When The Canadian Jewish News launched in 1960, it was as a weekly print newspaper. (Sample front-page headline: “Cannot Locate the Organizer of Toronto’s Mysterious ‘Exclusive’ Jewish Golf Club.”) Over the decades, it covered countless community events and developments, shut down and was reborn, moved from weekly to daily, and expanded beyond the written word.

The CJN’s relaunch, in 2021, took place in an entirely different media landscape than in 1960. News was instantaneous and most of it was read on screens or listened to through headphones; The CJN made the most of the immediacy and connection this new world offered: a daily news website and a slate of podcasts ensured that the community was always up-to-date.

That didn’t mean that print had lost its purpose or value, and so editorial staff developed a quarterly magazine to ensure that readers who were looking for deep dives and visual storytelling, who wanted to sit down and take their time with reporting and analysis, would still have a venue for doing just that.

When The CJN approached me about reimagining that magazine, it was still in the throes of mid-pandemic strictures. Our first meetings were held on park benches, and they were to discuss a fascinating challenge: how to make a genuinely contemporary Jewish magazine, one that is steeped in love for our heritage and also clear-eyed about the changing world around us, one that understands tradition and also speaks to younger generations. For a magazine editor — and for someone who grew up with The CJN but hadn’t, in all honesty, looked at it much as an adult — it was a remarkable chance to think through important questions about the function of journalism and about modern life as a Jewish Canadian.

I am thrilled to announce that the next chapter in The CJN’s own story — the culmination of those first park bench conversations and dozens more we’ve had since — will be unveiled this spring. This reimagined magazine is born of two years of reflection and brainstorming, research and design, developed by CJN veterans and newcomers like myself. It is our best effort to create a genuinely honest, open forum for Jewish Canadians of all persuasions, identities, and experiences to come together to learn from and about each other.

We are calling the redesigned magazine Scribe Quarterly — a name that both hearkens to tradition and evokes the journalistic goals we will be pursuing. We’ll be covering everything from politics to religion, education to food culture. We’re envisioning it as a reader’s guide to the contemporary Jewish world, and it will be landing in your mailboxes this spring. You can get a copy delivered to you, for free, by clicking here.

Hamutal Dotan

Editor in Chief

Scribe Quarterly

The post A new style of magazine is coming from The CJN in 2025 appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

The Umschlagplatz monument in Warsaw, Poland. Photo: IMAGO/Schöning via Reuters Connect

A monument in Poland dedicated to the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto was vandalized with a message that compared the extermination of Polish Jews during the Holocaust to Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Vandals spray-painted “Warsaw 1943 = Gaza 2025” onto the Umschlagplatz monument in Warsaw, which commemorates the site where more than 300,000 Jews were deported from the Warsaw Ghetto to Nazi concentration camp during World War II. Polish media reported that a representative from the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews contacted Polish authorities about the vandalism on Friday and police said they were looking for the perpetrators.

Israel’s Ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne called the vandalism “shameful” in a post on X, and urged Polish authorities to find the vandals and hold them accountable for their actions. “Poland has a special responsibility to protect Jewish & Holocaust sites,” he wrote.

Shameful vandalism at Warsaw’s memorial for 300,000 (!) Jews deported to Treblinka. Poland has a special responsibility to protect Jewish & Holocaust sites; hold vandals accountable. pic.twitter.com/4No1PI7ZXd

— Amb. Yacov Livne (@YacovLivne) January 7, 2025

Other Holocaust memorials in Poland have also been vandalized since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. In December, a 36-foot-tall memorial that honors the Jewish fighters who revolted against the Germans during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943 was also desecrated with red spray paint. Livne as well as Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the vandalism on social media.

“The MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] strongly condemns the act of vandalism aimed at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes — a symbol of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust and Jewish resistance against German Nazism,” the ministry wrote on X. “Such acts are an attack on history and the values that unite us as a society.”

The European Jewish Congress also condemned the desecration in a post on X. “The vandalism of the Warsaw Ghetto monument is a disgraceful act that disrespects Holocaust victims. We hope authorities will investigate thoroughly and bring those responsible to justice,” the social media post read. “Acts like this highlight the ongoing need for education and vigilance against hate.”

The post Holocaust Memorial in Poland Dedicated to Warsaw Ghetto Vandalized With Red Spray Paint Condemning Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Gal Gadot at the 82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. Photo: Dan MacMedan-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect

Israeli actress Gal Gadot was forbidden from wearing to the 82nd Golden Globes on Sunday night a pin that would draw awareness to the 100 hostages who are still held captive by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip after more than 450 days, a representative for the “Wonder Woman” star told Israeli media this week.

Gadot, 39, presented at the award ceremony in Beverly Hills wearing a custom black silk Giorgio Armani Privé long sleeve gown that featured an asymmetrical cut out and an oversized pearl detail. She styled the gown with earrings from the 2024 Tiffany & Co. Blue Book Céleste Collection, a Tiffany & Co. Archives bracelet, a Jean Schlumberger by Tiffany Two Bees ring, and another yellow sapphire ring.

Many pro-Israel supporters on social media were quick to criticize her for not wearing to the Golden Globes a yellow ribbon pin, which symbolizes solidarity with the hostages abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, and calls for their return home. However, a representative for the actress explained that the mother of four was not allowed to wear such a pin.

“Gal could not wear the hostage pin because she is presenting an award and there are rules,” the representative said, as quoted by Ynet. “She was tormented and therefore published the [Instagram] post calling for the release of the hostages before the ceremony. She thought of a creative solution together with her managers — and wore a yellow ring. It was important to her to abide by the rules and also to remember the hostages.”

The representative referred to an Instagram post that Gadot published before the start of the Golden Globes about 20-year-old Israeli hostage Liri Albag, who was featured in a video that Hamas released on Saturday. Gadot wrote a message to her 108 million Instagram followers about Albag and the other 99 hostages still held captive by the terrorist organization. She shared pictures of the hostages, including a screenshot of Albag from the new Hamas video, and additionally posted an image that featured a yellow ribbon and the message “#BringThemHomeNow.”

“While I prepare for a festival and joyous evening, my heart is heavy, and my soul aches knowing the hostages are still there [in Gaza],” Gadot wrote. “Every day that passes without an agreement puts their lives in greater danger. I can’t stop thinking about the families, waiting for them, counting the hours, the minutes, clinging to hope. They must come home. We all deserve to see them return, alive. Bring them home now.”

Gadot has four daughters with her husband, Jaron Varsano. She recently shared on social media that when she was pregnant with her forth daughter Ori, who was born in 2024, she was diagnosed with a blood clot in the brain and had to to undergo emergency surgery to treat it.

The post Gal Gadot Was Not Allowed to Wear Hostage Pin to Golden Globes, Rep Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.