My mushing and racing days are over now; Christine and I are focusing on parent- hood. But I still enjoy playing outside with our retired dogs every day after supper. Christine’s family had also worked with sled dogs for generations; her background is half Inuit and half European. After our daughter was born, we started talking more about Judaism, wondering what would be involved in taking on more observance. During the pandemic, we connected with a rabbi in Vancouver, B.C., who was sup- portive of the conversion process, fully knowing the challenges we face living in the Northwest Territories. The rabbi we were working with for an Orthodox conversion unfortunately moved on from his job, and we’re now pursuing it with a Conservative congregation instead. We observe Shabbat in a fully traditional fashion, and consider it a blessing. We’ve got timers on the lights, food in the slow cooker, and savour a day in which we don’t work, drive, or shlep. We get kosher chick- en and beef shipped in from Edmonton, Alta. My wife appreciates that the chicken is cheaper, and better quality than what you get here, without all the kishkes . I love studying Torah, especially on Shabbat, and I’m engrossed with the writings of rabbis from the Middle Ages: Rabbi Saadia Gaon, Rashi, Maimonides, Nachmanides, and Abarbanel—they all had enormous minds. It’s been heartwarming to see my daugh- ter learn a little Hebrew, especially through the brachot. Those blessings are better than any mindfulness app to help you slow down and be grateful. I love discussing Torah with Ruthie, and it brings us great nachas when she enthusiastically wants to discuss the moral and legal quandaries in Mishpatim or Bava Kamma . Of course, I make some ad- justments: “What would you do if your friend asked you to watch her teddy bear and then it got lost?” “Who should pay the vet bills if we were watching our friend’s dog and one of our sled dogs bites it?” Judaism has also made me more inquisi- tive: we went into her conversion process with a lot of questions, and we’ve done a lot of listening. Practising far away from a Jewish community is unique, insofar as we have our own little bubble. On one hand, we’ve created a space for our Jewish val- ues and traditions to grow and develop as a family, and on the other, I know that we can bring a little light into all aspects of our current life here in the Arctic. n
Dan Heilbrunn, 42 Inuvik, N.W.T. since 2008
I was born in Jerusalem but grew up in midtown Toronto, Ont., with secular par- ents—my dad is Israeli and mom is from Win- nipeg, Man.—who gave me a lot of freedom to roam around the city on my BMX bike. This led me to the riding scene, and I ended up meeting an Indigenous mentor, another BMX-er and an entrepreneur tool and die maker. He gave me a lot of support, and opened my eyes to the existence of Indigen- ous people in Canada, and lit the spark that led me to one day work for them. A few years later, when I was 26, I was looking for work as a teacher; jobs in the north were available immediately and paid well. There was a major street dog problem at the time. I noticed one chasing cars up and down the main drag, a black husky mix that I ended up adopting. On walks, she was always pulling my arm off until some- body gave me a harness; I got her to start dragging logs to slow her down. Soon enough, I realized I would like a dog
team. Looking back, it was pretty meshug- geneh, but I was getting a serious taste for mushing adventures and winter camping at some pretty frigid temperatures. I met my wife, Christine, as a spectator at a dog-sled race at the Inuvik Spring Carni- val in 2011. She seemed very interested in the dog teams so I introduced myself and invited her for a dog-sled ride. We quickly hit it off, and we eventually adopted eight more huskies. Now we have a six-year-old daughter, Ruthie. I learned so much about dog mush- ing from the Indigenous elders in Inuvik, N.W.T. They insisted that the dogs had to have the best food, the best bedding, the best equipment, and the best training. If we wanted to win races, we had to train them consistently day in day out, try not to run them in -30 weather or colder, and al- ways keep the dogs wanting more. Just like people, dogs will do fantastic things if they feel good about what they’re doing.
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