{"id":33002,"date":"2019-07-19T03:43:45","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T10:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=33002"},"modified":"2019-07-18T23:40:36","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T06:40:36","slug":"jessies-order-of-canada-korczak-rockowers-federation-vhec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/07\/19\/jessies-order-of-canada-korczak-rockowers-federation-vhec\/","title":{"rendered":"Jessies, Order of Canada, Korczak, Rockowers, Federation & VHEC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Warren Kimmel won a Jessie Award for his portrayal of the title character in the Snapshots Collective\u2019s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street<\/em>. (photo from Snapshots Collective)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The 37th annual Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards were held on July 15 at Bard on the Beach\u2019s BMO Mainstage in Vanier Park. Fifty theatrical productions were nominated from last year\u2019s theatre season.<\/p>\n

In the small theatre category, the Snapshots Collective\u2019s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street<\/em>, which included several Jewish community members in its creative team, garnered eight nominations: director Chris Adams and costume designer Emily Fraser were acknowledged, along with the outstanding performances by Jewish community member Warren Kimmel, Colleen Winton, Oliver Castillo and Jonathan Winsby, and the production as a whole for its quality and innovation. In the end, the show won four Jessies, for the performances of Kimmel, Winton and Castillo, as well as nabbing the award for outstanding musical production.<\/p>\n

Jewish community member Itai Erdal won the award for outstanding lighting design category for his work in Arts Club Theatre Company\u2019s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time<\/em>. Erdal was also nominated for his lighting in Th\u00e9\u00e2tre la Seizi\u00e8me\u2019s Le Soulier<\/em>.<\/p>\n

At the July 15 ceremony, community member David Diamond received the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance Career Achievement Award.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit jessieawards.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

On June 27, 2019, Governor General of Canada Julie Payette announced this year\u2019s appointments to the Order of Canada, including, as officers, two local Jewish community members: Gordon Diamond, for \u201chis steadfast leadership in business and for his philanthropic support for causes related to health care, education and social services,\u201d and Dr. Peter Suedfeld, for \u201chis groundbreaking research on the psychological impacts of extreme environments and stressors on human behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

On June 18, 2019, at Government House in Victoria, B.C., the Janusz Korczak Medal was awarded to Ted Hughes, OC, and Helen Hughes, OC, while the Janusz Korczak Statuette was awarded to Irwin Elman, the past advocate for children and youth of Ontario. The awards were bestowed in recognition of caring for children in the spirit of Dr. Janusz Korczak.<\/p>\n

The ceremony started with welcoming remarks by the event\u2019s host, Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin, and Holocaust survivor and writer Lillian Boraks-Nemetz spoke about Korczak, with a personal touch. The awards were presented jointly by Jennifer Charlesworth, B.C. representative for children and youth, and Jerry Nussbaum, president of the Janusz Korczak Association of Canada. And the event was emceed by Jerymy Brownridge, private secretary to the lieutenant governor and executive director of Government House.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

The Jewish Independent <\/em>won two American Jewish Press Association Simon Rockower Awards for excellence in Jewish journalism this year (for work published in 2018). The awards were presented at the 38th annual AJPA banquet, held in conjunction with the association\u2019s annual conference in St. Louis, Mo., June 23-26.<\/p>\n

Bruce Brown\u2019s \u201cThe draft: a dad reflects<\/a>\u201d \u2013 in which he shares his experience of sending his son off to serve in the Israeli Air Force \u2013 placed first in the personal essay category for its circulation class.<\/p>\n

The JI<\/em>\u2019s editorial board \u2013 Pat Johnson, Basya Laye and Cynthia Ramsay \u2013 took second place in the editorial writing category for its circulation group. The submission, which included the editorials \u201cHolocaust education needed<\/a>,\u201d \u201cImpacts of nation-state<\/a>\u201d and \u201cWhat is anti-Zionism?<\/a>\u201d elicited the following comment from the Rockower judges: \u201cRiveting and well-explained editorials on anti-Zionism, the identity of Israel as a nation-state, and a local controversy involving Holocaust education.\u201d<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Ambassador Nimrod Barkan at Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver\u2019s annual general meeting on June 18.\u00a0(photo from facebook.com\/pg\/jewishvancouver<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver\u2019s annual general meeting on June 18 at King David High School, Federation elected two new directors \u2013 Karen Levitt and Melanie Samuels \u2013 and the board appointed a new executive. While Karen James has completed her term as board chair, she remains on the board as immediate past chair. Alex Cristall takes over as chair, Penny Gurstein is vice-chair, Bruce Cohen is secretary and Jim Crooks is treasurer.<\/p>\n

At the AGM, several honours were bestowed: Stephen Gaerber was the recipient of the Arthur Fouks Award, Megan Laskin the Elaine Charkow Award and Sam Heller the Young Leadership Award. Tribute was also paid to James; as well as Jason Murray, outgoing chair of CIJA\u2019s local partnership council; Richard Fruchter, chief executive officer of Jewish Family Services; Rabbi Noam Abramchik and Rabbi Aaron Kamin, rosh yeshivah of Pacific Torah Institute; and Cathy Lowenstein, head of school at Vancouver Talmud Torah. Ambassador Nimrod Barkan attended the AGM as part of his last visit to Vancouver before he completes his term as Israel\u2019s ambassador to Canada.<\/p>\n

Federation thanks the directors who came off the board \u2013 Eric Bulmash, Bryan Hack, Rozanne Kipnes and Laskin \u2013 for their dedication to community and that they chose to share their time and talents with Federation. In Bulmash\u2019s case, he will continue to contribute, but in a different capacity, as he is Federation\u2019s new vice-president, operations.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

At its annual general meeting on June 19, the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre announced the two winners of the Kron Sigal Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education. The VHEC also inducted two new recipients of the Life Fellows designation.<\/p>\n

The designation of Life Fellow recognizes outstanding dedication and engagement with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre Society through long-term involvement and significant contributions to the organization\u2019s programs and mandate. This year, VHEC is delighted to have two recipients, Wendy and Ron Stuart, in recognition of their longstanding contributions as artistic directors of the VHEC\u2019s community-wide Yom Hashoah commemoration.<\/p>\n

Each year, the VHEC presents the Meyer and Gita Kron and Ruth Kron Sigal Award to a B.C. elementary or secondary teacher who has shown a remarkable commitment to teaching students about the Holocaust and its important lessons. This year\u2019s recipients are Nicola Colhoun and Dr. Christine Paget from West Vancouver Secondary School.<\/p>\n

In their remarks, Colhoun and Paget shared, \u201cAs social studies teachers … we are tasked with the lofty goal of having students care about what has come before them to shape the world they live in now…. Through the testimonies of survivors, the past becomes tangible, it becomes human, and it becomes relevant to students…. So many of our students come away from the Holocaust Symposium saying things like, \u2018I get it now.\u2019 \u2018I didn\u2019t realize, but now I understand.\u2019 They understand why the history of the Holocaust matters. And they also understand why they need to speak up for inclusion, and stand against racism and persecution of any kind, from the school hallways to the hallways of power.\u201d<\/p>\n

The VHEC\u2019s executive is Philip Levinson, president; Corinne Zimmerman, vice-president; Marcus Brandt, second vice-president; Joshua Sorin, treasurer; Al Szajman, secretary; and Ed Lewin, past president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warren Kimmel won a Jessie Award for his portrayal of the title character in the Snapshots Collective\u2019s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. (photo from Snapshots Collective) The 37th annual Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards were held on July 15 at Bard on the Beach\u2019s BMO Mainstage in Vanier Park. Fifty theatrical productions were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4021,9188,7030,5349,3477,7285,3649,6531,9187,9190,9189,9191,4022,8397,7685,9192,5365,6208,597,2364,1699,1719,329],"class_list":["post-33002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-ajpa","tag-christine-paget","tag-gordon-diamond","tag-itai-erdal","tag-janusz-korczak-association","tag-jessie-awards","tag-jewish-federation","tag-journalism","tag-kron-sigal-award","tag-megan-laskin","tag-nicola-colhoun","tag-peter-suedfeld","tag-rockower","tag-ron-stuart","tag-sam-heller","tag-snapshots-collective","tag-stephen-gaerber","tag-theatre","tag-vancouver-holocaust-education-centre","tag-vhec","tag-warren-kimmel","tag-wendy-bross-stuart","tag-yom-hashoah"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}