Category Books

Unique book group

book cover - The next novel up for discussion at the Jewish-Muslim women’s book group is The Red Tent

The next novel up for discussion at the Jewish-Muslim women’s book group is The Red Tent. One Sunday in July led to several new experiences for yours truly, a 23-year-old Jew living on Vancouver’s North Shore. For starters, it was…

Sharing Muller’s table

bok cover - Our Table is a beautiful hostess gift for that special occasion or that friend who loves cooking and never tires of inspiring culinary reads

Our Table is a beautiful hostess gift for that special occasion or that friend who loves cooking and never tires of inspiring culinary reads. There are cookbooks you whip out of your kitchen cupboard 45 minutes before dinner in search…

Scholar talks at Peretz

photo - Prof. Ester Reiter, author of A Future Without Hate or Need, points to the U.S. election as a warning that the issues the Canadian Jewish left dealt with are as timely as ever

Prof. Ester Reiter, author of A Future Without Hate or Need, points to the U.S. election as a warning that the issues the Canadian Jewish left dealt with are as timely as ever. (photo from Ester Reiter) On Dec. 1,…

Acoca launches book here

book cover - Rabbi Ilan Acoca has published his first book, The Sephardic Book of Why

Rabbi Ilan Acoca has published his first book, The Sephardic Book of Why (Hadassa Word Press, 2016). Why is a set of Sephardi tefillin different from an Ashkenazi pair? Why do Sephardim laugh during Havdalah, after reciting the blessing over the…

Meditating mindfully

Or Shalom is hosting one of the leading innovators in the field of Jewish meditation next weekend – Rabbi Jeff Roth of the Awakened Heart Project will lead a half-day retreat at the synagogue on Dec. 4. Roth, who has…

Yiddish food’s long history

book cover - Michael Wex, author of Rhapsody in Schmaltz, will close the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival on Dec. 1

Michael Wex, author of Rhapsody in Schmaltz (St. Martin’s Press, 2016), will close the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival on Dec. 1. “Heavy, unsubtle and, once it emerged from Eastern Europe, redolent of an elsewhere that nobody missed, the…

Best books for children

image - The top three picks of B.C. teachers for elementary school students

The top three picks of B.C. teachers for elementary school students. As part of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation’s 100th anniversary, the BCTF encouraged members to recommend their favorite kids books to celebrate literacy and lifelong learning. It asked teachers: “What are…

Israel’s complexities

Noa Baum, one of the presenters at this year’s Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival, is a professional storyteller who, in recent years, has dedicated herself to promoting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. She has taken a long road to…

What made your list?

photo - Robin Esrock contemplating ancient wonders in Turkey

Robin Esrock contemplating ancient wonders in Turkey. (photo by Paul Vance/EWM) Read about Robin Esrock’s visit to a fountain of youth in Colombia, his rail journey across Siberia, his diving lessons in Papua New Guinea. Esrock has traveled to more…

Mixing of cultures, religions

photo - Helen Kim and Noah Leavitt, authors of JewAsian, will be at the Jewish Book Festival on Nov. 28

Helen Kim and Noah Leavitt, authors of JewAsian, will be at the Jewish Book Festival on Nov. 28. (photo by Matthew Zimmerman Banderas) The recently published book JewAsian: Race, Religion and Identity for America’s Newest Jews by Helen Kim and…