Local News
Méira Cook’s latest novel is arguably her most “Jewish” one yet
Review by BERNIE BELLAN I’ve been following the career of poet and novelist Méira Cook ever since her name was first mentioned in this paper in an article written by my niece, Suzy Waldman, in 1995. At that time Méira (who is named for her late grandfather, Meir) noted that she had been sticking with poetry to that point, but was now considering switching to prose.
Well, what a transition it’s been. With the release of her first novel, “The House on Sugarbush Road,” in 2012, Méira has climbed near the top of the list of Manitoba’s most successful novelists. (That book won the McNally Robinson Prize for Book of the Year, by the way.)
In my review of “Sugarbush,” I noted that I was astonished by Méira’s facility with language, and I referenced her own description of having grown up in South Africa, having been exposed to the “snap and crackle of language”, whether it was spoken by whites or blacks.
That ear for language carried forward into Méira’s next novel, “Nightwatching,” which was released in 2015, and which was also set in South Africa. That book won the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction.
Then, in 2017, Méira released her first novel set in her newly adopted home of Winnipeg, “Once More With Feeling.” I noted in my review of that book though that, if you haven’t read either of Méira’s prior novels, be forewarned:
“None of them unfold in a methodical, easy-to-understand pattern. As a matter of fact, the various chapters in ‘Once More With Feeling’ are largely disconnected. Characters are introduced, only to disappear for long stretches, sometimes appearing later in the book, at other times simply vanishing.”
Now though, Méira has, at long last, written a novel titled “The Full Catastrophe,” that might perhaps be the most accessible of all her novels to readers, in that it follows a more linear path in which characters remain throughout the novel without disappearing for long stretches. Like her three previous novels, however, “The Full Catastrophe” builds to a crescendo – and in this case, it revolves around a bar mitzvah.
Having said that, it must be apparent that this novel is the most clearly “Jewish” of any of Méira’s now four novels. The principal character, Charlie Minkoff, is a 13-year-old boy, who is born with “intersex” traits. Although Charlie clearly identifies as a boy, he is hampered by the ambiguity that his chromosomes have rendered.
Charlie though has a loving relationship with his zaida Oscar, who adores the boy and offers him the kind of emotional support that he so desperately needs.
Charlie’s mother, Jules Minkoff, on the other hand, is so completely involved in her own artistic pursuits that she leaves Charlie to fend for himself in the tenement building in which they live. (Jules, by the way, has lost the ability to speak – and she communicates with Charlie largely by leaving messages for him on a whiteboard.)
There are other characters who offer support to Charlie throughout the novel, particularly Weeza, a rough hewn female truck driver who strives to protect Charlie in the absence of Jules.
As I’ve already noted, Méira Cook is a master of fashioning dialogue. In “The Full Catastrophe” she demonstrates her facility with Yiddish idioms, as expressed by Oscar Minkoff. (Years ago Méira told me that she grew up in a household in South Africa where her grandparents spoke Yiddish. As a matter of fact, Méira speaks several languages, including Afrikaans and a few different black South African dialects. She was also a reporter early on, so being able to craft authentic sounding dialogue is something she honed while she was still quite young.)
Like her other novels, “The Full Catastrophe” is rich in description. Here’s a sample of how the author describes an ice warming hut on a Winnipeg river that Jules Minkoff has designed: “The ice was different from any he’d seen before. He’d been expecting kitchen cubes, the kind that turned opaque when wrenched from their trays. This ice was clear, so transparent he could make out fragile etchings of river scum in its depths – here a haze of silt, there a suspension of foam. The closer he looked the more he could see: a scrim of fish bones, a trail of bubbles, the current folding in on itself.”
In the ten years since Méira released “The House on Sugarbush Road” to today, it seems that she has also developed a keener sense of humour within her writing. Her first two novels, set as they were in South Africa, had as a backdrop the tensions between blacks and whites which pervade that country, and there was always a threat of impending violence within both those books.
“Once More With Feeling” took a decidedly less solemn path and it had several chapters within it that were predominantly humourous, although the book as a whole was quite serious.
In “The Full Catastrophe” Méira often injects entire scenes of dialogue that I told her in an email reminded me of Mordecai Richler in their tone. A good part of the book consists of emails sent back and forth between different characters, including a well-meaning teacher of Charlie’s by the name of Maude Kambaja, who wants Charlie to write an autobiographical essay for class, but who is dissatisfied with how Charlie avoids revealing much about himself.
Ms. Kambaja emails Jules Minkoff regularly to attempt to persuade Jules to exert her influence over Charlie to open up, but Jules consistently retorts in a most amusing and sarcastic manner.
Other characters in the novel, including two of Charlie and Jules’ neighbours in their building, which is known as the “GNC Building” (and from which all the remaining tenants will soon be forced to move as it’s about to be redeveloped), also carry on a hilarious exchange of notes for which Charlie serves as the messenger because they have such a strong dislike for one another.
Yet, through it all – including a crush that Charlie develops on a girl who herself is deeply scarred emotionally, the relationship between Charlie and his zaida is the overriding unifying theme of “The Full Catastrophe.”
Oscar Minkoff is himself a Holocaust survivor and after what he’s endured, he has nothing but compassion for his deeply troubled grandson (whose father abandoned him and his mother shortly after Charlie’s birth to join a Hasidic sect in New York).
Oscar decides that he wants to have a bar mitzvah – something he was never able to have in war-torn Europe, and he wants Charlie to participate with him in the event as well. As part of their preparation, Oscar and Charlie meet with a rabbi, during which they often engage in discussion of Talmudic passages.
(I was deeply impressed by the amount of research Méira put into developing those scenes. See adjoining sidebar for a more detailed examination of her writing process.)
No doubt, based on the past success of Méira’s other novels, “The Full Catastrophe” is going to enjoy a similar reception among her many fans. But, considering the more overtly Jewish storyline of this book, I would rather expect it to do particularly well with a Jewish audience. And, considering that Méira has been quite consistent in producing a new novel every three years for the past 10 years, I can hardly wait for her next one – which should be out in 2025, according to schedule.
“The Full Catastrophe”
Published by House of Anansi Press
376 pages
“The Full Catastrophe” will be publicly launched at McNally Robinson Booksellers on June 16 at 7:30 pm, when Méira Cook will be joined by Alison Gillmor in what Méira describes as “an evening of brilliant repartee, reading, and the joy of seeing each other once again!”
Méira Cook talks about her writing process
By BERNIE BELLAN Once I had finished reading Méira Cook’s latest novel, “The Full Catastrophe” I sent her a series of questions about this particular novel and about her writing process in general.
JP&N: Where did the idea for this particular novel come from? Was it something you had been mulling about for some time? I’m curious how someone with such a fabulous imagination comes up with their ideas?
Méira: My novel is a cross-over story for adults and teenagers about the different ways that masculinity is expressed in our contemporary world — whether religiously, socially, medically and familiarly — as well as the troubling ways that history intersects (collides might be a better word) with the present time. And I wanted to write about the relationship between two unlikely best friends, Oscar and Charlie, grandfather and grandson who, despite their differences in age and experience, love each other dearly.
JP&N: Was Charlie’s zaida based on one of your own grandparents in any way?
Méira: Charlie’s zeide is a product of imagination just as all my characters are. For me the imagination is a more hospitable narrative place than memory is because it owes no debt of accuracy to the dead. What has really delighted me is that some advance readers, including the journalists interviewing me, have shared very positive memories of their own grandparents that were sparked by reading Oscar. That ability for my imagination to connect with others’ memories is always tremendously rewarding.
JP&N: How much research did you have to do about intersex children? It was quite fascinating learning as much as I did from your book.
Méira: I did a great deal of research on intersexuality although I used relatively little of it as I didn’t want to bog down the story with too much exposition. My reading included scholarly texts, history, and memoir. It’s such an important and nuanced subject, and my research taught me so much about the history of intolerance and abuse relating to reassignment surgery, medical interventions, and the sometimes violent societal imposition of gender roles. This reading informed my writing in a fundamental way, but readers won’t come across it directly. My main concern in writing Charlie’s character is that he not be defined by his sexual characteristics. This, in my opinion, would repeat the violent impositions that I was reading about. Charlie’s got so many other interests, concerns, and qualities that have nothing to do with his sex chromosomes.
JP&N: If I have one quibble with the book, it’s that you have Charlie’s zaida constantly calling him “dahlink.” Don’t you think a term like that would only add to Charlie’s insecurity as a boy?
I would have preferred “boychik” as a term of endearment.
Méira: Luckily (and sometimes unluckily) we are not in charge of the terms of endearment offered us! They are what others call us. Oscar is so naturally loving, so open hearted despite his tragic experience in the Holocaust that he is the perfect friend, confidant, and grandparent for Charlie. His words to Charlie are always so filled with love that they could never make the boy feel insecure about anything. We should all be so lucky as to have a zeide like Oscar!
JP&N: I note that in past articles in our paper (beginning with a piece written long ago by my niece, Suzy Waldman), that you’ve stuck to a fairly consistent schedule when it comes to turning out something new: approximately every three years. Do you take a break between writing or do you go at it again immediately after finishing your last project?
Méira: I know many writers take breaks from writing after a large project, and I envy them. I love writing, and I wouldn’t feel healthy or grounded if I didn’t put in my time every day. I don’t work to a schedule until my publisher sets one, but I find the act of writing so necessary that I get out of sorts if I spend time away from my office.
JP&N: It goes without saying that this book is going to receive wide acclaim here in Manitoba. By the way, there were parts of the book that reminded me of Mordecai Richler when you have the email exchanges between various characters (or written notes, as the case may be). Your ability to capture someone through how they send an email, especially Ms. Kambaja, is just so real. You have such a great ear for dialogue. Does that still come from your reporting background?
Méira: Thank you for your kind words, Bernie. I’ve always loved Mordecai Richler, so the comparison is very flattering. I think my sense of dialogue comes from listening to people talk and reading good books. You need to be realistic with dialogue, but not too realistic, as real-life conversations aren’t usually interesting to outsiders. You need to write dialogue that sounds realistic but reads like fiction.
Local News
Nakba exhbit at CMHR to open June 27 – Here’s a preview:
By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted June 26)The following press release was sent to me early Friday morning June 26 (Photos supplied by Annie Kierans, CMHR) Nothing that follows has been edited. I leave it to you to form your own opinion:
Winnipeg, MB — June 26, 2026 — The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) will open a new exhibit tomorrow that explores human rights violations related to the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinian Canadians.
Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present will be on display in the Rights Today gallery on Level 5 until 2028. Featuring personal stories told through artifacts and video testimonies, the exhibit presents Palestinian Canadians reflecting on their ongoing struggle for human rights. The small exhibit reveals enduring patterns of loss and resilience, helping visitors understand more about this contemporary human rights story.
Palestinian Canadian stories are now included alongside many other stories of forced displacement and human rights violations featured in the Museum’s galleries. Each of these stories contribute to our visitors understanding of human rights and help the Museum fulfill its mandate to foster reflection and dialogue.
Exhibition highlights
Personal stories and artifacts: Experience firsthand accounts from Palestinian Canadians sharing their journeys of displacement and memory through a series of five artifacts. Cases display artifacts like property deeds, house keys, and a traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, accompanied by short videos that deepen understanding of the impacts of displacement.
Powerful artworks: In her painting Bound Together in Gaza, Malak Mattar, a Gazan artist, captures the struggles and resilience of her generation shaped by conflict. Her work pays homage to Guernica, Picasso’s powerful masterpiece depicting civilian suffering during war.
Curfews and Closures, by Rajie Cook, bears witness to life under military occupation during the 2000–2005 Palestinian uprising, when curfews and closures were expanded and further limited basic rights and freedoms.
Cultural heritage: Discover traditional Palestinian embroidery called tatreez. Tatreez motifs and colours are tied to place, family history and regional identity. Patterns are associated with particular towns, villages or areas of Palestine. In this way, tatreez is a form of storytelling: a way of preserving memory, sustaining identity and expressing resilience across displacement and exile.
Poetry and reflection: Engage with Mahmoud Darwish’s evocative verses, inspiring personal reflection on exile, voice, and responsibility. Visitors can take a card containing Darwish’s poem and add a personal note, fostering ongoing dialogue beyond the exhibit.
Contemporary context: Witness striking images of current events in Gaza and the West Bank, connecting past displacement to ongoing struggles.
Quotes:
“No force can silence the truth we carry. Growing up in Canada, my children lived the Nakba through our stories. And now we watch it happen again, live, on our phones. When I see the images coming out of Gaza, I am not watching the news. I am watching my history repeat itself.” -Fouad Sahyoun, a Palestinian Canadian featured in the exhibit
“We developed this exhibit with a clear awareness that Palestinian Canadian voices have too often been marginalized, silenced or spoken over — and that anti-Palestinian racism affects whose stories are heard and whose suffering is recognized. That is why we intentionally centred Palestinian Canadian voices throughout the exhibit.” -Isabelle Masson, Curator of Palestine Uprooted
“Human rights matter precisely when they are inconvenient, when the question of who deserves the dignity of having their rights recognized is genuinely contested. These are the moments where having a national museum for human rights is most important.
There are people who believe this exhibit should not exist in its current form. There are people who believe it should have existed sooner. There are people who will visit this exhibit and feel that it does not say enough, and others who will feel it says too much.
We have listened to every one of these voices. We have reflected. And we have renewed our resolve to continue the difficult, sometimes contested, and often controversial work of building understanding about human rights. We are a museum grounded in Canada’s human rights framework, whose mandate requires us to bear witness to the full complexity of the human story. We are proud to open this exhibit because the story it tells will help achieve that mandate, and because this story belongs in the collective memory of Canadians.”
- – Isha Khan, CEO
Local News
Nakba exhibit at human rights museum set to open despite mounting criticism
By NOAH STRAUSS (posted June 25) The Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ Nakba exhibit is scheduled to open this Saturday, June 27, despite growing criticism and calls for it to be delayed or revised. The exhibit has sparked public debate in Winnipeg and beyond regarding how it presents the history surrounding the creation of the State of Israel.
Earlier this week, Mark Berlin resigned from the museum’s board. In his resignation letter, he expressed concern that the exhibit presents a one-sided narrative and does not adequately address the experiences of Jewish communities affected by the events surrounding Israel’s independence.
The Nakba, an Arabic word meaning “catastrophe,” refers to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1947–1949 conflict that followed the creation of the State of Israel. Critics of the exhibit argue that it focuses primarily on Palestinian displacement without sufficiently acknowledging the broader regional consequences of the period.
Some Jewish advocacy groups also point to the experiences of Jews who left or were expelled from several Arab and Muslim-majority countries in the decades surrounding Israel’s creation. Estimates suggest that between 850,000 and 950,000 Jews left or were displaced from countries including Iraq, Egypt, and Yemen, under a range of circumstances including persecution, expulsion, and confiscation of property.
In his resignation letter, Berlin, a faculty member at McGill University specializing in human rights law, wrote, “Telling the story with a one-sided perspective chosen by the museum serves to deepen division and contributes to further hostility toward Jews in Canada.”
Following his resignation, CIJA President Noah Shack released a statement saying, “The resignation of the museum’s only Jewish board member is a clear indictment of the museum’s handling of the controversial ‘Nakba’ exhibit.”
The exhibit’s VIP opening is expected to include invitations to representatives from all three levels of government. Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham had initially been invited but later declined following discussions with representatives from the Jewish community, including CIJA Manitoba Vice President Gustavo Zentner and Jeff Lieberman, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg.
Members of Winnipeg’s Jewish community are also planning a peaceful rally outside the museum on Friday at 5 p.m., according to organizers.
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is expected to release a formal statement ahead of the exhibit’s opening.
Local News
Jewish Child and Family Service helped over 1800 families in 2025
By BERNIE BELLAN Jewish Child and Family Service will be entering the 75th year of its existence in 2027.
With a budget over $4,300,000, JCFS is also the largest beneficiary of funding from the Jewish Federation of the 12 Winnipeg Jewish community agencies that are beneficiaries of the Federation. (To see a list of the 12 agencies go to Funding for Beneficiary Agencies.)
Its impact has grown over the years as JCFS has expanded its horizon, continually adding to the many services it provides. During the JCFS’s Annual General Meeting, held in the Seniors’ Lounge of the Asper Campus on Tuesday evening, June 23, the important role that JCFS plays in the lives of so many members of the Jewish community – also a significant number of non-Jews as well, various speakers cited the many ways in which JCFS has continued to have such a huge impact.
With total revenues of $4,325,160 in fiscal year 2025 (which ended March 31, 2026), but slightly fewer expenses, JCFS not only delivered a wide gamut of services, it managed to deliver those services without incurring a deficit in 2025, despite some significant financial challenges.
As outgoing Board Chair Elana Grinshteyn observed, JCFS had to navigate some major reductions in funding, including a cut in funding from the federal government to the tune of $100,000, plus the loss of funding from the Claims Conference, which had provided support for Holocaust survivors.
Yet, despite those setbacks in funding, Grinshtein reported, “Together, we insured that services remained intact.
“We increased access to interest free loans,” she noted, “doubling” the amount that had been allocated in 2024.
And, amidst the ever-increasing demand for services, “JCFS has continued to navigate space limitations,” Grinshteyn noted. (I should note that as far back as 2019 I reported in an interview I had conducted with JCFS CEO Al Benarroch about the JCFS’s dire need for more space. Here is an excerpt from what Benarroch had to say about the JCFS’s need for more room back in 2019: “…we’ve been looking for roughly 3,000 more square feet of space. We have a footprint right now of roughly 5,000 square feet for over 40 staff. We’ve given up a board room here. It’s been taken over by older adult service staff. We have a conference room which is adjacent to the board room; we’ve moved two staff in there.
“Yesterday I gave up my office for the entire morning so that staff could interview clients.
“We need to relieve the pressure we’re facing right now – yet alone plan for expanding and growing.
“Whatever space we’d be looking at would be temporary. It’s now 22 years that we’ve been in this facility. The campus has taken over squash courts, it’s taken over a museum – internally, to accommodate the growth in services. Maybe it’s time now to look at growing outside this building…”
As the saying goes: “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” (That’s me, trying to impress.)
While I tried to take notes during Al Benarroch’s CEO report, I realized following his remarks that there was so much important information conveyed, also a slew of statistics, that it might be more helpful to reprint a good portion of what he said verbatim, so I asked Al to send me a copy of his remarks. (That’s one of the nice things about writing on a website. There’s an infinite amount of room to print the kind of stuff that nerds like me pretend to read.)
During his CEO’s report, Benarroch enumerated the many challenges JCFS encountered in 2025.
Among those challenges, Benarroch noted, were:
• The rising and high cost of living
• Food insecurity
• Housing issues
• Our aging population demographics
• The complex needs of our newcomer families
• The increasingly complex needs in mental health & youth mental health
Yet, despite all those challenges, Benarroch said, “As always… we rose to meet those head on, and with the support of our community.”
In particular, Benarroch cited the support of the Jewish Federation, which contributed $948,800 to JCFS in 2025. (The largest portion of JCFS funding, by the way came from the Province: over $1,100,000.)
Fundraising also played a significant role in contributing to JCFS revenues, with almost $700,000 raised through that route, including direct donations of over $320,000 and bequests over $40,000.
As Benarroch noted, “Every year, we look forward with hope that it will be a quiet year.
“Well, if that’s the case, we are in the wrong business.
“We happen to be in the reflect, respond and pivot business.
“This is the nature of the human existence.”
Benarroch went on to add some more statistics about how JCFS played such a pivotal role in the lives of so many people. In 2025 JCFS:
• Served 1,800 client households – impacting almost 5,000 people.
• Assisted 15 foster children.
• Served 70 families in Child Welfare….
“But what is even more important is that we assisted 90 children that remained at home with their families,” Benarroch said.
The year 2025 also saw the inauguration of what is known as the “Asper Empowerment Program”, through which:
• 311 clients were assisted (including Passover Assistance)
• $80,000 was disbursed in financial assistance
• Over $20,000 was given out in interest-free loans.
• 6,500 kg of food were disbursed
In the area of mental health and counselling services, Benarroch noted that JCFS:
• Supported over 50 adults with mental health challenges
• Our Friday Mental Health Wellness Group participants took part in 22 group activities or outings
• We support some 20 individuals and families impacted by addictions through individual and group services.
• We delivered almost 1,100 counselling sessions, over half of which were subsidized on our sliding scale.
• We continued to support individuals, families, and partner Jewish organizations with the ongoing emotional impacts of the war in Israel and high levels of global antisemitism.
In the area of support for older adults, JCFS served over 250 seniors including:
• 70 newcomer seniors
• 50 seniors living with mental health differences
• 65 Holocaust Survivors (including celebrating “25 years of our Holocaust Survivor Drop-in Group, a partnership with the Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre.”)
In the area of settlement services, JCFS:
• Welcomed almost 80 new families
• Almost 50 families from Israel, seeking reprieve from the ongoing stresses and pressures of the war.
Benarroch noted that “These families are dealing with the deep trauma of displacement, having lived under constant stress, fear and the ensuing post-traumatic impact, family and parenting challenges as a result, emotional exhaustion, financial strain, and more.
“Thanks to the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, we hired a trained specialized support worker, with a background in therapy, to help these families cope, adjust, and receive much needed emotional supports.”
Benarroch went on to describe many more initiatives in which JCFS was engaged in 2025, but I want to return to the retirement of Elena Grinshteyn from the Board of JCFS after nine years serving on the Board, including the last two as Chair. Grinshteyn will be succeed by Bradley Abells, who has been on the Board since 2021. In his remarks, Abells noted that he is an actuary at Canada Life and that he first joined the Board when his particular expertise as an actuary proved extremely helpful in helping to solve a problem that had arisen, and he found the experience so rewarding he decided to remain on the Board ever since .
Also on the Board is Michael Schacter, who is returning as Treasurer and who looks the way you’d expect a finance guy to look.
