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My family and I have some exciting and very happy news to share with you: on Monday afternoon we welcomed the newest member of our family, a baby boy. If you’re keeping count, this makes three Shanken boys under two years old in our house. Rachel and I are now officially outnumbered, and we’re loving every minute of it. Rachel and the baby are doing just fine, and the twins are over the moon - as am I, of course. The bris is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22nd, at 5:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Centre, and I hope you will join us as we officially welcome him into our community.

Welcoming a new baby is always an opportunity for parents to pause and think about the world they are bringing this new little person into, and it’s been no different for us. As I’ve watched the violence unfold along the Gaza-Israel border this week, I’ve thought about the many times I’ve visited nearby towns and the Israelis I’ve met who live under constant threat from Hamas rocket attacks and terror tunnels.

Our advocacy partner, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) noted that tens of thousands of Israelis live within two kilometres of Hamas-controlled Gaza, and they have good reason to fear for their lives and the lives of their children. CIJA shared a chilling guide posted by Hamas to Facebook, which provides practical advice to would-be kidnappers and murderers, detailing precisely how to harm Israeli citizens in the event they are able to breach the border. They have been clear that these are not peaceful demonstrations, but a Hamas-orchestrated series of violent clashes with Israelis at the border fence, during which operatives attempted to damage or break through the fence, threw fire bombs, and fired assault rifles at Israelis.

There’s no question that Israel has a right to defend itself, yet we take no pleasure in being drawn into these confrontations, even when Hamas has acknowledged that more than 50 of the 62 people killed in the recent violence were known terrorists. Rabbi Dr. Doniell Hartman addressed this in his Times of Israel piece, The Moral Challenge of Gaza: "When the Egyptians – a greater power and enemy than the Palestinians – were drowning in the Red Sea, our tradition recounts that the angels in heaven began to sing a song of praise to God. God silenced them with the words, 'My creation is drowning in the sea, and you want to sing a song of praise?'"

We have been in touch throughout the week with Israel’s ambassador to Canada, with Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA, and CIJA to keep up with events as they unfolded. Shimon Fogel, CEO of CIJA, wrote Gazans Deserve a Better Future – Without Hamas in the Globe and Mail, and when Prime Minister Trudeau issued a statement that failed to acknowledge the role of Hamas in the recent violence, CIJA issued an action alert. The Jewish communities of Canada have enjoyed wide support from the Trudeau government, but from time to time we have to speak up when we see something that isn’t right. You can join the thousands of people who have already registered their disappointment in the statement by clicking here.

If you have time to dig a little deeper, read Reflections on Events in Gaza by my colleague and an icon in our field, Barry Shrage. He writes of the need to encourage and model respectful, thoughtful dialogue, and that he is "angered and dismayed by media coverage that is, by any standard, deeply biased and hypocritical. These same media outlets have largely ignored the indiscriminate murder of hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children in Syria, including 4,000 Palestinians. This selective condemnation of Israel’s actions, absent all context and balance, is profoundly wrong." He goes on to share a number of important points that he believes are not being accurately conveyed. It’s a worthwhile read.

Israel is close to our hearts, and our work in our partnership region of the Upper Galilee is an integral part of what we do. So is building closer ties between local community members and residents of our partnership region. We said last week that we would update you on the Partnership2Gether meetings that took place in Winnipeg recently, but that will have to wait until next Friday when we will also circle back on Canadian Jewish Heritage Month and highlight the Jewish Museum and Archives of BC.

Shabbat shalom, chag sameach, and we hope to see you at our simcha on Tuesday.

Ezra S. Shanken
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver