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Federation Campaign Opening to Feature Jason Alexander –
Tickets on Sale Now
This year’s Annual Campaign Opening Event will feature world class actor and entertainer Jason Alexander, most famous for his portrayal of George Costanza on Seinfeld. An accomplished TV and stage actor and performer, Alexander is also a deeply committed and proud Jew with a long record of support for Jewish Federations and other Jewish causes. His appearance will provide an opportunity to be inspired as well as to laugh – not such a bad combination in these troubled times.

Tickets are now on sale for the event, which will take place Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. You can purchase your tickets online.

Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt Honoured on 10th Anniversary at
Schara Tzedeck
Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt and his wife Cirelle were honoured this past Sunday evening for their 10 years of service to Congregation Schara Tzedeck and our community. An extended period of service like this is a blessing for any congregation, but throughout this time Rabbi Rosenblatt has also demonstrated his passion for community, working collaboratively with his rabbinic colleagues, Jewish Federation and other community agencies to build and strengthen our whole community. Former US Senator and Vice Presidential candidate, Joseph Lieberman, spoke at the gala event.

With the impending retirement of Rabbi Philip Bregman from Temple Sholom, Rabbi Rosenblatt will be assuming the role of chair of the Rabbinic Association of Vancouver (RAV). Ours is one of the few communities in North America in which rabbis across the denominational spectrum sit and work together to support and nurture one another, and to address issues of common interest that affect our whole community.

Dr. Rick Hodes Featured as Commencement Speaker at
Brandeis University
Over the years, I have written about the extraordinary work of Dr. Rick Hodes, medical director for the Joint Distribution Committee in Ethiopia. Among Rick’s notable contributions to improving the lives of African children suffering from severe disease is his personal adoption of a number of youth in order to ensure their access to the health care they need, as well as their future education. One of his children graduated from university last week, and Rick was invited to deliver the commencement address this year at Brandeis University.

Last year, Jewish Federation co-sponsored the Bring Back Hope event, led by Gary and Nancy Segal, which netted about $750,000 in support of Rick’s work in Ethiopia, as well as additional funds that support the work of UBC Medical School’s Branch for International Surgery. The funds are having an impact, providing much needed surgeries for spine and heart patients, as well as the development of a new pediatric health outreach clinic in the Gondar region, which will focus on preventive medicine.

Jewish Cemetery at Mountain View Moving Forward with Restoration
The Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board is pleased to announce the restoration of the Jewish Cemetery located at Mountain View Cemetery (33rd Ave and Fraser Street). The project includes research and documentation relating to the history of the cemetery. If you have relatives or friends buried at Mountain View Cemetery and would like to help in the research and documentation phase of the project, please contact the synagogue office.

Victoria Synagogue Celebrates 150th Anniversary
Temple Emanu-El of Victoria, the oldest continuously operating synagogue in North America west of the Mississippi River, celebrated its 150th anniversary this past weekend with a parade and gala dinner. Our Jewish Federation was proud to be represented at this historic celebration by our board chair, Mitch Gropper. When the synagogue was established, the whole city rallied to help raise the funds to make it happen – an example of cooperation and tolerance not so common to the times (or today?).

There is a small but vibrant Jewish community in Victoria that continues to sustain an active congregation, and which mounted a renovation effort to restore and preserve their historic building this year. The Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Vancouver recently approved a grant to support the restoration project.

Passing of Senator Frank Lautenberg
US Senator Frank Lautenberg, who passed away earlier this week, was a longtime Jewish communal leader on the national and local levels. He became the youngest national chair in the history of the United Jewish Appeal, at age 50, and was a long-time president of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest, NJ, where a building is named in his honor. It is very rare for a Jewish volunteer leader in North America to blend in his or her personal history with top leadership roles in Jewish communal life as well as public service. Among his greatest legacies was the Lautenberg Amendment, which allowed Soviet Jews and other persecuted minorities from the USSR to immigrate to the United States, and helped open the flow of Soviet Jewry to freedom. The law continues to ease the immigration of refugees to the US to this day.

Parashat Korach
This week’s parasha relates the story of the rebellion of Korach. Our tradition teaches that Korach was Pharaoh’s treasurer, and, once in the desert among his fellow wandering Israelites, missed his high station and power. In his arrogance and through his manipulative behavior, he ended up rallying others to rebel against Moses’ authority. In the end, he and his followers were punished, and according to the narrative, swallowed by the earth.

Korach’s rebellion was not in the service of justice and fairness; it was, rather, a projection of his own lust for power onto Moses and Aaron. As we watch the various rebellions of the “Arab Spring” we might well wonder how many of them are driven by a serious drive for more just, open and fair societies. The true tragedy of what we see playing out today in many Arab countries is that while many protests and rebellions may have started in such a quest, they have been overtaken or subverted by leadership seeking to impose their own vision and world view on others. The opportunity for the evolution of more just and fair societies in these countries does not seem to be on the horizon any time soon.

Shabbat shalom!