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Security Training for Local Organizations
Jewish Federation and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs - Pacific Region convened a security training program for representatives of area Jewish organizations this week. Vancouver Police Department and RCMP professionals covered a range of important topics, including handling suspicious packages, responding to bomb threats, and implementing lockdown and evacuation procedures.

The training program is part of a broader security initiative launched by Jewish Federation six years ago. The initiative has included security audits for all Jewish facilities in our community, grants to help institutions implement recommendations from their audits, assistance with applications to the federal government's Security Infrastructure Program, and periodic training sessions.

This week's session was attended by 40 representatives from 15 agencies, including schools, synagogues and other community institutions. The 2013 security grant program was also introduced at the training. Guidelines and application forms will be sent out to all eligible organizations by the end of January.

CIJA - Pacific Region Town Hall Meeting
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs - Pacific Region is sponsoring a Town Hall Forum featuring Shimon Fogel, CEO of the national organization. The forum takes place this Sunday, January 20th at 7:00 p.m. at King David High School, across from the JCC.

Mr. Fogel will discuss the state of Jewish advocacy in Canada, and answer your questions regarding the important role CIJA plays at both the local and national levels.

This is an opportunity to ask your questions about the Canada-Israel relationship, grassroots advocacy, and issues affecting local Jewish communities across the country.

Remembering Raoul Wallenberg
January 17th marked Raoul Wallenberg Day in Canada. In a statement issued this week, David Koschitzky, Chair of the Centre for Israel and Public Affairs, noted “Raoul Wallenberg is one of the 20th century’s great humanitarians who, despite great personal risk, fought a strenuous and dangerous campaign to save thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. By using his political influence, Wallenberg was able to secure passports and a safe haven for thousands of condemned Hungarian Jews, some of whom made Canada their adopted home following the War. It is with good reason that in 1985 Raoul Wallenberg became Canada’s first honorary citizen.

"Wallenberg lived up to the highest ideals of Canadian citizenship and taught us that a single person of great integrity can make a profound difference toward creating a more just and fair world for all. He reminds us never to lapse into indifference toward the persecution of others and to speak out for the defenseless. It is both our duty and our obligation to follow the example of this righteous man.”

Click here to read the statement issued by Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.

Parashat Bo
This week’s parasha tells of the last three plagues, and also includes important instruction about the observance of the Passover holiday and the marking of the new moon, important rituals on the Jewish calendar. David Basior, a Hillel professional in Seattle, teaches that through the parasha we are commanded to relive and share the experience using our various senses. In Exodus 10:2 we are commanded to tell the story of how God showed his power to the Egyptians in the hearing of our children and grandchildren. As the plague of darkness is recounted, the visual sense is activated. In Moses’ last encounter with Pharaoh, he leaves in hot anger, literally described in the text as with flaring nostrils (Exodus 11:8). The mouth is engaged as we are commanded to eat of the Passover offering, and to speak in prayer and through story-telling.

There is a connection here between the story of one of our most powerful and formative moments of our collective history – our redemption from Egypt – and the ways in which we can engage our whole being and all our senses in bringing that history into our own lives. This week’s parasha is a reminder of how powerful Jewish life and experience can be if we engage in it with our whole selves.

Shabbat shalom!