Arts & Culture

Hello Niv readers! Happy spring! There’s oodles of Jewish film, art, and educational events happening over the next few months, so let’s dive right in.   Toronto Jewish Film Foundation Because the lineup for the Toronto Jewish Film Festival (TJFF) has yet to be released, I want to share some other spring events that they…

“In a lot of cultures—Black, Jewish, Latin—for that queer boy in the kitchen, I can only speak for the dudes, that is one of the most safe spaces you can be in. That's the place where nobody is nasty to you because you didn't pick up the ball or throw the ball at the right…

Passover has come and gone, but we still can't get over some of the delicious treats and dishes we had over the holiday. Our contributors show us, there are so many ways to dress up matzah, create variations of charoset, and even delve into an amazing meringue dessert. So, tuck in and enjoy!   PAVLOVA…

Every year we retell the story of Passover and our ancestors' exile from Egypt. In early April, I, like so many of you, gathered around my Seder and helped tell the tale. But this year I invite you to follow the story of Ada Aharoni, who was one of many Jews who found themselves, eons…

The first Haggadah to include musical notation was Liber Rituum Paschalium (The Book of Passover Rituals), a Latin translation of the Haggadah written by Johann Stephan Rittangel. Released in 1644, Liber Ritum Paschalium is part of a long-standing Christian interest in Passover as Christians perceive the holiday to be Jesus’s last supper. It was one…

One of my first memories of Passover is as a teenager helping my mother, Lily Brown, set the table for our family Seders. It was our special time together. A time for me to learn and observe, a time that further solidified our deep connection.  She showed me how and where to place the cutlery…

Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Esmé Shapiro of Laurel Canyon who did what the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz could only dream of: “while away the hours conferring with the flowers.”  With a love for fairy tales and a potent connection to nature, Shapiro spent her formative years believing “I…

In 2004, Miryam Capelutto Hemsi, widow of the composer Alberto Hemsi (1898–1975), donated his archive to the European Institute of Jewish Music in Paris. A few curious singers had performed his setting of Sephardic songs, the Coplas Sefardies, but almost nothing of his instrumental music had been played since the 1940s and 50s, as it…

Founded in 2001 by former Jewish refugees from Libya and Egypt, Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA) was launched as a grassroots initiative to educate and engage Jewish institutional leaders, policymakers, Jewish college students, and members of the general public to the unknown personal and collective stories of the one million Jewish refugees…

This not-too-sweet cake is fudgy and dark with an almost pudding-like interior. It is a dense and gluten-free chocolate cake with a subtle floral note of rose water and the sweet tang of raspberry jam. Rose water can get strong fast, so be sure to taste as you go. It’s available in specialty, Middle Eastern,…

Laurie Wohl’s tapestries do the opposite of what you would expect from a fibre artist.  The earliest evidence of weaving, closely related to basketry, dates from Neolithic cultures of about 5000 BCE. The people of the Navajo Nation have used weaving to preserve the stories passed down through generations, and to show their rich way…

Margot Fedoruk is a desperate fishwife with a tale to tell.  In Cooking Tips for Desperate Fishwives, Fedoruk writes a memoir filled with recipes that coloured her happiest and darkest days. But her story does not begin on Gabriola Island in British Columbia, where she resides. It begins in Winnipeg.  Fedoruk grew up in a Jewish…

Hi Niv community and happy new year! It’s been a while since the last Arts & Kvetch, so let’s catch-up on all the hot topics we missed in 2022. Maybe this recap can help you chase away the winter blues.  If you’re still in the holiday spirit, I highly recommend searching “Christmas songs written by…

The Ontario Jewish Archives’ vast collection of documents, photographs and audiovisual materials records the past 170 years of Jewish life in the province. Evident in the records is the role that women played and continue to play in building and shaping Jewish domestic and public life. And yet, many of their stories remain hidden—little known…

Founded in 2001 by former Jewish refugees from Libya and Egypt, Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA) was launched as a grassroots initiative to educate and engage Jewish institutional leaders, policymakers, Jewish college students, and members of the general public to the unknown personal and collective stories of the one million Jewish refugees…

As a summer intern at the Ontario Jewish Archives (OJA) my assignment for the last few months was to curate an exhibit celebrating 100 years of Jewish Immigrant Aid Services (JIAS) to accompany Pier 21’s Refuge Tent Canada exhibition, which JIAS Toronto will be hosting this fall as part of their anniversary celebration. Refuge Tent…

My family has favourite recipes for the Rosh Hashanah meals but for some reason we have never settled on a dessert that has become a family tradition, enabling me to explore different options based on Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and other Jewish cultures. Eating honey, and its biblical counterpart date syrup (silan), play a role in many…

Tamara Podemski is an actress and writer hailing from Treaty 4 Territory in Saskatchewan; born to a Jewish father and Anishinaabe mother. In 2021, she won a Canadian Screen Award for her performance in the television show Coroner, and has won both a special jury award at Sundance and an Independent Spirit Award. Recently, Podemski…

Serve up this cornmeal cake with spicy olive oil, zesty orange, and sweet corn for the perfect autumn dish! Serves: 8-12 Ingredients  1 cup all purpose flour ½ cup finely chopped pistachios 1 cup cornmeal ½ tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon sea salt ¾ cup Graza olive oil  ½ cup cane…

As an archivist, one of the misconceptions I regularly encounter about my line of work is the idea that archivists are in the business of acquiring old stuff: old books, old letters, old photographs—just about anything so long as it’s old and dusty. For those who hold this idea, it may come as a surprise…

The Ontario Jewish Archives (OJA) has been documenting the province’s Jewish history since 1973; however, it’s only been in the past five years that the OJA has made a concerted effort to document the province’s Jewish LGBTQ+ community. In 2018, I was hired as an acquisitions archivist, and I devoted much of that year to…

Primrose Madayag Knazan, a playwright based in Winnipeg, is ecstatic. Her deeply personal and poignant award-winning play Precipice will be read publicly for the first time on May 18.  As the winner of the 2021 Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition, The Winnipeg Jewish Theatre and The Harold Green Jewish Theatre will present a Between Stages public…

Parchment is a new installation that I created for the FENTSTER window gallery in downtown Toronto. This artwork grew out of my new love of baking challah for Shabbat. I was fascinated by the unexpected and unique markings the challah would create while baking on parchment paper. I started saving my parchment papers then put…

Since 1973, the Ontario Jewish Archives has been actively collecting, preserving, and sharing records documenting Jewish life in Ontario. These records provide evidence of the many organizations founded by our mothers to support the most vulnerable in our community locally and abroad. Individually and collectively, their efforts have aided the needy with unsurpassed skill, devotion,…

May & June Events Before delving into the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, let’s get into some pressing May and June events. Shavuot is almost here and with it the Miles Nadal JCC’s Tikkun Leil Shavuot, an outdoor Jewish learning festival. For the first time in two years it will be held in-person on Saturday, June…

I am suffering from a God complex and I hold Liana Finck responsible, shucks, she’s already to blame for making me laugh at least once a day.  Finck’s cartoons, illustrations, and sketches on her Instagram, website, and in The New Yorker (where she is a regular contributor) find comedy in the dilemmas—big and small—facing humanity…

Founded in 2001 by former Jewish refugees from Libya and Egypt, Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA) was launched as a grassroots initiative to educate and engage Jewish institutional leaders, policymakers, Jewish college students, and members of the general public to the unknown personal and collective stories of the one million…

At the start of 5782, my hevruta study partner and I decided to begin a course through the education platform ProjectZug on shmita laws. The laws ask us to take only what we need and let the land and animals rest to preserve agriculture. As Jews, we are told to follow these obscure agricultural and…

Purim parties this year (virtual or in-person) may be attended by someone dressed as a Shiva Baby, a Bernie Sanders, or even a loofah, but have you ever wondered about what Purim parties looked like in the ‘60s, ‘70s, or ‘80s? Well, prepare yourself, because with Lili Friedman’s help we are taking a journey to…

Hi Niv readers! Some big holidays are coming up so let’s get straight to them. If you didn’t already know, Purim is from March 16 to March 17 and Passover is from April 15 to April 23, so mark your calendars!    Purim The folks at the Miles Nadal JCC have put together a comprehensive…

As Purim approaches Niv is delighted to share four delicious treats for the holiday. The classic hamantaschen gets a twist, pumpkin empanadas get their due, and a North African Purim bread gets "spicy." Flip through the recipes below. We hope you enjoy.  Sephardic Spice Girls Serves: 12 Ingredients  12 eggs, plus 1 beaten Dough 7…

I first started looking through back issues of the Porcupine Advance newspaper after I stumbled across some old family photos and couldn't quite figure out who all the people were. I hoped looking through a local paper’s archives would provide me with, at the very least, some answers.    My maternal grandfather came from Russia and…

I always felt a lack of connection to personal Jewish ritual, prayer, and practice. Attending High Holidays, Shabbat services or B’Mitzvahs at my Reform synagogue growing up, I would be physically present, but the siddur's words or prayers never resonated with me. I struggled to find access to ritual as a queer and female person.…

Stories of love and marriage abound in the collections preserved by the Ontario Jewish Archives (OJA)—from loving embraces captured in everyday photographs to fabulously glamorous formal wedding portraits. Similarly, they are evident in thousands of letters, telegrams, greeting cards, wedding invitations, and films, donated by individuals eager to preserve romances, wedding traditions, and a way…

Another year ends, and a new one begins—though that’s only if you’re following the Gregorian calendar. (For those of us who practice Judaism, we know that the new year began back in September!)   Holidays  January is not a major month for Jewish holidays, unless you count Tu BiShvat as a major holiday—wait, should I…

*While this article does not delve into the crimes committed by Columbus and other European colonizers, it is important to provide context and emphasize the immeasurable harm caused to Indigenous communities by colonial settlers. This article factually states the brief history between Jewish people and chocolate but does not detail the history of colonialism. Niv…

Founded in 2001 by former Jewish refugees from Libya and Egypt, Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA) was launched as a grassroots initiative to educate and engage Jewish institutional leaders, policymakers, Jewish college students, and members of the general public to the unknown personal and collective stories of the one million…

On October 24, 2021, Rabbi Ariella Rosen and Rabbi Becca Walker exchanged vows at Camp Ramah in Palmer, Massachusetts. Their solemn exchange of promises united them under the eyes of God and marked a ceremonial first in Jewish history: their marriage is the first same sex union between two Conservative rabbis, as Alix Wall noted…

Friday, September 24 was a gorgeous night in the Ojai Valley wilderness; perfectly straddling the heat of summer and the cool, oncoming fall. Camp Ramah was our home for the weekend; coming from Los Angeles, the absence of traffic noise, light pollution, and the ambient smell of exhaust was noticeable and welcome. I huddled under…

Lighting candles has always been a holy practice for the Jewish people. Each week, we usher in Shabbat by lighting two candles as we gather around and say a blessing. On each night of Hanukkah, we light our Hanukkiah as we celebrate the miracle of light that lasted for eight days. Shoresh has always sought…

I expect many of you are not looking forward to the next few months as they’re likely to bring snow, cold, and darkness all around. To help cheer up any who dread winter, you’ll find some events below that’ll put a pep in your step. Before we go any further, it’s my duty to inform…

In Grade 2, my classmates and I crowded around the carpet to voraciously flip through Karen Levine’s Hana’s Suitcase. The book follows Fumiko Ishioka, a curator for the Holocaust education centre for children in Tokyo, who found, exhibited, and unraveled the story of Hana Brady after receiving her suitcase. I couldn’t help but feel a…

Sagittarius The relative singing Adam Sandler Parodies Capricorn The relative insisting you take some food home Aquarius In the basement watching a movie Pisces Brings the wine; drinks the wine Aries The oil that lights the fire Taurus  The best comfort food Gemini A dreidel because you never know which side you’re going to get…

If you lived in the Bronze Age, you’d know about Via Maris. The coastal trading route ran from Damascus to Heliopolis (ancient Egypt) and was responsible for connecting civilizations. It also began a “legacy of Jewish commerce that would last for centuries to come.” The route introduced our ancestors to the foods and materials that…

The Niv editors curated a selection of recipes from food writers from all over the world who shared the dishes they make for Hanukkah with us. Dive into this eclectic and wide-ranging Hanukkah Recipe Box. From Jewish Food Hero's Recipe Box A healthier donut to enjoy during Hanukkah. This recipe offers a gluten-free baked donut…

For the last eight years, the Toronto-based organization DANI (Developing and Nurturing Independence) has hosted a yearly Art Week to display the vibrant and exuberant works of DANI participants.  The parent driven charity was founded in 2006 with a clear mission to create employment, training and educational opportunities for post-high school adults, who have cognitive,…

Hanukkah is commemorated by lighting candles; one each night for eight days, and eating foods fried in oil, like latkes. But there is also a dairy side to celebrate the holiday. I serve dairy at Hanukkah and started a new tradition among my family and friends, in remembrance of the story of Judith, the brave…

Holocaust Education Week may have ended on November 10, but we still want to mark the significance of this commemorative occasion by sharing a selection of archival material of Canadian Jewish history relevant to Holocaust education. Delve into the Ontario Jewish Archive's photograph collection of Jewish life in Canada during and after the Second World…

We all know those dinner parties. The ones where you enter the host’s home, gift them a kugel, leave your authentic self at the door, and then end up politely smiling at arrogant guests. Don’t worry, I’m not about to subject you to such an experience. We’re entering The Torah Studio’s sunny realm.  Based in…

Quick quiz: what year is it? No, not 2021, I’m not talking about the Gregorian calendar—what kind of article do you think you’re reading? This is Niv, a Jewish publication! It’s officially been one year since Niv launched in 5781, and we’re now in the glorious year of 5782. Happy birthday Niv, and happy New…

In 2013, spurred by the loss of her mother, Sabina, Isa Milman—an American-raised, British Columbia-based writer—began researching her family’s history in Poland, namely, Kostopol. Specifically on the hunt for her aunt Basia’s lost poems, Milman chronicled trips to Poland with her husband, visits to museums, and conferences; retracing and unearthing the atrocities her family faced…

Bonnie Stern’s mission is for people to find the joy in cooking—and to realize it’s not so hard.   For almost 50 years, Stern has devoted herself to teaching others about how they can enjoy making food. However, this wasn’t originally the plan for her career.  After graduating from the University of Toronto in English literature…

Slide 1: Among the Jewish people, creativity runs high, but so do chronic illnesses! For many of us, living disabled not only inspires our artistic expression, but brings us to create business both out of love and necessity. Living in a world that is hesitant to accommodate many disabled folks, we have to create our…

Founded by good friends J-Rob and Hoai-Nam Bui, Triple F Kitchen was created with the intent to explore and celebrate the founders’ respective cultures. Through the Museum of Jewish Montreal’s Microgrants for Creative and Cultural Exploration series, J-Rob and Bui presented an online cooking workshop teaching attendees how to make a brisket spring roll. A…

The Niv team wanted to ask Jewish drag artists in Canada what made them become involved with drag and who are the artists they look up to. The photos capture the spirit of the drag artists, giving us a glimpse of what it would be like to meet them in-person.  Gila Münster What first drew…

Avid treasure hunter, Cesario Lavery, discovered what may be his best find yet on a cold winter walk in Montreal. Passing by a Little Free Library, he opened it’s tiny door to grab a first-edition of early literary criticism on Franz Kafka’s work. Inside the book, he found the previous owner’s name and notes adorning…

Chayka Moskovitch (Dalia Wolfson) has recently turned into a vampire and does not know what to do. Over a creepy klezmer score, by Zara Fox, Moscovitch divulges her comically vampiric tale to Rabbi Vineberg (Shuli Elisheva). She expresses concerns over how to lead a Jewish life when all she desires is to drink people’s blood.…

Naakita Feldman-Kiss was never privy to detailed accounts of their grandfather’s family history. The stories of his childhood were not extensively shared with them as their grandmother’s were. He was “far less sentimental and far less nostalgic . . . we were encouraged not to ask.” With an artistic practice using storytelling “as a site…

Hello Niv readers and happy Pride!! By way of introduction, Pride Month always occurs during June to commemorate the Stonewall riots in New York, which took place in June 1969. Now, Pride has marches and movements all over the world with the most visible event being the parade. For obvious reasons the Pride Parade will…

Alvin Rakoff has led a life any cinephile can admire. The multi-award winning director of over 100 films has been internationally recognized for his contributions in television, theatre, and film working with names like Sean Connery, Judi Dench, Alan Rickman, Laurence Olivier, and Michael Cane, to name a few.  Born in 1927, Rakoff grew up…

Founded 26 years ago in Montreal, KlezKanada is one of the leading Jewish cultural organizations in the world. Its mission is to foster, teach, and promote Jewish arts and Yiddish culture in an ever-evolving contemporary world. From its inception as a small summer festival, KlezKanada now organizes a week-long Summer Retreat of klezmer music and…

To mark the month of Pride we wanted to look back at primary materials to reflect parts of history within the LGBTQ+ community. We have curated a collection of archival material sourced from The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives, and the Johnny Abush and the Twice Blessed Collection which is part of the ArQuives digital exhibitions…

Photo courtesy of TJFF. I’ve been teasing the film lineup for the Toronto Jewish Film Festival (TJFF) for a couple months now, and the list has finally dropped! I wrote an article for Niv back in February about my top Jewish film picks for 2021. I’m pleased to share that many of the picks I…

Over the last year, the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company, like many theatre spaces, has had to completely pivot and change the way it delivers theatre to an audience. Located in North York, Toronto, the company has cemented its place among the Jewish and non-Jewish theatre worlds, as they produce plays on the Jewish experience…

In 2016, Evelyn Tauben unveiled FENTSTER, a storefront gallery on College Street, in Toronto. She sought to create “a window onto Jewish life through art”, and today, as a trusted and respected curator, has ensured what has covered or sat behind the window continues to deliver a kaleidoscopic examination of Jewish themes authentically. FENTSTER’S consistently…

From November 23 to February 22, 2017, FENTSTER exhibited Grine Kuzine by Evan Tapper, an artist working in animation, video, installation and performance. The installation at FENTSTER was a recreation of his late grandmother Sylvia’s kitchen in Winnipeg. Using recycled cardboard to reflect, as Evelyn Tauben notes in her curatorial statement, “the past and present…

From July to October 24, 2019, FENTSTER exhibited Gardens of Memory by architectural photographer and film/television producer, writer, and director, David Kaufman. The photograph displayed on the front window is of a 200-year old Jewish cemetery in Krakow.  Gardens of Memory reveals, as Evelyn Tauben writes in her curatorial statement, “the serenity and splendour of…

From November 24, 2017 to February 22, 2018, FENTSTER exhibited Nothing and All by author and artist Bernice Eisenstein, who was a Trillum Book Award finalist in 2006 for her graphic novel I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors. The installation layers and explores different memories and ways of navigating memory through language, illustration, and…

From November 12, 2018 to February 12, 2019, FENTSTER exhibited post-disciplinary artist, education, and academic Lynne Heller’s Suspended.  Heller’s revisited camp memories that further sparked a reflection into her mixed heritage. By including original images of her camp, Camp Naivelt's location, as well as drawings and renderings of that “eerie frozen terrain, large-scale pictures hold…

Rachel Miller is an artist and is currently Professor in the Textiles Department (after previously serving as Department Head) of the Craft and Design Program at Sheridan College (ON). Her past works like Surfacing, Drift, and Passing I use natural and reusable materials to analyze the natural world, and our relationship to it. She has…

Cincinnati born, previous Texas dweller, and recent Torontonian, Katie Goodman has a lot going on. She is a new mom, wife to one of Holy Blossom Temple’s Rabbis, Zachary Goodman, and is on a mission to invigorate Jewish joy. With GoodMama Made, the online shop she opened in February, 2021 she is using her creative…

“Warning: recipients may not want to unwrap” Sealed advises their followers on Instagram. Should you continue to read onto my interview with founder, Emily Hazan, such a warning you may find yourself wrestling with. We unwrapped the ins-and-outs of running a new business venture as a young mom, and how Sealed seeks to reinvent gift…

For many adults, the unrelenting euphoria and angst during bar and bat mitzvah season hasn’t affected us for decades. Weekend evenings (and occasional days) in Grade 7 and 8 were once marked with the promise of: dancing as if there were no parents in the room, longing, first kisses, third kisses, fun, and not knowing…

Women have always prayed, they just haven’t always been allowed to pray as leaders of a congregation in a synagogue. From the earliest of times, women wrote tekhines—personal prayers about their families and their dwellings. But, for much of history, women’s voices were relegated to the home. That started to change during the late 19th and…

It’s Popcorn Time Spring is here, and with it some of my favourite Toronto film festivals. The Toronto Jewish Film Festival is in June, and Hot Docs begins at the end of April. My top Jewish film pick at the latter is the documentary Misha and the Wolves. The film tells the story of Misha…

Kensington Market is one of the most culturally vibrant neighbourhoods in Toronto; one that is steeped in Jewish history. Although the market may appear small—only taking up a few blocks— it is a rich and diverse space, attracting locals and tourists alike. In May 2021, the Ontario Jewish Archives (OJA) will launch Scrolling Spadina, a…

An artist’s work doesn’t necessarily reflect their personality, but with Toronto-based tattooist and artist Joey Ramona, it does. They, like their art, are: bold, reflective, and as sure as the smooth lines they draw. Their work incorporates Judaism, including the stark designs and floral often found in Haggadahs and on Seder plates, with what can…

Rita Winkler holds up one end of her painting, and her mother, Helen, the other. Their screen becomes almost entirely awash in green, blue, and yellow watercolours with three different socks. Each sock is outlined and highlighted with thick black lines to mark their distinct patterns. The first sock is striped, the second, sparingly cross-hatched,…

Gen Slosberg was scrolling through Facebook when she found a video by Jubilee Media called, “Do All Multiracial People Think the Same?” In the video, Los Angeles-based songwriter, vocalist, and music producer, Jenni Rudolph, discussed her mixed background of being Chinese and Russian-Jewish. Coincidentally, Slosberg has the same background. The instant recognition of that specific…

Niv wanted to know what different peoples' Passover traditions are. Whether it's simply how one points to the shank bone, or what maror looks like for their household, or what Haggadah is followed, no tradition or custom is too small or too big. The series is an inviting look into personal traditions that bring meaning and…

When Passover arrives each spring, I know I’ll be busy making matzah bark and flourless chocolate cake. These staples appear on many tables throughout the holiday, and as much as I love each of these desserts, I can’t say they’re my favourite. Rather, that special place is reserved for massafan cookies, traditionally made for Passover…

Who would have thought we'd be celebrating Passover again virtually? Unfortunately, Zoom calls don't prevent you from hearing those same old dad jokes about why this night isn't different from all other nights amidst the pandemic. Let’s get on with the events and happenings in the Jewish community!   The Time of Plagues Looking to…

Welcome to Golden Predictions, a column where I—an age-old psychic—make predictions about some of our favourite starlets. I also freelance, so you can call me for your own futures, I can’t promise that they’ll be golden, not all of us can be special. Ring me at 1-800-1818-GOLDEN (rates may apply). Also, I have a late…

Niv co-founders Orly Zebak and Clarrie Feinstein sat down with Arts & Kvetch columnist Lara Bulger to discuss the Passover classic film, The Prince of Egypt. Read their conversation as they discover new details about the Passover story, asking difficult questions like, “What makes a Jew, a Jew in biblical times?” And, “Why are the…

We’re all familiar with the anticipatory thrill that comes with waiting for a special online purchase to arrive. Each day brings with it the hope that we’ll receive what we’ve ordered (even when the postal tracker tells us the item hasn’t even left the warehouse). So, when the promised package is delivered and the item…

Portraits of Love is a series about, well, LOVE! We sent out a call giving people the opportunity to express who or what they love. Love takes its form in many ways, and we hope you enjoy these glimpses into the loves of our contributors lives! Header image design by Orly Zebak.

Rachel Miller is an artist and is currently Professor in the Textiles Department (after previously serving as Department Head) of the Craft and Design Program at Sheridan College (ON). Her past works like Surfacing, Drift, and Passing I use natural and reusable materials to analyze the natural world, and our relationship to it. She has extended…

When I was little, I didn’t often think about my mixed Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish family. I loved partaking in my father’s Moroccan Sephardic traditions and my mother’s German and Hungarian Ashkenazi traditions, and never reflected on my experiences as unique. But they were, and are. I realized this when I started to notice many…

As a programmer for the Toronto Jewish Film Festival (TJFF), I watch a lot of movies. And to be clear, a lot of not very good movies, especially early on in the screening process. But one of the joys of programming is going in with low expectations, watching a submission that I know nothing about,…

With Purim just around the corner, it's Hamantaschen time! Niv co-founders, Orly and Clarrie, decided to each make the iconic cookie for the first time using their respective family's recipes.  This can act as your guide to make the cookies with the recipes and the method provided below.  Roll up your sleeves, get out your…

Every sector of the economy has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. But as businesses can begin to reopen, there are still some spaces that have a precarious and uncertain future. Especially venues that require large gatherings to make a profit, such as, theatre spaces.  Toronto has a thriving independent theatre scene, that has been…

It was 2017, and Joanna Halpern-Zisman was starting to create her own matchmaking service, one that would offer a different experience than JDate or JSwipe. The site was going to be created from an algorithm made personally by Halpern-Zisman, to match those within the Jewish LGBTQ+ community. The year before, coming out as a queer…

Valley of Tears nears the end of its second episode with female soldiers in the back of a truck singing Naomi Sheir’s “The Eucalyptus Grove” as they’re driven out of the Golan Heights war zone. “The Eucalyptus Grove” gives hope in the uncertain time of war by painting a sure return to a life of…

Every time I look at an ugly Hanukkah sweater all I see is Christmas. If the very design of an ugly Hanukkah sweater is: failing to emulate the Ugly Christmas sweater aesthetic, how can I see anything else?  I bring out my full holiday gear for times like Thanksgiving—with a mustard, forest green, raisin red…

Jewish holiday music ‘Tis the season for some festive music! Lest you think that there is no such thing as “holiday music for Jews” let me introduce you to “Puppy for Hanukkah”, the latest masterpiece from Hamilton’s Tony Award winning Daveed Diggs who is Black and Jewish. When reading through the YouTube comments for the…

Everyone has their holiday traditions. Whether it’s singing certain songs, or eating specific foods, or even let’s say, collecting eclectic menorahs.  For Randi Weinstein collecting this most iconic Jewish object is exactly what she’s done for 20 years.  With 30 menorahs, the collection ranges from designs with flowers, to alligators, to shoes, to intricate metal…

Now celebrating its 40th anniversary in downtown Toronto, Freetimes Café’s longevity is a testament to Judy Perly’s resolve. Rooted by her love of people, music, community and all things Jewish, the restaurant has become a staple in Toronto, and Jewish communities. I spoke to the proud owner over the phone as she reflected on four…

In Niv’s first podcast, co-founders Clarrie Feinstein and Orly Zebak with Arts & Kvetch columnist Lara Bulger sit down over a zoom call to discuss: what makes a film or TV show Jewish? So many shows and films often have a Jewish character, or a Jewish writer, or sometimes a Jewish director. But does that…

Niv spoke to a few local bakeries and restaurants, to see how they’ve handled the pandemic from the first lockdown to the second, and how they prepared for Hanukkah.  Harbord Bakery Location: 115 Harbord Street  Founded: 1945  Spoke to owner: Susan Wisniewski  Harbord Bakery / website   What has the process been like adapting to…

If you’ve ever moved to a new city there’s one thing you always hope to do: make some friends. After Shelley Werner moved from Winnipeg to Calgary this past March, not only did she find friendship, she also found collaborators.  When Werner joined Temple B’nai Tikvah, headed by Rabbi Glickman, she became friends with his…

I’ve been cooking and experimenting with Ashkenazi recipes since the COVID-19 pandemic began. But I was ignoring one of the most well-known dishes, gefilte fish. I never liked it as a kid but with all this time on my hands I was curious to know if I could prepare and season the fish to make…

SilverScenes Film Festival is truly an intergenerational affair. A free film festival aimed at dismantling ageism, SilverScenes is the brainchild of 94-year-old Toronto resident Sylvia Lustgarten. I am the daughter of Judy Gladstone, who is the festival’s executive director and the sister of Sylvia’s daughter-in-law. We are three generations of women who have witnessed the…

So, here we are. It’s November, we’ve been in lockdown mode for three-quarters of a year, it gets dark at like 3pm, and all we have to look forward to is the air hurting our faces. Why do we live in Toronto again? Oh, right—to be part of a fabulous Jewish community and get access…

Google “Walter Kaufmann” and the results deal with the eponymous philosopher. Tighten the search and you will find the composer, and until very recently, only a single recording of his music—Meditation, a short work for saxophone and piano. My colleague Bret Werb, Curator of Music Collections at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, had suggested Kaufmann…

There’s a new virtual photography exhibit from the Montreal Holocaust Museum, called Witnesses to History, Keepers of Memory which highlights the life stories of 30 Holocaust survivors. All of these survivors are now based in Montreal and have shared their testimonies with school groups and visitors of the museum for almost 40 years.  In this new…

I want a Batsheva dress. Batsheva Hay’s clothes from her eponymous brand seem like garments I’ll never own; I’ve got so used to imagining them that I wonder if I’ve mythologized them. She ships globally, but that doesn’t help; it feels inaccessible and frivolous to receive this would-be package of expensive express. The clothes come…

More time has been made available to me during the pandemic, which hasn’t necessarily been a bad thing. With a lighter schedule I have finally been able to learn how to prepare time-consuming dishes central to my Ashkenazi heritage. In particular, the iconic dill pickle. This endeavour has become a way for me to reconnect…

Anshei Minsk  Located in the heart of Kensington Market, this congregation is downtown Toronto’s only congregation with daily prayer services. In 1913, the congregation purchased a duplex in Kensington due to the growing Jewish population in the area at the time. Three years later they moved into their current location. According to the shul, at…

Witness, a new installation by Toronto-based photo-video-artist, Ella Cooper, is now on full display at FENTSTER, in the heart of the city’s downtown.  Typically her work uses movement and performance-based techniques to explore identity and reclaim representations of Black bodies. While this is still explored in Witness, for the first time, Cooper is the subject…

SPOTLIGHT ON: The Toronto Jewish Film Festival, screening online October 22 - November 1 The Toronto Jewish Film Festival (TJFF) is one of the best attended Jewish film festivals in the world. With 85 films featured in a typical year, it is also one of the festivals showing the most features—including narrative, documentaries, shorts, and…

South African artist Zvi Suchet’s work is stirring up the world of Jewish Fine Art.   He is at the vanguard of a new genre: Jewish Magical Realism.  The beginning of Suchet’s artistic experiences started during his morning prayers as a boy. Every day he would have visions of complex scenes that came out of nowhere. …

The Jardin du Fleuriste in Sèvres, just west of Paris, is part of a promenade currently being built to showcase the works of late Israeli artist Achiam. The permanent free exhibit of his sculptures will house three works: Mère à l’enfant, Femme assise, and Tendresse further realizing Achiam’s life dream of sharing his work with as many…

At 402 College Street in Toronto, an art gallery lies in a storefront window.    FENTSTER—which means window in Yiddish—is currently showcasing an installation by Toronto-based artist Robert Davidovitz. What Will Remain, is a stained glass sculpture paying homage to his grandfather, Motel, who repaired broken windows in post-war Vilna to support his family. This…

  International events Saturday Night Seder Now, I know it’s September and we’re celebrating Rosh Hashanah, but if you missed Saturday Night Seder on YouTube, you really must watch it.  Featuring Idina Menzel, Dan Levy, Billy Porter, Darren Criss, Tan France, Rabbi Amichai Lau Lavie and many more (Jews and non-Jews alike). With  original songs…

Our natural and local ecosystems deserve our energy and time. We are given the strength to act from the nutrients we receive from the natural world, a blessing that is not guaranteed for future generations. At Shoresh, the Shomrei Adamah (protectors of the earth) and the Shomrei Devorim (protectors of the bees) show us how…

Like many people stuck at home during the pandemic, I have turned to cooking to keep busy. While I usually like trying new recipes from all over the world, this time I tried things a little closer to home.  A few years ago my uncle created a catalogue of our favourite family recipes and everyone…

Rain was coming down on Jess Goldman as she launched the release of her chapbook Schmutz, with a reading. Standing under a tree at the Parc Jeanne-Mance in Montreal, the pages in her hand became increasingly “soggy and sticky.” Let’s just say, the launch of Schmutz turned schmutzy. In the chapbook’s glossary, Goldman defines schmutz…

Frann Addison describes herself as a scavenger.  Since she took her first steps, the American-based Judaica artist has been interested in creating.  Growing up on the shores of New Jersey, the proximity to the ocean allowed Addison to scavenge for shells, beach glass, and driftwood.  “I would take [beach items] home and make collages,” she…