"Let's start with great news..."

Shabbat Message from CEO Ezra S. Shanken
 

Throughout Hanukkah we took in the light of the chag and recharged ourselves. Now that our cups are full, we can keep sharing the light with each other. So, let’s start with some great news. 

Our Israel Emergency Campaign has reached $18.2 million... and growing!  

Your generosity has been extraordinary, and we are already making an impact in Israel on your behalf, with  $6.5 million transferred to date.

From emergency financial and humanitarian aid to medical kits to protective gear for first responders, and the purchase of a new ambulance.  

From mobile shelters for Bedouin communities, to winter camps for evacuated children to psychological support for victims, their families, and veterans suffering from PTSD. 

From safe spaces for at-risk youth to support for adults with disabilities.  

From distributing food from farms in the south to vulnerable populations to establishing kitchen centers so that evacuated families can cook homemade meals together. These are a handful of the many ways we are helping, together.

There are three key reasons we are able to make this impact.  

The first is that we have ongoing relationships with the organizations responding on the ground, as well as professional staff in Israel. The second is you: your generosity makes all of this possible, and the gifts that have been paid in full, as opposed to pledged to be paid later, mean we have funds available for transfer right away. And, of course, our Israel Emergency Campaign Allocations Committee, chaired by Stephen Gaerber, is not simply taking a strategic approach, they are building momentum and directing funds where they need to go.  

Canada abruptly changes its position... 

It wasn’t all good news this week. Just hours after reaffirming Israel's right to defend itself and condemning Hamas for its violent acts of October 7, Canada voted in favour of a UN resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire. Coming so soon after the earlier statement, and in the middle of Hanukkah, it landed like a shock.

Now don’t get me wrong—we all want a ceasefire, but a ceasefire that can lead to a lasting peace for both Israelis and Palestinians. The ceasefire we need is one that secures the release of all the hostages, that condemns Hamas and holds this terrorist entity accountable for its war crimes, and that requires Hamas to lay down its arms, to stop using civilians as human shields, and to surrender control of Gaza. Our advocacy agent, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, issued this statement. 

One of the blessings of this Hanukkah was how so many of us took the opportunity to be together with family, friends, and community.  

With Hanukkah over, it is time to seek out ways of maintaining and building our connections to each other. I hope you will join us at two events on Sunday. 

The first is the weekly rally that takes place at the Vancouver Art Gallery at 2:00 p.m. It is a chance to call for the release of the hostages, and to remember those we have lost--including the three hostages tragically killed by friendly fire today. 

The second is a webinar at 5:00 p.m. with rabbis across our community who have just returned from a mission to Israel. 

The rabbis met with family members of the murdered and kidnapped, and toured Kibbutz Be’eri. “We learned... that the terrorists targeted homes that had children’s toys out front or shoes on the porch, looking for signs of activity and family in the homes they attacked.

This was why so many young families were among the murdered and hostages,” said Rabbi Dan. 

They also met with community leaders with whom they wrestled with difficult challenges and big ideas: are Israelis who were once committed to a two-state solution feeling that it is still possible one day? How has the state of the Israel-diaspora relationship shifted, now that we are feeling a shared vulnerability? How is October 7 is understood differently in the Jewish and Arab homes of students and teachers at mixed Jewish, Muslim and Christian schools? 

Rabbi Dan told us that they concluded by studying Torah with Dr. Ruth Calderon “to help us as rabbis contextualize and process what we witnessed through the lens of Jewish tradition, from which we each draw insight and inspiration.” 

Now, they want to share that insight and inspiration with you. Click here to register for the webinar on Sunday to hear from Rabbi Moskovitz, Rabbi Rosenblatt, Rabbi Gibbs, Rabbi Infeld, Rabbi Brown, Rabbi Dresner, Rabbi Tendler, and Rabbi Bregman. 

Shabbat shalom.

Ezra S. Shanken

CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver