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VICO festival explores Japan

photo - The June 12 performance of Moshe Denburg’s The Longing Sky features Yuji Nakagawa on sarangi, left, and Harrie Starreveld on shakuhachi

The June 12 performance of Moshe Denburg’s The Longing Sky features Yuji Nakagawa on sarangi, left, and Harrie Starreveld on shakuhachi. (photos from VICO)  This year’s Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO) Global Soundscapes Festival highlights the instruments and traditions of Japan.…

Rootman’s night scenes

photo - Jack Rootman, in front of his painting “Homage to Degas”

Jack Rootman, in front of his painting “Homage to Degas.” (photo by Olga Livshin) Jack Rootman’s new solo show, Scene at Night, opens tomorrow, June 1, at the Visual Space Gallery on Dunbar Street. As the name implies, the exhibition…

Hiding is not an answer

“Doctor, it hurts when I do this,” says the patient in an old joke. “Don’t do that,” advises the doctor. In a decidedly unfunny twist on that old joke, the German government’s Commissioner on Antisemitism Felix Klein responded to the…

Plants’ hidden beauty

photo - Yellow gazanias, by Pamela Fayerman. Eighteen of Fayerman’s macro photos form the exhibit Intimate Encounters, which is at VanDusen until June 27

Yellow gazanias, by Pamela Fayerman. Eighteen of Fayerman’s macro photos form the exhibit Intimate Encounters, which is at VanDusen until June 27. Well-known for her writing about medicine, science and health policy in the Vancouver Sun, award-winning journalist Pamela Fayerman…

PTI yeshivah to close

photo - Rabbis Noam Abramchik, left, and Aaron Kamin

Rabbis Noam Abramchik, left, and Aaron Kamin. (photo from Pacific Torah Institute) After 16 years in Vancouver, the Pacific Torah Institute yeshivah is closing. The school, which operates out of the Lubavitch Centre at Oak and 41st Avenue, was established…

Artistic telling of strike

image - 1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike book cover

The book 1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike by the Graphic History Collective and artist David Lester is not education for education’s sake, but rather a “useful organizing tool,” according to the preface. “This comic book revisits…

Put down “the ducky” in shul

I chatted with a friend recently about what it was like in “the old days” when someone had to take a cellphone call during synagogue. This is when there were only big, clunky cellphones. I remember seeing a doctor on…

Awards all round

image - Whisper Across Time: My Family’s Story of the Holocaust Told Through Art book cover

Each year, the Eric Hoffer Award presents the da Vinci Eye (named after Leonardo da Vinci) to books with superior cover artwork. Cover art is judged on both content and style and, among this year’s winners is Olga Campbell’s Whisper…

Mystery photo … May 31/19

photo - Rochelle Levinson is second from the right

Rochelle Levinson is second from the right. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.10738) If you know someone in this photo, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish Western Bulletin’s) collection at the Jewish Museum and…

The making of ancient beer

photo- Nanopores taken from ancient pottery have allowed researchers to make beer following a 5,000-year-old recipe

Nanopores taken from ancient pottery have allowed researchers to make beer following a 5,000-year-old recipe. (photo by Yaniv Berman IAA via Ashernet) Research led by scholars at Hebrew University, the Israel Antiquities Authority, Tel Aviv University and Bar-Ilan University has…

בהגירה לקנדה

image - ProICC FB page header

(facebook.com/ProICC) ישראלים המבקשים לברר פרטים על הליך קבלת תושבות קנדית, נתקלו בנציגי חברת פרו איי.סי.סי שניסו להונות אותם. כך נטען בכתבה במדור הכלכלי של עיתון הארץ – דה מארקר. עוד נטען בכתבה כי נציגי החברה טוענים שהם עוזרים בבקשות לתושבות…

BI to honour beloved couple

photo - Phyllis and Rabbi Wilfred Solomon, centre, with Cantor Murray Nixon and his wife Dorothy, left, and Sharon and Irving Kates, at Beth Israel’s 60th anniversary gala in 1992

Phyllis and Rabbi Wilfred Solomon, centre, with Cantor Murray Nixon and his wife Dorothy, left, and Sharon and Irving Kates, at Beth Israel’s 60th anniversary gala in 1992. (photo from Congregation Beth Israel fonds, JMABC L.22263) On June 17, Congregation…

The first Shtisel book

photo - Maurice Yacowar and wife Anne Petrie

Maurice Yacowar and wife Anne Petrie. (photo from Yacowars) Shtisel, the unlikely yet addictive hit television series about a Charedi family in Jerusalem, is now the subject of a new book, Reading Shtisel: A TV Masterpiece from Israel, an episode-by-episode…

Absorbing controversy

photo - Israel’s Eurovision 2019 entrant, Kobi Marimi, didn’t fare very well but he gave an emotional performance

Israel’s Eurovision 2019 entrant, Kobi Marimi, didn’t fare very well but he gave an emotional performance. (photo © Martin Fjellanger, Eurovision Norway, EuroVisionary) The Eurovision Song Contest, like the World Cup, is one of those cultural phenomena that seems to…

Artistic tribute to Shoah survivors

photo - The Schara Tzedeck Shoah Survivors Tribute Wall was created for the congregation by John Nutter. The sculpture, which includes the names of 230 survivors, was dedicated May 3

The Schara Tzedeck Shoah Survivors Tribute Wall was created for the congregation by John Nutter. The sculpture, which includes the names of 230 survivors, was dedicated May 3. (photo from John Nutter) Congregation Schara Tzedeck has a new art installation in…

Memories and miracles

photo - Dr. Robert Krell with Grade 12 King David High School students Gali Goldman, left, and Edden Av-Gay

Dr. Robert Krell with Grade 12 King David High School students Gali Goldman, left, and Edden Av-Gay. (photo by Shula Klinger) On May 2, King David High School marked Yom Hashoah at its annual assembly commemorating those lost in the…

D-Day: heroism, horror

photo - The fear, bloodshed and massive loss of life in the cause of freedom are illustrated through remarkable – and convincing – dramatic reenactments in D-Day in 14 Stories

The fear, bloodshed and massive loss of life in the cause of freedom are illustrated through remarkable – and convincing – dramatic reenactments in D-Day in 14 Stories. (photo from YAP Films and the History Channel) The horrors and heroism…

Première of Erez’s Migrant Voices

photo - Itamar Erez

Itamar Erez (photo by Nitzan Shorer) Vancouver composer Itamar Erez will have a world première of his work at the Sound of Dragon Ensemble (Vancouver) and Melody of China (San Francisco) concert May 30, 7 p.m., at the Western Front.…

נושא הלבנת הכספים בבריטיש קולומביה

photo - The federal minister responsible for reducing organized crime in Canada, Bill Blair, said that if they demanded, government officials would testify before the special committee

השר האחראי בממשלה הפדרלית על הפחתת הפשע המאורגן בקנדה, ביל בלייר, אמר כי אם הם ידרשו, פקידי הממשלה יעידו בפני הוועדה המיוחדת. הממשלה הפדרלית בראשות המפלגה הליברלית והמשטרה הפדרלית (האר.סי.אם.פי) הודיעו בנפרד, כי ישתפו פעולה עם ועדת החקירה המיוחדת שתבדוק…

Community day of learning

photo - Prof. Norma Joseph

Prof. Norma Joseph (photo from Association for Canadian Jewish Studies) On June 2, the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies is holding a day of lectures in the Jewish community that will be topped off with music from the Vancouver Jewish…

A mind-blowing exhibit

photo - “Sunflowers” by Jocelyne Hallé

“Sunflowers” by Jocelyne Hallé. The new show at Zack Gallery, #SeasonsAtZack features Instagram artists. A fundraiser for the gallery, the exhibit is extremely eclectic. “The theme of the show is based on the theme of Festival Ha’Rikud, ‘Seasons of Israel,’”…

Harbingers of future?

In 2015, the federal New Democratic Party nixed Paul Manly’s hopes to run for Parliament, barring his candidacy because his anti-Israel politics were deemed too extreme. Manly joined the Green party and, this month, won a federal by-election in Nanaimo-Ladysmith.…

How we can live after death

It is the instinct of all living things to try to stay alive, humans among them. Most religious doctrines pay a great deal of attention to this issue. And many people, whether part of an organized religion or not, believe…

Dancers explore new territory

photo - Magic & Remembering opens at Scotiabank Dance Centre on June 1, which is B.C. Access Awareness Day

Magic & Remembering opens at Scotiabank Dance Centre on June 1, which is B.C. Access Awareness Day. (photo from All Bodies Dance Project) The themes in this show range from home and belonging to our collective connection to self, city…

A wonder-full evening

photo - Illusionist Vitaly Beckman can seemingly change a driver’s licence photo. To witness the feat in person, check out his June 5 show at the River Rock Casino

Illusionist Vitaly Beckman can seemingly change a driver’s licence photo. To witness the feat in person, check out his June 5 show at the River Rock Casino. (photo by Galina Sumaneeva) “I rarely have a chance to perform in my…

Korczak course at UBC

image - A postcard showing Janusz Korczak in the courtyard of the orphanage on Krochmalna Street in Warsaw, Poland, in the early 1930s

A postcard showing Janusz Korczak in the courtyard of the orphanage on Krochmalna Street in Warsaw, Poland, in the early 1930s. An unprecedented interdisciplinary event will take place this summer at the University of British Columbia, focusing on the legacy…

Honouring our heroes

photo - Elad Pelleg and his grandmother, Dvora. Pelleg shared his family’s story during the community’s Yom Hazikaron ceremony May 7

Elad Pelleg and his grandmother, Dvora. Pelleg shared his family’s story during the community’s Yom Hazikaron ceremony May 7. (photo from Elad Pelleg) The sacrifices Israeli families have made for 71 years were marked in Vancouver last week during Yom…

ED is a complex condition

photo - Left to right: Pollock Clinics sex therapist Tom Foster and physicians Neil Pollock and Roozbeh Ahmadi

Left to right: Pollock Clinics sex therapist Tom Foster and physicians Neil Pollock and Roozbeh Ahmadi. (photo from Pollock Clinics) While there may be any number of reasons why the frequency of a couple’s intimate sexual contact may wane, it…

Documentary breaks silence

photo - Prof. Yehudit Silverman’s The Hidden Face of Suicide is helping people talk about a topic still surrounded by stigma

Prof. Yehudit Silverman’s The Hidden Face of Suicide is helping people talk about a topic still surrounded by stigma. (photo from yehuditsilverman.com) Concordia University professor Yehudit Silverman’s award-winning documentary The Hidden Face of Suicide focuses on the world of survivors…