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What is it about being a member of the Jewish community that makes us feel a part of something larger than ourselves? Certainly, our shared history and traditions play an important part, but it is also the actions of individuals which strengthen our bonds and build on our common goals.

This week, parsha Mishpatim sets out a moral and ethical code that guides us both individually and collectively. As a people, we accept the Covenant, but much of the language in the parsha is directed to the individual. It outlines our obligations to work together and to help each other, which then begins to define our responsibilities to the community around us. It is also Shabbat Shekalim, and the additional readings reinforce the idea of the individual as part of a greater community. We read of the census, when each individual gave half a shekel. Whether rich or poor, each person is considered equal in the eyes of G-d, and so contributed equally to be counted as members of the community. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explained: “The equal participation of all the People symbolizes that all Jews must share in achieving national goals….”

This past week, there were two events that exemplify what can happen when people work together. On Tuesday, over 90 Jewish day school teachers gathered for a community wide professional development event exploring new skills and strategies for the 21st century classroom. Working with a planning committee composed of teachers from the various day schools, we were able to put together an engaging program featuring both local and national presenters on topics as diverse as social and emotional learning, G-d talk in the classroom, and responding to the digital age.

We also presented the annual Jewish Community Camp Fair, with representatives from 10 different day and residential summer camp programs located in the Pacific Northwest. Camp Fair provides parents with the opportunity to learn about the amazing array of choices available for their children. We presented the event with support from the Jewish Community Centre, and hosted a lunch and learn session where the directors networked and shared new program ideas with each other.

The code we are given in Mishpatim obligates us to look out for our most vulnerable community members. This reminds us of the activities of many of our partner agencies, including Jewish Family Service Agency. Just this week, they welcomed Richard Fruchter to their team in the role of senior management consultant, which will provide the organization with the professional support it needs during the search for a permanent executive director.

A true community includes every individual. I have written before about the importance of an inclusive community and our Planning Council’s work to that end. Consider this a friendly reminder that our confidential Enhancing Participation survey is still open for parents of children who face barriers to participation in community life. Or, if you know a family who you think should complete the survey, please forward the link to them.

Beyond Vancouver, our concerns continue to be with struggling Jewish communities around the world, particularly in Ukraine and France right now. When a Jewish community is in crisis, it is our role to show them that they are part of our extended family. There are 10,000 Jews living in the battle zone between the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, and we are holding our collective breath to see if the latest ceasefire will hold. Our trusted partners, the Jewish Agency For Israel (JAFI) and the Joint Distribution Committee, have been working non-stop in Ukraine, helping Jewish residents find safe places to live, providing food, water and medicine, and facilitating mass aliyah.

Senior executives and leadership from Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) returned on Tuesday from an intensive two-day solidarity mission to France, where they visited the Hyper Cacher supermarket, and met with community leaders, senior diplomats and government officials about the situation there. You can read Mark Gurvis’ reflections on the mission here, but this point bears repeating: “…we, as Jewish communities and Jewish individuals, face a common set of renewed challenges and threats, both internal and external. They may be shaded differently based on local context, but underlying the surface differences is a common core, and hopefully a common destiny. Our fates are interconnected and intertwined.”

Being part of the Jewish community is not a passive exercise; it requires us as individuals to help each other and to work together toward shared goals, be they near or far. In many ways we are still counted through our individual contributions – whatever form they make take – because that’s what built a strong community in the past, and will continue to build a strong future for us all.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ezra S. Shanken
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver