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Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

September 7, 2018 | 27 Elul 5778 | Candlelighting at 7:24 p.m.

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On Sunday, our PJ Library program welcomed over 100 young families to Ride the Rosh Hashanah Train in Stanley Park. Nine local Jewish organizations led holiday-themed activities and projects, and introduced families to their programs and services. It was a true coming-together of our community - including families from around the Lower Mainland, and a wide variety of Jewish organizations. My boys had a blast riding the train.

Many thanks to the participating organizations for making this event such a success: Congregation Beth Israel, Beth Tikvah, Camp Gan Israel, Chabad of East Vancouver, East Side Jews, the JCC, Or Shalom, Har El, and Temple Sholom.

The event was the perfect way to welcome the holiday season, as we look forward to greeting each other at synagogue in the coming week, where we’ll wish each other Shana Tova u'Metukah - a good and sweet New Year. It’s at this time that we are perhaps most aware of the vital role our Jewish community plays in our lives - greeting us with smiles and kindness, providing us with support when we experience both sorrows and simchas.

These community connections are what we at Jewish Federation are dedicated to preserving, nurturing, and growing. In the face of an affordability crisis and the geographic dispersal of our local community over an ever wider area, critical work is needed to keep our community connections strong.

The sky-high cost of living is leading more and more individuals and families to seek help affording to participate in Jewish programs and services. The Federation Annual Campaign funds subsidies so members of our community who are faced with difficult choices do not feel that they can’t participate in Jewish community life.

Everything we have as a community is built on a model of participation, so when the ability to participate erodes, community sustainability is threatened. Your gift to the Annual Campaign helps to keep every Jewish individual and family connected, and it keeps Jewish organizations strong.

Did you know that 80% of the Jewish organizations in the Lower Mainland are located within the City of Vancouver? That makes participating in community life challenging for the half of our Jewish community living beyond Vancouver’s city limits. We are developing and delivering programming through our Connect Me In initiative for Jews from the Fraser Valley to the Sea to Sky corridor. And we’re working with our local partners to help them increase their capacity for outreach far beyond Vancouver’s city limits.

Make your gift to the Annual Campaign today. Giving early in the campaign is like performing an extra mitzvah, because it helps to generate important momentum.

Please visit the new Beyond Vancouver section on our website. If you are involved with or know of Jewish programs going on in the regional communities, please encourage the organization to submit them to the Community Calendar so we can highlight them.

Last night our community experienced a tremendous triumph when Vancouver City Council voted unanimously, and enthusiastically, to approve our JCC site redevelopment plan. I attended the meeting with our Board chair, Karen James, and I had the privilege to speak about the importance of this redevelopment to our community, and to the numerous agencies who will find their home at the new site. Councillors noted the role this redevelopment will play both within and beyond the Jewish community, contributing affordable housing, amenities, and cultural spaces to our city. Kol hakavod to the community members who spoke in favour of the redevelopment and shared their personal stories with City Council; to the JCC’s board; to architect Mark Ostry; to the JCC’s executive director and my partner, Eldad Goldfarb, and his team of incredible staff; and to all who were involved in preparing the redevelopment plan!

Of course, it’s not only our local community that adds richness to our lives. This week we welcomed our new ShinShinim, recent high school graduates from Israel who will spend the year volunteering in the Lower Mainland. Or and Ofir will bring their experiences of Israel and Israeli culture to children throughout our community, at day schools, supplementary Hebrew schools, community programs, and through Connect Me In.

We were delighted to receive Rosh Hashanah greetings from Or and Ofir that we are sharing with you. No matter the language we speak or the challenges we face, these are the universal values we share.

We hope to see you at FEDtalks on September 16th, where four speakers will share their stories of struggle and hope, of meaning and connection. We will gain insight into the challenges we face as a community, and conversations that begin that evening will continue throughout the year. Buy your tickets today.

Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova,

Ezra S. Shanken
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

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