Category Local

Creating a new home

photo - Khalid Aziz

Khalid Aziz (photo from Khalid Aziz) Khalid Aziz got out of Afghanistan about six weeks before the government fell. Eighteen months later, he has a job here at a local café/bakery and works part-time with a local advisory group on…

Tikva gets new building

photo - Al and Lola Roadburg

Al and Lola Roadburg (photo from Tikva Housing) With the help of a $10 million donation from the Al Roadburg Foundation, a four-storey apartment building has been purchased that will allow Tikva Housing Society to offer more affordable housing in…

Holocaust by bullets

The harrowing history of Ukraine’s past was recounted recently in the annual lecture honouring Rudolf Vrba, the late Vancouver scientist whose 1944 escape from Auschwitz brought the most concrete proof of the Nazi “Final Solution” to the world. Dr. Nataliia…

Time of change at the Peretz

photo - “I like to dabble in things, I like to learn about things, and I think that’s where Peretz really shines,” says Maggie Karpilovski, executive director of the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture

“I like to dabble in things, I like to learn about things, and I think that’s where Peretz really shines,” says Maggie Karpilovski, executive director of the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture. (photo from Peretz Centre) At 78, the…

Survivor breaks his silence

photo - Emerich Klein speaks to a student following his recent talk at King David High School

Emerich Klein speaks to a student following his recent talk at King David High School. (photo from KDHS) For decades, Emerich Klein kept his story of survival during the Holocaust to himself. While raising two children in Vancouver and making…

Burying sacred books

photo - On March 9, community members gathered to bury sacred Jewish texts at Beth Israel Cemetery

On March 9, community members gathered to bury sacred Jewish texts at Beth Israel Cemetery. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay) According to Jewish law, no sacred texts and objects are allowed to be thrown out. This includes anything with God’s name…

On being an Upstander

photo - Pat Johnson, founder of Upstanders Canada

Pat Johnson, founder of Upstanders Canada. (photo from Upstanders Canada) Pat Johnson, the founder of Upstanders Canada, addressed the importance of standing up to antisemitism during a March 5 Zoom lecture organized by Kolot Mayim Reform Temple in Victoria. Upstanders…

Giving for the future

screenshot - Creating an endowment fund with the Jewish Community Foundation is not solely an enterprise taken on by high-net-worth individuals and families

Creating an endowment fund with the Jewish Community Foundation is not solely an enterprise taken on by high-net-worth individuals and families. (screenshot) Established in 1989, the Jewish Community Foundation now has more than 350 endowment funds and $85 million in…

Local heads new office

B’nai Brith Canada has returned to Vancouver. This time with a local office headed by Aron Csaplaros, who was born and raised in Vancouver. B’nai Brith and its now-defunct newspaper the Jewish Tribune last made their presence felt here in…