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B.C. Achievement honor for Krell

photo - Dr. Robert Krell with the Hon. Coralee Oakes (left), minister of community, sport and cultural development, and the Hon. Judith Guichon, OBC, lieutenant governor of British Columbia

Dr. Robert Krell with the Hon. Coralee Oakes (left), minister of community, sport and cultural development, and the Hon. Judith Guichon, OBC, lieutenant governor of British Columbia. (photo from B.C. Achievement Foundation) On April 24, 2015, Dr. Robert Krell was among…

Funds raised for Nepal

photo - Left to right, back row: Mark Suzuki, Ai Nakano, Marie Doduck, Eppy Rappaport, Ruth Erlichman, Elena Steele and a representative from the Nepalese community. Front row: Casey Suzuki, Dickson Tsang and Andy Sui

Left to right, back row: Mark Suzuki, Ai Nakano, Marie Doduck, Eppy Rappaport, Ruth Erlichman, Elena Steele and a representative from the Nepalese community. Front row: Casey Suzuki, Dickson Tsang and Andy Sui. (photo by Belinda Co) On the evening…

Young talent gives all

Growing up going to Hebrew school at a Conservative synagogue in Vancouver’s North Shore was a good start for Leo Robinovitch. While Congregation Har El initiated his exploration into his Jewish identity and connection to Israel, it was a year…

New Loran Scholars

The Loran Scholars Foundation has selected a new class of Loran Scholars. Each of the 30 scholars receives a Loran Award valued at up to $100,000 over four years, including mentorship and a summer program. Loran Scholars may attend one…

Grant-winning video

Screenshot - Erin Goldberg’s winning entry to the NSERC competition.

A screenshot from Erin Goldberg’s winning entry to the NSERC competition. The public has voted, the judges’ scores have been tallied and the results are in. The 15 winners of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s Science, Action!…

Gazan women in business

  In the traditionally conservative Palestinian society of the densely populated Gaza Strip, women do not have many opportunities for entrepreneurship. Women usually marry young and raise large families. Yet, a small number of women in Gaza are opening their…

Early detection is key

photo - Left to right: Dr. Alon Friedman, Jayson Dzikowicz, Dr. Michael Ellis and Benedict Albensi

Left to right: Dr. Alon Friedman, Jayson Dzikowicz, Dr. Michael Ellis and Benedict Albensi. (photo by Rebeca Kuropatwa) It has been known for years that there is a connection between brain injuries and diseases like Alzheimer’s, autisms and epilepsy, but…

Israelis flipping for acro-yoga

photo - Jerusalem-based instructor Ayo Oppenheimer bases student Rabbi Rachel Kobrin in her first acro-yoga flight

Jerusalem-based instructor Ayo Oppenheimer bases student Rabbi Rachel Kobrin in her first acro-yoga flight. (photo by Daniel Cuevas) As I walk through Tel Aviv’s HaYarkon Park on a gorgeous day, I watch people enjoy nice, normal activities like soccer, running,…

Fueling your workout

With the arrival of warm weather, many Canadians take their workout outside. Whether you’re a recreational runner or an Ironman competitor, nutrition plays a vital role in your performance. Five-time Olympian Hayley Wickenheiser has said, “Good nutrition accounts for 50%…

Rights and security

When we see online memes saying that a Canadian is more likely to die from an interaction with a moose than a terrorist, we can justifiably relax and even admire the characteristics of a country where a gangly antlered mammal…

Committed to translating Israel

What someone writes clearly says a lot about a person. And so do the books one chooses to translate. For Israeli books that make it abroad to an English-speaking audience, an important and sometimes overlooked subset of Israeli literary society…

Mystery photo … May 29/15

photo - Group of B’nai B’rith men, circa 1950

Group of B’nai B’rith men, circa 1950. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.12152) 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 of B.C.…

Good for Jews not good read

Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen came under a barrage of criticism in 2006 for writing that Israel was a mistake. Almost a decade after the controversy, he has come back with Israel: Is It Good for the Jews? (Simon &…

Soft side of the law

If you’re a member of any law enforcement effort in North America these days you’re not exactly living the dream when it comes to respect. Stories of corruption and abuse have littered the news the past couple of years with…

אפליקציה סלולרית ברכבים

screenshot - Mobile application in vehicles: insurance company Desjardins offers drivers a 25 percent discount policy if they use Ajusto

אפליקציה סלולרית ברכבים: חברת הביטוח דז’רדינס מציעה לעקוב אחרי הנהגים תמורת עשרים וחמישה אחוז הנחה בפוליסה לקוחות של חברת הביטוח המקומית דז’רדינס שיסכימו לתת לה אור ירוק לעקוב אחר נהיגתם, יקבלו בתמורה הנחה משמעותית בפוליסת הביטוח, בשיעור של עד עשרים…

Canada is not referee: Baird

Canada is not a referee in the game of geopolitics, said John Baird, Canada’s former foreign minister, it’s a player. Baird, who will be honored at the Jewish National Fund’s Negev Dinner in Vancouver on June 7, spoke of his…

Exhibit’s familiar face

photo - This photo is among the images in The Face of the Ghetto: Pictures Taken by Jewish Photographers in the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, 1940-1944, produced by the Topography of Terror Foundation, Berlin. The bride on the right is Bronia Sonnenschein; beside her is her groom Erich Strauss. The second bride is Mary Schifflinger with husband Ignatz Yelin. Blessing the couples is Chaim Rumkowski, head of Lodz Ghetto’s Jewish council. Only Sonnenschein survived the Holocaust. She passed away in Vancouver in 2011

This photo is among the images in The Face of the Ghetto: Pictures Taken by Jewish Photographers in the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, 1940-1944, produced by the Topography of Terror Foundation, Berlin. The bride on the right is Bronia Sonnenschein; beside her…

Bad journalists, very bad!

Rolling Stone magazine recently completely retracted a story purporting to delve into an incident of gang-rape on the campus of the University of Virginia. The story was so devoid of basic journalistic processes and fact-checking that it is destined to…

Consider the maps we use

I always enjoy seeing my kids bring home assignments from Hebrew school, and last week was no exception. On a map of Israel were labeled five major cities whose names the students had to write in Hebrew. For my part,…

Baking from the soul

photo - Marat Dreyshner in action

Marat Dreyshner in action. (photos from Ella Dreyshner) I can tell it’s going to be delicious even before I’ve taken a bite. I’m sitting in the Richmond home of Marat and Ella Dreyshner, owners of iKosherbake. I’m holding a slice…

Aleph is in full swing

photo - Aleph in the Tri-Cities Society donated more than 150 boxes of organic foodstuffs to the Jewish Food Bank last week

Aleph in the Tri-Cities Society donated more than 150 boxes of organic foodstuffs to the Jewish Food Bank last week. (photo from Aleph in the Tri-Cities Society) Aleph in the Tri-Cities Society / Israeli Canadian Culture Club donated more than…

IDF veterans visit Vancouver

photo - The eight visiting Israel Defence Forces veterans at Stanley Park

The eight visiting Israel Defence Forces veterans at Stanley Park. (photo by David Schwartz) Eight Israel Defence Forces war veterans, all of them part of the rehabilitation program at Beit Halochem, visited Vancouver earlier this month for eight days. They…

Acquitting Abraham

photo - On April 26, Congregation Har El put the patriarch Abraham on trial for attempted murder, assault and unlawful confinement

On April 26, Congregation Har El put the patriarch Abraham on trial for attempted murder, assault and unlawful confinement. (photo from Har El) Har El Synagogue on the North Shore was turned into a court of law on Sunday, April…

Combating antisemitism

photo - Tim Uppal, minister of state for multiculturalism, at the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism

Tim Uppal, minister of state for multiculturalism, at the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism. (photo from cic.gc.ca) Canada’s position as a world leader in the global fight against antisemitism was reinforced last week at an international forum that saw experts…

ISIS destroys cultures, history

photo - In July 2014, ISIS destroyed the Tomb of Jonah, the biblical prophet revered in Judaism and Islam, which was in the Iraqi city of Mosul

In July 2014, ISIS destroyed the Tomb of Jonah, the biblical prophet revered in Judaism and Islam, which was in the Iraqi city of Mosul. (photo from news-centre.uwinnipeg.ca) The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is disconnecting the present…

Vegan food from Silk Road

Silk Road Vegetarian: Vegan, Vegetarian and Gluten Free Recipes from the Mindful Cook by Dahlia Abraham-Klein (Tuttle Publishing Co., 2014) contains 121 recipes in eight chapters, several of which would be ideal for Shavuot. Although Abraham-Klein grew up in New…

Torah, grain … a lady

As a famous Jewish comedian used to kvetch, “I don’t get no respect.” I feel we treat Shavuos similarly. In Temple days, how would you compare the Holy of Holies to a Jerusalem tavern down the street? Silly question, yes?…

משחק חדש “ומהנה” מגיע לשכונה

משחק חדש “ומהנה” מגיע לשכונה: בני נוער נעלמים ל-72 שעות מבלי לידע את ההורים משטרת ונקובר מזהירה בימים האחרונים את ההורים בעיר ממשחק חדש ומסוכן של בני נוער, שנקרא “משחק של 72”. כללי המשחק פשוטים ביותר: הצעירים נעלמים מבתיהם למשך…