Some released bouquets of orange balloons. Others wore Batman costumes. Some did mitzvahs or studied Talmud. These were just some of the ways that Canada’s Jewish community came together in recent days to mourn the deaths of the two young Bibas children, Ariel and Kfir, and their mother, Shiri, who were murdered while in captivity in Gaza since Oct. 7. The official handover ceremony of the coffins carrying the boys’ remains on Feb. 20 triggered an outpouring of worldwide grief tinged with rage. That rage peaked the following morning, when news broke that Hamas had actually sent back a different body of a random Palestinian woman in lieu of the boys’ slain mother. Also returned was the body of Oded Lifshitz, 84, whose niece lives in Vancouver. His funeral is set for Tuesday at Kibbutz Nir Oz, while the Bibas family’s funeral is being held privately the next day, on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Jews around the world, including here in Canada, needed an outlet to express their deep sadness. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, host Ellin Bessner describes her own private memorial, and brings you sound from vigils that occurred coast to coast, including in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal.

What we talked about:

Read more reaction from Canadian Jews and others to the news about the two children of the Bibas family’s murders last week, in The CJN.
Read more about the Vancouver relatives of slain Nir Oz hostage Oded Lifshitz, whose body Hamas returned on Thursday, in The CJN.
Meet the Canadians who are running, knitting and lighting candles for the hostages, on The CJN Daily.

Credits

Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
Music: Dov Beck-Levine

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Jews nationwide mourned the Bibas family this week. Here's what it sounded like