Michael Zoosman, at The Blogs

May 2, 2025, 6:28 PM

Shattering La Vie en Rose: A Vancouver Mental Health Outreach Worker’s Response to Mass Killing

The horrific car ramming event that slaughtered eleven attendees and maimed dozens more at the Lapu-Lapu Day Festival on April 26, 2025, was Vancouver’s baptism by fire into a club into which no city seeks membership. This urban gem...

Apr 23, 2025, 8:02 AM

‘No Other Land’ and ‘October 8’: A Necessary Double Feature

The recently released films “No Other Land” and “October 8” are the latest of many documentaries that address issues related to the fraught topic of the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Their respective screenings have transformed the box office...

Apr 5, 2025, 3:26 PM

Remembering Rabbi Zvi Kogan, z’l – Without More Killing

In the wake of the United Arab Emirates’ recent death sentence for three of the Uzbek nationals convicted in the murder of Israeli-Moldovan Rabbi Zvi Kogan, Z’L (zichrono livracha - of blessed memory), we - the 3800+ members of...

Mar 29, 2025, 12:13 PM

When Human Rights Become ‘Too Political’

On April 24 Yom HaShoah/Holocaust Memorial Day in the Hebrew calendar will compel the Jewish world to consider the full impact of remaining silent in the face of injustice and oppression. Ahead of that solemn day, I feel sickened...

Mar 20, 2025, 12:29 PM

A Purim-Ramadan Oasis for Middle East Peace on Canada’s Neediest Street Corner

A brief oasis for peace in the Middle East occurred this past Sunday right here in Vancouver, BC in the broken heart of the Downtown Eastside. Members of the local Jewish and Muslim communities converged on Main and Hastings’...

Mar 16, 2025, 12:16 PM

America’s Adar Execution Spree Opens a Pandora’s Box of Death

According to Jewish tradition, the current Hebrew month of Adar is meant to be joyful. Ancient rabbinic commentators demand: “Mishenichnas Adar, marbim b’simcha” (“One who enters Adar should increase one’s joy.”) Yet, in another horrific synchronicity, the United States...

Mar 11, 2025, 12:27 AM

Reflections on Being Named a Rabbinic ‘Human Rights Hero’

It is one of the greatest honors of my life that my esteemed colleagues at T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights have seen fit to select me as a recipient of one of their 2025 Rabbinic Human Rights...

Mar 5, 2025, 11:29 PM

A Jewish Response to the Resumption of US Firing-Squad Executions

On Friday, March 7, just ahead of the Jewish Sabbath, a South Carolina firing squad will shoot to death my longtime pen pal and friend Brad Sigmon. This will mark the first American firing squad execution to take place in 15 years....

Feb 21, 2025, 9:12 AM

Israel should not execute Hamas terrorists – or anyone else

We, the 3,800+ members of the group “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” wish to respond respectfully to Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Lieberman’s Feb. 15th Jerusalem Post op-ed entitled “Should Israel execute Hamas terrorists for war crimes on par with...

Feb 14, 2025, 5:39 PM

Fellow Lovers of Israel say NO to Ethnic Cleansing

As a proud Jew, ordained Cantor, and lifelong lover of Israel who joined the March for Life in Washington DC in the wake of the horrific Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7th 2023, it was a non-starter for me...

About Me

Cantor Michael Zoosman (he/him/his) is a Certified Spiritual Care Practitioner with the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care/Association canadienne de soins spirituels (CASC/ACSS) and received his cantorial ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 2008. He sits as an Advisory Committee Member at Death Penalty Action and is the co-founder of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty.” Michael is a former Jewish prison chaplain and psychiatric hospital chaplain. Currently, he serves as a Spiritual Health Practitioner (Chaplain) for various mental health outreach teams, working with individuals in the community living with severe mental health disorders and addiction. He lives with his family in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His opinions are his own.

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