Category Arts & Culture

Looking at life after boxing

photo - Aleks Paunovic, left, and Ben Ratner in scene from the short film Ganjy, which Ratner hopes one day to develop into a feature

Aleks Paunovic, left, and Ben Ratner in scene from the short film Ganjy, which Ratner hopes one day to develop into a feature. (photo from Ben Ratner) Vancouver Jewish community member Ben Ratner steps back into his acting boots for…

Help Passion to Israel

photo - Dr. Peter Gary discusses A 20th Century Passion, which is set to première in Jerusalem Oct. 17, in a documentary-in-the-making by Hilary Pryor and David Malysheff

Dr. Peter Gary discusses A 20th Century Passion, which is set to première in Jerusalem Oct. 17, in a documentary-in-the-making by Hilary Pryor and David Malysheff. (screenshot from a20thcenturypassion.org/documentary) For most of his life, Dr. Peter Gary never spoke of…

Changing face of libraries

photo - Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library librarian Helen Pinsky, left, and master’s student Alisa Lazear, who is working on the library’s audiobooks collection

Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library librarian Helen Pinsky, left, and master’s student Alisa Lazear, who is working on the library’s audiobooks collection. (photo by Olga Livshin) In past centuries, reading aloud was an integral part of family life. People gathered…

Love your child as they are

photo - The Swirsky family. Jackie Swirsky has written a children’s book, Be Yourself, which features illustrations by her eldest child, Jacob, and her sister-in-law

The Swirsky family. Jackie Swirsky has written a children’s book, Be Yourself, which features illustrations by her eldest child, Jacob, and her sister-in-law. (photo from Jackie Swirsky) Maybe it’s because I’m an academic, but I tend to gravitate to categories,…

Milken launches site

image - This two-album anthology was created to celebrate the launch of the Milken Archive’s new website. It features a sample track from each of the archive’s 20 thematic volumes

This two-album anthology was created to celebrate the launch of the Milken Archive’s new website. It features a sample track from each of the archive’s 20 thematic volumes. The Milken Archive of Jewish Music: The American Experience has launched a…

Saga of hunting Nazis

photo - Andrew Nagorski will talk at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre on Nov. 29, as part of the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival

Andrew Nagorski will talk at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre on Nov. 29, as part of the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival. (photo by Andrew Rudakov) The night before the legendary operation that captured Adolf Eichmann, Isser Harel, the…

Should God be put second?

photo - For Donniel Hartman, putting God second is a way of maintaining a religious life and faith in God, but without God undermining our responsibility to our fellow human beings

For Donniel Hartman, putting God second is a way of maintaining a religious life and faith in God, but without God undermining our responsibility to our fellow human beings. (photo from Donniel Hartman) Donniel Hartman, an Orthodox rabbi and president…

Did Franz Kafka have a son?

book cover - Kafka’s Son cropped

Before you begin reading Curt Leviant’s latest novel, Kafka’s Son (Dzanc Books, 2016), you are confronted with a curious bit of information. There are a dozen quotes from French reviews before the title page. Why? Because the book first appeared…

From cardboard to folktales

book cover - What to do with a Box cropped

Books can take you to the most captivating places. Not always happy places, but places worth exploring, places where the people, environment, challenges and culture are different. A place you can have adventures, learn from what has happened to others…

Quirky fiction meets history

book cover - Fever at Dawn cropped

Two quirky books. Both historically based, both written with humor, both dark and light. But there the similarities end. The quiet and quirky Fever at Dawn by Péter Gárdos is based on letters his parents sent to each other immediately…