Local Israeli cover band HaOpziot will get people dancing at this year’s Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations on April 21. (photo from JFGV)
“As we hold Israel close to our hearts, we are reminded that our connection transcends oceans,” wrote Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, in a recent enewsletter. “We have the power to bring Israel closer, to feel it and to celebrate it together right here at home through our community’s signature Yom Ha’atzmaut event.”
On Yom Ha’atzmaut, April 21, 7:30 p.m., Israeli musician and producer Ben Golan will headline our local celebration of Israel’s 78th Independence Day. (See jewishindependent.ca/story-of-israels-north.)
Golan came onto Federation’s radar when Shanken saw him perform during a 2024 visit to our community’s partnership region in Israel, the Upper Galilee. Golan is from Kiryat Shmona, where he also runs a recording studio.
In addition to his own performance, Golan will join local Israeli cover band HaOpziot for a couple of songs during their set.
HaOpziot is comprised of Goor Cohen (vocals, guitar), Kobi Gabay (vocals, guitar), Yotam Ronen (bass guitar), Avishai Weissberg (lead guitar) and Omer Yehi Shalom (drums). The group was founded by Ronen and the band’s former drummer, Maoz Kaufmann, in 2022. The pair posted a call-out on Facebook looking for musicians.
“The rest of us responded, we clicked instantly, and the Optziot were born,” said Cohen.
The band performs a few times a year, at clubs around Vancouver, as well as at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. To find out where and when they’re playing, people can follow the band on social media: Instagram, Facebook and/or YouTube.
When asked how to describe their musical sound or style, Cohen said, “In short: high-energy, loud and often fast.
“Our sound is a fusion of hard rock, punk and heavy metal, with subtle touches of Mizrahi influences, creating a style that strongly resonates with Israeli musical taste and culture,” he elaborated.
Each band member brings their different influences to the music, said Cohen, “ranging from mainstream to underground, old-school to contemporary, and classic to anarchistic. That diversity is a big part of what shapes our unique sound.”
Federation’s website page promoting the Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration highlights some of the songwriters whose music HaOpziot performs, including artists like Mashina, Eifo Hayeled, Berry Sakharof and Monica Sex.
The band’s popularity in the local Israeli community is how they came to Federation’s attention, their sound suiting the vibe that Federation would like the event to have, with the night ending in a dance party.
“This will be the biggest crowd we’ve played for so far,” Cohen told the Independent, “and we’re really excited to have more members of the community come see us in action.”
Unfortunately, Gabay won’t be able to make the Yom Ha’atzmaut concert. But no worries.
“For this show,” said Cohen, “we’ve asked Noga Veiman, our unofficial band manager, to join us on stage and take part as a band member – so, together, we’ll deliver the high-energy show we’ve been planning.”
The night, of course, will begin in a more sombre fashion, with the conclusion of Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance for Israel’s fallen soldiers and civilians who lost their lives in war and terror attacks. In Vancouver, the community’s memorial service will take place on April 20, 7:30 p.m., both in person and online. To attend or watch, register at jewishvancouver.com/zikaron.
For tickets ($36/adult, $12/youth, $75/family pack) to the Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations on April 21, go to jewishvancouver.com/yh2026.
Leo Franken, left, with Manny (the mannequin) and David Downing. The community is invited to join the 25th anniversary open house at the store on April 15. (photo from Spectacle Shoppe)
On April 15, the Spectacle Shoppe will host an open house in celebration of Leo Franken’s 25 years as owner.
Franken, an optician, bought the Kerrisdale store in 2001. The location has been an optical shop since the 1960s, its name changing from Western Optical to the Spectacle Shoppe in 1999.
Born in Amsterdam, Holland, he moved to Montreal with his family when he was 4 years old. His father was an optician as well and his mother helped in their store a few days a week, eventually getting her optician’s licence. His older brother was in the teaching profession, working within the Orthodox Jewish community in Toronto.
“My dad was an optician, and the idea was that I would take over the business,” he told the Independent. “I enjoyed the field and, when he passed away in 1970, I was put in a position of keeping the practice afloat.”
Franken moved to Vancouver in 1978, because of the political instability in Quebec. At the time, the threat of the province separating from Canada was a real possibility.
In Vancouver, he became a member of Congregation Schara Tzedeck and the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, and he worked at various places before the Spectacle Shoppe came up for sale.
“It resembled the kind of store that my dad had and in a community that was similar to where I grew up in Montreal,” he explained of why he seized the opportunity to buy it.
“It took a long time,” he said of learning the commercial side of owning a shop. “I still think it is my greatest weakness,” he admitted, “but I just love the business and that is what keeps it going.”
And that love is what keeps him going, as well. Now officially semi-retired, he said he’s working on retirement, but, “it turns out, as long as I am healthy, I will be in the store at least one to two days a week.”
His wife, Marlene, has made the transition into retirement, after a career as an occupational therapist specializing in the psychiatric field. The couple has two sons, Sheldon and Josh, but each of them decided on a different career path.
(photo by Cynthia Ramsay)
David Downing is the primary optician at the Spectacle Shoppe. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the industry, and is also the store’s eyewear-fitting specialist. Visitors to the open house will want to say hi to him and Franken, as well as the rest of the staff, Denisa and Gabriele.
They can learn more about the many types of frames the shop carries, including Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which “blend technology with everyday style,” said Franken, noting that the “glasses discreetly integrate features that allow you to capture moments and stay connected, without compromising on design.” The frames are available in a range of women’s, men’s and unisex styles.
From April 15 to 18, the shop will feature the complete lines of frame brands LA Eyeworks (“high-quality and design from Japan”), Etnia Barcelona(“colourful and youthful look from Spain”) and Lool (“lightweight metal and plastic models for a softer look,” also from Spain).
“It is a business that makes people happy,” he said when asked his main thought about his 25-year milestone. “If the client is happy, they refer more people. To see my clients keep coming back while their family grows, I share in the joy of continuing growth all around.”
He is grateful for all the support he has received, including from the Jewish community.
“It has been our privilege serving Kerrisdale and beyond,” he said. “We thank you for your trust and support throughout the years. We are grateful for the many customers who have ‘grown up’ with us over the past quarter-century. We look forward to many more years of being an integral part of Kerrisdale and its community.”
The April 15 open house will take place from noon to 8 p.m. at the store, which is located at 5683 West Blvd.
Kiryat Shmona musician Ben Golan will perform at the Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations in Vancouver April 21. (photo from Ben Golan)
“Music for me is a way to say: we are still here, still alive, still building a future. It gives people a place to feel, and also the strength to keep going,” said Ben Golan, who will headline our local celebration of Israel’s 78th Independence Day, on April 21.
Golan is a musician and producer from Kiryat Shmona, a city in our community’s partnership region, the Upper Galilee, in Israel. He is the founder of the initiative Patifon.
“For 17 years,” he said, “I’ve been producing music and running a recording studio in the city. Over time, I realized that my work isn’t just about producing songs. It’s about building something that can sustain a real musical community in the north, giving a stage to local creators and creating a movement that feels connected to this place.”
Patifon, which means record player or turntable in Hebrew, serves as a hub for local artists.
“It all started simply, with jam sessions in the studio,” explained Golan. “People began coming to play, sing, meet and connect. Slowly, it grew, until the gatherings were too big for the studio to handle. There wasn’t enough space, but there was a hunger for music. Then, thanks to the youth centre and the amazing Elad Kozikaro, who gave us a budget and the perfect space, we got a shelter, which, in times like these, is a valuable commodity in the north. We moved in, completely renovated it and turned it into the most beautiful music lounge; a place where you can come and feel at home, even if it’s your first time there.”
The lounge morphed into Patifon.
“We started filming live sessions of artists and bands there, with proper sound and respect for the music,” Golan said. “All the sessions were uploaded to YouTube under Patifon and, over time, it started to catch on and reach more and more people. Suddenly, what began as a small local gathering became a stage watched by people outside the north.
“As the audience grew and we realized this needed more breathing room, we opened a community pub. Students from Tel-Hai College volunteer there as part of a scholarship program and help keep the place alive and running.”
For Golan, Kiryat Shmona is not just where he was born and grew up. He calls the city and the Upper Galilee his “inner language.”
“In this city, I learned what the rhythm of a community really is: people who know each other, who will always help you when you need something. There’s a different kind of air here,” he said.
“I have a stream right by my house. It seeped into my music without me even intending it to – a mix of rough and tender, of truth and esthetics, of wanting to shout and needing a moment of quiet to breathe,” he explained. “The nature here, the open space and the distance from the centre taught me how to really listen – not to the noise, but to what lies underneath it.
“Continuing to create in the north, especially after Oct. 7, is not a romantic choice for me – it’s a stance,” he said. “The region went through a real upheaval: fear, evacuation, uncertainty and, also, a kind of pain that people who don’t live here sometimes don’t fully understand. Out of all of that, creativity becomes a tool for connection and healing.”
Golan chose to stay in Kiryat Shmona out of a sense of mission.
“I believe the periphery holds immense talent, real hunger and stories you can’t fake – it just needs infrastructure, a home and support,” he said. “I want the young people and artists here to feel that they don’t have to leave in order to become something. On the contrary – that this place itself can become a source of inspiration, an opportunity and a creative centre that generates culture rather than just consumes it.”
Coming to Vancouver for Yom Ha’atzmaut, Golan said he brings messages of resilience and hope – and he takes those words seriously.
“Independence, for me, is also the ability to choose to create despite the difficulty, to choose community, to choose light,” he said. “I want to bring the story of the north: people who continue to build, to organize events, to create music and to hold each other up even when reality is complicated. In my music, there is room for both joy and pain, because both are part of our lives – especially in this time.”
On April 21, Vancouver band HaOptziot will also take the stage at the community celebrations, playing covers of various Israeli hits.
For tickets ($36/adult, $12/youth, $75/family pack) to the Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations, go to jewishvancouver.com/yh2026.
Artists Claire Kujundzic and Bill Horne have created a Bondi Beach memorial shirt. Monies raised are being donated to Bema Productions’ high school Holocaust education tours of Wendy Kout’s Survivors. (photo from Amazing Studios)
After the terror attack at Bondi Beach, Australia, on Dec. 14, in which two gunmen killed 15 people and wounded some 40 others who had gathered to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, Victoria artist Bill Horne hosted a print-your-own glow-in-the-dark menorah shirt event at his and partner Claire Kujundzic’s Amazing Space Studio.
“Claire and I were very distressed by the antisemitic murders at Bondi Beach, and wanted to do something,” Horne told the Independent. “I’ve screen-printed with glow-in-the-dark ink before, e.g. images of aurora borealis, and the image of a glowing menorah popped into my mind. I thought it could symbolize the spirits of those killed at Bondi Beach, as well as literally ‘light up’ a menorah on a shirt this way.”
On Facebook, Horne invited anyone who wanted to print their own glow-in-the-dark menorah to bring a shirt to the Saanich studio before one of the Hanukkah light-up events in Victoria.
The front of the shirt features a menorah that glows in the dark. (photo from Amazing Studios)
“I had a few spare, unprinted black shirts in the cupboard, so I printed them,” he said. “When our visitors saw them, they asked if they were for sale. I hadn’t conceived of this as a commercial project, and that would have felt completely wrong, so I thought it could be a fundraiser. With Zelda Dean’s permission, I announced through word-of-mouth and our studio’s newsletter that we would be printing the shirts to raise funds for the high school tours of Bema theatre’s production of Survivors, as part of BC’s Holocaust education.”
Horne and Kujundzic, neither of whom is Jewish, have seen the play.
“It was an excellent production,” said Horne.
“The first production we attended at Bema was Si Kahn’s Stranger in a Strange Land,” he said. “I had heard Si sing at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival many years ago, and didn’t know he wrote plays. We saw a poster for this play of his at the [Victoria] Jewish Community Centre one day when we went for lunch. The musical was great, and Si was in attendance, which was a bonus.”
That was when the couple first met Dean, the founder and managing artistic director of Bema Productions, which is based in Congregation Emanu-El.
“We think she’s one of the best things about Victoria!” said Horne.
He and Kujundzic have since seen various plays and readings at Bema.
The back of the glow-in-the-dark menorah shirt lists the names of those murdered at Bondi Beach, Australia, on Dec. 14, while celebrating the first night of Hanukkah. (photo from Amazing Studios)
The fundraising initiative is just starting, with $100 donated from that first, unplanned small batch of shirts.
“Once we receive enough orders to print and sell at least a few dozen more shirts, we’ll be able to make a larger contribution,” said Horne. “In terms of raising spirits, most people who see the shirt (especially with the lights out) have been moved or glad to see something positive in response to the Bondi Beach massacre. I also think it’s important for gentiles to wear a shirt like this in solidarity.”
“I am so grateful to my dear friends Claire and Bill for their tremendous generosity and their ongoing efforts to make the world a better place,” Dean told the Independent, noting that fundraising “becomes more difficult every year and we welcome donations toward this very important Grade 8 to 10 educational play, which is approved by the provincial government.”
Bema will be doing its fifth annual tour to BC schools with Survivors, which was written by Wendy Kout, based on recorded testimonies of 10 survivors talking about their experience as teens during the Holocaust, said Dean. “We have so far presented at 45 schools on Vancouver Island and in Greater Vancouver and hope to reach the Interior as well this year.”
Horne and Kujundzic operated Amazing Space Studio and Gallery in Wells, BC, for more than 25 years, before moving to Saanich in 2021. While not a retail gallery anymore, people can arrange a visit to the studio.
The Bondi Beach memorial shirt is completely in character for the couple, who have been involved in many causes and projects since they met in 1981.
“Tools for Peace published two fundraising calendars of Claire’s Nicaragua-themed art in the late 1980s,” said Horne. “We’ve produced art and design for fundraising or promotion projects for groups such as BC Black History Awareness Society, the Wells Historical Society, Friends of Barkerville, families of Nicaraguan political prisoners, Ukrainian refugee families, RAVEN Trust and Treaty 8 First Nations (resisting the Site C dam), the United to End Racism delegation at the World Peace Forum (Vancouver, 2006) and the successful Wells Save Our School Campaign of 2002-2003.
“Claire has designed logos, graphics and posters for Pacific Post Partum Society, BC Organization to Fight Racism, Potters Without Borders, Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council, Kettle Friendship Society, International Women’s Day, many unions, including Union Women, and the International Metalworkers’ Federation.”
As a printmaker, Horne can silkscreen shirts, as well as editions of prints for exhibitions, he said. He has also designed books of poetry and photography.
“Claire learned the printing trade in her 20s, worked as a designer doing layout and logos, and produced paintings, prints and sculptures as well,” he noted.
A reprint of the menorah shirts will take place this spring, with probably another run in the fall. Horne needs to first create a secure online order system.
If anyone wants a shirt, contact the studio for details of the next printing, shirt size/style options and prices: amazingspacestudio.com. To donate to Bema Productions’ high school tours of Survivors directly, go to holocausttheatre.com.
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.
This year’s cover of the JI’s Passover issue.
In making this special issue’s cover, I started with the idea that I would use artificial intelligence – one of the most contemporary tools – to create it. Would AI free me from the hours that art creation takes? Short answer: no.
I started with the directive to design a collage centred on the Jewish fight for freedom throughout history, and got lots of great feedback on how to arrange images to tell a powerful story. I could place “key representative figures or symbols at the forefront,” “use overlapping images to create dimension and a sense of ‘flow’” and incorporate “symbolism of ‘tikkun olam.’”
AI had recommendations for typography, what media I could use, what colour palette. It suggested historical struggles I might want to include in a spiral-shaped design: the Exodus and the Maccabees in the outer ring; Conversos and Partisans in the next ring; early kibbutzim and the Iron Dome in yet another ring; and the yellow ribbon for the Oct. 7 hostages or “street-art style seen in Tel Aviv or New York” in the centre.
I eventually figured out how to create an image in AI, but everything I tried looked horrible, so I decided to make my collage the old-fashioned way – with my own hands, using only paper, inspired by artist Deborah Shapiro (deborahshapiroart.com), whose art I’d used on the JI’s 2021 Rosh Hashanah cover.
After what felt like forever, I figured out what my focus would be. I came across the verse in Exodus (19:4): “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me.”
An article on aish.com by Rabbi Warren Goldstein, chief rabbi of South Africa, helped me think through the symbolism, from both a spiritual and secular perspective.
“Each year, we are told to relive the experience of leaving Egypt – and I imagine being lifted from slavery and oppression ‘on the wings of eagles,’” he writes. “What better way could there be to express our transition from the earthly bonds that constrain us to the spiritual transcendence that God gave us than through the exhilarating, soaring rush of the eagle’s flight.”
I tried two different backgrounds for the griffon vulture collage on this issue’s cover, before I decided to make my own. This one is an AI-generated image based on colour suggestions, going from darkness to light.
Goldstein goes on to talk about Rashi’s interpretation that “the eagle’s wings represent the nature of God’s protection over us.” The rabbi notes the miracle that Jews are still here, despite a long history of various peoples trying to kill us. And he compares the “rush of the eagle’s flight” to “the speed with which God liberated us from Egypt” – so fast, of course, that our bread didn’t have time to rise, hence, the matzah we eat on seder night as a symbol of our “supernatural” redemption.
“This divine dynamism – depicted by the image of a soaring eagle – becomes a call to action: ‘Be light as an eagle,’ says the mishna in Pirkei Avot. Too often we get bogged down by life,” writes Goldstein. “We become consumed with angst, submerged in introspection and inertia. The mishna urges us to live life energetically and enthusiastically – like an eagle – with a sense of urgency for the task at hand, which is uplifting ourselves and our world through our mitzvot.”
I like this idea of living with a sense of energetic purpose, whether the motivation to improve ourselves and the world is inspired by Torah or other moral codes and teachings. Freedom and responsibility are inextricably intertwined in my view, but it is easy to get overwhelmed, and the thought of being carried sometimes, of soaring above the earth and gaining new perspective, appeals to me.
I decided I would “paint” an eagle.
I also asked AI to design a collage of the Jewish fight for freedom, from the Exodus to modern days.
As I searched online for what types of eagles would be at home in Egypt or Israel, I came across a few articles about the mistranslation of “nesherim” in Exodus 19:4. Apparently, we were most likely carried out of slavery on the wings of vultures, not eagles, and probably on the wings of griffon vultures specifically.
“Both the biblical nesher and ornithological griffon are known for their ‘bald’ head, enormous wingspan, effortless flight, cliff nesting, devoted nurturing, rapid descent and group feasting on carrion,” writes Dr. Fred Cannon, a professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University, in Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. “From biblical times until the industrial age, griffons have been ubiquitous in the Middle East but absent in northern Europe or the Americas. However, eagles commonly resided in northern Europe but are uncommon residents or pass-through migrants in the Middle East. Through millennia, when northern Europeans sought translations for biblical plant and animal names, they sometimes replaced Middle Eastern meanings with recognizable northern European ones. So, the nesher became known as the eagle to many northern Europeans and North Americans. However, recent Hebrew-speaking ornithologists concur that the nesher is the griffon. This distinction becomes important when gleaning nuances from biblical metaphors, clarifying kosher dietary regulations and discerning genealogical connections among raptors.”
Natan Slifkin, director of the Biblical Museum of Natural History, in Israel, notes that another part of the verse – “va’esa etchem,” “I bore you,” or “I carried you” – can be translated as “I elevated you.”
“The explanation,” he writes about the symbolism, “is that the nesher is the highest-flying bird, and God raised the Jewish people to spiritual heights above anything in the natural world with His miraculous redemption. The highest-flying birds are griffon vultures.”
As well, he explains, “While people today view the vulture in a negative light, the Torah presents it as an example of a loving and caring parent. This also relates to the vulture’s entire parenting process. Female griffon vultures usually lay one egg, which both parents incubate for an unusually long period of around seven weeks until it hatches. The young are slow to develop and do not leave the nest until three or four months of age. The long devotion of the vulture to its young symbolizes God’s deep dedication to the Jewish people.”
Sadly, it’s more than time for us to dedicate ourselves to the griffon vulture. Only around 230 of them remain today, according to a brochure of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), which suggests helping save the griffon vulture as a b’nai mitzvah project.
The word “nether” comes “from a Hebrew root that means ‘to shed’ or ‘to fall off,’” explains the brochure. “That’s because, as baby vultures grow up, they shed the feathers on their heads – an adaption that actually helps them stay clean! A bald head makes it easier for vultures to stick their heads into carcasses when they eat, without getting messy.”
The brochure notes that griffon vultures live in the Golan Heights, Negev Desert and Carmel Mountains. They have a wingspan of up to 2.65 metres and spend two to three hours a day combing their feathers. They can spot food from seven kilometres away, eating dead animals before the bodies rot, which helps prevent the spread of diseases.
Poisoning, electrolution, land loss, illegal hunting, and that griffon vultures only lay one egg a year, are all threats to their future. To help counter these pressures, SPNI has a breeding program, it is working with electric companies to insulate power poles, lobbying for stronger laws against poisons, and teaching farmers and others about more eco-friendly pest control.
That the griffon vulture is endangered made it, to me, an even more appropriate image for the JI’s Passover cover, underscoring the connection between freedom and responsibility. The words I chose for the cover’s background – cut and ripped from the last few issues of the JI – are my attempt to depict Goldstein’s commentary. While the eagle/vulture is protecting us as much as possible from that which bogs humanity down, giving us some respite and renewed strength, we must continue to try and uplift ourselves and the world around us, grateful for the blessings we have, and working to bring more of them into being.
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 nonprofit’s main purpose is “to build the largest archive of Jewish family recipes and stories attached to them in the world.” One can get lost for hours on its website, it’s so extensive. With Passover coming, several holiday stories are highlighted, along with some matzah recipes. It’s well worth a visit: jewishfoodsociety.org.
The society was founded by Naama Shefi, who was born and raised in Israel, on Kibbutz Givat Hashlosha, near Petah Tikva. She went to high school in Tel Aviv and did her army service before moving to New York in 2005.
“My kibbutz life made me really understand the power of community. Because we are nothing without community,” she told Tablet Magazine in a 2024 interview.
It also made her crave a wider variety of foods and spices. In a 2021 interview with the Forward, she noted that the bland diet she and other former kibbutzniks grew up with led many of them to develop an interest in food. She was speaking to the Forward because another nonprofit she founded was about to launch – Asif: Culinary Institute of Israel, in Tel Aviv, whose “aim is to explore local food culture and provide a home for research, dialogue and a wide range of culinary experiences. Through a library with 1500+ culinary books, revolving exhibitions, cooking workshops, a rooftop farm, and pop-ups hosted by local and international chefs, Asif will help document and articulate the evolving Israeli kitchen.” You can also lose yourself on its website, perusing the online exhibit, going through its library, reading stories from its journal and, of course, trying out some of the many recipes. If you’re heading to Israel, definitely look at asif.org/en, heading to its “The Flavour Mosaic” section, which features a collection of food establishments “handpicked by culinary experts from across the country.”
For people who prefer a tangible hold-in-your-hand cookbook, the Jewish Food Society has published The Jewish Holiday Table: A World of Recipes, Traditions & Stories to Celebrate All Year Long, by Shefi and the JFS, with Devra Ferst. It comprises 135 recipes, as well as stories from Jewish families. It’s organized by season and highlights the major Jewish holidays, including Shabbat.
In that 2024 interview with Tablet, Shefi talked about the cookbook and what makes it unique.
“The concept of the book is really a celebration of Jewish holiday traditions from all around the world, from places as far apart as Ethiopia and Paris and Buenos Aires to here in Brooklyn,” she said. “So, it was very important for us to showcase the diversity of the Jewish experience. Also, the book follows the Jewish agricultural calendar, so it’s extremely seasonal, which I think is unique. And, for each holiday, we showcase four to five family tables and their menu alongside very personal essays with their history and journey.”
The diversity of Jewish experience is a focus of the cookbook.
“There is no one family with one single origin, so it really serves as evidence about our people,” Shefi told Tablet. “It shows how so many families were forced to flee one place and make a life in another place. And, sometimes, there were a few generations that were successful in the new environment and, then again, challenging circumstances forced them to keep going on their journey. That also affected the cuisine in a very substantial way.”
You can buy The Jewish Holiday Table at amazon.ca and other online bookstores – if you order today, it might even arrive before Passover ends. In the meantime, here are a couple of the approximately 10 recipes for charoset at jewishfoodsociety.org. The website has many options for the holiday: salads, mains and desserts.
CARROT CHAROSET (This recipe was shared by chef Michael Solomonov. It takes about 15 minutes to make.)
4 carrots, peeled and grated 1/2 apple, peeled and grated 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped 2 tbsp fresh horseradish, grated 2 tbsp raisins 1 tbsp white vinegar 3/4 tsp kosher salt
Combine the carrots, apples, walnuts, cilantro, horseradish, raisins, vinegar and salt in a medium bowl. Toss to combine.
Set aside for at least 15 minutes to allow the flavours to combine. Serve.
APPLE AND ASIAN PEAR CHAROSET (This recipe was shared by pastry chef Fany Gerson. It takes an hour and 15 minutes to make.)
1 cup honey 1 shallot, minced 3 celery stalks, minced 2 Honeycrisp apples, peeled and diced 1 Asian pear, diced 2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped (about 2 sprigs) 1/2 cup red wine vinegar 1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, separated (about 3 medium oranges) 1 tbsp + 1 tsp fresh horseradish, grated
In a medium saucepan over low heat, gently warm the honey until it begins to bubble, about five minutes.
Add shallots and celery, stirring for one minute until well incorporated. Add vinegar and stir to combine.
Add apples and pears and reduce heat to very low stirring constantly and making sure the mixture does not get too hot. During this time, the fruit will release water. Continue to stir until the water is completely reduced/evaporated, 45 to 60 minutes. It is important to watch closely and stir often to keep the sugar from burning.
When the water has completely disappeared and the mixture is dark and caramelized, add 3/4 cup of orange juice and reduce again, mixing and smashing the fruit, about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1/4 cup orange juice, chopped oregano and one tablespoon of fresh horseradish.
Transfer to small serving bowl. Garnish with one teaspoon fresh horseradish. Serve immediately.
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 – or you just want to know more about some incredible people who have spent their lives making the world a better place – head to VIFF Centre March 14 or 17 to see Stacey Tenenbaum’s Tough Old Broads.
The feature-length documentary features Sharon Farmer, the first woman and first person of colour to be director of White House photography; Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon; and Siila Watt-Cloutier, the first woman to connect climate change to human rights (garnering a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize nomination for that work).
Watt-Cloutier, who calls Kuujjuaq, Que., home, also lived in Iqaluit, Nunavut, for 15 years or so. She was a pioneer in fighting for environmental protections, starting in earnest in the 1980s, when it was realized that pesticides and other toxic chemicals were poisoning the marine mammals that the Inuit were eating, ending up in the breast milk of Inuit women. At the time, Watt-Cloutier was head of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, which represents Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Chukotka, Russia, on international matters. She has been instrumental in several actions that have changed how people think about climate justice.
In the documentary, she talks about negotiating with the United Nations from the perspective of being a mother. She says, “How could Inuit women be carrying this burden of, if I eat my country food, I’m going to poison myself and my children? At each UN talk, I continuously intervened to educate people on the importance of Inuit culture and how the world needs to do things differently.”
More than 40 years later, she continues to speak internationally, educating people about Inuit culture and the environment. In the film, at a conference, she shares one of the lessons she has learned: there will always be tough moments and “it is really about sticking with it and not giving up during those periods of time because those are the moments that you are meant to be at to raise your next level of consciousness, those are the moments that are making you, not breaking you.”
Not giving up is a key message from Farmer, too. The photographer was part of the civil rights movement in the 1970s, capturing images of the protests at Ohio State University; she was a student there at the time. Her career was spent fighting for social justice and documenting key moments in American history with her camera, including when she was at the White House (during the Clinton administration). She continues to do so.
Right after the 2024 election of Donald Trump, Farmer, who lives in Washington, DC, comments on the lack of people at the White House gates.
“If you don’t register displeasure,” she says, “everybody thinks what happens is OK – and I mean around the world, too. I don’t want that tale of woe to be our legacy. Our legacy should be we still have courage, we still don’t like what’s going on and we’re not giving up. I don’t see that happening down here today, and that’s the disappointing part.”
The third subject of Tough Old Broads is Switzer, who, while running the Boston Marathon in 1967, was literally attacked by race official Jock Semple, so outraged was he by her participation. Switzer’s coach, Arnie Briggs, running alongside her, body-checked Semple out of the way and she finished the race. This was the seminal moment in her life of activism, which has included helping bring the women’s marathon event to the Olympics (1984) and founding the nonprofit 261 Fearless, “261” having been her bib number in the 1967 marathon.
Switzer continues advocating for and mentoring women, pushing for equality. She says in the film: “There is so much to do and I still feel responsible…. It hasn’t been finished yet, and it is very simple. If you put the hard work in, if you pay attention, if you ‘work the phones,’ as we used to say, if you show up, is the biggest thing. That is the key point. It’ll happen. I’m not saying you have to be patient, I’m just saying we have to be persistent.”
Watt-Cloutier and Farmer would likely agree.
Tenenbaum, who is a member of the Montreal Jewish community, said in the press release: “I made this film to share the wisdom and experience of older women with a new generation and to inspire all people to remain vital and outspoken as they age.”
At tougholdbroads.com, people can read more about the film, find some data on the status of women’s equality and download a discussion guide. It is hoped that the documentary “will spark a movement of women, both young and old, to embrace their power, speak out and demand attention.”
For tickets to the Vancouver 1 p.m. screenings, go to viff.org.
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 has been in business for more than 115 years. A community institution, it is the perfect location for the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia’s pop-up exhibit You Can’t Spell Delicious Without Deli: A Look Behind the Counters of Vancouver’s Historic Jewish Delis.
Patrons can grab something to eat – at the restaurant or to take home – and peruse the photographs and blurbs about five different delis that have made their mark on Vancouver history. There’s a printed guide available, which has more information about the exhibit and the delis featured. There is also merch: T-shirts. One has a bowl of matzah ball soup, one a deli meat sandwich, another an assortment of containers, a cereal bowl and a block of cheese with the words, “I can tolerate a lot of things. Dairy is not one of them.”
The exhibit launched Feb. 11, filling the restaurant, the night hosted by the current owner of Omnitsky, Richard Wood. The deli has seen only three owners in its long history: it was started in Winnipeg by Louis Omnitsky in 1910; bought some seven decades later by Eppy Rappaport, who brought it to Vancouver in the 1990s, running it here until 2023; and Wood.
Omnitsky has been in a few locations in Vancouver, including on Oak Street near 41st, where it took over the space of Kaplan’s Deli, when that community institution closed in 2014.
Kaplan’s was started by Ida and Abrasha Kaplan in the 1960s; Serge Haber ran it from 1981-2000, Marshall Kramer for a dozen-plus years and Howie English for its last year or so.
Kaplan’s is one of the five delis featured in the exhibit, along with Omnitsky, which is now on Fraser Street between 18th and 19th avenues. The others are Oscar’s (1943-1956), Rubin’s (1955-1981) and Max’s, which has been in operation since 1949 on Oak Street at 15th Avenue, with various owners over the years.
More than dates and names, the exhibit shares tidbits about each establishment, like where Ida Kaplan learned how to make her famous cinnamon buns, some of the many celebrities that visited Oscar’s and how Rubin’s was a late-night hotspot, open to as late as 3 a.m. in its heyday.
“Sometimes I find myself browsing through the stories of our past, and certain items or documents just speak to me in a way that screams, ‘Tell my story!’” Elana Wenner, director of programming at the Jewish Museum and Archives, told the Independent about the how the deli exhibit came about.
“In this case, I was visiting Omnitsky’s at their new location on Fraser Street, and I had just recently come across some photos in our archives of the old Kaplan’s Deli on Oak Street…. As I browsed the shelves in the new Omnitsky’s storefront, it occurred to me just how poignant it was to be living through this unique moment in Vancouver’s Jewish history.
“As a Vancouver native and historian of local Jewish culture, the transitions of any local Jewish establishment always trigger a certain chord of interest for me,” she explained. “The major move of Omnitsky’s from Oak Street to Fraser Street was a transitional moment that would surely become a marker in the future telling of Vancouver’s many chapters of Jewish culture and growth.”
Wenner leads the museum’s walking tours of the Strathcona neighbourhood.
“I always conclude [them] with an ‘epilogue’ of where the community moved next, as there was a pretty abrupt collective move from Strathcona over to Fairview in the 1940s, and then a slow progression along Oak Street through to the new millennium,” she said.
The story is, of course, still being written.
“As young families continue to populate the areas east of Fraser, the residential centre of Jewish life in Vancouver is transitioning starkly eastward,” said Wenner. “So, while Omnitsky’s move from Oak to Fraser may have seemed like a shock to many of the old-timers … it makes a lot of sense in the grander scheme, in the way that the community seems to be moving now.”
The 2018 edition of the museum’s journal, The Scribe, had the theme of Jewish restaurants. Most of the original content for the pop-up exhibit came from this publication, said Wenner, “all based on oral history interviews with the restaurateurs themselves.”
The initial concept was to feature all the local Jewish-owned restaurants throughout Vancouver’s 140-year history, but there were simply too many, she said. “So, the project shifted to become focused on just Jewish-owned delis.
“As I put the word out that we were looking for more information, I quickly discovered that there had been many more delis owned by Jewish families in Vancouver than I had ever expected,” she said. “We chose the five featured in the current exhibit based on the extent of information available to us, both from existing archival materials, as well as new information collected from interviews with family members, descendants, and gleaned from secondary sources outside the museum.”
The museum’s archives include oral histories, copies of menus, newspaper articles and even some handwritten notes of sale and purchase lists, said Wenner.
Response to the exhibit has been positive.
“On the one hand, we wish we had complete stories for each and every single deli,” said Wenner, “but it’s actually really satisfying when people pop out of the woodwork and say, ‘But wait! My grandparents owned this place!’ and then they have all this new information for us to delve into about a deli that had previously not even been on our list.”
As part of the exhibit, the museum asks visitors to share any information they may have on Pheasant Deli, Barer’s Deli, Lindy Fine Foods, Triangle Café, Moishe’s Deli and Leon’s Kosher.
“We wanted to highlight the fact that we do know they existed, but the archives are only as good as the material we receive, and these are stories we haven’t yet collected,” said Wenner, who expects more pop-ups in the museum’s future.
“What makes this exhibit so interesting,” noted Eli Klasner, executive director of the JMABC, “is the collaboration with a business that is such an important part of our local Jewish history. The museum is committed to preserving Jewish history and retelling our stories in unique and interesting ways, including with entertaining pop-up exhibits in a range of locations and venues.”
Two of the T-shirts for sale at the exhibit, which runs to April 1. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)
The T-shirts are proving to be a popular aspect of the current exhibit, which runs to April 1.
“In terms of the T-shirts – honestly, people are obsessed,” Wenner said. “There’s been a lot of hype surrounding the deli exhibit in general, but the limited-edition T-shirts being sold alongside the display have garnered a lot of unexpected public attention. We keep receiving requests for more, and plan to release a new line of designs in the coming months to meet the demand.”
Wenner urged readers to check out the new JMABC website, jewishmuseum.ca, where there is information about upcoming programs, including for Jewish Heritage Month in May, as well as many online exhibits.
“Our summer 2026 season of walking tours is coming up soon,” she said, noting that the tours sell out quickly.
The museum offers four different tours throughout Vancouver and Victoria, she said, “each telling the fascinating stories of early Jewish life and community in BC, from 1858 to present day.” They also offer private tours, which can be booked by emailing [email protected].
“In the pages of this book,” write Oga Nwobosi and Christina Myers, co-editors of Beyond Blue: Stories of Heartbreak, Healing and Hope in Postpartum Depression, “readers will find the personal stories of 26 writers who all encountered some variety of perinatal mood disorder, whether officially diagnosed at the time or identified only in retrospect many years after the fact. There is rage and sadness and tears and trauma; there is also hope and humour and healing. What these stories have in common is the vulnerability it requires to share out loud – one of the most powerful manifestations of courage.”
Nwobosi and Myers, who met in 2007 at a meet-up of new mothers facilitated by the Pacific Post Partum Support Society in Richmond, note that, while “perinatal mood disorders are better known and openly discussed today than they were then, there are still too many layers of stigma, shame, isolation and uncertainty. Many people still don’t get timely help; most don’t get any help at all.”
There is a lot to learn from reading Beyond Blue, notably that “depression,” or feeling “blue” doesn’t begin to cover the complexities of postpartum depression. It takes many forms – sadness, fear, pain, exhaustion, anger, some of the above, all the above, and so many other configurations. It’s not a matter of every woman feeling any one thing or all women experiencing the same range of emotions and physical sensations. Every instance is different, in both causes (to the extent they can be known) and effects. Every woman is different, not only in personality, but in health, social and other circumstances.
Leanne Charette, for instance, has cerebral palsy. “I pushed for many long months, trying to get apathetic, or downright ableist, doctors to help me achieve the dream of birthing children from my disabled body,” she writes. The doctors’ attitudes impacted her, of course, increasing her anxiety, among other things. She not only successfully conceived, but gave birth to twin boys.
“As my children were placed in my arms for the first time, their tiny fingers and IV tubes tangling with my own, a hypervigilance awoke alongside the all-consuming love in my heart,” writes Charette. “Sleep became impossible. For days, as we waited to be discharged from the hospital, I would hardly close my eyes, convinced my children might be taken away, starved or harmed in the space of a blink.”
Other women also write about the fear of someone, including themselves, harming their children. Sleeplessness is common, as are feelings of guilt about so many aspects of motherhood, such as having trouble during pregnancy, giving birth or breastfeeding.
Contributors talk about good and bad advice they received while struggling with postpartum depression. In a few instances, seeing a mental health professional was life-saving.
Jewish community member Kelley Korbin is one of the contributors. Her bio notes, “She is the proud mum of three thriving adults, but the early years were not easy as she experienced the shame, anxiety and confusion of postpartum depression following two of her pregnancies.” Her essay is about the first turbulent year of her son Jake’s life.
“Just half a day into motherhood I was doubting my ability to nurture,” writes Korbin. Weeks later, things were not going well. “If Jake was awake – and he was awake most of the time – he was either fitfully nursing or crying.”
Korbin mustered the courage to ask the public health nurse what she was doing wrong. “‘Colic,’ the nurse pronounced, and hastily retreated to the get-away car she had parked in the driveway. I was drowning, but she had thrown me the teeniest of life preservers,” writes Korbin. “Armed with a diagnosis, however vague, and the doggedness of my gritty pre-motherhood persona, I scoured the parenting sections of bookstores and libraries.”
What she found was that “evening colic” normally “vanishes after three months.” Even though Jake cried all day, not just at night, Korbin started the countdown. After “the promised three-month colic finish line” came and went, she took Jake back to the doctor for the “umpteenth visit.” He pronounced Jake healthy, but warned the colic wouldn’t end soon. Two months later, she started therapy. By Jake’s first birthday, “he was sleeping through the night,” and so was Korbin.
Beyond Blue should be read by anyone who’s thinking about having children, new parents, and everyone who knows someone who’s just had kids. So, basically, everyone.
Shane Foxman’s idea for In Your Own Words, “a podcast for you and your family about you and your family,” came from a very personal place.
“My father passed away when my daughter was still very young. While I keep his memory alive by telling stories about him, I’ve often wished she could hear him tell his story himself – his voice, his memories, his reflections – rather than only hearing them from me,” said Foxman, who had an almost-30-year career in journalism before starting his own production company.
“As a storyteller by profession, that realization stayed with me,” he continued. “I began thinking about how many families wish they had asked more questions, recorded more conversations, or simply preserved a parent or grandparent’s voice while they still could.
“That wish is what led me to create In Your Own Words. It’s almost like a personal podcast – a guided, professionally produced conversation about someone’s life and journey. It’s about memory, voice and capturing the stories that might otherwise be lost. Because, when someone is gone, you don’t care how long the recording is. You just wish you had one.”
Shane and Andrea Foxman (photo from Shane Foxman)
Foxman was born and raised in Toronto. His career took him to many places in Canada, including British Columbia in 1998.
“I was working at a television station in Edmonton when I was hired by Global Television to cover the legislature in Victoria,” he said. “After two years as bureau chief there, I was transferred to Vancouver, where I continued covering news and eventually began hosting and producing a variety of programs.
“In 2009, I hosted and co-produced Seeking Stanley, which became one of the most successful television programs in BC history. The live show aired after every Vancouver Canucks playoff game and during the team’s 2011 run to the Stanley Cup Final. Viewership topped one million people an episode in the Lower Mainland.”
Vancouver ultimately became home for Foxman. He met his wife Andrea here, and the couple has a 16-year-old daughter, Arlo.
He is deeply connected to the Jewish community. Most Independent readers will have been at an event emceed by Foxman. He has been on various boards and worked for five years at Vancouver Talmud Torah as associate director of development, retiring from that position last year so he could focus on his company.
Foxman’s decision to switch from journalism to production came just over a decade ago, influenced in part by the changing media landscape.
“Newsrooms were shrinking and budgets were tightening,” he explained. “There was less time and space for deeper, long-form storytelling, the kind of work that really excites me.
“I found myself wanting more creative control and more depth in the kinds of stories I was telling. I wanted to slow things down, spend time with people, and really explore their journeys in a meaningful way.
“Opening my production company allowed me to focus on long-form storytelling. I picked my projects and they weren’t constrained by airtime. It also gave me the flexibility to build something sustainable while still doing what I love most: helping people tell their stories.”
He said, “Every person has a story – about where they came from, what shaped them, the obstacles and challenges they faced and the moments that defined them…. There’s something powerful about giving people space to speak in their own voice. At its best, journalism isn’t just about reporting facts – it’s about capturing humanity.”
One of the first things visitors to Foxman’s website will notice is the photo of him and Andrea (which accompanies this article). It was taken at a charity event they attended a few years ago. The photographer asked what kind of shot they wanted and the couple joked, “We want Andrea to photobomb me.”
“He took one click, dead serious, and said, ‘Got it,’” shared Foxman. “We didn’t believe him at first, but when we saw the picture, I just loved it. I immediately thought, if I ever needed an album cover, this would be it. It perfectly captures both seriousness and fun – two things I hope come through in my work and in life.”
Foxman Productions is “a small, hands-on company,” said Foxman, who is involved in every project, from concept development and interviewing, to editing and final delivery.
“That said, one of the advantages of my years in television is the professional network I’ve built,” he said. “Depending on the project, I bring in experienced camera operators, editors, sound technicians and graphic designers – people I’ve worked with and trust. The team is top-notch.
“Every project is different, so I assemble the right people for the job. Clients get the personal attention of working directly with me, combined with the production quality of seasoned broadcast professionals.
“But, at its core, my role is listener,” he said. “That’s the most important part of the work.”
Foxman’s preparation for an interview involves research and conversation.
“I spend time speaking with the person beforehand to understand the shape of their life – major chapters, turning points and family background. That way, when we sit down to record, the conversation can flow naturally rather than feeling like a checklist,” he explained.
“For the interviewee, it’s all about feeling comfortable and unpressured. It’s not an interrogation or a performance – it’s a guided conversation, often reflective, sometimes emotional, sometimes humorous. There’s no right or wrong way to tell your story – it’s your story.”
The final product can be audio only or video, which may include photos, documents or other visual elements.
“The goal is always to create something that families can return to again and again. It’s not just to remember facts, but to hear tone, laughter and personality,” said Foxman.
“I believe every person and/or family has stories that matter, and every voice deserves to be remembered. Preserving these conversations is more than just creating a record – it’s about connecting generations, sharing lessons, laughter and memories, and leaving something truly meaningful for the future.
