"Find light in times of darkness..."

Shabbat Message from CEO Ezra S. Shanken
 

We celebrated the start of Hanukkah with 1,200 people from within and beyond our community at the public lighting of the Silber Family Agam Menorah last night. What a way to start the chag with light and love! 

I want to thank the Silber family and Chabad of BC for their pivotal role and leadership in this annual event, as well as the RAV and CIJA, who proudly supported this alongside our Federation. Special thanks to Rabbi Weinberg and Rabbi Rosenfeld of Chabad, and Herb Silber who represented the Silber family.

Thank you to the MCs Karen James and Howard Blank, who did a great job. There were a great many people behind the scenes who deserve our thanks, too, as well as everyone who attended.    

One of the most moving moments was seeing the family of Ben Mizrachi z”l have the honour of lighting the first candle. Ben was murdered by Hamas on October 7th at the Nova festival, as he tried to save his friend’s life. He is a true hero who grew up in our community, and I was honoured to pay my respects at his grave in Israel a few weeks ago.  

A very special thank you goes out to the elected officials from all levels of government who joined us.  

Many of us have felt alone lately, but there was an incredibly strong show of support from leaders and members of other ethno-cultural and faith-based communities, as well as government, which truly means the world to us. We have also seen support from people waving the flags of Italy, The Philippines, Brazil and more at the weekly Sunday rallies, which we are also proud to support and encourage you to attend.

Here are some of the many supporters who joined us, and I implore you to reach out and thank them. We have provided links so you can click and send a quick note. 
 

• Premier David Eby, who released this statement on the start of Hanukkah 
• BC Post Secondary Education & Future Skills Minister, Selina Robinson  
• BC Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon  
• MLA Michael Lee  
• MLA Jackie Tegart
• MLA Elenore Sturko
• Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim  
• Vancouver City Councillors: Rebecca Bligh, Sarah Kirby-Yung, Lisa Dominato, Brian Montague, Mike Klassen, Peter Meiszner, and Lenny Zhou. 
• Consul General of the United States, Jim DeHart  

When government and community leaders join us in allyship, their presence sends a powerful message that hatred has no place here, that diversity and inclusion are universal values, and that when we stand together we are ALL stronger. Click here to watch the event.  

This has not been the case in other cities.  

Look at the city of Monton’s decision not to include a public menorah lighting (now reversed) alongside city hall’s Christmas decorations. Or Calgary, where the mayor refused to attend a public menorah lighting because she said it was too closely aligned with support for Israel.  As CIJA, our advocacy agent put it, “Chanukah has always been, and will always be, the celebration of Jewish liberation in the Jewish people’s indigenous homeland of Israel. You cannot separate Chanukah & Israel, just like you cannot separate the Jewish people from Israel.” 

Speaking of Israel, on Monday we announced the transfer of nearly $1.6 million from our Israel Emergency Campaign. 

This brings the total transferred to just under $6.5 million, which is truly an incredible response in a very short period of time. What we are finding is that Israel and Israelis are moving from their initial emergency mode into more of an emergency routine. However, there is nothing routine about it.  

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis are still displaced across the country. They have no idea when they will be able to go home. All of them are traumatized to one extent or another. Our partnership region remains evacuated, with only 3,000 people left in Kiryat Shmona, instead of the usual 30,000. People need basic essentials. Their livelihoods are gone. And those who were already vulnerable, such as adults with disabilities, are among those in greatest need.  

We are providing a semblance of normalcy when nothing around them is normal and the future is unclear.  

Kol hakavod to the Israel Emergency Campaign Allocations Committee, chaired by Stephen Gaerber, for their thoughtful and methodical approach to ensure our funds make the greatest possible impact, and to Marcie Flom for providing highly experienced and professional support to the committee. Read details of the allocation here.  

Monday was also busy with the National Rally for Israel. 

I was privileged to attend alongside our board chair, Lana Marks Pulver, and community members that included Dalia Ohayon, whose sister Silvya Ohayon z’l was murdered by Hamas, David Porte, Pam Wolfman, Avishai Infeld, and Noah Boroditsky.

Thank you to the Jewish Federations of Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal and CIJA for taking the lead on the rally. You can read an article featuring Lana here and watch a video we were featured in here.  

King David High School made a big announcement on Monday, too. 

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Seth Goldsweig, who will be the new head of school at KDHS in July! We are excited to work with him as a community partner and as part of JWest.  

Shabbat shalom and chag Hanukkah sameach.

Ezra S. Shanken

CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver