Category Opinion

Siegel wins travel-writing award for article in JI

Masada Siegel, a journalist and media personality known as “The Fun Girl Correspondent,” has won silver in the Personal Comment category of the 2014 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition. The award, sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation,…

Meeting the future together

The turning of the calendar presents opportunities for reflection and gratitude. We at the Jewish Independent are particularly grateful this year for the support we have experienced as a community institution. And that leads us to offer an expression of…

Highest level of tzedakah

Ever hear of Heifer International? No? Until recently, I’d never heard of it either. I was talking to my grandsons, ages 7 and 3, via the webcam perched atop my computer screen. The boys were telling me about their Shabbat…

Time for a personal Recharge!

Henry David Thoreau once offered this now-famous quote; “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” I’m pretty sure we were all sold that line by one of our high school teachers on graduation…

The elite aren’t who you think they are

At any given time, but especially in recent weeks when Israel’s conflict with Hamas has been front-page news, a perusal of the comments under any story involving Jews almost inevitably devolves into some variation on the theme of Jewish control.…

U.S. has many other priorities

It turns out Fidel Castro is still alive and making as much sense as ever. In an article in Cuban state media a few days ago, the former president ranted against the United States, Israel and NATO, the latter of…

Keys to healthy marriage

Last month marked my 15th wedding anniversary. Every year has felt significant, but 15 has a somewhat mystical overlay. The Hebrew equivalent for 15 would normally contain two of the four letters of the tetragram spelling God’s name (yud and…

Fill your (ice) bucket!

I recently returned from Detroit, Mich., where I was the Team Vancouver-Galil Delegation Head at the JCC Maccabi Games (shameless plug: www.jccmaccabigames.org). While there with my 22 teen athletes and artist, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was growing momentum faster…

Talking about Israel

In British Columbia, this summer has been among the finest in living memory. Yet, for Jewish British Columbians and for all those watching events around the world right now, the summer has brought a very dark cloud. It has not…