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Mishpacha comes together

photo - The weekly rally for Israeli hostages at the Vancouver Art Gallery Sunday, Feb. 18

The weekly rally for Israeli hostages at the Vancouver Art Gallery Sunday, Feb. 18. (photo by Pat Johnson) Family was the theme at the weekly rally for Israeli hostages at the Vancouver Art Gallery Sunday, Feb. 18, the day before…

Drama & more at film fest

photo - Yoav Brill’s documentary Apples and Oranges, about a moment in the history of the kibbutz movement, is mesmerizing

Yoav Brill’s documentary Apples and Oranges, about a moment in the history of the kibbutz movement, is mesmerizing. (photo by Avraham Eilat) The 2024 Vancouver Jewish Film Festival takes place in person April 4-14 and online April 15-19. As usual,…

False binaries harmful

It is perhaps inevitable that, at a time of polarized thinking, many people seem incapable of holding two ideas in their minds at once. Canadian politics has maybe not succumbed to the depths of entrenched division we see in our…

Speaking up for safe spaces

Although I have been doing Daf Yomi (studying a page of Talmud a page a day), I fell asleep a few days ago before I could finish learning my page of Talmud. I was worn out. And it was a…

The choice to convert

photo - Adam is one of the potential converts interviewed in the documentary Converts: The Journey of Becoming Jewish, directed by Rebecca Shore and Oren Rosenfeld, which is part of this year’s Vancouver Jewish Film Festival

Adam is one of the potential converts interviewed in the documentary Converts: The Journey of Becoming Jewish, directed by Rebecca Shore and Oren Rosenfeld, which is part of this year’s Vancouver Jewish Film Festival. (photo from convertsmovie.com) A religion that…

JSA celebrates its 20th

Kyle Berger, left, and David Granirer headline the Jewish Seniors Alliance’s A Night in the Catskills on March 17. (photos from JSA) The Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver is celebrating its 20th anniversary with an event that’s all about…

Resistance screens here March 3

image - A still from the documentary Resistance: They Fought Back

A still from the documentary Resistance: They Fought Back. (theyfoughtback.com) Resistance: They Fought Back screens March 3, 2pm, at Rothstein Theatre. Presented by the Vancouver Jewish Film Centre, special guest at the screening will be director Paula S. Apsell. The…

Chelsea Hotel is heavenly

photo - Jack Garton, playing a Jokeresque bellhop, manipulates the memories and thoughts of the Writer, played by Adrian Glynn McMorran

Jack Garton, playing a Jokeresque bellhop, manipulates the memories and thoughts of the Writer, played by Adrian Glynn McMorran. (Sarah Race Photography) In Paper Thin Hotel, Leonard Cohen writes, “It is written on the walls of this hotel, you go…

A new voice for BC elders

photo - Dan Levitt has been appointed to be British Columbia’s new seniors advocate

Dan Levitt has been appointed to be British Columbia’s new seniors advocate (photo from Dan Levitt) Dan Levitt is set to become British Columbia’s new seniors advocate. The appointment was announced last month by BC Health Minister Adrian Dix. “Dan…

Tikva campaign to start

The most vulnerable members of the Jewish community are struggling. The lack of affordable housing and a persistent high inflation rate are causing individuals and families to exhaust their income, which can lead to homelessness. The reality poses a major…

L’Chaim program grows

photo - L’Chaim Adult Day Centre is now open five days a week

L’Chaim Adult Day Centre is now open five days a week. (photo from L’Chaim) L’Chaim Adult Day Centre has received funding from Vancouver Coastal Health to expand its program. It can now offer its services to frail senior citizens in…

Exploring past, present

photo - During Hillel BC’s Holocaust Education Week, Drs. Gene Homel (pictured above) and Rachel Mines offered Unheard Echoes, a program on Jews in Lithuania

During Hillel BC’s Holocaust Education Week, Drs. Gene Homel (pictured above) and Rachel Mines offered Unheard Echoes, a program on Jews in Lithuania. (photo by A. Jaugelis) Unheard Echoes, a program on Jews in Lithuania, was held Jan. 29 during…

A need to shift thinking

New approaches for getting younger generations to engage in communal Jewish life were put forward by Rabbi Mike Uram, the first-ever chief Jewish learning officer for Jewish Federations of North America, in a Zoom talk organized by Kolot Mayim Reform…

Supporting one another

On Jan. 22, Jewish Seniors Alliance, as part of its Empowerment Series, presented a lecture by Dr. Honoré France. An educator, artist, writer, therapist and consultant in the field of mental health, France explored the early history of seniors peer…

רילוקיישן לקנדה: מידע מעודכן לישראלים בימים קשים אלה

photo - The centre of the Jewish and Israeli community is in Toronto which is the largest city in Canada

מרכז הקהילה היהודית והישראלית נמצא בטורונטו שהיא העיר הגדולה ביותר בקנדה צילום Fabian Roudra Baroi קנדה היא אחת מהמדינות האטרקטיביות ביותר להגירה: מדינה מבוססת כלכלית, יפה, רגועה ועם תנאים סוציאליים נדיבים לתשוביה. עם זאת, רילוקיישן לקנדה כרוך בקשיים ואתגרים  בשנים…

Robinson out of cabinet

Screenshot of the Jan. 30 B’nai Brith Canada panel discussion during which Selina Robinson spoke her controversial words

Screenshot of the Jan. 30 B’nai Brith Canada panel discussion during which Selina Robinson spoke her controversial words. Selina Robinson, who has called herself “the Jew in the crew” that is British Columbia’s cabinet, is out. The minister of advanced…

United in grief and resilience

photo - Bassem Eid, right,  addresses those who gathered Feb. 4 for the event United, as fellow speakers Virág Gulyás, left, and Yuval David listen

Bassem Eid, right,  addresses those who gathered Feb. 4 for the event United, as fellow speakers Virág Gulyás, left, and Yuval David listen. (photo by Pat Johnson) Yuval David knew 32 people who were murdered on Oct. 7. Among them…

Anti-racism work at risk

Selina Robinson resigned Monday as British Columbia’s minister of post-secondary education and future skills. She also announced she would not seek reelection as the member of the Legislature for Coquitlam-Maillardville – though she said the latter was a decision she…

A plea for the hostages

A screenshot of former Israel Air Force pilot Uri Arad speaking at the Jan. 20 Bring Them Home rally in Jerusalem

A screenshot of former Israel Air Force pilot Uri Arad speaking at the Jan. 20 Bring Them Home rally in Jerusalem. *** Weekly rallies have been held in “Hostages Square,” the plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of…

Commemorating the Shoah

photo - Richmond RCMP Chief Superintendent Dave Chauhan, left, lights memorial candles with survivors David Schaffer, Sidi Schaffer, Amalia Boe-Fishman and Ilona Mermelstein, and Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie at a commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, at the Bayit, in Richmond, on Jan. 25

Richmond RCMP Chief Superintendent Dave Chauhan, left, lights memorial candles with survivors David Schaffer, Sidi Schaffer, Amalia Boe-Fishman and Ilona Mermelstein, and Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie at a commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, at the Bayit, in Richmond, on…

ICJ ruling ‘nonevent’: lawyer

Screenshot of the Jan. 30 HonestReporting Canada discussion on the International Court of Justice ruling on whether Israel is perpetrating genocide. Jonas Prince, chair of HonestReporting Canada, emceed and speakers were Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi, former chief of general staff of the Israel Defence Forces, and Natasha Hausdorff, a British specialist in international law and a former clerk for the president of the Supreme Court of Israel

Screenshot of the Jan. 30 HonestReporting Canada discussion on the International Court of Justice ruling on whether Israel is perpetrating genocide. Jonas Prince, chair of HonestReporting Canada, emceed and speakers were Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi, former chief of general staff of…

Journalists partly to blame

photo - Journalist Tristin Hopper speaks with an audience member after his talk at Congregation Schara Tzedeck Jan. 14

Journalist Tristin Hopper speaks with an audience member after his talk at Congregation Schara Tzedeck Jan. 14. (photo by Pat Johnson) Canada has plenty of dark chapters in its history. But, in terms of sheer malice, nothing compares to the…

More aid sent to Israel

The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver has made a new transfer of more than $1 million from its Israel Emergency Campaign (IEC). This is its fourth transfer of funds and brings the total transferred to Israel to approximately $7.5 million.…

Small but staying visible

A new novel blurb for Tilda is Visible by Jane Tara just arrived in my email inbox. I haven’t read it yet, but its premise is familiar. Publisher’s Lunch describes it as a book “about a successful woman who wakes…

Games help ALUMA counseling centre

photo - Some 130 women came out to play mahjong, bridge or canasta at National Council of Jewish Women Canada, Vancouver section’s Games Day on Feb. 15, raising almost $8,000 for the Israeli nonprofit ALUMA Counseling Centre

Some 130 women came out to play mahjong, bridge or canasta at National Council of Jewish Women Canada, Vancouver section’s Games Day on Feb. 15, raising almost $8,000 for the Israeli nonprofit ALUMA Counseling Centre. (photo by Adele Lewin Photography)…

Law seminar on antisemitism

photos - At the daylong legal seminar being held at Congregation Beth Israel on Feb. 15, Howard Mickelson, KC, and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim discuss the legal implications of adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism

At the daylong legal seminar being held at Congregation Beth Israel on Feb. 15, Howard Mickelson, KC, and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim discuss the legal implications of adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Mickelson, left, spearheaded the event. Congregation Beth…

Roots of Arab-Israeli conflict?

The historic milestones that led to the creation of the state of Israel are well known: Theodor Herzl’s Zionist congresses, the Balfour Declaration, the Partition Resolution, the War of Independence. Oren Kessler – who participates in the Cherie Smith JCC…

True crime wraps up festival

They both made headlines in their day, and then were more or less forgotten. A social climber who ends up convicted of killing his wife in one instance, an inventor-turned-money launderer in the other. Two very different men living in…

“Moses” does standup at JFL

photo - Samson Koletkar, dubbed the “world’s only Indian Jewish standup comedian, performs Feb. 15 as part of Just for Laughs Vancouver

Samson Koletkar, dubbed the “world’s only Indian Jewish standup comedian, performs Feb. 15 as part of Just for Laughs Vancouver. (photo from Just for Laughs Vancouver) This year’s Just for Laughs Vancouver features several members of the Jewish community, including…