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Winnipeggers holding weekly rallies for Israeli hostages in Gaza

By MYRON LOVE For 28 straight weeks now – right through the coldest days of the winter and a recent Sunday with thick smoke in the air – a mixed group of Jewish and non-Jewish Winnipeggers have been gathering on the south-east corner of Grant at Kenaston to show their support for the remaining 128 Israeli hostages that are believed to be still in Gaza.
This writer dropped in at the rally on Victoria Day Monday at 5:00. About 200 participants, holding or draped in Israeli and Canadian flags, each with a poster with the face and name of one of the hostages, lined the sidewalk facing Kenaston while cars whizzed by – with many showing their support by honking.
“We have a real cross section of the community here,” said Danita Aziza, one of the rally co-ordinators.  “Our participants range from grade school to seniors. Today, we also had a Pakistani and an Iranian family and we generally have supporters from (the Christian Zionist organization) Bridges for Peace. We are averaging about 200 participants each week – although on May 8, the eve of Yom Hashoah, we had 350 turn out.”
Einat Paz, another organizer, adds that all the synagogues are represented.
Paz was born and grew up in Jerusalem.  She earned her Master in Social Work degree at Haifa University. She has been living in Winnipeg for the past 17 years and works for Jewish Child and Family Service.  Paz had attended the pro-Israel rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in November with longtime friends Danita and Michel Aziza. and the three began working together with Judi Shuster who, with her daughter Baillie (who is currently living and studying in Israel), were among the first members of the community to start putting up posters of the hostages on telephone poles.  
“We all felt we needed to do more to bring awareness to the hostages,” Paz notes. 
“We started with 36 people,” recalls Danita Aziza, who lived in Israel with her family for five years.  “Michel (Aziza) designed our large poster.  At our rallies, we hand out posters from the ‘Hostages Families Forum Headquarters’.”
For the first three months, the weekly half-hour vigil was held at the Kenaston location on Friday mornings at 8:00 a. to allow people to get to work by 9:00, Aziza says. “We changed the time to Sundays at 5:00 pm because we felt it would be easier for our supporters to attend.”
The rallies are silent, Aziza points out. “We do not respond to the occasional insults or people swearing at us,” she adds.
“We only allow Canadian and Israeli flags and we hand out the posters at the beginning of each rally and take them back after.”
After each rally, Paz reads out loud a message or invites a rabbi to lead a prayer or a speaker to bring a message pointing out the similarity between the Holocaust and October 7th.
After the rally on May 21, Einat Paz read out loud a letter – in both the original Hebrew and in English, that was received from Merav Berger, whose daughter, Agam, 19, was one of six female soldiers kidnapped from her Army – Nahal Oz base.
Wrote Merav, “Wow…. It’s unimaginable – so long, so many hostages (128 are still in Gaza), this whole reality is unbelievable. I’m very involved in the field of spirituality, and I’m working with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum to promote unity in the country. I believe that our unity, the love we have for one another, and the understanding we all have that there is one common goal will give us the strength to reach our destination. Bring all hostages back home. I have faith in the cooperation and collaboration of every Israeli citizen. This is truly the time for all of us to be involved, to collaborate with one another, and to perform good deeds. May we be blessed with good news very soon! Thank you, Winnipeg for everything you do to bring awareness to the 128 hostages”
“We have heard from other Israelis over the past few months who have heard what we are doing and expressed their gratitude,” Paz says..
After each rally, all participants gather in a group, sing O Canada and Hatikvah and pose for a group photo.
The rallies are advertised through a closed WhatsApp group, and only Einat Paz sends updates about the rallies and photos after each gathering. 
“We are working collaboratively with MIC – Manitoba Israeli Coalition, Federation, Synagogues, NCJWC, JNF, and Gray Academy,” she says. “This is a community effort.  When we are united we are stronger together.” 
“We welcome everyone who wants to show their support for the hostages,” she says.  “We would like soon to have 500 of us standing on Kenaston.”

Readers seeking more information about the rallies can  go to bringthemhome18@gmail.com.

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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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