Westwood Collegiate student this year’s winner of the Minna Rosner Essay Competition

Grade 11 Westwood Collegiate student Blake Edwards is this year’s winner of the Minna Rosner Essay Competition, which invites students in Grades 9-12 to submit essays on the subject of the Shoah and/or human rights.
The title of Blake’s essay was “The Importance of Historical Education for the Youth of this Generation: Case Studies include the Warsaw Uprising and Dachau Concentration Camp”.
The competition is in memory of the late Mina Rosner, a Shoah survivor who dedicated many hours to educating people about the Shoah as well as the importance of combating racism and discrimination and upholding human rights.

Okay – so we know what the Rady JCC is like, and many of us remember the Y on Hargrave, but what was the Albert Street Y like?

By BERNIE BELLAN
When it comes to researching the history of the YMHA/Rady JCC, there are no better sources than members who actually belonged to the YMHA when it was still on Albert Street. The stories they have to tell are priceless – especially when it comes to describing what stood for a “gym” in that building.

“Bar Mitzvah Boy” will have you laughing, then pondering some very deep questions

Reviewed by BERNIE BELLAN
In the annals of questions that ask something totally ridiculous, such as “Would King Kong have really beaten Godzilla?”, we can now add: “Who are you more likely to turn to for counseling: A rabbi or a divorce lawyer?”

36% of the residents at Simkin Centre are not Jewish

By BERNIE BELLAN
In a column that you can read elsewhere on this site I referred to funding received by the beneficiary agencies of the Jewish Federation. Apparently some of the information I gave about the Simkin Centre, Winnipeg's Jewish Personal Care Home, was not quite correct, while other points I made about the centre require further clarification.

Jewish Child and Family Service desperate for new space

By BERNIE BELLAN
In another article on this site, I had written about the “bureaucratization” of Jewish agencies in Winnipeg, noting how many agencies which used to rely on volunteers have now become very large institutions – and have in some cases greatly expanded their roles.
Of those agencies, one in particular stood out for me: Jewish Child and Family Service.

Operation Ezra helps Yazidi families to grow enough vegetables to feed 52 families - and to run a very successful pop-up vegetable stand in front of the campus

Thanks to the combined efforts of Yazidis who have settled in Manitoba, along with volunteers from Operation Ezra, and the very generous assistance of Bo Wohlers, owner of Shelmerdine Nursery, over eight acres of vegetables that had been seeded on a farm that had not been in use in the St. Francois Xavier area produced a bumper crop of 33 different kinds of vegetables this summer.

Raber family holds mini-reunion

By MYRON LOVE

Marcie and David Paller received a crash course on being Jewish in Winnipeg when they made their first ever visit to our community on the weekend of August 22-25. The occasion was a reunion of the Raber Family. Marcie’s parents are Noel and Miriam (Raber) Fishman.

Former Winnipegger Michael Tregebov pens novel revolving around demise of Winnipeg's Jewish curling club

“Shot Rock”
By Michael Tregebov
220 pages
New Star Books
to be released Sept. 26
Reviewed by BERNIE BELLAN
Michael Tregebov is only one year younger than me. We grew up in the same part of town – although I didn’t meet Michael until I moved to West Kildonan Collegiate from Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate following Grade 10.

Gwen Secter theatre group explores issues related to seniors

By MYRON LOVE
The diningroom at the Gwen Secter Creative Retirement Centre at Sid Glow Place was packed on Wednesday, August 28, as appreciative Gwen Secter members enjoyed the latest theatrical offering of the centre’s own “Wits and Skits” players.

WJT opens season with heartfelt comedy!

Mark Leiren-Young’s Bar Mitzvah Boy opens Winnipeg Jewish Theatre’s new four-play season on September 14.

The play follows Joey, a sixty something lawyer who decides it’s time for him to have the Bar Mitzvah he never had. Joey assumes it will be fast and he can get on with this life. But things don’t work out quite the way he expects.

Mitch Podolak: "A Citizen of Earth"

By KINZEY POSEN (Ed. note: This article was first posted Oct./17. With the news of Mitch's passing, we thought it appropriate to repost it to the home page.) Last November Mitch Podolak was leaving one of his favourite Winnipeg restaurants, the Evergreen on Pembina, when he suddenly fell outside. As he lay there somewhat stunned, he realized that this fall was about to change his life. He couldn’t feel the lower part of his body after landing hard on his neck.

Peretz School class of ’72 reunion incorporates Folklorama appearance

By MYRON LOVE

Shalom Square –the Israel Pavillion at Folklorama – featured some special guests at the early show on Friday evening, August 9. That would be the members of the I.L. Peretz Folk School class of ’72 who had come together on the weekend of August 9-11 to celebrate their 60th birthdays this year.

Lou Billinkoff: Slowing down, but setting more records

By SCOTT TAYLOR
Winnipeg’s Lou Billinkoff didn’t become an internationally-recognized athlete until he was 89-years-old.

Older adults able to audit Judaic Studies courses for free

We received the following email from Haskell Greenfield, Judaic Studies Program Coordinator at the University of Manitoba:
Hi, here is a list of courses that are being offered within the Judaic Studies Program at the University of Manitoba for this upcoming academic year. There are other courses hosted in other departments as well that can be used toward the Minor in Judaic Studies.
If individuals are 65 and older, they can register for courses for free. They only need to pay for the application and administrative fees to get a student number. They will need to register through Extended Ed.

Back to Winnipeg for this descendant of pioneer Jewish family

By GERRY POSNER

When the history of Winnipeg Jewry is told, it usually begins in 1882 with a group of Russian Jews who came to Winnipeg and made this city their home. One of those first settlers was one Nisen Zimmerman. From him emerged a long line of Zimmerman descendants. Of course, what many people do not know about Nisen or Nathan - as he became to be known, was that his real name was Rabinovitch and he changed it to Zimmerman in order to buy a new passport to immigrate to Canada. Also of interest was that he was the uncle to the famous author Solomon Rabinovich, better known as Sholem Aleichem.