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Celebrating many milestones

photo - Alexandra Gerson, centre, says a few words at a Jewish talent show put on by Radio VERA last year

Alexandra Gerson, centre, says a few words at a Jewish talent show put on by Radio VERA last year. (photo from Radio VERA) “I have a dream: I want to bring together Russian-speaking and English-speaking Jews in Canada, to unite…

Klondike’s Jewish links

photo - Entrance of the Jewish Cemetery in Dawson City, Yukon. The sign reads Bet Chaim (House of the Living). The photo was taken in 1961

Entrance of the Jewish Cemetery in Dawson City, Yukon. The sign reads Bet Chaim (House of the Living). The photo was taken in 1961. (photo by Irving Snider; Dr. Irving and Phyliss Snider fonds; Jewish Museum and Archives of BC…

Tikva has a lead role to play

photo - Left to right: Linda Thomas (Tikva), Shirley Barnett, Shelley Karrel (Tikva) and Eldad Goldfarb (Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver) at Tikva Housing’s annual general meeting on Dec. 7

Left to right: Linda Thomas (Tikva), Shirley Barnett, Shelley Karrel (Tikva) and Eldad Goldfarb (Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver) at Tikva Housing’s annual general meeting on Dec. 7. (photo from Tikva Housing) The following remarks have been slightly modified…

At controversy’s centre – Louis Brier

Louis Brier Home and Hospital has accused Dr. Ellen Wiebe, who specializes in medically assisted dying, of wrongdoing, for providing a medically assisted death to 83-year-old resident Barry Hyman, without the consent or knowledge of the care facility. The home…

A no-go zone for Jews?

Women and their allies across North America marched last Saturday in a massive show of feminist and progressive activism. It was the second annual such event, the first one coming the day after U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration last year.…

Continually coping with our deficits

If you see me in the grocery store and I don’t recognize you, I’m sorry. I sometimes have a hard time remembering names and faces. Why? Well, it turns out that sleep deprivation can affect this kind of memory. Even…

Singing adds to health

photo - Choir director and singer Earle Peach, seated at centre, with members of Highs and Lows Choir

Choir director and singer Earle Peach, seated at centre, with members of Highs and Lows Choir. (photo by Kathleen Yang) For more than 20 years, Highs and Lows Choir has brought music back into the lives of its members. Established…

Mystery photo … Jan. 26/18

photo - The Vancouver Jewish Community Centre doing a children’s baking program, Jan. 18, 1974

The Vancouver Jewish Community Centre doing a children’s baking program, Jan. 18, 1974. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.11635)  If you know someone in this photo, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish Western Bulletin’s)…

The start of an ancient grove?

photo - The date palm Methuselah “is a big boy now”

The date palm Methuselah “is a big boy now.” (photo from Arava Institute) When I contacted Dr. Elaine Solowey, a California-born botanist of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura, for an update on the date palm Methuselah,…

Military clothing seized at Ashdod

photo - Military clothing seized at Ashdod

(photo from Ashernet) Earlier this month, customs officials at the Ashdod port discovered a significant amount of military equipment destined for Gaza. Thousands of items of camouflaged military clothing, including coats, combat vests and boots, were due to be moved…

בויל יופיע בבית המשפט

photo - Joshua Boyle

ג’ושוע בויל (צילום: cbc.ca) הקנדי שהוחזק בשבי באפגניסטן ונעצר על ידי משטרת קנדה בחשד לתקיפה מינית כליאה, ואיומים ברצח יופיע בבית המשפט בסוף החודש ג’ושוע בויל הקנדי שהוחזק בשבי באפגניסטן ופקיסטן במשך כחמש שנים ביחד עם אשתו קייטלן קולמן ושלושת…

Praise for whistleblowers

photo - Alan Le Fevre, president of the Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Society, and Acting Mayor Raymond Louie, right, with the City of Vancouver’s proclamation of Raoul Wallenberg Day

Alan Le Fevre, president of the Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Society, and Acting Mayor Raymond Louie, right, with the City of Vancouver’s proclamation of Raoul Wallenberg Day. (photo by Masumi Kikuchi) “If we had a society that was free from embezzlement,…

Ever-changing job landscape

photo - Prof. Ilana Gershon’s latest book is Down and Out in the New Economy

Prof. Ilana Gershon’s latest book is Down and Out in the New Economy. (photo from Ilana Gershon) An increasing number of people in their 50s and 60s are needing or wanting to find work – and are finding that next…

NCJW pays tribute to Poliakoff

photo - Left to right: former National Council of Jewish Women Vancouver section president Shirley Hyman; Gloria Hendin, tribute committee chair; Barbara Heller, longtime supporter of council; Marion Poliakoff, the guest of honour; Bonnie Gertsman, former Vancouver section president; Anne Melul, former Vancouver section membership chair; and Debby Altow, past president, Vancouver section

Left to right: former National Council of Jewish Women Vancouver section president Shirley Hyman; Gloria Hendin, tribute committee chair; Barbara Heller, longtime supporter of council; Marion Poliakoff, the guest of honour; Bonnie Gertsman, former Vancouver section president; Anne Melul, former…

Life-giving practice

photo - On Feb. 1, Sarah Peyton speaks at Or Shalom on the topic Why Love is Not Enough: Family Heartache and the Path of Repair

On Feb. 1, Sarah Peyton speaks at Or Shalom on the topic Why Love is Not Enough: Family Heartache and the Path of Repair. (photo from Or Shalom) Have you ever longed for someone who would be able to listen…

Hatikvah bursting at seams

photo - Land-based activities at Camp Hatikvah form a large part of the summer experience

Land-based activities at Camp Hatikvah form a large part of the summer experience. (photo from camphatikvah.com) Like most everything, camp enrolment goes in cycles. And, for the past few years, Camp Hatikvah has had a waiting list for its first…

Be an angel in February

photo - Rose’s Angels provides hygiene care packages, nonperishable food items and warmth bundles to 1,000 Richmond individuals in need

Rose’s Angels provides hygiene care packages, nonperishable food items and warmth bundles to 1,000 Richmond individuals in need. (photo by Lianne Cohen Photography) The month of February is special because it’s both Heart Month and the birthday month of Rose…

An education legacy

In October, our community lost one of its most devoted supporters, Leon Glassman, z”l. Leon will be remembered for generations to come for his commitment to Jewish education and its central role in Jewish identity and continuity. Through the Jewish…

Abbas more isolated

photo - U.S. President Donald Trump with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the Presidential Palace, Bethlehem, May 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the Presidential Palace, Bethlehem, May 2017. (photo by the White House) Mahmoud Abbas has had enough. Thirteen years into his four-year term as elected leader of the Palestinian people,…

Pondering a hospitable Zion

photo - Jerusalem

Jerusalem (photo by Andrew Shiva via Wikipedia) Hospitality is culture itself and not simply one ethic amongst others. (Jacques Derrida, On Cosmopolitanism) One of the late French-Jewish philosopher Jacques Derrida’s most famous short works is his On Cosmopolitanism, in which…

Dreidels and drinks fun

photo - Left to right are Jason Murray, Pacific Region LPC, CIJA; Carmel Tanaka, CIJA-Pacific Region; Nico Slobinksy, CIJA-PR; Alexandra Moses, CIJA-PR; Shelley Rivkin, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver; Ezra Shanken, JFGV; and Kara Mintzberg, CJPAC, B.C.

Left to right are Jason Murray, Pacific Region LPC, CIJA; Carmel Tanaka, CIJA-Pacific Region; Nico Slobinksy, CIJA-PR; Alexandra Moses, CIJA-PR; Shelley Rivkin, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver; Ezra Shanken, JFGV; and Kara Mintzberg, CJPAC, B.C. (photo from CIJA and CPJAC)…

Celebrating the lights

photo - Left to right are Rabbi Falik Schtroks, Jason Aginsky, Jessie Miller, Emily Miller and Rebbetizin Simie Schtroks

Left to right are Rabbi Falik Schtroks, Jason Aginsky, Jessie Miller, Emily Miller and Rebbetzin Simie Schtroks. (photo by Naomi Nelson) When Adina Ragetli, age 9, opened the annual public menorah lighting event on Dec. 17 at the Semiahmoo Shopping…

Let’s hear it for camp!

photo - Camp Kalsman

(photo from teenlife.com/summer-program/urj-camp-kalsman) Going to camp was a rite of passage when I was growing up. Everybody went to camp. In my day, it was the B’nai B’rith camp that all Jewish kids went to, in Sandy Hook, past Winnipeg…

אתגרי הביטחון

photo - In light of various security challenges, the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver recently appointed Daniel Heydenrych as its security director

לאור אתגרי הביטחון השונים הג’ואיש פדריישן של אזור מטרו ונקובר מינתה לאחרונה את דניאל היידנריך, לתפקיד מנהל הביטחון של הארגון. (צילום: jewishvancouver.com) אנטישמיות בקנדה: גם בית כנסת בוויקטוריה קיבל מכתב שנאה לרשימת בתי הכנסת ברחבי קנדה שקיבלו מכתבי שנאה מצטרף…

Healing after tragedy

photo - Mishelle Cuttler has the challenge of supervising the musical elements of The Events, which features a different community choir every show

Mishelle Cuttler has the challenge of supervising the musical elements of The Events, which features a different community choir every show. (photo from Pi Theatre) In 2011, while he was out with his son, who was then 12 years old,…

Beit Ruth supports at-risk girls

photo - Beit Ruth Village

Beit Ruth Village (photo by Poole) When boys are hurting, are at-risk or are vulnerable and abused, they act out. They join gangs, skip school and get into fights,” Danielle Burenstein, executive director of Beit Ruth, told the Independent. “But,…

Plan is inhumane

photo - Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu takes off for Kenya on a trip last year

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu takes off for Kenya on a trip last year. (photo by Haim Zach/GPO via Ashernet) Recent years have seen a mass migration of people from Africa and the Middle East, primarily to Europe. Images of rickety…

Perpetrators offers new insights

book cover - Perpetrators: The World of the Holocaust Killers cropped

Who could shoot at close range two million children, women and men who were standing at the sides of graves they had just been forced to dig? And then, when this process proved inefficient, who could herd four million more…