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Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

August 31, 2018 | 20 Elul 5778 | Candlelighting at 7:38 p.m.

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The Federation Annual Campaign launches on Sunday, and our dedicated volunteer canvassers will begin phoning thousands of community members and helping them fulfil the mitzvah of tzedakah. Please be sure to answer the call. Every gift counts, and early gifts create the momentum we need to make this campaign a success for our community.

One of the aspects of Jewish community life we have focused on in our work has been to ensure that all community members are included, regardless of their physical or cognitive ability.

Last year, we launched new Inspiring Inclusion grants that supported several local organizations’ efforts to make their facilities or programming accessible to participants living with a disability. We also support Krembo Wings, a truly inspiring inclusive youth movement in Israel that operates in our partnership region in Northern Israel out of Beit Vancouver. And we were proud to support JCC Inclusion Services’s trip to Israel last year.

Our belief in the importance of building an inclusive community is part of why we’re excited to welcome world-renowned inclusion activist Pamela Schuller to officially kick off the Annual Campaign at FEDtalks on Sunday, September 16th at the Vancouver Playhouse.

As a teen, Pamela was diagnosed with the worst-known case of Tourette’s Syndrome in the United States. She was frequently asked to leave her school, her synagogue, restaurants, and sporting events due to her uncontrollable outbursts and tics, which were sometimes so violent she would seriously injure herself. Depressed, suicidal, and wishing her differences away, Pamela struggled to find a place to belong.

She found that sense of belonging at Jewish summer camp. There, her perspective began to shift, and she eventually turned the challenges that used to hold her back into the foundation for a new way of life. Now, Pamela doesn’t just tolerate what makes her different; she embraces it and finds the humour in it-all while challenging her audiences to do the same.

Pamela lives and performs stand-up comedy in New York City, where she was named by The Jewish Week as one of the "36 Under 36" changing the face of the Jewish community. She also works with the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services Teen and Mental Health initiative, helping to build communities where everyone can not only be included, but celebrated.

Simultaneously funny and inspiring, Pamela casts a vision for a deeply inclusive Jewish future that helps people and communities thrive because of - and not in spite of - differences. Read more about her experiences and her advocacy for inclusion, in her own words, in the Jewish Independent. And come experience Pamela’s dynamic message at FEDtalks. Buy your tickets today and join us for an incredible event.

Earlier this week, I was in Siberia with our Board chair, Karen James; Candace Kwinter, chair of our Israel and Overseas Committee; Gary Segal, who not only serves on our Board but on the Board of our trusted partner in overseas rescue and relief, the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC); as well as Hodie Kahn, and Michael Moscovich. We enjoyed the hospitality of the Jewish communities in Khabarovsk and Birobidzhan, and we witnessed the tremendous impact we’re making there with the JDC.

It’s amazing how small the world feels when Jews connect with Jews, even in the face of geographic distance and across the barrier of language. Imagine our delight when we noticed PJ Library books on the shelf in the library of the JDC’s Hesed Center, a centre of support for many Jews in need. Our Jewish Federation offers the PJ Library program, and hundreds of children in our own community enjoy the same great books.

It’s the children that most affected me on this trip. We visited local families living with several generations in houses that truly seemed about to topple. We met Holocaust survivors, parents living with mental illness or addiction, and children whose smiles gave me hope even as they broke my heart. It’s hard to imagine how these families would live if not for our support with food, medicine, and heating oil to get them through the harsh winters.

We also toured JDC facilities, which serve many local Jews. We painted a mural with young people on the wall of the Hesed Center, featuring the flags of Russia, Canada and Israel, and we discovered that Instagram is the social medium of choice amongst Siberian Hillel students, just as it is for Hillel students here in BC.

A big thank-you to Vlad Roytblat, JDC’s area director for Siberia, and to Michael Novick, executive director - strategic development, for their hospitality and guidance throughout our trip.

Back here at home, as our province continues to respond to the wildfire situation, our national partner, Jewish Federations of Canada - UIA, has opened a British Columbia Fire Relief Fund through which community members across Canada can help. The province will match donations from individual British Columbians to the Canadian Red Cross until October 12th.

Shabbat shalom,

Ezra S. Shanken
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

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