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McGill calls for participants

McGill calls for participants

Sun tans are actually a response to DNA damage. (photo from pexels.com)

Skin cancer is the most common cancer worldwide. To better understand sun safety behaviour and attitudes in the Jewish community, a research group from McGill is conducting a survey.  And they are asking community members to take part.

More than 360 participants have responded so far, with the majority being from Quebec (60%) and 

Ontario (35%). Most respondents identified as Jewish by both religion and ethnicity (80%), and many identified as Conservative (40%) or Orthodox (20%); 70% are of Ashkenazi background; and 55% are mothers. 

Sun exposure and tanning

image - SunFit Project posterNinety percent of participants reported experiencing a sunburn at some point in their lives, and nearly half have had a sunburn that blistered. Seventy percent of respondents travel to sunnier climates for more than one week each year, primarily to the United States (65%). 

Seventy-five percent reported having a tan in the last 12 months, and 70% believe they look healthier or more attractive with a tan. Forty-five percent intentionally spend time in the sun on vacation or use tanning beds, while only 17% report never tanning.

A health concern 

Six percent  of respondents reported being previously diagnosed with skin cancer, while 30% reported having an immediate family member who has had skin cancer. 

Only 6% of respondents always wear a sun protective hat, while nearly 50% rarely or never do. Despite moderate sun exposure, only a small percentage take consistent sun safety precautions. Additionally, 70% of participants report that skin cancer has never been discussed as a health concern within the Jewish community.

Why this matters

These findings highlight a critical gap in skin cancer awareness and prevention. Sunburns, especially those that blister, significantly increase the risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Given that 80% of respondents describe their natural skin colour as light, it is essential for the Jewish community to prioritize sun protection. 

Skin cancer prevention should be part of ongoing conversations in our community. Encouraging discussions in synagogues, schools and community groups can help raise awareness. Daily sun protection, including the use of sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and shade should become routine practice. It is also important to challenge the misconception that a tan is a sign of good health, as tanning is actually a response to DNA damage. 

How dangerous is melanoma? 

In 2024, it is estimated that 11,300 Canadians were diagnosed with melanoma, and melanoma incidence in Canada is continuing to increase in men and women at a fast pace. It is often the sunburns in our 20s that lead to melanoma in our 60s and 70s. As people live longer, take more vacations in sunny destinations and are affected by climate change, we expect to see more cases of melanoma in the future unless we take action now.

To take the survey, go to portal.rimuhc.ca/cim/redcap/surveys, and use the code HA8CC7C9Y. By responding, you could win a $200 gift-card.

Any questions about the survey or the study can be emailed to medical student Raquel Lazarowitz at [email protected], dermatology resident Dr. Santina Conte at [email protected], or study director Dr. Ivan Litvinov, McGill University’s division of dermatology, at [email protected]. 

– Courtesy McGill University

Format ImagePosted on May 30, 2025May 29, 2025Author McGill UniversityCategories NationalTags health, melanoma, skin cancer, summer, sun tanning, surveys
Visiting the Nova Exhibition

Visiting the Nova Exhibition

The Nova Exhibition commemorates the massacre at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023. The exhibit is in Toronto until June 8. (photo by Lorraine Katzin)

My friend Karen Shalansky and I, from Congregation Har El, went on a Jewish National Fund tour to Israel in April 2024, traveling with some congregants from Congregation Beth Israel. We were based in Tel Aviv but drove to the south to see the Nova Festival Memorial and the car cemetery. (See jewishindependent.ca/reflections-on-april-mission.) 

When I heard of the Nova Exhibition, which had been traveling to New York, Los Angeles and then Miami, I Googled to see if it was going to be in Toronto. While we live in Vancouver, my husband and I were going to be heading to Toronto for our granddaughter’s Grade 1 siddur celebration. I was able to purchase tickets to the exhibition for May 6, during the time we (and our daughter) were going to be in the city.

Normally, when we go to Toronto, we attend Saturday morning services at our son’s synagogue, the Village Shul. It just so happened that, on the Shabbat of our visit, the guest speaker was Ophir Amir, one of the founders of the Nova music festival and one of the producers of the Nova Exhibition. Amir was shot in both legs by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023. He survived, but so many of his friends did not. He shared: “While I was hiding from the terrorists, I thought about my wife, who was pregnant, and that’s what saved me.”

photo - bulldozer footage from Nova Exhibition
(photo by Lorraine Katzin)

The Nova Exhibition tells the stories of the victims and helps this community begin to heal – we will dance again.

The first part of the exhibit is a movie. It shows people having fun, enjoying life, singing and dancing, until 6:29 a.m. on Oct. 7, when the music stops and security starts shouting “Red alert! Tzeva adom!” as they could see the rockets flying over Israel. They tell everyone to go home. The movie ends.

We were then led to another room for a reenactment of what came next. There were different TV screens showing how the Hamas terrorists came through the fence, the continuous firing of their weapons, the continuous shouting of “Allah Akbar!” 

The next area is filled with belongings from the festival, which include tents, sleeping bags, chairs, clothes, snacks, trees, the market, featuring various items, portable toilets, the bar, freezer chests, burnt-out cars, shelters, and more. By each display there is a TV screen with a survivor telling their story. One young girl lost 15 friends, another young man lost more than 40 friends, a mother lost two of her daughters. Many different stories of loss, as well as stories of heroism.

On one wall of the exhibit are photos of the Nova hostages still held in captivity by Hamas. On another wall are photos of all the people at the Nova festival who were murdered on Oct. 7 – as well as their hats, shoes, other clothing and knickknacks.

photo - knocked over Coca-Cola machines from Nova music festival
(photo by Lorraine Katzin)

As you walk through the exhibit, it shows how the larger community is helping with the psychological trauma, the grieving process, the bereavement, the difficulties of survivors to function day-to-day. All the proceeds from the exhibition are dedicated to helping heal and rehabilitate survivors, commemorate those who were lost, and support the bereaved families.

We spent two-and-a-half hours walking around and reading testimonies. We came out emotionally drained. Our Israeli brethren are resilient, they have ruach, spirit, and they are dancing again.

The Nova Exhibition runs until June 8 at 1381 Castlefield Ave., in Toronto. For more information, visit novaexhibition.com. 

Images from the exhibition:

photo - knocked over and shot up portable toilets from Nova music festival
(photo by Lorraine Katzin)
photo - memorial wall at Nova Exhibition
(photo by Lorraine Katzin)
photo - shot and burnt cars from Nova musica festival
(photo by Lorraine Katzin)
photo - wall of those murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023
(photo by Lorraine Katzin)

photo - clothing of those murdered by Hamas at the Nova musica festival Oct. 7

Format ImagePosted on May 30, 2025May 29, 2025Author Lorraine KatzinCategories NationalTags education, hostages, Israel, memorial, Nova Exhibition, Nova music festival, Oct. 7, remembrance, terrorism
Join the joyous celebration

Join the joyous celebration

Rain or shine, the Jewish Culture Festival organized by Chabad of the Tri-Cities will take place at Rocky Point Park on Sunday, June 8. Everyone is welcome. (photo from Chabad of the Tri-Cities)

The Jewish Culture Festival returns to Rocky Point Park next month, as the first-ever Tri-Cities festival, which took place last year, was such a success.

Last May, the skies over Port Moody were grey and heavy. Rain fell steadily as volunteers scrambled to cover tables, musicians huddled under tents with their instruments, and the grassy fields of Rocky Point Park threatened to turn to mud.

But then – the people came.

One by one, in raincoats and rubber boots, carrying umbrellas and warm drinks, more than 300 people streamed into the Tri-Cities Jewish Culture Festival. Children ran between tents with falafel. Seniors gathered to listen to the sounds of klezmer. Local vendors served up kosher food, fresh baked goods and Israeli dishes. There were smiles. There was singing. Above all, there was ruach, the joyful Jewish spirit.

photo - people on stage
(photo from Chabad of the Tri-Cities)

It was the first festival of its kind in the Tri-Cities, and it was clear from the start: rain or shine, the Jewish community shows up.

Organized by Chabad of the Tri-Cities, the Jewish Culture Festival was created to bring together Jews from all walks of life and to share the beauty of Jewish culture with the broader public. “This festival is about celebrating what connects us – our heritage, our values and our joy,” said Rabbi Mottel Gurevitz, director of Chabad of the Tri-Cities.

Booths lined the park, offering Judaica, hands-on learning, face-painting for kids and even a spirited parent-vs-child trivia challenge. The energy was palpable, and the sense of community was unmistakable. And, now, it’s happening again. 

The Jewish Culture Festival returns to Rocky Point Park on Sunday, June 8, and it’s set to be even bigger and better. This year’s festival will feature Jewish music and entertainment throughout the day, an expanded lineup of kosher food vendors, offering everything from deli sandwiches to Mediterranean street food. Families can look forward to inflatables, carnival games and a magician. Judaica will once again be on display and available for purchase, including artwork, books, Shabbat items, and more.

photo - person looking a Judaica
(photo from Chabad of the Tri-Cities)

Whether you’re Jewish or just curious, religious or cultural, new to the Tri-Cities or a lifelong resident, this festival is for you. It’s not just about food or music – it’s about connection: to tradition, to community and to one another.

So, bring your appetite, bring your family, and come celebrate the joy of Jewish culture – in all its flavour, sound, colour and heart.

Admission is free, thanks to generous sponsors, but tickets are required for entry. Reserve them in advance at JewishFestTC.com. 

– Courtesy Chabad of the Tri-Cities

Format ImagePosted on May 30, 2025May 29, 2025Author Chabad of the Tri-CitiesCategories LocalTags Chabad of the Tri-Cities, culture, Jewish Culture Festival, Port Moody
Diversity as strength

Diversity as strength

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion speaks in Vancouver on June 9. (photo from CFHU)

Moshe Lion, mayor of Jerusalem, will be in Vancouver June 9 and Calgary June 11 for a special series of events organized by the Jerusalem Foundation of Canada in collaboration with the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University (CFHU). The visit marks an opportunity to strengthen ties between Jerusalem and Canadian communities, and to highlight the transformative work taking place in Israel’s capital through the power of education, innovation and philanthropy.

Lion was elected the 10th mayor of Jerusalem in 2018 and reelected for his second term in 2024. The city council under his leadership is a united coalition with no opposition – an unusual and uncommon achievement.

Lion has played a pivotal role in expanding Jerusalem’s infrastructure, cultural institutions and global partnerships. His visit here will offer guests the chance to hear firsthand about the city’s challenges, its remarkable diversity and its bold vision for the future.

Joining him will be Arik Grebelsky, president of the Jerusalem Foundation in Israel, and Canadian and Israeli leaders, including Joel Reitman, chair of the Jerusalem Foundation of Canada.

At the heart of this visit is the unique partnership between the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Foundation –  two pillars of the city’s intellectual and civic life. Together, they are investing in projects that elevate academic excellence, empower underserved communities, and position Jerusalem as a global city of knowledge and inclusion.

The Vancouver and Calgary events will bring together philanthropists, community leaders and alumni to celebrate this shared mission. With Hebrew University celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the visit underscores the enduring ties between Canada and Jerusalem – and the power of education to shape a brighter future. To register, go to cfhu.org/upcoming-events. 

– Courtesy Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University

Format ImagePosted on May 30, 2025May 29, 2025Author CFHU VancouverCategories LocalTags Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University, CFHU, civil society, diversity, Jerusalem, Jerusalem Foundation, Moshe Lion
Marcianos celebrated for years of service

Marcianos celebrated for years of service

Rev. Joseph Marciano has served the Jewish community in many roles, notably as head of the Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society). (photo from cemeteryboard.com)

“It means a tremendous amount to us, as we have dedicated the past 40-plus years of our lives, day and night, to serving the Schara Tzedeck congregation and Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board and the entire Vancouver Jewish community in so many various capacities,” said Rev. Joseph Marciano about being recognized, with his wife Simone, for their decades of service. “We have come to know many generations of congregants and it means a lot to celebrate with everyone.”

The June 10 dinner honouring the Marcianos has sold out, but people can still buy tickets to the community program.

There are some people who are able to rise to every occasion, says Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt, and his colleague is an exemplar of that extraordinary characteristic.

photo - Rev. Joseph Marciano
Rev. Joseph Marciano is being honoured on June 10, along with his wife Simone, for their decades of service to the community. (photo from cemeteryboard.com)

Marciano, who joined the staff of Schara Tzedeck more than 40 years ago, is a trained schochet, ritual slaughterer, ordained by a prestigious Sephardi rabbi from Morocco. Over the years, Rosenblatt said, and depending on need, Marciano “graduated into various other roles.”

He serves as a teacher, a Torah reader, a funeral director and head of the Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society). But this does not cover the formal and informal roles Marciano plays, according to the rabbi.

“If there is a need, he learns to fill it,” said Rosenblatt. “There is an idea in Judaism, in the teachings of Pirkei Avot [Ethics of Our Fathers], that, if there is no one to lead, you need to come to that position of leadership.”

Rosenblatt hesitates to apply the term “social worker,” but said Marciano has a knack for filling a need in the lives of others.

“Sometimes, it would be, this person needs horseradish for their seder,” the rabbi said, “or this person needs medical care, and there are different kinds of home support. Maybe it was to find someone to help them clean their apartment. It could be driving people to the airport, or bringing people candles for certain things. He’s one of those people who just rises to occasions.”

Adapting is second nature to Marciano, who tells an amusing story about a misunderstanding around a life-changing moment for the Marciano family.

“When Joseph first came to British Columbia, he thought that Canada was a French-speaking country and, coming from Morocco, and being a French speaker, he thought, OK, sure, no problem,” Rosenblatt said, noting that Marciano has adapted fine to living and working in a primarily Anglophone province. 

“He’s a deeply pious person,” Rosenblatt said of his colleague, with whom he has worked for 22 years, since the rabbi came to Vancouver. “He’s the real deal.”

“Simone is, by virtue of personality, a very quiet person,” Rosenblatt said of the evening’s other honouree. “For her, family has been an extremely important thing. They have raised four really remarkable children who are committed to their Judaism and are also individually successful in different ways.”

A special guest for the event will be a rabbi who has gained a deep affection for the Marcianos during their visits to see family in California.

“One of my colleagues, the rabbi of Beth Jacob in Los Angeles, Rabbi Kalman Topp, has developed such a fondness for Joseph on his visits down to LA that he is coming up here to be our keynote speaker,” said Rosenblatt.

Marciano credits his leadership of the Burial Society to the late Jack Diamond, who asked him to become an assistant to the funeral director at the time. 

“Then, later on, when the late Harley Feldstein moved from Vancouver, Dr. Jack Kowarsky, with the late Charles Diamond, hired me to be the funeral director,” Marciano said. “I chose this path because it allowed me to be there for many families at times of grief and offer them comfort, as well as help them arrange for a Jewish and dignified burial and farewell for their loved ones, which has been extremely fulfilling. I trained for this role under the previous funeral director, as well as by taking a three-year intensive course through the Province of British Columbia to be an accredited funeral director.”

Among many highlights of his time with the synagogue has been working with the youngest congregants, “teaching hundreds of bar mitzvah boys to read the Torah and Haftorah and learning with bat mitzvah girls, as well as participating in the hundreds of weddings of our members and their families,” he said. “Another extremely special honour I have had in my role has been reading the Torah week in and week out for the past 40-plus years, as well as blowing the shofar for so many years.”

Marciano attributes his accomplishments to the partnership he has with Simone.

“As much as I have been on call 24/7 for any and all situations and emergencies, and it may have been me showing up to assist in various situations, my wife was there behind the scenes encouraging me,” he said. “I would say everything I was able to accomplish here is a testament to her dedication and she shares in this honour as much as I do.” 

To attend the community program, go to scharatzedeck.com.

Format ImagePosted on May 30, 2025May 29, 2025Author Pat JohnsonCategories LocalTags Cheers Kadisha, Joseph Marciano, Schara Tzedeck, Schara Tzedeck Cemetery, Simone Marciano
Klezcadia set to return

Klezcadia set to return

Bay Area klezmer trio Veretski Pass returns to Klezcadia, which runs in-person and online June 10-15. (photo from Klezcadia)

Klezcadia, a festival of klezmer music and Yiddish culture, is back for a second year. The June 10-15 event can be experienced in-person in Victoria or virtually from around the world.

The 2025 festival, free for all who register, features author and playwright Michael Wex, who will be offering a two-part webinar titled Jews, Germans and Jive: Yiddish as a Language of Resistance.

Wex, the author of the bestseller Born to Kvetch and Just Say Nu, will be delivering the talks from his home in Toronto. No stranger to Vancouver audiences, his play, The Last Night at the Cabaret Yitesh (Di Letste Nakht Baym Yitesh), in which he also performed, closed the 2024 Chutzpah! Festival.

Laura Rosenberg, the director and driving force behind Klezcadia, said Wex “is arguably the most famous person to interpret the public impact of the Yiddish language on the English language.”

She told the Independent that the festival’s mission, operating principles and format will be the same as they were in its inaugural season. “The performance and workshop content, on the other hand, will be completely new for 2025, though obviously within the same klezmer music and Yiddish culture arena as last year, and involving many of the same artists and faculty members,” she said.

Between in-person and virtual attendees, Klezcadia had more than 500 participants from 21 countries in 2024 and the 2025 registration looks to be at least on par with those data, according to Rosenberg.

“Everything from concerts to workshops to open rehearsals is designed to equalize as much as possible the experience of in-person and virtual participants,” she said. “And, thanks to our generous donors, registration is once again free.”

Other notable appearances this year include returning Bay Area klezmer trio Veretski Pass, who will appear on both the concert and workshop rosters. Members Cookie Segelstein (violin), Joshua Horowitz (19th-century button accordion) and Stuart Brotman (bass) play a wide variety of East European numbers. This year, they will offer “band-to-band master classes” with two Victoria-based klezmer ensembles. 

Vancouver singer/songwriter Geoff Berner, joined by Segelstein, will perform songs from his upcoming album – Berner’s first to be completely in Yiddish. Over the past 25 years, Berner has toured in 17 countries, opened for rock stars in stadiums and, the Klezcadia notes state, “played nearly every dirty little café bar in Western Europe.”

Klezcadia 2025 will see the Victoria debut of Jordan Wax, a rising star on the Yiddish singer/songwriter scene, who will share music from his newly released album, The Heart Deciphers, on the Borscht Beat label. The New Mexico musician blends many influences, from the Missouri Ozarks to the Indo-Hispanic world and the entire Ashkenazic diaspora.

Christina Crowder, director of the Klezmer Institute, based in Yonkers, NY, will be on hand to perform century-old music rediscovered in Ukraine’s Vernadsky Library, which recently was published for global use via the Kiselgof-Makonovetsky Digital Manuscript Project.

As it did in 2024, this year’s festival will conclude with the entire Klezcadia cohort performing a finale concert at the Stage in the Park (Cameron Bandshell) in Victoria’s Beacon Hill Park. 

Billing itself as “A Safer Shtetl,” Klezcadia’s hybrid environment prioritizes the safe experience of immunocompromised and high-risk participants, for the performers, crew and volunteers, and for attendees. Indoor activities feature the use of protective protocols such as supplemental air purification, required masking and daily onsite COVID testing. 

“We learned from our inaugural-season experience that our fully hybrid format was extremely valuable, both to our immunocompromised and high-risk participants, but also to a vast number of people who, for geographic or financial reasons, were unable to attend in person,” Rosenberg said.

Rosenberg gives credit to other members of the Klezcadia team for helping with the various technical tools needed to put together a hybrid festival. She said some of the evolving challenges faced in viral safety and communal safety, and the current cross-border political situation, have provided added appreciation to how much a hybrid design can be adapted at short notice, if needed.

People who were not able to attend a live event in 2024 have expressed their thanks to Rosenberg in the lead-up to this year’s festival.

“One of my greatest delights in the intervening year since our inaugural season has been hearing what a difference Klezcadia made to our immunocompromised and high-risk attendees,” she said. “Whether local or halfway across the world, many of these people have felt shut out of their communities, including their Jewish cultural communities, and they expressed in heartfelt terms how life-changing it was for them to be able to participate in a cultural festival that prioritized their safety but was open to everyone.”

All Klezcadia events will take place within a 10-minute drive from downtown Victoria. Specific venue information will be provided only after registration, and only to in-person participants. For more information, visit klezcadia.org. 

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Format ImagePosted on May 30, 2025May 29, 2025Author Sam MargolisCategories LocalTags concerts, education, festivals, history, inclusion, Klezcadia, klezmer, Laura Rosenberg, workshops, Yiddish
JNF Negev Event raises funds for health centre

JNF Negev Event raises funds for health centre

An artist’s rendering of the new Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre for which the 2025 Negev Event is raising funds. (photo from jnf.ca/PacificNegev2025)

Hosted by Jewish National Fund of Canada Pacific Region and Israel Magen Fund of Canada, the June 19 Negev Event in Vancouver will feature rescued hostage and speaker Noa Argamani, Australian actor and advocate for Israel Nate Buzz, and editor-in-chief of the National Post Rob Roberts. Funds raised will help build the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre, providing increased levels of care for trauma victims, children with disabilities and children with cancer. 

As the name indicates, the new centre will be located in Ashdod, which is about 50 kilometres north of the border with Gaza. With almost 250,000 residents, it is Israel’s sixth largest city. “It is home to the largest Moroccan and Karaite Jewish communities in Israel, and the largest Georgian Jewish population in the world,” notes the JNF.

However, there is a shortage of rehabilitation services in southern Israel, a shortage that has worsened since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and the ensuing war. 

photo - The June 19 Negev Event raises funds to help build the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre, thereby increasing levels of care for trauma victims
The June 19 Negev Event raises funds to help build the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre, thereby increasing levels of care for trauma victims, children with disabilities and children with cancer. (photos from jnf.ca/PacificNegev2025)

“Thirty percent of wounded patients and most of the war victims are residents of the south,” according to JNF. “Fourteen thousand residents were treated in hospitals following Oct. 7, with 42% coming with injured limbs and 35% seeking support with emotional trauma. The system cannot support the hundreds of thousands of children, adolescents and adults who were physically injured and emotionally crushed by horrific traumas that left deep scars.”

There are only 11 rehabilitation centres in Israel’s periphery communities, while central Israel has 43, says JNF. “Currently, wait times for rehabilitation in the south are at least one year…. Southern residents, including recovering patients and children, must travel about an hour-and-a-half to Israel’s centre for care.” 

photo - The June 19 Negev Event raises funds to help build the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre, thereby increasing levels of care for children with cancer
(photo from jnf.ca/PacificNegev2025)

Among the services the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre will expand upon is the range of care and support that Rachashei Lev, which was established in 1989, provides in other medical centres. (Rachashei Lev roughly translates as Whispers of the Heart, or Heart of Compassion.)

“I visited Rachashei Lev in July [last year] as part of JNF’s resilience task force, a group consisting of professional leaders and lay leadership from across Canada,” David Greaves, executive director of JNF Manitoba/Saskatchewan and Vancouver/Pacific region, told the Independent. “I was there with Harvey Dales and we were all touched by what this organization did. As well, while touring the facility, we were surprised when Noa Argamani joined us and shared her story and how much support she and her family received from Rachashei Lev after her rescue and repatriation. This is, of course, why we chose this particular project, as Noa will be one of our special guests on June 19.” (Argamani was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2025.) 

Greaves will be here for the event, working out of the Vancouver office with the local JNF team and Megan Laskin, the event chair. He took on the additional role of Vancouver/Pacific region head after Michael Sachs left the position to become the director for Western Canada of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre.

“My first official meeting with the board was mid-December,” said Greaves. “They were so welcoming, I felt like I had been here for months.”

Greaves gave the JI an update on the Canada Revenue Agency’s revocation of JNF Canada’s charitable status.

“We have two pending court dates,” he said. “We have a judicial review scheduled for May 28 [after the JI went to press]. We are calling on the court to overturn our revocation, as we had a commitment from the CRA that our revocation would not be published, which finalizes the revocation process, until we exhausted our legal options. We assert that a pillar of Canadian justice is the presumption of innocence, so taking action to revoke us before the opportunity to appeal to the courts is fundamentally unjust. Our underlying appeal, which will focus on the merits of our case, does not yet have a date set. We have called upon the CRA to settle this matter before we litigate, as this is a waste of time and resources for both the taxpayer and JNF. Disappointingly, the CRA has rejected our offer to settle.”

JNF Canada is partnering with the charity Israel Magen Fund of Canada (IMFoC) for all the Negev events across the country. 

“We are sharing the responsibilities in executing these campaigns and galas,” Greaves said. “Both organizations have signed agreements outlining the nature of the collaboration. The IMFoC has an agency agreement with the two organizations in Israel at which these projects will be realized, the Parenthood Home in Sderot and the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre. We have the same passion for Zionism and supporting vulnerable Israelis from all walks of life, so it was sensible to work together as, through this collaboration, we can achieve more.”

Intergenerational support

JNF Pacific board president Shannon Gorski is excited about the Rachashei Lev project. She knows firsthand the impact that JNF initiatives can have.

“In 2017, our family supported the Tzofei Tzamid (Israeli Scouts) centre in Ra’anana,” she said. “The project raised money to remodel the centre to ensure that it was inclusive to all the scouts who participated. This meant providing resources and equipment that made it possible for all teens to be able to participate in the outdoor excursions regardless of physical or mental limitations.”

She visited the centre that same year and saw how the money raised here positively affected the participants in Israel. “It was quite emotional,” she said.

Gorski is in her third year as board president; she was vice-president from 2019 to 2023.

“I began my service on the JNF board in 2017,” she said, “following the 2017 Negev, in which my father [Gary Averbach] was honoured with the support of my brother, Michael [Averbach], and me.”

It truly has been a lifelong endeavour for Gorski.

“My father was JNF president from 1991 to 1992, and I remember many occasions that I spent time at the home of the residing shaliach’s [emissary’s] residence,” said Gorski. “Of course, our home always had a JNF box, which I believe I took trick or treating with me in place of the UNICEF box. Purchasing trees to forest Israel became a gift that I either gave or received to commemorate many Jewish milestones.”

Board vice-president Howard Jampolsky also grew up with JNF.

“As a child,” he said, “I first became involved in JNF raising money for trees and driving around with my uncle, John Eskin, z”l, picking up blue boxes in the 1970s. Uncle Johnny was a tireless worker for JNF and was honoured in 1976 with a Negev Dinner. 

“My father, Abe Jampolsky, z”l, was also involved in JNF as a regional president. He, too, was honoured by JNF in 1987 with a Negev Dinner, during which the guest speaker was Prime Minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu, who, at the time, was Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.”

In 2015, then-executive director of JNF’s regional office, Ilan Pilo, asked Jampolsky to join the executive committee of the local board, and he has been involved ever since, becoming vice-president in 2023. Jampolsky has been on the JNF national board since 2022.

For Jampolsky, helping fund projects like the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre is what we, as Jews, do.

“We value life, and part of valuing life is to ensure that each life is fulfilled in every possible way,” he said. “On Oct. 7, 2023, that fulfillment for thousands of Israelis was dashed when Hamas attacked us. I say ‘us’ because when one of our people is attacked, we are all attacked.

“This centre provides life-saving health care for young cancer victims, but it also provides vital health care for many who were impacted by the terrible events of Oct. 7. Both those with physical injuries and emotional trauma will benefit from this important place.”

For tickets to the June 19 Negev Event in Vancouver, go to imfoc.org/pacific-negev.

Format ImagePosted on May 30, 2025May 29, 2025Author Cynthia RamsayCategories LocalTags Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre, David Greaves, fundraising, health care, Howard Jampolsky, Israel Magen Fund of Canada, Jewish National Fund of Canada, JNF, Negev event, Rachashei Lev, rehabilitation, Shannon Gorski
Oslo not a failure: Aharoni

Oslo not a failure: Aharoni

Dina Wachtel of Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University, and Ido Aharoni, a former top Israeli diplomat who now teaches at various universities. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Zionism is as popular now as it has ever been on North American campuses, according to a former top Israeli diplomat who now teaches at multiple American universities.

The bad news, he added, is that Zionism was never a hit on North American campuses.

“Zionism was never popular in academia,” said Ido Aharoni, speaking with the Independent during a trip to Vancouver as a guest of Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University. “In fact, I would argue that … we’ve never had so many Zionists in North America as we have today.”

Protests on campuses and reports of professors inculcating anti-Israel ideas are disturbing, he said, but it’s not new. 

“The people that are at the front of the effort, that spearhead the effort, are different,” he said, arguing that the vanguard now is comprised of foreign students and descendants of immigrants from societies where antisemitism is endemic. “But it’s the same thing, the same messaging that was designed by the Soviet Union.”

Aharoni is a 25-year veteran of Israel’s foreign service, a public diplomacy specialist, and founder of the Brand Israel program, which, since 2002, has sought to reposition Israel in the public mind globally. He served in the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles in the 1990s and was consul general of Israel in New York and the Tri-State Area from 2010 to 2016.  

Since retiring from government in 2016, Aharoni has lectured and spoken at academic institutions including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Wharton and Berkeley on topics such as Israel’s foreign relations, mass media, the information revolution, public marketing, and nation branding. He has served as a professor of business at Touro University, as a professor of international relations at New York University and is the Murray Galinson Professor of International Relations at University of California in San Diego and San Diego State University’s business school. 

In addition to teaching and lecturing, Aharoni provides advice to international companies to access Israeli innovation. He also helps businesses and agencies communicate with governments. His third focus is strategy and planning, particularly helping clients tell their story. 

Aharoni contests widely held assumptions, including that Israel is unpopular in Western countries. Opinion polls say large majorities of respondents side with the Jewish state, he said. That does not necessarily translate, however, into family vacations in Israel or investments in Israeli enterprises. Changing that mindset could include convincing non-Israelis to consider differently the challenges the country faces.

“Think of terrorism the same way you think of crime in any major urban centre in North America,” he said. “If you only focus on attempts to carry out criminal acts, or the number of criminal acts carried out, then the picture can be very scary.”

If all anyone heard about Vancouver was crime statistics, he said, they might be reluctant to visit or invest. “That’s what happened in Israel,” said Aharoni. “We communicated our problems to the world. At one point, it became the only thing we communicated to the world. As a result, the world doesn’t see us beyond those problems.”

It’s hard to alter a narrative once it is set, he said. And yet, he added, Israel is no more dangerous a place to visit – and far more stable a place to invest – than many other spots in the world. 

“You know how many inflammations of violence we have right now in the world taking place?” he asked. “People are talking about Israelis and Palestinians as if it’s the only conflict in the world and I think there’s something wrong about that.”

Early in his career, Aharoni was involved in the beginnings of the Oslo Peace Process. He was the policy assistant to Uri Savir, director-general of the Israeli foreign ministry under then-foreign minister Shimon Peres. “I was part of a very small group of people that knew about the secret negotiations and my job was mostly to prepare him for meetings,” he said. 

Aharoni rejects the narrative that the entire process is a story of failure. What did fail was the assumption by Israelis and the broader diplomatic world that Yasser Arafat would confront the extremists on his side, get Hamas in hand, end incitement against Israelis and prepare his people to live in peaceful coexistence.

The Palestinians faced their Altalena moment, he said, citing a pivotal incident in the earliest Israeli history, when the prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, ordered the nascent Israel Defence Forces to attack the Irgun ship Altalena, effectively ensuring there would be a single, unified military force in the country.

“If you ask me, this was the biggest mistake: the assumption that Arafat was of that calibre. But the truth is that Arafat was no Ben-Gurion,” said Aharoni. “Arafat was not of that calibre. He was in it way over his head. He didn’t have the skill or the character – nor the desire. To have the desire, you have to have some knowledge of history, you have to have some depth. He had none of that. He was in love with the position of a rebel, of a revolutionary. He thought he was Che Guevara and that was his historical reference. If you ask me, that was the biggest failure.

“Other than that,” he argued, “Oslo was a big success.”

Before Oslo, he noted, Israel did not recognize the existence of the Palestinians and vice versa. The recognition and direct contact between the two sides, for whatever shortcomings that dialogue has had, allows Israel to coordinate anti-terror efforts with the Palestinian Authority.

“A lot of people don’t know that,” he said, “but the Palestinian Authority, which is the creation of the Oslo Accords … they have been very instrumental helping Israelis curb terrorism coming out of the West Bank.”

Oct. 7, 2023, or “10/7,” changed everything, he said.

“Before 10/7, there was this expectation on the part of Israelis that, somehow, we will be able to introduce peace in its full conceptual meaning.… I think, after 10/7, it’s very difficult for people to imagine that kind of peace.”

The best hope now, probably, is what Aharoni calls “a livable arrangement,” which would protect Israel’s security needs and deliver maximal Palestinian civil self-rule, while limiting the Palestinians’ military capabilities. Eliminating the antisemitism and genocidal incitement in the Palestinian and broader Arab education systems is another priority, he added.

Aharoni forcefully rejects the idea that support for Israel has become a partisan wedge issue in the United States, noting that a vote on an Israeli aid package passed the US Congress after 10/7 with 366 in favour, 58 against and seven abstentions.

“It’s true that we pay a lot of attention to the fringes,” he said, citing vocally anti-Israel representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who, he said, “represent a very marginalized and very narrow agenda.”

Aharoni was in Vancouver to meet with local supporters of Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University. CFHU will host a public event next month, in which the mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Lion, will be in conversation with Rabbi Jonathan Infeld. The event, titled Diversity as Strength During Challenging Times, takes place June 9, at 7:30 p.m. Register at cfhu.org/moshe-lion.

Format ImagePosted on May 30, 2025May 29, 2025Author Pat JohnsonCategories LocalTags Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University, CFHU, diplomacy, history, Ido Aharoni, Israel, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Moshe Lion, Oct. 7, Oslo Accords, peace, politics, Zionism

Amid the rescuers, resisters

A nationwide Upstanders Canada keynote lecture to mark Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) last month reminded the Zoom audience that the belief that Jews simply cowered, while the atrocities around them were being committed during the Second World War, is erroneous.

“The idea of Jewish passivity is part of the narrative, but it is not the truth. Jews, individually and collectively, engaged in acts of resistance and rescue,” said Pat Johnson, founder of Upstanders Canada, at the start of the event.

That people should know this fact “is crucial,” said Johnson, “because it corrects a flawed narrative. It is crucial additionally, not only for Jews but for every person and every people in the world, to see the potential for resistance and courage against authoritarianism hatred and inhumanity.”

image - Jews Who Rescued Jews During the Holocaust book coverThe April 27 event, titled Jews Who Rescued Jews During the Holocaust, was presented by Rinat Dushansky-Werbner. She was introduced by Moshe Gromb, author of a 15-volume series with the same title, which Dushansky-Werbner and Pnina Jacobi-Yahid translated into English from Hebrew. In her talk, Dushansky-Werbner, a member of the Action Committee for Recognizing Jews Who Rescued Jews During the Holocaust, highlighted several Jewish heroes during the Shoah – their names not widely known. 

“There were operations inside the death camps. There were people smuggling people across borders. They were hiding children in monasteries. They were falsifying documents,” Dushansky-Werbner said.

“The Jews were very, very creative, and tried to think of any possible way to save their brethren. Sadly, many of these Jewish rescuers were caught and murdered by the Nazis. Even though they could have escaped and saved themselves,” she said, “most of them decided not to do so. [They] decided to stand where they are, and try and rescue as many people as possible.”

The people discussed represented a range of backgrounds, ages, geographic locations and levels of religious observance, and were but examples from a much larger number of Jews who took on tremendous risks and used remarkable ingenuity to rescue other Jews during the Holocaust. Thus far, Dushansky-Werbner’s action committee has collected information on more than 2,500 Jewish rescuers and documented more than 50 rescue methods.  

Many of the Jewish rescuers, Dushansky-Werbner said, did not see themselves as great heroes, but rather as people who did what they were compelled to do, and saddened they could not do more.

“There is something very humble about these people,” she said.

Jews rescued other Jews wherever the Germans operated – throughout Europe, North Africa and even the Philippines –  and their operations began once the Nazis rose to power and continued throughout and after the war. Often, their operations involved collaborations with non-Jews.

In Belarus, four brothers named Bielski – Tuvia, Zus (Alexander Zeisal), Asael and Aron – founded a partisan unit, a wandering communal rescue army, that established a family camp in the Naliboki Forest. The camp operated for more than two years during the war, moving occasionally from place to place in the forest, and included a synagogue, a school, a courthouse, a clinic, an armoury and more. It is estimated that the Bielski brothers rescued 1,236 Jews in what became known as the “Jerusalem of the Forests.” Their story is among the more celebrated of Jewish rescuers and was turned into a 2008 film, Defiance, starring Daniel Craig.  

In France, the Loinger family, led by George, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 108, smuggled hundreds of Jewish children across the border to Switzerland, while his wife, Flora, managed the houses in which they hid Jewish children. 

George would play soccer with the children. When the ball flew over to the other side of the border, one or two children would be sent to safety to the other side without the local guard noticing, Dushansky-Werbner explained.

George’s sisters also helped. Fanny hid children in monasteries; Emme prepared abandoned monasteries for Jewish orphans and ran one of the children’s houses; the youngest, Ivette, 13, rode with Jewish children on trains, hiding their money and keeping them calm during the journey. 

French pantomime Marcel Marceau and his brother Alain – who were George’s cousins – forged papers for Jews on the run and helped George smuggle Jewish children out of France.

“Marcel would help keep them calm and would just basically be the clown. He would be like a mother, a father, a brother, and he would make them laugh. And this is how many of them stayed calm and agreed to go from one place to another,” said Dushansky-Werbner, who went on to share another story of heroism.

In Volos, Greece, Rabbi Moshe Shimon Pesach was ordered by a German commander to draw up a list of all the Jews in the city. He turned to his friend, Metropolitan Joachim Alexopoulos, who recommended the Jews leave the city immediately. 

At the age of 74, the rabbi gathered the members of the community and led them to the hills surrounding Volos with the help of the metropolitan and the city’s mayor, and hid them in homes and other buildings. This effort would save 746 of the 882 Jews in Volos.

Dushansky-Werbner ended her talk with the words of Marion Pritchard, a non-Jew who rescued Jews in the Netherlands: “If we do not acknowledge the bravery of those Jewish rescuers who, if caught, were in graver danger than the Righteous Among Nations, that would be a distortion of Holocaust history. It also adds to the false notion that the Jews were led like lambs to the slaughter as cowards. This is far from the truth,” said Pritchard.

Upstanders Canada is a national organization that seeks to mobilize primarily non-Jewish Canadians to stand with the Jewish people and against antisemitism. For more information, visit upstanderscanada.com. 

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Posted on May 30, 2025May 29, 2025Author Sam MargolisCategories NationalTags education, heroism, Holocaust, Jews Who Rescued Jews, Marion Pritchard, Rinat Dushansky-Werbner, Upstanders, Yom Hashoah
Learning from one another

Learning from one another

The Jewish Regional Communities Conference April 27-28 brought together Jewish communities from throughout the province to network, engage and learn. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver)

The Jewish Regional Communities Conference was the first of its kind. The April 27-28 event included Jewish communities from throughout the province and was a time for everyone to come together, connect, hear various speakers and participate in workshops. 

The conference kicked off with a message from Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. He talked about how the conference was 10 years in the making. 

“This conference started with a simple question, how do we support Jewish life, everywhere in BC, in every place where people are trying to connect, trying to build community on their own?” he said. “How do we support them? For years, we’ve been hearing that regional communities want more connection to each other, more access to resources and more chances to share what’s working. So, we listened, we had conversations, we showed up, we learned a lot, and now we’re here together to move the conversation forward – because vibrant Jewish life doesn’t look the same everywhere, and it shouldn’t. What matters is that it reflects you – you in this room, your people and your values. Federation’s job is not to decide what that looks like. Our job is to walk alongside you, to listen and to help open doors.”

Shanken’s statement encompassed what the conference was about: having regional communities coming together to network, engage and learn. The conference had numerous breakout sessions where attendees could learn about different subjects.

One session was on developing leaders in small communities, which was led by Lyssa Anolik, community connector, Squamish/South Sea to Sky, at Jewish Federation. In the workshop, attendees brainstormed on various questions, and ideas were discussed on how to motivate and support volunteers, create visions for each community, and event planning. 

Another keynote speaker was Rabbi Mike Uram, chief Jewish learning officer for Jewish Federations of North America. The presentation was held over Zoom and questions were welcomed throughout. One person asked how to maintain relationships within a community, especially if they are challenging. Uram, who had worked with the late John McKnight and John Kretzmann at Northwestern University, said they had advice on this topic.

“If you make a map of everything that’s wrong and then try to fix it, it creates a whole bunch of unanticipated negative consequences,” said Uram. “One of those consequences is that, when you’re thinking about things from a position of scarcity, then there’s always a debate about what is the one magic bullet answer that’s going to solve the issue, and both of them talked about [how,] just by flipping the conversation and beginning with the assets that you have – like, how do you map out what works? – that it actually dispels some political infighting, because you’re not approaching what is the future of the community. So that, I think, works across the board as a way of preventing burnout in leadership.”

He added, “One of the tricks is to make sure that you’re pitching the future and the conversation you’re having as a community way off at the horizon and thinking about all the things we could do, rather than fighting about how we’ve divided the pie as we have it, because that actually does, I think, tend to bring out people’s fear and a little bit of animosity and that kind of zero-sum thinking.”

The rest of the presentation talked about different theories or strategies that can build lasting and prosperous regional communities. 

In addition to other speakers and breakout sessions, there was a conversation with Nova music festival survivors Raz Shifer and Inbal Binder, who participated in many activities when visiting Vancouver from Israel. Both talked about who they are and their own experiences on Oct. 7. (See jewishindependent.ca/healing-from-trauma-of-oct-7.)

photo - Nova music festival survivors Inbal Binder, left, and Raz Shifer spoke at the conference
Nova music festival survivors Inbal Binder, left, and Raz Shifer spoke at the conference. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver)

Having had trouble getting back to work after the horrific tragedy, the two attended a program at Healing Space Rishpon.

“We went there three times a week … and we made ceramics and candles,” said Shifer. “From just creating with our own hands, it helped us process all the trauma and just feel useful…. For me, it really made movement again in my life and then I met Inbal – we’re good friends now.”

Speaking at the conference was challenging, said Shifer. 

“Almost the day before I came here,” she said, “it was like, oh my God, how am I going to do it? I think the twist that came after is the power of the group. I heard that you all came from different places – but we are all Jewish, and it’s something that I expect here in many kinds of communities.” 

Chloe Heuchert is an historian specializing in Canadian Jewish history. During her master’s program at Trinity Western University, she focused on Jewish internment in Quebec during the Second World War.

Format ImagePosted on May 30, 2025May 29, 2025Author Chloe HeuchertCategories LocalTags British Columbia, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, Nova music festival, Oct. 7, Regional Communities Conference, survivors

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