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A soap-opera comedy

photo - Yaniv Biton as Assi, left, and Kais Nashif as Salam in Tel Aviv on Fire, which screens Feb. 28 as part of the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival

Yaniv Biton as Assi, left, and Kais Nashif as Salam in Tel Aviv on Fire, which screens Feb. 28 as part of the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival. (photo from Cohen Media Group) Palestinian writer-director Sameh Zoabi achieves something altogether remarkable…

Finding ’n’ riding the WAHVE

photo - Sharon Emek, founder and owner of Work at Home Vintage Experts (WAHVE)

Sharon Emek, founder and owner of Work at Home Vintage Experts (WAHVE). (photo from WAHVE) Sharon Emek’s company, Work at Home Vintage Experts (WAHVE), celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. WAHVE matches experienced professionals who are transitioning into retirement with…

Pink Rabbit opens festival

photo - Riva Krymalowski as Anna, in the film, which opens the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival Feb. 27

Riva Krymalowski as Anna, in the film, which opens the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival Feb. 27. (photo from betacinema.com) The Vancouver Jewish Film Festival opens the night of Feb. 27 with the film When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, which offers…

Help save local media

photo from arkells.com

(photo from arkells.com) In what seems like a random act of kindness, the Canadian rock band the Arkells has put out an offer to their fans. Subscribe to a community newspaper and get a swag T-shirt from the band. Musicians…

Worst traffic in the OECD

photo - In central Tel Aviv, a driver slotted their car in between two properly parked vehicles

In central Tel Aviv, a driver slotted their car in between two properly parked vehicles. (photo from Ashernet) Traffic density on Israel’s roads averages about 2,800 vehicles per kilometre, worst of all the OECD countries, for which the average is…

Community planning critical

photo - Alex Cristall, chair of the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

Alex Cristall, chair of the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. (photo from JFGV) Long active in the Jewish community, Alex Cristall started his current volunteer position as chair of the board of directors of the…

Hurdles to become a doctor

photo - Ruth Simkin with her dog, Kelly

Ruth Simkin with her dog, Kelly. (photo by Chris Wilson) Feminism is really true equality between women and men; nothing more, and nothing less,” Ruth Simkin writes in her new book, Dear Sophie: Life Lessons in Feminism & Medicine, a…

Inherent love for business

photo - Ben Silverman

Ben Silverman (photo from Ben Silverman) Ben Silverman is the managing director and co-founder of Integral Artists, a talent agency based in Vancouver. He’s also the president of media investment firm Various Things Entertainment and co-founder of James Charles Properties,…

Sharing legends of Mossad

photo - Ronen Bergman signs a copy of his book Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations for an attendee of his talk at Congregation Beth Tikvah Feb. 2

Ronen Bergman signs a copy of his book Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations for an attendee of his talk at Congregation Beth Tikvah Feb. 2. (photo by Pat Johnson) Ronen Bergman, perhaps the leading…

When Joseph went missing

A friend recently went through a scary time and, as a result, I did, too. His niece in Minnesota, a young mother, simply disappeared. She went out on a date and didn’t come home. Her mother was with the woman’s…

Canadian refugee law study

photo - Shauna Labman

Shauna Labman (photo from Shauna Labman) Amid the world’s largest refugee crisis since the Second World War, Winnipeg-based legal scholar Shauna Labman has come out with the book Crossing Law’s Border: Canada’s Refugee Resettlement Program, an in-depth look at how…

Drawing more women to tech

photo - Jodi Kovitz, founder and chief executive officer of #movethedial

Jodi Kovitz, founder and chief executive officer of #movethedial. (photo by photagonist.ca) What began as Jodi Kovitz’s personal desire to increase the technology industry’s minimal efforts to attract women leaders is now a broad movement – #movethedial. Kovitz was born…

Managing our potable water

photo - Seth Siegel’s latest book is Troubled Water: What’s Wrong with What We Drink

Seth Siegel’s latest book is Troubled Water: What’s Wrong with What We Drink. (photo from Seth Siegel) With approximately seven percent of the world’s renewable water resources within Canada’s borders, it would seem that we should have little to worry…

מחויבים לפיתרון של שתי מדינות

image - Israeli and Palestinian flags

בראשית החודש התקיים דיון בפרלמנט הקנדי בנושאי התוכנית החדשה של נשיא ארה”ב, דונלד טראמפ, תנועת הבי.די.אס וביטחון. בנושא התוכנית של טראמפ שאל חבר הפלרמנט מטעם המפלגה הדמוקרטית החדשה, אלכנסדר בולריס: “הממשלה הליברלית הנוכחית מתרברבת על המונטין של קנדה על הבמה…

New publisher set to launch

illustration - Intergalactic Afikoman publishing house is the brainchild of children’s author and educator Brianna Caplan Sayres

Intergalactic Afikoman publishing house is the brainchild of children’s author and educator Brianna Caplan Sayres. (image from Intergalactic Afikoman) A new Jewish children’s publisher is set to launch in Seattle. The brainchild of children’s author and educator Brianna Caplan Sayres,…

Inspiring optimism with art

photo - Linda Frimer’s exhibit, Beckoned by the Light, runs until Feb. 23 at the Zack Gallery

Linda Frimer’s exhibit, Beckoned by the Light, runs until Feb. 23 at the Zack Gallery. (photo from Linda Frimer) “Since I was a child, I’ve always looked for the light – in the forest near my home and in the…

Loss-loss only solution

The parallels between the Trump impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate and the release of the Trump administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan are striking. Donald Trump, a master of diversion, unveiled his incendiary proposal for the Mideast at the height of…

The comics rise again on Feb. 20

photo - Kyle Berger, left, and Scotty Aceman, co-producers of Rise of the Comics

Kyle Berger, left, and Scotty Aceman, co-producers of Rise of the Comics. (photo from Rise of the Comics) The outer limits of the laugh-o-meter will be tested on Feb. 20 at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver’s Rothstein Theatre,…

Israel’s early days

photo - Gloria Levi launches her most recent memoir at the Jewish Book Festival Feb. 12

Gloria Levi launches her most recent memoir at the Jewish Book Festival Feb. 12. (photo from Jewish Book Festival) When local activist and writer Gloria Levi was a teenager, she was immersed in the Labour Zionist movement and “dreamed of…

Loves making people laugh

photo - Esther Povitsky performs at the Biltmore Cabaret on Feb. 22 as part of JFL NorthWest

Esther Povitsky performs at the Biltmore Cabaret on Feb. 22 as part of JFL NorthWest. (photo from JFL NorthWest) Chicago-born comedian, actor and writer Esther Povitsky is one of several Jewish community members performing in the Just for Laughs NorthWest…

Addiction a risk for all

photo - Left to right: Lisa, Jacob and Richard Hillman

Left to right: Lisa, Jacob and Richard Hillman. (photo from Lisa Hillman) “I had a fairly demanding and public position in the health system. I was president of our hospital foundation, had a very large board of about 25 people…

Shluchim gather in N.Y.

photo - The 2019 “class photo” of Chabad shluchim who attended the Kinus Hashluchim in New York. Among the 4,000 Chabad emissaries attending were 14 from British Columbia

The 2019 “class photo” of Chabad shluchim who attended the Kinus Hashluchim in New York. Among the 4,000 Chabad emissaries attending were 14 from British Columbia. (photo from Chabad-Lubavitch) Fourteen B.C. Chabad emissaries (shluchim), including one from Victoria and one…

What is the worth of work?

Recently, I’ve had numerous encounters with middle-aged women. This isn’t strange. I’m talking to women who are a lot like me: dealing with school-aged kids, piano lessons, finding childcare, etc. What’s remarkable is that the same conversation pops up –…

הזוג המלכותי בבריטיש קולומביה

photo - Harry and Megan have had trouble coping with the limelight since their royal wedding two years ago

הארי ומייגן התקשו להתמודד עם אור הזרקורים, מאז חתונתם המלכותית לפני כשנתיים. (Mark Jones) הנסיך הבריטי לשעבר הארי עזב את בריטניה במהלך חודש ינואר ועלה על טיסה לוונקובר. כאן המתינה לו רעייתו ובנו ארצ’י. זאת אחרי הגירושים מתוקשרים מהארמון הבריטי.…

Richmond marks the Shoah

photo - Left to right: Councilor Kelly Greene, Councilor Bill McNulty, Bayit past president Michael Sachs, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, Bayit president Keith Liedtke, Councilor Chak Au and Councilor Alexa Loo at the Bayit, after the mayor officially proclaims Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in the city of Richmond

Left to right: Councilor Kelly Greene, Councilor Bill McNulty, Bayit past president Michael Sachs, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, Bayit president Keith Liedtke, Councilor Chak Au and Councilor Alexa Loo at the Bayit, after the mayor officially proclaims Jan. 27 as…

JFL NorthWest returns

photos - Jessica Kirson and Big Jay Oakerson are part of the Just for Laughs NorthWest comedy festival lineup in Vancouver Feb. 13-25

Jessica Kirson and Big Jay Oakerson are part of the Just for Laughs NorthWest comedy festival lineup in Vancouver Feb. 13-25. (photos from JFL NorthWest) The Just for Laughs NorthWest comedy festival takes place around Metro Vancouver Feb. 13-25. Among…

War heroism recalled

photo - Prof. George Bluman speaks at the 15th annual Raoul Wallenberg Day commemoration, Jan. 19

Prof. George Bluman speaks at the 15th annual Raoul Wallenberg Day commemoration, Jan. 19. (photo by Masumi Kikuchi) Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara was honoured in Vancouver this month with a lecture on his wartime heroism – by a man who…

When is never again?

Monday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Scrolling through social media, it was jarring to see the juxtaposition of images and ideas reflecting on that terrible history intermingled with the mundane and fantastical miscellany of everyday 21st-century life. This is the…

Artistic visions of hope

photo - Left to right, Three Echoes artists Sorour Abdollahi, Devora and Sidi Schaffer. Their exhibit, Hope and Transformation, is at Amelia Douglas Gallery until Feb. 29

Left to right, Three Echoes artists Sorour Abdollahi, Devora and Sidi Schaffer. Their exhibit, Hope and Transformation, is at Amelia Douglas Gallery until Feb. 29. (photo from Three Echoes) Connected by similar values and inspirations in their creative work and…

Directing a favourite musical

photos - Malka Martz-Oberlander, left, and Dalia Currie are co-directing Little Shop of Horrors, which is at the Red Gate Revue Stage from Feb. 6-9

Malka Martz-Oberlander, left, and Dalia Currie are co-directing Little Shop of Horrors, which is at the Red Gate Revue Stage from Feb. 6-9. (photos from TES Theatre) At 17, many Jewish Independent readers were probably spending most of their time…