Author Deborah E. Lipstadt, right, with actor Rachel Weisz, who portrays Lipstadt in the film Denial. (photo by Liam Daniel/Elevation Pictures) In 1996, Deborah Lipstadt, an American historian and author of Denying the Holocaust, was sued by British Holocaust denier…
Left to right: Nico Slobinsky, director of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Pacific Region; Galit Baram, consul general of Israel to Toronto and Western Canada; Sara Lefton, vice-president of CIJA, Greater Toronto area; and Judy Zelikovitz, vice-president of…
The Nobel Peace Prize laureates for 1994 in Oslo, from left to right: Palestinian Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat, Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. (photo by Saar Yaacov, GPO) A towering figure, one among…
In the last federal election, Mira Oreck was the NDP candidate for the riding of Vancouver Granville. (photo from Mira Oreck) Nearly one year after the Canadian federal election, I had a chance to sit down with Mira Oreck (by…
Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and the local Jewish community recently hosted Ethiopian-Israeli students Mazal Menashe and Ahuva Tsegaye. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay) Every second year, the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver hosts two Ethiopian students from the Interdisciplinary Centre…
Protesters at Oberlin College. (photo by Pteranadons via Wikimedia Commons) (This is Part 1 of a two-part series. The second article examines the student-as-customer approach at universities and its relation to identity politics on campus.) New York Times columnist Frank Bruni…
Outright denial of the Holocaust is a phenomenon almost exclusively in the realm of utterly discredited figures who deserve condemnation. One of those figures is David Irving, who lost his libel suit against Deborah Lipstadt, an American professor and author,…
The Hebrew Free Loan Association of Vancouver (HFLA) continues to evolve to serve the Jewish community better. Last fall, HFLA introduced a new maximum $5,000 loan category that has become its most requested type of loan. The association’s latest innovation…
“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return / And come with song unto Zion.” (Isaiah 35:10) Seville, Spain, summer 1480 “The fire is painful to the flesh, but kind to the soul,” said the man in red velvet robes…
The Hon. Stockwell Day, right, and International Fellowship of Christians and Jews of Canada senior vice-president Rabbi Yael Eckstein with a Ukrainian Jewish family who were among the 220 that the Fellowship brought to Israel on Sept. 29. (photo from…
Many people have read an enormous amount of Holocaust literature during their lifetime. The stories are tragic, horrifying, heartbreaking. No matter how many books you read, or films and documentaries you see, you can never come to terms with the…
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Matthew Boroditsky with some of the children he met at Project Somos. (photo Matthew Boroditsky) In life, we all face hurdles – and how we react to these trials can come to define us. This story exemplifies that. Three years…
Susan Mendelson launched Mendelson’s Kosher Gourmet from the kitchens at Vancouver Talmud Torah earlier this fall. (photo from Susan Mendelson) Susan Mendelson, the entrepreneur at the helm of Lazy Gourmet Catering for the past 38 years, debuted Mendelson’s Kosher Gourmet…
Michael Sachs, left, and Rabbi Levi Varnai of the Bayit. (photo from Michael Sachs) The Bayit, a small shul in Richmond, is seeing a resurgence. The increase in attendance and birth of new programming seems to be due to the…
Hypocrisy is everywhere, perhaps, and it can be a full-time occupation to call it out. For years, the anti-Israel movement, which generally comprises advocates of social justice who envision themselves as defenders of human dignity and respect for the diverse…
There’s no use in pretending it doesn’t bother me. The woman has invaded my sacrosanct space and time! But what can I do about it? Let me explain. I have a precious and brief time that I dedicate to enhancing…
Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver has launched this year’s annual campaign under the leadership of Alex Cristall, general chair. The campaign is the Greater Vancouver Jewish community’s central fundraising initiative and closed last year with a record $8.3 million result.…
At the recent Jewish Seniors Alliance annual general meeting, three volunteers were honored: Ralph Jackson, left, Bill Gruenthal, centre, and Milt Adelson. (photo by Binny Goldman) The word used in praising or thanking someone in Hebrew is hodaya. Our foremother…
Martha and Waitstill Sharp at home in Wellesley, Mass., in 1938. (photo from Sharp Family Archives via pbs.org) At a time when many Americans embraced isolationism, the leaders of the American Unitarian Association were focused on the refugees clamoring to…
Mark Waldman has been working with neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Newberg for almost two decades, including on their latest book, Words Can Change Your Brain. (photo from Mark Waldman) According to Dr. Andrew Newberg, neuroscientist at Thomas Jefferson University, and Mark…
![photo - [Chant Torah?] at Beth Israel Synagogue, 1979](https://www.jewishindependent.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/sep-30-toc.30.Mystery-photo.L09865.jpg)
[Chant Torah?] at Beth Israel Synagogue, 1979. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.09865) If you know someone in this photo, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish Western Bulletin’s) collection at the Jewish Museum and…
(צילום:רוני רחמני) ביקור ראשון לנסיכים המלכותיים ויליאם וקייט במחוז בריטיש קולומביה וטריטוריית יוקון, ביחד עם ילדיהם הקטנים ג’ורג’ (בן השלוש) ושרלוט (בת השנה וארבעה חודשים). הביקור הקודם של הנסיכים בקנדה נערך ב-2011 מיד לאחר חתונתם (באפריל 2011), עת ביקורו במחוז…
הסרט ‘מעבר להרים והגבעות‘ מספר על איש צבא שהשתחרר לאחר עשרים ושבע שנים של שירות, וחוזר לביתו ומשפחתו שממנה היה רחוק כל אותן שנים. (צילום: מפסטיבל הסרטים הבינלאומי של ונקובר) ארבעה סרטים ישראלים משתתפים בפסטיבל הסרטים הבינלאומי של ונקובר שיפתח…
The European Parliament. (photo by Treehill via Wikimedia Commons) Dr. Sharon Pardo is a member of the department of politics and government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the director of the Centre for the Study of European Politics…
Young community members in Harlem participate in the painting of a shipping container inside of which fresh produce is grown. (photo by Nick Smith) Seed Street, a hydroponic farming venture and food-justice initiative that grows fresh produce inside shipping containers,…
Beit Vancouver is a centre for youth at risk in Kiryat Shmona. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver) The Etzbah HaGalil, or Galilee Panhandle, is the northernmost part of Israel, a “finger” of land extending into Syria and Lebanon,…
Belle Jarniewski (fifth from the left) is one of the co-founders, with Sumera Sahar (fourth from the left), Perry Kimelman and Dr. Rory Dickson of the Muslim-Jewish Dialogue Group of Winnipeg. (photo from Belle Jarniewski) Started in Winnipeg last year…
Aleks Paunovic, left, and Ben Ratner in scene from the short film Ganjy, which Ratner hopes one day to develop into a feature. (photo from Ben Ratner) Vancouver Jewish community member Ben Ratner steps back into his acting boots for…
Shirley Barnett, chair of the Jewish cemetery restoration project, led the proceedings. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay) On Sept. 11, a small crowd gathered at the Jewish section of Mountain View Cemetery for the unveiling of 87 headstones for babies and…
