Steven Rothfeld is a travel photographer with an emphasis on culinary cuisine. He has written more than 10 books of photography and lives in Napa Valley, Calif. His cookbook Israel Eats (Gibbs Smith Publishers) came out earlier this year. In…
When the Second Temple was destroyed, its menorah was said to have been taken to Rome. This is depicted, with the menorah being carried by Jewish slaves, in a carving on the inside of the Arch of Titus. (photo by…
Dreidels from the author’s dreidel collection. Clockwise from the top left: a hand-painted dreidel with an open top; a hand-painted dreidel on a base; a felt dreidel; a hand-painted dreidel; and, in the centre, a tiny hand-painted glass dreidel. (photo…
Alan Dean was the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of Chanukah menorahs. “You what!” Zoe’s father was yelling at her. Again. “You traded my lamp?” Nothing Zoe did seemed good enough for Dad. Her room was too messy. Her grades…
This story comes from the book Life Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This: The Holiness of Little Daily Dramas (Read the Spirit, 2015). *** My father used to take showers with the lady next door. It was all pretty…
A young Dawn Lerman with her grandmother, Beauty (photo from Dawn Lerman via JNS.org) In her memoir My Fat Dad, New York Times wellness blogger and nutritionist Dawn Lerman (@dawnlerman) shares her food journey and that of her father, a…
Adam Brody played Seth Cohen in the show The O.C. and celebrated “Chrismukkah.” (photo from cookiesandsangria.files.wordpress.com) If nothing else, The O.C., the popular 2003-07 American television show that featured the overblown dramas of hyper-privileged Orange County teens and their self-obsessed…
האם הנדל”ן בוונקובר הוא בועה שעומדת להתפוצץ? (צילום: Cynthia Ramsay) יש הטוענים ששוק הנדל”ן של אזור ונקובר הוא בועה שעומדת להתפוצץ כל רגע, והם אף דואגים להזהיר את הציבור הרחב מפני כיביכול סכנה גדולה זו. הבנק השוויצי יו.בי.אס טוען שוונקובר…
Cambie Street, looking south from 41st Avenue, 1952. (photo from City of Vancouver Archives via jewishmuseum.ca/oakridge) On Nov. 23, the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia had both its annual general meeting and launched its newest online exhibit, Oakridge.…
Mauro Perelmann is coming from Brazil to lead a Dec. 17 musical tribute to Naomi Shemer and Leonard Cohen. (photo by Natan Guterman Fotografia) On Dec. 17, Congregation Beth Israel will host a tribute concert to Israeli singer songwriter Naomi…
On Saturday, Dec. 3, at a meeting in Calgary, the Green Party of Canada (GPC) passed a resolution updating the party’s position on the Israel-Palestine conflict. It puts the entire onus for the conflict’s continuation on Israel, specifically on Prime…
On Dec. 1, the Ontario legislature voted 49-5 to pass Motion 36, which rejects the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement aimed at Israel. The motion was backed both by the Liberals, who form the government, and the opposition Progressive…
The story of Chanukah is a narrative of the victory of a small group of righteous fighters against a powerful empire. It is a redemptive story of standing for one’s beliefs (and existence) and triumphing in the end. The end…
The Centre for Judaism of the Lower Fraser Valley is looking for nominations for its annual Lamplighter Award, which honors a child who has performed an outstanding act of community service. Candidates must be between the ages of 6 and…
This fall, a select number of Langara College students embarked on a project to write the memoirs of local Holocaust survivors, capturing personal stories from the Second World War. The project is called Writing Lives: the Holocaust Survivor Memoir Project.…
Meghan Gardiner as Marian and Jay Hindle as Harold Hill in The Music Man. (photo by David Cooper) Few children know what they want to do as a career. Even fewer start on their career goals before they are 10…
On Nov. 24., writer Penny Goldsmith spoke at King David High School about PovNet, a B.C.-based anti-poverty network. When Storming the Digital Divide: The PovNet Story was published in August by Lazara Press, the Jewish Independent received a copy. A…
Chabad on Campus, student and other volunteers and Shabbat hosts made Shabbat Across UBC on Nov. 18 possible. (photos from Chabad at UBC) On Nov. 18, more than 75 students celebrated Shabbat with Chabad on Campus at the University of…
It’s that time of year again! For many, the holiday season is spent with family and is filled with nothing but joy, love, laughter, gratitude and giving. If this is you, you can go ahead and stop reading now…. This…
May 24, 2017, marks the 50th anniversary of a united Jerusalem. In honor of this occasion, the Afikim Foundation, in cooperation with the Israel Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, is launching the Jerusalem50 Global Unity Torah, a global movement that celebrates…
(photo by Mendel Grossbaum / Chabad.org) Rabbis dance with their colleagues at a banquet at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Pier 8 on Nov. 27. They were among the 5,600 rabbis and guests from 90 countries who gathered in New York…
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מנהיגה לשעבר של קובה, פידל קסטרו, שנפטר ב-25 בנובמבר. (צילום: Antônio Milena/ABr via Wikimedia Commons) ג’סטין טרודו מאבד גובה: תמיכתו בפידל קסטרו גרמה לראש ממשלת קנדה לראשונה לחטוף מכל עבר ראש ממשלת קנדה מטעם המפלגה הליברלית, ג’סטין טרודו, חטף לראשונה…
Gabe Garfinkel is running for the B.C. Liberal nomination in Vancouver-Fairview. (photo from Gabe Garfinkel) Gabe Garfinkel says he has the combination of youth and experience that makes him an ideal candidate for the B.C. Legislature. Garfinkel recently announced his…
Sandy Blass’ solo exhibit No Other Country is at Zack Gallery until Dec. 12. (photo by Olga Livshin) Artist Sandy Blass’ first solo show in Canada – No Other Country, a series of landscapes – opened last week at Zack…
Members of the Gibsons-area Jewish community gather for a pre-Rosh Hashanah dinner. (photo by Lehe Spiegelman) Young Jewish families are looking for affordable living, just like everyone else. What they are finding is that the Lower Mainland just doesn’t provide…
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu examines arson damage in Beit Meir. (photo from Ashernet) Last week’s wave of fires across northern and central Israel is estimated to have caused, so far, some half a billion shekels in damage, and total projections…
A recently released study from the graduate School of Education at Stanford University engaged 7,800 middle school, high school and college students to evaluate the information they received on the internet. The report said there was a “stunning and dismaying…
It has been a difficult month for me and I know it has been for many of you. Though I feel more and more like a Canadian with each passing year and I am a rabbi in this community, I…
The entire Jewish community was shocked to witness a spike in antisemitic vandalism in November, with incidents reported in Montreal and Toronto, and at three synagogues and a Jewish community centre, as well as at non-Jewish sites, in our nation’s…
