Author: freelancer

Tell your own “crankie” stories

Where Do Stories Come From? (fun vanen nemen zikh di mayses) on Nov. 9 highlights a poem from each of three Yiddish women writers: Ida Maze, Esther Shumiatcher-Hirschbein and Yudika. (Illustration by Cesario Lavery)

This year’s Chutzpah! Festival includes several opportunities for people to participate in the arts being performed. A prime example is Where Do Stories Come From? (fun vanen nemen zikh di mayses), wherein attendees of the Nov. 9 event at the Rothstein Theatre will be able to learn new music inspired by Yiddish poetry and, in the Zack Gallery, on Nov. 7 and/or Nov. 12, participate in a “crankie” workshop.

Where Do Stories Come From?, which is presented by the Chutzpah! Festival and KlezKanada – co-curated by the organizations’ respective artistic directors, Jessica Mann Gutteridge and Avia Moore – includes “new musical and visual settings for three Yiddish poems by celebrated Canadian women writers, selected and translated by Faith Jones, with accompanying visual artwork in the form of ‘crankies’ – a centuries-old art form in which an illustrated scroll, evocative of the Torah, is wound across spools set in a viewing window.”

The artistic directors decided early on to work with the poetry of Canadian women writers who wrote in Yiddish, said Gutteridge, “and there was no more perfect collaborator to work with on selecting the poetry than Vancouver’s own Faith Jones. For the musical work, we drew on the incredibly rich community of KlezKanada’s artists and were lucky that Sarah Larsson was interested in the project – she’s not only a gifted composer with a thorough knowledge of Yiddish music, but is herself a stunning vocalist and music director.

“We also spent a lot of time looking at incredible artworks by Jewish visual artists and ultimately selected Benny Ferdman, Ava Berkson and Cesario Lavery, all of whom bring an interest in Yiddish, diverse styles, and interest in visual storytelling to the project. As part of the project involves community participation, we also ensured that all the artists are skilled at and enjoy working with community of all abilities and ages.”

The idea for the event came after Gutteridge met Moore at a KlezKanada Summer Retreat in 2022.

“When the JCC Association announced they would be funding new community-based projects incorporating live music and storytelling with an emphasis on partnerships,” said Gutteridge, “we realized we had a wonderful opportunity to work together to share our assets – KlezKanada’s immersive creative residency environment and access to brilliant artists with knowledge of Yiddish culture, and the Chutzpah! Festival’s presentation opportunities.

“KlezKanada’s 2023 Summer Retreat theme was Yiddish film and, because it’s a very unplugged environment, had plans to explore the ‘pre-film’ illustrated story technique of crankies,” she continued. “We thought this art form would pair beautifully with the musical work being created, and would offer a very engaging opportunity to the community to participate in creating a multidimensional presentation together.”

Where Do Stories Come From? is supported by the JCC Association’s Making Music Happen program and Chutzpah! Festival’s music programming is supported by AmplifyBC’s Live Music Presentation Fund.

The event’s title comes from one of the three poems highlighted, one by Ida Maze. “It’s a poem that grabbed the entire group immediately and we knew we wanted to work with it,” said Gutteridge. “In the poem, Maze creates a strong visual image of a little house that appears to be abandoned, but as you approach you see that a fire is lit and, in the house, sit a grandfather and a grandmother sharing culture and stories with the children, and the stories are then carried away on the wind. For us, this poem really captured the idea of the project – that intergenerational cultural transmission is the key to how we survive and thrive and, in many ways, is a model for how we hope to see this project unfold. But I think the very notion that we pose this as a question invites everyone who experiences the work to ask themselves where they think stories come from.”

The other poems are by Esther Shumiatcher-Hirschbein and Yudika.

“Faith made a longer list of poems selected for their striking visual imagery and potential musicality and presented them to our full group of artists,” explained Gutteridge. “Right away, we all responded to the Ida Maze work and had to then narrow our choices to two more. We asked the artists to highlight which poems they found particularly inspiring and, as artistic directors, Avia and I also kept an eye on whether the selections were creating an interesting and balanced program in terms of style and theme. It was an enjoyable and smooth process and I think we all enjoyed kicking off the project together in this way.”

As for the workshops, Gutteridge said, “Ava and Cesario will be with us through the week to guide workshop participants through the process of making their own crankies, inspired by prompts from the poetry we will provide. While the crankies being made for the music event will be large scale, a wonderful characteristic of this art form is that it can be made any size using very humble materials like a shoebox or even a matchbox. With our partner the Zack Gallery, the work created in the workshops will be on display in a community exhibition, and our video director Flick Harrison will be on hand to help participants capture their crankies in action. Participants can opt to share their crankies and stories in an online video gallery. We hope we will see intergenerational groups making crankies together!”

During the week, Chutzpah! will also be hosting the return of the Flame, with their evening of storytelling on Nov. 6.

“The Flame’s artistic director, Deb Williams, will teach her remarkable day-long storytelling workshop on Sunday, Nov. 12, ending just before our final crankie workshop and the concert presentation,” said Gutteridge. “We hope that these projects together will inspire community participants to explore their own stories and find new and inspiring ways to tell and share them.”

For tickets to Where Do Stories Come From? and other Chutzpah! events, visit chutzpahfestival.com.

Following historic footsteps

Elam Rotem, founder and director of Profeti della Quinta, which plays in Vancouver Nov. 9. (photo by Theresa Pewal Photographie)

Swiss ensemble Profeti della Quinta, directed by Elam Rotem, brings Stars of  the Italian Renaissance: Monteverdi & Rossi to Vancouver Nov. 9. Part of Early Music Vancouver’s 2023/24 season, the concert takes place at Christ Church Cathedral.

“Salomone Rossi and Claudio Monteverdi are two composers we like very much,” Rotem told the Independent. “We find the fact that they were colleagues – they played together as instrumentalists and collaborated as composers – very interesting. Even more interesting is the fact that the Jewish singers and musicians in Mantua had this double musical life, where sometimes they sang madrigals and participated in the opera productions at the court (collaborating with Monteverdi and other non-Jewish musicians) and, at other times they sang Hebrew polyphony in the synagogue.

“In this program,” said Rotem, “we follow in the footsteps of those Jewish musicians from Mantua who, unlike Jews in other places (in Italy or elsewhere), participated in the arts. This particular constellation allowed Salomone Rossi to develop his polyphonic music for the synagogue, and it is also the reason why, despite the hopes of Rossi and his followers, this tradition never took off elsewhere.”

Rotem – who was born in Sdot Yam, Israel – has a bachelor’s in harpsichord from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and he came to Basel, Switzerland, at the end of 2008 to specialize in early music at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, from where he received his doctorate in a joint program with the University of Würzburg, in Germany. His PhD thesis was on early basso continuo practice.

“Throughout the 16th century, music was primarily polyphonic – typically composed of four to five parts. Towards the end of the century,” he explained, “new ideas led to the development of a new technique in which only two parts were composed: a vocal part and a basso continuo part – an instrumental bass line on which the player had to fill in the harmonies above it. The possibility of having only one singing voice allowed a much more direct and expressive communication with the audience and played an important role in the creation of early operas. The difference between the older polyphony and the new monodic style is so great that it changed the course of music history, and some examples of this will be heard in our concert.”

The origins of Profeti della Quinta go back to Rotem’s studies at Kibbutz Kabri High School, where he organized a vocal quintet with fellow students. Rotem is also a singer.

“I started Profeti in the corridors of my high school, wherever we could find some church-like acoustics” he said, “but the group only became professional after we won the York Early Music Competition in 2011.”

The ensemble now performs throughout Europe, North America, Israel and elsewhere. Focusing on the vocal repertoire of the 16th and early 17th centuries, the group “aims to create vivid and expressive performances for audiences today while, at the same time, considering period performance practices.”

About how he approaches this dual goal, Rotem said, “First and foremost, I’m interested in music from the period that I find interesting and beautiful. Then, I’m also interested in how it was performed and in what context – and, for that, you have to research and try things out. For example, we sing from (copies of) original partbooks and not from modern scores, so each singer has only his or her own line. This makes listening and making music very different. Then we also try to understand the music better. Finding out the motivations behind the decisions of composers, we feel that we can deliver their music better.”

In response to a question about how Rossi’s music is perceived with regard to its Jewishness – including his liturgical compositions – Rotem said, “It depends on what people mean by ‘Jewish music.’ If, for some people, Jewish music means Eastern European klezmer music, then Rossi’s music doesn’t sound Jewish. Rossi’s music is written in the language of his time – what we can categorize (if we must) as late Renaissance Italian style. If we compare the music of his prayers, for example, with the contemporary love madrigals (also his own), we see that the prayers are more solemn and simpler. But this is hardly surprising – the way composers created their music was based on the text, and so a heart-wrenching madrigal text would be composed in a very different way than a psalm praising the Lord. Another way to look at Rossi’s prayers is not so much as pieces of music in the normal sense, but simply the text of the prayers served on a plate of harmony – with the goal of elevating and glorifying the prayer.”

Joining Rotem (bass vocals, harpsichord and musical direction) from Profeti della Quinta on the Western Canadian tour that will take the musicians to Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary, are Doron Schleifer (countertenor), Andrea Gavagnin (countertenor), Lior Leibovici (tenor), Loïc Paulin (tenor) and Ori Harmelin (chitarrone, which is a kind of lute). After the concert in Vancouver, there will be a talk and Q&A with Rotem, hosted by Suzie LeBlanc, artistic and executive director of Early Music Vancouver.

For tickets to the performance on Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m., at Christ Church Cathedral, visit earlymusic.bc.ca.

Lanyi debuts in March

Israeli pianist Ariel Lanyi performs in Vancouver March 3. (photo by Kaupo Kikkas)

Israeli pianist Ariel Lanyi will make his Canadian debut on March 3, 3 p.m., at the Vancouver Playhouse in a concert presented by the Vancouver Recital Society.

Born in Jerusalem in 1997, Lanyi is now based in London, England, having recently completed his studies at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2023, he received the Prix Serdanag, a Swiss prize awarded by Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder, and was nominated as a Rising Star Artist by Classic FM. In 2021, he won third prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition and was a prize winner in both the Young Classical Artists Trust YCAT (London) and Concert Artists Guild (New York) International Auditions. Also in 2021, Linn Records released Lanyi’s recording of music by Schubert, with other releases also planned. Lanyi’s 2021 Virtually VRS recorded performance can be viewed on the Vancouver Recital Society’s YouTube channel.

Lanyi has appeared with orchestras in Israel, the United Kingdom, Argentina and the United States, and highlights include playing with the Israel Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the latter of which he will return to this season for Mozart K503. Other notable future engagements include his debut with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra at the Grafenegg Festival, a return to Australia at the Sanguine Estate Music Festival, followed by a tour to China, and the Stars & Rising Stars concert series in Munich.

An avid chamber musician, Lanyi has collaborated with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and Concertgebouw Amsterdam, as well as with musicians such as Maria João Pires, Marina Piccinini, Charles Neidich and Torleif Thedéen. He also recorded with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg under the auspices of the Orpheum Stifftung, as part of their Next Generation Mozart Soloist series, and gave recitals at the Kissinger Sommer, Fundaçion Juan March in Madrid, and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Lanyi’s March 3 performance in Vancouver will feature Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, Frédéric Chopin’s Mazurkas, Op. 59, and Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61, as well as Max Reger’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Bach, Op. 81. The concert will be followed by a talkback session. For tickets, visit vanrecital.com.

– Courtesy Vancouver Recital Society

Multidisciplinary approach – When the Walls Come Down

Racheal Prince, left, and Caroline Hébert in When the Walls Come Down, which is at the Rothstein Theatre Nov. 8 and 10. (photo © iiiiportraits)

“I think the performance is a really fun way to learn a little bit about Deaf culture,” Caroline Hébert, the lead actor and inspiration for When the Walls Come Down, told the Independent. “I hope people can make the time to try something different and I look forward to meeting some new people at the Chutzpah! Festival.”

When the Walls Come Down (WTWCD) will see three performances at the Rothstein Theatre next month, as part of the festival. A collaboration from Vancouver’s Dance//Novella, led by Racheal Prince and Brandon Lee Alley, the work highlights moments in Hébert’s life, “shed[ding] light on stereotypes and difficulties faced by many Deaf Canadians and tell[ing] a story of resilience and love,” according to the press material. It is performed with movement, music, projections and lighting, and in ASL with English voiceovers.

“Racheal and Brandon and the WTWCD team have been learning ASL,” said Hébert. “It’s really inspiring to me to see a group of people who want to create an environment where we can share ideas and our culture. I want to participate in more collaborations as I continue my journey as a Deaf actor. This is my first time stepping into a leading role for a one-hour show. I think, at first, I wasn’t really sure if this is something I could do. Over time, I realized that I can do it, and I can connect to many different people through my art form.”

The creation of WTWCD began in 2020, said Prince and Alley, when “our curiosity led us to explore the fusion of ASL and dance, with a strong desire to collaborate with a Deaf actor and blend their creative ideas with ours. Caroline was recommended to us by Chis Dodd, director of SOUND OFF. What intrigued us further was her last name, Hébert, which happened to be the maiden name of Racheal’s grandmother. This unexpected connection felt like a sign. After a video-translated conversation with Caroline, we realized that she possessed a compelling story that needed to be shared, so we quickly chose her as the central character for the work.”

As for her decision to be that central character, Hébert said, “I was interested in trying something new and I thought why not!? I did dance a little when I was a child so maybe that was also part of the reason?”

WTWCD debuted as a live-streamed performance during the 2021 Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF), which made it “challenging for us to establish a direct connection with the audience and gauge their reception of the work,” said Prince and Alley. “However, we knew this work had the potential of uplifting and illuminating a traditionally marginalized community, so we kept refining and building upon our initial ideas.”

In 2022, they received an invitation to perform WTWCD in Edmonton at the SOUND OFF festival, the first time the piece was presented in a live setting. “To our astonishment, the audience responded with thunderous stomps and a standing ovation. It was truly incredible to witness the profound connection the work had with the Deaf community,” they said.

In addition to that positive reaction, the pair won the 2023 VIDF Emerging Choreographic Award. “To us,” they said, “this award emphasized the collaborative and harmonious aspect of the work’s creation, transcending our roles as individual choreographers.”

Both creatives multitasked to make WTWCD. Prince and Alley choreographed the work; they played a part in the storyline creation and development with Hébert and her daughter, Anna-Belle Hébert, all four of whom perform the piece; Alley composed the music and Prince did the costume and set design. Other key contributors are lighting designer James Proudfoot, assistant lighting designer Chengyan Boon, and mentors and coaches Chris Dodd and Landon Krentz.

“Being a contemporary dance company, one of our goals was to find innovative ways to convey the music to a Deaf audience,” said Prince and Alley. And it was Alley who “came up with the idea of using a playful animation to advance the storyline and evoke the emotional essence of the music.

“To realize this vision, we collaborated with the Vancouver Film School,” they said. “We pitched our ideas to them, leading to the organization of a competition involving five different groups. Each group listened to our concepts and then presented us with small animations. After careful consideration, we selected the group that we believed best captured the essence of the work and the nuances of the music. They went on to create the animations that will be showcased during the performance.”

Listed on Dance//Novella’s website are producer Jill Tao, designer/animators Kanako Takashima and Cecilia Cortes, animation lead Arturo Acevedo and storyboard artist/designer Heena Yoon.

An integral part of this project has been Anna-Belle Hébert.

“She is a CODA (child of Deaf adult), fluent in ASL, QSL, English and French,” explained her mother. “Anna-Belle understands who I am and the story I want to share because it’s partly her story too. In the beginning, I recommended that Racheal and Brandon reach out to Anna-Belle to see if she would like to join the process, which they enthusiastically agreed to. In the performance, she is my voice over actor, but has also been a huge part of the creative process. She really helps bridge the gap between our ideas and how they can connect to hearing and Deaf people at the same time.”

Both Prince and Alley talk about how much they have learned while creating WTWCD. “One significant revelation for us,” they said, “was the realization that ASL and English are two distinct languages. Initially, we attempted to transcribe everything in an effort to ensure clarity, but this approach only seemed to confuse Caroline further. With the guidance of a specialized ASL coach, Caroline developed a unique method for documenting the script on paper. This breakthrough allowed her to memorize and retain everything effortlessly while making it her own.”

Prince and Alley had nothing but good things to say about Hébert.

“Caroline is an incredibly generous and patient collaborator,” they said. “During our rehearsals, we frequently paused our creative process to listen to stories from Caroline’s life. Each story offered us a glimpse into the experiences of a Deaf child, mother and student, which ultimately became the core of our creative journey. The exchange of knowledge and personal narratives became the driving force behind our work, giving it profound meaning for our team.”

When the Walls Come Down is at the Rothstein Theatre Nov. 8 and 10, at 8 p.m., and there is a special matinée for school groups grades 6 and up on Nov. 9, 11 a.m. (contact nrt@jccgv.bc.ca for more information about that). The show runs 60 minutes with no intermission. For tickets, visit chutzpahfestival.com.

Talking on democracy

Left to right: Ora Peled Nakash of the America-Israel Democracy Coalition and Michal Muszkat-Barkan of Safeguarding Our Shared Home listen to a question posed by Temple Sholom Rabbi Dan Moskovitz at an event Sept. 26. (screenshot)

More than 300 people pre-registered to attend Hear From Leaders in the Israeli Protest Movement at Temple Sholom on Sept. 26 and the sanctuary was full. Presented by the synagogue, UnXeptable Vancouver, the America-Israel Democracy Coalition, and Safeguarding our Shared Home, in partnership with JSpaceCanada, New Israel Fund of Canada, Ameinu Canada and Arza Canada, this was the first time that a Canadian Jewish establishment hosted protesters from Israel’s pro-democracy movement on Canadian soil.

Speaking before the Hamas terror attacks on Oct. 6, Michal Muszkat-Barkan of Safeguarding Our Shared Home, and Ora Peled Nakash of the America-Israel Democracy Coalition were touring as part of an effort to educate North American diaspora Jewry on the judicial coup attempt and other fundamental issues with which Israel’s society has been grappling this past year. The unprecedented protest movement was, at 39 weeks, the longest sustained protest movement in modern Israeli history. In response to the war, however, the movement suspended protests in Israel and around the world, including Vancouver, standing in solidarity with their fellow Israelis.

The Sept. 26 evening began with Rabbi Laura and Charles Kaplan singing Oseh Shalom, Salaam (Od Yavo) and Lu Yehi followed by Temple Sholom Rabbi Dan Moskovitz’s introduction of the partner organizations. He said, “We have tried to partner at every opportunity we can to bring a dialogue about Israel, to bring an understanding of the challenges Israel faces and the reality that it faces, as well, through a lens of Zionism that is pro-Israel, pro-democracy, pro-human and civil rights.”

Daphna Kedem, lead organizer of UnXeptable Vancouver, spoke about the global protest movement started by Israeli expats, which has grown from 24 to 70 cities, with chapters in five Canadian cities. She said, “The only reason [the current Israeli government] has not succeeded [with the judicial coup] is millions of determined protesters in Israel and around the world who have been fighting for 38 weeks in a row to save Israeli democracy.”

A shortened version of the speech that American-Israeli author and journalist Yossi Klein Halevi, this year’s resident scholar at Temple Sholom, gave at the synagogue during Rosh Hashanah was played. Klein Halevi said: “Now, in Israel, we’re confronting a situation for the first time that I’ve experienced where there are no two sides. There are no two legitimate sides – one side is trying to destroy the foundations of Israeli democracy and the other side, the side that is in the streets every week for the last 37 weeks, sometimes more than once a week, waving giant Israeli flags, that side is trying to save the Israel that’s embodied by the two flags on the bima [pulpit of Temple Sholom]. These two flags represent the entwinement of Jewish and democratic values – that is the Israel that the diaspora fell in love with and that is the Israel that we’re fighting to preserve.”

Temple Sholom member Rina Vizer, in introducing the two main speakers of the evening, dubbed them “the new wonder women, ahead of Gal Gadot,” for their dedication to their cause, taking a 17-hour flight just as Yom Kippur ended in Israel, landing in Seattle, and driving to Vancouver, arriving mere hours before the event.

Peled-Nakash is a software engineer from Kibbutz Ramat David, just outside of Haifa. She was the first woman to graduate the naval officer’s academy and first woman to serve on a missile ship. She is a member of Forum Dvorah, a nongovernmental organization with a network of professional women in an array of fields relating to Israel’s national security and foreign policy.

Muszkat-Barkan is a professor of Jewish education at Hebrew Union College. She is the director of the department of education and professional development and heads the Rikma program in pluralistic Jewish education in partnership with the Melton Centre for Jewish Education at Hebrew University. She is also the founder and head of the Teachers’ Lounge, a professional development program for Arab and Jewish Educators in Jerusalem.

Peled-Nakash presented a slideshow about what brought her to quit her day job at IBM and volunteer full-time with the protest movement. As the first woman to graduate from the naval officer’s academy, she was inspired by the Alice Miller Supreme Court ruling in 1995, she said. When Miller – who had made aliyah from South Africa with her family when she was 6 years old – applied to the Israeli Air Force Flight Academy in 1993, she was rejected based on her gender. Miller sued the Israel Defence Forces, with the case ending up at the Supreme Court, where the rejection was deemed unconstitutional.

Tying the Miller case to the current attempt by Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin to weaken the Supreme Court, Peled-Nakash said, “Alice’s appeal to become a fighter pilot, that completely changed the course of my life…. I didn’t become a fighter pilot but I became a naval officer … following the same steps [as Miller], of opening equal opportunities for women in military service, which is a fight that is actively going on.”

Peled-Nakash has two daughters, ages 8 and 12, and regularly brings them to protests. She sees this act as a continuation of her family’s long Zionist legacy – to fight for Israel as a democracy, whether you live in Israel or in the diaspora.

Muszkat-Barkan grew up in an Orthodox Zionist home in Jerusalem. She spoke of the liberation of Jerusalem following the Six Day War in 1967 and how the night of celebration was also one that opened her eyes to those around her. “I just looked up, I don’t know why, and I saw a hand closing a window and I said to myself, ‘Oh my God, someone is living there and it’s four o’clock in the morning. How come I didn’t think about that? How come we are all here singing and shouting and we didn’t think that someone is living up there?’”

This experience is what led her to dedicate her life to multiculturalism and pluralism, her realization that we are not all the same, but we must live together and respect one another.

It was a WhatsApp message that led Muszkat-Barkan to begin the Jerusalem-based protest group Safeguarding our Shared Home with a few of her friends. The movement grew, with more people coming out to the streets every weekend. “If you came to Jerusalem to protest with us,” she said, “you would see groups of people against the occupation … you would see groups of religious people, you would see Reform people, educators, many groups all together.”

In wrapping up the question-and-answer period, Peled-Nakash left the audience with two messages for diaspora Jews.

“I would ask each and every one of you to take a hard look at how you are supporting, financially, current causes,” she said, “and to make sure that they are in line with your values because the fact is we’ve seen a lot of this coup has been funded by well-intended people that actually thought they were supporting Israel but they weren’t aware of which kind of Israel they were supporting. So, start with an audit to make sure that the causes you’re currently supporting are in line with the values we’re talking about.”

A recording of the entire presentation can be found on Temple Sholom’s YouTube channel.

Maytal Kowalski is a board member of JSpaceCanada and the New Israel Fund of Canada. Based in Vancouver, she serves as the executive director of Partners for Progressive Israel, a New York-based nonprofit dedicated to the achievement of a durable and just peace between the state of Israel and its neighbours.

20 new affordable rentals

Susana Cogan Place (photo from Tikva Housing)

Individuals and families with low to moderate income are moving into 20 new homes in Burnaby. Susana Cogan Place is Tikva Housing Society’s most recent affordable housing project, developed in partnership with Polygon Homes and made possible with financial support from BC Housing.

“Susana Cogan Place provides stability and security through affordable housing for people to live, work and retire in the community they know, here in Burnaby,” said Ravi Kahlon, BC minister of housing. “Our government is building housing at a historic rate and these 20 new homes are another example of how we can work together to build a province where everyone has a good place to call home and no one gets left behind.”

Located at 6438 Byrnepark Dr., Susana Cogan Place is a 20-unit development comprising studio, one- and two-bedroom homes. It is part of a larger five-storey, 122-unit condominium known as Byrnepark by Polygon.

“I am delighted to see Susana Cogan Place and its new affordable rental homes open in our community,” said Raj Chouhan, MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds. “These new cost-effective homes will provide a sense of well-being and a place for many families and seniors to call their own.”

Tikva’s units on the third floor are named in memory of Susana Cogan z”l, whose leadership was the driving force of Tikva from 2006 to 2017.

“These homes are a welcome addition to the Burnaby community,” said Anne Kang, MLA for Burnaby-Deer Lake. “We know more housing like this is needed to help people live affordably, which is why our government will continue to work with all partners to boost the supply of affordable housing in Burnaby … and throughout the province.”

photo - From Left to right: Richard Lee, Maita Santiago, Raj Chouhan, Mike Hurley, Rhonda Sacks, Anne Kang and Anat Gogo
From Left to right: Richard Lee, Maita Santiago, Raj Chouhan, Mike Hurley, Rhonda Sacks, Anne Kang and Anat Gogo. (photo from Tikva Housing)

Tikva Housing, an experienced nonprofit housing provider, owns and operates the homes. With this opening, Tikva’s portfolio has increased to 168 units in seven housing developments and expanded into Burnaby.

“In these times of high real estate values and high interest rates, Tikva is grateful to be able to partner with Polygon Homes and BC Housing to produce affordable housing for families with low and moderate incomes. We need many more partnerships like this,” said Alice Sundberg, director of housing development at Tikva Housing.

Monthly rents for the 20 homes range between $375 for a studio unit to $1,700 for a two-bedroom unit.

“This new development marks the first housing collaboration between our organization and BC Housing,” said Anat Gogo, executive director Tikva Housing. “The support of the Province and the financial assistance from BC Housing, along with our partnership with Polygon, allowed Tikva Housing to acquire 20 new affordable homes in south Burnaby. We are pleased to be able to ease the burden on individuals and families struggling with housing insecurity.”

Each home at Susana Cogan Place is equipped with a range, fridge, dishwasher, washer and dryer. Residents also have access to amenities, including a playground, lobby, lounge and a fitness studio.

“The investments we’ve made as a city into affordable housing are beginning to pay off in Burnaby and it’s encouraging to see tenants moving into their affordable units at Susana Cogan Place,” said Mike Hurley, mayor of Burnaby. “These units are priced well below the market rate, something that is only possible thanks to the close collaboration between BC Housing, the Province and the City of Burnaby.”

The Province, through BC Housing, provided approximately $3 million to the project via the Building BC: Community Housing Fund and will provide an annual operating subsidy of approximately $74,000.

– Courtesy Tikva Housing Society

Cookies and muffins for fall

Peanut cookies are so good, it’s hard to keep a batch around once you get a whiff of them. (photo by Shelley Civkin)

I’m definitely my happiest when it’s blueberry season in Vancouver. You know what I’m talking about – those huge, sweet, juicy blueberries grown in British Columbia in July and August. I can’t get enough of them, and end up putting them in salads, quinoa dishes, smoothies, breakfast foods and, of course, desserts. I often get overzealous and buy several pounds of them at once. Since there are only two of us to feed, I end up freezing loads of them, knowing that they’ll be reincarnated into something delicious in the months to come. Enter one of my faves.

LEMON BLUEBERRY CORNMEAL MUFFINS

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Beat in vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest. The mixture may look curdled, but that’s OK.

In a separate bowl, reserve one tablespoon of flour for the berries later on. Combine remaining flour, cornmeal, baking powder and baking soda.

Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Toss reserved tablespoon of flour with berries and stir it into batter gently.

Pour batter into muffin tins (use cupcake liners) and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Test for doneness using a toothpick.

These have always been a crowd pleaser and, even though they’re nothing fancy, they’re really yummy, especially served warm – with a big glob of butter. They freeze nicely, too. Pair it with a London Fog tea and you’re all set.

My next favourite snack is not exactly fancy-shmancy, but who cares. Call me plebeian, but I’m a sucker for a peanut butter cookie. They’ve got a lot going for them besides the protein that the peanut butter provides (that’s my nutritional pronouncement and I’m sticking to it). They’re dead easy to make and everyone loves them. Well, except people who have peanut allergies. Grill your guests before serving.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, unsalted (or substitute margarine)
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, at room temperature
3/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Sift flour and baking powder together then whisk to combine.

Cream butter and sugars together. Add peanut butter and mix until incorporated. Mix in egg and vanilla extract then add flour mixture and beat until incorporated.

Roll dough into one-inch balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten cookies with a fork in a criss-cross pattern.

Bake cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, depending on whether you like them soft or crispy. Allow cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet, as they need to set before being transferred to a plate – or your mouth.

Peanut cookies are probably one of the oldest, most basic cookie recipes around, but they’re just so darn good, it’s hard to keep a batch around once you get a whiff of them. Pair them with a glass of milk, and you’ve got perfection right there in front of you.

My next cookie recipe is a bit unusual, and not terribly sweet, but, once you eat a couple of them, you’re addicted. A former colleague gave me the recipe for these tahini cookies.

TAHINI COOKIES

1 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup tahini
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
A couple of dashes of cinnamon (optional)

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and tahini and mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder, then stir it into the butter mixture. Drop tablespoon-size dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten the dough out a bit. If you make them too thick, they tend to taste doughy.

Bake until they turn golden brown, anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 10 to 15 minutes before removing them to a wire rack or plate.

The flavour is somehow more sophisticated than, say, a chocolate chip cookie, so they might not appeal to a younger palate. Or they might, who knows. The minimal sugar, coupled with the nuttiness of the tahini, produces a seductively addictive cookie. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

My husband recently pointed out that, since the weather has cooled, I’ve started nesting. Consequently, we’ve been eating a lot more soups, homemade challah and desserts. Not that he’s complaining. My waistline, on the other hand, is putting up a gallant (but losing) fight. I’m just plain weak-willed when it comes to homemade baked goods. I console myself with the fact that winter hibernation will be that much easier with extra poundage on board. Luckily, my new jeans have Lycra in them.

While I’ll be busy stuffing my pie-hole with cookies, I’ll be flipping through Netflix looking for the next K-drama series to binge watch. Have I mentioned that I might have a teeny-tiny addiction to K-dramas and K-romances? If you haven’t yet been introduced to Korean TV series on Netflix, do yourself a favour and try some. The acting is superb, the storylines are satisfying, and there is very little sex (unlike American TV and movies), which I find quite refreshing. The romance is chaste and sweet.

The Israeli student who I tutor English to online via Zoom introduced me to K-dramas, and the rest is history. We talk about them each week and swap suggestions for new series to watch. Not exactly what I thought I’d be talking to my student about, but it seems to work, and she gets to practise her English conversation skills. Win-win.

Allow me to recommend a few of my favourite K-dramas: Our Blues; Prison Playbook; The Good Bad Mother; Itaewon Class; It’s Okay to not be Okay; Extraordinary Attorney Woo; Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha; D.P.; King the Land; Something in the Rain; Divorce Attorney Chin; Crash Landing on You; One Spring Night; and Run On. Enjoy your fressing and viewing. You’re welcome.

Shelley Civkin, aka the Accidental Balabusta, is a happily retired librarian and communications officer. For 17 years, she wrote a weekly book review column for the Richmond Review. She’s currently a freelance writer and volunteer.

פעילות עניפה באתר פייסבוק

קבוצת הישראלים הגרים בטורונטו באתר פייסבוק פעילה נושאים שונים. הקבוצה כוללת קרוב לשלושת אלפים חברים שגרים בטורונטו והסביבה והיא נוסדה לפני כארבע שנים. לקבוצה יש שישה מנהלים ועורכים והם: אמיר אשל עמית לוי, ליאור פפו, טל מנע, ליאור ברק ודוד מק. להלן מקבץ של נושאים ובקשות שהתפרסמו לאחרונה בקרב קבוצת הישראלים בטורונטו: ברכות לחג ראש השנה הקרוב מטעם הנהלת האתר, לורה מציעה שירותים של משלוח פרחים עד הבית, בנימין מציע למכירה דירה בת שלושה חדרים דווקא בתל אביב, אלבינה מציעה שירותי מניקור, פדיקור ועוד, בוריס מציע להשכרה דירה בפלורידה בתקופה החורף הקר הכוללת שני חדרי שינה ומתאימה לארבעה אורחים, אליס מציעה שירותי ניקוי יסודי לבתים ודירות, אלירן מציע למכירה בריצ’מונד היל קוטג’ בן שלושה חדרים במחיר של כמיליון ושש מאות אלף דולר, ג’ו מציע ערבי קריוקי למי שמעוניינים, אור מחפש משפחה שתארח אותו לארוחת חג ראש השנה, אנתוני מחפש מנעולן לעבודה שישה ימים בשבוע תמורת כאלפיים וחמש מאות דולר לשבוע, יונתן מחפש בדחיפות חדר להשכרה, שושנה מברכת את הכל בחג שמח ומאושר, אלדר מציע שירותי ניקוי לבתים ודירות, יערה מציעה לאפות חלות ועוגות לקראת החג, שיילה מציעה למכירה ענתיקות, ריהוט, צעצועים ועוד, חביבי מציע לנקות גינות של גני ילדים, תמר שהגיע בימים אלה לטורונטו מחפשת מניקוריסטית, ולדיסלב מחפש מידע על משלוחי חבילות מקנדה לישראל, יגאל מציע למכירה מגרשים ובתים בסביון ובנימין מציע למכירה והשכרה של דירות בתל אביב

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קבוצת ישראלים בוונקובר לעסקים בפייסבוק כוללת כשלוש מאות חברים. היא נוסדה גם כן לפני ארבע שנים. את הקבוצה מנהלים ועורכים שניים: דן גולב ויואב די

להלן מקבץ של נושאים שפורסמו לאחרונה בדף של הקבוצה מוונקובר: סרגי מציע שירותי תיקון לגלגלים של מכוניות, נתנאל מפרסם שיעורים בחסידות והכנות לראש השנה, עופר מציע שירותים וייעוץ למי שעשו רילוקיישן מישראל לקנדה או כאלה שחזרו לישראל מרילוקיישן בקנדה, איריס מציעה השכרה של דירות סאבלט, יוני מציע שירותים לבניית דקים לבתים, אמנון ויובל מציעים שירותי שיווק וקידום לפרסומות בגוגל, אלון מחפש וטכנאים ושיפוצניקים לעבודה באזור ונקובר ומייק מציע שירותי תיווך לדירות ובתים באזור

***

קבוצת הישראלים בקנדה בפייסבוק פועלת מזה שש שנים וכוללת לא פחות משמונת אלפים חברים. את הקבוצה מנהלים ועורכים שניים: אריאל פרץ ואביבה יהודה

להלן מקבץ של נושאים ושירותים שמפורסמים בקבוצה של הישראלים בקנדה: נופר שואלת איך מתחילים בהליך הגירה לקנדה ואיך משיגים במהירות ויזת עבודה, קובי שוקל לעבור עם אשתו לקנדה לתקופת ניסיון והוא שואל האם האזרחות האמריקנית שלו והאזרחות הבריטית של אשתו יכולים לעזור, אור מציע לבנות אתרים לעסקים כולל התאמה לסלולר, לי מחפשת מקלדת עם אותיות בעברית למחשב הנייד שלה, אביגיל שמעוניינת להגר לקנדה שואלת האם הניסיון הגדול שלה כאחות בחדר ניתוח יעזור לה להשיג עבודה, מאירנה שואלת האם מישהו מצא את המחשב הנייד שלה שנשכח בקלגרי, ישראלי אנונימי המעוניין להגר לקנדה שואל האם להנדסאי בישראל יכול לעבוד הנדסאי בקנדה, ערן מציע שירותי ניקיון לעסקים ודירות, תמר מציעה למכירה ספה יוקרתית בשמונה מאות דולר, טל מציעה שירותי ניקוי אחרי ראש השנה, לירן הוא חזן בסגנון ספרדי/עדות המזרח מחפש עבודה לראש השנה ויום כיפור, רחל מציעה מתכונים מיוחדים ובריאים לראש השנה ולחג הסוכות, זוג עם שלושה ילדים מבקשים עצות להגירה לקנדה

Vazana at Chutzpah! Fest

Nani Noam Vazana performs at the Rothstein Theatre Nov. 11 as part of this year’s Chutzpah! Festival. (photo from NaniMusic.com/ProLadino)

Gracing the cover of this year’s Chutzpah! Festival guide and posters is Nani Noam Vazana. The Amsterdam-based musician is one of the only artists in the world writing and performing new songs in Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish. The JI spoke with her when she last came to Vancouver, in 2017, and did so again, ahead of her Nov. 11 Chutzpah! show at the Rothstein Theatre.

“The concert in Vancouver is a part of my international Ke Haber tour that will take me through 15 countries,” said Vazana. One of the highlights of the tour will be a concert at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, she said, “where I’ll have the honour of documenting my new Ladino songs for libraries and universities all over the world and make them available for Ladino research.”

The tour features mostly songs from Ke Haber but will also include “some traditional Sephardic songs and surprise covers – different to each show!” she said.

Ke Haber incorporates a millennial’s perspective – hers – into the writing of songs “in an old, almost extinct language,” she said, explaining that “Ladino is a language of the Sephardic Jews who were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages (Spain and Portugal of our days). My grandmother has roots in Portugal and she and her family sailed to Morocco from Porto in the 1400s. That’s where she grew up and where my parents were also born.

“In the ’50s, both my parents’ families immigrated to Israel and my father wanted to leave the past behind so he actually forbade us to speak Ladino at home,” she continued. “The only times I had contact with the language was when I was left alone with my grandmother. It was the language of witchcraft and mystery because she would only use it to speak to me in secret and tell me magical fairy tales that I actually thought she made up herself, because nobody else knew them. We sang songs in the kitchen while cooking, and it was all seeping in through the senses, very inviting and very curious.”

Vazana’s grandmother passed away when she was 12 years old.

“One of my first memories is of me and my Nona (Grandma) sitting at the kitchen table, peeling beans and singing ‘Los Guisados De La Berendjena,’ a song about seven recipes for eggplants. She hardly spoke Hebrew and my father forbade us to speak Ladino…. But, it seems, you carry this love subconsciously in you wherever you go, because, 15 years after my Nona passed away, I visited Morocco for the first time and heard people on the street singing the same lullaby she used to sing to me when I was a little girl. All of a sudden, those forgotten kitchen songs came alive and I started a long journey searching for songs and melodies that led me to release my traditional Ladino album Andalusian Brew. Sometimes, all it takes is just a sound or a scent and you’re transported to a life you’ve forgotten.”

After performing traditional repertoire for a few years, Vazana felt a yearning to write her own songs, and she dove into an exploration of the language. “I visited a scholar in Leiden, who showed me a lot of texts at an ancient Jewish library, but I wanted more,” she said. “So, I dug deep into medieval poetry and started learning the rhythm of the stanzas. Based on existing rhythmical formations, I started writing my own lyrics in Ladino, concerning questions we ask ourselves today, and, I must admit, I found a lot of correlation between where we are now and the medieval Iberian population.”

Vazani described Ke Haber as “an album of new songs that sound old, or maybe the other way around.”

“There are songs in the album that speak about female empowerment, like my song ‘No Kero Madre,’ a mother-daughter dialogue about the will to break free from the arranged marriage tradition and marry out of love,” she explained. “What a lot of people don’t know about Ladino is that it is a matriarchal language, so the relationship between mother and daughter is put on a pedestal, as the highest form of love in existence.

“In my song ‘Sin Dingun Hijo Varon,’ I describe the transformation of a transgender teenage girl who wants to be recognized as a boy. The father tries to kick her out of the house but the mother steps up and accepts her child as a boy.

“My song ‘Una Segunda Piel’ is about a Sephardic retirement ritual where your family and friends sow around you the shroud of the dead! You lie down in a cocoon, meditate and think about the troubles you want to leave behind. When the cloth is done [with], it goes into the cupboard, symbolizing all your troubles, and you emerge from it as if shedding your skin. That’s why the title is ‘Una Segunda Piel,’ which means ‘A Second Skin.’

“For my song ‘El Gacela,’” she said, “I composed music to an ancient text by Shmuel Hanagid, which is a love poem between two men. When the song was published, some people claimed that I was ‘outing’ the Jewish saint, but I think if he already published this work, he was out in the first place.”

The recording of Ke Haber, which started in London, England, in 2020, was complicated by COVID.

“I had to figure out a creative way to finalize the project, so we started recording remotely,” she said. “That’s really hard, because programs like Zoom have latency, so you can’t really record with other musicians simultaneously. We had to overdub – can you imagine playing music when the band is not in the same room? We all came to the studio whenever we were able to travel from Columbia, Chile, the Canary Islands, Bosnia, Israel, India, the Netherlands and Poland! That’s why the album is also a colourful tapestry of musical traditions and cultural aspiration from all over the world.”

While COVID was a quiet time touring-wise, “it was also a turmoil of creativity,” said Vazani, “because I just couldn’t sit still at home and wait for the world to pass by. So, I broadcasted house concerts every week, learned to edit video and record sound, which led to facilitating multicam broadcasts for other artists, such as the West East Orchestra.

“I also started doing voiceover gigs, overdubbing cartoon characters for animation and narration for documentaries and commercials. I also dabbled in emceeing when hosting online events and I hosted my own weekly podcast, interviewing [professionals] from the music industry about tips for emerging musicians.”

She received offers from music colleges and music industry conventions worldwide and hosted masterclasses and panel discussions for more than 30 institutions. “Eventually,” she said, “I was commissioned by the Dutch national TV broadcast NPO to create and host my own television series that will start airing in 2024.”

In addition to all that, Vazani teaches at the London Performing Academy of Music and the Jerusalem Music Academy, and is chair of the Amsterdam Artist Collective. She is also a guest lecturer at Codarts University, Rotterdam.

She enjoys being active – “for the mind and the soul to stay agile, we gotta train them,” she said. “This is my mental gym.”

And she’s not that interested in achievements, she said, though she has garnered several awards. “I am interested in being on the road as much as possible with my music,” she said. “This translates in my mind into happiness, and that’s not a fleeting experience, it’s a state of existence.”

To support Vazani’s music and receive content in return – all the music she has released, for example, and exclusive meet-and-greet sessions – readers can join her music family at nanimusic.com/family. For tickets to her performance at Chutzpah! and the whole festival lineup, visit chutzpahfestival.com. The festival runs Nov. 2-23.

VIFF films explore humanity

Filmmaker Sam Green will narrate live his documentary 32 Sounds, which is part of the Vancouver International Film Festival. (photo by Catalina Kulczar)

“There’s a thing in documentary filmmaking where, after you’ve done an interview with someone, you need to get what’s called room tone,” shares director, writer and editor Sam Green in his film 32 Sounds. “Room tone,” he explains, “is basically just sitting still for about 30 seconds or so and recording the sound of the room; this can help out a lot with editing later. I’ve been making films, which is kind of just marveling at people in the world, for 25 years now, and there’s always something odd and wonderful about this moment. An interview takes a person to other times and places and, now, they’re just here in the present, sitting with the sound of the room.”

Watching some of his interviewees, as they struggle or embrace sitting in silence for a few seconds, is one of the many highlights of Green’s latest documentary, 32 Sounds, which screens Oct. 5, 7 p.m., at the Vancouver Playhouse, as part of the Vancouver International Film Festival’s specialty program VIFF Live. New York-based Green will be in town to narrate the screening in-person, and audience members will be given headphones to wear, to help make the experience as immersive as possible.

The film premièred in January 2022 at the Sundance Film Festival. It exists in three forms: one as described above, but sometimes also with live music by composer JD Samson, who wrote original music for the film; another designed for an immersive at-home experience; and a theatre version without the in-person performance aspect. Watching the film at home without headphones was not ideal, but it was still enjoyable and mind-opening. There are parts where it would have added understanding and had greater impact to have heard something in only the left ear or only the right one.

32 Sounds is not just auditorily stunning but a visual pleasure, and intellectually stimulating, as well. Though there are explanations of how humans hear and how sound affects our bodies, the documentary is more philosophical than scientific. It presents concepts like the idea that all the sounds that have been made in the world should still be out there somewhere, “tiny ripples vibrating,” as contemplated by mathematician Charles Babbage, who is credited with having invented the computer, in the 1800s. If we had the right device, mused Babbage, we should be able to listen again to every joke, declaration of love or angry word ever uttered, narrates Green. “The air itself is one vast library, on whose pages are forever written all that man has ever said or woman whispered,” wrote Babbage in 1837.

In 2022, Green wrote: “I’ve made many documentary films over the years, and each one has changed me in some way, but none as much as the film I just recently finished called 32 Sounds. The film weaves together 32 different recordings as well as images, music by JD Samson, and voice-over to create a meditation on sound. Or, put a different way, the film uses sound to consider some of the basic features of our experience of being alive: time and time passing, loss, memory, connection with others, and the ephemeral beauty of the present moment.”

From the sound of a womb, to a cat purring, to fog horns, to a man who captures the sound of bombs landing nearby as he’s recording his music, Green masterfully takes viewers (listeners) on an emotional journey. We get to see how movie sound magic is made by foley artists like Joanna Fang. We meet sound and visual artist Christine Sun Kim, who talks about the deaf community, as well as hearing people’s perceptions of her work. Edgar Choueriri, professor of physics at Princeton, plays part of a tape he made for his future self when he was 11 years old. And we get to know a bit about composer and academic Annea Lockwood, 81 at the time of filming, who had been recording things like the sound of rivers for more than 50 years. Lockwood fundamentally changed how Green thinks about sound, especially a point she makes in the film: “There’s something I started writing about a year ago: listening with, as opposed to listening to,” she shares. “And it’s my sense that, if I’m standing here, I’m just one of many organisms that are listening with one another within this environment … we’re within it and we’re all listening together, as it were.”

32 Sounds has much to recommend it, including the chance to get up and dance, if you choose, when Green pumps up the volume on Sampson’s music, so you can “feel the sounds in your whole body.”

Accepting oneself

image - William Bartolo as Daniel, left, and Daniel Gabriel as his secret lover, Isaac, in a still from Cut, which is part of VIFF’s International Shorts: Nothing Comes Easy program
William Bartolo as Daniel, left, and Daniel Gabriel as his secret lover, Isaac, in a still from Cut, which is part of VIFF’s International Shorts: Nothing Comes Easy program. (image from VIFF)

Sound that you can feel in your whole body plays an important part in the short film Cut by Samuel Lucas Allen. In what may – or may not – be semi-autobiographical, Cut tells the story of Daniel, a high school student who tries to hide his Jewishness and his queerness. At key moments, the original score created by Sam Weiss thrums with tension, underscoring Daniel’s inner conflict.

Despite being somewhat heavy-handed – there is nothing subtle in this film, perhaps because it is only 19 minutes long – Cut is interesting, well-acted and put together. It opens with a Chassidic man holding a rooster, then shows Daniel cutting his hair, which falls onto a copy of Merchant of Venice, from which the teen will eventually have to perform, by memory, Shylock’s “If you prick us, do we not bleed?” speech. Daniel’s room has drawn images of men on his walls, in various poses, apparently his own work.

The film defines its three main elements: kapparot, as a “Jewish ritual where a chicken is blessed and slaughtered in the place of a person, to atone for their sins”; tefillin as a “pair of leather boxes containing portions of the Torah, worn by Jewish men in their morning prayers”; and cut, “a slang term for circumcision, the surgical removal of the foreskin, usually performed for religious reasons.”

It is mainly the Jewish aspect that Allen deals with in this work. Daniel is able to walk away from a gay slur, but not an antisemitic one, and, in the end, he is reconciled to himself and his Orthodox father by the mystical Chassidic man’s performing kapparot over him. We witness Daniel’s acceptance of being Jewish, but are left to wonder if he comes to accept his queerness, an aspect of his being that conflicts with Orthodox Judaism, though his soul would still be considered divine in religious circles, even if he engages in homosexual acts, which are prohibited by the Torah.

Cut is featured in VIFF’s International Shorts: Nothing Comes Easy, a program for viewers aged 18+, in which the films’ “protagonists discover that sorting out their lives can be much more difficult to achieve than they realized.” It screens Oct. 5, 6:45 p.m., and Oct. 7, 12:15 p.m., at International Village 8.

The Vancouver International Film Festival runs Sept. 28-Oct. 8. For the full schedule and tickets, visit viff.org.