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Israeli envoy hopeful

photo - Iddo Moed, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, was in British Columbia to promote partnerships

Iddo Moed, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, was in British Columbia to promote partnerships. (photo by Pat Johnson) Iddo Moed, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, was in Vancouver last week, meeting with businesspeople, university administrators and the Jewish community. It was his…

The need for transparency

screenshot - Justice Jules Deschênes, who was appointed by the Canadian government in February 1985 to oversee the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada

Justice Jules Deschênes, who was appointed by the Canadian government in February 1985 to oversee the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada. (screenshot from B’nai Brith Canada) For nearly four decades, Jewish human rights organizations have been trying…

A harrowing survival story

Almost every Holocaust survivor’s narrative involves some combination of extraordinary coincidence, righteous humanity amid dystopia or a series of chance events that astonishingly result in survival against all odds. The number of such flukes in the life of Vancouver woman…

On Holocaust education

Next year, for the first time in British Columbia, the Holocaust will be a mandated topic for Grade 10 students. Until now, the task of teaching this most important subject has fallen upon impassioned teachers and dedicated organizations like the…

Visit here inspires hope

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Vancouver for the first time to meet  with members of the Jewish community and local business leaders. It was a wonderful experience that enabled me to see the Jewish community up close, and…

Moss takes the helm of JSA

photo - Jeff Moss

Jeff Moss (photo from JSA) This summer, Jeff Moss became the first executive director of the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver. Moss has long served the local community, following the example of his parents, who were deeply involved in…

Hillel BC’s new leader

photo - Ohad Gavrieli

Ohad Gavrieli (photo from Hillel BC) Ohad Gavrieli is applying his multi-disciplinary background and extensive organizational experience as the new executive director of Hillel BC. This summer, the organization bid farewell to Rob Philipp and welcomed Gavrieli as its head.…

Combining fun and learning

photo - Campers and staff of this summer’s Camp Gan Israel Kelowna

Campers and staff of this summer’s Camp Gan Israel Kelowna. (photo from Chabad Okanagan) Camp Gan Israel (CGI) Kelowna campers experienced a summer packed with joy, adventure and Jewish education. The first week of camp was filled with activities that…

About the 2024 Rosh Hashanah cover

I came across this Rosh Hashanah greeting card in the 2017 Forward article “The Curious History of Rosh Hashanah Cards in Yiddish” by Rami Neudorfer. The image was copyrighted by the Hebrew Publishing Company, New York, 1909, and the high-resolution…

Renewing a commitment to hope

photo - If you were to write a personal “book of life” to express your aspirations for growth in the year ahead, what would its title be?

If you were to write a personal “book of life” to express your aspirations for growth in the year ahead, what would its title be? (photo from thisenchantedpixie.org) In the face of the immense sadness and devastation of the past…

Ways to commemorate Oct. 7

image - Erev Rosh Hashanah, from Shalom Hartman Institute’s Memory and Hope. For each holiday and Shabbat evening in Tishrei, the institute suggests we light a memorial candle before kindling the holiday and Shabbat lights, and offers an intention to recite before lighting this candle and a text to read afterward (both in English and in Hebrew)

Erev Rosh Hashanah, from Shalom Hartman Institute’s Memory and Hope. For each holiday and Shabbat evening in Tishrei, the institute suggests we light a memorial candle before kindling the holiday and Shabbat lights, and offers an intention to recite before…

Setting intentions, priorities

This year, the High Holidays fall later than usual, with Rosh Hashanah just a few days before the anniversary of Oct. 7, 2023 – the most tragic date in the history of modern-day Israel.  The High Holidays offer special opportunities…

Think first, then share news

When I write articles lately, they’re usually columns with an Opinion header near the editorial section. Most writers try to back their opinions up with research and information. I’m no different. However, some readers can be easily swayed regardless of…

The first of many Shabbats

photo - Faith Kramer’s Roasted Salmon with Citrus-honey Sauce

Faith Kramer’s Roasted Salmon with Citrus-honey Sauce. (photo by Clara Rice) Somehow, I missed the cookbook 52 Shabbats: Friday Night Dinners Inspired by a Global Jewish Kitchen by Faith Kramer when it was published by the Collective Book Studio in…

Bucharest a city of contrast

photo - There is an abundance of street art in Bucharest

There is an abundance of street art in Bucharest. (photo by Deborah Rubin Fields) What could be more Israeli than the hora? Well, truth be told, the hora is not Israeli! The word hora comes from Romania. And, like the origins…

Trip sparks realization 

photo - Starting in 1539, it took Spain 250 years to construct the six-level fortress El Morro in Puerto Rico, and Spain’s former power still emanates from the walls

Starting in 1539, it took Spain 250 years to construct the six-level fortress El Morro in Puerto Rico, and Spain’s former power still emanates from the walls. (photo by Lauren Kramer) I was in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, recently,…

Tournament expands

photo - Weizmann Institute’s International Physics Tournament – the “Safe-Cracking Tournament” – is open to students in grades 11 and 12

Weizmann Institute’s International Physics Tournament – the “Safe-Cracking Tournament” – is open to students in grades 11 and 12. (photo from Weizmann Canada) Registration is now open for the Weizmann Institute’s International Physics Tournament. New this year – teams from…

Artist’s portals to elsewhere

photo - Artist Amy J. Dyck sits amid her work “Bed Desk,” one of the pieces in her solo exhibit, Portals to Elsewhere, which opened at the Zack Gallery last month

Artist Amy J. Dyck sits amid her work “Bed Desk,” one of the pieces in her solo exhibit, Portals to Elsewhere, which opened at the Zack Gallery last month. (photo by Byron Dauncey) The art of Amy J. Dyck is…

Education a key issue

Students across British Columbia have returned to the classroom. On university campuses, the activism that had roiled those spaces during the last academic year has returned to a boil. Jewish students are facing more of the horrible same. Even public…

Remembering the six

photos - Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alex Lobanov, Ori Danino, Almog Sarusi

Clockwise from top left: Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alex Lubanov, Ori Danino, Almog Sarusi. (photos from internet). This article is an edited version of a blog posted on Sept. 2, 2024. Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alex…

Family hopes to save lives

photo - At the Sept. 26 event Bridging Hope, which takes place at King David High School, Noah Bogdonov, left, and his parents, David Bogdonov and Elana Epstein, will speak about their family’s experience with addiction

At the Sept. 26 event Bridging Hope, which takes place at King David High School, Noah Bogdonov, left, and his parents, David Bogdonov and Elana Epstein, will speak about their family’s experience with addiction. (photo from Bogdonov-Epsteins) “We want to…

Victoria film fest set to start

photo - The Latin American and Spanish Film Week returns to Cinecenta, on the campus of the University of Victoria, Sept. 19-22

The Latin American and Spanish Film Week returns to Cinecenta, on the campus of the University of Victoria, Sept. 19-22. (photos courtesy Dan Russek) The Latin American and Spanish Film Week returns to Cinecenta, on the campus of the University…

Pondering your vote choice

screenshot - The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has developed an online “election hub” for navigating the issues

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has developed an online “election hub” for navigating the issues. Topics that might be considered “Jewish issues” in a political context are generally more federal in nature. Foreign affairs as they relate to…

Be seen and heard this year

photo - Students from CJPAC’s 2023/24 Generation: Student Leaders Program cohort

Students from CJPAC’s 2023/24 Generation: Student Leaders Program cohort (photo from CJPAC) It is Elul, the month before the Jewish new year. Traditionally, this is a time for cheshbon hanefesh, an accounting of one’s soul, before the reflection and repentance of…

Fundraiser for Emanu-El @ 160

photos - Gregor Craigie and Eleanor Wachtel

(photos courtesy Emanu-El) Gregor Craigie, host of CBC Radio One’s On the Island, interviews Eleanor Wachtel at Congregation Emanu-El on Sept. 15, at 2 p.m., about her career helming the CBC’s premier literary program, Writers & Company.  During her 33-year tenure with…

Emanu-El celebrates its 160th

photo - Left to right: Congregation Emanu-El president Ilana Stanger-Ross, MLA Grace Lore, Prof. Richard Kool, Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto, Emanu El’s Rabbi Harry Brechner, MP Laura Collins and MLA Lana Popham on Aug. 18 at the shul’s 160th birthday party

Left to right: Congregation Emanu-El president Ilana Stanger-Ross, MLA Grace Lore, Prof. Richard Kool, Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto, Emanu El’s Rabbi Harry Brechner, MP Laura Collins and MLA Lana Popham on Aug. 18 at the shul’s 160th birthday party. (photo…

Brier fêtes supporters

photo - Event co-chairs Lee Simpson, left, and Helen Pinsky

Event co-chairs Lee Simpson, left, and Helen Pinsky. (photo by Pat Johnson) Celebration and admiration were the overriding emotions Sept. 5 at the Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation’s first community social event since the pandemic. The festive occasion, which took…

Allowing for joyful holidays

My house smells like chicken soup. That is one of the surefire ways to tell that holidays are on the horizon. It’s a cooler summer day. I have two slow cookers “working” to make that all important broth for autumn…

An alternative to honey cake

photo - Peach-blueberry cake à la Ina Garten, made by the Accidental Balabusta

Peach-blueberry cake à la Ina Garten, made by the Accidental Balabusta. (photo by Shelley Civkin) With Rosh Hashanah right around the corner, I’m already thinking of honey cake … but not honey cake. Wanting to ring in the new year…