On June 21, at Ohel Yitzhak in Nahalat Shiva, Gil Zohar celebrated the 57th anniversary of his bar mitzvah. (photo Gil Zohar) Man plans, God laughs, goes the Yiddish aphorism. For the last half year, I have been diligently learning…
I recently participated in a conference panel on hope in a time of divisive politics. A friend in the Jewish community couldn’t do it, so she asked me to help instead. I won’t lie, I felt nervous. I worried that…
You may not know there is an election underway. Voting to elect delegates to the Canadian Zionist Federation closes Sunday, so you still have time to cast your ballot. Although some of us have been receiving emails urging us to…
My family’s in the middle of a month of celebrations. June is always this way at our house, but it’s even more intense this time around. In a “usual” June, we celebrate two family birthdays and a wedding anniversary; it’s…
In putting together the Jewish Independent’s special 95th Anniversary issue last month, I came across so many articles of interest. Too many, of course, to include in one issue or series of issues. But I figured it’d be fun to…
King Charles was in Canada this week, delivering the Speech from the Throne. It was a monumental moment in many ways, not least because it was the first official visit by the monarch since he ascended to the throne. For…
When does something begin? I’ve been thinking about that as I go through 95 years’ worth of Jewish Independents. Well, 20 years of JIs and 75 years of its predecessor, the Jewish Western Bulletin. The JWB also had its predecessors…
When we moved to Canada for my husband’s academic job in 2009, we had work permits. Mine stated I couldn’t work with children or do farmwork. I’d previously been a teacher, but, with this work permit, I only taught adults.…
As a member of the Jewish community, I’ve come to recognize a powerful truth: when crisis strikes, we show up. That’s who we are. It’s not performative. It’s not for headlines. It’s rooted in Jewish values that demand action –…
