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Help dealing with dementia

image - Neither Married Nor Single cover cropped

For anyone who is close to someone with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia, Dr. David Kirkpatrick’s Neither Married Nor Single: When Your Partner Has Alzheimer’s or Other Dementia (Brush Education, 2018) is a must-read. There is so much…

Stories to bring smiles

image - Pip & Pup book cover

Delightful. That’s the first word that comes to my mind for two new hardcover children’s books by members of the Jewish community that will soon find their way to my youngest nieces’ bookshelves: Pip & Pup by Eugene Yelchin (Godwin…

We are hardwired to be kind

photo - Dr. Brian Goldman is an emergency physician at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital

Dr. Brian Goldman is an emergency physician at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital. (photo by Christopher Wahl) According to Dr. Brian Goldman, author of The Power of Kindness: Why Empathy is Essential in Everyday Life (HarperCollins Publishers, 2018), we all have…

The draft: a dad reflects

February 2015 Collected the mail this morning. A few flyers and bills. And my son’s draft notice. A quick double take. A flashback to my son playing with plastic dinosaurs. Then I texted my wife, “It’s here.” A few hours…

Israel’s assets versus liabilities

photo - Israel’s beauty is a definite asset

Israel’s beauty is a definite asset. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay) During the month of Elul, as we approach Rosh Hashanah, which this year falls on Sept. 9, Jews traditionally practise a kind of spiritual stocktaking. These are days when we…

The miracle that is our body

What do we really know about the marvelous vessel we are fortunate enough to inhabit? Don’t we mostly just take it for granted? We were popped into the world without our say so, but, in return, we inherited millions of…

Georgia’s Jewish history, sites

photo - Queen Tamar’s Hall at Uplistsikhe

Queen Tamar’s Hall at Uplistsikhe. (photo by Deborah Rubin Fields) I would venture to say not many people know about the ancient Jewish community of Georgia. Yet, Jews have lived there since at least the fourth century CE and, according…

Shoes with celebrity appeal

photo - Stuart Weitzman built up his father’s business into an empire

Stuart Weitzman built up his father’s business into an empire. (photo by Phillip Pessar) There are so many styles of women’s shoes, including the stiletto, platform, wedge, kitten, sling backs, peep toe, mule or sneakers. Unlike our favourite outfits, the…

Relish the New Year’s apples

photo - apple

(photo by Jonathunde) Although summer is still in full swing, apples come into the markets here in Israel before Rosh Hashanah. I love apples; they are probably my most favourite fruit, especially in fall and winter. Here are some apple…

The mitzvah of challah

photo - On Rosh Hashanah, the challah is round and sweet, symbolizing our collective wish for a good, sweet year

On Rosh Hashanah, the challah is round and sweet, symbolizing our collective wish for a good, sweet year. (photo by Przemyslaw Wierzbowski) It was two years ago that I fell in love with challah. I attended a challah baking workshop…

A High Holidays stew

photo - A sudden powerful gust of wind whipping through an open window slammed the door shut

A sudden powerful gust of wind whipping through an open window slammed the door shut…. (photo from wikiHow) It was one of those hot and humid fall days in Montreal and my sister-in-law “Sadie” decided to make a stew. After…

Every year, a new beginning

photo - Barring disaster, this season’s apple harvest would be bountiful

Barring disaster, this season’s apple harvest would be bountiful. (photo from maxpixel.net) “I don’t want to do my job any more.” That loud thought just popped into Rabbi Yohon Abrahms’ head. It was dawn, and the birds were singing. He…

To embrace teshuvah

photo - “King David Playing the Harp,” by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622. All of the biblical heroes are imperfect, as are we

“King David Playing the Harp,” by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622. All of the biblical heroes are imperfect, as are we. (photo from artsandculture.google.com) One of the beautiful ideas behind Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is the notion that we need…

הסוכן הכפול לשעבר של עיראק

photo - Former Mossad agent: "I helped Israel expose Syria's nuclear program" - Part Two

סוכן המוסד לשעבר: “עזרתי לישראל לחשוף את תוכנית הגרעין של סוריה” – חלק שני. (צילום מחוסיין עלי סומדייה) המשך הראיון עם הסוכן הכפול לשעבר של עיראק, ולאחר מכן של המוסד, חוסיין עלי סומדייה (53), שגר בקנדה ומנסה למנוע את גירושו…

Challenges improve life

photo - Israeli judo master Arik Zeevi will speak at FEDtalks Sept. 16

Israeli judo master Arik Zeevi will speak at FEDtalks Sept. 16. (photo from JFGV) When we’re faced with a challenge, most of us are naturally cautious. But, says Israeli judo master Arik Zeevi, if you have a passion for something,…

Opening Pandora’s box

Maxime Bernier quit the Conservative party last week, at the precise moment that Conservatives from across the country were gathering in Halifax for their national convention, preparing for the federal election that is 13 months away. Canadian political history would…

The benefits from repetition

Repetition is good for us. (I may have said this before!) If you exercise, you’re in touch with “reps” or, if you walk your dog, you’ve been down this block with someone sniffing at the end of the leash before.…

Public hearing on JCC

image - The new facility is planned to be built over two phases

On Sept. 5, Vancouver City Council will hold a public hearing to help determine the next steps of the planned redevelopment of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver (JCC). Serving more than 40,000 community members each year, the JCC…

Coping with a legacy of loss

photo - Claire Sicherman began writing Imprint: A Memoir of Trauma in the Third Generation after her grandmother passed away

Claire Sicherman began writing Imprint: A Memoir of Trauma in the Third Generation after her grandmother passed away. (photo from VHEC) Claire Sicherman’s grandmother didn’t share much about her experiences in the Holocaust. There were three stories – one about…

Reaching for new audiences

photo - Michael Schwartz speaks at the launch of East End Stories on June 24

Michael Schwartz speaks at the launch of East End Stories on June 24. (photo from JMABC) When Louis and Emma Gold arrived in Granville, precursor to Vancouver, the merchant family from Kentucky became the first members of what would grow…

Best Pride presence to date

photo - B.C. Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin addresses the July 27 Shabbat Dinner with Pride Colours event

B.C. Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin addresses the July 27 Shabbat Dinner with Pride Colours event. (photo by Matt Hanns Schroeter) On July 27, the Metro Vancouver Jewish community celebrated Jewish Pride with guests ranging from B.C. Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin, to government…

Celebrating a colleague

photo - Left to right, are Sally Berry, Debby Altow, Judy Stern, Linda Arato and Shirley Hyman

Left to right, are Sally Berry, Debby Altow, Judy Stern, Linda Arato and Shirley Hyman. (photo by Sharon Stern) Judy Stern was honoured at a luncheon July 31 for her long service to National Council of Jewish Women of Canada,…

Mystery photo … Aug. 31/18

photo - B’nai B’rith, circa 1970

B’nai B’rith, circa 1970. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.09504) 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 Archives of B.C.…

A history of Jewish Montreal

photo - Mordecai Richler’s typewriter is among the many items on display in the exhibit Shalom Montreal, which is at Montreal’s McCord Museum until Nov. 11

Mordecai Richler’s typewriter is among the many items on display in the exhibit Shalom Montreal, which is at Montreal’s McCord Museum until Nov. 11. (photo by Arthur Wolak) Shalom Montreal: Stories and Contributions of the Jewish Community is at Montreal’s…

New way to see apartments

photo - Jordan Billinkoff, left, and Josh Glow started the company Gryd, winner of the Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations’ New Product or Service of the Year Award

Jordan Billinkoff, left, and Josh Glow started the company Gryd, winner of the Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations’ New Product or Service of the Year Award. (photo from Gryd) The Toronto-based start-up Gryd is reinventing the look and feel of…

A once in 30-year occurrence

image - A Moon for Moe and Mo book cover

Take a seasoned children’s book author like New York-based Jane Breskin Zalben – who has created more than 50 children’s books and is an abstract painter – and pair her with Mehrdohkt Amini, an illustrator of children’s books who lives…

Soap factory discovered

photo - Uri Geller holds a water or oil jug that was found during the construction of a new museum dedicated to his activities

Uri Geller holds a water or oil jug that was found during the construction of a new museum dedicated to his activities. (photo by Dilila Bar-Ratson courtesy Ashernet) During the construction of a new museum in the Old City of…

הפרשה המורכבת והמסתורית

photo - Former Mossad agent: "I helped Israel expose Syria's nuclear program" - Part One

סוכן המוסד לשעבר: “עזרתי לישראל לחשוף את תוכנית הגרעין של סוריה” – חלק ראשון. (צילום מחוסיין עלי סומדייה) לאחרונה שני עיתונים מרכזיים ‘הטורונטו סאן’ ו’הנשיונל פוסט’ דיווחו בהרחבה על הסוכן הכפול לשעבר של עיראק, ולאחר מכן של המוסד, חוסיין עלי…

Jewish history’s next chapter

photo - The JDC’s Zoya Shvartzman is part of the FEDtalks lineup Sept. 16

The JDC’s Zoya Shvartzman is part of the FEDtalks lineup Sept. 16. (photo from JFGV) In returning to Vancouver, Zoya Shvartzman is retracing the route that has seen the Moldova-born woman help “write the next chapter of the history of…