September 11, 2015 | 27 Elul 5775 | Shabbat Candlelighting at 7:16 p.m.

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“On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.” – William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

This week feels different doesn’t it? The weather may still be warm, but something has changed. Whether it’s the slightly nervous back-to-school excitement of teachers and students, or the flurry of holiday preparations in our kitchens at home, the forces of the season are bringing us together for the year to come, like a tide coming in. It’s an energy we would do well to harness.

A colleague remarked to me that her favourite example of a true team sport is rowing – everyone’s in the same boat, and they’re coordinating their strokes to pull hard at the same time to go in one direction. When we do this as an organization and as a community it speaks to our teamwork, and we go far. But when we also do this afloat on a full sea and we take the current when it serves, we go farther, faster.

I started the week addressing students about how special it is to be in this community during Elul and the High Holiday season, and I spoke about this feeling of energy and of the tide coming in. What I mean by that is this: during most of the year when we are doing the work of growing our Jewish community together, we are often swimming against the current. But during this season the stars align and Jews from across our community gather to enjoy each other’s company, to participate in prayer, to engage in tshuva (repentance) and to have conversations about what the coming year will bring. I feel that current moving us forward and bringing us together.

I felt it when I arrived at the office today and found our staff energized by their early morning conversations with our FEDtalks speakers. Irwin Cotler, so deeply knowledgeable about the refugee and migrant crisis, shared with our staff some of what he will present next Thursday. And Dafna Lifshitz blew us all away in rehearsal today.

And I felt it when I visited three of the day schools to welcome students for the first day of classes – oh, how I wish I could have been at them all. Such energy! I felt it, too, when I addressed the Jewish Seniors Alliance at their AGM and at our agency appreciation event.

I feel that tide shifting and lifting up our emerging Jewish communities, too. Nearly half of our community members now live outside the City of Vancouver. We recognize the importance of reaching out as an organization to help community institutions extend their reach. We also recognize the importance of reaching out on a personal level, and so I will be addressing congregations in Richmond and White Rock this holiday season.

This is the time of year when emotionally and mentally we come back to our homes; we fill the pews; we fill our tables; we walk when we usually drive. We apologize to friends; we make resolutions and we dream of a better future - all because we’re coming back to what’s most important.

You can feel it throughout our community. And you’ll feel it at FEDtalks. We want you to be there with us. If you feel this is a time when you’re ready to come back to your community, come back with us. Let us help you dream of what the New Year will bring. It is beshert that our event is sitting right where it is in our calendar, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This is the season when we come back together. I look forward to seeing you and to celebrating the start of a New Year together at FEDtalks. If you’re feeling what I’m feeling, then you’ve got to be there. Buy your tickets today and be there with us.

Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tovah Umetukah,

Ezra S. Shanken
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

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