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Magnifying emotions

photo - Gila Green will talk about her two latest books at the Jewish Book Festival on Feb. 9

Gila Green will talk about her two latest books at the Jewish Book Festival on Feb. 9. (photo from JCC Jewish Book Festival) From the first page, White Zion reads like a memoir. Through 16 short stories, we get to…

Mark and Seth Rogen honoured

photo - Left to right: Lauren Miller Rogen, Seth Rogen, Mark Rogen, Sandy Rogen and Danya Rogen at the ceremony in New York City at which Mark and Seth were honoured with the Generation to Generation Activism Award from the Workmen’s Circle

Left to right: Lauren Miller Rogen, Seth Rogen, Mark Rogen, Sandy Rogen and Danya Rogen at the ceremony in New York City at which Mark and Seth were honoured with the Generation to Generation Activism Award from the Workmen’s Circle.…

Eclectic Jewish sounds

photo - Andy Muchin with a record from his collection

Andy Muchin with a record from his collection. (photo from Sounds Jewish) The American South may not be the first place you would consider tuning the dial for an hour-long radio program that runs the gamut of Jewish music and…

Youth feed homeless people

photo - Youth from Temple Beth Ora and Gathering Angels in Edmonton help out at Boyle Street Community Services shelter

Youth from Temple Beth Ora and Gathering Angels in Edmonton help out at Boyle Street Community Services shelter. (photo from Rabbi Gila Caine) In Edmonton, Rabbi Gila Caine and Muslim leader Nesrine Merhi-Tarrabain have combined forces to serve their local…

Promoting fair trade in Israel

photo - Raz Frogel

Raz Frogel (photo from Fair Trade Israel) Raz Frogel, 23, has taken it upon himself to increase the number of fair trade items on Israeli store shelves. Frogel, who lives in Dror Israel commune in Haifa, first read about child…

The comfort in imperfection

We’re not perfect. Yes, and you’re saying, so, why is this in the newspaper? I’m writing this over winter break. Like many families, we chose a staycation. We’ve done some walks and games outside, and a lot of time just…

Mystery photo … Jan. 31/20

photo - Congregation Or Shalom members and others at the 19th annual Pride Parade, 1996

Congregation Or Shalom members and others at the 19th annual Pride Parade, 1996. (photo from JWB fonds, JMABC L.01103) If you know someone in these photos, please help the JI fill the gaps of its predecessor’s (the Jewish Western Bulletin’s)…

טיסת שבע חמש שתיים – חלק ב’

photo - Roja Omidbakhsh, who perished in the plane crash in Iran

רוג’ה אומידבקאש, שניספתה באסון המטוס באיראן רוג’ה אומידבקאש (בת עשרים ושלוש) היא אחת ממאה שבעים ושישה הנוסעים, בהם חמישים ושבעה מקנדה, שנספו בהתרסקות המטוס הנוסעים של חברת התעופה הבינלאומית האוקראינית, לאחר שהמריא משדה התעופה בטהרן. אומידבקאש הגיעה מטהרן ללמוד בקנדה…

Novelist explores Trump era

photo - Gary Shteyngart opens the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival on Feb. 8 at Rothstein Theatre

Gary Shteyngart opens the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival on Feb. 8 at Rothstein Theatre. (photo by Brigitte Lacombe) “You want to know the first rule of running a billion-dollar-plus hedge fund?” Lake Success protagonist Barry Cohen recalls telling…

Campaign wraps up

“We’re making our final push toward another record-breaking campaign,” Jonathon Leipsic, chair of Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver’s annual campaign, said when the Independent caught up with him last month, as the 2019 fundraising drive was entering the home stretch.…

Interfaith youth unite in service

photo - Interfaith Youth BC participants gather at Or Shalom Synagogue on Dec. 8

Interfaith Youth BC participants gather at Or Shalom Synagogue on Dec. 8. (photo from Pamela Evans) Being stewards of the earth, performing acts of kindness: it’s not just Judaism that promotes these principles, and it’s for this reason that three…

Auschwitz 75 years on

photo - The King David Hotel was partially obscured by a temporary security barrier as part of the preparations that were carried out in Jerusalem for the arrival of leaders from more than 45 countries for in the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, which took place at Yad Vashem this week, and marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland

The King David Hotel was partially obscured by a temporary security barrier as part of the preparations that were carried out in Jerusalem for the arrival of leaders from more than 45 countries for in the Fifth World Holocaust Forum,…

Jazz that’s personal, timely

photo - Andrea Superstein’s next local performance is at Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver on Feb. 5. Her new album is Worlds Apart

Andrea Superstein’s next local performance is at Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver on Feb. 5. Her new album is Worlds Apart. (photo from the artist) For the last year, Andrea Superstein has been touring Canada with her new jazz album,…

Jewish films span the globe

images - Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit and Roberta Grossman’s documentary Who Will Write Our History were two standouts in Jewish film last year

Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit and Roberta Grossman’s documentary Who Will Write Our History were two standouts in Jewish film last year. Last year was a busy one, but not a great one, for Jewish-related movies. There was plenty to see,…

Israel comes to the city

From Feb. 6 to 9, Vancouver will host the Beit Ha’am Community Seminar, which includes 12 different workshops, films, lectures and events, led by a team of senior shlichim (emissaries) from the World Zionist Organization’s department for Diaspora affairs (WZO-DDA),…

Judaism’s gifts to world

This winter, the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute six-session course Judaism’s Gifts to the World: How Major Jewish Ideas Evolved into Universal Values comes to three B.C. Chabad centres: Chabad Richmond, Lubavitch BC and Chabad of Nanaimo. Participants will learn how…

Two new scholarships

image - university-related clip art

In an effort to lighten the financial challenges presented by the growing costs of higher education, Hillel International announced in November that it is launching two annual scholarships for students attending college anywhere in the United States and Canada. The…

Colleagues visit Chabad UBC

photo - Left to right: Rabbis Chaim Boyarsky, Moshe Goldman, Mordechai Silberberg, Chanoch Rosenfeld, Chalom Loeub and Zalman Zaltzman

Left to right: Rabbis Chaim Boyarsky, Moshe Goldman, Mordechai Silberberg, Chanoch Rosenfeld, Chalom Loeub and Zalman Zaltzman. (photo from Chabad UBC) A delegation of rabbis who direct Chabad centres across Canada came to Vancouver last month, on Dec. 10. The…

A page of Talmud each day

Jan. 5, 2020, was a momentous day in the Jewish world. It was the start of another cycle of daf yomi. What’s daf yomi? It’s the tradition, about a hundred years old, of studying a page of Talmud a day.…

Not just in summer

photo - kids at Camp Shalom

(photo from Camp Shalom) A couple of years ago, the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver’s Camp Shalom made a new commitment to families: “When they need us, we will be there!” Camp staff decided on this motto when they…

A counselor’s import

At sleep-away camp, the camp counselor is the person your child is going to turn to as a replacement for you. Even if it’s a day camp, it is the counselor who will be there to comfort, encourage, discipline and…

In the unlikely event that …

photo - Most issues that arise at camp can be solved so that your child enjoys the experience, and perhaps learns that problems can be overcome

Most issues that arise at camp can be solved so that your child enjoys the experience, and perhaps learns that problems can be overcome. (photo from flickr.com) The moment most working parents dread is when they discover, halfway through, that…

Building of community

photo - Originally, the only focus of Jewish camp was to offer Jewish children an opportunity to spend some time in a woodland environment

Originally, the only focus of Jewish camp was to offer Jewish children an opportunity to spend some time in a woodland environment. (photo from pxfuel.com) Camping and camps may have been around forever. But Jewish camps, at least those in…

טיסת שבע חמש שתיים – חלק א’

photo - Roja Omidbakhsh, who perished in the plane crash in Iran

רוג’ה אומידבקאש, שניספתה באסון המטוס באיראן רוג’ה אומידבקאש (בת עשרים ושלוש) היא אחת ממאה שבעים ושישה הנוסעים, בהם חמישים ושבעה מקנדה, שנספו בהתרסקות המטוס הנוסעים של חברת התעופה הבינלאומית האוקראינית, שלוש דקות לאחר שהמריא משדה התעופה בטהרן בדרכו לקייב, לפני…

Opera urges “never forget”

photo - The ship’s cabin in Pasazerka (The Passenger), as envisioned by UBC Opera’s creative team. The opera is part of a series of events at the University of British Columbia marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz

The ship’s cabin in Pasazerka (The Passenger), as envisioned by UBC Opera’s creative team. The opera is part of a series of events at the University of British Columbia marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. (photo from…

Searching for a safe harbour

photo - Ben Caplan is narrator and co-creator of Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, which runs Jan. 24-30 at Frederic Wood Theatre, as part of the PuSh festival

Ben Caplan is narrator and co-creator of Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, which runs Jan. 24-30 at Frederic Wood Theatre, as part of the PuSh festival. (photo by Stoo Metz Photography) The 2020 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival opens…

Last Cabaret almost sold out

photo - Joanna Garfinkel is part of the creative team behind the world première production of Berlin: The Last Cabaret, part of the PuSh festival

Joanna Garfinkel is part of the creative team behind the world première production of Berlin: The Last Cabaret, part of the PuSh festival. (photo from the artist) The world première of Berlin: The Last Cabaret, presented at Performance Works Jan.…

Let’s be more Jewish

It’s an inflammatory question. When attacks against Jews occur, as they are in increasing and alarming numbers in North America – including an incident of hateful graffiti at Camp Miriam on Gabriola Island recently – people ask why. Why Jews?…

Cohen’s clay defies gravity

photo - Larry Cohen’s new ceramic exhibition at the Zack Gallery runs until Jan. 25

Larry Cohen’s new ceramic exhibition at the Zack Gallery runs until Jan. 25. (photo by Olga Livshin) Larry Cohen’s new ceramic exhibition at the Zack Gallery is called This and That. The name is symbolic for the artist. His show…