VOLUME 4, #3 JUNE 2017 Projecting a Diverse Jewish Image: The 21st Jewish Film Festival

Last year’s Earl Parker Award winner, Adam Bentley and his production crew

BY SUSAN SCHIFFMAN to put them in the mood for the their high produc- he 21st upcoming film. tion quality, good T Edmonton Funds raised by the EJFF will writing and fine Jewish Film go to the Edmonton Jewish Fed- acting. Festival (EJFF) eration's P2G program, offering The EJFF is got off to a deli- educational exchange trips be- thriving thanks to 2017 Earl Parker Award winner, Gregg Silver cious and de- tween the work of an ex- lectable start this year, with In students and those from Emek traordinary volunteer committee, Search of Israeli Cuisine, which Hahula School in the Galilee chaired by the indefatigable Sam opened the Festival on May 17 at Panhandle. P2G also provides an Koplowicz, who watches more What’s inside: Landmark City Centre Cine- online learning program (JETS) than 100 films, before passing on mas. The film, playing to a full for participating students, and his 25 favorites to the committee, house, featured award-winning helps teachers attend an educa- who then select the final chef Michael Solomonov on a tional conference in Israel. ten. When asked about this TT Grade 9 Israel Trip sumptuous tour of Israel’s restau- Held on six days spread over year’s films, Sam commented “I Page 4 rants, markets, vineyards, and the second half of May, the EJFF liked all of the films, but my fa- more. Upbeat, gorgeous to watch, offered a wonderfully diverse vorite, was Fever at Dawn. It is a and full of love for a country and choice of films, wide-ranging in very well-made, uplifting, and ro- its people, the film was a perfect genre, subject matter, and coun- mantic story of Hungarian holo- way to kick-off the Festival. try of origin. The roster of ten caust survivors who meet and fall Good Deeds Day Before the film, EJFF spon- films, from six countries, included in love in Sweden, after being lib- Page 6 sors were treated to an opening historical and cultural documen- erated from the Nazi death night reception, to thank them taries; dramas set in wartime Eu- camps. The film resonated for me for their support. Guests rope; Israeli drama/comedies, because my own parents had a schmoozed, while they enjoyed a and a light-hearted American very similar story.” Yom Ha’atzmaut selection of scrumptious Israeli comedy. Though very varied, the appetizers from Catering by Ed, films were all characterized by Continued on Page 10 Page 8

2 HaKol JUNE 2017 Message from the President he work of the Federa- not attract business-minded donors. It is also tion JCC Negotiating easy prey for budgetary trimming. T Committee continues. A Recently, two professors who had been HaKol meeting was held with rep- teaching Jewish Studies have retired: Profes- Volume 4, #3 resentatives from the Tal- sor Frances Landy and Ehud Ben Zvi. Profes- mud Torah Board on April sor Andrew Gow also contributed academi- HAKOL is a free publication of The 26 at the Talmud Torah school to help define cally to Jewish-themed study in the depart- Jewish Federation of Edmonton, published the process moving forward. The meeting was ment and recently retired. The Faculty of Arts, three times per year and mailed to very productive. A plan with tentative dead- under pressure to cut budgets, was unable to community households. lines was established. sustain budgets to replace retiring professors Federation is in the process of hiring an from the religious studies faculty. Address corrections requested. architecture/design firm to work with both Initially, the idea of fund-raising to provide Federation and Talmud Torah to create de- funds to a publicly-funded institution did not MAILING ADDRESS velopment permit-ready drawings. The pur- seem to be the obvious solution. But in the #200, 10220-156 Street, pose of the drawings is to help fine tune what absence of a private funding initiative, the sad Edmonton, AB T5P-2R1. is possible on the potential Talmud Torah reality is that Jewish Studies would likely dis- school site, what synergies and limitations ex- appear from the University of curric- www.jewishedmonton.org ist, and what construction and future antici- ulum for the foreseeable future. pated operational costs will be. These draw- Funding a lecturer position has the po- EMAIL CONTACT ings will serve as a guide to focus the discus- tential to ensure Jewish Studies continues for [email protected] sion and negotiations moving forward. Once at least 5 years and likely beyond. The hope these drawings are prepared, both the Feder- is that the interest generated by this initiative ation JCC Building Committee and Talmud will highlight the value the community places EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Torah will have a common frame of reference on a Jewish Studies curriculum, and that will Ellery Lew to work with in order to move forward with create the incentive with the University to negotiations. continue to carry the program on into the fu- PUBLISHER A deadline of December, 2017 was set for ture. This initiative has the additional benefit Debby Shoctor the negotiating process. While there was of building bridges and dialogue between our some concern expressed that this deadline community and the University. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF might be optimistic, it was decided that a This is an excellent segue into strategic Tal Toubiana deadline needed to be set to create structure planning. The U of A fundraising raises the and a goal to work to. The deadline is tenta- important question as to whether the fund- EDITOR tive but, like the drawings, it will help estab- raising falls within Federation’s core mission. Elianna Lisan lish structure and momentum to the negoti- Federation is also undertaking a strategic ating process. planning exercise chaired by Dr. David Eisen- RINTING AND ESIGN The Federation and the University of Al- stat. A few meetings have been held to define P D berta have agreed to a plan to fund a faculty the process. A survey has been prepared to Top Shelf Analytics Inc. lecturer position in Jewish Studies in the Re- seek Board input. Those results are due ligious Studies department for 5 years. The shortly. This is a substantial task which will FEDERATION BOARD MEMBERS: plan is to raise $500,000 to be funded over a be reported on once it is completed. Ellery Lew, Stephanie Hendin, Shane 5-year period for that purpose. This would The Edmonton Jewish Community Chari- Asbell, Dr. David Eisenstat, Steven Shafir, substantially contribute to the cost of hiring a table Foundation has elected Stephanie Hen- Mor Barzel, Clive Oshry, Stacey Wright, Lisa qualified full-time lecturer dedicated to teach- din as the new chair. Congratulations to her Miller, Dr. Cheryl Goldstein, Lisa Redmond, ing Jewish Studies. A fund-raising strategy is on this position. The Foundation is a legacy Rachel Miller, Ben Rogosin, Dr. Eytan Wine, being developed in order to try to achieve this fund which has discretion to allocate the in- Dr. Ivan Steiner, Faren Hochman, Adam goal. These funds would be raised through a terest earned annually for Jewish purposes. Zepp, Barry Greenspan, David Friedland, separate fund-raising campaign clearly identi- Sadly, we are losing Orna Richter who is Karen Oshry fied for this purpose. No funds would be used relocating with her family to Hamilton. Orna from the general UJA “pot”. is a capable, enthusiastic and passionate em- We have attempted to be as correct and It is a substantial sum to raise and a lofty ployee dedicated to Jewish public service and current as possible in our content, however goal to achieve. But it is a worthwhile goal. she will be missed. We wish her and her fam- please excuse any errors or unintended The University of Alberta, like so many ily all the best in Hamilton. Susan Schiffman omissions. publicly-funded institutions, is under signifi- has been hired to replace her. Susan has re- No information contained herein may be cant funding pressure and is increasingly located from Montreal where she held a vari- copied or re-distributed, in whole or in part, looking to private donors to fill funding gaps. ety of Jewish community positions including without the prior written approval of the Funding in Alberta tends to come from pri- Director of Development with the Montreal Publisher. vate enterprise and is focused on science, Jewish Public Library. We are pleased to wel- technology, engineering, those subjects that come her to the Federation office. appear to have tangible economic impact. Ellery Lew The Department of Religious Studies does President © Copyright Edmonton, AB, 2017

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JUNE 2017 HaKol 3 From the CEO’s Desk ince last we spoke, we Shave welcomed some new faces to Federation, which is always refreshing. You can read about them elsewhere in this edition, but I would like to welcome Yaara Shabtai, who has begun a new position with us as JCORE Director as of April 1st. She will be helping to give new energy, vision and direc- tion to our JCORE young adult group. Please contact her if you have the names of anyone you feel would be interested in involvement with this group of young adult leaders, aged 25-40. Her new email is [email protected]. In addition, please welcome Susan Schiff- man, who will be joining us as our new Direc- tor of Development, in charge of the UJA Campaign and the Edmonton Jewish Film Festival, as well as other fundraising initia- tives. She began on May 1st, and will be re- placing Orna Richter, who is moving to Ham- ilton with her family at the end of June. We Participants at the semi-annual P2G meeting held in this year will miss Orna, but we are happy to be wel- coming Susan, who brings a wealth of experi- We have finally begun the process of Stra- Programming initiative. You can also read ence to her new position. Susan’s new email tegic Planning for our organization this year. more about this later in this issue. is [email protected]. Under the Chairmanship of Dr. David Eisen- Spring is also a whirlwind time for pro- We also have a new Co-Chair of UJA, who stat, we have sent out a survey to all Board grams in our community. We have just com- will be joining Co-Chair Lisa Redmond to Members about our organization, its goals pleted another hectic round of our traditional work on this year’s UJA Campaign along with and objectives, and where they see our direc- and excellent Federation programs, including Susan and I. Karen Oshry has agreed to come tion trending in the future. Once this is com- Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron, Yom on board to make this another great year for pleted and the results tabulated, we will move Ha’atzmaut, Film Festival and PJ Library pro- UJA, and I know you will join with me in wel- on to the next step in the process, which we grams. Our Hillel students recently returned coming Karen to our team. You can also read hope to complete by the end of this year, and from a successful weekend at Camp BB with more about her later in this issue. then we will share the results with you, our their Calgary counterparts. In addition, we co- We have just completed the IBP adjudi- members. We hope that this process will give sponsored several community programs with cations for this year, both the initial applica- us new energy, direction and vision to carry other organizations including L’ag B’Omer tion round and the appeals round, and I am our organization into the future. with Chabad, Yom Yerushalayim with Beth Is- happy to say that so far, we have been able to Ivan, Tal and I recently returned from a rael, and Tikun L’eil Shavuot with Beth Sha- accommodate everyone who needed assis- visit to Calgary, where we met with our Coast- lom. JCORE also recently held their annual tance while only going slightly over budget. to-Coast P2G partners from the Northern Health and Kvellness at Laurier Park. This is in part due to the over-and-above cam- Galillee communities. This committee meets In addition to this, on June 14th, we held paign we ran as part of last year’s UJA cam- twice a year, in Israel and in , to plan our first Security Seminar for members of our paign, which garnered us an additional for partnership activities and allocate funds to Jewish Community Liaison Committee of the $8000 to put towards local bursaries for Tal- projects in our sister communities in Israel. Edmonton Police Service, to which we invited mud Torah, Camp BB, Maccabi, BBYO, and Calgary put on a great meeting and showed our colleagues from the Chief’s Advisory other programs. I am pleased to report that real Western hospitality to the mayors of Committee. We introduced them to CIJA na- the process went much more smoothly this those communities who attended, the lay tional security advisor Ryan Hartman, who year than last year, and we had less problems people and staff. Our exchange students also spoke about physical security, and to Sean with deadlines and confusion over the forms recently returned from a successful trip to Ayotte of Ekota IT who spoke about Cyber than we did last year. We also welcomed a meet their counterparts in the Galilee. Ari Security, as well as had a presentation from largely new IBP committee this year made up Sniderman led the delegation, which spent the EPS Hate Crimes unit. Members of these of members from Federation, Talmud Torah, two weeks in Israel and several days in our committees really benefitted from the advice Camp BB and Jewish Family Services, as well region as part of the Grade 9 Gradua- these experts had to offer. as a Community rep, and they all spent many tion/P2G Gesher Chai trip. These trips lead I hope you all have a wonderful and relax- hours working diligently to make sure that to lifelong friendships between the students, ing Summer, and I look forward to seeing you the process was anonymous, fair and digni- teachers, staff and volunteers involved and in the Fall at our next round of exciting pro- fied for all participants. You can read about are a vital and important part of our Israel grams and activities! the stats in a report later in this issue as well. Debby Shoctor, CEO

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4 HaKol JUNE 2017 P2G Grade 9 Trip to Israel BY ARI SNIDERMAN rom April 13 - May 4, I had the privilege F of accompanying three of my Grade 9 stu- dents on their class graduation trip to Israel. As part of the trip, the students spent four nights hosted by Israeli students at Emek Ha- Hula High School in Kfar Blum. The students from the two schools were participating in the Partnership Together (P2G) program. They had been in contact since they were in Grade 8, met in Edmonton in October, and were completing their participation with a re- ciprocal visit. During their time together, the Canadian students learned what it was like to live in an Israeli household and on a modern kibbutz. Together, the students went biking and hik- ing, commemorated Yom HaShoah, and much more. With such a small group, it's no surprise that bonds were quickly built be- tween the Canadian and Israeli students. It is clear from our blog (grade9inisrael.blog- spot.com) that the P2G Mifgash made a big impact on the students that will hopefully ex- cite future classes to participate in this pro- gram. The remainder of the trip was also a form of Mifgash as the TT Grade 9s traveled with students from the . Again, with such a small group, it was easy to forget what part of Alberta everyone was from, as the students bonded and made the group feel united. All of the new friends added to all of the learning and fun that made the Israel trip a once-in-a-lifetime experience and an amazing culmination of studies at Talmud Torah. I know the students are extremely grateful to Federation and to the P2G Committee, as well as the Edmonton Jewish Film Festival, for helping to fund this once-in-a-lifetime experi- ence.

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JUNE 2017 HaKol 5 Yom Hashoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day BY DANI URETSKY om Hashoah, Holocaust YRemembrance Day, was held on Monday, April 24th on the grounds of the Pro- vincial Legislature. 250 peo- ple came out on that cold and snowy day to remember the six million lives that were lost during the Holocaust. Many dignitaries were in attendance. Councillor Michael Oshry brought greetings on behalf of the City of Edmonton. The Hon- orable Ricardo Miranda, Minister for Tourism and Culture, brought greetings on behalf of the Province. Special thanks go to Jewish Fed- eration President Ellery Lew, second genera- tion members and survivors Leon Kagan, Clara Kagan, Ann Secter, Anna Linetsky, Mi- chael Kraus, Stephanie Hendin, Mettannah Jacobson, Sam Koplowicz and Jeanette Hoff- man for their participation in the ceremony. Yom Hashoah at the Alberta Legislature Thank you to Shane Asbell for being the em- ands that we can cee, and Rabbis Friedman and Rose for their make a change in words of wisdom. The Holocaust Education this world. The Holo- Committee would also like to thank Ben caust Education Ragosin and the TT Choir. Thank you to the Committee is always Holocaust Education Committee for its tire- looking for new less efforts year after year for coordinating members – if you such events. would like to partici- With the help of our community, we were pate, please contact able to commemorate the Holocaust more Dani Uretsky at da- than 70 years later, reminding those around [email protected]. us never to forget, to never be a bystander, The Talmud Torah Choir performs at the Yom Hashoah Ceremony

Irv and Dianne Kipnes Holocaust Education Symposium BY DANI URETSKY n March 22 and 23 the We would like to thank Irv and Dianne OHolocaust Education Kipnes for their continued support of our Committee of the Jewish Holocaust Education program. Without Federation of Edmonton them, it would not be possible. It is important held their annual Irv and for us to keep educating our students so that Dianne Kipnes Holocaust they never forget. We would also like to thank Education Symposium in the theatre at the Dr. Leon Kagan and Faren Hochman for the Royal Alberta Museum. emcee duties, and March of Living Alumni Once again, we had the honor of hosting Mettannah Jacobson. Dr. Eva Olsson, a Holocaust survivor from Bracebridge, . Dr. Olsson is 92 years young and an incredible speaker who has an major impact on the over 800 students who attended the symposium this year. Eva is a Survivor of Auschwitz and shares her pro- found story of strength and survival. We also share a film called, “Seven Days of Remem- brance and Hope”. It chronicles six Canadian university students on their journey through the beginnings of the Holocaust in Germany, to the concentration camps in Poland. Dr. Eva Olsson and Mettannah Jacobson at Anna Linetsky lights a candle the 2017 Holocaust Education Symposium

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6 HaKol JUNE 2017 Good Deeds Day 2017 BY ELIANNA LISAN n Sunday, April 2, The O Jewish Federation of Edmonton hosted its third annual Good Deeds Day under the chairmanship of Cheryl Goldstein. Edmon- ton was one of hundreds of communities worldwide that participated in this global day of social action. Good Deeds Day is a day focused on philanthropy, with the vision that every indi- vidual can help make a positive change for others and for the world. It was conceptu- alized by businesswoman Shari Arison. Good Deeds Day was initiated with 7,000 participants in Israel in 2007. As of 2017, 2.5 million people volunteered from 93 countries, resulting in 6.7 million hours of service! Locally, volunteers, including members of BBYO, J.CORE, and Hadassah-WIZO, spent an afternoon at Edmonton’s Food Bank for the third year in a row. They sifted through donations of non-perishable food items donated by members of Edmonton’s broader community, preparing these goods for distribution to those most in need. Talmud Torah School also joined in on Good Deeds Day volunteers at Talmud Torah School (above) and the Edmonton Food Bank (below) the activities of Good Deeds Day for the se- cond year in a row. Dozens of parents, chil- dren, and staff joined together for a neigh- borhood clean-up. Furthermore, students collected donations for the Food Bank, juice boxes and granola bars for YESS, and sup- plies from the Humane Society’s wish list. Preceding this was an event-kickoff with do- nations of coffee from Wolf Willow Star- bucks and kosher cookies from Bliss Baked Goods. Thank you to all our volunteers and donors! This year, we are very pleased to have welcomed Beth Israel Synagogue, NCSY, and Jewish Family Services to Good Deeds Day! Rhonda Eidelman from JFS collected donations for grocery store cards for those in need at the kick-off event. Beth Israel not only had its own neighborhood clean-up, but also worked with NCSY to package Pe- sach Baskets for those in need of supplies for the holiday. Volunteers at Good Deeds Day were able to sign up to deliver these packages. Thank you to Andy’s IGA for making this project pos- (tzedakah), our fantastic group of volunteers creating a Committee with representatives sible by donating 20 boxes of matzah and 20 exhibited the values of klal Israel, not only from interested organizations in order to plan boxes of matzah-ball soup mix! taking care of our Jewish community, but of early and effectively this coming year. If your The work of the volunteer teams at all lo- our broader community as well. organization is interested in participating, cations was a great success. While meaning- The third local Good Deeds Day has in- please contact Elianna Lisan at elian- fully engaging in repairing our world (Tikkun spired our community to grow this fantastic [email protected] or (780) 487-0585 x207 Olam) and instilling the values of charity and impactful program even further. We are

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JUNE 2017 HaKol 7 Yom Hazikaron 2017 BY TAL TOUBIANA om Hazikaron l'Chalalei Y Ma'arachot Yisrael ul'- Nifge'ei Pe'ulot Ha'- יוֹם הזִּכָּרוֹן :eivah (Hebrew לַחֲלָלֵי מַעֲרָ כוֹת יִשְׂרָ אֵל וּלְנִפְגְעֵי -Is Israel's offi (פְּעוּלוֹת הָאֵיבָה cial Remembrance Day. As of Yom Hazikaron this year (2017), 23,544 Israelis (and lone sol- diers – serviceman or women without imme- diate family in Israel) have lost their lives in the struggle that led to the establishment of the State of Israel while on active duty in Is- rael’s armed forces and victims of terrorism. Our community Yom Hazikaron’s service was held on Erev Yom Hazikaron, May 30th, at the Beth Shalom Synagogue. This year, the service started with a siren followed by the reading of El Male Rahamim by Rabbi Fried- man and Yizkor by Dr. Eytan Wine, followed by a D’var Torah by Rabbi Kliel. Participants read letters, poems and songs written by be- reaved parents and siblings. The ceremony was followed by an evening of Israeli songs. We would like to thank the community for attending and those involved in organizing this service, especially Yaara Shabtai and Ben Yom Hazikaron at Beth Shalom Synagogue Ragosin.

JCORE Report BY YAARA SHABTAI We celebrated with the community on for Peaceful Conflict Resolution, and an Hon- CORE has had a very busy Lag Ba’Omer, and took an active role in plan- ors MA in Political Science, specializing in De- J few months. Here are a ning and executing Yom Yerushayim’s com- mocracy and Human rights from the Univer- few of the things we have munity unity celebration at Talmud Torah. sity of Haifa. been up to: JCORE sponsored the Edmonton Jewish Film Throughout the years, Yaara has volun- We organized a wonder- Festival and gave away movie passes using a teered and held leadership positions in non- ful Pre-Purim party for unique social media competition. Congratula- profit organizations in Israel and in Nigeria. adults and participated in organizing a family tions to the lucky winners! And last but not In 2013, she moved with her family to Ed- Purim Carnival at Fantasyland hotel with PJ least, we had a wonderful outdoor Yoga les- monton and became involved in the Jewish library and the Jewish Federation of Edmon- son and lots fun at the park on Health and community and the Jewish Federating of Ed- ton. Kvellness. monton, through JCORE and by chairing Yom We helped people find a place to cele- JCORE has an enthusiastic group of vol- Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut, and serving brate the Pesach Seder. unteers working together to develop a great on the Federation Board. JCORE members participated on Yom programming calendar for the upcoming Hazikaron - the Memorial Day for fallen IDF year. That said, we are always looking to for soldiers and victims of terror attacks. We lit a additional volunteers and board members. torch at the 69th Independence Day celebra- JCORE STAFFING UPDATE tion of the State of Israel, organized by the aara Shabtai has joined the Jewish Feder- Jewish Federation of Edmonton. JCORE Y ation of Edmonton team as Jewish Com- hosted two “Scotch and Speakeasy” events. munity Outreach Reconnect Edmonton This is our home-hosted parlour discussion (JCORE) Director as of April 1. series. At the first event, we heard from War- Yaara Shabtai was born and raised in Is- rant Officer Tom Millar, who talked about the rael. She holds the rank of Lieutenant in Is- Canadian Armed Forces mission in the West raeli Defense Force (IDF) where she served as Bank and how it affects Israel. At the second a Chief Instructor and a Platoon Commander. event, we hosted Dr. Joanna Lazier, a clinical Yaara earned an LLB with honors from Net- geneticist, on the topic of genetic issues in the anya Academic College - School of Law, a Me- Jewish community. diator Certificate from Neve Tzedek Institute Mettannah Jacobson and Jordyn Wright

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8 HaKol JUNE 2017

Yom Ha’atzmaut 2017 BY DEB SHATZ, EDMONTON JEWISH NEWS om Ha’atzmaut was celebrated in a truly Y joyful way once again in Edmonton. The Jewish Federation of Edmonton sponsored event was held at the Beth Israel Synagogue on May 2, 2017 in the beautifully decorated ballroom – perfect for a family friendly party in honour of Israel’s Independence Day. The party was co-hosted by Beth Shalom Syna- gogue, Jewish National Fund (Edmonton) and Beth Israel. The event got off to a great start with a delicious Middle Eastern buffet, catered by Eddie and Susan Yedgarova, that included falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, roasted egg- plant, fries and a variety of salads. The highlight of the evening was the out- standing music and incredible ruach pro- vided by Soulfarm – a popular American Jew- ish rock band based in New York City. Led by Grammy Award winner lead guitarist C Lanzbom and lead singer Noah Solomon, with Mitch Friedman on bass and Ben Antelis on drums, the group really rocked the BI Alex Goldberg with members of Soulfarm stage. The music was so danceable it had a pied piper effect on all the children in attend- The PM’s statement read, “Canada was Jewish Community also featured a torch light- ance who rushed to the dance floor in de- one of the first countries to officially recog- ing ceremony, for the second year, to honour light. At the same time music lovers in the nize Israel, and we are proud to call Israel our individuals and groups that are making a pos- audience were wowed by some amazing gui- partner and call Israelis our friends. itive difference in our community. tar licks and an eclectic combination of rock, “Canada and Israel are closely linked in JFed’s Director of Programming Orna folk, bluegrass and Israeli music. heart and in mind by common democratic Richter led the ceremony introducing each of Before the dance party got underway, Jew- values and close people-to-people connec- the torch lighters and the group they repre- ish Federation of Edmonton presented an in- tions. These provide the foundation of an ex- sented. The groups honoured this year in- clusive program to celebrate Yom panding bilateral relationship, which includes cluded Talmud Torah School, Maccabi ath- Ha’atzmaut. Emcee Alex Goldberg welcomed ongoing efforts to promote peace and stability letes, Camp BB-Riback, BBYO, NCSY, Hillel, the crowd and thanked everyone for coming in the Middle East. JCore, Aviv Dancers, Jewish National Fund, out to celebrate Israel’s 69th anniversary “Today, while we celebrate Israel’s inde- CHW, OPH, National Council of Jewish since statehood. pendence, we also reaffirm our commitment Women, Jewish Seniors Centre, Beth Israel, Hatikvah and O’Canada were led by Dorit to fight anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. Israel Beth Shalom, Temple Beth Ora, Jewish Fam- Kosmin accompanied by Ben Ragosin and and its people continue to face threats ily Services, CJPAC, JAHSENA, Chevra Kadi- the two later returned to the stage to perform throughout the world, including here in Can- sha, Free Loan Society, Edmonton Jewish a delightful selection of songs with a group of ada. We stand on guard against a resurgence Community Charitable Foundation and the students from the Talmud Torah School. The of anti-Semitism, hate, and discrimination in Jewish Federation of Edmonton. The individ- evening progressed with some comments all its forms. On this Independence Day, I am uals representing these groups were lauded from JFed President Ellery Lew followed by proud to renew Canada’s commitment to a for their dedication and have all been instru- JFEd CEO Debby Shoctor who read a state- safe and secure homeland for the Jewish peo- mental in building a vibrant Jewish commu- ment from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. ple, and to a lasting peace between all peo- nity in Edmonton. ples in the Middle East. Before concluding the formal part of the “On behalf of the Government of Canada, ceremony, Orna thanked the event sponsors, Sophie and I wish everyone celebrating Israel event emcee Alex Goldberg and the hard- Independence Day a Yom Ha’atzmaut working committee of volunteers who orga- Sameach.” nized every detail of the Yom Ha’atzmaut cel- The State of Israel launched its 69th In- ebration. She presented a bouquet of flowers dependence Day celebrations with a spectac- to the event chairperson Yaara Shabtai as a ular torch-lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl show of appreciation to the entire committee in Jerusalem focusing on key individuals who – Ben Ragosin, Eleanor Millar, Lili Cherno- through their actions and spirit contribute to mordin, Sahar Gasman and Shajar Gleiser. the building, prosperity and beauty of Jerusa- Then the music started and the dancing and lem. Following Israel’s lead, the Edmonton schmoozing began! Megan Karlowsky and Faren Hochman

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JUNE 2017 HaKol 9 Hillel Update BY MICHAELLA SHAPOSHNIKOV large part of campus life is not only lec- A tures, assignments, and occasional stress. Clubs and student groups are a huge factor that makes student life a lot more memorable and encourages making new friendships, in- volvement in the community, and is great way to get out of the house. The Jewish Federation Hillel is one of those clubs. My name is Michal (Michaella) Shaposh- nikov, I am a Science student at the University of Alberta, and I am the vice president of Hil- lel of Edmonton. Hillel is a student group that engages many young adults from varied Jew- ish backgrounds and connections into a wel- coming community atmosphere. Making con- nections with other Jewish individuals and keeping a strong Jewish identity remains one of Hillel’s main values. Throughout the past year, Hillel hosted many fantastic events that allowed for wide networking opportunities as well as building a strong community - not only in Edmonton, Hillel at a terrarium workshop at Fleur’s Flowers in West Edmonton Mall but across Canada. From several Lunch ‘n Learns, where members are treated to a deli- aspects in addition to many events such as Hillel is a large part of Jewish student life cious kosher lunch with guest speakers from the favorite and recurring “Jews and Brews” - and contributes so much to the lives of many Ontario, to Terrarium-building workshops where all Jewish students in Edmonton join students. Hosting great events with great peo- served with kosher sushi, to the very recent together at one of the bars on the University ple, building a strong Jewish community on a “Jews Schmooze and Canoes” where the Hillel of Alberta campus. The student group is also local and national level, and holding strong groups from both Calgary and Edmonton planning on spreading awareness of the Mid- connections throughout Canada are some of shared an adventure-filled weekend at Camp dle East crisis, working against the anti-Israel the major purposes of The Jewish Federation BB Riback near Red Deer, Alberta. BDS movements using accurate facts and Hillel. Hillel is continuing on full force as we ap- peaceful talk, as well as learning more about Did I mention the beer is on us? proach the next academic year with several our beautiful Jewish traditions and faith.

Western Donor Appreciation Event he annual Western Donor Appreciation T Event took place this February in Palm Springs, California. This is an annual event of JFC-UIA Canada Coast-to-Coast commu- nities, including Edmonton, Calgary, Van- couver and Winnipeg. This year’s event was hosted at the Imago Gallery in Palm Springs by the Vancouver community. It gives the member communities a chance to thank their top donors and to allow them to hear from an interesting guest speaker. This year’s speaker was Mort Naiman from the Joint Distribution Committee, one of our in- ternational beneficiaries which supports poor Jews in the Ukraine. It also gives mem- bers of these communities who winter in the south a chance to reconnect and foster old friendships and new connections. Thank you to all who attended and to the organiz- ers and staff for putting the event together. Orna Richter, Josh & Michele Miller and Marshall & Debby Shoctor

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10 HaKol JUNE 2017 Security Message BY TAL TOUBIANA ou have all seen the hor- Y rific media reporting on the attack at Manchester Arena on May 22nd followed by the attack on the Lon- don Bridge and the nearby Borough Market on June 3rd. My heart, thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Now, more than ever, I encour- age our partners and community organiza- tions to review and update their security plans on a regular basis. This is why we recently held a Security Seminar at the Beth Shalom Synagogue with CIJA’s National Security Advisor Ryan Hart- Shawn Ayotte of Ekota IT, Const. Trevor Shelrud of the EPS Hate Crime Unit and Ryan Hartman, man. We were also privileged to hear a x CIJA’s Director of The National Community Security Program presentation by the EPS Hate Crimes Unit, and a presentation on Cyber Security from can be put in place or existing capabilities en- Physical security may also work in the form of Ekota Central IT solutions. hanced to help disrupt hostiles by detecting surveillance system (ie, Cameras). It is inherently difficult to protect against and deterring them. • Where proportionate, ensuring blast mitiga- these types of attacks in crowded public Minimizing the immediate impact of any tion measures are in place and effective such places but there are measures that can be im- attack can be achieved in three ways: as laminated glass or door film. plemented in order to reduce your vulnerabil- • Ensuring you have plans in place and staff Ensuring the safety and security of our ity to attack. These include those which can appropriately trained to respond to an attack, community is a key priority for us. This objec- help mitigate the immediate effects of these in accordance with the threat such that casu- tive cannot be met by the Jewish Federation types of attacks and those which can help dis- alties can be minimized. As simple as keeping of Edmonton alone. Only through working rupt an attack through identification of suspi- your security protocols up to date and having with our partner organizations, and through cious activity, and disrupting the hostile re- regular drills at your facility. effective cooperation with all levels (JCLC- connaissance process - the information gath- • Ensuring that physical security, in particular EPS, CAC, CIJA and other national partners), ering phase that is a vital component of the appropriate detection capabilities such as can we achieve these goals. I firmly believe in attack planning process. physical screening are proportionate to the the importance of understanding terrorism Many of these measures are simple, prac- threat and implemented sufficiently. This can and its ever-changing strategies in order to tical and can be implemented rapidly using be done by training community members to better secure our community. existing resources at low, if any, cost. In open patrol your facility and alarm the person of Should you have any question, please crowded places, it may not be possible to contact about suspicious behavior on site. contact Tal Toubiana at [email protected] or deny access to the public. However, measures (780)487-0585 X204

Edmonton Jewish Film Festival Continued from Page 1 teachings, and present it in such a way as to make us think, laugh, relate and collectively Another Festival favorite, this year, was the move forward. Last year’s Earl Parker Award documentary Raise the Roof, the astounding winner, Adam Bentley, showed his short doc- story of a visionary husband/wife team of ar- umentary film, The Jewish Girl, about a young chitect/designers, who led a group of students Edmontonian woman, of Dutch origin, who and craftsmen in building a gloriously color- is trying to uncover the story of her family’s ful, full-scale replica of the roof of a 17th cen- experience sheltering a Jewish girl in Holland, during World War II. The film intrigued view- tury Polish wooden synagogue – an homage New this year was a selection of short ers and left everyone eager to know more to the hundreds of wooden synagogues in Po- films, shown before four of the feature presen- about the mysterious Jewish girl. land that were destroyed by the Nazis. tations. Ranging from the artsy, to the edgy, to Keep your eye on the Community Calen- Also, an audience favorite was the Israeli box- the offbeat, these shorts added to the richness dar for next year's Festival, to be held some- office smash, The Women's Balcony, which and diversity of the EJFF. time in May. The remarkable EJFF Committee provides a rare look into a closely-knit Miz- The Festival was host, for the second year, has set a very high bar for itself, and will not rahi community in Jerusalem. Beautifully to the Earl Parker Award for Jewish Film, fos- disappoint next year, bringing Edmonton an- acted, it has humor, drama and a strong mes- tering Jewish cinema in Edmonton, through other outstanding cinematic experience, that sage about what holds a community together. an annual prize of $1,000. This year’s award explores and celebrates our rich Jewish herit- went to Gregg Silver, who will create a film age. about his love for our Jewish culture and

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JUNE 2017 HaKol 11 PJ Library Children’s Programming is Growing BY DANI URETSKY oday, PJ Library in Ed- This number of participants is fantastic, having programs with partner organizations Tmonton is 250 children considering the size of our small community. and bringing the community together. strong. PJ Library is a Jewish In March, we celebrated Purim at the Fanta- If you have a child between the ages of six children’s reading and en- syland hotel together with JCORE. We had a months to eight years of age, then PJ Library gagement program offered record number of attendees, including a lot of is the program for you! Sign up your child for by the Jewish Federation of new faces, which we love to see at PJ Library. a FREE monthly, Jewish-themed book or CD. Edmonton for children from six months up to Once again, I would like to thank Yaara Shab- To sign up go to www.pjlibrary.org or for more age eight. It was started by the Harold Green- tai and JCORE for their tireless work in coor- information contact Dani at 780-487-0585 spoon Foundation in the US several years ago dinating such a successful program. We also ext. 205 or [email protected] and has spread to be worldwide. had a wonderful Havdallah dinner in April This is a valuable engagement program with Beth Shalom. Thank you to Yuliya Mas- not to be missed out on! sarsky for coordinating the dinner and pro- gram. In May, we celebrated Shavuot with an ice cream party at TBO, we had a fantastic time with crafts, stories and a lesson about Torah with Rabbi Chester. Thank you Regan Treewater-Lipes for planning such a wonder- ful program. If you are one of our PJ Partners and would like to plan a holiday-themed program, please do not hesitate to contact me. We love

UJA Announcements: Karen Oshry Appointed UJA Co-Chair aren is a long-time vol- K unteer with UJA, having been a canvasser for over 20 years. She has been in- volved with many other or- ganizations in the Edmon- ton Jewish community serving in various vol- unteer capacities, including organizing Ed- monton’s first Jewish Women’s Baseball League, sitting on boards such the Edmonton Jewish Playschool and BBYO, and by provid- ing pro bono legal services. Her community service follows in the footsteps of her parents and continues with her husband Ellery who is currently president of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton. Ellery and Karen have two chil- dren, Rayna and Noah, who have also been very active as youth members of the Edmon- General Consul Gail Baram speaking at the Federation Board Meeting during her visit this Spring ton Jewish community and continue to do so through involvement in Jewish causes in uni- Susan Schiffman Named New Director of McCord Museum, both in Montreal. Earlier in versity. Karen is a lawyer, and has been prac- Development, UJA Campaign her career, Susan held positions in marketing ticing law in Edmonton with Oshry and Com- usan relocated to Ed- and finance at American Express in New York pany since 1991. S monton in 2015 from and in public policy research in Washington, Karen joins Lisa Redmond, Montreal, where she was Di- D.C. She holds an MBA and an MSc in Natu- who is in the second year of rector of Development for ral Resource Economics. Susan's volunteer her term, as co-chair of the the Jewish Public Library roles include tutoring at the Youth Orchestra UJA Campaign. Together (JPL), a library and cultural of Northern Alberta's after-school program, with their team of canvass- centre. At the JPL, she led a 100th Anniver- and serving on the management committee ers and professionals, Fed- sary capital campaign that raised over $3 mil- of the Friends of the McGill Library. Susan eration’s UJA campaign is ready for another lion. Prior to working at the JPL, she served speaks French fluently, and is a great Franco- successful year. as a consultant in fundraising at the Douglas phile. She also loves travelling, reading, cook- Mental Health University Institute, and at the ing, and biking.

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12 HaKol JUNE 2017 ISRAEL PAVILION At the 42nd Annual Edmonton Heritage Days Festival

Be a part of Edmonton’s summer festival scene by joining the Israel Pavilion volunteer team. Sunday, August 6th www.volunteersignup.org/7PB3A Monday, August 7th www.volunteersignup.org/B8Q8P

To volunteer, please contact Christina Tsipora Reboh at (780) 982-9477 or [email protected]

Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Edmonton. For more information about the Festival please contact Tal Toubiana at (780) 487-0585 ext.204 or [email protected]

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