournament to our camperships program, and they are getting ready to play ball once again. If you’re in the 20s or 30s, register here either as an individual or as a team.

Next week we’ll dive into day camp and some of the great programs happening for kids and families in the regional communities this summer, including JCC Day Camp Shalom that will once again be operating at Burquest Jewish Community Centre in Coquitlam.

Until then, you may want to keep an eye on the news this weekend, as things in Israel seem to be heating up. An Israeli soldier was killed this afternoon by a Palestinian sniper in an incident the IDF is calling the most serious event in Gaza since Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

For those of you already following the news from Israel, you’ve probably heard about the controversial nation state bill that was passed this week, and we wanted to give you an opportunity to read it in its entirety.

Let’s hope that this Shabbat is a peaceful one here, in Israel, and around the world.

Shabbat shalom,

Ezra S. Shanken
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

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