This message has 839 words, and will take about three to four minutes to read.

Axis Young Professionals Group Charging Ahead
Our Axis Steering Committee, tasked with revitalizing our young adult programming, is moving ahead on various programs. First, they are working on an exciting new program to develop and train strong community volunteer leadership. As a first step, they are conducting an online survey to gain insights and content suggestions from young adults. The information from the survey will help ensure the program is designed with meaningful and relevant content. The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete and is open to all Jewish individuals ages 22-45 in Metro Vancouver. Thank you in advance for sharing your feedback and ideas with us.

Last Sunday, young adults from Axis and Moishe House spent the afternoon volunteering in the JFSA Community Garden. The garden, located at West 57th Avenue and East Boulevard, supplies fresh produce to the Jewish Food Bank. The group helped fill new planters while learning about JFSA’s work in providing resources and support to community members. This is the first tikkun olam (repairing the world) project from Axis, which will be organizing more opportunities for young adults to engage in hands-on volunteer projects. For more information, visit the Axis website or contact dtroster@jewishvancouver.com.

Serendipity or Fate?
I got a call a few weeks ago from an active community member who has volunteered with our Federation. Her daughter is working this summer in a supermarket in the Fraser Valley. She was working alongside another woman and through conversation this other woman found out the daughter was Jewish. The conversation led to a disclosure that this woman is the grandchild of Polish immigrants who hid Jews during World War II. In fact, this woman was being invited by Yad Vashem to represent the family at a ceremony in Warsaw this summer. But, circumstances being what they are, she didn’t have the resources to make the trip.

When I got this call I felt that it would be a mitzvah to connect this woman with our Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, so that her family’s story could be told, and so that we could possibly find a way to help her get to the ceremony. Some quick outreach to some of our donors revealed someone who had airline points to donate, and this woman is now booked for her trip to the ceremony in August.

Through a chance meeting and workplace discussion we have uncovered someone with a meaningful connection and story to share, and we’ve made it possible to ensure that her grandparents’ life-saving bravery 70 years ago will be recognized. The story will be told and will be remembered. After the ceremony, the VHEC will work to ensure the story is shared in a meaningful way to help educate others.

Maybe these kinds of things are serendipitous, or maybe not.

Richard Fruchter Engaged to Assist Jewish Federation through CEO Transition
Richard Fruchter, former CEO of the Seattle, Minneapolis, and Tucson Jewish Federations, has entered into a short-term contract to provide interim management leadership services to Jewish Federation as the search process for my replacement gets underway. Richard is a seasoned Jewish Federation professional who will provide strong support for our board and staff during the transition period. I have known Richard over the many years that we have been working in this field, and he will begin working with us in late August, shortly before my departure.

Vancouver Delegation Participates in World Maccabiah Games
This week Israel is hosting the quadrennial World Maccabiah Games, an international sporting event that brings together 9,000 athletes from 74 different countries across the Jewish world. BC is well represented among the Canadian delegation with 40 participants. Jack Sirlin and Alex Cristall are heading the local delegation. Our Israel and Overseas Affairs Committee provided a scholarship grant of $25,000 to help youth and young adult competitors from BC who would otherwise not have been able to afford the cost. Visit our Facebook page to see a photo of the Canadian delegation entering the stadium at the opening ceremony of the games.

Parashat Va'etchanan
Moses continues his recounting of the journey of the Israelites, including God's dictum that he will not be allowed to enter the Land of Israel. It also includes the repetition of the Ten Commandments. Further into the portion is the text of the Sh'ma prayer, which is now incorporated into our daily prayers. The Etz Chayim commentary asks, how is it that this passage, which isn't even a prayer so much as an instruction to the Israelites, became the quintessential Jewish prayer? The answer is that the text summarizes in just a few passages the basic tenets of Judaism. It not only states there is only one God, but defines our relationship to God, how we are to worship and love God, and how we are to teach God's word to the next generation. Judaism has evolved into a sprawling complex religious civilization, but if you want to strip it down to its core, it is tightly encapsulated in the Sh'ma.

Shabbat shalom!