The sun did not rise outside my Bay Area home last week. My three-year-old, who usually wakes at dawn, awoke at 9 a.m. confused; pointing to a dark orange sky, obliterated by…
Opinion
The Delta variant brought a fourth wave of the pandemic, but with widespread access to vaccines in Canada we can see the potential to return to a more stable state of existence…
On September 18, 2001, the synagogue’s security guard searched my fuzzy-leopard-print handbag for weapons. It had been one week since New York was attacked by aerial violence, and it was the first…
Self-care is a term that has become part of our vocabulary, particularly during these challenging 15 months. When thinking of self-care, my mind used to resort to bubble baths, candles, and…
I had two similar experiences that resembled coming out over the past decade or so. One was actually coming out as queer. The other, which happened a few years prior, was when…
Have you ever had an experience where you felt like you weren’t “Jewish enough” or felt inadequate in some Jewish situation? Same, and I want to talk about it. There is a…
We are currently in the period of time known as the Omer, a 49-day stretch bridging the holidays of Passover and Shavuot. During this time, our ancestors wandered in the desert after…
Please be advised: this story contains difficult and sensitive content and may be triggering for some readers. It’s hard to admit, but I used to believe those who experienced domestic violence (DV)…
Since its inception in 1999 the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada (JHCWC) has played a seminal role in documenting, preserving and disseminating information and knowledge on the culture and history of…
In 1917, Polish-Portuguese mining engineer Samuel Schwarz “discovered” a community of hidden Jews living in the isolated village of Belmonte, Portugal. According to oral histories, these hidden or “crypto-Jews” believed they were…