Rabbi Lynn Greenhough represents a series of firsts for the Victoria Jewish community. (photo from Kolot Mayim) When Lynn Greenhough is officially installed as rabbi of Kolot Mayim Reform Temple in Victoria tonight, Sept. 6, she will bring with her…
Left to right, Sasha Gerson, Joanna Wasel and Frances Belzberg will be honoured by CHW on Sept. 22. (photos from CHW Vancouver) Welcome to September! A few signals that summertime is ending are the kids going back to school, the…
“Curiosity,” photo by Liron Gertsman. One of the most important issues we should be grappling with nowadays is the preservation of our habitat. At the forefront of the nature preservation movement are photographers and one of them is Liron Gertsman,…
It is the season of new beginnings: new school year, newly turning leaves and a new Jewish year. On a leisurely drive on Labour Day Monday in suburban Vancouver, bright orange pumpkins that weren’t there last time we passed had…
For many of us, it’s the beginning of the year. Not the year that starts with Rosh Hashanah. I mean, the academic year. If you’re a student, a student’s parent or a teacher, professor or other education professional, the beginning…
Sandra Bernhard performs at the Chutzpah! Festival Oct. 31. (photo by J. Graham) The Chutzpah! Festival returns during a new late-fall time period – from Oct. 24 to Nov. 24 – with performances at the Rothstein Theatre, Vogue Theatre, Rickshaw…
Artists of Ballet BC in a previous production of Bill. (photo by Cindi Wicklund) Ballet BC’s 2019/20 season marks its 34th anniversary year, as the company continues to celebrate life as movement. The new season features a North American première,…
Israeli mandolinist Avi Avital joins Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for a concert in the spring. (photo from vancouversymphony.ca) The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s 101st season opens Sept. 20-21 at the Orpheum Theatre with Canadian diva Adrianne Pieczonka singing Franz Schubert’s orchestrated lieder,…
Brentano String Quartet (photo by Juergen Frank) Brentano String Quartet launches Music in the Morning’s new season at Vancouver Academy of Music Sept. 11-12 and at Christ Church Cathedral Sept. 13. The quartet – Mark Steinberg (violin), Serena Canin (violin),…
Bangarra Dance Theatre (photo by Edward Mulvihill) DanceHouse’s new season, October 2019 through May 2020, showcases the work of four new companies to DanceHouse audiences and two returning favourites. This season’s offerings highlight a diverse range of artists who are…
פארק קפילנו (Markus Säynevirta) ונקובר: העיר מספר אחת ביבשת אמריקה – חלק ב’ פארק פופולרי נוסף, הנמצא בעיר הסמוכה צפון ונקובר – הוא פארק קפילנו שמראה את הצד הפראי של האזור. האטרקציה המרכזית בו היא גשר תלוי שמורכב משבעה קטעים…
Shoresh executive director Risa Alyson Cooper and Mati Cooper plant a tree. (photo from Shoresh) Risa Alyson Cooper, who was raised in the Toronto suburb of Thornhill, was road-tripping across the country with a friend about 20 years ago when…
Isaac Herzog, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel. (photo from JFGV) Isaac Herzog was elected chair of the Jewish Agency for Israel in August 2018. The past year has seen him hit the ground running in the unique role…
Janoah Bailin in SpinS. (photo from Janoah Bailin) In anticipation of this year’s Vancouver Fringe Festival, which runs Sept. 5-15 at various locations throughout the city, the Jewish Independent interviewed some of the Jewish community members participating in the festival…
Okanagan Jewish Community Association president Steven Finkleman explains Jewish prayer books. (photo by Don Plant) It sounds like a joke – a Muslim and a Jew walk into a Tim Hortons. But there’s no ethnic punch line in this story.…
The sentencing of a notorious hate promoter in Toronto last week is, in some ways, evidence that our country’s laws and norms against targeting identifiable groups are working. James Sears, editor of Your Ward News, a propaganda sheet distributed periodically…
In a story that is positive and uplifting, Rabbi Adam Stein, associate rabbi of Vancouver’s Congregation Beth Israel, wrote a piece in Canada’s Anglican Journal, which describes itself as the largest faith-based publication in North America. In the article, Stein…
At the recent General Synod [of the Anglican Church of Canada in July], I had the pleasure of speaking from what we in Judaism call the bimah; literally, the “stage.” I sat next to extremely kind and welcoming incoming and…
This diary note from Molly Dexall, recalling events from Sept. 2, 1939, was found by her son, Fred Dexall, and Alex Krasniak, community support worker at Yaffa House, in one of Dexall’s old binders. It was written by his mother,…
Left to right are Shirley Barnett, Michael Schwartz, Sam Sullivan, Julian Prieto, Margaret Sutherland and Alysa Routtenberg. (photo from Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia) The Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia was pleased to welcome Sam Sullivan,…
A group of people at a Hillel gathering, 1970. Back row, left to right: unidentified, Richard Bass, Rabbi Marvin Hier, Bob Golden, unidentified, unidentified. Front row, from left: unidentified, unidentified, unidentified, Hildy Groberman. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.11673) If…
(photo from Ashernet) Israeli President Reuven Rivlin talks to Rabbi Eitan Shnerb at Hadassah Medical Centre in Ein Kerem on Aug 26. On the right is Shnerb’s son, Dvir, 19, who was also seriously wounded in a bomb blast near…
Joseph’s Tomb, inside the gate. (photo by Gil Zohar) “The bones of Joseph, which the Children of Israel brought up from Egypt, were buried in Shechem in the portion of the field that had been purchased by Jacob.” – Joshua…
אחד המקומות הפופולריים בה הוא סטנלי פארק, שהוא אתר היסטורי לאומי. (flickr) ונקובר: העיר מספר אחת ביבשת אמריקה – חלק א’ במרץ שנה שעברה פרסמה חברת הייעוץ הבינלאומית מרסר את דירוג הערים הכי טובות לגור בהן בעולם ואף אחד בוונקובר…
Zena Simces and Simon Rabkin (photos from organizers) A first-annual event next month aims to mobilize individuals and groups to tackle issues of human rights in a comprehensive way. The Simces and Rabkin Family Dialogue on Human Rights, on Sept.…
Left to right are Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University Vancouver president Stav Adler, CFHU Vancouver executive director Dina Wachtel and Hebrew U’s Prof. Yoram Yovell. (photo from CFHU Vancouver) The happiest time in the average person’s life is when…
Conservative candidate Chani Aryeh-Bain, left, and activist Ira Walfish at Federal Court in Toronto on July 16. (photo by Ron Csillag/CJN) Last month, Elections Canada announced that it will not recommend that the date of the next federal election be…
As a teenager in the United States, I was in a public high school marching band. My parents worked to make sure our family was together for an early Friday night Shabbat dinner, even when football games were on Friday…
The U.S. president accused Representative Rashida Tlaib of a political stunt when the American politician of Palestinian descent rejected Israel’s offer of permission to visit the West Bank on humanitarian grounds. Israel’s government had first announced that it would permit…
Zach Segal will represent the Conservative party in the Oct. 21 federal election in the riding of Vancouver Granville. (photo from Zach Segal) While Conservatives across Canada will spend the weeks leading up to the federal election reminding voters of…
