Jewish Federation has been in the news a fair bit this week, whether directly approached and quoted or whether a journalist has touched upon content that we have released in a Shabbat message or statement. Most recently, the Edmonton Journal has clarified the lawful assembly protected as a Charter right and whether permitting was involved or necessary in this article. We appreciate the many letters you have shared with us and want to thank Rabbi Gila Caine for her articulate and thoughtful piece that was also published in the Edmonton Journal.

I want to thank the Alberta Jewish News for speaking of their first-person experience having been at Heritage Festival on Monday, August 3 and for their thoughtful coverage, which also brought voices of volunteers forward.

In television and movies, conversations are had and investigations are solved within one hour. In real life, there are many elements involved in a thorough police investigation, and this takes time. There are also conversations and debriefs that need to be had by the volunteer board of Heritage Festival. These discussions require careful consideration as well. We will keep you updated as this evolves.

This also brings me back to a commitment we made to the community as outlined in this September 28, 2023 letter regarding Yaroslav Hunka and an endowment at University of Alberta. Yaroslav Hunka was feted at the House of Commons; his children created an endowment in his and his wife's names in 2019. Hunka served in the Waffen-SS Galicia Division. We called on the university to deal with this matter, and they committed to both reviewing their gift acceptance policies and returning the funds to the family. We later discovered that there were multiple additional endowments in question and had many questions about how these gifts were established and what would be done with them. While our focus shifted, it was something we continued to raise with leadership and were told that there were significant legal issues to sort through, including the ability to close an endowment and return the funds. This would have to be approved in court, and the university pursued a lengthy case.

In our most recent conversations with university leadership, the new gift acceptance and review policies and procedures have given us assurance that the university is being diligent and has followed through on its commitment. The court has issued a ruling this week that would allow for this particular endowment to be dissolved and monies returned.

If you refer to our earlier statements, especially regarding the monument in our city to members of this division, our preference locally is to educate the public about these atrocities. The university did consult with us, and we agreed that using the funds to further education and scholarship was paramount. You can read an interview with Steve Shafir, K.C. in this Canadian Jewish News article.

We are grateful to have been consulted by university leadership at every stage and welcome the university's commitment to expanding scholarship and education on the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, the crimes committed by them, in particular against the Jewish people as well as other complex aspects of twentieth-century history.

This moment should not be about erasing history, but about understanding it. As George Santayana famously said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." The atrocities committed by the Waffen-SS Galicia Division must be studied and understood so that future generations can learn from the past and help prevent such horrors from occurring again. At a time of unprecedented antisemitism in Canada, we are encouraged by the University of Alberta's commitment to educate students and academics on the dangers of historical antisemitism. By pursuing learning, dialogue, and understanding, we believe that as a community of Edmontonians we can move forward together with greater knowledge, empathy and respect for each other.

It has been a very full week for our staff team and lay leaders. In the midst of this, a group will attend the Pride parade together next weekend. We are planning for the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) campaign and an exciting launch, preparing to welcome Alma and Ofri (The Jewish Agency for Israel Shinshinim) to Edmonton at the end of the month, and are in conversations about speakers and commemorative programs this fall. Please watch The Bridge and our community calendar.

In case you missed it, I am also so pleased to announce that Bar Lavy is our incoming director of operations and programs for the Oshry|Kipnes Jewish Community Centre. I know his professional demeanor and fresh ideas will be an asset to our community, and this is another step in bringing the building to life. I recently had the opportunity to join Ellin Bessner on the Canadian Jewish News podcast to talk about the Oshry | Kipnes JCC, our vision for the future, and what this next chapter means for Jewish Edmonton. 

The L'Chaim campaign will close out this month; for this and other naming opportunities please contact Becky at bsaegert@edjfed.org.

Shabbat Shalom,

Stacey