Jewish Western Bulletin

Identity area

Type of entity

Corporate body

Authorized form of name

Jewish Western Bulletin

Parallel form(s) of name

Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

Other form(s) of name

  • Jewish Independent

Identifiers for corporate bodies

Description area

Dates of existence

1925 -

History

The Jewish Western Bulletin, which changed its name to the Jewish Independent in 2005, has been the British Columbia Jewish community’s newspaper since 1930. Currently, the paper is published 49 weeks of the year. Originally labeled “The Organ of the Jewish Community Centre,” the Jewish Western Bulletin was first published as a newspaper October 9, 1930. It superseded the Jewish Centre News, a publication that had existed under a series of names since 1925.

The Jewish Western Bulletin was originally published at the Jewish Community Centre and was run by the Vancouver Jewish Community Council until 1960 when it was taken over by Samuel and Mona Kaplan who were its publishers and editors from 1960 until they sold it in 1999 to then-staff members Pat Johnson, Kyle Berger and Cynthia Ramsay. Since 1999 it has been owned and operated by Western Sky Communications Ltd., which also provides a diverse range of writing, editing, public relations and distribution services.

In serving the community, the English-language Bulletin focused on supporting Zionism, alerting the community to anti-Semitic incidents and reporting on immigration issues. In addition to weighty international concerns, the Bulletin also focused continually on local news, including meetings and news of local and international figures; coverage of the arts and local cultural festivals; birth, b’nai mitzvah, wedding and other lifecycle milestones; obituaries and death announcements; and community gossip.

The Jewish Western Bulletin provided a consistent record of Jewish life in British Columbia and around the world and, as the Jewish Independent, it has continued to work towards its goal to “cover the broad spectrum of Jewish life and advance the community, its individuals and organizations and, of course, Israel and world Jewry” (former assistant editor Bob Markin).

Today the Jewish Independent is a multiple-award-winning Jewish Independent newspaper and is one of Vancouver’s oldest and most respected Jewish community institutions. The newspaper provides a place for the entire community, regardless of affiliation, politics, gender, orientation, ability, denomination or age, to find out what their Jewish community has to offer. The newspaper carries articles on an incredibly diverse range of topics, from the next seniors home tea to the next beat box concert, from interviews with the transgendered artist to the Chabadnik, from financial planning advice to home renovation ideas, from book and movie reviews to commentary on issues related to Judaism and living a Jewish life.

Places

Vancouver, British Columbia

Legal status

Functions, occupations and activities

Newspapers; Community history

Mandates/sources of authority

Internal structures/genealogy

General context

Relationships area

Access points area

Subject access points

Place access points

Occupations

Control area

Authority record identifier

Institution identifier

Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia

Rules and/or conventions used

Rules for Archival Description

Status

Revised

Level of detail

Full

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Revised January 6, 2015

Language(s)

Script(s)

Sources

Maintenance notes

  • Clipboard

  • Export

  • EAC

Related subjects

Related places