Tikva Housing Society is thrilled to share that the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation has provided a grant of $255,000 to support Tikva’s mission to offer affordable housing solutions to the Jewish community. “A gift of this magnitude provides help and…
Almost 80 people attended the Switzer family reunion Aug. 21. (photo by Will Verchere-Gopaulsingh) A reunion at Beth Israel synagogue recently brought together branches of one of Canada’s largest Jewish family trees. The story of this Canadian family began in…
Mazon Canada’s Izzy Waxman, left, and Kathleen Novelia at Valley Community Learning Association in Nova Scotia. (photo from Mazon Canada) Mazon Canada, a grassroots community foundation that helps feed Canadians of all ages, abilities, beliefs and ethnicities on behalf of…
Mahla Finkleman, Canadian national manager of partnership and outreach for Masa Israel Journey (standing, fourth from the left), at Kits Beach in July with participants of the Shalom U’Lhitraot event. (photo from Masa Canada) While the skies were closed for…
Yoni Avi Battat (photo by Richard Ijeh) On Sept. 2, multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer Yoni Avi Battat released his debut album, Fragments, a collection of original and traditional music surrounding his Iraqi-Jewish identity. With lyrics in Arabic, Hebrew, English and…
David Spaner’s new book, Solidarity: Canada’s Unknown Revolution of 1983, forms an archival testament of one of this province’s most dramatic epochs. One of the funny things about watching the 1976 movie All the President’s Men, about how Washington Postreporters…
Wayne Hoffman’s latest book is about his efforts to solve the 1913 murder of his great-grandmother before his mother’s dementia takes full hold of her mind. Well into his book The End of Her: Racing Against Alzheimer’s to Solve a…
Sybil Kaplan, whose food articles often appear in the Jewish Independent, has a broader life experience than those articles would suggest, of course. In a recently self-published memoir, she shares a little of that experience: her time as a youth…
I freely admit it, I was one of those angsty teens who wrote bad poetry to express all my big feelings. I also wore a lot of black, but that’s not relevant here. What kind of surprises me about myself…
Two picture books recently released by Kalaniot Books exemplify the publisher’s mission “to help young children and their families explore the diverse mosaic of Jewish culture and history.” On the face of it, The Very Best Sukkah: A Story From…
Merle Linde, working out of Malka’s Studio in Steveston Village, chose four symbols of Rosh Hashanah for her painting. The shofar: the mournful cry, sounded 100 times during the traditional Rosh Hashanah service, evokes the freedom we gained when we…
A round challah symbolizes a long life, or the unbroken circle of the full new year to come. (photo by Przemyslaw Wierzbowski) On Rosh Hashanah, we are supposed to feast. Why? This is said to come from the passage in…
Just as in life outside shul we don’t understand everything we encounter, we don’t all necessarily understand the Torah reading and other parts of the High Holiday service. The High Holidays serve as a metaphor for life itself. (photo from…
One of my twins urges us, after every meal, to offer him dessert. What started as a “desserts on Shabbat, weekends and holidays” and “dessert is a sometimes food” became ”let’s have dessert after nearly every lunch and dinner,” all…
When I assess all the positive things that Jews have contributed to humanity, and contrast that with the treatment my people have undergone as recompense, I am at a loss. Jews conceived a supreme being responsible for the creation of…
Earlier this summer, I gave each of my Tzofimot (Grade 8 campers) metal kitchen tongs and told them that we were crabs. Then we all ran around the camp click-clacking our tong pincers and yelling “Crabs!” at the top of…
A bunker in Tirana, Albania, that is now the Bunk’Art art and history museum. (photo by Deborah Rubin Fields) Albania is a country of great contrasts. It has stunning, clean beaches, so gorgeous that locals refer to them as the…
This past summer, Israel’s male youth goalball team won the European ParaYouth Games. (photo by Lilach Weiss) Can you imagine a sporting event in which the audience sits in silence? Well, this is how goalball is played. Why? So that…
Beverley Kort is a registered psychologist by day and a cartoonist in her off hours. She has a private practice in Vancouver
(photo from flickr / s2art) My favourite fall/winter fruit is apples, and not just because they are a main symbol of Rosh Hashanah, helping us start off the new year with a sweet dip of honey. I believe the adage…
A fish head is one of the symbols of the Rosh Hashanah meal, so why not add a fish dish to the menu? (photo from rawpixel.com) Soon we will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, for which a fish head is a symbol…
Chicken always makes for a nice holiday meal. For a special treat, however, try out these French kosher chicken entrees. CHICKEN DIJON (8 servings) 1/4 cup water or vegetable oil 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 cup Dijon mustard 1 tsp…
במדינת ישראל הבירוקרטיה חוגגת ומקשה על החיים. לאחר מותי אמי, אחי ואני נדרשנו לטפל בצוואתה ובצוואה של אבא, ולוודא שהיא בוצעה כהלכה. אחי וחמשת ילדיו ואני יורשים את דירת ההורים בתל אביב, ואילו הכסף שהיה מונח בחשבון הבנק של ההורים…
Gili Yalo performs in Vancouver on Sept. 24 for a Chutzpah! Plus event. (photo from Chutzpah!) Israeli singer-songwriter Gili Yalo returns to Vancouver for a Chutzpah! Plus concert on Sept. 24. It’s his first time back in the city since…
Megs Gatus’s solo exhibit, Leaves in Space, runs until Sept. 22 at the Zack Gallery. (photo from Megs Gatus) Megs Gatus – whose solo show, Leaves in Space, opened at the Zack Gallery on Aug. 24 – unexpectedly stumbled onto…
Leslyn Lewis, a candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership that will be decided in the coming days, made a stir last week when she invoked the Nuremberg Code, apparently with regard to coronavirus vaccines. The Nuremberg Code is…
Jewish Family Services Vancouver Island will extend its hours for the Sept. 18 community resource fair that launches the Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island’s annual campaign this year. (photo from jfsvi.ca) The Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver…
Students Adrianne Fitch and Brian Nguyen, with instructor Irwin Levin behind them. Levin and Cass Freeman teach a free workshop on Sept. 13. (photo by Adam Abrams) “When I teach a series of eight classes, I see people who are…
Rita Sheena (photo by Kristine Cofsky) After an acclaimed run at the Vancouver Fringe Festival in 2021 and the Edmonton and Montreal Fringes this year, Everybody Knows returns to its creator’s hometown and the Vancouver Fringe Festival. In this semiautobiographical,…
Ghazal Azarbad and Daniel Fong in Bard on the Beach’s Romeo and Juliet, which runs to Sept. 24. (photo by Tim Matheson) William Shakespeare’s tragic love story, Romeo and Juliet, about teenaged lovers who come together despite the objections of…
