Two Shinshinim to come to Ottawa this year

For the first time in eight years, Jewish Ottawa will welcome two Shinshinim for the 2026-2027 school year. This program, in which young Israeli emissaries spend a year connecting with Jewish communities around the world, will take our Shinshinim to the Ottawa Jewish Community School (OJCS),…

Two Ottawa clergy to be honoured for interfaith partnership

Rabbi Daniel Mikelberg of Temple Israel Ottawa and Reverend Canon Gary van der Meer of St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church describe their relationship as bashert, Yiddish for meant to be.

Both men arrived in Ottawa around the same time, both coming from Toronto, and both were quietly co…

A conversation with Magnolia Perron on her Mohawk and Jewish identity

As we transition from Jewish Heritage Month to Indigenous History Month, the Ottawa Jewish E-Bulletin recently connected with Magnolia Perron, Director of Strategy and Partnerships at the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA), about her Jewish and Mohawk heritage, as w…

Celebrating the diversity of Jewish Canadian identity

There are many ways to be Jewish, and Jewish Heritage Month offers an opportunity to celebrate the richness and diversity of Jewish life and identity.

While popular portrayals of the Canadian Jewish experience often centre Ashkenazi traditions, from matzo ball soup to Yiddish expressions, J…

Ottawa passes Safe Access Bylaw to protect vulnerable community spaces

Ottawa’s City Council recently passed the Safe Access to Social Infrastructure Bylaw, also referred to as the ‘bubble’ bylaw, which has been of concern to the Jewish community. This will allow the city to create temporary safe access zones, 50 metres from building access points, around…