Holocaust Hero: The Life and Times of Rudolf Vrba is the first in a planned biography series that explores our own Vancouver hero's life as an escapee, partisan, Nazi hunter, and truth-teller. Rudolf Vrba, a Slovak Jew, escaped Auschwitz in 1944 and co-authored the Vrba-Wetzler Report, which helped save over 200,000 Hungarian Jews. Twigg’s meticulously researched biography draws from interviews, new archival materials, and Vrba’s own family. The book also explores Vrba’s post-war life as a scientist, whistleblower and outspoken critic of institutional silence.

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‍ALAN TWIGG is the founder of BC BookWorld, a veteran journalist and the author of 20 previous books. A recipient of the Order of Canada, he created rudolfvrba.com, the first major website dedicated to Vrba’s legacy.

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‍Books will be available for purchase, and the author will be signing copies.

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‍Cost: Members: no charge.  Non-members: by donation

Registration required  I  Open to Everyone.

REGISTER HERE

Young families are invited to join us for a fun evening including crafts, an age-appropriate service and a Shabbat dinner.

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Cost: Adults $15, Child $10

Caterer: Ofra's Kitchen

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‍REGISTER HERE

Visiting people in our Temple Sholom community, especially our elders, is always a rewarding experience. But a visit involves much more than a knock on the door and a sweet smile. Come join us as we learn how to be observant and compassionate visitors to the elders of our community.

‍Judy Penso will be our facilitator.  

This workshop is especially recommended for all members of our new Mitzvah Makers group, but anyone interested in being a visitor is highly encouraged to attend.

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If you would like to attend, please email Rabbi Finestone at rabbifinestone@templesholom.ca‍

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Bio: Judy Penso has devoted her life to strengthening communities and protecting the mostvulnerable. After earning her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from UCLA, she spent two years inJerusalem working with disadvantaged children.Returning to Los Angeles, Judy pursued advanced degrees at Hebrew Union College and theUniversity of Southern California, graduating with Master’s degrees in Jewish CommunalService and Social Work. For twenty years, she served as Regional Director of the JewishCommunity Relations Council for Marin and Sonoma Counties where she worked in publicaffairs advocating on behalf of the Jewish community while building coalitions across diverseracial, ethnic and religious communities.In the final chapter of her career, Judy served for 13 years as an Adult Protective ServiceWorker for the City of San Francisco. As a licensed clinical social worker, she investigatedallegations of elder abuse and provided both legal and social service interventions, ensuringsafety and dignity for elders and disabled adults.In February 2025, Judy and her husband Marc relocated from Berkeley, California to Vancouverand are new members of Temple Sholom.

Please join security expert Mark White as he discusses the "bad guys" on the internet, the tricks they use, and what we can do to protect ourselves. Please feel free to bring your laptop or portable device for some hands-on help. Temple Sholom member, Mark White has spent over thirty years in the security industry. During that time he has owned and operated his own security company. He has had extensive experience in many different situations from industrial plants to medical facilities, homes schools businesses, government and non profit.

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Lunch is catered by The Perfect BiteTomato soup with a choice of:

• Egg salad sandwich,
• Tuna salad sandwich
• Salmon sandwich (fresh salmon, cucumber, tartar sauce and arugula)
• Smashed chickpea salad sandwich (Vegan)

Cost: $18 Temple Sholom member, $28 Non-member

‍REGISTER HERE

For his Mitzvah Project, Jacob Coblin is working with a local artist to create a sculpture for Temple Sholom using hostage bracelets that will be softened, reshaped and incorporated into a metal treeconnected to Jacob’s Ladder. The ladder has broken rungs at the bottom representing the loss andtragedy; at the top they are sturdy, representing healing and hope. The tree symbolizes survivorsand our community emerging from the tragedy and growing stronger together.

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Help Raise $5,000 for the sculpture and its installation at Temple Sholom. Any excess funds raised will be donated to help rebuild Kibbutz Nahal Oz, which was hard hit on October 7.

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Click here to find out more information and to donate: www.JacobsLadderofHope.com‍

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‍All funds collected will go towards the creation and installation of the sculpture, which will be unveiled on January 23, 2026, at the Oneg following Shabbat services the day before my Bar Mitzvah.

For his Mitzvah Project, Jacob Coblin is working with a local artist, Miran Elbakyan, to create a sculpture for TempleSholom using hostage bracelets that will be softened, reshaped and incorporated into a metal treeconnected to Jacob’s Ladder.

The ladder has broken rungs at the bottom representing the loss andtragedy; at the top they are sturdy, representing healing and hope. The tree symbolizes survivorsand our community emerging from the tragedy and growing stronger together.

Help Raise $5,000 for the sculpture and its installation at Temple Sholom. Any excess funds raised will be donated to help rebuild Kibbutz Nahal Oz, which was hard hit on October 7. Click here to find out more information and to donate: www.JacobsLadderofHope.com

‍All funds collected will go towards the creation and installation of the sculpture, which will be unveiled on January 23, 2026, at the Oneg following Shabbat services the day before my Bar Mitzvah.

2:00 pm: Refreshments

2:30  pm: Concert

3:30 pm: Oneg

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Join Temple Sholom for our third annual musical celebration concert in honor of Shabbat Shira, when we chant the Song of the Sea.

Temple Sholom embers Noah  Reitman and Maggie Reitman, joined by colleagues from the Vancouver Symphony and the Vancouver classical music community present a concert of Jewish composers and themes!

This concert will feature our own Cantor Shani Cohen performing songs by Gustav Mahler and Chamber works by George Gershwin, Ernst Bloch, Edwin Schulhoff, and more.  

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Bios:

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Noah Reitman isthe Assistant Principal Bass of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.  Noah has performed with the symphonies ofPittsburgh, Detroit, Atlanta, and Nashville, and spent several summers playingat the Verbier Festival in Switzerland and the Mainly Mozart Festival inCalifornia. Noah composes music for the soundtrack Craft in America on PBS inthe US and is co-founder of Purple Mollusk Music, a production company. He waspresident of the local Vancouver musician’s union for four years and helpedestablish a relationship between the VSO and VIFF, the Vancouver InternationalFilm Festival, to perform live movie soundtracks and educate/empower young filmcomposers through VIFF AMP.

Maggie Reitman is a bassist, vocalist and composer based inVancouver, BC. She is principal bass of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and theKamloops Symphony Orchestra and plays as an extra musician with the VancouverSymphony Orchestra. She has performed at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerlandseveral times for their summer music programs (the Lucerne Festival Academy,the Composers Seminar Chamber Group, Styx Tours (a collaborative theatricalmusic production for Lucerne Contemporary Orchestra) and the Lucerne ForwardFestival in autumn. As a composer, she writes and records film music for PBSshow Craft in America and releases original music, animations and stop-actionfilms through her co-created label Purple Mollusk Music.

Cost:  

$18 per person -  Temple Sholom member (in-person)

$36 per person - non-member (in-person)

$18 Live-stream (online)

REGISTER HERE