Ben-Gurion University’s Prof. Amir Sagi, left, and Dr. Amit Savaia have found a way to use shrimp to fight a deadly parasitic disease in Nigeria. (photo from BGU) This year, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev plans to launch a new school…
Lillian Boraks-Nemetz’s latest collection of poems offers comfort, even though she does not shy away from the tragedy of her Holocaust experience and ever-present memories of that period. From the very title, Out of the Dark, she gives hope. If…
Journalists in Canada do not face the sorts of threats – sometimes life-endangering ones – that colleagues in many other countries do. But other factors impinge on the right of Canadians to diverse and thorough reporting of contentious issues, says…
University of Victoria’s Prof. Dan Russek spoke about Jewish writers in Argentina and Mexico, as well as Jorge Luis Borges’ Jewish-related writings. (photo from Dan Russek) Dan Russek spoke on 20th-century Latin American writers, both Jewish and those who have…
Starting in February, a few B.C. Chabads are offering Journey of the Soul: A Fresh Look at Life, Death and the Rest – In Peace, a six-session online Zoom course from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) that answers the…
As the winter blues threaten to sink in, and COVID continues to be a part of life, Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (CABGU) has been looking for ways to keep people engaged through a series of virtual…
Josh Epstein and Amanda Sum in do you want what i have got? a craigslist cantata, written by Veda Hille, Bill Richardson and Amiel Gladstone, and presented by the Cultch and Musical Stage Company. (photo by Emily Cooper) Welcome back…
Left to right: Richard Leipsic, David Asper, Leonard Asper and Gail Asper. (photo from CFHU) The Canadian Friends of Hebrew University has received $5 million from the Asper Foundation. This gift upholds a tradition of exceptional philanthropic support and collaboration…
Clockwise from top left: committee members Tanja Demajo, Michelle Dodek, Michelle Gerber, Stan Shaw, Renee Katz and Simone Kallner. (photo sextet from JFS) Jewish Family Services has formed a food security committee. This team will be responsible for leading the…
(sanotize.com/covid-19) בריטניה החלה בשבוע שעבר לערוך ניסויים קליניים בתרסיס לאף למניעת התפשטות חיידק הקורונה, שמיוצר על ידי חברה בוונקובר “סנוטיז”. החברה בבעלות הישראלית, ד”ר גילי רגב, שמשמשת גם המנכ”לית שלה. קנדה השלימה כבר את השלב הראשון בניסויים הקליניים שלה ואילו…
Israel’s Operation Tzur Israel, bringing olim from Ethiopia to Israel, began Dec. 3. (photo by Kassaw Molla) It’s been almost 40 years since Israel coordinated the first airlift of Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 1984. The Beta Israel people, a citizenry…
In his December presentation, Michael Geller showed this photo of a building in Paris, where modular housing was added atop an existing apartment building to provide more units. An old adage says that investing in real estate is always a…
The violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. (photo by Tyler Merbler/flickr) Elect a clown, expect a circus. That has been a recurring meme over the past four years. As the reality show that is the Donald Trump presidency…
At 109, Richmond resident Reuben (Rube) Sinclair might be Canada’s oldest Second World War veteran. (photo from Reuben Sinclair) A Richmond resident is almost certainly Canada’s oldest Second World War veteran. Reuben (Rube) Sinclair received a special recognition on Remembrance…
Normally, this issue of the Independent would feature our third Camp Guide of the season, with several camps advertising their summer sessions, and several articles on various topics related to Jewish camp. But COVID-19 seriously affected last summer’s programming and…
A scene from the documentary Martha, in which director Daniel Schubert is given a more appropriate shirt by his grandmother, Martha Katz. (Courtesy NFB) Two very different scenes in the National Film Board of Canada’s short documentary film Martha –…
The Vancouver Jewish Food Bank is now distributing more than 10,000 kilograms of food every month. (photo from BI and JFS) According to the Community Food Centres Canada report Beyond Hunger: The Hidden Impacts of Food Insecurity in Canada, “Even…
(photo from Music on Main) On Jan. 28 and 29, Music on Main hosts the world première livestream of Graveyards and Gardens, co-created and co-produced by Caroline Shaw (composer and recorded sound) and Vanessa Goodman (choreographer). A PuSh Festival Partner…
Catalina Beraducci plays Noemí Goldberg in the Topic film Noemí Gold. (photo from Topic) For his first feature film, writer and director Dan Rubenstein has done well. Noemí Gold, which is currently streaming exclusively on Topic, is a quietly engaging…
Since time immemorial, no matter what calamity occurred in the world, if there was a problem plaguing humanity, Jews were used as the convenient scapegoat. Earlier this year, as the coronavirus pandemic spread across Europe and then throughout North America,…
The following article was published in the Globe & Mail, as “A Dutch family hid me from the Nazis: I owe them my life,” in advance of Remembrance Day, Nov. 11, 2020. It is reprinted here with permission, in recognition…
I was crying in front of the computer screen during a funeral service livestream. Again. It wasn’t my first of this pandemic. Even if the person didn’t ostensibly die of COVID, he’d been ill alone, unable to see family for…
The breakdown of Nefesh B’Nefesh 2020 aliyah. (image from Nefesh B’Nefesh) Despite a challenging and tumultuous 2020, 291 individuals from Canada decided to make aliyah and move to Israel with Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) over the past year. The Canadians were…
Prof. Ori Efrati, left, and Dr. Michael Cohen. (photos from IMP) With the arrival of the coronavirus vaccine, there has also been a spike in morbidity, clearly indicating that we’re not out of the woods yet. In fact, hospitals in…
Sifriya Pijama has created approximately 100 books in Hebrew and Arabic. (photo by David Salem) Keren Grinspoon Israel promotes literacy through the gift of books to young children in Israel. Last fall, KGI was chosen by the U.S. Library of Congress…
UBQ chief executive officer Tato Bigio in the factory at Kibbutz Tse’elim, in the Negev. (photo from UBQ) Garbage is piling up everywhere – in landfills and elsewhere on the ground, in oceans and other bodies of water, and even…
Volunteers help pick olives on a windy day in the fair trade grove of Emek Yizrael. (photo from Yoram Ron) For thousands of years, olive trees have grown in Israel. Neolithic pottery containing olive pits and remnants of olives have…
As if the pandemic weren’t enough, I’m supposed to think of something tantalizing and healthy to cook every night? Right. Roger that. My motto is: go with the tried and true. Or, given the times we’re in: go with the…
The holiday of Chamisha Asar b’Shevat or Tu b’Shevat is not mentioned in the Torah but makes its first appearance in the Talmud, where it is called Rosh Hashanah l’Ilan (New Year of the Tree). Jewish literature of the sixth…
(photo: TMAC Resources via nunavutnews.com) ממשלת קנדה חסמה את החברה המולאמת הסינית שאנדונג מרכישת מכרה זהב במדבר הארקטי בקנדה. זאת במסגרת החלטתו של ראש הממשלה, ג’סטין טרודו, לעמוד איתן אל מול ההשפעה הגוברת של סין על המדינה ובייחוד על האזורים הצפוניים שלה. מדובר בהחלטה…
