May-Jun 07 - Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture

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Peretz Papers
Newsletter of the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture
May – June 2007
I.L. Peretz
The next issue of Peretz Papers will be published in late August. Have a great summer!
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe …
Ever wonder what Jabberwocky sounds like in Yiddish Find out at
The Vancouver Jewish Folk Choir’s
Searle Friedman, Founder
Annual Spring Concert
Sunday June 10, 2:30 pm
Conductor: David Millard; Accompanist: Elliott Dainow
Fraytik Tsu
Nakht
Please join us for our popular
monthly secular Shabbes
observation: Candle lighting,
wine, challah, a fabulous
potluck meal, and a talk by a
guest speaker.
The featured work at this year’s
concert will be Yomervokhets, by
Lev Karol (a.k.a. Jabberwocky,
by Lewis Carroll), set to music
especially for the choir by conductor
David Millard. In addition, the
choir will perform an eclectic mix of
works in Yiddish and Hebrew, with
a focus on the songs of Mordechai
Gebirtig.
Tickets: $15.00. Reservations
advised.
The choir always welcomes
new members.
For information, phone
Donna, 604-325-1812
Special guest artist,
back by popular demand:
Claire Klein Osipov,
accompanied by
Wendy Bross Stuart
The Vancouver
Jewish
Folk Choir
is thrilled to
announce that
Claire has
agreed to be
the Guest Artist at the Vancouver Jewish
Folk Choir’s annual Spring Concert.
If you missed the gala concert, or if
you want another chance to see Canada’s
foremost interpreter of Yiddish songs, or
if you want to experience how a
maestra brings traditional Yiddish songs
and songs from the Yiddish theatre alive,
you won’t want to miss this performance!
To attend, you may bring
a dish (couples please bring
double-sized dish or two
dishes) or pay $10/person.
Please RSVP to Gallia,
604-322-6077.
Guest speakers/topics:
May 18, 6:30 pm: Seemah
Berson: Talk, slide and photo
show, questions and answers
about her recent visit to China.
June 15, 6:30 pm: Lorne
Balshine: Evolution of
Contemporary Canadian
Inuit Sculpture. Talk and slide
show.
Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture 6184 Ash Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V5Z 3G9
604-325-1812 info@peretz-centre.org www.peretz-centre.org

In cooperation with the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, we are proud to present
Friday Night at the Movies
May 11th, 7:00 pm
Short: Waiting for Woody Allen
A humourous “appeteaser” parodying Samuel
Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Two Hassidic men, disillusioned
with religion, therapy and their own friendship,
wait on a bench in Central Park for Woody Allen to
come and give meaning to their lives.
Feature Film: So Long Are You Young: Samuel Ullman’s
Poem and Passion
The astonishing power of words to inspire generations
is the subject of this engaging documentary. Beginning
with the line “Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of
mind,” the poem Youth was written in 1917 by 77-yearold
Samuel Ullman, a Jewish immigrant to the US. In
post-World War II Japan, the poem inspired a generation
thirsty for hope, and its influence is still cited. Layered
with interviews, historical footage and photographs, and a fascinating timeline
of Ullman’s life and that of his poem, So Long Are You Young celebrates a
little-known literary sensation.”
Admission free; $5.00 cover charge for delicious refreshments!
This year’s annual Lag b’Omer picnic will again be held at Centennial Beach, Boundary
Bay Park, Tsawwassen, so that the children can enjoy a traditional bonfire.
Families will meet at the playground at 11:00. Please bring some pot luck finger friendly
food to share with the group.
Please email Adele Acrech [sw_adele@hotmail.com] to let her know that you are coming
and what you plan to bring. Or call the office:
604-325-1812.
Driving instructions:
Centennial Beach is located at 12th Avenue and
Boundary Bay Road in Tsawwassen, Delta.
Take Highway 99 south from Vancouver, and
turn off south at the Tsawwassen/B.C. Ferry exit
(Highway 17). Turn left on 56th Avenue and
then left again on 12th Avenue. This should lead
you right to the park.
Family
Friday
Night
May 25, 6:30 pm
you and your family are invited
to join our Sunday School families
for a secular Friday night childoriented
Shabbes observance.
Following a short ceremony
welcoming the Shabbes with candles,
challah and wine, we will share a potluck
supper. Then Sunday School
teacher Adele Acrech will lead the
children in crafts and games, leaving
adults time to socialize.
Please RSVP Louise, 604-
876-6979 or brownsteinl@
hotmail.com, and let her know
what you will be bringing to the pot
luck. (We will supply dessert, coffee,
tea and juice.)
Lag b’Omer Picnic: Sunday May 6, 11:00
May — June 2007 Peretz Papers

Mazel Tov, B , nai Mitsvah , 07
l: assistant teacher Shlomo Booklin.
l–r: Petel Vitis, teacher Bob Heyman, Zak Shilling, Taylor Cowan,
Samantha Fogel, Marlon Cowan, Marcel Ephraim, Adar Vitis
The Peretz Centre welcomes the families
and friends of these bright youngsters to their
B’nai Mitsvah celebration on Saturday, June 9,
2007. We are proud of them! (The celebration
is invitation only, but the community is invited
to the dress rehearsal. Phone the office for date
and time.)
To arrive at the celebration, the students undertook
a two-year program in Jewish history and
culture which covers topics ranging from the Ten Commandments to Jewish humour, from Tsedoke to the Holocaust
and Ghetto uprisings, from Jewish literature, music and art to Israeli history and current events. For the ceremony,
the youngsters each researched a topic of their choice for presentation:
Marlon Cowan: Albert Einstein
Taylor Cowan: Jewish musicians
Marcel Ephraim: What does it mean to be a mensh
Samantha Fogel: Jewish Mothers
Zak Shilling: Ralph H. Baer: Creator of the video
games console
Adar Vitis: Israeli War of Independence
Petel Vitis: Jewish story tellers
Registration is now open for B’nai Mitsvah class of ’09
Bennett Muraskin, Humanist Readings in Jewish Folklore $20
Rabbi Judith Seid, God Optional Judaism $20
Abraham Arnold, Judaism: Myth, Legend, History, Heritage and Custom from the
Religious to the Secular $15
Rabbi Judith Seid, We Rejoice in Our Heritage: Home Rituals for Secular Humanistic
Jews $13
Roz Davidson, Are Flowers Jewish $17
Now on sale at the Peretz Boutique:
Aaron Lansky, Outwitting History: Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books $20
Henry Rosenthal, Seemah C. Berson, eds, Canadian Jewish Outlook Anthology $15
Sheva Zucker, Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature and Culture $25
Rhea Tregobov, ed, Arguing with the Storm: Stories by Yiddish Women Writers $20
Claire Klein Osipov, Carol and Muni Basman, Sing and Learn Yiddish (CD and book) $25
Vancouver Peretz Institute t-shirts, blue, 100% cotton; 1 size large, 1 size small $5
Peretz Papers May – June 2007 3

Memories of the 60th
Anniversary Gala
Weekend
Part 2:
Gala Concert
Photos by Josh Berson
l-r: David Millard, Fabiana Katz
l-r: Wendy Bross Stuart, Claire Klein Osipov
l-r: Lisa Vernon, Claire Klein Osipov
l-r: Saul Berson, Michael Friedman
l-r: Claire, Fabi, Michael
Final moments 1
Final moments 2
May — June 2007 Peretz Papers

A Sheynem Dank!
PURIM: Thanks to your help, we had a
wonderful Purim Children’s party this year:
Adele Acrech, Grant Berezan, Bluma
Field, Sylvia Friedman, Anton Friedman,
Heather MacLean, Louise Miller,
Samantha Scott, Chloe Smith, and the
Sunday School parents.
WINE: Thank you Gene Homel and Mel
Lehan, for helping me bottle the current
batch of Shlos Peretz. It was fun!
LIBRARY: Al Stein, Michael Halber and
Bernice Kastner are working hard to catalog
and label significant bequests to the Kirman
library from the estates of Miriam Waddington
and Gersh Winrob. More on this soon!
SEDER: Better than ever this year, even
including the usual small glitches, in terms
of volunteer participation (including some new
people), number of guests (230), and I think we
even made some money—the final accounting
isn’t ready yet, but it looks very good.
I don’t know what I would do without Sylvia
Friedman, who helps in so many ways, from
shopping to moral support.
Thank you Rikki Hoffer, who worked hard
organizing the head table and the readings.
Special thanks to the set up and kitchen crews:
Karen Kaplan, the Bach family, the Taub-
Olafsens, the Neumans (that was Ben
Neuman as Moses, by the way), Ella Levitt
and several other members from MOST/
BRIDGE (Russian seniors group), Barb
Lehan, Al Stein, Shlomo Booklin, Jackie
Krystal, Dij Lazar, Seemah Berson, Gene
Homel, Rachel Mines. Vegetarian cooks:
Karen Coulter, Bernice Kastner, Seemah
Berson. At the door: Richard Green,
Yvonne Green, Gallia Chud, Howard
Hoffer.
Thanks once again to the Vancouver Jewish
Folk Choir, director David Millard and
accompanist Elliott Dainow.
And of course, special thanks, as always, to Iosif
and Genia Gershsteyn for the massive clean
up job they so graciously do after our big events.
— Donna Becker MacDermot
lqnyc stnedyzerp
Once again, that was an
amazing Third Seder! As
usual, there was great food,
music, readings and best of
all lots of people schmoozing
and just enjoying themselves.
Special thanks go to
the readers, Youth Group,
the B’nai Mitsvah students, the kitchen crew,
the Choir, the Hagode planners, and many
others. If you have suggestions for changes, additions,
and possible improvements, please let
us know; we aim to please. Oh yes, the sound
system will be improved; it has to be.
By the time you read this, we will have had our
retreat. Hope you were able to attend. I don’t
know how it will turn out but I do know that
those who attended, and I do hope that many
of you will have attended, will have found it a
worthwhile experience. Surely, many important
issues will have been discussed or at least
mentioned.* This is a necessary and important
event and should find a regular place on our
calendar of annual events.
Whatever may have been discussed, I know
that membership, or at least our lack thereof,
will be a priority item. If we do not have a
strong, committed, and appropriately large
membership, we will not realize our potential.
Our programs will suffer and our continued
dependence on the same old people (literally
and figuratively) will just burn them out. Our
beloved Peretz Centre will certainly suffer. It
is not necessarily that more is better but there
is a strong correlation between quality, variety,
morale, and numbers.
Your help is absolutely necessary. Spread the
word and they will come.
— Richard Rosenberg
* Richard’s predictions were accurate. A report on
the retreat will be ready for the next Peretz Papers.
P r e s i d e n t ’ s C o r n e r
Peretz Papers May – June 2007 5

Peretz Centre Schedule, May — June ’07
No classes May 20
Youth
p B’nai Mitsva ’07: see teachers for schedule
p B’nai Mitsva ’08: see teacher for schedule
p Sunday School: every Sunday, 10:30–12:30
Adults and Seniors
p Vancouver Jewish Folk Choir rehearsal: Tuesdays,
7:30–9:45 pm.
p Yiddish Class: Resumes in the Fall.
p Fraytik Tsu Nakht (Friday night Secular-Humanist
Shabbes celebration), 6:30: May 18: Seemah
Berson, Talk, slide and photo show, questions and
answers about her recent visit to China. June 15:
Lorne Balshine: Evolution of Contemporary Canadian
Inuit Sculpture. Talk and slide show.
p Sholem Aleichem Seniors: Fridays, 10:30 am.
May 4: Michael Vonn: “No Fly” Lists
May 11: Abba Brodt, Greater Vancouver Jewish
Demographics and Contemporary Community Challenges
May 18: Ann Sarte, Neighbourhood Design and
Planning and How it Affects Seniors
May 25: Video (TBA)
June: TBA
Special Events
Apr. 20, 6:30 pm
May 6, 110:00
May 18, 6:30 pm
May 25, 6:30 pm
Phone office for date
Jun 10, 2:30 pm
Jun 15, 6:30 pm
Fraytik tsu Nakht
Lag b’Omer picnic
Fraytik tsu Nakht
Family Friday Night
B’nai mitsvah dress rehearsal
Vancouver Jewish Folk Choir
Spring Concert
Fraytik tsu Nakht
Way to go Seemah! (She’s just
published her second book)
WHO STOLE THE PARK (was it one of the
usual suspects) by Seemah C Berson
Suitable for kids 3-6 years.
Price $13. for Peretz members.
Phone: 604-327-6799
In Memoriam
Dr. Mimi Divinsky, daughter of Peretz friend Betty Divinsky and niece of
longtime member Gallia Chud. We honour her memory.
Anne Ostry, longtime Peretz member and wife of member George Ostry. We extend our
condolences to Anne’s children, family and friends. We honour her memory.
Barbara Puskas, mother of Peretz friend Henry Grayman. We honour her memory.
May — June 2007 Peretz Papers