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freelancer

Transforming the landscape

photo - A photograph of Deadvlei in Namibia, by Judi Angel, is part of the exhibit Eye Lines, at Zack Gallery until April 30

A photograph of Deadvlei in Namibia, by Judi Angel, is part of the exhibit Eye Lines, at Zack Gallery until April 30. Five years ago at Zack Gallery, Judi Angel had a solo show of photographs from her time as…

“Tough kid” still shines

photo - Chaim Kornfeld

Chaim Kornfeld (photo by Shula Klinger) In February, the Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation and Louis Brier Home and Hospital honoured Chaim Kornfeld. And they did so in the place he has especially dedicated his time over the last four…

Mosaics change our views

photo - Dr. Ra’anan Boustan of Princeton University delivers the Itta and Eliezer Zeisler Memorial Lecture at the University of British Columbia on March 23

Dr. Ra’anan Boustan of Princeton University delivers the Itta and Eliezer Zeisler Memorial Lecture at the University of British Columbia on March 23. (photo by Gregg Gardner) A mosaic from Late Antiquity has lessons for Jewish communities today. According to…

Overview of the Pale

photo - Jewish Genealogical Society of British Columbia member Danny Gelmon, left, speaks with Hal Bookbinder

Jewish Genealogical Society of British Columbia member Danny Gelmon, left, speaks with Hal Bookbinder. (photo Stephen Falk) Why Did Our Ancestors Leave a Nice Place Like the Pale? That was the title of Hal Bookbinder’s March 14 talk at Temple…

Using film school as therapy

photo - From Ma’aleh School of Television, Film and Art, standing, from left to right, are Asher Lemann, David Cohen, Chanan Ariel, Ofir Shaer, Yosef Baruch Kalangel and Nachum Lemkus. Sitting, from the left, are Keren Hakak, Menachem Assaraf and Shalom Sarel

From Ma’aleh School of Television, Film and Art, standing, from left to right, are Asher Lemann, David Cohen, Chanan Ariel, Ofir Shaer, Yosef Baruch Kalangel and Nachum Lemkus. Sitting, from the left, are Keren Hakak, Menachem Assaraf and Shalom Sarel.…

Bonding over backgammon

photo - Jerusalem Double tournament at Machane Yehuda market, Jerusalem

Jerusalem Double tournament at Machane Yehuda market, Jerusalem. (photo from Jerusalem Double via israel21c.org) On a winter night inside the Mayer Davidov Garage in the Talpiot industrial area of Jerusalem, some 500 university students, mechanics, high-techies and senior citizens –…

Forgetting our fright?

photo - An entire mouse brain viewed from above: neuronal extensions connect the two amygdalas (brightest spots on both sides of the brain) with the prefrontal cortex (top)

An entire mouse brain viewed from above: neuronal extensions connect the two amygdalas (brightest spots on both sides of the brain) with the prefrontal cortex (top). (photo from wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il) Erasing unwanted memories is still the stuff of science fiction, but…

הגבוה ביותר עד כה

image - "Another record campaign" banner from jewishvancouver.com

הפדרציה היהודית של אזור מטרו ונקובר ממשיכה להגדיל את היקף התרומות לקמפיין השנתי שלה, שהוא מקור ההכנסה המרכזי של הארגון ו-35 ארגונים היהודים הקשורים בה. בקמפיין של 2016 היקף התרומות עמד על 8.5 מיליון דולר. אשתקד הפדרציה היהודית גייסה תרומות…

B.C. NDP leader talks with JI

photo - B.C. NDP leader John Horgan

B.C. NDP leader John Horgan (photo from B.C. NDP) Horgan says he likes how British Columbians have come together across racial and religious differences during recent times of strife. In a wide-ranging interview with the Independent, the New Democratic party…

Don’t miss this Parade

photo - Left to right are Kaila Kask (Mary Phagan), Emily Smith, Rachel Garnet and Alina Quarin with Riley Sandbeck (Leo Frank)

Left to right are Kaila Kask (Mary Phagan), Emily Smith, Rachel Garnet and Alina Quarin with Riley Sandbeck (Leo Frank). (photo by Allyson Fournier) On Aug. 17, 1915, 31-year-old Leo Frank was kidnapped from the Georgia State Penitentiary in Milledgeville…

What now, with arrest?

A teenager was arrested last week in relation to the scores of bomb threats against Jewish institutions throughout North America and elsewhere. There was widespread relief over the arrest, on the assumption that most, if not all, of the threats…

Israeli authorities arrest teen

A Jewish teenager with dual Israeli and American citizenship living in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon was arrested March 23 in connection to the more than 100 bomb threats against Jewish community centres and other Jewish institutions across North…

The work is not solely ours

Music is an amazing tool for learning. When I was a kid, I learned a lot of Jewish music. It wasn’t choir music, or strictly for prayer. No, I learned “everything” Jewish through music. I sang parts of Pirkei Avot…

Young Judaea at 100

photo - Canadian Young Judaea’s National Leadership Conference in February, which had participants from Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Halifax

Canadian Young Judaea’s National Leadership Conference in February, which had participants from Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Halifax. (photo from CYJ) Many of Metro Vancouver’s residents are from other parts of Canada. It is no surprise, therefore, that many members of…

No simple dichotomy

photo - Amna Farooqi speaks at Temple Sholom during her March 13-14 visit to Vancouver

Amna Farooqi speaks at Temple Sholom during her March 13-14 visit to Vancouver. (photo by David Berson) Amna Farooqi, a rising peace activist who aims to transcend the division between being pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian, was in Vancouver March 13-14 to…

Anti-Jewish remarks

screenshot - Sheikh Muhammad bin Musa Al Nasr is captured in a YouTube video dated Dec. 23, 2016, addressing a prayer meeting at Dar Al-Arqam in Montreal East

Sheikh Muhammad bin Musa Al Nasr is captured in a YouTube video dated Dec. 23, 2016, addressing a prayer meeting at Dar Al-Arqam in Montreal East. (screenshot from cjnews.com) More videos of anti-Jewish sermons being delivered in mosques in Canada…

Team Israel’s fairytale run

photo - Josh Zeid during the game against Japan

Josh Zeid during the game against Japan. (photo from worldbaseballclassic.com) Team Israel had a great run at the World Baseball Classic tournament. The ballplayers with a David vs. Goliath approach came out swinging hard and stunned the world with four…

Medication alert innovation

photo - The system concept for CuePath’s sensor-monitored blister packaging for dispensing medications

The system concept for CuePath’s sensor-monitored blister packaging for dispensing medications. (photo from CuePath) When blister pack medication dispensing came onto the market years ago, it was hoped that it would solve the issue of people not taking their medication…

Taking on the Regal mantle

photo - Mimi Grad at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver’s pro-shop

Mimi Grad at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver’s pro-shop. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay) As an independent sales ambassador for Regal Home and Gifts Inc., Mimi Grad told the Independent, “I don’t sell anything. I educate people on what…

Pioneering mutism solutions

photo - The Bayit joined forces with Chabad of Richmond in an emoji-themed Purim celebration held at Richmond’s City Centre Community Centre March 12. Pictured here, left to right, are Chabad of Richmond’s Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman, Bayit president Mike Sachs, Yoav Rokach-Penn and the Bayit’s Rabbi Levi Varnai

The Bayit joined forces with Chabad of Richmond in an emoji-themed Purim celebration held at Richmond’s City Centre Community Centre March 12. Pictured here, left to right, are Chabad of Richmond’s Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman, Bayit president Mike Sachs, Yoav Rokach-Penn…

The truest act of kindness

photo - Howard Jampolsky tells the story of how community members came together to support a family after the death of their husband, father

Howard Jampolsky tells the story of how community members came together to support a family after the death of their husband, father. (photo from Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board) Taking care of the deceased is known as a chesed shel emet,…

Teens enjoy N.Y. Shabbaton

photo - CTeen members with Rabbi Chalom Loeub

CTeen members with Rabbi Chalom Loeub. (photo from Chabad of Richmond) Did you know that Richmond Jewish teens have a group of their own? It’s CTeen, which stands for Chabad Teen Network. CTeen Richmond, a program sponsored and hosted by…

Celebrating Canadian teams

photo - In 2012, Avi Dunkelman and his business partner, Joseph Gault, won a five-year contract from Canada Post to create a postage stamp series celebrating 100 years of the National Hockey League

In 2012, Avi Dunkelman and his business partner, Joseph Gault, won a five-year contract from Canada Post to create a postage stamp series celebrating 100 years of the National Hockey League. (image from Avi Dunkelman) It was as if he…

New legion slate, and more

photo - Left to right: John Collier, Ralph Jackson (president), Alan Tapper (first vice-president) and Marc Perl (second vice-president) at Royal Canadian Legion Shalom Branch 178’s January general meeting

Left to right: John Collier, Ralph Jackson (president), Alan Tapper (first vice-president) and Marc Perl (second vice-president) at Royal Canadian Legion Shalom Branch 178’s January general meeting. (photo from the legion) At its general meeting in January, Royal Canadian Legion…

History, literature vital

photo - Rachel Seelig, author of Strangers in Berlin: Modern Jewish Literature Between East and West, 1919-1933

Rachel Seelig, author of Strangers in Berlin: Modern Jewish Literature Between East and West, 1919-1933. (photo by Lauren Kurc) Rachel Seelig’s Strangers in Berlin: Modern Jewish Literature Between East and West, 1919-1933 (University of Michigan Press, 2016) encompasses so many…

Mystery photo … March 31/17

photo - Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, 1950

Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, 1950. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.11154) 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…

Water expertise helps

photo - During an installation of a solar water pumping system at Nyanza Village, Uganda, Innovation: Africa’s engineer and project manager celebrate as clean water flows

During an installation of a solar water pumping system at Nyanza Village, Uganda, Innovation: Africa’s engineer and project manager celebrate as clean water flows. (photo from Innovation: Africa via Israel21c.org) Using ingenuity to overcome its serious water challenges, Israel has…

Working to get to Olympics

photo - Joel Seligstein is one of four Israeli skeleton athletes aiming for the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea

Joel Seligstein is one of four Israeli skeleton athletes aiming for the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. (photo by Erin Murphy) What began as a dream 15 years ago – when David Greaves helped establish an Israeli presence…

Ackerman keeps on winning

photo - Estee Ackerman wins gold at the 2016 Junior Olympics in Houston

Estee Ackerman wins gold at the 2016 Junior Olympics in Houston. (photo from Estee Ackerman) A Jewish Orthodox New Yorker is quickly becoming a legend – and she is not even 15 years old yet. Her name is Estee Ackerman…

Journey of memory and loss

photo - Yuri Dojc and Katya Krausova found classrooms, textbooks, a synagogue, prayer books, clothing and ritual ornaments, all lovingly cared for, undisturbed, unmolested and somehow cherished since the scooping up of three-quarters of the Jews in the towns of Slovakia in 1942

Yuri Dojc and Katya Krausova found classrooms, textbooks, a synagogue, prayer books, clothing and ritual ornaments, all lovingly cared for, undisturbed, unmolested and somehow cherished since the scooping up of three-quarters of the Jews in the towns of Slovakia in…