A life snuffed short: 49 years ago a brilliant young med student by the name of Aron Katz drowned in the Whiteshell in the course of saving his own younger sister herself from drowning
By BERNIE BELLAN On July 21 I received an interesting email from someone by the name of Reid Linney that immediately aroused my interest.
Here is what Reid wrote: “Hi, I’m a member of St. John’s High School’s Class of 1969. We celebrated the 50th anniversary of our graduation in 2019 and embarked upon a fundraising effort for an annual scholarship. The scholarship honors our classmate, Aron Katz.
The enthralling account of the attempt to revive a drowning victim - as written at the time by Dr. John Eadie
By BERNIE BELLAN Fascinated as I was by the story I had received from Reid Linney about Aron Katz, there was something else attached to the information about Aron Katz that was equally compelling: A vivid account of an attempt to revive a drowning victim, also in Big Whiteshell Lake (which is where Aron Katz drowned). It turns out that, subsequent to publishing the story of Aron Katz's life - and tragic death, in our Aug. 3 print issue, we received information that confirmed the drowning victim in the account you are about to read could not have been Aron Katz.
St. John's used to produce so many of Winnipeg's "best & brightest"
By BERNIE BELLAN Readers may wonder why I’ve devoted so much space to writing about Aron Katz, who died tragically 49 years ago.
The reason, as I explain in my story about Aron, is that memories of a member of our community whose life was suddenly cut short – especially someone who was on the cusp of greatness, evoke strong feelings in so many of us.
Former architect now one of Winnipeg’s leading window manufacturers
By MYRON LOVE As with most craftsmen, Stephen Segal takes a lot of pride in his work. “We have done so many projects in Winnipeg over the years,” says the President and CEO of Polar Windows of Canada. “It’s a great feeling whenever I drive around the city and pass homes and businesses with our windows knowing that we were involved in the construction.”
Cherish the Cherniacks
By GERRY POSNER Here is a bit of a test for you: Name a Jewish Winnipeg family with three generations of lawyers. Well, given that a recent piece in the JP&N mentioned a couple of families whose names both end in Pollock, that might not be too difficult to do.
“The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens – and Ourselves”
By MARTIN ZEILIG “That life exists elsewhere in the universe seems almost inevitable,” Dr. Arik Kershenbaum writes in this intriguing and entertaining book.
“That we could know anything about it seems almost impossible. But my goal is to show you that we can actually say a great deal about what aliens must be like, how they live, and how they behave.”
Not without honour.....except here
By SIMONE COHEN SCOTT Several Wednesday nights ago, June 22nd to be exact, I attended a launching here in Winnipeg, at the Whodunit Bookstore to be exact, of Celia Rabinovitch’s book, “Duchamp’s Pipe; a Chess Romance.” Actually, the book has been launched in a few places, mostly via zoom. Readers of this paper may even remember that I reviewed her book a while back.
Playing God: A Scientific Fable
By DAVID TOPPER We know now that the universe began with a Big Bang about 13.8 billion years ago.
But what about before that? How do we find out what happened then? There are no data to start with. No experimental information from which to begin. Nothing. Well, not ‘nothing’ nothing, for if that were so, there wouldn’t be a Big Bang. What do we do when we have no data?
"The Right Path" sends the right message
Special to The Jewish Post & News by TASHA KHEIRIDDIN Well known political commentator and author Tasha Kheiriddin published her most recent book, “The Right Path: How Conservatives Can Unite, Inspire and Take Canada Forward” last month. A long-time conservative, Tasha is currently the co-chair of the leadership campaign of Jean Charest.
Some major changes in allocations to beneficiary agencies of the Jewish Federation as of Sept. 1 - Gray Academy to receive $26,000 less than last year
By BERNIE BELLAN The Jewish Federation will be allocating exactly the same total amount of money to its beneficiary agencies in the 2022/23 fiscal year (beginning September 1) as it did in 2021/22: $3,003,000. But – the distribution of those funds will be markedly different this coming year than it was in the fiscal year that will end August 31.
That is the major takeaway from this year’s report of the Federation’s Budget & Allocations Committee.
Some observations about Jewish organizations within our community
By BERNIE BELLAN Quite often I’m asked by individuals who the audience for our paper is? I try to be as honest as possible in describing the audience for our print newspaper as predominantly older, which is generally the case for all print media. When it comes to our website, however, as much as there are analytics available, it’s much more difficult to know who exactly is looking at our website (which receives an average of 10,000 hits a month). What I have found quite interesting, however, is learning that the majority of individuals who look at our website are doing so on a mobile device, such as an iPhone or iPad.
Jewish teams once again among Cancercare Manitoba Foundation Challenge for Life top fundraisers
By MYRON LOVE The 15th annual Cancercare Manitoba Foundation Challenge for Life 20KM walk (or 200-minute workout) is back again, but much later this year than had traditionally been the case: August 4-14. Once again, teams dominated or led by members of our Jewish community are among the top fundraisers.
Simkin Centre receives positive review from WRHA following unannounced inspection
By BERNIE BELLAN As a result of the many problems associated with personal care homes in Winnipeg, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has been conducting unannounced inspections of personal care homes throughout the city.
On May 26 a team of five, including three representatives from Manitoba Health and two from the WRHA, visited the Simkin Centre.
Ethnic radio station CKJS - longtime home to the Jewish Radio Hour, caters to a vast underserved audience
By MYRON LOVE CKJS, the FM radio station that is undoubtedly best known in our Jewish community as the “forever” host of the long-running Jewish Radio Hour, occupies a unique place among Winnipeg radio stations. It is the only station in this region that is mandated to provide ethnic and religious programming.
The Ethical Yardstick of History: Remembering Irving Abella
By JAMIE MICHAELS Irving Abella passed away on July 3. He was a special historian. Calling him an optimist might be considered paradoxical given the subjects he researched: the history of Canadian anti-Semitism, the role of racial prejudice in shaping Canadian immigration policy, and Canadian labour history.
Toronto-based actor/playwright to make Winnipeg Jewish Theatre debut in new year
By MYRON LOVE Winnipeg Jewish Theatre audiences are going to be hearing a lot from Hershel Blatt – both as actor and playwright - in the new year.
The Toronto-based performer reports that the play that he is developing - “Ahava Later” – is being workshopped by the WJT. The play, Blatt notes, is a 1960s “Toronto Jewish-Queer coming of age story” centering on a Jewish family whose teenage son is coming to terms with his sexuality while his sister is also searching for her identity.
A visit to the Children of Israel Cemetery in Transcona - the Jewish community's first cemetery
By SHARON LOVE My first visit to the Children of Israel Cemetery was in August 2008. A descriptive article about this group visit, written by Matt Bellan (zl), then editor of The Jewish Post & News can be found in the Aug. 20th, 2008 edition.
70 headstones toppled at Shaarey Zedek Cemetery, but Larsen’s Memorials restored all but two the next day
By BERNIE BELLAN Early in the morning of Wednesday, June 29, staff at the Shaarey Zedek cemetery discovered that approximately 70 headstones in an older part of the cemetery (Sections 1 and 2) had been toppled over night.
Rainbow Stage’s current production has strong Jewish connection
We received an email from Rainbow Stage Artistic Director Carson Nattrass pointing out the many connections our Jewish community has to Rainbow Stage’s current production, “The Hockey Sweater,” including:
• Four Jewish cast members, including lead Kevin McIntryre, Harry Nelken, Rochelle Kives, and Hannah Schaeffer.
Pictures of all the Kavod Award nominees
This year's Kavod Awards ceremony, held May 31, in which the Jewish Federation honoured volunteers for various Jewish organizations was the first such ceremony held since 2019.
Brain tumour surgery survivors raising money for medical research
By MYRON LOVE Not only are Max Erenberg and Josh Lieberman close friends, they also share a terrifying experience. Each has undergone successful surgery for removal of a non-malignant brain tumour.
Volunteers from Shaarey Zedek, Unitarian Church, Bear Clan, and others band together to clean up Assiniboine river bank
By BERNIE BELLAN Anyone who had driven, cycled, or walked over the west span of the Sherbrook bridge in the past year was bound to notice that the south bank of the Assiniboine River had become home to a great many homeless people.
Shaarey Zedek details where it will relocate during reconstruction
On June 30, the Shaarey Zedek released detailed plans of how it will handle operations during the reconstruction of the synagogue. Following is that announcement in full:
Former Jewish Athlete of the Year Sarah Jacobsohn chosen to be part of Team Canada Ultimate Team
In an email received from Yael Kaplan, who herself is a former Jewish Athlete of the Year nominee, Yael informed us that 2019 Jewish Athlete of the Year Sarah Jacobsohn is now in Toronto, training with Canada’s National Ultimate Team for the “World Games,” which will be held in Birmingham, Alabama this week - from July 7-17.
Jake Tapper reflects on his role as a CNN anchor and his search in vain for a connection to any Winnipeg Tappers
By BERNIE BELLAN Jake Tapper is a very well-known CNN anchor (and chief Washington correspondent) whose manner is totally opposite from the firebrands who populate Fox News.
Community leaders David Asper, Harvey and Sandra Secter among the honourees at recent University of Manitoba convocation
By MYRON LOVE Community leaders David Asper and Harvey Secter were among ten individuals who were recipients of honorary degrees at the University of Manitoba’s most recent convocation.
The mayor of Jerusalem visited Winnipeg - but I never got a chance to speak with him
By BERNIE BELLAN On Wednesday, June 15 I was expecting to have a chance to meet the mayor of Jerusalem, whose name I found out is Moshe Lion. What follows is an email I sent to Keith Levit, who was taking pictures of the mayor and his entourage that day, and who asked me whether I was going to use any of the pictures he took.
Ari Posner has found success as a composer after growing up in a musical family
By ORI BELMONT Born in Winnipeg in 1970, Ari Posner was exposed to music and performing at an early age.
Dr. Cara Katz receives grant to study autism from sibling point of view
By MYRON LOVE Autism can be a difficult diagnosis that can put a tremendous strain on a family. While the focus for parents, healthcare workers and other support services is rightly on helping the affected child to navigate life, the impact of a sibling with autism on other children in the family may be overlooked.
Bob Wiseman: He left Blue Rodeo and fashioned his own successful career.
By GERRY POSNER You don’t have to look far to get a handle on Bob Wiseman or, for that matter, his three brothers: Ron, Gordie and Howie. Mom and Dad -Elaine and the late Mannie Wiseman, set the table and the boys seem to have eaten from the plates that their parents set for them.