Roxsane Tanner’s watercolours are on exhibit at the Steveston Museum and Post Office (painted here by Tanner) this month. “Steveston is such a beautiful place,” artist Roxsane Tanner told the Independent. Her first solo show of watercolours features quaint houses…
Aliza Rothman is “passionate about bringing this kind of expressive dance and healing movement to others and into the world.” (photo from Aliza Rothman) It’s a musical Shabbat at Or Shalom Synagogue. There are four musicians playing. The rabbi is…
Bema Productions’ The Last Yiddish Speaker cast, director and crew: standing, left to right, Tess Nolan, Kevin McKendrick, Andrea Eggenberger, Nolan McConnell-Fidyk and Ian Case; seated, Siobhan Davies, left, and Zelda Dean. The play imagines a world in which the…
Elana Wenner (with folder) leads the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia walking tour of Jewish Strathcona. (photo from JMABC) Having taken the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia’s tour of Jewish Strathcona, I know firsthand how interesting…
Among the performers at this year’s Vancouver International Jazz Festival are Ard n’ Saul (Ardeshir and Saul Berson), at Tyrant Studios on June 21. (photo by Joshua Berson) The 40th anniversary edition of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival runs June…
Temple Sholom Senior Rabbi Dan Moskovitz and kids from the shul at Camp Kalsman. Proceeds from Omer Shaish’s My Broadway Shpiel performance on Aug. 21 go towards Temple Sholom’s campership program. (photo from Temple Sholom) International singer and actor Omer…
My family’s in the middle of a month of celebrations. June is always this way at our house, but it’s even more intense this time around. In a “usual” June, we celebrate two family birthdays and a wedding anniversary; it’s…
Hastings Mill Store was part of this year’s Heritage Discovery Day. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay) This year’s Heritage Discovery Day – which has been hosted by Vancouver Heritage Foundation since 2003 – featured nine sites in Kitsilano, highlighting, but not…
In putting together the Jewish Independent’s special 95th Anniversary issue last month, I came across so many articles of interest. Too many, of course, to include in one issue or series of issues. But I figured it’d be fun to…
Pelicans and cranes gather at Hula Lake in Israel. (photo from commons.wikimedia.org) Beginning with the Book of Genesis, we read about the raven and especially about the dove: “After 40 days, Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and…
מלחמת הזדון של הממשלה נגד המדינה והחברה הישראלית נמשכת ללא הפוגה. התוצאות ניכרות בכל אתר. יו”ר ועדת החוקה ממשיך את מלחמתו נגד המערכת המשפטית. מצרים מאשימה את ישראל בהפרת הסכם השלום ומצמצת את שיתוף הפעולה הדיפלומטי. הולנד ונורווגיה מאיימות בהפסקת…
Last month, 16 students from three different high schools in the Galilee visited Vancouver, where they participated in several activities. (photo by Kristin McIlhenney) “It is nearly impossible to put into words the profound experience we had in Vancouver,” Dr.…
Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt speaks with Einat Wilf, Israeli author and thinker, who shared her views on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (photo by Adele Lewin) Israel and its region are in a moment of danger and opportunity, according to Einat Wilf, who…
Or Shalom held a groundbreaking ceremony on April 27, launching the MoreOR project. (photo from Or Shalom) On Sunday, April 27, Or Shalom Synagogue marked a major milestone with a groundbreaking ceremony, launching the MoreOR project – a long-anticipated renovation…
King Charles was in Canada this week, delivering the Speech from the Throne. It was a monumental moment in many ways, not least because it was the first official visit by the monarch since he ascended to the throne. For…
When does something begin? I’ve been thinking about that as I go through 95 years’ worth of Jewish Independents. Well, 20 years of JIs and 75 years of its predecessor, the Jewish Western Bulletin. The JWB also had its predecessors…
Sun tans are actually a response to DNA damage. (photo from pexels.com) Skin cancer is the most common cancer worldwide. To better understand sun safety behaviour and attitudes in the Jewish community, a research group from McGill is conducting a survey. …
Arya Yazgan plays young Sophia in Sophia’s Forest, a chamber opera by composer Lembit Beecher and librettist Hannah Moscovitch, which is at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts until June 1. (photo by Anya Chibis) City Opera Vancouver (COV) presents…
The Nova Exhibition commemorates the massacre at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023. The exhibit is in Toronto until June 8. (photo by Lorraine Katzin) My friend Karen Shalansky and I, from Congregation Har El, went on a…
Rain or shine, the Jewish Culture Festival organized by Chabad of the Tri-Cities will take place at Rocky Point Park on Sunday, June 8. Everyone is welcome. (photo from Chabad of the Tri-Cities) The Jewish Culture Festival returns to Rocky…
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion speaks in Vancouver on June 9. (photo from CFHU) Moshe Lion, mayor of Jerusalem, will be in Vancouver June 9 and Calgary June 11 for a special series of events organized by the Jerusalem Foundation of…
Rev. Joseph Marciano has served the Jewish community in many roles, notably as head of the Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society). (photo from cemeteryboard.com) “It means a tremendous amount to us, as we have dedicated the past 40-plus years of our…
Bay Area klezmer trio Veretski Pass returns to Klezcadia, which runs in-person and online June 10-15. (photo from Klezcadia) Klezcadia, a festival of klezmer music and Yiddish culture, is back for a second year. The June 10-15 event can be…
Tuskrik Fredericks and Rebecca Margolick in to begin with no end, part of Dancing on the Edge, which runs June 12-21. (photo by Alexander Diaz) Dancing on the Edge (DOTE), a cornerstone of Vancouver’s contemporary dance season, presents a line-up…
The Vancouver Jewish Folk Choir has its spring concert on June 15, at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture. (photo from VJFC) The Vancouver Jewish Folk Choir’s spring concert this year celebrates the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture’s…
An artist’s rendering of the new Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre for which the 2025 Negev Event is raising funds. (photo from jnf.ca/PacificNegev2025) Hosted by Jewish National Fund of Canada Pacific Region and Israel Magen Fund of Canada, the June…
Dina Wachtel of Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University, and Ido Aharoni, a former top Israeli diplomat who now teaches at various universities. (photo by Pat Johnson) Zionism is as popular now as it has ever been on North American…
A nationwide Upstanders Canada keynote lecture to mark Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) last month reminded the Zoom audience that the belief that Jews simply cowered, while the atrocities around them were being committed during the Second World War, is…
The Jewish Regional Communities Conference April 27-28 brought together Jewish communities from throughout the province to network, engage and learn. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver) The Jewish Regional Communities Conference was the first of its kind. The April…
The bright, happy cover of The Scribe Summer Camps Issue, which was released last month by the Jewish Museum & Archives of British Columbia (JMABC), draws readers right in. The 95-page magazine-format journal is packed with colour photos of campers…
