BC members of Team Canada U16 Junior Girls Volleyball sell donuts to raise funds to travel to Israel next summer. (photo from Maccabi Canada) Young volleyball players and their families are calling on the community for assistance to send their…
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, left, with Leslie and Gordon Diamond. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver) To recognize their exceptional leadership and philanthropic impact in Vancouver and across the nation, Vancouver City Council unanimously agreed to bestow the Freedom…
Shimon Koffler Fogel is moving on from his role as president and chief executive officer of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). Fogel’s career as a Jewish professional began in the 1980s with the Canadian Jewish Congress and…
At the Jewish Family Services Vancouver’s annual general meeting on Nov. 26, several volunteers were recognized for their work, dedication and achievements. Stan Shaw received the Naomi Gropper Steiner (z’l) Award; Candice and Todd Thal, the Paula Lenga (z’l) Award;…
Blue Rodeo founders Greg Keelor, left, and Jim Cuddy at the Whistler Film Festival. (photo from the festival) The music documentary Blue Rodeo: Lost Together by director Dale Heslip was named winner of the 2024 Audience Award for a feature-length…
Kelley Korbin, left, and Trilby Smith honour Bernie Simpson, who has been a longtime staunch supporter of Camp Miriam, which he attended, starting in the mid-1950s. (photo by Adi Keidar) Hundreds gathered Dec. 7 to mark 75 years of Camp…
By fostering human connection, creativity and a love for the outdoors, Camp Hatikvah teaches children that true joy doesn’t come from likes or notifications – it comes from experiences shared with others. (photo from Camp Hatikvah) In today’s fast-paced world,…
Jewish summer camps fuse the activities, friendships and communal life of traditional camps with Jewish values, role models and culture. (photo from Camp Kalsman) Whether camping season has just ended or it’s the middle of winter, it’s never too early…
Jewish summer camps, like Camp Solomon Schechter near Olympia, Wash., aim to give participants a lifelong sense of belonging, leadership, joy and identity. (photo from campschechter.org) The California-based Shimon Ben Joseph Foundation, commonly known as the Jim Joseph Foundation, has…
ישראל נמצאת כיום במצב בטחוני מסובך ביותר כולל חזיתות רבות. הצבא ומערכת הביטחון נקראים כל העת לפעול לביטחונה של המדינה ובמקביל להכות באיומים מכל הכיוונים למרות זאת הסכנה הגדולה ביותר שמאיימת על קיומה היא הפילוג הפנימי הגדול שלא ניתן לאחותו…
The federal government’s designated point person on antisemitism raised alarm bells for Canadians following attacks on Jews last month in Amsterdam. Deborah Lyons, Canada’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism, spoke to the Vancouver Jewish community Nov.…
Cirque du Soleil’s ECHO, at Concord Pacific Place until Jan. 5, is just beautiful. (photo by Jean-François Savaria) Beautiful. Cirque du Soleil’s ECHO, at Concord Pacific Place until Jan. 5, is just beautiful – the costumes, the movements, the music,…
The tyrannical regime in Syria has collapsed, and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has fled to Russia. We can hope this represents the end of the catastrophic Syrian civil war that has cost perhaps 600,000 lives, maybe more, and displaced half…
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Rolene Marks had a heartrending plea to the hundreds of people who attended a virtual event titled Stop the Violence. “As our hostage plight fades from the minds of…
Left to right: Haleema Sadia, Emily Schrader, Christine Douglass-Williams and Goldie Ghamari formed the panel of the Dec. 4 event in Toronto called The Head of the Snake, the Islamic Republic of Iran. (photo by Dave Gordon) American-Israeli journalist Emily…
Our Story, Our Heritage: A Speaker Series with Wexner Scholars launched here in September. It features top Jewish educators from across North America who teach in the two-year Wexner Heritage Program, which focuses on Jewish learning and leadership training. While…
Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch spoke on the topic Just for this Moment: Stepping Up to Lead. (screenshot) Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch kicked off the fifth season of Kolot Mayim Reform Temple’s Building Bridges lecture series Nov. 3 with the topic…
Jake Finkelstein’s repertoire includes a fastball, curveball and changeup. (photo by Justin Morash) Pitcher Jake Finkelstein is looking forward to his third season in the Victoria HarbourCats lineup next summer. Finkelstein, a 2020 King David High School graduate, told the…
Clayton Lee explores his childhood obsession with Jewish professional wrestler Bill Goldberg in his The Goldberg Variations, which is at Waterfront Theatre Jan. 30 (photo by Kenneth Koo) PuSh International Performing Arts Festival runs Jan. 23-Feb. 9. This year’s run…
With her latest book, Olga Campbell sets out to leave a legacy, one that encompasses the trauma of the past but also the richness of the present and hope for the future. Dear Arlo: Letters to My Grandson is Campbell’s…
A photo of Reuven Rashkovsky from the book An Improbable Life: My Father’s Escape from Soviet Russia, by his daughter, Dr. Karine Rashkovsky. Here, Reuven is pictured with a MIG 19 Soviet fighter plane. At 18, he was drafted into…
The Krell, Lewis, Kallner and Singerman families are excited their gift will help in the creation of an expanded Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. (photo by Rachel Topham) The JWest capital campaign cabinet is grateful to Dr. Robert and Marilyn Krell…
Thousands of rabbis pose for a group photo in front of Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn, NY, on Dec. 1. (photo by Shmulie Grossbaum) Some 6,500 Chabad rabbis and Jewish leaders from around the globe gathered Nov. 27-Dec. 1 in Brooklyn,…
King Manuel I of Portugal (1495-1521) had a problem. To marry Princess Isabella of Spain, he consented to the request of her parents – Ferdinand and Isabella – to rid Portugal of its Jews. But Manuel wanted to keep the…
I know I have sinned. Haven’t we all? How then to achieve redemption when I have this whole mountain of transgressions looming over me? I can see it clearly every time I look in the mirror. Was it Yogi Berra…
We recently had some work done on our garage. In 2021, when we purchased our new home, which was built in 1913, the inspector marveled at the garage, which was an early, purpose-built building meant for cars as compared to…
Hanukkah is a holiday made joyous by its origins in the victory of the Jewish people over our oppressors and the liberation by the Maccabees of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Now, thousands of years later, over eight nights, we…
Hanukkah reminds us that miracles are possible and that seemingly unwinnable wars can be won. But it also holds lessons about partial victories, imperfect heroes and incomplete belonging. We tell the story of Hanukkah, in our liturgy and in our…
Thanks to Doodle the village orphan, the people of Chelm celebrated Hanukkah even during “The Long Winter of the Cabbage.” (image from reformjudaism.org) In literature, a cabbage might be a symbol for anything and everything disagreeable. In the village of…
The Canadian Medical Association would probably not approve, but Rachel Teichman’s D is for Donut is a sweet way to teach kids their ABCs. (Pun intended … groan.) For this hardcover (or ebook), Teichman again pairs up with Rebecca Wright,…
