Temple Kol Ami, Bialik Hebrew Day School break ground together

By Jonathan Ain --

A model of cooperation and shared facilities was unveiled recently as members of Vaughan’s Temple Kol Ami and supporters of Bialik Hebrew Day School gathered to break ground on their new joint building.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the building – part of York Region’s Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus - marks the first time in the GTA’s history that a synagogue and a day school have pooled their resources to create a top-of-the-line building that will be used by – and benefit - both institutions.

The 400 spectators on hand heard from keynote speakers from both the school and the shul, as well as performances from the choirs of both Temple Kol Ami and Bialik. Toronto philanthropists Leslie and Anna Dan, lead donors for Temple Kol Ami, were on hand as they shared a shovel to break ground on the site of the new building.

“It’s a historic day for our community,” said UJA Federation president and CEO Ted Sokolsky. “It’s a model of integration and cooperation that will be used from today forward when we think about building new day schools and synagogues in the GTA and in Canada.”

The Lebovic Campus, an initiative of UJA Federation’s Tomorrow Campaign, chaired by Gerald Schwartz and Lawrence Tanenbaum, continues to rebuild and revitalize Jewish Toronto in three separate areas of the city. The 50-acre campus, home to the recently inaugurated Kimel Family Education Centre – the northern branch of TanenbaumCHAT – will also host the 87,000 sq. ft. Schwartz/Reisman Centre as well as a wide array of agencies and institutions to serve York Region’s Jewish and non-Jewish communities. Once completed, the Lebovic Campus will also host the largest number of Jewish day school students anywhere outside of Israel.

“It’s symbolic that we are having this groundbreaking ceremony today, next to the brand new TanenbaumCHAT,” said Mark Skapinker, chair of Bialik’s Northern Campus Committee. “For a long time now, Bialik has had a partnership with CHAT. There are years when 80 or even 90 per cent of our graduates enter grade nine at CHAT. It’s just wonderful that we are going to be here.”

“This new home has been a dream of our congregation practically since we began meeting in people’s homes, basements and backyards,” said Kol Ami’s Rabbi Danny Gottlieb. “We know already that this will be a success, because wherever we’ve gone, we’ve managed to make our temporary homes holy and spiritual places. Now, in our very own home here on the Lebovic Campus, Temple Kol Ami will finally have a place to grow and to call its own.”

March of the Living: a life-changing experience

By Jo Michaels--
In late April every year, participants from across the globe take part in a unique program guaranteed to change the way they look at the world. The March of the Living (MOL) - sponsored in Toronto by UJA Federation - is a two-week international program featuring a trek to Polish concentration camp sites, coinciding with Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) followed by a trip to Israel to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day).

The goal of the MOL has always been to educate Jewish teenagers about the Holocaust and to inspire them to do what they can to ensure that the Shoah never happens again. Today it is not just young people who experience all that the MOL has to offer, but adults as well. The Adult March of the Living was modeled after the teen March and this year’s sojourn to Poland and Israel promises to be especially exciting and meaningful as Israel celebrates its 60th anniversary.

Participants will march the three kilometers from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest concentration camp built during World War II. Upon arriving in Israel, they will take part in tours of the country and Israel’s exciting 60th anniversary celebrations.

Cyndy Rosenthal, along with her husband Ron, will be chairing this year’s Adult MOL. Rosenthal, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, remembers asking her father, Jack Rapoport throughout her childhood, about the number B4449 tattooed on his arm.

“I didn’t truly understand what he was saying until I took part in the 2007 Adult March of the Living,” says Rosenthal. “This is a journey that everyone should take - Jews and non-Jews alike. It takes you back in time and allows you to see what can happen when power is violently abused. I had no true understanding of who I was or who my parents were until I walked those three kilometers and heard the names of those who had died being read out loud as I entered Birkenau. I felt the stories I had heard all my life come alive inside of me.”

The Adult MOL is open to all who make a minimum family gift of $1,000 to UJA Federation’s Campaign 2009. Those interested in participating in the year’s Adult MOL are encouraged to attend an information meeting on October 23 on the 4th Floor of the Lipa Green Building, 4600 Bathurst Street, or call 416. 631.5671.

Program honours memory of those who perished before their time

This year, through the UJA Federation Holocaust Centre of Toronto, more than 45 bar and bat mitzvah students have honoured the memory of a child who perished in the Holocaust before having the chance to reach this important Jewish milestone.

The Holocaust Centre’s Twinning Program enables bar and bat mitzvah boys and girls to share their special day in memory of a young Holocaust victim by having them select a child with whom to twin. Once they have chosen an honouree, each youngster conducts extensive research about his or her twin and writes about his/her history, background, town and fate. The Toronto youngster also makes contact with a friend or relative of the child who died in the Holocaust, who acts as a mentor to the student.

Recently, graduates of this program were honoured at the Lipa Green Building.

Survivor Bill Glied, who mentored his own grandson, Brandon Glied-Goldstein this year, spoke about his personal sense of gratitude.

“Thank you to the grandparents, parents, but most of all, to the kids, for all that you have done for the noble cause of remembering those who died in the Holocaust," he said. "Promise yourselves that your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren will remember, so that we, as a people, will live forever.”

Ariela Ravek, who had her bat mitzvah this summer, traveled with her family from Ottawa to address her fellow graduates.

“Participation in the Twinning Program was much more than research and education for me,” said Ravek. “It was a way for me to connect with my family. It was a remarkable way to bring to life the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust.”

For more information on this and other youth educational and volunteer opportunities at the Holocaust Centre of Toronto, please contact Mary Siklos at 416.635.2883 ext.301 or via e-mail: bnaimitzvah@ujafed.org

The future one step closer as Sherman Campus breaks ground

By Daniel Horowitz--A piece of Jewish Toronto history was written on Sunday, October 14 with the groundbreaking of the Sherman Campus.

The Sherman Campus – slated for completion in the fall of 2011 - will be a unique centre of community services located on 27.5 acres adjacent to the Don Valley ravine on Bathurst, north of Sheppard.

Named after Toronto philanthropists Barry and Honey Sherman (pictured at left with their children at the groundbreaking), the campus will be home to Jewish organizations and agencies dedicated to building community within a vibrant hub of cultural, educational, athletic and recreational activities.

While the campus will service the approximately 200,000 Jews living in the GTA, it will also be open to the broad community including people of all faiths and cultural backgrounds. The site currently houses the Bathurst Jewish Community Centre (BJCC), The Koffler Centre and the Leah Posluns Theatre, which will be completely re-built, and The Lipa Green Building for Jewish Community Services, which will undergo a major renovation.

The groundbreaking of The Sherman Campus is a milestone in UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s visionary $350 million Tomorrow Campaign, chaired by Gerald Schwartz and Larry Tanenbaum. The campaign, which is the largest non-profit infrastructure development in Canada, is building three centres of Jewish life in the Greater Toronto area. The groundbreaking of the 50 acre Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus in Vaughan took place in May, 2005. In the downtown core, the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre completed its renovation in November, 2004, and The Wolfond Centre for Jewish Campus Life opened in February, 2004.

“Today we write a new chapter in the history of our community and this outstanding city,” UJA Federation board chair David Engel told the approximately 400 community members who assembled for the historic event under a large white tent in a parking lot belonging to the current BJCC. “Fifty years ago, when we first broke ground on this site, who could have envisioned a Greater Toronto Jewish population of close to 200,000? Who could have predicted that Bathurst street north to Newmarket would flourish as a corridor of Jewish life?”

The groundbreaking of Sherman Campus is the culmination of 7 years of planning and envisioning by some of Toronto’s most notable leaders. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Engel honoured Wilfred Posluns, Al and Malka Green, the Martin Prosserman Family, Murray & Marvelle Koffler & Family, Barry & Honey Sherman and the Don Gales Family for their vision and commitment to making the Sherman Campus a reality.

“This historic groundbreaking speaks to leadership that boldly dreams, and to a community which is committed to building thriving centres of excellence that reflect our collective values, culture, history and ultimately, our future,” said Peter Cohen, chair of the committee overseeing The Sherman Campus development.

“We are investing in the community and in the future,” said UJA Federation president and CEO Ted Sokolsky. “This country welcomed us as immigrants and this is our gift.”

Bess Shockett z”l – a little lady with a huge heart

By Daniel Horowitz--While the woman synonymous with Yiddish in Toronto passed away this summer, her legacy lives on through a resurgence of the language and culture she loved so dearly.

In 1985, Bess Shockett z”l, (pictured at left), along with the help of volunteers Gerry Kane, Shirley Kumove and Les Nirenberg, established Friends of Yiddish, an organization through which she helped launch a number of innovative programs in and around the GTA. Bess remained its executive vice president until her death on August 27, four days shy of her 87th birthday. Professionally, she lent her expertise to UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s Committee for Yiddish as its director from1974 to 1989.

Bess’s countless volunteer efforts – which also included the Jewish Book Fair, the Holocaust Committee of the Miles Nadal JCC, the Jewish Theatre Committee and the Committee of Yiddish at the University of Toronto – resulted in her being named as North York’s Volunteer of the Year in 1993.

“Bess was a knitter; she knitted for her children, friends and acquaintances,” said Kane, in his eulogy. “The idea of Bess as a knitter is a good analogy to describe this quiet person. Her needles never stopped. In fact, just as she organized the wool to knit the little things, she organized her friends – knit them together to come on a journey with her, to organize the Yiddish cultural activities on behalf of UJA Federation that brought so much joy to young and old in Toronto. Without her drive and gentle, humorous spirit driving us, much of what we accomplished would never have been realized.”

Born in the Ukraine, Bess’s father moved the family to Montreal in 1925 when she was five years old. She grew up in a traditional Orthodox Jewish home where they spoke Yiddish and enjoyed different aspects of the culture, prompting her lifelong passion. Bess believed that it was vital for future generations to be aware of their heritage. She felt that Yiddish was a perfect tool to pass that tradition on to future generations.

“Yiddish was the language of mom’s home and her neighbourhood,” says son Michael, 52, a long-time UJA Federation employee and one of three siblings. “It was spoken everywhere, I’m sure, when she was young. English and French came later as she went to school, but Yiddish was always her first love. It truly was her roots, her connection to her family and her early life. Through her work with Yiddish, mom nurtured and encouraged young artists and performers. She loved seeing people achieve their dreams.”

When Bess and her husband Barry, who passed away in 1997, celebrated their 40th anniversary, they decided that instead of gifts, they wanted to do something truly memorable. They went on to establish the Shockett Yiddish Teachers Training Fund which has since helped a number of people pursue certification and attend seminars in Yiddish teaching.

“Community care is our Jewish legacy,” wrote Bess in her 2004 Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto Book of Life story. “With this fund, I know that Yiddish education – and our rich Jewish culture – will continue to develop and flourish for my grandson and future generations. In the future, I would like Yiddish to become an integral part of Jewish education. Let us not be in denial of our Eastern Jewish heritage. It has a history, a language, literature and culture.”

“For 25 years Bess corrected my Yiddish grammar, taught me new needle point stitches and provided me with an insight into the early years of the Jewish community,” recalls Susan Jackson, executive director, Latner Centre for Jewish Knowledge and Heritage. “Bess’s commitment to Yiddish culture was evident in everything she did. The annual Toronto Yiddish concert was her baby and a wonderful event it always was.”

“Bess was a pioneer in our community in her unceasing efforts to keep Yiddish alive, meaningful and flourishing,” says UJA Federation president and CEO Ted Sokolsky. “In so many ways and in so many different areas she represented everything important about a community’s yearning to cherish its past, celebrate its presence and build for the future.”

“Mom is still incredibly fresh in my mind,” says son Michael. “Such a little lady; such a big presence.”

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Memorial donations may be made to the Shockett Yiddish Teachers Training Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto. For more information, call 416.631.5703 or email jewishfoundation@ujafed.org