Local News
Three organizations join forces to mount Mission to Israel in May
By BERNIE BELLAN In response to many requests received from members of Winnipeg’s Jewish community to organize a volunteer mission to Israel, for the first time ever three different organizations have joined together to organize just such a mission – from May 20-28.
Titled “HINENI 2024,” the mission is being mounted by the Jewish National Fund, Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, and Bridges for Peace.
The mission will include five days of intensive volunteering and visits to various sites in Israel. It will also include three meals a day and ground transportation.
There will be an information night at the Asper Campus on February 28 but, in advance of that information night, we contacted JNF Manitoba-Saskatchewan Executive Director David Greaves to ask whether he could provide some details about the planned mission prior to that information meeting and describe how it all came about.
Greaves said that both the JNF and the Federation were thinking of organizing missions in May, so it was only natural that they would combine efforts.
“The Federation has organizational experience, and they’ll be able to handle the registration process,” Greaves explained, while “the JNF will be able to handle the logistics on the ground,” such as arranging accommodation, transportation, and meals.
And Bridges for Peace was able to step up and negotiate some very good pricing for air fares for anyone who would want to fly on specific flights – details for which will be announced in the coming days. (Greaves noted that flights have not been included as part of the package as many individuals indicated that they wanted to make their own arrangements getting to Israel.)
Yet, unlike any other mission that the JNF has mounted in years past, Greaves wanted to make it clear that the May mission will be a “volunteer” mission, during which participants will be expected to “be on their feet four-five hours a day” engaging in tasks whose exact nature is still being formulated – in conjunction with various Israeli organizations.
“We’re looking at volunteering primarily in the south,” Greaves said, including picking fruit and vegetables. As of this moment, he added: “We’re still investigating various volunteer possibilities.”
Included in the mission tentatively, accordiing to Greaves, will be visits to the site of the Nova music festival, where 364 primarily young Israelis were massacred (along with 40 abducted), as well as visits with families of hostages and a visit with the mayor of Sderot.
As far as accommodation is concerned, Greaves wanted to make it clear that mission participants will not be staying in four or five star hotels.”Most likely they will be three star hotels,” he noted. And, when you take into account the cost of providing three meals a day along with bus transportation and other ancillary costs, Greaves suggested that the mission cost, which will be no more than $3,000 (exclusive of air fare), is quite reasonable, especially when you take into account typical costs associated with visiting Israel and the relatively low Canadian dollar. As well, Greaves said that couples travelling together will probably pay somewhat less per person – around $2500 per person, he suggested is likely.
I asked Greaves how many people they were hoping to have participate in the mission. He said that they’re looking at around 40. Although it would be great if there were a larger response, he added, the logistics of having to hire an additional bus would make it difficult to plan a mission with two buses unless the number of participants warranted that.
“If response is overwhelming, we’d get a second bus,” he added though.
I asked Greaves whether there are JNF missions of a similar nature being planned in other Canadian cities and he said there were – “in Toronto and Vancouver,” but he also wanted to emphasize that they are both being planned locally – unlike every other JNF mission, which has always been planned at the national level – until now.
In addition to the combined organizational efforts of the JNF, Jewish Federation, and Bridges for Peace, five Winnipeg congregations are also lending their support to the mission, helping to promote it among their respective congregants.
If you would like to obtain further information about the mission and are unable to attend the February 28 information evening, contact either David Greaves at the JNF at david.greaves@jnf.ca or Abby Flackman at the Jewish Federation at aflackman@jewishwinnipeg.org.
Local News
Shaarey Zedek Sisterhood 60th anniversary interfaith luncheon
By MYRON LOVE On Wednesday, May 28, the Shaarey Zedek Sisterhood hosted its 60th annual interfaith luncheon – with 170 supporters on hand to break bread together, celebrate the Sisterhood’s 95th year in operation – in addition to the luncheon’s diamond anniversary, and enjoy an inspiring presentation by Indigenous business leader and consultant Lisa Lewis, who spoke about the kinship between her people and ours.
The program began with greetings from Lieutenant-Governor Anita Neville and Gail Asper, representing the Shaarey Zedek’s Board of Directors. Asper – the consummate community volunteer – spoke of the importance and benefits of the satisfaction gained from being a volunteer, as well as the important role that the Sisterhood has played in the life of our Jewish community’s oldest and largest congregation – a subject that was subsequently expanded upon by Marisa Hochman – one of the Sisterhood’s three co-presidents (along with Sandy Polanski and Louise Raber).
(Hochman and Raber also co–chaired the luncheon, along with Amy Karlinsky.)
“Our tradition teaches that it is important for us to be part of a community,” Hochman noted in her remarks. “Our Torah teaches that, while G-d is one, it is not good for man to be alone.”
She emphasized the importance in Judaism of balance and harmony as reflected in our rituals and observances – lighting two Shabbat candles, for example, the Commandments being written on two tablets, and in bringing together the four species of plants for the celebration of Sukkot.
“The mitzvah (of the four species),” Hochmanpointed out, ‘is not complete until all four of the elements are brought together – symbolizing that it takes many kinds of people to make a world – and that each of us brings something special to the table. It is only when all of us are working together that we are complete.”
Hochman provided a sampling of some of the ways that the Sisterhood contributes to its members, the synagogue and the wider community: the book club, the tallit-weaving program, monetary donations to the synagogue, support for theological seminaries and other Jewish educational institutions, and Jewish Child and Family Service.
“To me,” she added, “Sisterhood is friendship, community, the power of women working together to create, build and share and the passing on of wisdom and traditions – L’dor V’dor – from generation to generation.
“It is multigenerational, with members ranging in age from 16 into their 90s. A common thread that binds our members is that no matter their age or life circumstances, they are vibrant and engaged with the world around them. They love to learn and help others. They each contain a spark that illuminates.
“Like the glow of the Shabbat candles, we know that, together, we can bring more light and goodness into the world. Together, we definitely shine brighter than we do on our own.”
Following a delicious Shaarey Zedek lunch – salad, party sandwiches and dessert, keynote speaker Lisa Lewis stepped up the microphone. The speaker is a successful business woman, having started “Beyond Excellence Creative Consulting,” which provides tailor-made training and management assistance to a wide range of organizations.
Local News
Shindico celebrates 50th anniversary
(June 11, 2025) Shindico, one of Canada’s leading real estate firms, celebrated its 50th anniversary in typically understated style today. Instead of a lavish banquet in a swank hotel, over 200 Winnipeggers of different stripes gathered in a huge warehouse in St. Boniface to enjoy a variety of different foods served from different food trucks that had been brought onto the parking lot for the occasion in a carnival like atmosphere.
There were no long speeches marking the event. Instead Shindico staff mingled with guests and even the top bosses stood in line to order Philly steaks, french fries, cotton candy, popcorn, drinks, and sundry other food items. And, instead of the kind of swag typically given out at fancy celebrations guests were given simple hats saying “Shindico 50th anniversary.”
That’s the Shindico style we’ve come to expect of Shindico’s founders, Sandy & Robert Shindleman, who are known for understatement in their style of clothing – jeans and work shirts being what they are best known for wearing!
And, if you haven’t already read our story about how Sandy Shindleman came to found Shindico with his brother, Robert, you can read it here: The Sandy Shindleman story.
Local News
Cathy Moser organizing information program and beach party at Camp Massad as part of campaign to raise funds for pioneering Israeli treatment using psychedelic drugs and psychotherapy to treat PTSD
By MYRON LOVE When it comes to fundraising for worthy causes, Dr. Cathy Moser is one of the most creative and innovative people I know.
For over a dozen years, she was the annual Cancercare Manitoba Foundation Challenge for Life entrant Serratus Superstars team leader. Over that time period, Moser and her team raised over $450,000.00 – not only through walking but also through donations from garage sales and bake sales she and her friends organized and concerts organized in their homes.
A few months back, the Jewish Post ran a story about Cathy and her husband Jeff’s newest cause – a campaign to raise money for the Jerusalem Foundation’s new Resilience Centre, a novel treatment center for Israelis suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Aided in fundraising by long time Talmud Torah classmates and friends Donna Weinstein and Gina Chodirker, the Winnipeg couple are pledging to double every dollar donated to the Centre up to $100,000.
As part of that initiative, Moser and her friends are inviting readers to a special event – “Jerusalem at the Lake” on Sunday, June 22, at Camp Massad. The day’s activities will begin at 11:00 with brunch and presentations by Jerusalem Resilience Center directors Dr. Sinai Oren, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and Pinni Baumol, a social worker who has been working in the area for decades.
That will be followed by a family-friendly beach party from 3:00 to 7:00 featuring activities for all ages. Moser reports that there will be dinner, a live band, Israeli dancing, sports, a heated pool and arts and crafts for the kids. She adds that she, Gina Chodirker and Donna Weinstein recruited several other Talmud Torah/JWC alumni – including Miriam Kohn, Avis Raber, Jackie Winestock, Deborah Fleishman and Gail Thau – to help out.
Moser points out that, according to the Jerusalem Foundation, estimates suggest that over half a million Israelis are suffering from PTSD, as well as other psychological issues, since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and ensuing war.
“It is not only Israeli soldiers who have been traumatized,” Moser observed in that earlier interview. “Everybody in Israel knows someone who was affected by the attack on October 7. This past year has triggered trauma from past wars as well as intergenerational trauma from the Holocaust.”
In response to this tsunami of trauma that has hit Israelis, the Jerusalem Foundation, soon after the October attack, founded the Resilience Centre – operating out of the Shaare Zedek Hospital. The Resilience Centre utilizes a range of treatments for trauma therapy – including the pioneering use of the drug ketamine, in combination with psychotherapy.
Cathy Moser has been treating patients for the past 40 years. During that time, she says, she has treated victims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse and other horrific life events. Conventional tools and treatments can successfully treat trauma, but some (traumas) are so barbaric and complex that no matter how skilled a clinician is, “we cannot restore one’s lifeforce,’ ” she points out.
Moser initially approached the Jerusalem Resilience Center because of her work in psychedelic medicine. “Last summer, I visited the Reslience Centre,” she says. “I witnessed their treatment efficacy. There are less than a handful of legal psychedelic treatment centers in Israel, and this is a main one.”
Moser notes that readers who are interested in attending this special event and becoming sponsors can contact her at 204 295-3214, Donna Weinstein – 204 540-9869, or Gina Chodirker – 204 218-4803 or email friendsofJRC@gmail.com.
Registration deadline is June 14.
We owe it to our Israeli brothers and sisters to show them that we care about the mental health sacrifices that they are making to defend our homeland. While we happily offer donations for forest and building restoration, this gift will help to restore the ability of those that are traumatized to enjoy life again.
“We are hoping to raise at least $250,000.00 for the Jerusalem Resilience Centre,” Moser says. “That’s a lot of gelt…. but I think we can do it!
It is definitely a worthy cause.”
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