The ceiling of the Sephardic synagogue Shevet Ahim, which is located in the Bella Vista neighbourhood of Panama City. (photo by Janice Masur) My solo trip to Panama City this past February had seemed so far away when I organized…
The Kotel – the last remaining part of Herod the Great’s vast Second Temple complex – got a spruce up ahead of Passover. As is tradition, volunteers took to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City to remove hundreds of…
Liberation. Freedom. Renewal. Recalling our history, our stories. Passover’s themes are many, and the challenge every year is for us to interpret them in a meaningful way for our time. In making this special issue’s cover, I started with the…
The Jewish Food Society’s website has many Passover options: salads, mains and desserts. For people who prefer cookbooks, the society has published The Jewish Holiday Table, which can be purchased online. The Jewish Food Society was established in 2017. The…
Beverley Kort is a registered psychologist by day and a cartoonist in her off hours. She has a private practice in Vancouver.
ראש ממשלת קנדה מארק קרני, הבין מהר מאוד עם מי יש לו עסק והכוונה לנשיא ארצות הברית דונלד טראמפ. קרני קלט מהר שטראמפ הוא נוכל סדרתי ומנהיג שאי אפשר לסמוך עליו. עד עידן טראמפ ארה”ב וקנדה נחשבו לבעלות הברית הקרובות…
Sharren Haskel, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, spoke with Canadian media on March 9. (photo from Consulate General of Israel in Toronto and Western Canada) A terror attack against Canadian Jews on par with the Bondi Beach attack in Australia last…
Zeev Buium, top right, and Max Sasson, bottom right, talking to, left to right, Bik Nizzar, Satiar Shah and Josh Elliott-Wolfe of Sportsnet 650 Radio hosts at the JCC Sports Dinner, March 3. (photo by Kyle Berger) Cheering for the…
From the first of Vancouver’s weekly vigils for Israeli hostages, after the 10/7 attacks, members of the local Iranian community were a welcome presence. Asked by the Independent why he was moved to join the mostly Jewish crowd at one…
Jewish leaders and public officials across the Greater Toronto Area are warning that a series of shootings targeting synagogues has pushed antisemitism into a far more dangerous phase, prompting urgent calls for action from police, governments and civil society. Community…
Brenda Bailey, BC minister of finance, delivers the government’s 2026 budget. (photo from flickr.com/photos/bcgovphotos) British Columbia’s 2026 budget sends a message that should concern every family in this province: seniors can wait. Indefinitely. Seven scheduled long-term care projects have been…
Years ago, I regularly walked with my two bird dogs on streets near my home, in Winnipeg. I had a setter-mix and a pointer, rescued from a Kentucky animal shelter as young dogs, before moving to Canada. I walked them…
When Achiya Klein awoke after surgery, doctors began asking simple questions. Could he see this? Could he see that? “First, take off the bandages,” he told them. “We already did,” they replied. Klein was injured during a 2013 military operation…
The stars of Stacey Tenenbaum’s documentary Tough Old Broads, playing at VIFF Centre March 14 and 17: Kathrine Switzer, left, Sharon Farmer, centre, and Siila Watt-Cloutier. (screenshots from film) If you’re feeling hopeless about the state of the world –…
Synthia Yusuf stars in Kat Sandler’s Wildwoman, which runs March 26 to April 4 at Gateway Theatre, a co-production with Alberta Theatre Projects. (photo by David Cooper) “Wildwoman is a story that celebrates women who refuse to be silenced and…
Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia director of programming Elana Wenner and JMABC executive director Eli Klasner at the Feb. 11 launch of the museum’s pop-up exhibit You Can’t Spell Delicious Without Deli. (photo from JMABC) Omnitsky Kosher Delicatessen…
If you’ve been through the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver lately, you may have noticed a simple question appearing in the hallways and around the building: “Are you in yet?” It’s the invitation to join JWest, the re-construction of…
Anat Gogo, executive director of Tikva Housing. This year’s campaign was the most successful to date. (photo from Tikva Housing) Tikva Housing Society’s annual fundraising campaign has concluded with its most successful result to date, raising more than $75,000 to…
Henry Chodos, a Grade 6 student from Vancouver Talmud Torah, won ADI’s sixth annual Make the Change Challenge and received the $1,000 grand prize. (photo from ADI) In its sixth year, ADI’s Make the Change Challenge STEM accessible design contest…
Sidi Schaffer (standing) has been leading an art class at the Weinberg Residence since last October. (photo by Vanessa Trester) Sidi Schaffer, a well-known Vancouver artist and art teacher, moved to the Weinberg Residence last August. “My husband passed away…
Rabbi Joshua Corber leads JACS’s Purim gathering at Omnitsky Kosher on March 1. (photo from JACS) JACS’s holiday programming initiative kicked off with Purim at JACS, held at Omnitsky Kosher March 1. While Jewish Addiction Community Services’ focus is on…
Liebling Haus’s exhibit Life, Plant, City: 100 Years of Geddes’ Plan for Tel Aviv’s Garden City, which documents how Sir Patrick Geddes’ vision continues to shape the city’s urban fabric, includes multidisciplinary works by dozens of artists (photo by Yael…
Gal Raviv, left, and Prof. Tamir Klein in the plant sanctuary at Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. (photo from Weizmann Institute of Science) When PhD student Gal Raviv thought of creating a sanctuary garden at the Weizmann Institute…
חזרתי מחופשה בת שבוע מיוון ונוכחתי לדעת שגם במדינה ים תיכונית זו האנטישמיות גואה ומורגשת היטב. כיום ישראל ויוון נחשבות למדינות ידידותיות למדי אך מבחינת לפחות חלק מאזרחי יוון, ישראלים ויהודים נחשבים לאויבים לאור ההרג הרב של פלסטינים ברצועת עזה,…
The Douglas Park area is being covered with hateful chalk and stickers. (photo by Joshua) A residential pocket near Vancouver’s Oak Street corridor has become the site of an increasingly bitter battle over political messaging, public space and antisemitism. At…
Yazamut 360° co-founder and general manager Dana Gavish, left, and Gadi Bahat, an entrepreneur who heads Yazamut’s academic programs. (photos from bgu.ac.il) Representatives from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s entrepreneurship centre, Yazamut 360°, will be coming to Vancouver in April. …
As a political science student at the University of British Columbia, I believe fiercely in free expression, open debate and intellectual diversity. I have defended the idea that universities should be places where ideas are rigorously challenged, interrogated and tested…
Fresh red lines have been crossed by anti-Israel agitators in Canada. These developments should alarm everyone who cares about civil society, diversity and safe spaces for children. A coalition of antizionist groups is pressuring provincial camping associations to strip accreditation…
It’s been an incredibly stressful time in our community for more than two years. The relief I felt when Ran Gvili’s body, the last hostage in Gaza, was returned home, was huge. When I saw others at synagogue, all our…
