The following is taken from B’nai Brith Canada’s most recent audit of antisemitic incidents in Canada, which was released April 26:
On average, more than seven antisemitic incidents occurred per day in Canada in 2020.
This is one of several disturbing facts revealed in the 2020 Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, released today. The Audit is produced by B’nai Brith Canada’s advocacy arm, the League for Human Rights.
By MYRON LOVE In 1993, then University of Manitoba physics student Melanie Schachter had the honour of being one of just two Canadian students chosen by an organization called the Youth Science Foundation to represent our country at the Nobel Prize ceremonies and the 18th annual Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar that year.
In an online induction ceremony held April 29, Dr. Harvey Chochinov was one of six new inductees into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
Following is information taken from the CMHF website: "Six Canadian medical heroes are inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame each year. Their work may be a single outstanding contribution or a lifetime of meritorious achievement. Pioneers in their field, they are role models of excellence in the health field, in Canada and around the world."
By MYRON LOVE In the (Saturday) April 17 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press, the Manitoba Medical Service Foundation (MMSF) took out a half page ad to highlight the organization’s 2021 grant recipients. Among the 12 researchers approved for grants this year were two members of our Jewish community – Drs. Aleeza Gerstein and Zach Raizman.
By BERNIE BELLAN Four young Jewish women, three of whom are from Winnipeg, one from Toronto, have joined forces to produce a “zine” aimed at a Jewish audience, titled “SIMCHA Zine”.
The four are: Erin Meagan Schwartz, Adi Farage, (both of whom live in Winnipeg), Sophie Hershfield, (who is from Winnipeg, but currently living in Toronto), and Liesje Rolia (who is a Torontonian - and who is the graphic designer for the zine.
By BERNIE BELLAN Elsewhere on this website you can read an article by Gerry Posner about all the Jewish psychiatrists who have come from Manitoba (http://jewishpostandnews.ca/8-features/785-what-s-with-the-jews-of-winnipeg-and-psychiatry). In his column, however, Gerry explained that, for reasons of brevity, he did not include the names of Jewish women psychiatrists. Their names were actually given in Eva Wiseman’s book, “Healing Lives - A Century of Manitoba Jewish Physicians”.
By GERRY POSNER It was not hard for me to jump on the Harry Prosen bandwagon for at least three reasons:
First, his last name is so very close to mine that I felt a kind of a brotherly connection to him. After all, Prosen and Posner have the same letters, just rearranged.
Second, Harry Prosen is likely the oldest Jewish graduate of the University of Manitoba Medical school still working in the area of psychiatry . He will be 91 in June and still counting.
Third, Prosen has serious credentials.
By BERNIE BELLAN When we saw the announcement in our print edition by the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg that the Combined Jewish Appeal’s final tally for 2020 was $6,439,994, we were pleasantly surprised. After all, no one needs to be reminded how difficult a year 2020 had been for most people. So, we decided to ask Rebecca Brask, who is Chief Development Officer at the Federation, if she could answer some questions about last year’s campaign.
By MYRON LOVE Lissie Rappaport is playing a leadership role in the campaign to end homelessness in our community. The daughter of Lynn and Alan Rappaport – and granddaughter of Rabbi Sholom and Elaine Rappaport (oleh hasholem) is currently the Manager of Housing Supply at End Homelessness Winnipeg, a position that she has held for more than two years.
(San Francisco, CA) — The INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARDS recognized Prairie Sonata by Sandy Shefrin Rabin as the winner in the category of Best Young Adult Fiction.
The competition is judged by experts from different aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. Selected award winners anddistinguished favorites are based on overall excellence.
By BERNIE BELLAN The Covid pandemic has often led to the convergence of several wacky conspiracy theories into one larger massive conspiracy theory, promulgated by right wing conspiracy theorists. As I noted in another article elsewhere on this site (http://jewishpostandnews.ca/local/798-notorious-anti-masker-and-holocaust-denier-slated-to-speak-at-teh-forks-on-sunday), I had been alerted by a caller to the dangerous conspiracy theories being promulgated by a notorious anti-vaxxer (and virulent antisemite) who goes by the name of "Chris Sky".
Many cultures are involved in the Lost Tribe, an esports arena that unites the Jewish Gen Z-ers. About 75% of boys and girls have a common interest in the hobby in the middle of this diverse culture. The focus is centered on friendly matches and fair competition, and as much fun gamers can expect at the mobile casino Canada. But what's the esports league all about?
By MYRON LOVE A newly-formed Muslim organization aimed at combating Antisemitism announced itself to the world on Wednesday, April 7, with its inaugural program – a virtual commemoration of Yom Hashoah – and a Muslim call to action against global Antisemitism. In fact, the Council of Muslims Against Antisemitism (CMAA) bills itself “as the first global Muslim organization dedicated solely to fighting Antisemitism in all its guises”.
April 30, 2021 We first posted an article about Safya's Kitchen on April 20. Since then the opening of Safya's Kitchen has been delayed. Following is an email received from an indvidual who has been helping Safya Maroo to open her business: "Due to the new COVID restrictions we are not able to use the commercial kitchen to fulfill our usual Sunday orders from Safya's Kitchen.
"We are grateful for the support we have received and truly hope to be able to reopen soon."
Click on "Read more" to read the article originally posted April 19:
“How will we keep the Holocaust relevant when there are no survivors left to tell their stories?”
APRIL 27, 2021 (Toronto, Canada) – One week today, Liberation75 will host a free, virtual event from May 4-9 to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation from the Holocaust.
April 29, 2021 By BERNIE BELLAN In what must have come as a shock, not only for members of Shaarey Zedek Congregation, but for most of Winnipeg’s Jewish community as well, Gary Hyman, President of SZ Congregation, announced on April 27 that Rabbi Matthew Leibl will not be renewing his contract when it expires at the end of June this year.
A notorious anti-masker (also Holocaust denier and outright racist) by the name of Chris Sky (whose real name is Chris Saccoccia) is scheduled to speak at the CN Stage in The Forks on Sunday, April 25. Click on Read more to see samples of his racist Facebook posts.
By BERNIE BELLAN Two and a half years ago we published a story by Martin Zeilig about a new documentary produced by Nancy Spielberg about an incredibly brave Israeli deep sea photographer by the name of Amos Nachoum. From April 22-29 you can watch that amazing documentary at https://youtu.be/TCLUq_4BoFU. Click on Read more to find out about how this film was made and how you can interact with the film's director, Yonatan Nir on April 29.
By ADAM SCHWARTZ What do a burlesque dancer, a poet, and a comedian have in common? It turns out quite a lot in fact. For one thing they are all on the International Autism Variety show happening this Friday, April 23, at 7 pm.
We received the following press release from Karla Dueck Thiessen, who is a teacher at Brock Corydon School: Ms. Karla Dueck Thiessen and her students from Brock Corydon School are thrilled to announce that their book, It Starts With A Breath…a book about mindful breathing has been translated into Spanish! Students in the Grade 6 Hebrew Bilingual program are now working to translate the book into Hebrew.
By BERNIE BELLAN In our Dec. 9, 2020 issue Rebeca Kuropatwa reported on the success that a recent Israeli émigré to Winnipeg, Luba Yurchenko, had found selling her own baking in Winnipeg.
Gordon Bell High School, located in Winnipeg’s inner-city, is a thriving Grade 7-12 school whose strength lies in the diversity and resiliency of the students it serves. “Our Stories of Hope” project honours the diversity of the Gordon Bell community, which includes representation from 57 cultural groups, and is dedicated to giving Gordon Bell students the opportunity to tell their personal stories.
By BERNIE BELLAN It was just over a little over two years ago that the Chesed Shel Emes (the Winnipeg Jewish community’s burial society) launched a capital campaign, with the intent to build “a new facility to meet the needs of the Jewish community for many years to come,” an announcement in the May 10, 2019 issue of this paper said.
By GERRY POSNER As I was reading through the book “Healing Lives” by Eva Wiseman, one section grabbed my attention and indeed one line in particular on page 424. It seems that as many as 20 percent of the Jewish medical graduates from the Faculty of Medicine in Manitoba went into psychiatry. That means one out of every five chose this area to pursue a career. How unusual is that? Or is it?
By MYRON LOVE After more than 40 years immersed in the world of art, Gail Nep has cut back somewhat on her activities.
“I can’t do the schlepping I used to do when I was younger,” she says, recalling the days when she could be found crossing Portage and Main lugging paintings of different sizes to the offices of corporate clients downtown.
By MYRON LOVE Class reunions are most often a once (or twice)in a life time event. I myself have attended two smallish reunions of my Peretz School cohort as well as Aberdeen School’s 100th anniversary and St. Johns High School’s 75th and 100th anniversaries. While many welcome the opportunity to reconnect with former classmates – and others not so much – several members of the I.L. Peretz Folk School class of ’63 have in recent years made class reunions a regular happening.
By MYRON LOVE The Shaarey Zedek congregation’s second annual Covid-necessitated virtual community Pesach seder on Sunday, March, 27th, has attracted nearly 1,000 viewers thus far – counting those who signed on in real time and those who watched later.
“Our numbers are well up from last year,” reports Rabbi Anibal Mass, who hosted the seder. “So far, we have had 631 views on Youtube and another 300 on Facebook.”
Reviewed by BERNIE BELLAN I happened to have the radio on one Saturday afternoon – more as background noise than anything, when Elanor Wachtel’s CBC program on books, “Writers & Company”, came on. Normally I don’t pay attention to Wachtel’s program because it requires paying complete attention to the radio – something which I rarely do unless I’m out for a walk. However, as soon as Wachtel began to introduce her guest, a writer by the name of Ben Macintyre, the subject matter immediately grabbed my interest. Here is how she introduced Macintyre:
By BERNIE BELLAN In what became a somewhat confusing sequence of events, after much consternation expressed by various parties representing different sections of the Jewish community, a motion that had been introduced by the University of Manitoba Faculty Association to “oppose the adoption or use of the IHRA definition at the University of Manitoba and elsewhere” has apparently been put on hold for the time being.
By BERNIE BELLAN As if there weren’t more important issues in the world to consider, debating the merits of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism has now become one of those wedge issues by which individuals who have differing views on Israel define themselves.
Saying you’re in favour of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism seems to have become codeword for saying you’re defending Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians.