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We were very proud to receive a pre-Passover visit yesterday from Premier John Horgan, who met with representatives of Jewish organizations, talked to parents about childcare, and learned about the opportunities for on-site affordable housing that are part of the JCC’s redevelopment plan. Our community has had the support of many governments over the years, and it is great to see this continue. Many thanks to our partners, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the JCC, for arranging this visit.

Tonight we tell the story of Passover and recall a time when we were slaves. We invite those in need and who are strangers to join us, and when they do, they are neither of those things while we are together. We often talk about “our work” but our work is really your work. It’s your tzedakah that is bringing people together this Passover. Here are just a few of the ways:

Let’s start close to home. Some young adults who are establishing their lives in Vancouver aren’t ready to host their own seders and don’t have local family or friends to host them. If you moved away from your hometown for university or to start your career, you probably remember that feeling of being a stranger in your new city. Opening your door to someone who has nowhere else to go is a small but important way to bring people together and build community from the ground up. Our young adults program, Axis, stepped in and matched interested young people with two families who invited them into their homes tonight. We matched guests and hosts based on their interests and the style of seder offered. We hope this will be the start of a new tradition that we can build on next year.
That’s not the only initiative that is creating community connections in people’s homes. We recently awarded a microgrant to one of our former Axis volunteers, and she and her brother hosted a Shabbat dinner for Jewish young adults. More than 15 people came together for what we hope will be the first of many gatherings.

Passover is a time when we teach our children to remember our traditions and to carry them on. In the regional communities outside of Vancouver, our Connect Me In program has started a Tweens Club that took on a social action project for the holiday. Fifteen participants aged eight to 14 packed Passover food packages for Jewish seniors, many of whom live on their own and one of whom was in hospital when deliveries were made. Some of the seniors receive services from Vancouver-based Jewish organizations, but they don’t have easy access to Kosher for Passover food and they aren’t able to travel. Now they have matzah, matzah meal, gefilte fish, grape juice, lots of canned foods, chocolate and tea, and the knowledge that they are not alone.

Most of the participating kids were from Burnaby and the Tri-Cities and they made deliveries to seniors in Mission, Abbotsford, Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge. These are all communities with growing Jewish populations, and this program is a great example of the impact we can have by extending our reach and that of our partners to connect these community members to each other and to Jewish life. Next up for the tweens is a chocolate seder on Sunday at Burquest. Then on April 7th there is a “third” seder for families and seniors in Maple Ridge, which Dan Ruimy, MP for Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge, is planning to attend.

On the other side of the world, our trusted overseas partner, the Joint Distribution Committee, is distributing 20 tonnes of matzah to tens of thousands of elderly Jews in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Russia, who are among the most destitute Jews in the world. For years, our Federation has supported them with food vouchers and medicine packages through the JDC to supplement their meagre pensions and help them live out their last days in relative comfort.
The JDC is also providing matzah to Jews in India and, incredibly, to Jews in Egypt. Just think about that for a moment.

Our work is your work, and you are having an impact in so many places this Passover. You are welcoming the stranger. You are passing our traditions to the next generation. You are giving a lifeline to those in need. Todah rabbah.

Shabbat shalom and chag sameach,

Ezra S. Shanken
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver