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I.L. Peretz School Class of ’63 celebrates 60th anniversary reunion

By SHARON LOVE On the weekend of July 7-9, the I.L. Peretz Folk school class of ‘63 held another get together- this time in celebration of the 60th anniversary of our graduation.
With a few Zoom meetings during the last three years, we chose a specific date and the wheels started turning. Our local organizing committee members were: Bella (Sapoznik) Ben-Ari, Donna (Gorenstein ) Cohen, Bailey Rayter, Janis (Swick) Wisher, Harold Abosh and Lanny Silver, and this writer, along with spouses/partners Marvin Ben-Ari, Mark Cohen, Karen Rayter, Ian Mckeown, Elizabeth Abosh, and Zipora Malamuth. So we just picked up where we left off.
Speaking of picking up where we left off, our very first reunion took place in Vancouver because the ‘kinder’ there like to organize. We celebrated our 50th birthday reunion there in May 2000. We were back in Vancouver in November 2010 in celebration of our 60th birthdays. We got together here in Winnipeg in August 2013, to mark the 50th anniversary of our graduation. We were in Vancouver in July 2015 celebrating our 65th birthdays. We were scheduled to come together in 2020 for a joint celebration of our 70th birthdays but we had to cancel due to the Covid lockdowns.
Covid, however did not dissuade us nor dampen our enthusiasm and our event turned out to be a weekend to remember. The ‘kinder’ included Winnipegger David Kives as well as out of towners Earl Zimmer, Carol Pollock, Faigie (Raber) Samson, Reesa (Margolis) Devlin and husband Bob, Ethel (Levine) Kofsky and partner Don Rosenbloom, Myrna Shefrin and Lorraine Meltzer.- all from Vancouver – as well as Gity (Shklarsky) Moritz-Finkel and husband Chet from Florida; Anita (Ladner) Bakal and husband, Marty from New York Candi Zell and Ron Charach and wife Alice from Toronto; Butchy Itzkow from Kingston, Laurie Landy from Appleton (near Ottawa); and Hilda (Szternfeld) Smith and husband Lennyfrom Calgary.
How did we celebrate our busy weekend? We kicked off the festivities with a Shabbes dinner hosted by our local committee at the party room at 141 Wellington Crescent, the home of Bailey and Karen Rayter. What with our reunioners and with guests and friends we were around 40 people. You could just feel and see the excitement in the air as guests started arriving. We ‘benched’ Shabbes candles and enjoyed challah buns which Gity brought from Miami. There was an abundance of food and drink and for dessert, fruit, cheesecake and Jeanne’s cake. For our first event of the weekend, could you ask for anything more?
Of course there was more. Our three special guests, mothers of three of our classmates joined us for this memorable occasion. Edith Landy, mother of Laurie, Ruth Zimmer, mother of Earl and Arnice Pollock, the mother of Carol, were beaming all evening. After all they have known many of us since we were young kids!
There were a few speeches and we also toasted classmates in our heart, Annette (Feldman) Nagler, Barbara (Shoib) Murray, and Nathan Meltzer, who left us all too soon.
A big thank you went out to our classmate Brenda (Grushko) Casey, who could not join us in person from Vancouver, but gifted the flowers and Jeanne’s cake. Thanks also went out to the I.L.Peretz School Trust, which helped sponsor this event.
We watched the video of our reunion from 2013, which was made by Marvin Ben-Ari. There were also tables covered with pictures and other memorabilia.
Saturday was a free day. Some visitors spent time with friends and relatives. Others took in the Museum for Human Rights and some just drove around their old neighbourhoods and places where they used to hang out.
Saturday dinner took place at Sorrento’s in Charleswood. The noise level was high because we all had so much to talk about. Sunday brunch was at the Hilton Garden Inn and we had the patio all to ourselves.
Parting speeches included a thank you to the Winnipeg hosts. We are awaiting the video that Marvin took of the entire weekend and appreciate his doing this. Suggestions for our next reunion were made for perhaps in two years and Vancouver seems to be where it will take place.
The weekend flew by and yet there still wasn’t enough time to visit with everyone. What with Zoom and social media these days, it’s so much easier for people to be in touch with each other wherever they live. I still say that nothing takes the place of in person schmoozing!
In my book our weekend can only be described by one word. As a proud graduate of the Peretz School, that word is ‘Oysergevanelech’!

Members of the Peretz School class of ‘63 Front row seated, from the lest:, Bella Ben-Ari, Bailey Rayter, Ruth Zimmer (mother of Earl Zimmer) Second row standing on the left, Laurie Landy with his mother, Edith Landy. Third row from the left, Sharon Love, Gity Moritz-Finkel, Reesa Devlin, Janis Wisher, Donna Cohen, Anita Bakal, Faigie Samson, Carol Pollock Back row from the left, Myrna Shefrin, Earl Zimmer, Ethel Kofsky, Hilda Smith, Ronnie Charach, David Kives, Candi Zell, Harold Abosh, Lorraine Meltzer, Lanny Silver, Butch Itzkow

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First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students

By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard.  Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.  
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology  – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging. 
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the  Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty.  “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”

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Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition

Gray Academy staff (l-r): Daniele Miller, Lindsey Leipsic, Nick Maier

By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”

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