Isaac Waldman Library

Main

Book Club

No experience required, just a passion for books. Join the lively discussions in the library, whether you have read the book or not. FREE. Thursdays at 1:00pm

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Th Nov 28, 1:00pm – The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson

From the internationally bestselling author of Somewhere in France comes an enthralling historical novel about one of the most famous wedding dresses of the twentieth century—Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown—and the fascinating women who made it.

Jennifer Robson first learned about the Great War from her father, acclaimed historian Stuart Robson, and later served as an official guide at the Canadian National War Memorial at Vimy Ridge, France. A former copy editor, she holds a doctorate in British economic and social history from the University of Oxford. She lives in Toronto, with her husband and young children.

Click to read reviews

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NEXT MEETING: Dec 19 The Spinoza Problem by Irvin Yalom

Programs

NEW Welcome to the Digital World
Bring your  laptop or tablet for hands-on sessions on digital skills including Microsoft Word documents, photo editing and sharing, file management and Google Suite. FREE.
Tu 2:00 – 3:30pm
Nov 5, 12, 19
RSVP 604-257-5181 or library@jccgv.bc.ca

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Meet your Ghost Writer
Need some help putting your thoughts, ideas, emotions into words? Have a letter you need help composing or a memory you would like to record for posterity? Interested in writing your own eulogy? Get skilled help from Judi, our library volunteer. Confidential, fun and therapeutic. FREE. By appointment, please contact the library.

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Techie Help
Need help in filling out online forms, setting up your eReader & more? Bring your device and get hands-on training.

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Shirley Stein’s News & Views
Current affairs discussion group facilitated by volunteer Daniel Elezam.
We 10:30am -12:30pm
$2 drop-in donation benefits the Library

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The Travelling Storyteller
Our librarian Helen reads stories and leads discussions at the Snider Campus for Jewish Seniors. Contact the library for details.

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Storytime

Baby Storytime with librarian Helen Pinsky (0-36 mo)
Stories, rhymes, songs and fingerplays for parents and caregivers with babies and tots. Focus on Jewish themes and holidays. RSVP by Wednesday. FREE.
Th 11:30am – 12:00pm
Sep 12 – Dec 19

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Sunday Family Storytime
Su 11:00 – 11:30am
Nov 10, 24, Dec 8, 22

Book Donations

We are accepting gently used books for sale at our Used Book Sales. Please bring your books to the library. No encyclopedias, foreign language books, magazines, damaged or mildewy book please.

Resources

EBOOK & AUDIO BOOK COLLECTIONS  click here…

JEWISH GUIDE TO THE INTERNET  click here…

ENCYCLOPEDIA JUDAICA  Please use your Library Card # starting with “P___________”  click to log in…

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Poetry & Art

click here …
Generously sponsored by Yosef Wosk.

Genealogy

Genealogy

Free Genealogy Help at the library
Stephen Falk from the Jewish Genealogical Society is available to assist you in researching your family history.
PLEASE RSVP to library@jccgv.bc.ca
or 604-257-5181.​

Pacific Pine Co. Ltd., Queenborough, New Westminster, B.C. Photo 20 July 1968. Photo taken from Pioneers, Pedlars, and Prayer Shawls: the Jewish Communities in British Colombia and the Yukon. Cyril Edel Leonoff, author.

NEW – Genealogy eBooks AVAILABLE TO BORROW

Ancestors in the attic: making family memorabilia into history
by Karen Foy.  Published 2012

Discover your roots: 52 brilliant ideas for exploring your family and local history
by Paul Blake and Maggie Loughran.  Published 2011

Family photographs and how to date them
by Jayne Shrimpton.  Published 2015

Genealogy 
by George G. Morgan (Series: How to Do Everything.) Published 2014

Tracing your ancestors: a guide for family historians
by Simon Fowler.  Published 2012

Tracing your Jewish ancestors: a guide for family historians
by Rosemary Wenzerul.  Published 2012

Writing a non-boring family history
by Hazel Edwards. Published 2012

Writing your family history: a practical guide
by Deborah Cass.  Published 2012

Free Resources Online

The Jewish Genealogical Society of BC

The Isaac Waldman Library gratefully acknowledges the support and collaboration of the JGSBC in developing the library’s genealogy program. Please visit their website for an extensive list of resources and upcoming events.

Canadian Jewish Heritage Network

JewishGen Family Finder

My Heritage

Database Search Tips and Tricks:

  •  An asterisk (*) may be used to specify any number of characters. This is great when you want to search for vriable endings of a root word.
    For example:  searching for Lev* would tell the database to look for all possible endings to that root.  Results will include Levy, Levin, Levine, or Leviton.
  • A question mark (?) may be used to represent a single character, anywhere in the word.  It’s most useful when there are variable spellings for a word, and you want to search for all variants at once.
    For example, searching for Co?n would return both Coen and Cohen.

Books on Genealogical Research at the Waldman Library

Jackson, Buzzy. Shaking the family tree : Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Accidental Genealogist. 2010.
929.1072 JAC 2010

Jewish Genealogical Institute of BC. New routes to your roots: Jewish genealogy and research in Eastern Europe. 1995.
929.1072 NEW 1995

Kurzweil, Arthur. From generation to generation : how to trace your Jewish genealogy and family history. 1994
929.1 KUR 1994

Kurzweil, Arthur. My generations : a course in Jewish family history. 1983.
929. 1072 KUR 1983

Rottenberg, Dan. Finding our fathers : a guidebook to Jewish genealogy. 1977.
929.1 ROT 1977

Zubatsky, David S.  Jewish genealogy : a sourcebook of family histories and genealogies. 1984.      929.1 ZUB 1984 REF

Hours & Info

Hours & Info

Location

2ND FLOOR – Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver
950 W.41st Avenue

Library Hours

Sun: 10:00am-3:00pm
Mon/Tue/Thu: 10:00am-6:00pm
Wed: 10am-8pm
Fri/Sat: closed

RENEWALS & INFORMATION

604-257-5181 or email: library@jccgv.bc.ca

FREE LIBRARY CARDS

JCC members and all paid program participants are entitled to a free library card. Please register in the library.

LIBRARY READING ROOM

A perfect place to take a break and read newspapers from across Canada, NewYork, and Israel. We carry the Jewish Post, Canadian Jewish News, Winnipeg Jewish Post & more. Our magazines cover Jewish topics from current events to travel in Israel. Our collection includes Forward, Jerusalem Report, Eretz, Moment, Commentary and many other interesting journals.

BOOK INSCRIPTIONS

Purchase and inscribe a book in honour of someone special. Call 257-5111 or visit the JCC Front Desk.

TRIBUTE CARDS for all occasions

Call 257-5111 or visit the JCC Front Desk.

SPECIAL GIFTS and DONATIONS

Donations may be made to the Library and a special plaque will be inscribed. For information please call the librarian at 604-257-5111 ext. 249.

VOLUNTEERS ALWAYS WANTED

Call the library.

Catalogue

Collections

  • Adult Fiction & Non-Fiction
  • Children & Youth
  • Hebrew Fiction and Non-Fiction
  • Religious Prayer Books & Texts
  • Newspapers & Magazines
  • DVDs and CDs
  • Databases: Genealogy, Encyclopedia Judaica
Open Catalogue

 

Movie in the Spotlight:

The InsultThe Insult
2017

The Insult is a Lebanese film, directed by Ziad Doueiri, nominated for best foreign-language film at the 90th Academy Awards. The film’s roots lie deep in Lebanese politics, centering around a fracas between a Lebanese Christian auto mechanic named Tony (Adel Karam) and the Palestinian refugee Yasser (Kamel El Basha) who enters his life. Its execution is pure melodrama flash and high courtroom drama (B. Hertz, The Globe and Mail, 25/1/2018).

A trivial, personal conflict explodes into something much larger, a drama that consumes a city and a nation. Eventually, the courts are involved. Memories of past atrocities are dredged up, and Lebanon’s civil war, which officially ended in 1990, seems on the verge of erupting all over again. The Insult is a fascinating history lesson. It is also a reminder that resentment and hatred don’t necessarily recede when the fighting stops. People have long memories, and so do groups whose identities rest in part on seeing one another as enemies (A.O. Scott, NYTimes, 10/1/2018).

The grace and precision of the performances, not only Mr. Karam and Mr. El Basha’s, but also those of the actors playing the colleagues, advocates, surprise witnesses and bureaucrats, push against the director’s fondness for grand statements and obvious ironies.  This is an honest assessment of the never-ending conflict between decency and cruelty that rages in every nation, neighbourhood and heart.

In Arabic with a little Hebrew, English subtitles.

Watch trailer…

Review by Dolores Luber

Digital Collection

Sonner Family eBook Program
Anna Leith Audiobook Collection

Access Here