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Keeping Bene Israel traditions alive is the core mission of Congregation BINA based in Toronto. Home to Bene Israel—a community of Jews from India—the 200 member congregation holds High Holiday services and events to ensure Southeast Asian Jews have a home in the Canadian Jewish context. Considered to be one of the descendents of the…

On Monday, April 17, Jews from all over the world gathered to commemorate Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. Marked yearly in our calendars, this day offers a chance for Jews and non-Jews to reflect on the atrocities committed around 80 years ago. While these days of remembrance bring up immeasurable pain for many, keeping…

Approximately 335,000 people reported being Jewish in the 2021 Canadian census. About 0.6 per cent of that population lives in Northern Canada. It’s a pindrop in the vast global landscape and a minute fraction of an already small ethno-religious minority. Many would think there’s little to report when wanting to learn about Jews of the…

Helping the vulnerable is embedded in JVS Toronto’s DNA. Founded in 1947 as Jewish Vocational Service of Metropolitan Toronto, a group of Jewish business leaders started the organization aiming to provide vocational services to Holocaust survivors and veterans of the Second World War. The agency opened its doors to prepare immigrants and war veterans for…

A major barrier for most young Jews is a synagogue's membership fee. Many understand the fee helps keep the religious centre alive by nourishing the building's infrastructure, programming, and paying staff. But still, when prices can be in the hundreds—as the cost of living mounts— buying that synagogue membership isn’t top of mind. That’s why…

Before 1969 all abortions in Canada were considered a criminal offence. If a doctor or anyone else was caught helping a woman terminate her pregnancy they could face life in prison; the woman, if found guilty, could face up to two years in jail. Before January 28, 1988 you needed approval from a Therapeutic Abortion…

Shira Pruce never imagined Project Kesher would become a humanitarian relief organization. Which is what she—the organization’s director of development and communications—told me they’ve essentially turned into since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24. As an organization with deep roots in Eastern Europe for over 30 years they had no choice but…

Jared Jackson works tirelessly. As the founder and executive director of Jews in ALL Hues (JIAH)—one of the only independent Jewish social justice organizations founded by a biracial, multi-heritage, Jew of Colour—the work being done is vital.  Jackson, a well-known Jewish diversity leader and consultant works to build a world where intersectional diversity and dignity…

Ukrainians and Jews have lived side-by-side on the territory of modern-day Ukraine for nearly two millennia. Separately and together, they have woven a tapestry that has left an indelible mark on Ukraine’s cultural, linguistic, and historical legacy. This cross-cultural legacy has remained largely unknown to the international community and is often seen through the prism…

Beth Hamidrash is the only Sephardic synagogue west of Ontario.  The small but mighty synagogue in Vancouver has 70 families who are active members but over 100 attend services and the High Holidays.  According to the synagogue’s members, it was founded in the late 1960s by a handful of individuals who wanted to attend a…

A new tradition is starting at the Dufferin Grove Organic Farmers’ Market: you can gift Purim baskets, with local delicacies, to family and friends.  It began last year when the farmers’ market created Mishloach manot packages that could be delivered to loved ones carrying various fresh produce and local goods.  An order can be delivered…

Elise Herzig understands the importance of helping refugees coming to Canada.  She is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor who arrived in Canada in 1952 and three years ago became the executive director of Jewish Immigration Aid Services for Newcomers (JIAS) Toronto. Her role in the agency is one that provides fulfillment professionally and personally. …

I have a distinct memory of going to the Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre in Toronto when I was around 10 years-old with my fellow after-school Hebrew school classmates, to learn about some of the most traumatic events in human history. When we sat in the auditorium watching a slideshow where image after image showed skeletal…

Yaniv and Sapir Atiya never thought they’d settle in Regina, Saskatchewan.  The couple came from Israel in 2016 via the Jewish Agency for Israel as shlichim—emissaries who go to various communities around the globe to provide a connection to Israel.  But when their shlichim work came to an end, they accepted a full-time one year…

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…

In 2006, Marla Kaufman and her husband discovered their 16-year-old son was suffering from addiction. It came as a shock to the family.  To find support, Kaufman reached out to the Jewish community she was actively involved with in Orange County, California, but found the response lacking. Because of this, Kaufman became unaffiliated with her…

Shayli Liederman feels a fondness for Shabbats at Camp Kadimah in Nova Scotia. Every Friday night during the six-week overnight summer camp, everyone gathers in one of the recreational buildings, feet at the ready to jump into dancing as Israeli music blasts from the speakers.  “Everyone in the entire camp is in the same room…

Norman Hamburg lives his life in the Saint John, New Brunswick Jewish tradition.  “My family story mirrors many other Jewish families in the city,” he explained with a clear, methodical voice during our phone interview.  At 77 years old, Hamburg has lived in Saint John since he was five weeks old.  “I’m one of the…

For 18 Sundays of the year (give or take), Jewish motorcyclists band together to embark on full day rides outside of Toronto. The objective is simple: enjoy each other’s company and the open road.  The Yids on Wheels (YOW) Motorcycle Touring Club, has been part of the Jewish community since 1995. With 65 members, typically…

Over a year after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, Jewish community members in Atlantic Canada still check in on their neighbours to make sure needs are being met, and personal connections are being made.  President of the Atlantic Jewish Council (AJC), Naomi Rosenfeld, told me she connected an isolated senior to a younger volunteer last…

In 1948, David Seymour—known as Chim—on assignment for Unicef, returned to a Europe ravaged by war. His task was to photograph children who had lived through the conflict. The devastation he encountered must have resonated deeply with him, for his parents, Polish Jews, had not survived the Holocaust. There is a particular poignancy to his…

JQT Vancouver (pronounced J-cutie) is a Jewish queer and trans non-profit. Our mission is queering Jewish space and Jewifying queer space. When JQT was just starting out, a survey was conducted to determine the community’s needs. Unsurprisingly, we found that folx wanted a queer-friendly place to celebrate Shabbat and the holidays. And also wanting services…

Over 1,000 people tuned into a virtual panel discussion on March 11 about how and why Jewish education is relevant today. Hosted by The Toronto Heschel School, the event was in honour and memory of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks who sadly passed away in November. He was a world renowned Jewish thinker who bridged the…

Prince Edward Island is the only province in Canada to not have a synagogue or rabbi. While they are glad to have a rabbi come for funerals and other occasions they don't feel the need or have the resources for a rabbi on the island.  For Leo Mednick, the President of the PEI Jewish Community,…

Did you ever wish to “ride on” the magic school bus? On her shape-shifting bus, Ms. Frizzle drives and/or flies her students to the source of their lessons, whether it is inside a volcano, a human body, or all the way to outer space. As a kid, I’d watch The Magic School Bus and yearn…

February is Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month. But at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre (MNJCC) in downtown Toronto, disability and inclusion awareness are integrated into everyday life, and are at the forefront of important discussions. Though, this hasn’t always been the case. Over six years ago, Liviya Mendelsohn who is the Director of…

When students who have disabilities finish high school at the age of 21, there are very few options. Developing and Nurturing Independence (DANI) was created in 2006 to assist with families as they help their children transition to the next chapter. Co-founded by Susie Sokol and Kathy Laszlo, parents of children who have disabilities, DANI…

Founded in 2013, the Chasdei Kaduri Jewish Food Bank initially began to provide four families in need with packed boxes of food and essential supplies to have a proper Shabbat. But within a few months the operation grew to a small supermarket-like setting in the founders basement, then to a warehouse, and now Chasdei Kaduri…

The history of Montreal’s Jewish Public Library began in 1902, when 26-year-old Hirsh (Harry) Hershman moved from New York to Montreal. He was disappointed to learn that there was not a single Jewish library or forum to explore Yiddish culture. There were no meetings or lectures to attend, only a few Yiddish newspapers, and a…

The pandemic has changed everyone’s life. Though each of our circumstances may be different, this experience has given our communities the opportunity to recognize the struggles that over four million Canadians were already facing before the pandemic started in March: food insecurity.  Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, one in eight Canadians were experiencing a form…

It’s not often that a conversation with a federal leader of a Canadian party includes a debate over which city makes the best bagel: Montreal or New York?  “That thing in New York is not a bagel, I'm surprised you would ask that. That’s just bread with a hole in the middle,” Annamie Paul, newly-elected…

Most schools have now been open for just over a month and continue to face unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19.  Before classes began, there was concern in multiple areas: would children find it difficult to wear a face mask for long hours? Would children be able to maintain a safe distance from their peers? Or…

Aliza Spiro, the creative director of Song Shul in Toronto, faced a logistical dilemma: how to safely host the High Holidays during the COVID-19 pandemic? It’s a question that has posed one of the biggest challenges for most synagogues this year. According to Spiro, live-streaming could not be the only option. As a non-denominational congregation,…

Over 10 months ago, I began working full time in the Jewish Life department at the Mandel Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Cleveland, Ohio, and people would often ask what I did.  I explained that my job was to help put the “J” into the JCC.  But each time I answered this way, a question…