Purchase a Rosh Hashanah holiday greeting in Alberta Jewish News

by Deborah Shatz

(AJNews) – Alberta Jewish News is celebrating its CHAI Anniversary. It’s been 18 months since the merged rendition of Edmonton Jewish News and Jewish Free Press swept the province, reaching and informing the Jewish communities in both Edmonton and Calgary.

January 2020 proved to be a challenging time to expand; the COVID-19 pandemic hit the province hard the very next month resulting in major event cancellations and definite hardships for the business community. These have been uncertain times for many people and devastating times for others who have been ill and/or lost loved ones.

Still the newspaper has persevered and met its commitments of publishing interesting and relevant original community news on both a print platform, as well as an online weekly “Schmooze,” and daily posts on our website, facebook and twitter.

It is more important now than ever that we have a community newspaper to connect us. There was a war in Israel that impacted our families and friends and spilled over into our neighbourhoods. Racism against visible minorities and marginalized groups is high; there are shadow pandemics of domestic violence, opioid abuse and mental health problems as a by-product of COVID. An alarming number of unmarked Indigenous children’s graves (over 3000) have been identified at former Residential School sites across western Canada highlighting a racist history that continued into the 1990s and impacts the fabric of Canadian life. Wildfires are burning the west and weather patterns are shifting.

These are ominous times and it is important that we stay connected and focussed on cooperating as a community and working together towards tikkun olam.

Alberta Jewish News is thankful to the business community and to the Jewish organizations for welcoming us and participating with regular advertising. Without that support we would not be able to publish.

To those individuals and families who’d like to show their appreciation for the newspaper, we ask that you purchase holiday greetings in the newspaper three times a year – Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah and Passover. There are three different sizes available – small for $36, medium for $72 and large for $180 – something to suit any budget. Your participation helps us pay for printing and mailing, so it is very much appreciated.

In the coming weeks, you will be approached to purchase a holiday greeting in the Alberta Jewish News – by Sandy Fayerman in Calgary or by someone from the Ancillary Judaic Program at Talmud Torah in Edmonton. Please say yes and book the greeting through them or on our website at albertajewishnews.com/greetings/.