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This academic year marks the second session of Writing Lives, a two-semester project at Langara College, coordinated by instructor Dr. Rachel Mines. Writing Lives is a partnership between Langara, the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, and the Azrieli Foundation. Last fall,…
I approached Imprint: A Memoir of Trauma in the Third Generation (Caitlin Press, 2017) with reluctance. But Claire Sicherman’s account of her murdered family members, of her grandparents who were the sole survivors of the Holocaust and of her own…
Last week, I participated in a survey on Canadian Jews done by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, in partnership with Prof. Robert Brym of the University of Toronto and Prof. Rhonda Lenton of York University. It’s considered a “landmark…
For weeks since March, each Friday, thousands of Gazans have rallied at the border with Israel, leading to violent confrontations with the Israeli military. The objective is to build up to an incursion of such proportion that Israel’s military is…
Last week, thousands of Germans of all faiths and identities participated in a “kippa march,” standing in solidarity with German Jews who feel endangered in the current political climate. In 2017, there were 1,468 reported antisemitic attacks in Germany, most…
During the week of Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) released the results of a comprehensive national survey of Holocaust awareness and knowledge among adults in the United States. The survey…
Belkin Forest Grove was dedicated in Baal Shem Tov Forest on March 27. (photo by Lilah Weiss) On March 27, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund held a special event in memory of JNF Canada friend and philanthropist Elliot Belkin. About 20…
עשרה הרוגים וארבעה עשר פצועים בטורונטו – מרביתם קשה מרכב שפגע בהם בכוונה תחילה. (צילום: Linda Ward/CBC) אחד האירועים הקשים ביותר בתולדות טורונטו העיר הגדולה בקנדה, שהתרחש ביום שני בצהריים לפני כעשרה ימים, גבה מחיר כבד מאוד. עשרה הרוגים וחמישה…
Ballet BC artists perform Bill, by Israeli choreographers Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, with musician Ori Lichtik. The company premièred the work in Vancouver 2016 and is bringing it back as part of Program 3 May 10-12 at Queen Elizabeth…
“Louis Brier is in a pivotal point in planning for the future through its redevelopment activities,” said David Keselman, chief executive officer of the home and hospital. (photo from Louis Brier) The Louis Brier Home and Hospital was started in…
Filmmaker Jake Pascoe (photo from POV28) The study methods of Jewish school have served Jake Pascoe well in his study of film at the University of British Columbia. His works will be among those featured in the Persistence of Vision…
The exhibit Painting Intimate, showcasing the work of penny eisenberg and Ray Ophoff, is at the Zack Gallery until May 11. (photo by Olga Livshin) The exhibit Painting Intimate introduces Vancouver art lovers to two very different local artists: penny…
The value of ahavat ha’beriot, the love of God’s creations, is open to broad interpretation. The animal world, the environment, as well as other people, can all fall under this crucial tenet of Judaism. Like positive values and most good…
More than 100 people came out to Burquest Community Association’s Purim carnival this year. (photo from Burquest) At the end of a short, upward-sloping driveway in Port Coquitlam, what was originally a Jehovah’s Witness centre was converted into a Jewish…
Jordan Zwicker (photo from JZE) If there’s one Jewish personality in Vancouver that almost everyone knows, it’s Jordan Zwicker. The man behind many of the city’s Jewish celebrations, Zwicker, 42, has been enlivening Vancouver parties since 2003, when he first…
(photo from Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre) Many child survivors of the Holocaust did not identify as survivors – and were not deemed so by other survivors, including their parents – until decades after the end of the Second World War.…
(photo from Victoria Shoah Project) The following remarks have been edited from a talk given at the April 15 Yom Hashoah commemoration at Victoria’s Jewish Cemetery, which was organized by the Victoria Shoah Project. I recently saw a beautifully poignant…
Mia holds a Havdalah candle. (photo by Miriam Leo Gindin) Many Orthodox Jews wait until a boy’s third birthday before giving him his first haircut in a ritual called upsherin, a Yiddish word meaning to “cut off.” In recent years,…
In her latest book, Be the Parent, Please (Templeton Press, 2018), author Naomi Schaefer Riley reminds parents to take back control and help their kids find healthier means of entertainment. Originally from Massachusetts, this New York mom of three kids…
(photo from Ashernet) Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed a special meeting of the Israeli cabinet in Independence Hall in Tel Aviv on April 20 in honour of the 70th anniversary of the proclamation of the modern state by Israel’s…
שיתוף הפעולה הטכנולוגי בין קנדה לישראל מתרחב משמעותית. (צילום: tec_estromberg) מועצת המנהלים של קרן קנדה-ישראל תממן שמונה פרוייקטים חדשים בסכום כולל של כחמישה עשר מליון שקל (שהם כמישה מיליון ושלוש מאות אלף דולר קנדי). הפרוייקטים יבוצעו בשיתוף פעולה עם חברות…
Ed Asner stars in A Man and His Prostate, which is at the Anvil Centre Theatre for two nights only: April 27-28. (photo from ACT) I did my homework. I had read and watched interviews. I had my questions ready.…
Craig Miller in a shot from the documentary The S Word, which screened for the first time in Western Canada on March 22 in Winnipeg. (photo from MadPix, Inc.) Jewish Child and Family Service of Winnipeg (JCFS) partnered with the…
Rabbi Mark Dratch (photo from Mark Dratch) In the first of a series of articles on sexual harassment and violence in the Jewish community, the Jewish Independent speaks with Rabbi Mark Dratch, executive vice-president of the Rabbinical Council of America…
It recently came to light that Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, was a member of at least one closed Facebook group where antisemitic rhetoric and hatred, including the most ridiculous assertions based on…
This academic year marks the second session of Writing Lives, a two-semester project at Langara College, coordinated by instructor Dr. Rachel Mines. Writing Lives is a partnership between Langara, the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre and the Azrieli Foundation. Last fall,…
My nephew L’s public elementary school principal just died unexpectedly. She wasn’t old, and it was very sudden. The school closed for an afternoon so everyone could go to a memorial service. He’s upset … as any 9-year-old kid would…
Mark Breslin (photo from Temple Sholom) Yuk Yuk’s co-founder Mark Breslin is excited to be entertaining Jewish Vancouverites at Temple Sholom’s annual spring fundraiser May 6. “I can’t get enough Jews in my life,” he told the Independent. “I’m married…
Local group MNGWA helps open the World Music Festival on April 26. (photo from Vancouver World Music Festival) The Vancouver World Music Festival celebrates cultural diversity through music, and world-class musicians from Mexico, Brazil, Africa, Spain, the United States and…
A scene from Vancouver Opera’s production of Eugene Onegin. (photo by Trudie Lee) “I’ve sung a lot of Russian, and I love it,” Jewish community member and opera singer Leah Giselle Field told the Jewish Independent. Field will have a…
