News

Completing the Tanya

photo - Rabbi Binyomin Bitton

Rabbi Binyomin Bitton (photo by Noam Dehan) On Dec. 4, Chabad of Downtown Vancouver, led by Rabbi Binyomin Bitton, held a siyyum, a celebration to mark the conclusion of studying the entire book of Tanya, sometimes called “the Bible of…

Celebrating chai, community

photo - Cynthia Ramsay, publisher of the Jewish Independent

Cynthia Ramsay, publisher of the Jewish Independent. (photo by Alan Katowitz) The JI Chai Celebration on Dec. 6 at the Rothstein Theatre was a sold-out event. The high-achievers and community-minded individuals who won the JI’s 18 Under 36 Awards were…

School bars Chanukah

The chair of Vancouver Board of Education (VBE) and even the provincial minister of education waded in after Jewish students at a Vancouver elementary school went public with concerns that they were being made to feel excluded by exclusively Christian…

Changes in community

photo - Jewish Family Services CEO Richard Fruchter with Karen James, who received the 2017 Naomi Gropper Steiner Visionary Award

Jewish Family Services CEO Richard Fruchter with Karen James, who received the 2017 Naomi Gropper Steiner Visionary Award. (photo from JFS) At Jewish Family Service Agency’s 81st annual general meeting on Nov. 29, Richard Fruchter, chief executive officer, announced that…

Kollel launches WeLearn

photo - Rabbi Simon Jacobson gives a lecture during a recent Kollel Shabbaton

Rabbi Simon Jacobson gives a lecture during a recent Kollel Shabbaton. (photo from Kollel) In an effort to direct Vancouver’s Jewish consciousness from an “I” culture to a “we” culture, Ohel Ya’akov Community Kollel has launched WeLearn, expanding the Kollel’s…

Camp’s benefits

photo - Camp allows youth to learn meet new people

Camp allows youth to learn meet new people. (photo from campmiriam.org) There is something special about camps. Transporting kids out of their customary environments into something that is at least somewhat foreign is a great stimulus to change. New people and…

קשה להאמין חלק ראשון

photo - It is hard to believe that Edith and Michael Simms, the owners of the legendary cafe Chizkiek, have passed away

קשה להאמין שאדית ומייקל סימס בעלי הקפה המיתולגי צ’יזקייק הלכו לעולמם. (צילום: רוני רחמני) בתאריך ה-17פברואר 2005 עזבתי את תל אביב ועברתי לגור בוונקובר. לפני שעזבתי מסר לי אבי טלפון של זוג מבוגרים מוונקובר שהוא ואימי הכירו באמצעות חברים. הוא…

Storeys is now officially open

photo - Cutting the ribbon at the official opening of Storeys on Dec. 1

Cutting the ribbon at the official opening of Storeys on Dec. 1. (photo from Shelley Karrel) “Those involved in Storeys feel like a family,” said Brenda Plant, executive director of Turning Point Housing Society, speaking at the opening gala of the…

Publisher’s welcome

photo - Cynthia Ramsay (in 2017)

Cynthia Ramsay (in 2017). (photo by Lianne Cohen) When we decided to have a celebration marking 18 years since the beginning of the latest chapter of the Jewish Independent’s nearly-nine-decade history, it made perfect sense to focus on the future…