It is a unique, self-directed, personal assessment and then, re-calibration if or as required, that the Torah established for us at the start of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar year. The first day of the month: Rosh Hashana.…

This evening, after the third star appears in the sky, as the sun retreats further west, we can look to a new horizon: the Jewish calendar year 5787. Rosh Hashana will have arrived. We hope and pray the year will…

This update is the last of calendar year 5786. The next one arrives on the eve of Rosh Hashana 5787. The numbers are real, yet also, almost abstract, like very high floating clouds. We understand the science, but we cannot…

Not surprisingly, the imminent end of summer vacation and the return to school, have elicited pundits’ pleas to the government of Ontario to re-consider and revise the delivery of education in our province. Earlier this week, for example, Matthew Lau…

Last week we referred to renowned French philosopher, Bernard-Henri Lévy’s advice to Jews the world over regarding the rising tide of antisemitism. We did so specifically in reference to the report published by the Federal Government, Campus Antisemitism and Student…

The Association for Canadian Studies was commissioned recently by the federal government’s former envoy against antisemitism, “to survey Jewish students on their lived experiences of antisemitism on campus, as well as to survey the broader student population on attitudes toward…

Since the beginning of time, it is fair to say, the overarching hopes and aspirations of parents have been to keep their children safe from harm. However, since the beginning of time, it is equally fair to say, parents have…

One of the Jewish world’s most astute observers of past and present Jewish life – Andres Spokoiny – delivered powerful remarks recently in New York to an audience of philanthropists and communally committed but concerned North American Jews. Spokoiny spoke…

A year after Covid restricted almost all social and other inter-connections among most human beings around the world, a number of leading individuals involved in Jewish education in North America conducted an assessment of the state of Jewish education as…

Last week, in this space, GAJE featured the uplifting remarks and the even more uplifting, quite remarkable, act of generosity by Kaelen Sherman. At the end of May, Ms. Sherman pledged a gift of $25 million to TanenbaumCHAT in Toronto…