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 Kevin Barwin.
Dear Friends,

As the first night of Chanukah approaches this Sunday, and 2021 edges toward a close, it is a good opportunity to look back on the past year to acknowledge and celebrate the successes of our community. When thinking about 2021, as an optimist, I try to look at it as a glass-half-full. Finally, life is slowly getting back to “the new normal.” Our kids have gone back into classrooms, in-person events like the SJCC Sports Dinner were able to resume, gym and fitness classes at the Soloway JCC have reopened, and once again, the Bess and Moe Greenberg Family Hillel Lodge is open to caregiver visits. Our community has started to figure out how to best deliver services, whether virtually, in-person or in a hybrid fashion, to try to connect as many people as possible. Over the year, I have gained a much greater understanding of how important real connections, especially face-to-face, can be. As Joni Mitchell once said, “you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.”  
Although it’s been another challenging year for our Jewish Federation agencies, they have used creative problem-solving to work through these challenges and found many ways to offer programs to connect with their respective clientele. As Chair of the Grants and Evaluation Committee, I’ve been humbled by our agencies’ ability to deliver outstanding programs in new ways they would not have dreamed of two years ago. A few examples include:

  • AJA 50+ partnered with the Bess and Moe Greenberg Family Hillel Lodge to deliver programs to our seniors. With technology, they have offered virtual tours of Ottawa museums and local historical sites.  
  • JET delivered an online 15-minute Torah learning session every day, connecting with the community consistently over the year.
  • Kehillat Beth Israel joined forces with Tamir to create a beautiful High Holiday choir.
  • Hillel Ottawa has already had over 120 one-on-one coffee meetings with students since September. Its Shabbat dinners are selling out with this week’s dinner expecting over 100 students. You can attend in person or pick up your dinner to go. Shabbat take-out!
I’ve also had the privilege to be part of the process to determine the distribution of Emergency Campaign funding. We have made careful considerations as to how we allocate funds to ensure that we protect the future of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and our member agencies. I have seen how these dollars have made a huge difference in our Jewish community. From extra funding for the Ottawa Kosher Food Bank to PPE and HEPA filters for Ottawa Jewish Community School, to increased funding for Jewish Family Services for their Care for the Caregiver program, we have made our community stronger and safer. I personally want to thank everyone who contributed to this campaign. I also want to thank our Jewish Federation staff, all our Jewish agency staff and my committee members who have all gone above and beyond what was expected of them to ensure that these funds were diligently and purposefully allocated. 
I believe that the story of Chanukah is reflected in our community’s story over the past year. As it’s told, a small quantity of oil used to light the temple's menorah miraculously lasted eight days. I have seen our agencies keep going and succeed this past year when they thought they didn’t have enough staff, energy, or dollars to get through it. 

I wish all of you good health, strength, resilience, and increased connection for 2022.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,

Kevin Barwin
Member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Grants and Evaluation Committee