Isobel Mackenzie, seniors advocate for the Province of British Columbia, was the keynote speaker at the Changing Landscape: Pathways Ahead forum Nov. 27. (photo from Jewish Federation) “Plan for tomorrow!” That’s the message from Isobel Mackenzie, seniors advocate for the…
Left to right: Archbishop JohnMichael Miller, Dr. Gregg Gardner, Fr. Nick Meisl, Dr. Jay Eidelman and RabbiJonathan Infeld. (photo by Rabbi Adam Stein) “This is a unique opportunity to learn and growtogether. What better way to open ourselves to that…
Dr. William and Ruth Ross (photo from Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University) Dr. William Hy Ross tears up talking about the motivation behind his philanthropic activities in Israel. Sitting behind a desk in his room at the medical clinic he…
Rabbi Joshua Samuels holds thecongregation’s Torah from Lithuania. (photo by David J. Litvak) Congregation Beth Israel in Bellingham, Wash.,started out its life as a Lithuanian Orthodox shul in 1908. Today, thecongregation is housed in a stunning building in the woods,…
Adi Shapira (centre) willcompete in archery in the 2019 Canada Winter Games. Adi Shapira, 16, is an up-and-coming athlete in the sport of archery. In Grade 10, she is part of the SPARTS program at Magee Secondary School, which is…
Left to right are Louis Brier Home and Hospital staff Jennifer Belen, Nicole Encarnacion, Carol Bucknor, David Keselman (chief executive officer) and Rozanne Kipnes with MLA George Heyman and Louis Brier resident Roberta Gilmore (holding the cheque). (photo from Louis…
Women at the Beth Tikvah Sisterhood spring conference, which took place at Beth Israel, 2000. Shelley Ail is the first on the right, but the others are unknown. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.11302) If you know someone in this…
(photo by Rebecca Zaidi) Three years ago, Rabbi Audrey Pollack of SolelCongregation in Mississauga, Ont., decided to follow the lead of Rabbi DebraDressler of Temple Israel in London, Ont., and create an interfaith peace campin Mississauga. Pollack, who hails from…
(photo from jewishcamp.org) Today’s world requires camp to adapt to an unprecedented pace of change. Through innovation and building “adaptive capacity,” the Foundation for Jewish Camp, which works with more than 180 Jewish summer camps, will be better suited to…
(תמונה: Alex Covarrubias) לאחר חמישה עשר חודשים של משא ומתן קשה ומייגע בעידן טראמפ, נחתם סוף סוף הסכם הסחר החדש של מדינות צפון אמריקה. אירוע החתימה בו השתתפו נשיא ארצות הברית דונלד טראמפ, ראש ממשלת קנדה ג’סטין טרודו והנשיא היוצא…
(image from Statistics Canada) Crimes against identifiable groups in Canada have spiked sharply, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada on police-reported hate crimes. Jews and Jewish institutions were the foremost targeted group, but hate crimes against Muslims comprised…
Dr. Jenny Melamed (photo from Jenny Melamed) “I’ve been in addiction medicine for at least 15 to 20 years now. I spend my time with people in addiction and recovery; that is all the work that I do. I believe…
The news is not good. Hate crimes are up almost everywhere in the world one cares to look. A Statistics Canada report on police-reported hate crimes in Canada erases whatever smug superiority Canadians may have been feeling when watching rampant…
Chanukah came early this year, and I hope you had a fun one. Now that it’s almost over, it can be a long dark vacation for those of us who do not observe anything on Dec. 25. I say this…
Shanie Levin and Al Stein opened the JSA Empowerment series season Nov. 30. (photo from JSA) The first Jewish Seniors Alliance Snider Foundation Empowerment Series session of the 2018/19 year was on the theme of “Renewing and Reinventing Yourself as…
Isabella: What do you do that makes you very happy? Connor: I like to play with my mommy. Isabella: Well, if you find something that makes you happy, that’s what you should do. (photo by Jocelyne Hallé) *** As part…
The theme of Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi Persecution and the Quest for Justice (Oxford University Press, 2018), the new book by eminent English historian Mary Fulbrook, is justice. Or, rather, injustice, as she exposes how ex-Nazi perpetrators, and bystanders to…
Left to right: Inbal Krayes, Morris Kahn, Sylvan Adams and Dr. Ido Anteby at the Israel Aerospace Industries facility in Yehud, Israel. (photo from SpaceIL) On Nov. 19, SpaceIL announced that Canadian billionaire and businessman Sylvan Adams, who brought the…
YMCA’s new bell. (photo by Ashernet) Ever since the YMCA opened on King David Street in Jerusalem in 1933, the building, designed by Arthur Lewis Harman (of New York’s Empire State Building fame), has been a famous landmark; in particular,…
חבר מפלגת הדמוקרטית החדשה צ‘רלי אנגוס: “פייסבוק איבדו את האמונה מצד הקהילה הבינלאומית.” (צילום: Marc DeMouy) הוועדה הבינלאומית למאבק במידע מוטעה התכנסה לאחרונה בלונדון לדון בהתנהלות העסקית של פייסבוק, לאור מחדליה הרבים בתחום אבטחת מידע ופרסום מידע מוטעה בבחירות בארה”ב…
Yefim Bronfman performs Johannes Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the Orpheum Dec. 6 and 8. (photo from VSO) “I don’t think it can be overstated, the significance of having an artist like Yefim Bronfman,…
Jewish tradition says that the chanukiyah should be illuminated in a window where it can be seen from the outside. This intersection of private celebration and public visibility is part of the holiday and, in places like Canada, where multicultural…
The University of Manitoba is now accepting applications for its interdisciplinary master’s degree in human rights. (screenshot) The first interdisciplinary human rights graduate degree program in Canada will be starting soon, spearheaded by the director of peace and conflict studies…
(image by Jim Andrews) Almost half of Adeena Karasick’s latest volume of poetry, Checking In (Talonbooks, 2018), is comprised of whimsical Facebook status updates, most of which have deeper meaning on second and third thought. Together, they speak, as the…
In Lakia, Israel, there are 160 women throughout the village who are responsible for designing and developing embroidery materials. (photo from Michelle Sitbon) Our trip took us to the southern part of Israel, where we traveled to Beersheva. There is…
The annual American Jewish Press Association’s Simon Rockower Awards recognize excellence in Jewish journalism. Once again, the Jewish Independent has been honoured with a Rockower for its work, winning first prize in its circulation category for editorial writing. The JI’s…
Dr. Carol Herbert (photo from Western University) Vancouver’s Dr. Carol Herbert, professor emerita of family medicine and adjunct research professor of pathology at Western University, was awarded an honorary doctor of science, honoris causa (DSc), at the Oct. 24 afternoon session…
Students in grades 6 and 7 hand out sandwiches on the Downtown Eastside Nov. 15. (photo from RJDS) On Nov. 15, 60 students from Richmond Jewish Day School and Az-Zahraa Islamic Academy went to the Downtown Eastside to meet the…
(photo from libreshot.com) Most people are super-excited about starting some sort of a nutrition and wellness plan, especially leading up to a celebration such as a new year, and after all of the holiday indulgences many of us enjoy over…
Selling bagel sandwiches at a Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver Chanukah event, circa 1990. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.18422) If you know someone in this photo, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish…
