2026 AGM
The Jewish Museum & Archives of BC is pleased to invite you to the 2026 Annual General Meeting of the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia, followed by a special presentation with authors Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel.
We hope you’ll join us for an evening of community, conversation and Jewish history as we reflect on the past year at JMABC, look ahead to what’s next, and explore a fascinating and perhaps unexpected part of Jewish cultural heritage.
Date: November 18th, 2026
6:00 pm: Doors Open
6:30–7:30 pm: Annual General Meeting
7:30–8:30 pm: Herbalism & History with Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel
Location: Vancouver. The venue and Zoom link will be emailed to registered attendees closer to the event date.
As this is the Annual General Meeting of the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia, all attendees participating in the AGM must have a current JMABC membership.
Memberships become due in the Fall, and you can join or renew directly through the event registration page. Attendance is free. You may also register to attend by Zoom.
A Special Evening of Herbalism & Jewish History
Following the AGM, we are delighted to welcome Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel, co-authors of Ashkenazi Herbalism: Rediscovering the Herbal Traditions of Eastern European Jews and Woven Roots: Recovering the Healing Plant Traditions of Jews and Their Neighbors in Eastern Europe.
Their work uncovers a remarkable and often overlooked part of Jewish history: the plant knowledge and healing traditions shared by Jews and their neighbours in the historic Pale of Settlement and carried into the diaspora. Through years of research, Deatra and Adam have worked to recover traditions that were once part of everyday Jewish life but have largely disappeared from our collective memory. Their presentation will introduce us to this history and explore what these traditions can tell us about Jewish life, culture, community and our relationship with the natural world.
About Our Speakers
Deatra Cohen is a former reference librarian who trained as a clinical herbalist at the Berkeley Herbal Center and co-founded a Western Clinical Herbal collective.
Adam Siegel is a former research librarian, trained linguist and award-winning translator.
Together, Deatra and Adam are dedicated to recovering the lost and forgotten plant knowledge of Jews and their neighbours in Eastern Europe and the diaspora, and both are active in the Jewish herbalist community.
We’d be delighted to have you with us for the evening.
TO REGISTER FOR THE AGM AND RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
