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freelancer

Willow and her brother

photo - When the breeze from the forest fanned her branches, Willow could almost hear the gossip of the blue jays and the news of her old friends

When the breeze from the forest fanned her branches, Willow could almost hear the gossip of the blue jays and the news of her old friends. (photo by Rob Hanson via Wikimedia Commons) On Tu b’Shevat, when we look down at Mother…

Conner’s brief escape

photo - Ramat Gan Safari Park taking Conner back to the zoo

Ramat Gan Safari Park taking Conner back to the zoo. (photo from Ashernet) Conner, a 17-year-old capuchin monkey from Ramat Gan Safari Park, escaped the park earlier this month and set off on a foray into the outside world. Staff from the zoo…

פשעי שנאה

אלכסנדרה ביסונאט (27) שיועמד לדין על 11 סעיפי אישום בהם שישה מקרי רצח בדרגה ראשונה, וחמישה נסיונות לרצח, הזדהה עם העמדות של מנהיגי הימין ומתנגדי ההגירה המוסלמית. בהם: הפוליטיקאי הלאומני הצרפתי, ז’אן-מארי לה פן (מנהיג מפלגת הימין הרדקלי החזית הלאומית),…

שוז.קום פשטה את הרגל

photo - Shoes.com offices closed in Vancouver on Friday

משרדי שוז.קום הסגורים בוונקובר ביום שישי האחרון (צילם: Roni Rachmani) הקמעונאית למכירת נעליים במסחר האלקטרוני מוונקובר קבוצת שוז.קום טכנולוג’יס אינק, הכריזה ביום שישי האחרון על פשיטת רגל. המשרדים הראשיים של החברה ברחוב אלברני בדאון טאון ונקובר נסגרו ושומר הוצב במקום.…

Help finding a perfect match

photo - The cast of Crossing Delancey, left to right: Jonathan MacDonald (Sam), Nina Tischhauser (Izzy), Joan Koebel (Bubbie), Helen Volkow (Hannah) and Jon MacIntyre (Tyler)

The cast of Crossing Delancey, left to right: Jonathan MacDonald (Sam), Nina Tischhauser (Izzy), Joan Koebel (Bubbie), Helen Volkow (Hannah) and Jon MacIntyre (Tyler). (photo by Tracy-Lynn Chernaske) Many of us are still looking for our bashert, our soul mate,…

Sunsets constantly changing

photo - “April 5, 2006, Reflected Embers: Cerulean, Cadmium Red, Yellow and Orange.” One of the sunsets Jack Rootman captured in oil over the space of a year

“April 5, 2006, Reflected Embers: Cerulean, Cadmium Red, Yellow and Orange.” One of the sunsets Jack Rootman captured in oil over the space of a year. For three decades, Jack Rootman combined two of his passions: medicine and art. Last…

Taking the higher road

screenshot - On President Donald Trump’s inauguration day last Friday, Richard Spencer, an up-and-coming voice of the extreme right-wing in America, was punched in the face by a protester

On President Donald Trump’s inauguration day last Friday, Richard Spencer, an up-and-coming voice of the extreme right-wing in America, was punched in the face by a protester. Spencer is president of the National Policy Institute, a white supremacist organization, and…

The complexities of terrorism

photo - Dr. Tami Jacoby, associate professor at the University of Manitoba, has been studying Middle East politics and international relations for nearly 20 years

Dr. Tami Jacoby, associate professor at the University of Manitoba, has been studying Middle East politics and international relations for nearly 20 years. (photo from Tami Jacoby) Dr. Tami Jacoby, associate professor at the University of Manitoba, has been studying…

Meaning of liberation

The Canadian military helped liberate Bergen-Belsen and other Nazi concentration camps near the end of the Second World War, a fact that was omitted for decades from recorded history. The experiences of Canadian liberators – and the meaning of the…

UN resolution implications

The human consequences of implementing the recent United Nations resolution about Israel would be devastating, say American representatives of Israeli schools, synagogues and other institutions in parts of Jerusalem that Israel captured in 1967. UN Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted…

Inspiring Jewish connection

photo - The recent Toronto Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project group in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem

The recent Toronto Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project group in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. (photo from Nicole Pollak) In its flagship program, Momentum, the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project (JWRP) provides Jewish women and men, typically mothers and fathers,…

Syrians speak in Israel

photo - From left to right, at Hebrew University’s Truman Institute Jan. 17: Issam Zeitoun, Sirwan Kajjo and Ksenia Svetlova

From left to right, at Hebrew University’s Truman Institute Jan. 17: Issam Zeitoun, Sirwan Kajjo and Ksenia Svetlova. (photo by Reuven Remez/Truman Institute) “You are living in a paradise in comparison to the Syrian people. Shame on you. We are…

Congratulating Trump

photo - President Donald Trump gives his inaugural speech Friday

President Donald Trump gives his inaugural speech Friday. (photo from YouTube) Israeli and American-Jewish leaders congratulated President Donald Trump on his swearing-in Friday, Jan. 20, as the new Republican commander-in-chief promised an “America First” agenda in his inaugural speech. “Congrats…

Mystery photo … Jan. 27/17

photo - National Council of Jewish Women, 1955

National Council of Jewish Women, 1955. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.13956) 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…

Opinions from the streets

photo - Corey Gil-Shuster has split his time between Canada and Israel for 28 years now

Corey Gil-Shuster has split his time between Canada and Israel for 28 years now. (photo from Corey Gil-Shuster) Corey Gil-Shuster is an Ottawa-born and -raised Jew who spends a great deal of his time and energy asking people their opinions…

Beautifully produced book

It must have been a prodigious effort by editor Ezra Glinter to look through countless Yiddish Forward microfilms going back more than 100 years and come up with the superb collection of short fiction Have I Got a Story for…

New discoveries at Sobibor

photo - The remains of the Sobibór extermination camp

The remains of the Sobibór extermination camp. (photo from Israel Antiquities Authority via Ashernet) In a recent discovery made at the site of former Nazi extermination camp Sobibór – where more than 250,000 Jews were killed – remains were uncovered in…

Trying to prevent child abuse

photo - The Haruv Children’s Campus at Hebrew University of Jerusalem at Mount Scopus is the first-ever global centre combining research and treatment of child abuse

The Haruv Children’s Campus at Hebrew University of Jerusalem at Mount Scopus is the first-ever global centre combining research and treatment of child abuse. (photo by Dror Sithakol from facebook.com/schustermanfamilyfoundation) The first-ever global centre combining research and treatment of child…

How trees adapt to conditions

screenshot - The Weizmann Tree Lab, left to right: Dr. Tamir Klein, Ido Rog, Yael Wagner, Omri Lapidot and Shacham Magidish

The Weizmann Tree Lab, left to right: Dr. Tamir Klein, Ido Rog, Yael Wagner, Omri Lapidot and Shacham Magidish. (screenshot from wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il) While studying trees during his postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Tamir Klein made such a startling discovery that his research…

Is America part of a divine plan?

book cover cropped - In The American Miracle, Michael Medved argues that the success of the United States is not based on random “happy accidents”

In The American Miracle, Michael Medved argues that the success of the United States is not based on random “happy accidents.” Early America’s historical events could be seen as a set of dominoes falling conveniently into place, creating a thriving…

Only in Israel?

photo - Only in Israel? A leisurely walk through Jerusalem’s Old City will let visitors see many manifestations of political propaganda, packaged in many forms, all sold to the visitor with a smile. Here, a “Free Palestine” T-shirt is offered for sale in the shuk alongside an Israel Defence Forces T-shirt

A leisurely walk through Jerusalem’s Old City will let visitors see many manifestations of political propaganda, packaged in many forms, all sold to the visitor with a smile. Here, a “Free Palestine” T-shirt is offered for sale in the shuk…

הרפר יוצא נגד טראמפ

photo - Women’s March in Vancouver, Jan. 21

מצעד הנשים בוונקובר ,21 בינואר השנה. (צילום: Roni Rachmani) ראש ממשלת קנדה לשעבר, סטיבן הרפר, יוצא במתקפה נגד הנשיא החדש של ארה”ב, דונלד טראמפ. עם זאת הרפר לא מגיב כלל ליחסים ההדוקים בין טראמפ ושר החוץ שלו, לבין רוסיה ומנהיגה…

Need for JFSA services grow

photo - Jewish Family Service Agency chief executive officer Richard Fruchter with Ellen Bick, recognizing the work of JFSA staff at the agency’s Nov. 30 annual general meeting

Jewish Family Service Agency chief executive officer Richard Fruchter with Ellen Bick, recognizing the work of JFSA staff at the agency’s Nov. 30 annual general meeting. (photo from JFSA) Richard Fruchter is the new chief executive officer of the Jewish…

Academics reject boycott

photo - Prof. Cary Nelson, an opponent of the academic boycott of Israel, teaches at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Prof. Cary Nelson, an opponent of the academic boycott of Israel, teaches at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (photo from cjnews.com) Opponents of an academic boycott of Israel scored back-to-back victories at a conference of the Modern Language Association…

Not on the guest list

Over the weekend, representatives of 70 countries and international organizations gathered in Paris to discuss peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Absent were Israelis and Palestinians. A final statement adopted by participants innocuously promised “to support both sides in advancing…

Jewish ethics and surrogacy

photo - Spikebrennan via Wikimedia Commons

(Spikebrennan via Wikimedia Commons) The subject of surrogacy has been examined by Jewish scholars, mainly rabbis, for thousands of years. The Jewish belief system of ethical values incorporates two independent and seemingly disparate thoughts. The first is the obligation to…

Developer of multiple apps

photo - Israeli app developer Uri Levine

Israeli app developer Uri Levine. (photo from Uri Levine) This could be the year you start saving all kinds of money and time from using apps, and you may have Israeli Uri Levine to thank for it. Levine, a computer…

Uncle’s letters reveal much

photo - Left to right, Harry, Joseph, Benjamin and Rachel Seidelman, in approximately 1906

Left to right, Harry, Joseph, Benjamin and Rachel Seidelman, in approximately 1906. (photo from JMABC L.25670) The following is an edited version of remarks presented at the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia (JMABC) Intersections speakers series on Dec.…

Saying goodbye to a dear friend

photo - Jenny and Zvika, 2002

Jenny and Zvika, 2002. (photo from Jenny Wright) I am at Vancouver International Airport and U.S. Customs hands me a card asking the purpose of my visit to the United States. Is it business, pleasure, study? “None of the above,”…

Challenging an established idea

image - from wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il

(image from wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il) The formation of the moon has remained something of a puzzle. A leading theory proposes a cataclysmic impact involving a Mars-sized object and a young earth. But there are some inconsistencies with this scenario. A new study…