Miriam Yaniv is the mother of Jessica Yaniv / Jonathan Yaniv. Her relationship with JY has been described using widely differing terms like incestual and distant, loving and violent, motherly and close-minded, codependent and counter dependent.
I want to explore another perspective: influential and altruistic. Is she the driving force behind Jonny’s anger issues and legal battles, or is she the self-sacrificing mother that long ago gave up her own life so she can protect her son at all costs, even when it goes against her own beliefs?
Part One of our multi-part Miriam Yaniv Matriarch Monster series explores Miriam’s background, her loud confrontations with Jonathan, and her deeply held racism.
Miriam Yaniv Biography
Miriam, born Miriam Altman in 1954, is the mother of JY and widow of Jack Yaniv. Her father, Bernnard, moved from Germany to Brazil in 1936 when he was still in his teens, and later to Israel, where he met Miriam’s mother, Hanna Seeberger. JY has claimed to be partly Brazilian in the past. It’s believed Miriam and her family immigrated from Israel to Canada around 1984.
Miriam currently lives in a condo across from Yaniv with her sister, likely named Ilana. There are rumours of violence in the past between JY and Ilana, but nothing substantiated.
Miriam is active in the Jewish community, frequently attending the White Rock Jewish Community Centre synagogue. She has posted to social media about events at the White Rock and Surrey, BC Jewish Community Centers and, despite being described as prickly by others in the synagogue, she’s been a good volunteer. Jon has been seen at the synagogue with Miriam over the years, and sources say he lacked any kind of social skills. According to Meow Mix friends that attend the same synagogue, Jon was and still is known for being creepy and awkward, so much so that other parents were often uncomfortable.
Now retired, Miriam allegedly worked in health care for several years. Sources say she worked as a clerk or administrator at Langley Memorial or Peace Arch hospital in nearby White Rock. Today, when she isn’t attached to JY’s hip she’s burning up JY’s inheritance at the local casino.
Battles with Jessica
In public, Miriam is very much her sons ally. In private, a different relationship exists. Miriam is often spotted at Yaniv’s condo, and she’s just as often heard. Their yelling matches – not so different than the ones that Miriam and Jack once had – can be heard in adjacent condos and floors, and police have been called to calm one or the other on more than one occasion. While some of this could be attributed to a genetic hearing disorder shared by the whole family, Yaniv has told people that Miriam has mental issues and sometimes needs the police to deescalate the situation. Police have been overheard telling Miriam that JY needs to stop lying for attention.
According to a source that was once friends with the family, Miriam is extremely bipolar and should be medicated, institutionalized, or both. She’s highly unpredictable, even manic. This seems to be supported by recent chat logs between Nicole and Yaniv, where Yaniv describes calling the police on her mom because her anxiety was “out of control”.
On social media, Yaniv describes Miriam as being truly supportive, stating she was there for him since the day he was “born with gender dysphoria and gender transition.” Yaniv says she helped him survive torment and abuse online that made him suicidal and Miriam saved him.
In private, Jon and Miriam are at each other’s throats every time they speak. Several sources have said that their phone calls are literal yelling matches. The tone in Jon’s voice is disrespectful and rude. Miriam sometimes phones to check on him and he responds by raising his voice, swearing at her, and hanging up on her.
The juxtaposition between loving, accepting mother and violent, angry woman can be hard to rationalize, especially when considered alongside the many lies the Yaniv’s have pushed. Who is Miriam, really?
Is she the kind-hearted motherly type that was sincere when she offered to help Amy Hamm with her baby at the BCHRT? Or is she the double-middle-finger hard influence behind JY’s 400 lbs of wrath? Or, perhaps most disturbingly, could she be in an emotionally incestual codependent relationship with her son that wants to live as her daughter, tearing her from her religious upbringing? Is she the gas-lighting, lawsuit-inspiring, violent driving force behind Yaniv’s scams?
Racism at the Tribunal
June 24, 2019. Miriam is on the hot seat at the BC Human Rights Tribunal. Yaniv’s case is centered around whether or not his rights were violated when local aestheticians refused to wax his male genitalia. Most of them were home-based businesses and had legitimate concerns with a male coming into their home for these services.
Miriam, a practicing Jew and an immigrant herself, states she has her own beliefs, but she doesn’t impose those on other. She claims to have been by JY’s side when he was discriminated against and it made her want to cry. She told the tribunal that she spends all day with Jonathan, other than an occasional hour when he bathes. In Miriam’s own words, Jonathan had only slept in his own bed five times since the start of the tribunal cases.
At the BCHRT, Miriam, an immigrant herself, stated that the aestheticians, all of whom were women of colour, must learn English and acquire certain “Canadian” values. Miriam expressed her fears of becoming a minority in Canada. She specifically stated that East Indians are forcing their culture and beliefs on Canadians and white people are becoming a minority. Miriam said that the HRT was wasting “her” taxpayer money when they hired a translator for the defendant, though she also expressed frustration with her own struggles to testify in English.
During the tribunal, Miriam brought up Nazi’s and the Holocaust, stating that she had no protection, and has no protection from Neo-Nazi’s now, so the aestheticians shouldn’t have special protections either.
Nothing can highlight the racism of Miriam Yaniv more than her own words. On a Facebook post about Burnaby Pride, Miriam says, “It is a wonderful world that is poisoned by certain groups that want attention to their cause and it is to FORCE their religious believes upon us and adhere to their culture believes. NO we the proud immigrants will not become your toys! You are NOT going to come to MY country and turn it to YOUR country! The HOLOCAUST will not happen again! Not in my time. As a PROUD JEWISH person I can guarantee you this! If you aren’t HAPPY here than GO HOME!”.
Future parts of this series will take a deep dive into Miriam’s aggression issues, violence, social media presence, and legal threats, as well as her claim that God has her back in all of this.
