freelancer

freelancer

The community paper – on the occasion of the JI’s 85th

image - scan from paper The community has always enjoyed a good contest, JWB, December 1948

The community has always enjoyed a good contest, JWB, December 1948. Paging through 85 years of this newspaper reveals a stunning consistency of recurring phenomena, repetitious concerns, familiar family names, perpetually unresolved issues across decades and a solid tradition of community-building…

Try to make a visit to Heights

photo - Luc Roderique as Usnavi and Sharon Crandall as Abuela Claudia in Arts Club’s In the Heights

Luc Roderique as Usnavi and Sharon Crandall as Abuela Claudia in Arts Club’s In the Heights. (photo by David Cooper) Even before the musical starts, the set draws you in. Then the music, the lighting, the actors, the choreography. It’s…

What’s wrong with gossip?

photo - Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield at Limmud Winnipeg

Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield at Limmud Winnipeg. (photo by Rebeca Kuropatwa) It was a packed room at the Gray Academy of Jewish Education during Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield’s session on gossip at Winnipeg’s Limmud festival in March. Some 80 attendees listened as…

The anniversary of liberation

photo - Bergen-Belsen memorial, This photo appeared in the Jewish Western Bulletin, 1946

This photo and caption appeared in the Jewish Western Bulletin, Aug. 23, 1946. May 5, 1945, is firmly etched in my “child’s” mind for that was the day of my family’s liberation or, more accurately, what remained of my family.…

JDC delivers aid, relief

photo - Israel is contributing to efforts to aid and assist the Nepalese government to reach, rescue and treat injured victims of the recent earthquake. The IDF has set up a comprehensive field hospital and also has flown out emergency rations and tents. (photos by IDF via Ashernet)

Israel is contributing to efforts to aid and assist the Nepalese government to reach, rescue and treat injured victims of the recent earthquake. The IDF has set up a comprehensive field hospital and also has flown out emergency rations and…

Record for campaign

The 2014 Jewish Federation annual campaign has closed with a record achievement of $8 million, which is an increase of $290,000 from last year. Funds will support critical programs and services on which thousands of community members rely. Harvey Dales,…

A universalist tikkun olam

image - scan Growing up, the writer was involved in community campaigns to help free Soviet and other Jews suffering state-sponsored, organized persecution. These campaigns were international and Vancouver youth also participated in them. Here are but two of the many items in the JWB about these causes: top one is from 1982.

Growing up, the writer was involved in community campaigns to help free Soviet and other Jews suffering state-sponsored, organized persecution. These campaigns were international and Vancouver youth also participated in them. Here are but two of the many items in…

בלקברי עושה עלייה מובטחת

photo - BlackBerry practice has acquired Israeli startup and Watchdox

בפועל בלקברי רכשה את חברת הסטארט-אפ הישראלית וואצ’דוג. (צילום: Kārlis Dambrāns via wikimedia.org) בלקברי עושה עלייה מובטחת: תיפתח לראשונה מרכז פיתוח בישראל חברת הסמרטפונס הקנדית בלקברי (שהמטה שלה נמצא בווטרלו אונטריו) תיפתח לראשונה מרכז פיתוח בישראל. המרכז בפתח תקווה ויועסקו…

Dancing Arabs screens

photo - Eran Riklis, director of Dancing Arabs

Eran Riklis, director of Dancing Arabs. (photo from Mongrel Media) Dancing Arabs, which was part of the most recent Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, has its general release on May 15. A multilayered coming-of-age story, the screenplay is by Sayed Kashua,…

Nourishing the whole child

photo - Dr. Adele Diamond, left, with Dr. Rania Okby at a talk Okby gave at a Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University-hosted event at the University of British Columbia

Dr. Adele Diamond, left, with Dr. Rania Okby at a Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University-hosted event at the University of British Columbia, in which Okby discussed some of the health challenges facing the Bedouin in Israel. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)…

Torah writing unifies

photo - Torah scribe Rabbi Moshe Druin writes one of the scroll’s final letters with the help of a Temple Sholom family, who won the honor by lottery with five others. Rabbi Dan Moskovitz uses his cellphone to allow the rest of the congregation to witness the writing

Torah scribe Rabbi Moshe Druin writes one of the scroll’s final letters with the help of a Temple Sholom family, who won the honor by lottery with five others. Rabbi Dan Moskovitz uses his cellphone to allow the rest of…

New life for cemetery

photo - Fifth- and sixth-generation descendants prepare to enter the gates of the newly restored Jewish Cemetery at Mountain View

Fifth- and sixth-generation descendants prepare to enter the gates of the newly restored Jewish Cemetery at Mountain View. (photo by Robert Albanese Photography) Several generations of Jewish life in Vancouver were represented Sunday afternoon at the rededication of the Jewish…

Hebrew U marking 90 years

photo - Duvdevan elite unit veterans who visited Vancouver on the weekend are, left to right, Gilad Waldman, Daniel Kolver, noted singer and actor Tzahi Halevi, who sang at the event, Ariel Rubin and Boaz Faschler

Duvdevan elite unit veterans who visited Vancouver on the weekend are, left to right, Gilad Waldman, Daniel Kolver, noted singer and actor Tzahi Halevi, who sang at the event, Ariel Rubin and Boaz Faschler. (photo by Robert Albanese Photography) The…

Caring for Bedouins’ health

Dr. Rania Okby was in Vancouver last week, speaking to several groups, including students at King David High School. On May 1, she addressed a small gathering at the University of British Columbia. Fittingly, this latter talk was held in…

Sharing business vision

photo - Innovators Lunch speaker Brian Scudamore with Kate, left, and her mother, Wendy, who received supportive services from Jewish Family Service Agency in a time of need

Innovators Lunch speaker Brian Scudamore with Kate, left, and her mother, Wendy, who received supportive services from Jewish Family Service Agency in a time of need. (Adele Lewin Photography) The 2015 Innovators Lunch raised almost $296,000, with more expected. The…

Some superior senior solutions

photo - Michael Geller, left, and Dr. Eric Cadesky

Michael Geller, left, and Dr. Eric Cadesky. (photo by Binny Goldman) Every year, we look to the Jewish Seniors Alliance Spring Forum for inspiration and the 170 people gathered in the Wosk Auditorium at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater…

Sunday’s trio of milestones

When counting blessings, our community has much to celebrate. If proof were needed, there is plenty at the newspaper. Not only have we been sorting through 85 years’ worth of the Jewish Independent in preparation for our special anniversary issue…

Perseverance, hope, faith

I was barely 18 when I found myself sitting in the airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, petrified that despite my false Turkish papers, I would be discovered, and returned to Iran to face execution. My forged Turkish passport had brought…

Time to work-study abroad

photo - The author at the Great Wall.

The author at the Great Wall. (photo by Rebecca Shapiro) Finishing university for me, like many others, brought with it employment worries and life dilemmas, alongside the obligatory cheesy graduation shots. My parents had just moved from North London to West…

Jewish values in Kenya

photo - Hannah Fogel and Daniel Kroft

Hannah Fogel and Daniel Kroft. (photo by Rebeca Kuropatwa) Held earlier this year in March, Limmud Winnipeg featured a couple of young community members sharing their experiences of volunteering in Kenya. Their talk, Walking the Talk of Jewish Values in…

Alexander visits Dnipropetrovsk

photo - Chris Alexander, Canada’s citizenship and immigration minister, at the Jewish Cultural Centre and Holocaust Museum in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. The minister visited Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv between April 26 and 28 to reaffirm Canada’s support of a democratic and sovereign Ukraine

Chris Alexander, Canada’s citizenship and immigration minister, at the Jewish Cultural Centre and Holocaust Museum in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. The minister visited Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv between April 26 and 28 to reaffirm Canada’s support of a democratic and sovereign Ukraine. (photo…

Yom Ha’atzmaut in Ottawa

photo - Ambassador of Israel to Canada Rafael Barak, centre, with his wife Miriam and Foreign Minister Rob Nicholson at the Israeli embassy’s Independence Day reception held at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa on April 29. The more than 600 attendees included ministers, MPs, senators, Supreme Court justices, members of the diplomatic corps, government officials, rabbis, other clergy, representatives of the Jewish community and other supporters of Israel

Ambassador of Israel to Canada Rafael Barak, centre, with his wife Miriam and Foreign Minister Rob Nicholson at the Israeli embassy’s Independence Day reception held at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa on April 29. The more than 600 attendees included…

הליגה להגנה יהודית רוצה לפעול גם בוונקובר

photo - JDL was among the protesters of the Sabeel Conference, which was held in Vancouver last month

חברי הליגה להגנה יהודית לקחו חלק בהפגנה נגד ועידת סביל בחודש שעבר בוונקובר. (צילום: Ariane Eckardt) מחממת את הקווים: הליגה להגנה יהודית רוצה לפעול גם בוונקובר הארגון הימני הרדיקלי הליגה להגנה יהודית, בודקת את האפשרות להתחיל ולפעול גם באזור ונקובר.…