Local

Popular family camp expands

photo - Camp Hatikvah’s Family Camp is so popular, a new off-site program has been created to meet demand

Camp Hatikvah’s Family Camp is so popular, a new off-site program has been created to meet demand. (photo from Camp Hatikvah) Camp Hatikvah is celebrating a milestone year after Family Camp 2026 broke all previous registration records. A total of…

A life-changing experience

photo - boy at Camp Miriam doing an art project

Camp Miriam is a place where chanichimot (campers) feel free to be Jewish, to celebrate their traditions and to be part of a community guided by compassion, curiosity and joy. (photo from Camp Miriam) Last year was another remarkable one…

Benefits of being a counselor

photo - A fundamental part of being a counselor is to support the campers

A fundamental part of being a counselor is to support the campers. (photo from Camp Kalsman) Rachel Mintz worked as junior counselor, senior counselor, canoe specialist and assistant director at Camp BB-Riback in the late 1990s. In her work today…

Camper to counselor

photo - The writer as a kid at Camp Shalom with the camp’s director, Ben Horev

The writer as a kid at Camp Shalom with the camp’s director, Ben Horev. (photo from Uriel Presman Chikiar) I was 9 years old when I first arrived at Camp Shalom. My family had recently immigrated from Argentina, and we…

New rabbi settles into post

Victoria’s Congregation Emanu-El welcomed Rabbi Elisha (Eli) Herb as its new spiritual leader at the beginning of September, marking the next chapter for the historic shul, Canada’s oldest synagogue in continuous use. He takes over from Rabbi Harry Brechner, who…

A light for the nations

photo - Linor Attias, deputy director of international emergency operations for United Hatzalah, inspired Raquel Esrock’s bat mitzvah project: Maple Syrup and Mitzvahs

Linor Attias, deputy director of international emergency operations for United Hatzalah, inspired Raquel Esrock’s bat mitzvah project: Maple Syrup and Mitzvahs. (photo by Robin Esrock) In a critical medical emergency, life and death depend on the help one receives and…

Jews in time of trauma

Many Jewish Canadians face unique mental health hurdles right now, and many of the professionals they depend on to help them are themselves struggling with related challenges. The trauma that has affected Jews in recent years – from the horrors…

What should governments do?

photo - Left to right at the Jewish Seniors Alliance of BC Fall Symposium Nov. 23: Jeff Moss, Joyce Murray, Anthony Kupferschmidt, Dan Levitt and Isobel Mackenzie

Left to right at the Jewish Seniors Alliance of BC Fall Symposium Nov. 23: Jeff Moss, Joyce Murray, Anthony Kupferschmidt, Dan Levitt and Isobel Mackenzie. (photo by Alex Roque Photography) The Jewish Seniors Alliance of British Columbia’s fall symposium featured…

History as a foundation

In her talk at the White Rock South Surrey Jewish Community Centre on Nov. 23, Elana Wenner articulated what many in the room felt: that understanding our local history is not only a matter of dates and facts, but of…

Music can comfort us

On Dec. 3, in the second webinar of Kolot Mayim Reform Temple’s 2025/26 Building Bridges Lecture Series, Rabbi Deborah Sacks Mintz guided an interactive examination of the potential to harness the power of music, especially that which provides solace, be…