At the close of what Western countries call Valentine’s Day, a tenuous ceasefire went into effect in war-torn eastern Ukraine. Unfortunately, the days prior to the truce were not what you would call all “hearts and flowers.” Up to the…
Ottawa Jewish Community School’s high school program will be phased out by 2017. (photo from cjnews.com) A unanimous decision by the Ottawa Jewish Community School’s board of directors will see the city’s only Jewish high school program phased out by 2017.…
“Evening on the Terrace (Morocco)” by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant conveys a popular image of languid life of the Maghreb of the 19th century. (photo by Christine Guest from MMFA via cjnews.com) Life in 19th-century southern Spain and Morocco, with its mixing of…
At a ceremony in Tel Aviv, Gadi Eizenkot, second from left, succeeds Benny Gantz, far right, as IDF chief of staff. (photo from Flash90 from JNS.org) The four-year term of Israel Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz…
Cpl. Ben Levi is a participant in the Great in Uniform program. (photo from Israel Defence Forces) The program Great in Uniform aims to integrate young Israelis with special needs into the Israel Defence Forces. To date, some 200 youths…
A thunder and lightning storm over Nitzan, in the south of Israel. (photo by Edi Israel/Flash90) New research by an Israeli scientist will likely be crucial to measuring the impact of climate change on thunderstorms. The varying frequency and intensity…
Israelis buying a Japanese car in Tel Aviv might be surprised to learn that the car was actually built in Turkey. Tourists buying dried figs in Israel’s Machane Yehuda market probably don’t know that the figs might also be imported.…
“‘משחק החיקוי’ הוא סרט טוב אך לא מתאר בדיוק את המציאות”, אומרת אוליב ביילי, שנמתה על היחידה שפיצחה את הקוד הנאצי “‘משחק החיקוי’ הוא סרט טוב אך אינו מתאר בדיוק את מה שהתרחש אז במציאות, של מלחמת העולם השנייה”, אומרת…
Dan Gillerman addresses the audience at Jewish National Fund Pacific Region’s Tu b’Shevat event Feb. 3 as emcee Geoffrey Druker looks on. (photo by Robert Albanese) A former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations heaped praise on Canada and excoriated…
Zvuloon Dub System is at the Imperial on Feb. 20, the first of several world-class musicians taking part in this year’s Chutzpah! festival. (photo by Naom Chojnowski) “Come prepared to dance!” advises the Chutzpah! promotional material about Zvuloon Dub System’s…
Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously struck down the law that makes it illegal for doctors in Canada to provide medical assistance to severely ill patients who wish to die. The court decision permits physicians to assist in…
As the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz approached last month, discussion turned to the shrinking number of survivors. My father-in-law, Bill Gluck of Vancouver, was one of them, having been deported to Auschwitz from Hungary in 1944, a…
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In Downton Abbey, Rose (Lily James) is smitten with Atticus Aldridge (Matt Barber). (photo from pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece) Jewish characters have finally joined the impeccably attired throng at Downton Abbey, and it’s not an altogether happy day. While Lord and Lady Grantham…
Marissa Cepelinski during the 2014 Run for Water. (photo from Marissa Cepelinski) Some people spend their entire lives trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. Some know when they’re just a kid. At a rather young…
This year’s Limmud Vancouver had about 35 percent more attendees than it did last year. (photo by Robert Albanese) About 350 lifelong learners spent the day exploring a huge diversity of Jewish ideas at the second annual Limmud Vancouver event Feb.…
Moishe House (and friends) show off their “Most Jewish Table” certificates. From left to right are Alexei Schwartzman, Benjamin Groberman, Carol Moutal, Jordan Stenzler, Shayna Goldberg and Kevin Veltheer. (photo by Robert Albanese) Music. Storytelling. Video. Flash dance. These were just…
Since Scottish economist Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations in 1776, arguing the importance of the division of labor and launching the era of specialization, a formal managing role – initially personified by the owner of the enterprise –…
The Tran-Israel oil pipeline spill near the Evrona Nature Reserve in the Arava Desert has harmed flora and fauna. (photo by Menachem Zalutzki via Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection) On Dec. 3, 2014, a fractured pipe created the biggest oil spill…
Twenty Orthodox Jewish outreach groups to fundraise together. The Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals (AJOP) has issued a challenge to North American Orthodox Jewish outreach organizations to raise $1 million in one day collaboratively. And it’s all or nothing. Each…
A senior delegation from Shengjing visits JVP in Jerusalem. (photo by Yael Rivkind, JVP, via israel21c.org) Fiona Darmon, a partner at JVP, one of Israel’s most successful venture capital funds, was recently in China at a meeting with a large investor.…
Leket provides 25,000 volunteers every year to pick crops in the field of Sandy Colb. (photo from israel21c.org) Along with his Ivy League diplomas, a second-grade “master gardener” certificate hangs on the wall of Rehovot patent attorney Sandy Colb’s office. Now…
Digital Shmita is one of four projects that received 2015 Natan Grants for ROI Entrepreneurs. A digital Shmita project, Israel’s version of the radio show This American Life, a global initiative promoting tourism to Jewish communities and a foundation supporting…
Researchers have shown that the brains of bats contain neurons that sense which way the bat’s head is pointed and could, therefore, support the animal’s navigation in 3-D space. (photo from wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il) Pilots are trained to guard against vertigo: a sudden…
נשיא מדינת ישראל בעת פגישת עבודה מדינית עם שר החוץ של קנדה, ג’ון ביירד – 18 בינואר. (צילום: דוברות בית הנשיא) ישראל איבדה ידיד קרוב: שר החוץ הקנדי פרש מתפקידו במפתיע שר החוץ של ממשלת קנדה ג’ון בירד, הודיע ביום שלישי…
Maria Kong opens this year’s Chutzpah! festival on Feb. 19. (photo by Guy Prives) The 15th season of Chutzpah! kicks off Feb. 19 with Tel Aviv-based dance troupe Maria Kong. Founded in 2008 by former Batsheva Dance Co. members, Maria…
Last week, the federal government introduced proposed legislation intended to strengthen anti-terror powers of police, the intelligence service and the military. The legislation would make it illegal to advocate or promote terrorism, would allow courts to remove terrorist propaganda from…
(image from abouddandachi.com) On Jan. 27, commemorations were held worldwide in remembrance of the Holocaust. Seventy years after the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, these remembrances are as necessary as ever, as evidenced by the past year’s rising tide of…
Left to right: Andrew McNee as Francis and Martin Happer as Stanley Stubbers in One Man, Two Guvnors at the Arts Club Stanley Theatre. (photo by David Cooper) It’s always disconcerting when sitting in a theatre listening to everyone laughing…
Dr. Neil Pollock, second from the left, in Haiti. (photo from Neil Pollock) Vancouver-based Dr. Neil Pollock has recently returned from a mission to Haiti, where he trained surgeons in newborn male circumcision to help fight against HIV. Among other…
