NEWCOMER’S Story – David Litvak
“When I came to Vancouver from Winnipeg in 1991, I decided to connect with a Jewish radio program on Co-op Radio called the Jewish Anthology with Arie Chark. When I was in Israel, I was a disc jockey aboard the legendary pirate radio station, Kol HaShalom-The Voice of Peace so I thought it would be fun to produce a radio program here. I ended up helping Arie produce the show. It turned out to be a wonderful way to connect with the Jewish community in Vancouver. I eventually met several people on the show who became good friends. It only goes to show that you need to follow your passion and put yourself out there when you come to a new community.
When I first arrived in the city, I also attended a variety of classes and synagogues which was another great way for me to meet people as was checking out the JCC and attending events from The West Coast Jewish Social Club. My one disappointment is that I didn’t know that as a newcomer, I could have received a complimentary three month pass to the JCC when I first arrived. That would have been helpful. Oh well, Vot can you do? Regardless, hanging out at the JCC connected me with Jews in Vancouver as it is the Jewish heart of the city because it offers a broad range of facilities for everyone!
With other newcomers from South Africa and Montreal, I helped organize a Jewish Performing Arts Syhociety at the JCC called Tshyanik’s which ended up becoming Jewish World Beat and Bagels Without Borders. We used all three organizations to connect unaffiliated Jews and newcomers to the community. Now, like many other Jews in Vancouver, I rely on Yossilinks to find out what’s happening in our community!”
The Yossilinks team are all newcomers to Vancouver. That is no surprise as many residents of Vancouver come here from other places. In fact, they come here from all over the world. The Yossilinks team hails from a variety of locales including Israel, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan. We all have a unique story to share about how we first connected with the Jewish community in Vancouver.
