New documentary focuses on heartwarming relationship between Israeli psychologist (& former Winnipegger) Solly Dreman and Indigenous local photographer Don Barnard

By MYRON LOVE Over the past few years, Yolanda Papini Pollock has created a solid body of work as a documentary filmmaker with a focus on human rights.

Community leader Elana Schultz has lifelong history of volunteerism

By MYRON LOVE Community has always been important for Elana Schultz. The daughter of Dr. Ben and Serky Goldberg credits her parents with showing her the way. (Her mother was the 2018 recipient of the Max and Mollie Shore Memorial Award.)

Limmud preview: Allan Cheskes - when Klezmer Met Jazz

Introduction: With this story we begin what has become an annual tradition, which is to preview some of the speakers who will be presenting at this year’s upcoming Limmud. As it was last year, Limmud will be held virtually – this year, on March 6.

In his presentation at the upcoming Limmud Winnipeg 2022, Allan Cheskes, a retired Deloitte partner in Toronto and amateur musicologist, will explore the history of Klezmer music as it developed and moved from Europe to America.

Leah Braemer making dance programs accessible to wider range of Manitobans

By MYRON LOVE In the movie “Billy Ellliot”, the eponymous character, when asked by a review board why he, the son of a hard-bitten goal miner, should be accepted into the Royal Ballet School, responds that when he is dancing, he feels - to paraphrase – “electric”.

Winnipeg duo leading initiative to address styling needs of individuals new to 2SLGBTQIA+ community

By MYRON LOVE Life is about community. Community brings together people of shared interests, values and beliefs and provides a sense of belonging. The bottom line is that – ideally – members of a community support each other.

17 cases of Covid now at Simkin Centre

Updated April 2 The past few days have seen a resurgence of Covid at the Simkin Centre, although the current variant affecting residents, Omicron B-1 is milder than the previous Delta and Alpha variants. According to information provided on the Simkin Centre Facebook page, 14 residents on Simkin 2 are currently testing positive for Covid, while three residents on Weinberg 1 are also testing positive.

Previously, seven residents on Weinberg 1 had tested positive but, as of March 28, four have recovered. The outbreak on Simkin 2 was first made public on March 28. At that point only one resident on Simkin 2 tested positive. The fact that the outbreak has now spread to 13 other residents is an indication how virulent the current strain of Covid is.

The April 1 Simkin Centre Facebook post warns that "Designated Caregivers on Simkin 2 are welcome to visit at their own risk. Personal protective equipment will be provided and must be worn during your visit."

The post goes on to say that "With the rising number of Resident and staff cases we are experiencing significant staffing shortages. We want to thank the Designated Caregivers for their assistance during this challenging time."

*****

Poarws Jan. 17 A total of 20 Residents have tested positive for Covid. Of those 20, 15 have recovered. The remainder are in the Covid isolation unit. In addition, two more staff have tested positive, bringing the total number of staff who have tested positive to 31. Twenty-six of the staff have returned to work.

Gray Academy pivots once again to “Gray Away” during provincially mandated week of remote learning

By BERNIE BELLAN With the decision by the provincial government to require online learning in all classrooms for students from K-12 from January 10-14, Gray Academy was well positioned to implement what it began to refer to as “Gray Away” when it was first introduced in May 2020. As well, the school has also taken steps to provide all parents of students in JK-6 with test kits that the parents are being asked to administer every three days beginning January 16.

Jewish synagogues react to rapid spread of Omicron variant – most put temporary end to in-person services

By BERNIE BELLAN With the rapid spread of the Omicron variant it comes as no surprise that many local synagogues have taken a proactive approach to dealing with the pandemic. For the time being, however, the Rady JCC is maintaining its existing schedule, although that may change quickly depending on possible new restrictions that may be issued by the provincial government.

Harvey Secter, Robert Silver appointed to Order of Canada

Two well-known members of Winnipeg’s Jewish community were among 135 Canadians to be appointed to the Order of Canada last week.

Pembina Valley golf tournament raises money for bomb shelter in Israel

By BERNIE BELLAN Taylor Polstra is a young woman now living in southern Manitoba who originally comes from the southern US.
In 2010 Taylor was working for an organization known as the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.

“Operation Lifeshield” (known as “Project Life Initiatives” in Canada) builds bomb shelters in Israel in areas not within seven kilometres of either the Gaza or Lebanon borders

By BERNIE BELLAN As noted in our article about the Covenant Cup golf tournament elsewhere on this website, money raised by a group in southern Manitoba was used to build a bomb shelter in a community in Israel. The name of the community is Maalot-Tarshiha, situated in the northern Galil, only 15 kilometres from the Lebanese border.

Progressive Movements, Israel, and Anti-Semitism

By Dr. PHILIP BERGER Special to The Jewish Post & News Some organizations and persons holding themselves out to be progressive have grown increasingly hostile to Zionism and to Israel ever since the 1967 Arab Israeli war. Their claims that Israel is a colonialist and racist state sometimes equate with the denial of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. They have thrown virtually every imaginable slander at Israel, with the intent of delegitimizing and eliminating the only Jewish state.

How Harvey Cogan became acquainted with members of his old family... and relatives he had never met - at the same time

By GERRY POSNER Picture this. It is 1950 and you are about to have your Bar Mitzvah at the shul in Fort William, Ontario ( as it was then known. With the twin city then, Port Arthur, it is now known as Thunder Bay).

15-year-old Mitchell Brown’s Holocaust poem

Introduction: We received a call from subscriber Joe Brown in Toronto, who was very proud of his 15-year-old grandson Mitchell, for having composed a Holocaust-themed poem. Joe sent us the poem and, although I said to him that I wasn’t sure we had enough space to print it in its entirety in the newspaper, I assured Joe we would post it to our website.
But, I told Joe I wanted to know more about Mitchell, so he contacted Mitchell and asked him to get in touch with me.

For Adam Rubin, success was secondary to maintaining roots in Canada - and reconnecting with old friends during Covid

By GERRY POSNER Could you predict an Adam Rubin? Not likely. If you asked him, he would have said not at all. But Adam, the youngest child of Chuck and Naida Rubin (neither of whom is exactly unknown to many readers of the JP&N) has carved out a path which is truly remarkable in many ways.

Harriet Zaidman’s latest book focuses on a bygone era that also incorporates some well-known Winnipeggers in the story

By MARTIN ZEILIG In her latest novel for young adults, Winnipeg author Harriet Zaidman reinforces the role of ice hockey as being, in her words, “synonymous with Canada.”
No doubt about it: Hockey is, indeed, a defining cultural entity within our country.

Winnipeg Jewish hockey players of yesteryear

The following article is taken from the February 13, 1986 issue of The Jewish Post and was written by the late Leible Hershfield, the Jewish Athlete of the Half Century. In our Dec. 22 issue we ran two memoriams for Labovitch brothers, Irvin and Max. The Labovitch brothers, of whom there were four, were all terrific athletes. Leible’s article mentions two of them: Max and Lou.

Letters from readers responding to the list of Manitoba synagogues

By BERNIE BELLAN Elsewhere on this website (http://jewishpostandnews.ca/8-features/987-a-list-of-all-winnipeg-synagogues-that-ever-existed) you can see the list of synagogues that may have existed at one time or another in Manitoba. That article led to quite a few responses from readers, some of whom offered recollections of their own of synagogues from a bygone era. In addition, we were made aware of one synagogue, known as the "Pavlitcher" synagogue, located at the corner of Dufferin & Aikins, that was not included in the list of synagogues. Click on "Read more" to see the letters we received, also a story about a building that still stands on Pritchard, known as the Hebrew Friends Temple, about which we knew nothing.

JCFS works to meet the needs of Holocaust survivors

By BERNIE BELLAN In 1933 the Jewish population of Europe was 9.5 million. Following the war it was 3.5 million. Two thirds of European Jewry perished in the Holocaust. Prior to the war Poland had the largest Jewish population in Europe: over 3 million. Following the war, it was reduced to about 45,000.

Community leader Heather Leonoff receives prestigious Law Society award

By MYRON LOVE Heather Leonoff is this year’s recipient of the Law Society of Manitoba’s Richard J. Scott award.
“I am honoured,” says the Director of the Manitoba Department of Justice’s Constitutional Law Branch of the award that was presented to her on November 26. “I am very pleased to be recognized by my peers.”

Jewish Federation AGM: Record year both for revenues and expenditures - fuelled by one-time contributions in aid of Covid relief

By BERNIE BELLAN For the second year in a row the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg held its Annual General Meeting online. This year’s meeting, which took place Wednesday evening, December 8, was relatively brief, lasting only 45 minutes, but while the meeting may have been relatively short in length, it certainly delivered some uplifting news.

A chat with the son who wrote the viral obituary for his ‘plus-sized Jewish lady redneck’ mother

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) —  When Andy Corren’s mother, Renay Mandel Corren, died on Saturday in El Paso, Texas, at age 84, he did what many bereaved children with a creative bent would do: He wrote an obituary. 
“A more disrespectful, trash-reading, talking and watching woman in NC, FL or TX was not to be found,” Corren wrote in the obituary that was published Wednesday in the Fayetteville Observer, the newspaper of the North Carolina city where Mandel Corren lived for many years.

Barb Winestock’s cheerfully irreverent attitude toward her fight with cancer

By BERNIE BELLAN In July 2019 Barb Winestock was diagnosed with a form of cancer known as Glioblastoma.
Here is a description of Glioblastoma: “Glioblastoma is an aggressive type of cancer that can occur in the brain or spinal cord. Glioblastoma forms from cells called astrocytes that support nerve cells.

New JCFS office manager Mara Pellettieri has strong ties to our Jewish community

By MYRON LOVE For Mara Pellettieri, the Jewish Child and Family Service’s new office manager, community has always been of prime importance. One of eight children of Leslie and the late Les Nepon, she has truly been immersed in our Jewish community from birth.

Heather Perlov of “Heather’s Pretty Parties” one of 14 finalists for Manitoba Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award

By BERNIE BELLAN Ten years ago Heather Perlov (who was Heather Oliphant at the time) was asked by a friend who knew how much Heather loved to wear costumes whether she could come to a children’s party dressed as a princess and entertain the children there.

Pogroms in Poland and Ukraine in 1920-21 presaged what was to follow 20 years later

Review by MARTIN ZEILIG Pogrom is a Russian word meaning ‘‘to wreak havoc, to demolish violently,” says the online Holocaust Encyclopedia on the United States Holocaust Museum website.
“Historically, the term refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries. The first such incident to be labeled a pogrom is believed to be anti-Jewish rioting in Odessa in 1821.

Isaac Colish and the Jews of West Kildonan

Introduction: Further to the list of Manitoba synagogues which you can find elsewhere on this website (http://jewishpostandnews.ca/8-features/987-a-list-of-all-winnipeg-synagogues-that-ever-existed), we were intrigued by a listing of a “Kildonan Talmud Torah”. There was no street given for the location of that particular Talmud Torah so, as we have done so many times in the past, we contacted Stan Carbone of the Jewish Heritage Centre to see whether he could provide some further information about the Kildonan Talmud Torah.

Anthology of Latin American Jewish stories

Oy, Caramba! Edited by Ilan Stavans. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 2016
Reviewed by CARL ROSENBERG The world of Jewish communities in Latin America has only become widely known in Canada and the U.S. in the last two decades or so, partly thanks to the pioneering work of writers and scholars such as Ilan Stavans, the editor of this anthology.

A list of all Winnipeg synagogues that ever existed

Further to our story about the Ashkenazie Synagogue proposing to repurpose itself, which you can read elsewhere on this site at http://jewishpostandnews.ca/local/983-ashkenazie-synagogue-sees-to-repurpose-itself-into-a-synagogue-museum, we were intrigued at the suggestion that there were, at one time, 14 (or 18, depending which Minuk brother was offering information), synagogues in the North End.
Apparently both Minuks were well short of the mark. If  you click on "Read More" you will find a complete list of synagogues that existed in Manitoba at one time or another, along with a caption giving the names of the synagogues in the montage at left.

Winnipeg-born writer Sidura Ludwig receives 2021 Vine Award for new collection of short stories

By MYRON LOVE You could rightly say that Sidura Ludwig is “over the moon” about being named the winner of the 2021 Vine Award for fiction for “You Are Not What We Expected”, her first collection of short stories.
“This is a huge honour,” says the former Winnipegger. “I am thrilled, overwhelmed, speechless. It was a real surprise. I didn’t even realize that my book still qualified as it was released 18 months ago.”