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Courage’s two records

photo - Lorne Segal, chair, Courage to Come Back Awards

Lorne Segal, chair, Courage to Come Back Awards. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay) In its chai year, the Courage to Come Back Awards had a record night on May 5 at the Vancouver Convention Centre, with more than 1,500 guests and…

Home for our war veterans

photo - Shalom Branch 178 began as Fairview Branch 178 in 1945

Shalom Branch 178 began as Fairview Branch 178 in 1945. (photo by Shula Klinger) As the Second World War was drawing to a close, servicemen and -women began returning to Vancouver. Among them were Jewish veterans. As they looked for ways…

A people or a religion?

Ludicrous as it may sound, it is difficult for some people to understand what Jews are. To be Jewish is to be part of a peoplehood. To adhere to Judaism means one practises the religion of the Jewish people. Yet…

Why should we volunteer?

Why do we volunteer? As a volunteer myself, I never gave this topic much thought until the editorial committee of Senior Line determined to feature volunteering in an upcoming edition. A volunteer is someone who offers their service of their…

Jewish-Muslim unity efforts

photo - On March 13, members of Calgary’s Muslim community visited Congregation Beth Tzedec. Jewish community members had visited Green Dome Mosque the week prior. The events were part of the Our House is Your House program

On March 13, members of Calgary’s Muslim community visited Congregation Beth Tzedec. Jewish community members had visited Green Dome Mosque the week prior. The events were part of the Our House is Your House program. (photo from Shaul Osadchey) After…

Caring for people at life’s end

photo - Henry Fersko-Weiss, president of the International End of Life Doula Association

Henry Fersko-Weiss, president of the International End of Life Doula Association. (photo from Henry Fersko-Weiss) Doulas offer support to expectant mothers, guiding women and their partners through the childbirth process and into their first steps of parenthood. Now, a similar concept…

Changes at Shin Bet

photo - Nadav Argaman, left, is congratulated by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s Office on May 8, as he takes over as head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service. In the centre is outgoing head Yoram Cohen, who had led the security service since 2011. Argaman became deputy head of the service in 2011. Prior to that, he was the chief of operations from 2003 to 2007 and, from 2007 to 2011, he was Shin Bet’s representative in the United States

Nadav Argaman, left, is congratulated by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s Office on May 8, as he takes over as head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service. In the centre is outgoing head Yoram Cohen, who had…

Maccabi sports camp

photo - The Maccabi Sports Experience at Ontario’s Camp Northland offers a traditional overnight camp with outdoor activities, blended with multi-sports instruction

The Maccabi Sports Experience at Ontario’s Camp Northland offers a traditional overnight camp with outdoor activities, blended with multi-sports instruction. (photo from Maccabi Canada) Maccabi Canada and Camp Northland have partnered to create a unique program for children wanting to…

המציאות הקשה של פורט מקמורי

photo - The huge cost of the fire damage to Fort McMurray is estimated at $9 billion

עלות נזקי השריפה הענקית בפורט מקמורי מוערכת כבר בתשעה מיליארד דולר. (צילום: YouTube) העלות הגבוהה של נזקי השריפה הענקית שהפכה את פורט מקמורי לעיר רפאים, מוערכת כבר בתשעה מיליארד דולר. אין ספק שמדובר באסון הגדול ביותר בתולדות קנדה. נזקים גדולים…

Prize winners tour Canada

photo - Filmmakers Aleeza Chanowitz, above, and Prague Benbenisty will be in Vancouver for the Sir Jack Lyons Charitable Trust Film Prize and to help the Jerusalem Foundation celebrate its 50th anniversary

Filmmakers Aleeza Chanowitz, above, and Prague Benbenisty will be in Vancouver for the Sir Jack Lyons Charitable Trust Film Prize and to help the Jerusalem Foundation celebrate its 50th anniversary. (photo from Vancouver Jewish Film Centre) Two up-and-coming Israeli filmmakers…

Helping those at risk

photo - Shai Lazer, chief executive officer of Youth Futures, an organization that aids Israel’s at-risk youth

Shai Lazer, chief executive officer of Youth Futures, an organization that aids Israel’s at-risk youth. (photo from Shai Lazer) Earlier this year, Shai Lazer, chief executive officer of Youth Futures – a program supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater…

Making your own cheeses

photo - Once a full-time organic farmer, David Asher offers workshops through his Black Sheep School of Cheesemaking. He has also recently published his own book, The Art of Natural Cheesemaking

Once a full-time organic farmer, David Asher offers workshops through his Black Sheep School of Cheesemaking. He has also recently published his own book, The Art of Natural Cheesemaking. (photo by Kelly Brown) Have you ever wanted your own cheese…

EcoPeace crosses borders

photo - EcoPeace Middle East is an Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian organization dedicated to environmental peace building, primarily through water diplomacy

EcoPeace Middle East is an Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian organization dedicated to environmental peace building, primarily through water diplomacy. (photo from EcoPeace Middle East) EcoPeace was created by Gidon Bromberg some 22 years ago after he made the connection between ecology and the…

A future he never imagined

photo - Sam Rozencwajg

Sam Rozencwajg (photo by Drew Tapley) Last year marked the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. In a decade from now, there will be virtually no one alive with a living memory of this time in…

A London lesson

Britain’s Labor Party is going through a crisis as successive low-level and, more recently, senior members of the party express antisemitic attitudes. Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London and a Laborite familiarly known as “Red Ken,” told television audiences…

Talking about Israel as a family

Sixty-eight years ago, when Israel was born and became the state of the Jewish people, a family was created. As with any other family that has a complex history, there is love and arguing, support and fallings out in the…

Increasing organ donations

Leading up to the provincial election in Manitoba in April, activists, family members of organ recipients and those waiting for organs pushed the topic of organ donation as an election issue. They reached out to many prominent people to help…

A complex cultural mosaic

Think you know everything about Israel? Looking for an extraordinarily special book to give to someone who has been to Israel or is interested in the unusual aspects of the country that rarely, if ever, get press coverage? The answer…

The story of Miriam Peretz

Those of us who live and work in Israel as journalists and book reviewers for international publications often have to wait until an Israeli bestseller is translated from Hebrew into English. I, for one, am very excited when this occurs,…

Anti-tunnel technology

screenshot - IDF Twitter page via israel21c.org

(screenshot of IDF Twitter page via israel21c.org) Smugglers of drugs and illegal migrants using tunnels along the U.S.-Mexico border may want to keep an eye on Israel. The American government, after all, is co-sponsoring the tunnel-detection technology now being developed…

Jewish dating app fills gap

screenshot - Shapira began piloting JFiix in Israel a couple of years ago and it was launched recently in the United States and Canada with an English version

Shapira began piloting JFiix in Israel a couple of years ago and it was launched recently in the United States and Canada with an English version. (screenshot) In 1996, at a time when not everyone had a home computer, Joe…

Israel’s decade of austerity

photo - Israeli ration cards, which were distributed to all citizens, had to be presented at the neighborhood grocery to which a person was registered

Israeli ration cards, which were distributed to all citizens, had to be presented at the neighborhood grocery to which a person was registered. (photo from National Library of Israel) If Rip Van Winkle – or his Jewish equivalent, Honi the…

Between city walls

photo - Slackliner Heather Larson at the Tower of David on May 2

Slackliner Heather Larson in action. (photo from Ashernet) On May 2, slackliner Heather Larson, from Denver, Colo., traveled the 35-metre distance between city walls at the Tower of David. Wearing a harness attached to the line, in case she fell,…

כרטיסים בודדים נשארו

photo - Achinoam Nini

אחינועם ניני (צילום: jewishvancouver.com/yh2016) אחינועם ניני בוונקובר: כרטיסים בודדים נשארו למופע של יום העצמאות שיערך ביום רביעי הבא מרבית חברי הקהילה היהודית של אזור מטרו ונקובר עומדים מאחורי החלטת הפדרציה היהודית של אזור ונקובר, להביא את הזמרת הישראלית אחינועם ניני…

רובים ללא שושנים בוונקובר

photo - A large force of police in Vancouver on Sunday night arrested two suspects who were in possession of five guns

כוח גדול של משטרת ונקובר עצר ביום ראשון בלילה שני חשודים שבידם נמצאו חמישה רובים. (צילום: Roni Rachmani) רובים ללא שושנים בוונקובר: המשטרה עצרה שני חשודים שבידם נמצאו חמישה רובים כוח גדול של משטרת ונקובר עצר ביום ראשון בלילה שני…

The resilience of survivors

photo - Peter Suedfeld and his mother. Taken at Vajdahunyad Castle, Budapest, Hungary, circa 1939/40

Peter Suedfeld and his mother. Taken at Vajdahunyad Castle, Budapest, Hungary, circa 1939 (photo from Peter Suedfeld) Dr. Peter Suedfeld has devoted his life to the study of how human beings adapt to and cope with challenge, stress and danger.…

Comic book radio show

photo - The Intergalactic Nemesis: Target Earth comes to York Theatre April 30 and May 1

The Intergalactic Nemesis: Target Earth comes to York Theatre April 30 and May 1. (photo from Jason Neulander) The story takes place in 1933. And, were it not the full-color cartoon panels being projected onto a large screen, you might…

A continuing pursuit of justice

photo -Irwin Cotler told those at the launch of the Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy’s Pursuing Justice Project on March 31 that his current focus is the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights in Montreal

Irwin Cotler told those at the launch of the Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy’s Pursuing Justice Project on March 31 that his current focus is the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights in Montreal. (photo by Dave Gordon) Irwin Cotler…

Lifting up women’s voices

photo - Left to right: Dana Chappellaz, Susan Weidman Schneider and Yelena Maleyev

Left to right: Dana Chappellaz, Susan Weidman Schneider and Yelena Maleyev. (photo by Shayla Fink) The first-ever Winnipeg Jewish Women’s Symposium was held at Rady Jewish Community Centre on April 9 and 10, bringing together women of all ages to…