Oral History Online Library
Oral histories form the bedrock of the BC Jewish Community Archives, overseen by the Jewish Museum and Archives of BC. A satisfying and sometimes emotional process, oral histories have traditionally been much more accessible to marginalized groups, including women, minorities, differently abled people, and those lacking literacy skills required to put pen to paper.
The JMABC began recording oral history interviews in the late 1960’s and has continued to do so ever since. To date, we have recorded over 1,010 interviews and add an average of 30 to 50 interviews each year.
The JMABC Oral History Collection represents a cross-section of our community, including entrepreneurs, academics, professionals, volunteers, immigrants, and more. These recordings form the basis for our annual journal, The Scribe, and for many of our online and travelling exhibits.
Browse the inventory of all 1000+ Oral History recordings here.
If you would like to be trained as a volunteer interviewer, be interviewed, or nominate someone to be interviewed, please contact our archivist, Alysa Routtenberg.
The JMABC is pleased to have collaborated with JQT Vancouver for The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project. Interviews were recorded between May 25, 2020 and July 14, 2021, and you can read JQT Vancouver’s online exhibit here.
The BC Jewish Queer and Trans Oral History Project is an initiative undertaken by JQT Vancouver, a Jewish Queer and Trans non-profit, in partnership with the Jewish Museum and Archives of BC.
Marsha Ablowitz about uncle Max (Max Dexall)
Caryl Dolinko
Val Fishman
Jonathan Lerner
Selina Robinson
Syd Lapan
Lauren Nackman
Shaira Holman
Susan Dempsey
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Interviews compiled for the 2019 edition of our annual journal, The Scribe. Order a copy of the volume today to read further excerpts from these interviews.
Other contributors to the Innovations in Health collection include Sydney Israels and Bill Seidelman.
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The Southern African Diaspora Oral History Project launched in Fall 2016, and has since collected 31 oral history interviews, profiling community members who immigrated from South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and other neighbouring countries. If you would like support this project financially, nominate someone to be interviewed, or be trained to be a volunteer interviewer, please contact us.
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Food was the theme of the 2018 edition of our annual journal, The Scribe, as well as our 2017-18 public programs The Chosen Food Supper Club and The Kitchen Stories podcast. Developing these programs, we interviewed over 50 community members involved in food in one way or another.
Michael Abelman – Sole Foods Street Farms
Shelley Ail – Vancouver Jewish Food Bank
Justine Balin – Top Chef Canada
Peter Barnett – Pizza Patio, Elephant & Castle, Mortimer
Zach Berman & Ryan Slater – The Juice Truck
Rabbi Carey Brown – Temple Sholom
Mike Bruser – Kobe Steakhouse
Ivan & Lynn Buchman – Enigma
Ophra Buckman – Auntie Em’s Kitchen
Jane Cherry – Fruit Bowl, Fish & Oyster Bar, Love’s Café
Yamila Chikiar – Café Forty-One
Sara Ciacci – Vancouver Jewish Food Bank
Marcena Croy – Jon’s Pizzerama, Brother Jon’s, Emilio’s
Rabbi Robert Daum – Iona Pacific Inter-Religious Centre
Iris Dayson – Vancouver Jewish Food Bank
Tanja Demajo – Jewish Family Services
Noam Dolgin
Rabbi Abraham Feigelstock – BC Kosher, Kosher Check
Janna Ginsberg – Janna’s Select Catering, Tudor Rose
Karen Glanzberg
Shelley Goldberg & Nadine Katz
Ilan Goldenblatt – The Thirsty Camel
Adam Granot – Breka Bakery
Stephen Greenham – Sweet Obsession, Trafalgars Bistro
Serge Haber – Kaplan’s Delicatessen
Claire Hammer
Carol Herbert
Diane Jacobs
Mark James – Mark James Fiasco, Yaletown Brewing Co., Red Truck Beer
Aaron Kafka – Kafka’s
Simon Kahlon – Sabra
Ida Kaplan – Kaplan’s Delicatessen
Wayne Katz – Hall’s Place, Beaver Tails, Zog’s, Moguls, Gone Bakery & Deli
Stephanie Lim – Vancouver Food Policy Council
Isaac Lipovsky – Electra Grill, Woodward’s Cafeteria / Tea Room
Leah Markovitch – Solly’s
Janice Masur
Susan Mendelson – The Lazy Gourmet
Earl Morris – The Red Onion, Bigsby’s the Bakehouse
Rabbi Dan Moskovitz – Temple Sholom
Torchy Pechet – Torchy’s, The Iron Horse
Sharon Posner – Oscar’s
Efrem (Eppy) Rappaport – Omnitzky’s
Andrew Reisman
Estelle Sanderson
David Schein
Susy Seigel – Nava Creative Kosher Cuisine
Itamar Shani & Rotem Tal – Chickpea
Marc Shutzbank (Fresh Roots
Mendel Skulski
Tevie Smith – The Snackery, Chipper’s, Moose McGillicuddy’s
Hazel Stevens
Marcus Stiller – Fish Café
Isadore Walters – Sirocco Club, The Cave, Izzy’s Supper Club
Mark Winrob – Las Tapas, Fatso’s Barbecue & Smoke House, Smoking Crust
Rabbi Shmuel Yeshayahu – Community Kollel
Jeffrey Yoskowitz – The Gefilte Manifesto
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The BC Jewish community has a long history of entrepreneurs in the fashion industry. We celebrated this portion of our community in the 2015/16 edition of The Scribe.
Carol Abramson
Esther Brandt
Arthur Chinkis
Boris Chinkis
Marlene Cohen
Louis Eisman
Yoel Farzan
Marilyn Glazer
Doreen & Solly Globman
Irving Goldenberg
David Goldman
Murray & David Goldman
Irving Grad
Harry Hammer
Joel Herman
Michael James
Abe Jampolsky
Richard & Jocy Lowy
Esther Nobleman
Solomon & Minnie Pelman
Leslie & Nicky Raphael
Leslie Raphael
Brian Rosner
Joseph Segal
Marnie Tritt
Leonard & Henriette White
Mark White
Sam Zack
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