Local News
Ashkenazie Synagogue seeks to repurpose itself into a synagogue/museum
By BERNIE BELLAN The Ashkenazie Synagogue at the corner of Burrows and Charles is Winnipeg’s oldest synagogue and the last remaining of 18 synagogues which once dotted Winnipeg’s North End. Now, like all the other synagogues that once existed contemporaneously with the House of Ashkenazie, it finds itself in a precarious position.
Unable to sustain a regular minyan and with a membership that is a mere fraction of what it once had, the few remaining members of the Ashkenazie are faced with a difficult choice: Either find a new use for the building or close it as a house of worship.
As a result, a group dedicated to finding a new purpose for this historic building has come up with an imaginative proposal that would see the Ashkenazie retain a core area for services, while reconfiguring the rest of the building into a “living” museum of Winnipeg’s Jewish North End.
First, a little history (taken largely from a Free Press article published in 2014 and written by Religion reporter Cheryl Girard): “The Ashkenazy synagogue was founded in 1921 by a group of immigrants from Lithuania. It took over an old Baptist church on the northwest corner of Burrows Avenue and Charles Street.
“A fire destroyed the Orthodox synagogue in April 1945, but it was rebuilt by its members three years later on the same site. The current red brick building is now said to be the oldest synagogue in Winnipeg.
” ‘This is the only synagogue that has a separation between the men and women, ‘ Gary Minuk (who was synagogue president at the time the article was written, and who remains in that position) says. A traditional Orthodox synagogue, it features a balcony that once provided seating for women. Today, there is a simple partition off to one side on the main floor separating women from men during prayers.
“One of the most well-known members was Joseph Wolinsky. A successful businessman, he founded the Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate in 1959 and was associated with many charities, philanthropic and educational institutions around the world.
The Free Press story also noted that during the period between the wars, the synagogue was Winnipeg’s “prestige synagogue, graced by the presence of the city’s chief rabbi, Israel Kahanovitch.”
“The word Ashkenaz means Germany. It refers to Jews who are descendants of the Jewish people of Germany, central Europe and eastern Europe, including Poland and Russia. Ashkenaz also refers to a mode or custom of prayer.”
With that glorious history in mind, as noted, a committee has been struck with the intention of saving the Ashkenazie.
Following are excerpts from a proposal that was sent to the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, which was written by Dr. Gerald (Yossi) Minuk, and which outlines the proposal developed by the steering committee dedicated to preserving the Ashkenazie Synagogue:
“As outlined at the meeting, the Ashkenazie is the last of 18 synagogues built in Winnipeg’s North-End at the turn of the 19th and early 20th century that still offers services at its original site. Unfortunately, the ability to continue those services is no longer tenable and rather than have the building sold or demolished as was the case with the previous 17 synagogues, the idea has been developed to reconfigure the Ashkenazie into a museum that commemorates all the previous synagogues and at the same time, continues to offer services to its regular attendees, museum visitors and staff.
“That the Ashkenazie will be celebrating its 100th year anniversary this coming 2022 is fortuitous in that it offers the ideal time for the synagogue to repurpose and continue to meet the Jewish community’s needs but in the proposed iteration, as a ‘living’ museum that captures and displays Winnipeg’s rich and famous Jewish North-End history, for the upcoming century.
“Essentially, our ‘vision’ entails the following: the main body of the synagogue would remain intact for daily and/or holiday services. However, the flanking pews would be converted into cubicles that contain narratives, photos and 3 dimensional items recovered from previous synagogues in the area, largely drawing upon collections and exhibits previously displayed by the Jewish Heritage Centre. If the memorabilia exceeds the space available, the flanking pews of the upstairs ladies gallery could be utilized for the same purpose.
“Certain cubicles would also feature former North-Enders who went on to national or international acclaim (ex. Monty Hall, David Steinberg, Sydney Halter, etc.) and computer stations that would enable visitors to look up old relatives and friends who were amongst the first immigrants to the North-End. Similar information would be offered for Jewish owned North-End businesses that helped contribute to the area’s economy.
“In addition, the Chedar-shaynee (anteroom to the main synagogue) would be repurposed as a small café, gift shop and washrooms. Depending on public feedback, the kosher kitchen and undeveloped downstairs area would be renovated and used for either hosting exhibits/seminars/events/dinners.
“In terms of moving forward, it should be noted that the executive board of the Ashkenazie Synagogue is completely supportive of this initiative (personal communication from its President Gary Minuk) and a steering committee (whose members have been cc’d) has been struck.
“As advised at last week’s meeting, proposed next steps would include approaching the Jewish Foundation, Winnipeg Foundation and Thomas Steel Foundation for seed money to hire an engineering firm, and if the building is deemed structurally sound, a museum designer and archivist to develop a formal budget. Thereafter, the Jewish community will be invited via the ‘Jewish Post & News’ publication to visit a website (tentatively entitled “An ASK About the ASH” ) in order to ascertain the level of community support; information on memorabilia whereabouts; suggestions as to which North-Enders and businesses might be profiled and opportunities for involvement/volunteering.
“Finally, regarding long term support, Heritage Winnipeg and the Jewish Foundation will be approached to supplement museum revenues, donations and private fund raising efforts.”
As part of the committee’s effort to repurpose the Ashkenazie, Dr. Minuk contacted The Jewish Post & News and asked, not only that we publicize the committee’s plan, but also include a link to a questionnaire whose purpose would be to gauge potential support for the plan to convert part of the Ashkenazie into a museum.
The questionnaire asks eight questions altogether, along with a final part that allows for comments of a general nature.
Here is a link to the questionnaire: tinyurl.com/4hpd4hky
Local News
Application filed by two former members of Etz Chayim Congregation against the congregation to have their memberships restored dismissed by judge
The following is taken from the Canadian Jewish News website: “Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench has dismissed Hadass Eviatar and David Hoult’s application challenging the termination of their membership at Congregation Etz Chayim. In his decision, Justice Vic Toews noted that, although Hoult’s letter describing a hypothetical attack on the synagogue may have lacked sensitivity given the political climate, he did not intend to threaten violence against congregants. However, the judge ruled that the court did not have jurisdiction to intervene in the membership dispute under Manitoba’s Corporations Act, finding that the couple had no financial, proprietary or economic interest that would entitle them to the remedies they sought. The judge concluded that religious organizations are generally free to determine their own membership rules and ordered each side to bear its own legal costs.”
If you would like to read the original article that broke the story about the battle between Hadaass Eviatar and David Hoult with Etz Chayim Congregation you can go to Epic Court Battle.”
Local News
Jewish Federation now says Jewish population of Winnipeg in 2021 (according to the census) was 13,940 – not the 16,000 figure that the Federation had been touting for years
By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted Oct. 27, 2026) Longtime readers of The Jewish Post & News (and this website) would probably know that I have long had a very strong interest in establishing as accurate figures as possible when it has come to reporting the size of Winnipeg’s Jewish community.
For years I argued that our Jewish Federation was exaggerating the size of our Jewish population. I heard the figure of 16,000 bandied about by leaders in our community quite often when it came to reporting the size of our Jewish population – without any empirical evidence to back that figure up.
I had long maintained that the only reasonably accurate figures when it came to reporting the size of Winnipeg’s Jewish population were those produced by the late Evelyn Katz, when she was the unofficial demographer for the Jewish Federation – over 30 years ago. What Evelyn would do is keep careful track of births, deaths, numbers of newcomers but, perhaps most important: the number of people who had left our community.
Thus, in August 2022 when I interviewed Faye Rosenberg Cohen who, at the time, was just about to retire as the Jewish Federation’s Chief Planning and Allocations Officer, I was somewhat astonished to hear Faye say, when I asked her what proportion of our Jewish community was made up of immigrants, she answered that “I can honestly say when I look at those numbers it’s somewhere around 1/3 of the community.”
In response, I asked: “So you’d say it’s somewhere between 4-5,000?”
Faye said: “I think it’s more than that.”
I wrote in that article, “I indicated my skepticism at that time, saying ‘You know that I’ve always been skeptical about the numbers that have been used by the Federation for the population of the Jewish community. I think though that it’s always been more of a case of identification – who identifies as Jewish.’ ”
Later, after the results of the 2021 census were released, I wrote that “if you take into account the results of the 2021 census, the Jewish community cannot be larger than 14,270 at a maximum. But that figure would also include anyone who had either said either their ethnic origin was Jewish or their religion was Jewish.”
Since many of the individuals who had said on the 2021 census that their ethnic origin was Jewish, but their religion was something else, I maintained that ascertaining the real size of our Jewish community was highly problematic.
Still, for the sake of argument I was willing to accept that, realistically, it was somewhere between 13,000-14,000 – but nowhere close to the figure of 16,000 that had come to be suggested by our then president of the Jewish Federation or by other leading figures in our community.
So, it was with a sense of satisfaction that I heard Sharon Graham, who is now the Jewish Federation’s Community Planning and Allocations Lead say to an audience of over 50 people who were at the Gwen Secter Centre on Thursday, October 22, that the Jewish community in 2021 was – at a maximum: 13,940.
Sharon was at the Gwen Secter Centre to speak to Remis Lecture attendees. Her presentation preceded a presentation by Jewish Federation CEO Jeff Lieberman. Sharon used a PowerPoint presentation to provide some very interesting insights into where our Jewish community was at in 2021- and I’m offering some parts of her presentation here for you to read because I thought they were so interesting.
I had actually made many of the same observations about the results of the 2021 census in my own reporting back in 2022, but seeing what I had written confirmed by the Jewish Federation’s point person on planning told me that Sharon has a much more realistic view of our community than did Faye Rosenberg Cohen.
Here, for instance, is a slide that shows the proportion of our Jewish community that is made up of immigrants. It’s slightly under one fifth, not the one third percentage that Faye had suggested.
But, what really set Sharon’s presentation apart from anything else I’ve ever seen presented by someone from the Jewish Federation – other than the aforementioned Evelyn Katz, was the slide she projected which showed that, while there had been a large influx of newcomers to Winnipeg’s Jewish community between 2016-2021 there had also been a significantly high number of people who had left our Jewish community in those same years, as you can see in the following slide:
That is something we just don’t hear discussed by leaders of our Jewish organizations, but let’s be realistic: For many newcomers who came to Winnipeg and were counted as new members of our Jewish community, Winnipeg – for a variety of reasons, was a stepping stone to other communities. It may have been for reasons of better job opportunities, moving closer to other family members, or – the reason that we hear so often when it comes to people saying they want to leave Winnipeg: the weather.
But, whatever the reason, Sharon’s figures show that, as much as GrowWinnipeg may have been an abiding success when it’s come to attracting newcomers to our Jewish community here, getting them to stay long term is a different story.
And, while there were other aspects of Sharon’s presentation that certainly merit discussion, especially the figures she produced about intermarriage, rather than delving into them here, I thought it useful simply to insert them for you, the reader, to see – and draw your own conclusions.
Local News
Marty Green expands his protest against extremist Jewish settlers to two more venues – and is arrested twice more
(Tuesday, October 27) We received the following press release about Marty Green being arrested again, both at the University of Manitoba and at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue:
Both sides came to blows on Saturday, October 24, at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue as security personnel sought to prevent Marty Green from interfering with synagogue traffic as he protested just outside synagogue grounds against the actions of religious settlers in Israel’s occupied West Bank territory. Synagogue Executive Director Rena Secter Elbaze quickly intervened to prevent further escalation. Police arrived shorty thereafter and detained Green for 45 minutes before driving him home and releasing him. It is not clear whether their decision not to lay charges was the result of their own onsite investigation or whether it was at the request of the synagogue executive.
Green has now been arrested four times in the last month and faces multiple charges for disturbing the peace, including two episodes at the Asper Campus and one more this past Friday (Oct. 23) at the University of Manitoba. While Green says initially he was merely handing out leaflets (at the Asper Campus), since his first arrest on September 23, he has returned to the campus with a large placard and an acccordion, accompanying himself while singing songs with lyrics that include such phrases as “The Jews Are Bananas….B-A-N-A-N-A-S”. In addition to listing actions of the religious settlers as including arson, vandalism, and theft, he pointedly alleges that the IDF has been backing up the settlers in their actions.
Green had earlier notified the Shaarey Zedek that he was contemplating bringing his protest to the synagogue. He was told that if he attempted to enter the grounds he would be prevented from doing so. At that time, Secter Elbaze told Green that his intentions were inappropriate, declaring the synagogue to be “a house of worship dedicated to prayer, learning, community, and spiritual engagement.” Green responded that if the synagogue were willing to contact the Crown and inform them that “that there was never any legal basis for their claims that I was conducting myself inappropriately at the Asper Campus” (with regard to his earlier arrests) that he would “voluntarily refrain from carrying his informational campaign to the synagogue(s).”
Green further argues that the recent “psak” (religious ruling) by leading Israeli rabbi Rov Dov Lior, in which Lior declares that it is not merely permissible but praiseworthy for Jews to steal olives from Arab orchards….that this ruling brings his protest within the proper realm of religious discourse. He says further that if the local rabbis were willing to speak out to their congregations against the aforesaid psak, that he might have refrained from taking his campaign to their grounds.
Although Green was released on Saturday without charges, police confiscated his placard. They explained that it was being held as evidence pending an investigation by Major Crimes as to whether it constituted hate literature.
There was no further information given as to what happened at the University of Manitoba.
