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A time for diversity training

We’re in the month of Heshvan on the Jewish calendar. Some people call it Mar-Heshvan or Marcheshvan. (Since this is transliteration, it can be spelled either “ch” or “h.”)  It’s called mar, or bitter, because, aside from Shabbat, there are…

Chutzpah! back on the stage

photo - Ophira Eisenberg

Ophira Eisenberg (photo by Mike Katzif) Live performances – that you can see in person – are, thankfully, a thing again. At least, for now. And this year’s Chutzpah! Festival, Nov. 4-24, features many shows that people will be able…

Capturing nature in photos

photo - Micah Groberman with his son, Evan

Micah Groberman with his son, Evan. (photo by Micah Groberman) The current photography exhibit at the Zack Gallery, Discoveries: A New Way Forward, allows visitors a peek into the wilderness of British Columbia. A bird serenades the sunset. A bear…

Tackling antisemitism

It’s no secret that antisemitism around the world has been increasing for years. As recently as Sept. 30, MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert saw his office window hit with a spray-painted red swastika. Make no mistake: there is no place for…

Commemorating the Holocaust

photo - Magdeburg, Germany, 1938

Magdeburg, Germany, 1938. (photo from Bundesarchiv / Bild 146-1970-083-42) Next month, our community marks the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht, the state-sponsored pogrom known as the Night of Broken Glass, which took place on the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938. Hundreds…

New song for the holidays

image - Haley K. Turner has made a parody of her own Chanukah song, in an effort to get Adam Sandler’s attention

Haley K. Turner has made a parody of her own Chanukah song, in an effort to get Adam Sandler’s attention. On Nov. 3, local singer-songwriter Haley K. Turner is releasing what might be the only original Chanukah song set for…

After #metoo, what now?

Alley Theatre, in partnership with Good Night Out Vancouver, presents the world première of a multi-perspective, docu-theatre dance creation entitled #whatnow, Oct. 28-Nov. 7, at the Russian Hall, as part of the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival. After…

City’s only Jewish firefighters?

photo - Firefighters Daniel Greenberg, left, and Adam Bender

Firefighters Daniel Greenberg, left, and Adam Bender. (photo from Adam Bender) There are not many Jewish firefighters in Vancouver – but two of them serve together in Fire Hall #2 in the Downtown Eastside. Being Jewish is not all Daniel…

Sharing her inspiration

On Oct. 8, nonagenarian Gloria Levi was the featured speaker at the JSA Snider Foundation Virtual Empowerment Series session co-sponsored by Jewish Seniors Alliance and the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture. The topic was What Inspires Me at 90.…

Playing with words, and more

image - The Whirl of Words book cover

Think you’re not a puzzle person? Think again. “We solve puzzles of every sort, every day. They show up in so many of our life choices – in our decision-making, in our development of human relationships, in time-management, and so…

Impactful works at Chutzpah!

photo - After COVID-19 hit, The Eichmann Project – Terminal 1 evolved into a per- formance directed to a camera

After COVID-19 hit, The Eichmann Project – Terminal 1 evolved into a per- formance directed to a camera. (photo from Pathos-Mathos Company) Art has many facets, forms and reasons for being. As much as it can be an escape from…

Battle of ideas … & lies

photo - Bret Stephens

Bret Stephens (photo from harrywalker.com/speakers/bret-stephens) Western media have got the narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict wrong, says Bret Stephens, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, editor and columnist who is an opinion writer for the New York Times. But, for a journalist…

Democracy in danger

There has been a trend among some pro-Israel people and others to depict the U.S. Democratic party as having fallen prey to a far-left agenda, a wolf of extremism seeking to reinvent the social fabric of the country in the…

Working at residential school

photo - St. Michael’s Residential School in 2013, Alert Bay, B.C.

St. Michael’s Residential School in 2013, Alert Bay, B.C. (Courtesy Hans Tammemagi, from the book St. Michael’s Residential School: Lament & Legacy) In 1970, Nancy Dyson and her husband, Dan Rubenstein, worked for a short time at the Alert Bay…

Nature-inspired artist

image - "Silver Marsh" by Monica Gewurz

Two of artist Monica Gewurz’s paintings – “Silver Marsh” (above) and “Dawn II” – are featured in the exhibition of the Nature Trust of British Columbia’s Artist of the Year Award. “Silver Marsh” was inspired by a sunset at Addington…

Correcting historical record

Jonas Noreika, who was executed by the Soviets in 1947, has been revered in his native Lithuania and by its expatriate community as a national hero and an anti-communist patriot. This vaunted hero, however, has come under intense scrutiny of…

Security tops JFNA agenda

photos - Israeli President Isaac Herzog, left, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres all spoke on Sunday at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, left, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres all spoke on Sunday at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. (PR photos) Antisemitism, community security, caring…

Keys to happiness

screenshot - Neil Pasricha, the keynote speaker at Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver’s The Community of Awesome event Oct. 3, contends that people can be more content in their lives if they take two minutes every morning to finish these three thoughts: “I will let go of … I am grateful for… I will focus on….”

Neil Pasricha, the keynote speaker at Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver’s The Community of Awesome event Oct. 3, contends that people can be more content in their lives if they take two minutes every morning to finish these three thoughts:…

Opening of Dayson Residences

photo - The Dayson and Barnett families were on hand to celebrate the opening of Tikva Housing Society’s Ben and Esther Dayson Residences

The Dayson and Barnett families were on hand to celebrate the opening of Tikva Housing Society’s Ben and Esther Dayson Residences. (photo from Tikva Housing) Although the weather was not ideal, almost 100 people attended the opening of Tikva Housing…

JSA takes stock of the year

The Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver’s annual general meeting took place on Sept. 23, with a few board members in the sukkah at Congregation Beth Israel and many others participating on Zoom. Gyda Chud, co-president of JSA, welcomed everyone,…

Confront challenges

Everyone could use some insight on how to confront life’s challenges. That’s why Chabad Richmond is offering a three-part online Zoom program called Inlook Outlook: Guidance from the Rebbe for Confronting Life’s Challenges on Wednesdays, Oct.13, 20 and 27, 7:30-8:30…

Highlighting social goodness

photo - The Nov. 1 online event Finding Grounds for Goodness includes the première presentation of Finding Grounds for Goodness in the Downtown Eastside, which was created during last year’s Heart of the City Festival

The Nov. 1 online event Finding Grounds for Goodness includes the première presentation of Finding Grounds for Goodness in the Downtown Eastside, which was created during last year’s Heart of the City Festival. (photo from Jumblies Theatre) This year’s Downtown Eastside Heart…

Jewish take on bomb

photo - Philippe Tlokinski stars in Adventures of a Mathematician

Philippe Tlokinski stars in Adventures of a Mathematician. (photo from Samuel Goldwyn Films) Forgotten your calculus? Simple geometry is more than sufficient to follow the triangular saga of Polish-Jewish brainiac Stanislaw Ulam from the cloistered classrooms of Harvard to Robert…

Learning from Noah

This week, Jewish Addiction Community Services of Vancouver (JACS) is speaking across the community at various synagogues to help spread the word of how we can help those struggling with a substance use disorder. The talk centres around the weekly…

Sometimes we need a break

It’s been about a month since Labour Day and the start of school. For many people with school-age children, this is the first time the kids are back in school, in person, in awhile. It’s also been a year where…

חילופי אסירים

סוף טוב לסגת מעצר הבית בוונקובר של סמנכ”ל הכספים של ענקית התקשורת הסינית “וואווי”, מנג וואנזו, ולהחזקתם בכלא הסיני של שני אזרחים קנדים: מייקל קובריג ומייקל ספבור. זאת משך כשלוש שנים שכללו דיונים משפטיים, ניסיונות דיפלומטים וסיקור רב בתקשורת העולמית.…

Election changes little

photo -n Green party leader Annamie Paul lost her bid for a seat in Toronto Centre

Green party leader Annamie Paul lost her bid for a seat in Toronto Centre. (photo from annamiepaul.ca) Annamie Paul, the first female Jewish leader of a Canadian federal party, saw her hopes crushed Monday night as the Green vote plummeted…

Creating life in face of death

image - A still from the feature film Charlotte, about artist Charlotte Salomon

A still from the feature film Charlotte, about artist Charlotte Salomon. The creative drive that some people have astounds me. In about a year-and-a-half, as the Holocaust closed in on her – and her family’s history of depression became known…

Election about nothing

Justin Trudeau’s gamble on winning a majority backfired. Still, whatever outrage Canadians felt about marching to the polls amid a pandemic didn’t cost him much (beyond the $600 million expense of the election itself). The Liberal party returned with an…