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Next-gen orthotic wins

Henry Chodos, a Grade 6 student from Vancouver Talmud Torah, won ADI’s sixth annual Make the Change Challenge and received the $1,000 grand prize. (photo from ADI)

In its sixth year, ADI’s Make the Change Challenge STEM accessible design contest drew more than 379 entries from students across North America – and Vancouver Talmud Torah sixth grader Henry Chodos won the contest’s $1,000 grand prize.

Chodos’s award-winning vision is a lightweight and slim-fitting orthopedic brace that automatically adjusts to provide users with rigidity and flexibility as needed.

Having struggled for years with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), a rare autoimmune disorder that causes muscular weakness and sensory loss in the limbs, Chodos set out to help himself and others by designing NeuroStride, an orthotic with built-in micro sensors that would intuitively correct gait irregularities and allow users to make adjustments via an easy-to-use app, with no medical professional required.

The Make the Change Challenge is run by ADI (adi-israel.org), Israel’s network of specialized rehabilitative care for those touched by and living with disability, to mark Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month. The contest promotes “selfless STEM” (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and encourages students to hack the modern world to help people with disabilities overcome the challenges that hinder their independence and inclusion.

Instead of developing prototypes, entrants were asked to prepare compelling presentations that clearly explain how their solutions would solve the persistent accessibility issues they chose to tackle. In his contest submission, Chodos, who wears braces 24 hours a day, noted that the orthotics currently available are very uncomfortable, take a long time to mold to one’s body, don’t allow for growth and are prohibitively expensive. What’s more, they spotlight his condition and keep him from doing the things he loves.

poster - Henry Chodos’s NeuroStride took ADI’s top prize — Henry Chodos’s NeuroStride took ADI’s top prize. (image from ADI)

“When my CIPD flares up, I can’t ride or play basketball with my friends, and I can never sit on the ground in class or during assemblies, because I can’t stand back up in my braces,” he explained. “I don’t like feeling different, and I wanted to create an orthotic that would provide me and others living with CIPD, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida and other conditions with the support we need, just without all of the unwanted strain and attention.”

Upon reading Chodos’s presentation, the contest’s judges – which included members of ADI’s professional staff, innovation journalists and specialists in the field of accessible design – were overwhelmed by the young inventor’s maturity, creativity and attention to detail, and inspired by his desire to draw from his own experiences to change the world.

“To be honest, Henry’s presentation left us speechless. We work so hard promoting our ADI Bechinuch disability inclusion programming and helping students develop an empathetic worldview, but Henry flipped the script and became our teacher. His life experience has molded a passionate and compassionate educator and innovator, and he put on a masterclass in perseverance, perspective and vision throughout this competition,” said ADI’s North American director of advancement . “We are thrilled that we were able to provide Henry with a stage upon which to shine, and we truly believe that his brilliant design has the potential to become a reality and make the world a kinder and more accessible place.”

Nearly 50 Jewish schools across North America – including many affiliated with JNF-USA – used the ADI Bechinuch programming last year, employing the in-class activities and disability simulations, virtual tours and STEM contest to encourage the next generation of Jewish leaders to see the world through the eyes of others.

As February ended, ADI’s panel of experts met with the contest’s top five finalists, their parents and their teachers via Zoom to discuss the entries in greater detail. Following some discussion, the proceedings concluded with Chodos being crowned the contest winner and presented with the $1,000 grand prize, a gift from the Avraham and Esther Klein Young Entrepreneurs Fund.

The “Final 5” also included entries from students at the Ramaz School in New York, NY; Brauser Maimonides Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Hochberg Lower School (Posnack East) in Hallandale, Fla.; and the Bornblum Community School in Memphis, Tenn.

To learn more about ADI and to donate, visit adi-israel.org.

– Courtesy ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran

Tapping into their creativity

Sidi Schaffer (standing) has been leading an art class at the Weinberg Residence since last October. (photo by Vanessa Trester)

Sidi Schaffer, a well-known Vancouver artist and art teacher, moved to the Weinberg Residence last August. “My husband passed away in June, and I didn’t want to be alone in our big house,” she told the Independent. “Here, I’m not alone.”

No matter where she lives, Schaffer is an artist at heart, and her art always finds an outlet. In this case, it is a class for Weinberg residents.

“I approached Vanessa [Trester, manager of the Weinberg Residence], and suggested I start an art class,” Schaffer said. “I’ve been an art teacher for decades. I have so much to share with my students.”

Trester agreed with the suggestion and Schaffer’s sessions started last October.

“The official name of the class is Fun Exploring Art with Sidi Schaffer,” said Trester. “Besides the opportunity to learn about art and artists, the students can tap into their creativity with Sidi’s direction. The class provides the residents with joy, lifts their spirits, and brings connectivity through their shared stories.”

Participation in the Monday classes fluctuates between eight and 12 people. “Not everyone can come all the time,” said Schaffer. “The residents here are not young. Someone has a headache or a doctor’s appointment, or their family is visiting. But people come when they can. We put on classical music in the background. I bring some art supplies – I have a lot of brushes and paper and paints – plus what Vanessa bought, and we have fun. As long as my students are happy, I’m happy.”

Her class makes many attendees happy. One of them, Helen Sankoff, told the Independent: “I don’t have any prior experience creating art, but I used to knit, do needlepoint and make jewelry as a hobby. Now, I attend Sidi’s class because she is a wonderful artist and teacher. She introduces us to many different artists and ways of painting, and I find her art class very relaxing. We have classical music playing in the background, and it’s my favourite time of the week.”

As an experienced teacher, Schaffer doesn’t set impossible goals for herself or her students. “I’m not trying to teach them deep painting techniques,” she said. “They don’t have to create masterpieces. I’m trying to show them how to express themselves through artistic means. Creating art is not a focus in this class, it is a side benefit. The focus is to enjoy it.”

She enjoys it too and uses famous artists and art history as inspiration. Her artistic education is extensive: first in her native Romania, then in Israel and, finally, in Canada. She has lived, studied and worked in all three countries.

Schaffer shares her love for various art movements with her students.

“We started with Van Gogh. I brought Van Gogh’s reproductions to the class, and some sunflowers,” she said. “First, I told them about Van Gogh, his life and his art. Then, I set up the sunflowers and the students painted them.”

From Van Gogh, she proceeded to Paul Cézanne. “He painted landscapes and still life, and I brought apples to the class to paint,” said Schaffer.

One class was an introduction to Claude Monet and his waterlilies. “I had some photos, and some of the students saw those paintings when they visited Paris years ago,” she shared.

After French impressionists, Schaffer decided it was time for Canadian art, particularly the Group of Seven. But, she started with Ted Harrison and his Northern Lights, bringing in his books. She had her students imitate his style.

“I want us to have a field trip to the Vancouver Art Gallery, to see Emily Carr’s paintings. It will probably happen as soon as we have some volunteers available,” she said.

In the meantime, Schaffer has switched to Australian aboriginal art, where every image is comprised of dots. “It is amazing what can be done in this technique,” she said. “It is very suitable to my students, an easy technique, as each one of them is over 80 years old. Some suffer from arthritis and have trouble holding a brush.”

One participant’s paintings “are similar to each other, no matter which artist I tell them about,” said Schaffer, but they enjoy the class, “and that is the most important outcome.”

Schaffer’s classes are eclectic, covering a variety of styles, materials and methods. In one class, she concentrated on First Nations artist Daphne Odjig. Another time, she talked about avant-garde artist Georgia O’Keeffe. She has focused on the importance of perspective in painting.

“I want to have a class about painting body and face. I want to buy some clay for a sculpture class and we’ll have a mask-painting class for Purim,” she said before the holiday. “I push my students not to be realistic – to express their inner world, not copy the street outside. Art should be playful.”

One of her favourite techniques is collage that uses dry flowers and leaves. “They are so beautiful, so transparent, like visual poetry,” said Schaffer, who has albums of material. “I’ve always wanted to preserve their beauty, have done it since childhood. The designs on each leaf are unique. Some of them remind me of a place or a time.”

Schaffer has “no end of ideas for new classes.”

“Other artists – Chagall, Picasso – and other techniques,” she said. “I want to get some old magazines and art books to cut for collages. Perhaps the Waldman Library has some for sale. We’ll have fun in that class.”

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].

The holidays à la JACS

Rabbi Joshua Corber leads JACS’s Purim gathering at Omnitsky Kosher on March 1. (photo from JACS)

JACS’s holiday programming initiative kicked off with Purim at JACS, held at Omnitsky Kosher March 1. While Jewish Addiction Community Services’ focus is on families and individuals, the initiative, which is sponsored by the Betty Averbach Foundation, shifts the emphasis toward community reach. By using major Jewish holidays as entry points, it aims to reduce stigma, build awareness and create meaningful pathways for individuals who would not otherwise engage with addiction-support services. Jewish ritual, learning, recovery-aligned reflection and opportunities for social connection are offered in an inclusive setting.

“Our goal is to change Jewish holidays from potentially isolating or triggering experiences into powerful sources of dignity, belonging and spiritual empowerment,” said Rabbi Joshua Corber, director of JACS.

An alcohol-free event – which is especially important on Purim, notorious for excessive drinking – Purim at JACS combined a traditional meal with a deep dive into the Megillat Esther. The purpose was to discover the recovery wisdom encoded in the story of Purim. Corber led the event and focused on a commentary on Esther known as the Mechir Yayin.

Penned by the Rema, Rabbi Mosher Isserles (Krakow, 1530-1572), the Mechir Yayin offers a unique interpretation of the story as an allegory for “the days of one’s life from youth until old age.” It focuses on the human struggle with one’s emotions and their material cravings, which evolve into the pursuit of morality and wisdom. This narrative tracks well with the trajectory of recovery, not only from substance abuse, but from many behavioural and emotional disorders as well.

“The Rema is known mainly for his important halakhic commentary on Shulchan Arukh. In the Torah world, he’s a pretty big deal. So, the fact he quietly wrote such a profound commentary on Esther is wild,” Corber said. “You will never see the Megillah the same way after learning it…. Addiction is a spiritual disease, and these events cement my theory that the spiritual lessons of Judaism and the spiritual messages of recovery are one and the same.”

Many who attended Purim at JACS reported being profoundly impacted by the Rema’s message; others felt relief at having found a supportive space for themselves within the Jewish community. To connect with JACS, go to jacsvancouver.com or call 604-416-4164.

– Courtesy JACS

Garden City of Tel Aviv

Liebling Haus’s exhibit Life, Plant, City: 100 Years of Geddes’ Plan for Tel Aviv’s Garden City, which documents how Sir Patrick Geddes’ vision continues to shape the city’s urban fabric, includes multidisciplinary works by dozens of artists (photo by Yael Schmidt / Liebling Haus)

On April 11, 1909, 60 families gathered on the beach north of Jaffa to draw lots for the parcelization of the sand dunes they had purchased north of the ancient port. This moment in Israel’s history has been much mythologized, but one thing is clear – those garden suburb pioneers were clueless about urban planning. They turned their backs on the site’s most notable feature – its iconic Mediterranean beach.

The village that the founders initially named Ahuzat Bayit (Homestead), now called Tel Aviv, grew haphazardly, house by house, with an interruption during the First World War, when the Ottoman Turks expelled the newly established town’s Jews. In 1921, following the arrival of the British during the war and the replacement of their military rule with a civil administration, the growing suburb was granted township status separate from the neighbouring Arab-majority city of Jaffa.

It became clear that the township’s slapdash growth needed to be regulated. Into this planning chaos stepped Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932), a Scottish-born polymath who was at once a biologist, sociologist, landscape theorist and pioneering urban planner. The 62-page plan for Tel Aviv that he drew up a century ago remains among the most important documents in the history of the city. Liebling Haus – an architectural and cultural centre located in downtown Tel Aviv – recently opened the exhibit Life, Plant, City: 100 Years of Geddes’ Plan for Tel Aviv’s Garden City. It documents how Geddes’ vision continues to shape the city’s urban fabric, featuring not only archival materials but multidisciplinary works by dozens of artists and other contemporary interpretations of Geddes’ ideas and reflections on the city’s future.

photo - Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) was a Scottish-born polymath who was a biologist, sociologist, landscape theorist and pioneering urban planner — Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) was a Scottish-born polymath who was a biologist, sociologist, landscape theorist and pioneering urban planner. (photo from shbt.org.uk/knowledge)

In 1925, Geddes – who earned a reputation for his urban planning in 18 cities in British India – was invited by Tel Aviv’s mukhtar, Meir Dizengoff, to prepare the first master plan to guide the town’s growth. (Tel Aviv achieved city status in 1934.)

Geddes believed that cities were living organisms, shaped by the interplay of nature, society and culture. This holistic approach – unusual for its time – made him particularly attractive to Zionist leaders, who envisioned Tel Aviv as both a future-facing modern metropolis and a cultural project rooted in Jewish history.

His plan was deeply influenced by the Garden City movement, but Geddes adapted it to the climate and social context of the Levant. It emphasized shaded streets to mitigate the Mediterranean heat, wide boulevards that encouraged airflow and social life, and parks and squares as communal anchors. Human-scale residential blocks were arranged around shared green spaces and courtyards.

Geddes’ plan expanded Tel Aviv north from its early neighbourhoods to the Yarkon River. It was delineated by the Mediterranean Sea to the west and what is now Ibn Gabirol Street to the east. Into this flat and featureless space, Geddes laid out a skein of streets with a clear hierarchy. Main north-south and east-west arteries allowed for speedy movement across the city. Secondary streets were narrower and designed for local circulation. Small residential lanes fostered neighbourhood intimacy. The goal was to create a walkable city that balanced efficiency with livability.

photo - On display at Liebling Haus: One of the artworks inspired by Sir Patrick Geddes’ century-old plan for Tel Aviv — On display at Liebling Haus: One of the artworks inspired by Sir Patrick Geddes’ century-old plan for Tel Aviv. (photo by Yael Schmidt / Liebling Haus)

The plan also contained what later scholars have identified as anarchist or cooperative elements. It emphasized worker-led housing blocs and resisted speculative land practices. These ideas resonated with the social and economic conditions of Tel Aviv in the 1920s and 1930s, when workers wanted architecture that reflected their egalitarian values.

Although Geddes’ plan was not executed in its entirety, its core principles shaped the development of the White City, which was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. By the 1930s, Tel Aviv had some 4,000 white Bauhaus-style buildings constructed within the distinctive blocks, boulevards and public gardens Geddes laid out.

Bauhaus was a school of arts, crafts and architecture that operated in Germany from 1919 to 1933. The rise of the Nazi party led to the shuttering of the academy. Some 60,000 Jews left Nazi Germany and Austria for Mandatory Palestine, including architects who didn’t study at the Bauhaus school but were greatly influenced by its style. There, they created a revolutionary, streamlined architectural style that suited the modernist ethos of Zionism.

Tel Aviv’s amalgam of Bauhaus (also called International Style) buildings arose from an accident of historical coincidence: first came Geddes’ town plan; then the wave of mass aliyah triggered by the Nazis’ ascent to power in 1933, which triggered an urgent demand for housing; and, thirdly, the International Style’s lack of expensive decorative features made the cost of construction relatively low. No decorative tiles or ornamental plasterwork meant cheaper construction that could be executed by less-specialized craftsmen.

For the Yekke newcomers, many of whom had to leave significant assets behind, cheaper housing that didn’t sacrifice style was a major draw. The streamlined design with porthole windows, curved walls and balconies was a snub to the values of Central Europe, which the newcomers had barely escaped.

Liebling Haus, built in 1936, is an example of this architectural era. While not designed by Geddes, it manifests the urban environment his plan envisioned. The house’s clean lines, functional design and integration with the surrounding streetscape reflect the synergy between Geddes’ urbanism and the architectural modernism that followed. The Life, Plant, City exhibit runs to May 31.

Gil Zohar is a journalist and tour guide based in Jerusalem.

Sanctuary garden benefits

Gal Raviv, left, and Prof. Tamir Klein in the plant sanctuary at Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. (photo from Weizmann Institute of Science)

When PhD student Gal Raviv thought of creating a sanctuary garden at the Weizmann Institute of Science, what she had in mind was saving endangered plants. But, after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, the garden became for her a refuge of serenity and strength. “There’s something grounding about plants that keep growing no matter what happens around us. If they can do it, so can we,” she said. “They represent what the land of Israel can produce and, in these difficult times, they symbolize our own roots in this land.”

Raviv came up with the idea of the garden after hearing a lecture on plant conservation at a conference that Prof. Tamir Klein, whose Weizmann lab specializes in tree research, had organized at the institute. In late summer of 2023, they set up the garden in Weizmann’s greenhouses, with full backing from Weizmann’s Institute for Environmental Sustainability.

Raviv’s doctoral research, conducted in Prof. David Margulies’s lab, is unrelated to plants and focuses on molecular aspects of cancer therapy. Nonetheless, she volunteered to tend the garden, getting crucial help from the greenhouse staff and relying on their expertise.

“When people hear about endangered species, they usually think of a toad whose swamp has dried up, or other animals or birds. But at the basis of any ecosystem are plants: they are the very foundation of our existence,” Raviv said.

“Plant diversity supports diverse insects that in turn provide food for birds and animals. When plant species go extinct, their loss can disrupt the integrity of an entire ecosystem,” added Klein.

Of some 2,300 wild plants found in Israel, more than 400 are in danger of extinction, according to the Red Book of Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority. Plant species that are unique to Israel are particularly threatened: there are about 55 such species, and 35 of them are endangered.

“We have a global responsibility to preserve these plants,” Klein said.

The major threat to plants is habitat loss, which in Israel is especially acute along the Mediterranean. Sand dunes and other parts of the coastal plain are home to an unusually large proportion of wild plant species, yet, to the plants’ misfortune, that’s also where humans love to settle. Less than 30% of the pristine coastal sands that used to line the Mediterranean in the early 20th century remained undeveloped by the beginning of the 21st. These sands might disappear altogether if left unprotected.

There are several plant sanctuaries in Israel, but not all have the proper climate to grow coastal plants outdoors, whereas the Weizmann campus, with weather that’s similar to that of the coast, is well suited to this end. Raviv and Klein kept this in mind when preparing a list of plant species for the sanctuary. The final list was compiled in collaboration with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, which also provided seeds.

Now in its third year, Weizmann’s sanctuary garden holds some 20 endangered plants, a number of which are unique to Israel’s coastal plain; others also grow in neighbouring regions. Most are flowering annuals, but there are also perennials, as well as two species of ancient wheat, genetic relatives of today’s crop varieties. These plants are gradually revealing their preferences and personalities to Raviv and the greenhouse staff, while occasionally serving up challenges and surprises.

For example, since the greenhouses have no bees or other natural pollinators, some of the plants bloomed but produced no seeds. “So, I became the bee,” Raviv said.

To help some species, she made adjacent flowers “kiss,” that is, touch in a way that pollen from one flower could get to the stigma, or ovary system, of another – a process known as self-pollination or cross-pollination, depending on whether the two flowers belong to the same plant or to different ones. She did that, for instance, for Erodium subintegrifolium, known as stork’s bill in Europe and heron’s bill in North America.

In other species – such as the perennial Salvia eigii, named for the botanist Alexander Eig – the reproductive organs are too deep inside the flower for the kiss method to work. Raviv came up with a creative solution. She collected whisker hairs shed by her three cats and used them to transfer pollen from one flower to the stigma of another.

Luckily for Raviv, however, most plants in the sanctuary garden manage to pollinate by themselves.

Other challenges now solved include “late bloomers.” Silene modesta, from a genus also known as campion or catchfly – an annual plant that grows in sandy soil on the coast and in the western Negev desert – thrived in the sanctuary garden from the start. However, even though it produced lots of flower buds, these seemed to dry up before getting a chance to bloom.

A plant conservation expert told Raviv to open one of the dried buds to see if it contained seeds. Indeed, it did, which meant that it had bloomed at some point without being caught in the act. So Raviv went to the garden late at night and, sure enough, found the slender Silene in full bloom. Keeping the bud closed after sunrise is the plant’s strategy for reducing water evaporation during the hot hours, while also protecting its flowers from the strong daytime coastal winds.

The discovery prompted Raviv to initiate a research project in which she compares Silene modesta with its non-endangered relative, Silene palaestina. The goal is to uncover the biochemical processes that ensure water conservation in the endangered plant.

In fact, a major goal of plant conservation is to preserve valuable properties that might be lost forever should their carriers disappear. Revealing the mechanisms behind such properties might make it possible to transfer them to other plants to, for example, help them grow in arid conditions or otherwise adapt to the adversities of climate change.

– Courtesy Weizmann Institute of Science

האנטישמיות גואה ביוון

חזרתי מחופשה בת שבוע מיוון ונוכחתי לדעת שגם במדינה ים תיכונית זו האנטישמיות גואה ומורגשת היטב. כיום ישראל ויוון נחשבות למדינות ידידותיות למדי אך מבחינת לפחות חלק מאזרחי יוון, ישראלים ויהודים נחשבים לאויבים לאור ההרג הרב של פלסטינים ברצועת עזה, כתוצאה מאירועי הטבח של השבעה באוקטובר

יחסי יוון וישראל התחממו מאוד מאז השבעה באוקטובר לאור קרע הגדול בין ישראל לטורקיה – שהמאשימה את ישראל בביצוע רצח עם ברצועת עזה. ביוון שלא שוכחים לטורקיה את כיבוש חלק מהאי קפריסין ולכן ברגע שנוצר נתק ביחסי ישראל וטורקיה, היוונים קפצו על המציאה והגבירו את יחסי החברות עם ישראל. לאחר השבעה באוקטובר ראש ממשלת יוון הגיע לביקור סולדירות בישראל, והצהיר אז שהוא מגיע לישראל לא רק כבעל ברית אלה גם כידיד אמת. שיתוף הפעולה ההדוק בין ישראל, יוון וקפריסין כולל הגנה אווירית ואימוני צבא משותפים, וכן גם פרויקטים של אנרגיה. יוון רכשה לאחרונה מערכות הגנה אווירית מהתעשיה האווירית של ישראל תמורת כשלושה מיליארד יורו

למרות קשרי הידידות בין ישראל ליוון האנטישמיות ביוון נגד ישראל מורגשת מאוד וישראלים לא מרגישים בטוח במדינה הים תיכונית. התקריות האנטישמיות הרבות ביוון גרמו לחלק מהישראלים שעברו לגור בה לקום ולעזוב למדינות אחרות. ישראלים הותקפו כאשר הגיעו באוניות ליוון, או ברחובות או באזורי הבילוי השונים. במקביל הפגנות מחאה רבות מצד פלסטינים ותומכיהם התרחשו בחלקי המדינה השונים. המפגינים מתנגדים למדיניות ממשלת יוון של שיתוף פעולה עם ישראל בתחומים שונים

אני ביקרתי ביוון במהלך חודש פברואר שנחשב לעונה שקטה יחסית, כדי להימנע מהחום הכבד והעומס הכבד של תיירים. הסתובבתי באופן חופשי בשתי הערים אתונה והרקליון (שנמצאת באי כרתים). במסגרת סיורי וביחד עם קבוצות מודרכות ראיתי לא מעט כתובות גרפיטי בגנות ישראל, הישראלים והצבא הישראלי – לאור אירועי השבעה באוקטובר. בהרקליון ראיתי באחד הרחובות כתובת בעברית מסביב גדר המקיפה עץ כדלקמן: “אתם הרוצחים לא רצויים כאן”. המדריכה היוונית ביקשה ממני לתרגם זאת עבורה ופניה הראו שהיא הרגישה מאוד לא בנוח כשהבינה במה מדובר

לאור האנטישמיות הקשה ביוון שרת התיירות של המדינה אולגה קפלויאני, אמרה כי יוון היא יעד בטוח, שיוויוני ומכיל עבור כל המבקרים – כולל תיירים מישראל. לדברי השרה יוון לא סובלת אפלייה ולא תקבל התנהגות שפוגעת או מבזה כל אדם. היא הדגישה כי המדינה שלנו הייתה ותישאר יעד בטוח, פתוח ומסביר עבור אזרחי ישראל. לדברי קופלויאני התיירות מהווה גשר של ידידות, שלום והבנה הדתית. הוא ציינה עוד כי משרד התיירות שבראשו היא עומדת פועל כל העת בשיתוף עם משרדים ממשלתיים נוספים במטרה להבטיח שכל מבקר ביוון – ללא קשר למגדר, מוצא או אמונה דתית – ייהנה מביטחון וכבוד. שרת התיירות של יוון אמרה עוד כי האנטישמיות בכל צורה שהיא, נחשבת לדבר דוחה, היא מקוממת ואין לה מקום ביוון, לא בתיירות, ולא בדמוקרטיה של המדינה שלנו. כבוד ואירוח הם ערכים שאינם נתונים למשא ומתן

וכיצד מגיבים ברשת הישראלים על האנטישמיות ביוון: וויתרתי על יוון עד שלא ישתלטו על הזבלים האלה, תחרימו את יוון, אל תסעו לשם ואל תקנו נכסים במדינה ותבזבזו כסף במקום עויין, היוונים לא אוהבים אותנו ורק רוצים את הכסף שלנו, לא להתקרב ליוון בגלל האנטישמיות, תשכחו ממני עד כאשר תשתלטו על המטורפים האלימים אלה, המציאות מגלה כי האנטישמיות ביוון עולה

Hateful messages intensify

The Douglas Park area is being covered with hateful chalk and stickers. (photo by Joshua)

A residential pocket near Vancouver’s Oak Street corridor has become the site of an increasingly bitter battle over political messaging, public space and antisemitism. At the centre of it is one Jewish resident who says his neighbourhood – and his sense of safety – has been upended by a neighbour’s anti-Israel graffiti campaign.

Joshua, who asked that his surname be omitted, said one particular individual began tearing down hostage posters shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. The same individual was filmed tearing posters down in front of a group of community members outside Schara Tzedeck before a commemorative event a year after 10/7.

The Vancouver Police Department’s diversity unit initially advised Joshua to stop putting up pro-Israel or hostage posters and allow the city to “neutralize” the space to de-escalate tensions. He complied for several months, he said, but anti-Israel messages only intensified. He has been in discussions with police since last June; he worries that the situation will escalate as the weather improves.

photo - Over the past six to seven months, chalked and adhesive messages have appeared across sidewalks, utility boxes, crosswalk placards and construction signage. — Over the past six to seven months, chalked and adhesive messages have appeared across sidewalks, utility boxes, crosswalk placards and construction signage. *(photo by Joshua)*

The same individual has become a near-constant presence in the area, waving a Palestinian flag at busy intersections such as Oak and 12th, usually at rush hour and sometimes for hours at a time. According to Joshua, who admits he has done his share of flag-waving as a regular participant at City Hall rallies for Israeli hostages, the anti-Israel activism has gone far beyond flag-waving.

Over the past six to seven months, chalked and adhesive messages have appeared across sidewalks, utility boxes, crosswalk placards and construction signage. While some read “Gaza” or “Free Gaza,” the messaging has grown more aggressive, including “Zionism is terrorism” and “Death to the IDF,” sometimes accompanied by an inverted triangle associated with Hamas imagery and implying terrorist targets.

The most recent messaging, Joshua said, is “Stop Israel Sadistic Cult” and equating the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with Israel – “ICErael.”

Joshua said he has documented the activity extensively, as well as the antisemitic rhetoric on the individual’s social media, and filed numerous 311 complaints with the City of Vancouver. If graffiti appears on city property, the city contracts a third-party removal company. But response times range from 48 hours to more than a week – sometimes longer, Joshua said. In one park, spray-painted slogans remained for more than three weeks before being removed.

Because chalk is temporary and easily reapplied, the individual can rewrite messages almost as soon as they are washed away.

Frustrated by what he sees as municipal inaction on targeted harassment and hate speech, Joshua has purchased an 11-litre backpack sprayer and walks the neighbourhood with water and scrub brushes to remove the chalk.

According to Joshua, the individual leaving the messages has “doxed” at least six area residents, sharing their personal information online, including their images and their licence plates. He posted Joshua’s first and last names and the cross street where he lives, with the comment, “Be sure to say hi and other things if you see him.”

Someone wrote Joshua’s full name on a public sign along with the words “IOF soldier” – IOF meaning “Israeli Occupying Forces” – and he has been accused online and in person of serving in the IDF, which he has not. In one incident, a woman confronted and filmed him at 7 a.m., shouting accusations and telling him, “We know where you live” and calling him an “IOF baby-killer.”

Joshua reported that encounter, as well as the doxing incidents, to police. Officers took a statement but indicated their options were limited, citing freedom of expression, Joshua told the Independent.

Meanwhile, the impact on the neighbourhood is tangible. A local rabbi told him that one Jewish family moved away because their children felt unsafe seeing hostile messages near their home and synagogue.

Joshua has removed his name from his building directory out of concern for his family’s safety. Confrontations and cleanup efforts are framed online as attempts by “Zionists” to silence dissent.

Within the Jewish community, there is debate about how to respond. Some have suggested stopping cleanup efforts in hopes that broader community frustration will grow. Joshua believes a coordinated, multi-block volunteer cleanup effort – involving Jews and non-Jews – is the only way to demonstrate that the issue is about shared civic space, not a private feud. He has set up an online group at facebook.com/groups/cleaningupdouglaspark.

photo - Because chalk is temporary and easily reapplied, the individual can rewrite messages almost as soon as they are washed away — Because chalk is temporary and easily reapplied, the individual can rewrite messages almost as soon as they are washed away. *(photo by Joshua)*

Residents should not have to navigate obscenities and hostile rhetoric on sidewalks and parks, said Joshua, and he questions whether the city would respond differently if racist or homophobic messages appeared in neighbourhoods with significant populations of the targeted communities.

This sort of conflict, in different permutations, is taking place in cities across Canada and worldwide. In Toronto, anti-Israel protesters have routinely set up demonstrations in areas with concentrations of Jewish residents and even marched through residential areas. Many Jews and their allies have repeatedly asked why there do not seem to be consequences for perpetrators of such deliberate harassment and intimidation.

That question was the subject of a Feb. 10 webinar with legal and policing experts, organized by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, titled Why Can’t There Be More Consequences?, which was moderated by Richard Marceau, CIJA’s senior vice-president and general counsel.

Mark Sandler, the chair of the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism, and Rochelle Direnfeld, that organization’s senior criminal counsel, have been delivering educational modules to police, making them aware of tools they have to enforce existing laws. Training for prosecutors is also necessary, Sandler noted.

Law enforcement and justice officials need to be able to recognize antisemitism and how it manifests, said Sandler.

Direnfeld provided examples, noting that average police officers cannot, for example, be expected to understand a sign that appeared at one rally: it read “Israel’s only friend is the Gharqad tree.” This is a reference to a Muslim religious verse about the only tree that would protect Jews from Muslims at the end-times.

Even the nuances of more seemingly straightforward messages – “From the river to the sea,” “Globalize the intifada” and “By any means necessary” – may not be immediately evident to those who are not engaged with the narrative, panelists said.

Sandler said police have been asking for sharper tools and the federal government is responding with Bill C-9. (See jewishindependent.ca/new-bill-targets-hate-crimes.) Panelists noted that existing laws against mischief, intimidation and unlawful assembly should suffice in cases where protesters are blocking roads or crowding into shopping malls.

Hank Idsinga, a retired inspector with the Toronto Police Service, said insufficient staffing can be used as an excuse for inaction, but this is not an appropriate response. “Police need to be prepared for various scenarios,” he said.

On the other hand, said Joseph Neuberger, chair of the Canadian Jewish Law Association, Jewish community members need to know what is and is not acceptable within the bounds of the law. Chanting allegations of genocide is protected speech, he said, whether or not the allegations are false.

Neuberger is enthusiastic about components of C-9 that would criminalize intimidation around and obstruction of cultural and religious spaces. The bill is in committee stage.

The full webinar is available at youtube.com/watch?v=kAj_D0gREIM.

Creating entrepreneurs

Yazamut 360° co-founder and general manager Dana Gavish, left, and Gadi Bahat, an entrepreneur who heads Yazamut’s academic programs. (photos from bgu.ac.il)

Representatives from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s entrepreneurship centre, Yazamut 360°, will be coming to Vancouver in April.

Yazamut – which means entrepreneurship in Hebrew – aims to provide the BGU community with the skills and mentality to excel in any career. It also promotes innovation.

Since its establishment in 2018, Yazamut 360° has seen more than 240 startups and ventures created, had more than 2,000 program participants, fostered an entrepreneurial community of 11,000+ members, and had more than $45 million invested in its companies.

“It was clear to us from the very beginning that, if we’re starting a new entrepreneurship centre at BGU, it needs to be special. We decided to touch very different audiences because entrepreneurship for us is a set of skills, and that set of skills needs to be mastered by everyone,” Dana Gavish, Yazamut’s co-founder and general manager, told the Independent.

“With these different audiences in mind, we went on to develop nine different programs that would match these different audiences and would be the correct ones for entrepreneurship. But the one thing that they all have in common is the idea that you need a learning-by-doing experience.”

Those who enrol in Yazamut are taught such skills as putting together a team, examining problems and solving them, coming up with ideas, conveying messages, presenting in front of a crowd and, on occasion, rejecting a first idea and pursuing another. Yazamut trains participants to move out of their comfort zones towards greater resilience and mental toughness.

“It’s a difficult journey but, when you graduate, you are self-empowered and better educated when you go out to the outer world,” said Gavish, who emphasized that students from across the university are coming to the centre because they see value in what it offers.

“Our graduates really aim high and reach high. We know that they’re hunted today by HR [human resources] specialists from different companies and VCs [venture capitalists]. They’re more daring, and they are employed in wonderful places.”

Among its entrepreneurial offerings, Yazamut features a leaders program that not only teaches entrepreneurship and other skills but forces students to take a fresh look at how they run things, how they manage other people, and how they manage their relationship with failure, said Gadi Bahat, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist with extensive experience in Israel’s tech sector, who heads Yazamut’s academic programs.

“If you want to be a good entrepreneur, it’s not enough that you know how to build a startup. It’s not enough that you know how to measure the right pricing or how to get penetration into the right market,” he said. “You also need to be a different type of person, and that goes into your ability to talk with people. It goes to your ability to present yourself in the right way. It goes to your ability to survive this roller-coaster period. Because, as an entrepreneur, you get a lot of ‘no.’ You get a lot of problems.”

According to Bahat, participants in the program do not come solely from science, engineering and technology backgrounds. Almost half are from other fields, such as medicine and the social sciences. In total, 18 different BGU departments are represented in Yazamut, and half of the participants are women. The startups created, therefore, have sprung from many fields, including medical technology, agriculture and software development.

On April 12, Gavish and some of the entrepreneurs in Yazamut’s leaders program will be in Vancouver for Spark to Startup: Resilience Ignites Leaders. The event will feature the “RBC Lion’s Den,” which will see BGU student entrepreneurs pitching their ventures to a panel of judges and the audience, with a focus on the Negev.

“They will be presenting a potential solution, products and potential markets,” Gavish explained.“It will be a taste for the audience of how we teach entrepreneurship at BGU. The kind of experience these guys get is literally priceless. No other university teaches like it.”

The winning team will receive a monetary prize.

The keynote speaker for the Spark to Startup event will be Saul Singer, an advisor to various companies and nonprofits, who, with Dan Senor, wrote Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle and The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Troubled World. Michael Fugman, with PearTree Canada, will be honoured for his entrepreneurship and leadership, both in work and community. Martin Thibodeau, regional president of RBC British Columbia, and his wife Caroline Desrosiers, a community leader and advocate, are the event’s honorary co-chairs.

For more information, visit bengurion.ca/events/vancouver-events/spark-to-start-up.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Dialing up the perfect thriller

Tyrell Crews and Emily Dallas in Dial M For Murder, mounted by Theatre Calgary in 2025. Crews and Dallas reprise their roles in the Arts Club Theatre Company and Theatre Calgary co-production now playing at the Stanley until March 8. (photo by Trudie Lee for Theatre Calgary)

What do a latch key, a handbag, a compromising letter, two blackmail notes and an unexpected telephone call have in common? They are the primary clues in what is supposed to be the perfect murder – you know, the one you get away with. This is the premise for the Arts Club Theatre Company and Theatre Calgary co-production of Dial M for Murder, now playing at the Stanley.

Frederick Knott’s 1952 play was adapted for cinema early on, with the 1954 thriller starring Grace Kelly and Ray Milland directed by the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. About six ago, playwright Jeffrey Hatcher updated the story to add a contemporary and surprising twist. While the 1950s London setting has been preserved, giving it that quintessential British vibe, the cheating wife’s lover is now a woman – definitely a taboo to audiences of that era. Hatcher has also injected comedic moments and witty bon mots into the script, in contrast to the more noirish original.

This is not a murder mystery where the sleuthing detective ultimately exposes the culprit. In this iteration, we know from the beginning what the plan is, how it is to be executed and by whom – the only question is whether the perpetrator will get away with it.

It all starts when Tony Wendice (Tyrell Crews) discovers that his heiress wife, Margot (Emily Dallas), is having an affair with murder mystery writer Maxine Hadley (Olivia Hutt). Since he married Margot for her money, not love, he has no qualms about doing away with her to inherit her fortune. However, he does not want to do the dirty deed himself, so he blackmails a distant acquaintance from his past, Lesgate (Stafford Perry), to carry out the hit. Unfortunately, the plan backfires. Enter Chief Inspector Hubbard (Shekhar Paleja) of Scotland Yard, who, with Maxine’s assistance, attempts to recreate the murder scene to ferret out the mastermind behind the plot. But will they succeed?

Tony is front and centre of the narrative. At the beginning, he is in full control of the situation, callously planning the murder with painstaking attention to the details. He takes the art of manipulation to new heights. As his plan starts to unravel, we see the layers of his confidence peel away.

Crews commands the role of Tony and Perry ably portrays Lesgate’s nervousness and angst in confronting Margot with the news that he is about to kill her. Dallas, who portrays Margot in a rather subdued fashion initially, is sublime in her portrayal of the hunted housewife, taking the audience on a melodramatic roller-coaster ride of emotions. Flamboyant Hutt infuses the character of Maxine with intelligence, charm and sleek sophistication, and comes across as the smartest person in the room.

It is a testament to the abilities of these actors that such a small cast can pull off the highs and lows of this psychological thriller. They are assisted in this feat by a talented design team, including Jewish community members Itai Erdal, whose pinpoint lighting directs the audience’s attention to significant clues during scene breaks, and Anton Lipovetsky, whose sound design increases the suspense.

Then there is set designer Anton deGroot’s revolving turntable stage. All the action takes place in the Wendices’ sparsely furnished drawing room, which slowly and imperceptibly moves back and forth, providing the audience with different perspectives of the action and emphasizing the fluidity of the story. Even the walls and windows move, providing additional layers to the puzzle.

Jolane Houle’s costumes capture the essence of the stylish 1950s, elegant frocks for the ladies and tailored suits for the gents, all with colour palettes ranging from brown to blue to green that change with Erdal’s lighting. The ladies are perfectly coiffed and made-up à la that glamorous era. Jillian Keily directs her crew well.

This dialogue-dense production requires the audience to pay attention and focus on the various subtle clues that are dropped to determine if indeed Tony gets away with his deception and betrayal. It’s a cat and mouse game at its finest.

Dial M for Murder runs to March 8. For tickets, go to artsclub.com or call 604 687-1644.

Tova Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.

Songs in war of peace

Naomi Cohn Zentner shared how music in the time of war can offer resilience and hope. (photo from Naomi Cohn Zentner)

Earlier this month, ethnomusicologist Naomi Cohn Zentner gave the lecture Music and War: An Optimistic View. Her talk was the fourth in Kolot Mayim Reform Temple’s 2025/26 Many Voices of Jewish Music Zoom series.

Speaking from Israel, Cohn Zentner, a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, examined how music in the time of war can offer resilience and hope, and is not solely about tragedy and mourning. She started with a photograph of Leonard Cohen and Israeli musician Matti Caspi, who passed away on Feb. 8, the day of her talk. The pair were performing for soldiers during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Ariel Sharon at their side.

Cohn Zentner then played two songs, composed more than a century apart: “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” written during the American Civil War, and a 1967 performance by the Nachal Entertainment Troupe called “Hallelujah.”

Contrasting the two, Cohn Zentner argued that the former is a sacralizing, providential song in the war hymn tradition, seeing war very much within a religious way of life and values, while the Israeli song – with lines such as, “If there were no need for rifles anymore, then we would sing ‘Hallelujah’” and “If children could play by the border, then you’d hear their mothers sigh in relief, ‘Hallelujah’” – offers a hope for peace, or a prayer for peace.

“It’s an Israeli war song tradition, which shows just how important peace was in these fighting units,” Cohn Zentner said. “We can see this as two opposing examples of what war songs are about.

“The religious hymn of the Civil War is ‘Glory, Hallelujah.’ The conflict itself is very religious and violence, while terrifying, is also cleansing and purifying, and death and martyrdom make men free,” she said. In the Israeli song, war is de-romanticized, death is not glorified but used as a reason to end wars, life itself is considered holy, peace is the desired goal, and the music is more national and secular in outlook.

Last year, on the Israeli reality show, Hakokhav Haba (Rising Star), during which a contestant is chosen to represent the country at Eurovision, Daniel Weiss, from Kibbutz Be’eri, selected Cohen’s “Hallelujah” as one of his songs. Weiss, who lost both of his parents during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, performed a duet with Arab singer Valerie Hamaty in both Hebrew and Arabic.

“Of course, this image was so powerful and iconic – of them singing this song together in Hebrew and Arabic after everything that had happened. It was a very emotional moment,” Cohn Zentner said.

Another song Weiss performed, in honour of his parents, was “Ani Guitar” (“I Am a Guitar”) by Naomi Shemer, which contains the lyric “I remember all those who played on me before, and I say thank you.”

“This symbolic issue of a guitar, which used to be a tree, but still has in it the ability to thank all those who [have] played on him … is very, very emotional,” she said.

Weiss lost out to Yuval Raphael in the contest to represent Israel. Raphael, a survivor of the Nova music festival, performed ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” as her final song in the show. She dedicated it to those who died at Nova.

“I sing about the angels who weren’t fortunate enough to be here now. It hurts because I had this chance not only to come back [from the festival] and to live, but to fulfil my dream. There are those who stayed there, and the shadow behind me is the only thing left of them,” said Raphael, who went on to place second in the 2025 Eurovision with the song “New Day Will Rise.”

At the end of her talk, Cohn Zentner played “Not Alone,” a song penned by Doror Talmon of the band Jane Bordeaux in the weeks following Oct. 7. The song speaks to the feelings of being in the close-knit community of a kibbutz in which everyone has a role and nobody is dispensable; if one person is lost, it affects the entire community.

“The song starts by telling us about all the sad and tragic things that happened, and asks who is going to bring the kibbutz back to what it was,” Cohn Zentner said.

Then, she pointed out, there is a shift in the song to where it answers, “We’ll all extend a hand, we are not alone, and we are partners in fate, in pain and in love, as one people. We will cry and we will overcome, we’re not going to break, we’re going to come together, we have each other, the roots of the trees will go into the earth, and we’re going to be rebuilding.”

The next speaker in Kolot Mayim’s series is Joshua Jacobson, an author, composer and choral director. Jacobson, professor emeritus of music at Northeastern University in Boston, will delve into the history and ongoing evolution of Jewish music in his April 5 talk, Jewish Music: What’s That? For more information, go to kolotmayimreformtemple.com.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.