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.
At Richmond Public Library’s Human Library® event April 12, people will be able to choose from about a dozen “books,” people who will share their personal stories. (photo from RPL)
Join the conversation at Richmond Public Library’s fourth annual Human Library® event. Taking place on April12, from 1 to 4 p.m.,there will be approximately a dozen “book” topics to check out.
The Human Library® is a nonprofit organization that began with its first event in Denmark in 2000. It has established itself as a global learning platform with an initiative to create safe spaces for dialogue between human “books” and their “readers.” The conversations between books and readers can help challenge prejudices and stereotypes, and can contribute more broadly to greater cohesion across social, ethnic and religious divisions.
During a Human Library® event, readers will see a variety of available book titles and be able to select one to “borrow” for a 20-minute reading slot. Readers and books will then have a one-on-one conversation, where books will introduce themselves and readers will have the opportunity to ask questions. At previous Human Library® events held at RPL, books have shared stories of their struggles with such things as mental illness, homelessness, and integrating to life in Canada as a newcomer.
This is a drop-in event, so no pre-registration is required. It is also free to attend. Participants will be invited to borrow books on a first-come, first-served basis until “last call” at 3:30 p.m. The event is appropriate for a teen, adult or senior audience. To find out more, go to yourlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events.
The Bellas family, left to right: Oksana, Aliza, Yaakov, Maya and Matthew. (photo from Camp Solomon Schechter)
When Camp Solomon Schechter (CSS) hosts their annual Spark fundraiser event at Beth Israel Synagogue May 3, it might be a more emotional gathering than it has been in past years.
That’s because the honouree, Matthew Bellas, z”l, who passed away last year at age 49 from health complications, left a powerful mark on both the Vancouver and CSS community.
“It means everything,” said Bellas’s daughter, Maya, of her aba (dad) being the focus of the local event. “You can’t put into words the impact he had just walking into a room with his positivity, his passion and his light, and how that inspired others.”
Honouring him, she said, “means that those opportunities for him to continue teaching and passing on his ethics and his education are not lost, and we can continue to pass that spark on to more people.”
Maya said her dad had a special relationship with CSS as a child.
“Camp was where he could express most sides of himself in the silliest way possible,” she recalled. “At camp, he was able to be playful, be an athlete, be artistic and do different visual arts, and sing and dance, while also expressing his religious side.”
She recalled her dad saying that he found his calling to be a rabbi while he was leading prayers (tefillot) as an 8-year-old. “Getting to practice Judaism and [Jewish] traditions was key to who he would become. He had lots of nostalgia and gratitude [to CSS] for that,” she said.
Rabbi Bellas grew up in the Vancouver Jewish community, attending CSS as a camper and participating in Oded, the junior counselor program. He became bar mitzvah and got married to his wife, Oksana, at Beth Israel. The couple raised three children here – Maya, Yaakov and Aliza – before moving to Olney, Md., in 2014.
While studying to become a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Bellas returned to camp in 2001 and 2002 as “Rabbi Matt,” writing curriculum and making other contributions. After receiving ordination in 2004, he continued to build a distinguished career in Jewish education, serving as school rabbi at Brandeis School in Lawrence, NY, and at Vancouver Talmud Torah. He spent the last decade of his life as a principal at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Md., where he apparently coined the daily reminder: “Ask a good question, learn something new, and be kind to everyone.”
Camp Solomon Schechter’s annual Spark event celebrates the camp’s legacy, community and future, with simultaneous events in Vancouver, Portland and Seattle, bringing together alumni, supporters and friends from across the region. This year’s theme – Body, Mind and Spirit – reflects the camp’s commitment to nurturing the whole person through meaningful experiences, relationships and Jewish values.
Matthew Bellas with his son Yaakov at Camp Solomon Schechter. (photo from Camp Solomon Schechter)
Bellas is being recognized for the Spirit element of the event.
“He was so passionate about Jewish continuity,” Maya said of the spirit her dad brought to his work, including his time at CSS. “He wanted to create that experience for other youth and families. He knew that the continuation of our traditions and people relies on joyful, immersive and strong Jewish communities, and that Judaism is a community and family-based activity.
“At Schechter, along with the Judaics team, he created an experience that was fun, engaging and hands on,” she said. “Creating the Jewish memories for the campers that he had as a kid.”
Maya and Yaakov also both attended CSS as campers, while Maya continued her staffing journey there as a young Jewish leader, serving as the director of Oded the past two summers.
“When we started going to camp, being part of this lineage of going to camp, we got to talk about how it evolved over time,” she said. “We are a part of this history and story of camp, and it’s something that connected us, and that’s something that he appreciated, too.”
Maya said witnessing her dad’s legacy has led her to seriously consider her own impact and the work she did at CSS.
“To see the mark he’s left on the world and on the people he’s come across, at my age, it definitely makes me start to think about what I’m going to leave behind me,” she said. “I just hope it’s a warmer, safer, connected place and I hope this event helps camp [provide] that for many more kids.”
For the Vancouver event co-chairs, Lisa Boroditsky and Sandy Hazan, Bellas’s aunt, honouring Rabbi Matt is extra special.
“First and foremost, it is a true honour to be connected to Matthew Bellas, z”l, as part of our extended mishpachah [family] through the Switzer family clan,” said Boroditsky. “To have the opportunity to carry on what was so truly important to Matt is a meaningful way for me to honour his legacy.
“I also strongly believe in the profound impact that Jewish summer camp has on young people,” she said. “It helps shape identity, build community and instil a lasting love for Jewish life and tradition. Being part of an event that both honours Matthew’s legacy and supports something that was so important to him and our shared beliefs is incredibly meaningful.”
Hazan said her nephew taught them all what it means to be proud of being Jewish and loving our traditions.
“His impact in fostering love of Judaism and showing Jewish pride was felt in every aspect of his professional and personal life,” she said. “He also loved bringing people together and Schechter Spark is an opportunity for the Vancouver Jewish community to gather and celebrate Matthew’s spirit and the Jewish values we all hold so dear. These past years have shown us all that we are stronger together.”
Boroditsky made a point of noting Bellas’s impact on those around him, and how that made him an especially appropriate honouree for this year’s event.
“He touched hundreds of lives through his teachings, kindness, leadership and unwavering spirit,” she said. “By honouring him at the Spark event this year, the community comes together not only to remember him, but to celebrate the legacy he leaves behind.”
The Schechter Spark events this year will also recognize Debbi and Alan Montrose in Portland, Ore., as the Body honourees, and Cindy and Bob Strauss in Seattle, Wash., as the Mind honourees.
“As we celebrate another year of impact, Spark is a time to honour our past, celebrate our present and invest in our future,” said Zach Duitch, executive director of Camp Solomon Schechter. “We are especially grateful to honour Rabbi Bellas’s memory and the spiritual legacy he leaves within our community.”
For more than 70 years, CSS has been a cornerstone of Jewish life in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. Spark reflects the soul of camp, bringing people together in gratitude, remembrance and hope. Registration and sponsorship opportunities are still available. For more information, visit campschechter.org/spark or contact Leah Conley at lconley@campschechter.org.
Kyle Berger is Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver sports coordinator, and a freelance writer living in Richmond.
On May 7, in Vancouver, Dr. Noya Shilo, director of Sheba Medical Centre’s Back to Life Clinic, will share firsthand insights into the journey from trauma to healing. (photo from Sheba Medical Centre)
Following the success of last September’s event featuring Sheba Medical Centre’s Prof. Amitai Ziv, Canadian Friends of Sheba are returning to Vancouver with the Sheba Promise Journey: From Trauma to Recovery, taking place May 7.
The special evening in support of Sheba Medical Centre will feature Dr. Noya Shilo, director of the centre’s Back to Life Clinic and a global leader in trauma recovery. Having led the care of returned hostages – work recognized internationally, including at the White House – Shilo will share rare, firsthand insights into the journey from trauma to healing, and how Sheba’s care extends far beyond the bedside. Additional voices from Sheba will also contribute to the evening’s conversation.
At a time when the need for mental health support is greater than ever, Sheba is leading critical initiatives, including the establishment of a clinic for children in northern Israel who are suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. Proceeds from the May 7 event will support these efforts, as well as the Bibas Healing Gardens – therapeutic environments inspired by Yarden Bibas, a survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. Bibas was held hostage for 484 days, separated from his wife and two young children, who were murdered by Hamas during their captivity.
The Bibas Healing Gardens will support women and children through counseling, emotional care and nature-based healing. These restorative spaces will serve hundreds of families each year as part of their long-term rehabilitation journey.
The Sheba Promise Journey event will begin with an exclusive VIP reception and meet-and-greet, followed by a curated theatre-style program designed to inspire, inform and connect. Sponsorship opportunities and tickets are available, and everyone is invited to join the event and/or support the initiatives. The Sheba Promise Journey also takes place in Toronto (May 4) and Montreal (May 5).
Hundreds of terrorists entered Kibbutz Be’eri. Of the 1,000-plus residents, 101 kibbutz members were killed, 30 people were abducted and one-third of the houses were severely damaged or destroyed. (photo by Larry Barzelai)
My wife and I frequently travel to Israel to visit our three grandchildren. Our interest in Be’eri comes from its special connection with Kibbutz Hatzerim, the birthplace of our daughter-in-law. I feel that the story of Be’eri is a paradigm for the story of the Jewish people, the story of building something magnificent, experiencing a great
destruction and rebuilding afterwards to create something even better. It also illustrates how, when people work together, they can accomplish greater things.
Through a mutual friend, I arranged to meet Yaron, a lifelong member of Kibbutz Be’eri and one who had survived the Oct. 7 massacre. He graciously took me on a tour of the kibbutz as he described the events of that day. Much of what follows are descriptions of the events in his own words. He’s given me permission to share them with you.
On the evening of Oct. 6, Yaron and other kibbutzniks were celebrating the anniversary of the founding of Kibbutz Be’eri. Sharing drinks later with some of his closest friends, they started planning a summer hiking trip in the French Alps.
At 6:30 in the morning of Oct. 7, Yaron heard unusual noises, as he slept with his wife and two young children – both under 5 years old. It sounded like shelling and bombing. When the red alert siren went off, they ran to join their kids in their home’smamad (reinforced security room), which is also the kids’ bedroom.
Initially, Yaron wasn’t too concerned, even after receiving a text that the kibbutz may have been infiltrated by enemies. “OK, I guess we’ll be cooped up in here for a couple of hours,” he thought.
“Messages in the different kibbutz WhatsApp groups start reporting about terrorists walking inside Be’eri,” he writes. “It is close to 8 a.m. Someone writes a message that she hears gunshots.”
Shortly after that, someone reports hearing “terrible screams from the apartment above her, then silence.” Another says that one of the houses in the kibbutz is burning.
Yaron tries to stay calm. The power goes off. Their dog, who is not inside the room, is unusually silent. They hear that someone is in their house.
“They get to the room and try to open the door. I fight over the handle, heart pounding,” writes Yaron. “They don’t succeed! Every time they try, I swing the door handle back to the upright, ‘Safe’ position.”
Eventually, the terrorists give up on opening the mamad. Yaron ignores the calls in Arabic and English to come out of the room. He and his family listen, as the terrorists sing, while wrecking the house. First, there is the smell of gasoline, then smoke enters the room.
A neighbour advises them, via Yaron’s phone, that they should close the gap under the door with wet clothes.
“I take the sheet from my daughter’s bed, pour the bucket of urine on it and jam it under the door,” Yaron writes. “Outside the room, the fire grows fierce, it consumes five years of our lives in minutes…. We are in a closed room, we have no electricity, the children are coughing. I realize that the fire in our home is probably so crazy that even those inhumane monsters can’t still be waiting outside the door. I let go of the handle and I take a deep breath and feel some oxygen flow to my brain. So far, it was the pressure and fear of the terrorists that was suffocating me, but now the smoke is becoming the main problem.”
Yaron’s wife continues to text with neighbours, calling emergency team members repeatedly.
“All of our children’s books are burning outside,” Yaron shares. “Amidst all the terror we hear one of our favourites, a sound book of Arik Einstein songs, catching fire. The fire makes it play, chillingly, one of the happiest songs we know: ‘It’s Saturday morning, a beautiful day….’”
Suffocating on the smoke, the family has no choice but to open a window of their second-floor apartment. Despite the fear of what awaits them outside, the smoke is too much and they climb out onto the metal awning below.
“The four of us are sitting on the metal. We can breathe but we are exposed 2.5 metres (eight feet) above the ground. OK, now what?” Yaron recalls.
They can’t reach the emergency team, so they jump to the ground and hide in a nearby shed. Yaron jumps first, his wife hands him the kids, then follows.
A house identical to Yaron’s, which has been demolished, that gives an idea of the window of the family’s safe room and the challenge of jumping to the ground from the second storey. (photo by Larry Barzelai)
“Another neighbour reaches out, ‘Come to my place.’ I call him. I ask him to risk his life, leave his mamad and open his house for us. He does this while we’re on the phone. We are hesitant to come outside, we are debating with our eyes, and can’t decide if we should stay hidden in an unsafe shed or try to reach a safer place but risk exposure. I ask him to risk his life even more, to take a look outside and verify there are no terrorists in sight. He bravely obliges and says it’s clear. We were in the shed for maybe five, maybe 10 minutes, maybe it was two years, who knows. The kids are silent…. My heart is racing, I open the shed door and we sprint to the neighbour’s house.”
The fire has consumed their own home, and their beloved dog. Temporarily safe at the neighbours’, Yaron sees that the fire might cross over to where they are hiding. “We decide we need to evacuate,” he writes. “At a distance, we spot a few IDF soldiers. A small company or a team…. They escort us to a nearby building where my brother lives. We contact him and he let us in together with two more kibbutz members who had gotten stuck in a similar situation.”
Around 11 p.m., soldiers returned to Yaron’s brother’s place. “They helped us out, they asked us to cover our children’s eyes to shield them from the horrors on the kibbutz lanes and they escorted us to the yellow gate.”
“We made it out,” he writes. “We made it out.”
Most of Yaron’s extended family survived the massacre, except for an aunt who was murdered. In total, hundreds of terrorists entered the kibbutz. Of the 1,000-plus residents, 101 kibbutz members were killed, 30 people were abducted and one-third of the houses were severely damaged or destroyed.
Another victim of the massacre was Winnipeg-born Vivian Silver, who had, prior to Oct. 7, driven patients from the Erez border crossing to hospitals in Israel. She learned Arabic so that she could better communicate with her Bedouin neighbours. She truly believed in a peaceful future between the residents of Israel and the Palestinians of Gaza. Sadly, she was killed on Oct. 7. Her remains were so badly burned that it took weeks to identify her by DNA analysis.
Eli Sharabi, another resident of Be’eri, was kidnapped and taken to Gaza. In his book Hostage, he describes 491 tortuous days in Hamas captivity. He was looking forward to reuniting with his family once he was freed. Instead, upon his release, he discovered that his wife and daughters had been killed on Oct. 7. He cried at their gravesites for two hours, before making the decision that he had to move forward.
Immediately after Oct. 7, Yaron and his family spent many months living in an apartment in the Dead Sea area. They were alive and they were safe, relatively free from missile attacks, but life was far from normal. To say nothing of the trauma they were dealing with, reestablishing a kibbutz lifestyle, while living in a crowded hotel with none of the amenities that glue kibbutzniks together, was challenging.
The family has since relocated to a temporary custom-built village adjacent to Kibbutz Hatzerim. Be’eri and Hatzerim are sister kibbutzim, both founded in 1946. Be’eriwas named for Berl Katznelson, a founding father of Labour Zionism, whose nickname was Be’eri; Hatzerim, after a verse in Deuteronomy (2:23) that mentions hatzerim (farms/enclosures) “as far as Gaza.”
Be’eri and Hatzerim are both traditional socialist kibbutzim, populated mainly by people on the left of the political spectrum. Thus, it was natural for Kibbutz Hatzerim to offer to build a temporary kibbutz adjacent to them for people from Be’eri to live until their kibbutz was rebuilt over a two-year period.
The new neighbourhood on Kibbutz Be’eri, where Yaron and his family are planning on living. The rebuilding of the kibbutz is expected to take two years. (photo by Larry Barzelai)
Most former residents of Be’eri are now living in the temporary kibbutz. Some facilities, such as medical clinics and administrative offices, are shared by the two kibbutzim. Otherwise, the temporary Be’eri has its own houses, schools and offices. Hatzerim expanded its dental clinic, seniors lounge and grocery store to accommodate the increased needs of the larger population. In typical kibbutz fashion, members of both communities met many times to jointly plan this project.
Every day, Yaron leaves his family on the temporary Kibbutz Be’eri to commute 45 minutes to the original. About 60 kibbutz members are living there now, while it’s being rebuilt, and the plan is for most members to return by the start of the school year this September. A printing factory and agriculture are the two sustaining industries on Be’eri.
Yaron’s home, along with 140 others, was destroyed on Oct. 7. Recently, members of Kibbutz Be’eri made a collective decision to tear down all the damaged buildings. They want to try and wipe away the terrible memories of Oct. 7 and build anew. As one part of the construction work, the kibbutz is building a new subdivision, where Yaron and his family are planning to live.
But Yaron isn’t sure that he wants to return. He was born on Be’eri and has lived most of his life there. However, the memory of the trauma of Oct. 7 is very strong. He’s not sure he wants to move back to this place, where so much death and destruction happened. He confided that he may want to live outside of Israel, somewhere he can anticipate a more peaceful future for his children.
Larry Barzelai is a Vancouver family physician, specializing in care of the elderly, who travels to Israel frequently to visit his three grandchildren there. He is presently co-chair of the Jewish Medical Association of British Columbia.
Bo begs for more cabbage. A rescue dog, he is slowly learning to trust humans. (photo by Susan Kars)
My friend Susan Kars recently got a male rescue dog from Chile so, of course, I volunteered to come over and speak to him in Spanish. As my husband and I walked into her apartment, we were greeted by a small, black 2-year-old dog with a big growl. And then, all of a sudden, he fell asleep.
“Ihave always been a proponent of animal rescue,” my friend told the Jewish Independent. “I don’t feel that people should buy dogs when there are so many rescues out there … and rescue dogs show a different level of gratitude.”
Susan began walking dogs in 2008 for friends and recently felt that it was time for her to get her own. She believes that healing is part of Judaism. She is a member of Or Shalom, a Jewish Renewal synagogue. She started going there when Rabbi Laura Duhan-Kaplan was the congregation’s spiritual leader.
“Rabbi Laura was amazing. She was really connected to a lot in the universe,” said Susan, who attended the celebration earlier this year of Duhan-Kaplan’s appointment as dean of the ALEPH Ordination Program, the Jewish Renewal seminary.
Susan decided that her new dog’s Spanish name, Bom Bom, wouldn’t work, that calling “Bom Bom” out in a park would sound too much like “Bomb! Bomb!” So, she named him Bo.
My friend volunteers at a supermarket for financially challenged folks and walks with Bo and one other dog once a day.
She tried the Spanish doggie commands I gave her with Bo and had some success. She was and is very determined to heal this dog.
When we met Bo, the poor thing had just spent 30 hours on an airplane and this was his second night in his new home. Susan got him from an organization called Homeless Pets Canada. Unmentionable things had been done to him by humans and he was very suspicious of us.
I asked Susan what kind of dog he was and she exclaimed, laughing: “He’s a mutt!” And that’s what he looked like until she gave him a haircut and a very long bath. Now, I’d say he looks like a very long terrier of some sort, but no one really knows.
Susan has found that training a rescue dog is the most time-consuming thing she’s ever done.
“I left him twice in one day and came home to a full roll of toilet paper shredded all around the apartment. But you can’t get angry at them because they don’t do it to hurt you.”
That same day, Bo “took out a piece of the wall” by pulling at the leash that was hanging on the hook.
Susan put this down to separation anxiety and fear of being in a new place but, weeks later, she also acknowledged that Bo is mischievous. For example, a few weeks after our initial encounter, I was sitting in Susan’s kitchen while she was loading the dishwasher. When she opened a cabinet near the floor, Bo didn’t miss a beat. He grabbed a small plastic funnel in his mouth and marched out into the hallway.
“He’s a sly dog,” Susan said.
Bo also acted up later in the evening. At first, everything was fine. He let me pet him for a long time, licked my hands and even sat down when I said “sientate,” which means “sit down” in Spanish. Then, I threw one of his toys for him to retrieve and all hell broke loose. He started barking and growling and trying to nip me.
Clearly this dog has post-traumatic stress disorder, I thought. And Susan agrees. But she is not allowing this to defeat her. She says it takes three days for a rescue animal to “decompress” and start to realize that they might be OK. It takes another three weeks for their personality to emerge and three months more for them to realize that they are safe and at home with a new life.
Bo already has started to give back. Recently, he comforted one of Susan’s friends whose dog was run over by a car and didn’t survive. Bo sat with the friend on the couch for a very long time.
Susan’s advice to others who adopt a rescue animal is that they should know “this is a major life decision.” She is spending about $500 a month on a long list of items, including vet fees, insurance, food, toys, bowls, mats, a blanket, puppy pee pads, poop bags, leashes, grooming, treats for training and a camera to see what he’s doing when she’s away. Bo has a bad knee, so Susan has had to buy him joint supplements and a set of dog staircases.
It’s not only costly, but time-consuming to care for Bo. But, it’s also so rewarding.
“I smile every day,” she said. “I have something to smile about. When he’s in his round bed and he gives this big release of breath at the end of the day, it’s so satisfying to hear.”
And, my husband and I have something to be happy about, too, since we’ve officially been made Bo’s adopted aunt and uncle.
Since Bo can be a fierce little dog, Susan said she will be training him as a K9 for Israeli intelligence – just kidding! He’s most definitely a Jewish dog though, said Susan, because he goes “berserk” over challah buns. They are definitely his most favourite treat. She left one on a plate for her neighbour and Bo snuck behind her and scarfed it down in seconds.
If you want to adopt a rescue dog, “just know that the hard work is worth it,” said Susan. “You are saving a life and, by taking a dog into your home, there is room for another dog in the rescue centre.”
When she was volunteering for Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association (VOKRA) about 15 years ago, Susan made T-shirts that said, “Open your heart and empty a cage.”
And that’s exactly what she’s done.
If you can’t adopt a rescue, Susan suggests donating to Homeless Pets Canada, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, VOKRA or other such organizations.
Cassandra Freeman is a freelance journalist and improv comedy performer living in Vancouver.
From a specific vantage point, the dispersed lines of Nicolas Baier’s Candelabra – winner of the Montreal Holocaust Museum’s public art competition for its new building – create the shape of a sphere. (photo from MHM)
The Montreal Holocaust Museum (MHM) has selected Montreal-based artist Nicolas Baier as the winner of its public art competition for its new museum opening in 2027.
Baier’s artwork, Candelabra, will be installed on the museum’s rooftop terraces. The sculpture is a luminous, constellation-like network of polished stainless-steel lines and points of light set against the Montreal sky. The work is reminiscent of countless survivor stories about imprisonment in ghettos and concentration camps, where the only form of escape was looking to the night sky. Inspired by the human impulse to connect stars into meaningful patterns, the piece reflects bonds built between individuals, communities and generations.
Rather than reproducing traditional constellations, Baier has created a new network based on astronomical data from the sky above Montreal. From a specific vantage point on the terrace, the dispersed lines create the shape of a sphere, evoking our shared planet and humanity.
Nicolas Baier’s Candelabra. (photo from MHM)
In a museum dedicated to Holocaust remembrance, Candelabra speaks to the fragility and resilience of human connection. The Holocaust was marked by the systematic destruction of Jewish life, the devastation of whole communities and the severing of social bonds. At a time when antisemitism and other forms of hate are on the rise, the sculpture serves as a reminder that societies are shaped by the networks we build and protect, and that, even in darkness, light endures.
The competition was held in accordance with Quebec’s Politique d’intégration des arts à l’architecture et à l’environnement des bâtiments et des sites gouvernementaux et publics, which mandates that approximately one percent of the construction budget of public buildings be dedicated to the commissioning of a work of art.
The selection committee was composed of Marie-Blanche Fourcade (head of collections and exhibitions at the MHM); Adrian Sheppard (user representative); Renée Daoust (architect); Suzelle Levasseur (visual arts specialist); Stéphanie L’Heureux (ministry representative); Martha Townsend (visual arts specialist); and Helen Malkin (observer, chair and consultant for the new MHM).
“Nicolas Baier’s proposal moved us because it expresses the importance of human connection,” said Rachel Gropper, Holocaust survivor and co-president of the museum. “In a place devoted to memory and education, this work reminds us that each individual life matters, and that together we have the responsibility to uphold compassion and hope.”
Kindergarten children preparing matzah, 1925.(photo by Joseph Schweigh, KKL-JNF Photo Archive)
In uncertain times like these, as the war with Iran continues, attention often turns to the traditions and customs that have carried generations through both hardship and renewal. Against this backdrop, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) has shared some rare images from its photo archive documenting Passover across the years. The images, dating from before the declaration of the state of Israel, reflect enduring elements of Jewish life, including tradition, education and communal practice.
A festive parade of Jewish soldiers during Passover in Jerusalem, 1948. (photo by Rudolf Jonas, KKL-JNF Photo Archive, KKL-JNF Photo Archive)
Among them are a photograph from the 1920s showing kindergarten children preparing matzah dough; documentation from a festive Passover parade for Israeli soldiers in 1948, the year of Israel’s independence; and families in Jerusalem’s Mea She’arim neighbourhood participating in the burning of chametz in 1983, a year marked by the effects of the Lebanon War. Though decades apart, the scenes show how holiday practices supported community connection and hope during periods of instability.
A wall newspaper produced in the 1950s and 1960s by Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund’s education department, which was displayed in Jewish schools in England. (photo from KKL-JNF Banner collection displayed in the Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem)
The archival materials also include a wall newspaper produced in the 1950s and 1960s by KKL-JNF’s education department, which was displayed in Jewish schools in England. The poster places the Exodus from Egypt alongside images of agricultural work, tree planting and communal life in the land of Israel, illustrating how Passover was given renewed meaning in the Zionist era as a bridge between a biblical narrative and a modern vision of national renewal.
The burning of chametz in the Mea She’arim neighbourhood in Jerusalem, 1983. (photo from KKL-JNF Photo Archive)
“These photographs show how people held onto tradition, community and hope during uncertain periods,” noted Efrat Sinai, director of archives at KKL-JNF. “Viewed today, they highlight both historical experience and the sources of resilience that continue to shape Jewish life. Passover appears here as a living educational framework, a connection between Jewish communities in Israel and abroad, and a reflection of the strength of these communities across generations.”
KKL-JNF’s photo archive, which contains tens of thousands of historical photographs, serves as a living chronicle of life in the land of Israel and beyond. Together, these materials are a reminder that the story of Israel has never been defined by hardship alone, but also by its ability to hold onto hope, tradition and the promise of brighter days ahead.
– Courtesy Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund
Another day, another missile alert: Israelis sheltering at the Herbert Samuel Hotel miklat. The writer and his wife take refuge there, but their dog, Max, won’t leave home. (photo by Gil Zohar)
Those who think history doesn’t repeat itself may wish to WhatsApp my 97-year-old mother, Joyce, to discuss how millions of Londoners like herself sheltered in the British capital’s Tube stations during the Blitz and later in the Second World War. The Luftwaffe bombings traumatized her and her two younger sisters, Anita and Renee. Today, the same “rain” of terror is falling across Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem.
In Tel Aviv and in the neighbouring cities of Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak, nine underground stops on the Red Line of the Light Rail are open 24/7 as public bomb shelters, including on Shabbat, when there is no transportation service. Some denizens of Greater Tel Aviv have taken to sleeping on the station platforms overnight rather than returning home after each all-clear alert.
At the time of writing, the Red Line is not operating. Commuters from Jerusalem to central Israel have been temporarily required to change trains at Ben Gurion Airport before continuing to Tel Aviv.
Not surprisingly in a country where kvetching is the national sport, some people have complained that not all the underground stations have been opened to serve as protected spaces. The Ministry of Transportation has published a list of stations deemed safe, which the frantic hordes may freely enter when the missile alert screams.
The Carlebach station – named after Esriel Gotthelf Carlebach (1908-1956), the Leipzig, Germany-born pioneering journalist, founding editor of the daily Maariv, and cousin of Berlin-born troubadour Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach – has not been opened, as it is not considered suitable as a secure shelter for engineering reasons.
In the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Yerushalmis are also taking cover underground. While all the stops on Jerusalem’s single tram line are on the surface, the Navon Train Station – which is 90 metres below street level and was designed to function as a nuclear bomb shelter – is now serving its secondary purpose apart from transportation.
Home Front Command (HFC) and Ministry of Defence officials have praised the Israeli public for its resilience in quickly reaching a safe place to shelter when the siren goes off.
Israel updated its national building code in 1992 following the Gulf War the previous year, when Saddam Hussein rained Scud missiles down on Tel Aviv and Haifa from Iraq. Previously, zoning laws had required condominium apartment buildings to incorporate a basement bomb shelter, but the threat of heavier-than-air poison gas attacks made those shelters potential death traps. Thus, gas masks were distributed, and every apartment in new residential buildings is now required to have a reinforced and sealed security room, called a mamad in Hebrew. Typically, these are a bedroom protected with extra thick concrete and equipped with a steel door and heavy shutters. A wet towel placed by the door makes for a reasonably airtight seal. Some newer buildings have been designed so that the area around the elevator shaft and stairs serves as a protected miklat (shelter) for the entire floor. It’s a uniquely Israeli way of getting to know one’s neighbours.
The number of fatalities has been miraculously low in the night-and-day barrages from Iran and Lebanon since the current war started on Feb. 28. At press time, 28 people – including two soldiers – had been killed in the hundreds of missile and drone attacks targeting civilian regions in the Jewish state. More than 400 ballistic missiles had been launched. No information has been released on the number of drones fired.
Nine Israelis were killed and more than 40 injured in Beit Shemesh on March 1 when an Iranian missile hit a residential neighbourhood, destroying a synagogue and collapsing the adjoining bomb shelter. The shelter was in a pre-1991 building that had been retrofitted.
A Thai agricultural worker in central Israel and four Palestinian women in a beauty salon in the village of Beit Awwa, southwest of Hebron, were killed on March 18 by debris from an Iranian missile. Barrages employing cluster munitions have hit multiple locations – including near my home in downtown Jerusalem. More than 100 residents in Dimona and Arad were wounded in missile strikes on those two southern cities March 21; most were not in bomb shelters, according to an HFC investigation.
Train service has been interrupted at Tel Aviv’s Savidor station and in Holon, where, as well, several buses were damaged. Military censorship prohibits publishing the addresses of hits.
Max prefers to stay home when the sirens sound. (photo by Gil Zohar)
On March 15, Israel Railways reopened the train stations in Hod HaSharon-Sokolov, Bnei Brak, Rishon LeZion HaRishonim and Dimona, which had been shut down when the war began. Full service resumed on the lines from Herzliya to Ofakim, and Herzliya to Jerusalem. While the latter stops at Ben Gurion Airport, service at the international air hub remains greatly reduced. Some travelers are choosing to take a bus to Amman, Jordan, or Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to fly abroad. The situation remains fluid.
For my wife and me, four overseas guests at our Pesach seder have had to say “Next Year in Jerusalem” because their flights have been canceled. We live in a charming stone building in the city centre, which was built in 1886 and has neither a miklat nor a mamad. When the siren sounds, we head to the Herbert Samuel Hotel across the street. There, the synagogue two floors below ground level doubles as the reinforced space. Last Friday, as the Sabbath approached and the air raid alert rang, a guest was playing the violin, serenading those present with the strains of “Shalom Aleichem.”
And what of our dog Max? The poor mutt refuses to leave his comfort zone – our unprotected apartment. With every second meaning the potential difference between life and death, we leave him to lie on the sofa and howl at the sirens.
Gil Zohar is a journalist and tour guide who lives in Jerusalem.
Harley Kushmier and his mother, Samantha Kushmier, at the March 8 Car Rally for Iranian Voices. (photo from the Kushmiers)
Members of the Kelowna Jewish community participated in the Car Rally for Iranian Voices on March 8.
Harley Kushmier at the March 1 weekly rally in Kelowna in support of those protesting the Iranian regime. (photo from the Kushmiers)
Every Sunday in downtown Kelowna a protest is held in support of loved ones lost in the Shir-o-Khorshid (Lion and Sun) Revolution – the ongoing anti-regime protests in Iran – and of those who remain detained in Iran, subjected to unspeakable hardship. The protests ask that Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi be recognized as transitional leader of the country.
Rally organizers thanked Israel for its support and help, and asked the local Jewish community to attend the car rally. Organizers also reached out to the local Ukrainian community to join.
Samantha Kushmierand son Harley Kushmierare part of the Okanagan Jewish community.
