JINF
flflU
F(;w events in life are inonicnlous as the birth of a child. Commemorate your child's date of birth in the colorfully-bound Children's Book CSc/cr UaYeled) or any other occasion you may deem meannigful in your child's life - the «lart of school, graduation, awards. Each inscription is also accompanied with space for a photograph.
There arc many books for children, but only one .TNF Children's Book. For futher information call 257-5155,
JEWISH NATIONAL FUND Suilc 301 - 950 West 4l«t Avenue, Vanec.uvcr, 15C V5Z 2N7
Pick One Up!
Subscribe toihe Jewjs/i Bulletin Call 689-1520
VANCOUVER JEWISH HIGH SCHOOL
n"2
5365 Baillie Street, Vancouver, BC. V5Z 3M6 Tel: (604) 263-9700 • Fax: (604) 263-4848
^/"^ Recipient oftiie Highi Sciiool
I— ,
"3 ,
3: ,
to :
Rabbi Mordecai and Shayndel Feuerstein Award to a graduating student for academic excellence.
The Year2000 Award was presented to
Jordana Roth stein
lOiX
Continuity
ish cultural revival
In Vladimir, Russia, Judaism is being preserved.
ABRAHAM ARNOLD TORAH COLUMNIST
Vladimir is about 180 kilometres east of Moscow and is home to some 1,500 Jews. Many have left the town since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but those who remain are working hard to rebuild Jewish life and culture.
Natalia Itelson, 34, worked for almost three years helping to or-. ganize a new Jewish community welfare and cultural organization in Vladimir, Russia, beginning in late 1996. The group developed a welfare program, which provided food parcels, clothing and other items to those in need, as well as a Sunday school for some 30 children, a theatre group, a music ensemble, a family club and a youth club. Li 1999, the organization adopted the name Hesed Lev (Kindness of the Heart) and appointed Itelson as executive director.
Hesed Lev in Vladimir is part of a network of Hesed groups initiated by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in 111 communities in Russia and other former Soviet Union countries since the early 1990s.
JDC, or Joint, as it is known in Europe, provides the food for the Hesed Lev welfare program, including Jewish holiday parcels to 250 of a total of400 pensioners, monthly parcels to 150 people and one meal a day to 20 people five days a week.
A three-storey building in the centre of town has been purchased and is being renovated to serve as a "Jewish House" in Vladimir. The Russian Jewish Congress provided close to half of the $20,000 US purchase price of the building, with most of the balance coming firom individual donations. The cost of repairs and renovations is estimated at $53,000 and a substantial portion of this amount has been promised by the JDC.
In the midst of Hesed Lev's growing programs and the possibility of a funding shortfall, Itelson heard of the Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO) which sends volunteer advisors - usually retired professionals —all over the world to advise and assist business enterprises, government and nongovernment organizations on how to improve tfieir operations.
Several CESO advisors had been to Vladimir and Itelson decided to ask CESO for help on new sources of funding and overseas contacts. This was the first time a Jewish organization had requested help from CESO,
which is funded largely by the Canadian International Development Agency and is thus part of Canada's international foreign aid program.
As a retired Jewish professional, I was asked to imdertake the assignment. I agreed do so even though it meant travelling to Russia in the early winter. I was there for three-and-a-half weeks, accompanied and assisted by my wife, Bertha.
Soon after our arrival in Vladimir, we encountered the bright faces and sweet voices of today's Russian Jewish youth in a rehearsal of Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian songs. We also witnessed the rehearsal of a play in Russian about the story of the Exodus 1947, the illegal immigrant ship. The singing was by the music ensemble and the play by the studio theatre of Hesed Lev.
Many Jews have left Vladimir for Israel and other countries since the collapse of the Soviet Union. But many of those who remain wish to rebuild Jewish life and culture. This was the message I got from witnessing these activities and from a special meeting with Hesed Lev's board of directors.
They told me that, in addition to helping the needy, their first priority is to revive Jewish culture. "Russian Jews are living the same life as all the Russian people," said Natan Chateivich, chairman of the board, "but if wc don't maintain our culture we will die."
Yuri Tumarkin, another board member, and director of the House of Art Workers in Vladimir, stated that, in Russian cultural circles, there are some people who believe that Jewish artists, musicians and others are "destructive to Russian culture."
"We want to develop Jewish culture to interact positively with Russian culture," he said. "We believe the Jewish House should not only provide welfare but also help to raise young Jews to know their culture and thus protect themselves against anti-Semitism."
The board members spoke of anti-Semitic manifestations in Russia, of an anti-Semitic organization in Vladimir and other towns, of swastikas appearing on some homes and other incidents. Some time ago, a Jewish cemetery was vandalized. An investigation was conducted but nothing was done.
The regional government docs not intervene against anti-Semi-