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Karasick gives to SFU library

photo - Adeena Karasick has donated her archive to the Collection of Contemporary Literature at Simon Fraser University’s Bennett Library

Adeena Karasick has donated her archive to the Collection of Contemporary Literature at Simon Fraser University’s Bennett Library. (photo from Adeena Karasick) Critically acclaimed poet and Vancouver native Adeena Karasick was in her hometown last month to celebrate the donation…

Family History series launch

photo - Don’t Break the Chain is the first publication of what the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia hopes will become a Family History series

Don’t Break the Chain is the first publication of what the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia hopes will become a Family History series. The Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia has released the first book in what…

An opportunity lost

Mykhailo Chomiak edited a Ukrainian-language Nazi newspaper in occupied Poland. It happens that Chomiak was the maternal grandfather of Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s foreign minister. This fact is a matter of historical record, but apparently Russian operatives were shopping the story…

Community security update

The following joint statements were issued by the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. They can be read in full at jewishvancouver.com, where readers can also find out more about the community’s security…

More crucial issues at hand

Islamophobia and antisemitism have again reared their ugly heads this year, including with mosque burnings and desecrations of Jewish cemeteries in the United States. In response to the attacks on the St. Louis cemetery, Muslim-American activist Linda Sarsour helped launch…

Bill S-201 passes 220 to 60

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) lauded the House of Commons’ March 8 passage of a private member’s bill to prevent genetic discrimination, which survived a last-minute push by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to oppose it on jurisdictional…

Sadikov resigns SSMU post

Igor Sadikov, the McGill University student under fire for his “punch a Zionist today” tweet more than a month ago, resigned his remaining student government post, thereby preempting a vote by his peers on his removal. On March 8, Sadikov…

Medical help in dying

In June 2016, it became legal in Canada for a doctor or nurse practitioner to assist someone with their death, as long as they meet certain criteria under the law. “We’ve been providing this service here ever since,” said Dr.…

Anti-BDS legislation

Israel’s Knesset last week passed legislation against the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, representing just one of several setbacks this month for BDS around the world. The Israeli bill, which passed its third and final reading with a 46-28…

Adding meaning to life

When a group of eight couples in their 40s and 50s meet once a month to discuss different Jewish topics with Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman, co-director of Chabad of Richmond, no subject is off limits. The program is called Toward a…

Come celebrate our history

photo - Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia archivist Alysa Routtenberg holds a minute book from Victoria’s Congregation Emanu-El, circa 1920

Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia archivist Alysa Routtenberg holds a minute book from Victoria’s Congregation Emanu-El, circa 1920. (photo from Alysa Routtenberg) The documents and artifacts collected, processed and housed by the Jewish Museum and Archives of British…

Adding jazz to people’s lives

photo - Although he plays several instruments, the trumpet remains Gabriel Mark Hasselbach’s first love and his first choice

Although he plays several instruments, the trumpet remains Gabriel Mark Hasselbach’s first love and his first choice. (photo from Gabriel Mark Hasselbach) Music is a dazzling mistress. Once Gabriel Mark Hasselbach fell in love with it, he could never let…

Hear My Music premières

photo - At the première of Hear My Music at Labia Theatre in Cape Town on Feb. 15, are, left to right, Ntandazo (Didi) Gcingca, associate producer, and Dizu Plaatjies, the documentary’s subject, with Wendy Bross Stuart and Ron Stuart of WRS Productions

At the première of Hear My Music at Labia Theatre in Cape Town on Feb. 15, are, left to right, Ntandazo (Didi) Gcingca, associate producer, and Dizu Plaatjies, the documentary’s subject, with Wendy Bross Stuart and Ron Stuart of WRS…

Fundraising with food

photo - Israeli business owner and chef Yair Yosefi helped spearhead a fundraiser for Syrian refugees

Israeli business owner and chef Yair Yosefi helped spearhead a fundraiser for Syrian refugees. (photo from Yair Yosefi) A Tel Aviv restaurateur and bar owner wanted to do something about the dire situation of Syrian refugees, so he turned to…

מאה אלף דולר להגברת הביטחון

photo - Threats to the JCC of Vancouver: the provincial government has given $100,000 to increase security

איומים על הג’י.סי.סי של ונקובר: ממשלת המחוז תעניק מאה אלף דולר להגברת הביטחון. (צילום: Cynthia Ramsay) הג’י.סי.סי של ונקובר מצטרף לרשימה ארוכה של למעלה מ-140 מרכזים ומוסדות יהודיים בצפון אמריקה, הנתונים לגל אנטישמיות חדש בחודשים האחרונים, ומקבלים איומים שונים בהם…

Return of looted art

photo - “Young Man as Bacchus” by Jan Franse Verzijl was among about 400 works owned by Max Stern that were forcibly sold by the Nazis in the 1930s

“Young Man as Bacchus” by Jan Franse Verzijl was among about 400 works owned by Max Stern that were forcibly sold by the Nazis in the 1930s. (photo from Max and Iris Stern Foundation) When the painting “Young Man as…

Creating dialogue, friends

photo - The Peace Factory founders Joana Osman and Ronny Edry spoke at the University of British Columbia on Feb. 6

The Peace Factory founders Joana Osman and Ronny Edry spoke at the University of British Columbia on Feb. 6. (photo by Zach Sagorin) “Israel loves Iran,” “Palestine loves Israel,” “Israel loves Palestine,” “Iran loves Israel & Palestine.” The Peace Factory…

Topham appeal denied

The appeal of Arthur Topham, convicted of promoting hatred against Jewish people in November 2015, was rejected last month by the B.C. Supreme Court. On his website, radicalpress.com, Topham wrote that Jews should be forcibly sterilized. He described Canada as…

Or Shalom cemetery

Vancouver City Council has voted in favour of an agreement giving Congregation Or Shalom the right to develop a section of Mountain View Cemetery for use by the synagogue’s members. This follows three-and-a-half years of discussion and negotiations with the…

Hard to find humour

Purim is a time of deception and inebriation. The story we commemorate in the reading of the Megillah is one of hidden identities and near catastrophe. As is often humorously pointed out, the Purim story ends as most Jewish holidays…

How best to treat addiction

photo - The Feb. 22 panel discussion at Congregation Schara Tzedeck featured, left to right, moderator Dr. Auby Axler and panelists Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt, Dr. Jenny Melamed, David Berner and Rebecca Denham

The Feb. 22 panel discussion at Congregation Schara Tzedeck featured, left to right, moderator Dr. Auby Axler and panelists Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt, Dr. Jenny Melamed, David Berner and Rebecca Denham. (photo by Zach Sagorin) Approximately 5,000 Jews in the local…

Treating intergenerational trauma

photo - Left to right: Nina Krieger (Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre), speaker Mark Wolynn, Richard Fruchter (Jewish Family Service Agency), Nicky Fried (Congregation Beth Israel) and Shanie Levin (Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver)

Left to right: Nina Krieger (Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre), speaker Mark Wolynn, Richard Fruchter (Jewish Family Service Agency), Nicky Fried (Congregation Beth Israel) and Shanie Levin (Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver). (photo by Rhonda Dent Photography) On Feb. 15,…

Building a dream on Main

photo - Among the offerings at Olive+Wild are mezuzot

Among the offerings at Olive+Wild are mezuzot, textiles and fragrances. (photos from oliveandwild.com) Judaica. Most of us have some in our homes. A mezuzah, Shabbat candlesticks, a seder plate, a menorah. As much as synagogues are a crucial part of…

Queen Esther in Vancouver

photo - Goldie Kassen at Louis Brier Home and Hospital’s Purim party last year

Goldie Kassen at Louis Brier Home and Hospital’s Purim party last year. (photo from Barbara Taranto) There are not many news stories in print or online that laud the everyday work of women. Occasionally, studies are published regarding the status…

Korts fund education

photo - Sol and Shirley Kort

Sol and Shirley Kort (photo from Alisa Kort) Catherine Stoller, president of the Vancouver section of the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, announces the Shirley and Sol Kort Family Award to HIPPY, which will enable HIPPY home visitors…

IDF orphans tree plant

photo - Orphans from the IDF Widows and Orphans organization plant olive trees in the Givat Koah forest along with Tami Shelach, IDFWO chair, herself an IDF widow

Orphans from the IDF Widows and Orphans organization plant olive trees in the Givat Koah forest along with Tami Shelach, IDFWO chair, herself an IDF widow. (photo from IMP Group Ltd.) Eleven-year-old Maya Keidar lost her father, Lt.-Col. Dolev Keidar,…

Making Israeli cities bloom

photo - Planting trees as a community project in Jerusalem

Planting trees as a community project in Jerusalem. (photo by Ariella Tzuvical) Are Israeli city-dwellers still attached to the land? The answer is yes, but the connection to the land plays itself out in a surprising way. By and large,…

High-tech, fashionable art

photo - Fashion designer Noa Raviv

Fashion designer Noa Raviv (photo by Ryan Duffin) Avant-garde fashion designer Noa Raviv says her award-winning fashions were triggered by her interest in the power of mistakes. Born in Tel Aviv in 1987, Raviv is currently developing her couture brand in New…