Jacob Sivak, at The Blogs

Jacob Sivak

Dec 13, 2019, 7:23 PM

Israel and the American Jewish Committee

A 2019 survey of American Jewish views on anti-Semitism, BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) and Israel by the American Jewish Committee shows that the vast majority of American Jews, both secular and religious, are concerned about rising anti-Semitism. While...

Oct 4, 2019, 1:33 AM

Justin Trudeau’s Apology and the Holocaust

Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, has recently been criticized for insensitive and thoughtless behavior in darkening his face as a costume for a private school gala as a young teacher and also as a high school student...

Jul 1, 2019, 8:29 PM

The Eternal Arms Race

Biologists have long been aware of the evolutionary struggle between a large group of moths, the Noctuid moths, and insect eating bats. To avoid being seen and eaten by birds the moths developed a nocturnal lifestyle, only to find...

Mar 25, 2018, 5:17 PM

Scanning the News: A Jewish Preoccupation?

In an empathetic op-ed piece in the National Post (February 25, 2009) on the topic of anti-Semitism (Standing with the Jews), Ken Coates, a Canadian historian and a non-Jew, described a behavioural characteristic that may be unique to the...

Feb 13, 2017, 6:53 PM

Boycotts and Boycotts

During the past few years attention has been drawn to efforts at several North American university campuses and by some Christian organizations to punish Israel economically through a movement called BDS (boycott, divest and sanction). Students at my university,...

About Me

Jacob Sivak, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is a retired professor in the School of Optometry, University of Waterloo, where he continues to pursue scientific research. He has published an annotated memoir (Chienke’s Motl and Motl’s Cheinke:A Twentieth Century Story, Mantua Books,) related to his parents’ experiences as immigrants to Montreal and kibbutzniks in Palestine in the 1930s and he has written blogs and articles published in The Canadian Jewish News, Algemeiner Journal, and The Times of Israel.