The deaths of a Toronto Jewish couple found in their winter home in south Florida are being investigated as a double homicide. David Pichosky, 71, and Rochelle Wise, 66, who spent the winters in their Hallandale Beach townhouse, were found dead on the night of Jan. 10. Their deaths are not believed to be a murder-suicide. "We have few details on how they were killed, but this is definitely a double homicide," Capt. Sonia Quinones, a spokeswoman for the Hallandale Beach Police, told the Miami Herald. The two …More

Daniel Haber, a Jewish Toronto native, has been having a very good week, ending a very good year for the young soccer player. Not only was he named All-American, he is trying out for Israel’s Maccabi Haifa Men’s Soccer Club – one of Israel’s biggest and best clubs. The junior forward of the Cornell men’s soccer team was named a First-Team All-America selection last week, becoming the program’s first player to receive the honor in close to four decades. Haber, who led the Big …More

Standing in the sprawling new $185 million Jewish community complex just north of Toronto, Taali Lester Tollman sweeps her outstretched arm in a wide arc. "Just a few years ago," says Tollman, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto's vice president of marketing, "all this was pasture." Actually it was woodland, but no matter. On the space now stands one of the most ambitious Jewish projects ever undertaken in Canada. Spread across 50 acres, the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus is testament to the …More

After a mass shooting in Canada on Monday, rapper Drake calls for an end to violence in his home country. A neighborhood street party went from fun to deadly after gunmen opened fire, killing 14-year-old Shyanne Charles and 23-year-old Joshua Yarsay. A toddler was among the two dozen other partygoers injured in the gunfire. Drake took to Twitter to reach out to his fans, especially those in Toronto. Police believe that gang members were behind the attack and have asked anyone with any information to come …More

Arab citizens may be drafted into service in Israel. [Tablet] What's your opinion on the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial being vandalized? [Israel Hayom] The Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester in Brighton wants to build a better community for the future. [Brighton Pittsford Post] The Jewish Federation of Tulsa begins construction on a 6,5000-square-foot community garden on its campus. [Tulsa World] Dr. Richard Prasquier, president of CRIF, is shocked that France’s soccer team did not visit …More

Drake’s third annual OVO festival in Toronto, Canada on August 5 will be a concert hip-hop fans won’t want to miss. (On a side note, we’re confused since OVO stands for “October’s Very Own.”) The hottest acts in the hip-hop scene--The Weeknd, A$AP Rocky, and 2 Chainz--will join him on stage. In the past, Jay-Z, Eminem, and Stevie Wonder made guest appearances. Drake said, “Bringing together the third Annual OVO Fest is such a milestone for me. A lot has happened over the …More

One of Canada’s most well known synagogues is experiencing unrest, as members complain about the sudden ousting of their longtime rabbi. Rabbi John Moscowitz, spiritual leader at Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple, recently agreed to a deal that will see him take a three-year, paid sabbatical. The rabbi, 60, will return to lead High Holy Day services, and then begin his official retirement in 201. Part of the contract includes an agreement that he retain a rabbi emeritus title at that point. The deal …More

An organic farmer got rabbinical recently when he became rabbi for a day at Temple Sinai Congregation in Toronto. Last year, Daniel Hoffman met Rabbi Daniel Mikelberg in a coffee shop and discovered they had more in common than a first name. The two Daniels decided to switch jobs for a day. Rabbi Mikelberg spent much of his day tending to the earth on Hoffman’s farm, a process he likened to his rabbinical duties. “Both professions plant seeds for the next generation. Both ‘rabbi-ing’ and …More

The activist group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid is planning to return to the gay pride parade in Toronto, setting up another battle with Jewish groups and the city. Queers Against Israeli Apartheid withdrew from last year's Pride Toronto parade after city officials demanded assurances that the group would not take part amid rumblings that funding to the parade could be withdrawn. "We decided we didn't want to be the scapegoat for Pride not getting funding from the city, but this year we feel it's time to go …More

A Toronto Islamic school has lost the right to use a public school for its classes after anti-Semitic teachings were discovered in its curriculum and posted on its website. The Toronto District School Board announced this week that the East End Madrassah could no longer rent space for its Sunday classes until police finish their investigation of the anti-Jewish teachings. The public school board "[needs] to be satisfied with the outcome of the investigation and that [the madrassah was] in compliance with our …More

A Times of Israel writer compares the Tal Law to Egyptian customs. [Times of Israel] An Islamic school in Toronto lost its license after using materials that disparaged Jews and encouraged boys to keep fit for jihad. [National Post] A Holocaust education center opened in Hong King this week. [Times of Israel] Israel’s football league takes on its first US team. [Israel National News] Tablet asks readers if the leftist tradition in American Jewish politics dying out. [Tablet] And archaeologists in Israel …More

French-Jewish immigrant Ruben (Nicolas Maury) is the gay postman in an idyllic Finnish town. He and his partner Teemu (Jarkko Niemi) are blissfully in love. They live a sugarcoated existence in the Finnish forest until one day, when Ruben ends up with a package full of cash intended for one of the men on his route. Teemu kicks him out, and the forlorn Jew journeys back to celebrate Passover with his zany family in Paris. Hilarity ensues! Except that it doesn’t. “Let My People Go!” is every inch …More