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Campaign Update
As we close out November we have moved significantly closer to completing this year’s Federation Annual Campaign. With $6.8 million in pledges we now stand at 85% of our goal. Once we reach the remaining donors who supported the campaign in the past, and hopefully a few more new participants, we look forward to announcing a campaign result that has generated increased resources to meet pressing community needs.

Thank-you to our many volunteers, and especially to all of you who have contributed so far. If you are among those we haven’t reached yet, please make a secure gift online at jewishvancouver.com today.

Ma’ase Building Israel’s Future Civic Leadership
Mercaz Ma’ase is one of two youth leadership and voluntarism programs in Israel that we support through the Federation Annual Campaign. Along with Kav Hazinuk (Starting Line), Ma’ase focuses on giving youth from the periphery of Israeli society significant leadership experiences that help them overcome the natural disadvantages of life in those areas. They gain the skills and confidence to emerge as leaders for Israel’s future.

In Ma’ase’s Eitan program, participants volunteer for a year of service just after high school, working in both formal and informal educational settings. Following this intensive year, they enter into army service for four years in special units that combine military and volunteer service. By giving youth from the periphery the opportunity to volunteer in their own communities. Ma’ase is overturning traditional patterns of voluntarism in which only youth from elite segments of society had these experiences. By carefully tracking their participants through the five-year experience and beyond, Ma’ase is able to demonstrate tangible differences in a variety of key social matrices.

Our Jewish Federation has partnered with Ma’ase since its inception in 2004, sponsoring the Eitan group of volunteers serving in Kiryat Shemona in our partnership community. These volunteers often end up working in various Vancouver-sponsored programs for youth, such as Net@, Beit Vancouver, Better Together and more. Our investment in Ma’ase has proven to be one of the great examples of our strategic focus on closing social gaps in Israeli society by providing meaningful supports and resources to children and youth in the periphery.

In the past year Ma’ase has opened up a new program called Ma’ase Olam to engage North American volunteers, alongside their Israeli participants. This is available either as a gap-year experience before university, or as a post-university experience. For more information about volunteering as part of Ma’ase Olam contact Dana Troster at dtroster@jewishvancouver.com.

UN Approves Enhancement of Palestinian Authority’s Status
Yesterday, the United Nations voted to approve a resolution granting the Palestinian Authority “Observer State” status, in a measure opposed by Israel, the United States and Canada. Coming as it does just a week after a ceasefire took hold between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, it reflects a bizarre development in international diplomacy.

Last week, Hamas was broadly regarded by pundits to have emerged the big winner with respect to international standing, while Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority was widely regarded as one of the big losers. A week later, Abbas is handed a large symbolic victory on the international stage. Meanwhile, the opportunity for peace slips further away. Neither event will convince Israelis to take further risks for peace, because neither event represents a step by a Palestinian faction to recognize and accept Israel’s existence, and to meaningfully work towards peace. While the UN was voting, Israel was intercepting ships off the Gaza coast loaded with more missiles.

In that context, the strong statements by both the Harper government and the Liberal Party leadership about the UN vote stand in stark contrast to the Alice in Wonderland drama playing out this week.

Parashat Vayishlach
This week’s parasha begins as Jacob is preparing to meet with his brother, Esau, after many years of estrangement. His fear and nervousness over the encounter is evident as he sends servants with gifts in advance of his approach, and he divides his camp into two, perhaps as a protective measure. An easy reading of the parasha is that Jacob is stepping into the encounter from a position of weakness.

I look at the tangle of Mideast issues today, and at the various actors (Israel, Fatah, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the Egyptians, the Syrians, Turkey, etc…) and from one moment to the next it is difficult to ascertain who is truly acting from a position of strength and who from weakness. In fact, what may seem a strength in one context can quickly turn into a weakness in another.

Shabbat shalom!