Twice a month, the Jewish Federation of Ottawa shares a Shabbat greeting from a member of our Board of Directors. This Friday, we are pleased to share this personal message from Gillian Presner.
Dear fellow community members,

I am honoured to have the opportunity to deliver this April 1st Shabbat message. I have so much optimism at this time of year; spring has sprung, and Passover, with its embodiment of Torah, tradition, and the steadfastness of B’nai Israel, is almost upon us. This year, most of all, I’m looking forward to sharing the Seder meals, storytelling, and singing with family, after two years of small immediate-family-only Seders. When I first started thinking of this message, it was going to be all about returning to a small sense of ‘normalcy’ in our Pesach celebrations and our takeaways from that as community members and as members of our own individual ‘families.’ Interestingly, when reflecting on this theme, I discovered that this week’s Parasha, Tazria, deals with contagious disease and the required period of isolation the afflicted must endure before reuniting with the community.

Now that the time has come to write, however, I find Ukraine and its people and the recent terror attacks in Israel are ever-present in my consciousness and I’m changing tack. I’m still optimistic because this weekend marks the beginning of the first full month of spring on both the secular and Hebrew calendars, and because as the days get longer and warmer it’s easier for our spirits to be lifted. Nevertheless, with the violence in Israel leaving 11 dead in just a week and the state of Europe/world today, it’s easy to get bogged down in tragedy.
At times like these, I like to follow the advice of the great Fred Rogers and “look for the helpers.” He said, “when I was a boy and would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me: look for the helpers; you’ll always see people who are helping.”  (See my P.S. below how you can help by volunteering.)

Thus, that is what I’ve done with the tidal wave of horrific reports of the unprovoked attacks of Russia on the Ukrainian people. Thankfully, in this instance there have been scores of helpers. Most of all, beyond the global citizens showing Ukraine support and the heroic leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, I’m struck by those who work for agencies from outside of Ukraine who are on the ground tangibly helping citizens stuck in its cities under siege. I’m thinking specifically of three incredible stories that I heard/saw the weeks before writing my first draft of this message: the stories of Israeli-Canadian hockey player Eliezer Scherbatov, Sharon Bass, and the work of representatives from the American Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), both major overseas agencies that are part of the Jewish Federations movement.

The work that the JDC and JAFI are doing on the ground both in Ukraine and at the borders is truly inspiring. JDC is bringing needed food and medicines to Ukrainian citizens trapped there, many of whom are elderly and Holocaust survivors. Additionally, they have set up temporary refugee camps at the Ukrainian borders to feed and temporarily house those Ukrainians lucky enough to escape. To paraphrase their words: “when we see someone come across the border, first we give them soup, bread, water, SIM card.” They’re not checking IDs or paperwork.

To these helpers, funded by Jewish Federations and agencies, people are people, regardless of background, race, or ethnicity. Further, JAFI is working tirelessly in neighbouring countries like Romania to get Jewish people safely to Israel and resettling them there. These helpers are doing unbelievably valuable work helped in part by money from worldwide Jewish Federations and donors like yourselves.  

These stories of helpers, heroism, and hope are definitely inspirational, but all the more poignant when you look at them through our incredibly privileged, free, and safe lens. We are incredibly fortunate to live here in a safe and free country, so it feels almost sacrilegious to compare our ‘plight’ of not being able to gather with extended family and friends for a holiday celebrating our freedom from oppression long ago to that of those who live their lives under much less favourable circumstances.

Nevertheless, in our little world, the past two years have been difficult in a number of ways and our Pesach celebrations this year will surely be a bit sweeter for it. When we sing the Dayenu at our Seder table in a few weeks, I’ll be thinking of our Israeli and our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, those who lost their lives or loved ones to COVID and related illness, and those who have suffered severely due to the past two years of uncertainty and restrictions. I will think of them and remember again how lucky I am to be in a safe environment surrounded by loved ones.

I wish you a very happy spring, Rosh Chodesh Nisan, and Chag Pesach Sameach filled with gratitude, storytelling, and songs.

Shabbat Shalom,

Gillian
P.S. Please join the community via Zoom on April 11 at 7 p.m. for a Volunteer Information Session to Help Ukraine Refugees. The session, co-hosted by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and Jewish Family Services, will explain the anticipated needs of the expected influx of Ukraine refugees and how people can help. To find out more and to register, visit here.