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Mel BrooksBy CURT SCHLEIER
(JTA) – Mel Brooks’ new HBO special is a departure from the comedian’s typical belly-laugh fare. In place of the slapstick gallows humor – though there’s plenty of that, too, in “Mel Brooks Unwrapped” – is a more introspective, documentary-style reminiscence of his nearly 60-year career.

Recipients of Kehilot Awards at this year's AGM (for service to the Rady JCC) were (clockwise from top left): Barb Hyman, Patrick Elazar, Jannah Rittberg, Bluma Levine, Nolan Watson, Lena Steinberg (with Rady JCC Exec. Director Rob Berkowits)

By BERNIE BELLAN
There’s a lesson to be learned from how the board and staff of the Rady JCC handled their Annual General Meeting on Monday, December 16: It was over in record time!
Why was that? The answer is: No long speeches! After all, like almost any Jewish event, the main point of the evening was to get to the food - not to hear how great a year an organization just had. (Does any organization ever say they’ve had a really crappy year?)

HechtsBy GERRY POSNER

Recently I was at a synagogue in Toronto to hear the former rabbi of the Tree of Life Temple in Pittsburgh recount the events of the tragedy at his former shul when, as the Torah was carried around the synagogue, who should appear in the aisle across from me, but Evelyn and Larry Hecht.

food bags put together by B'nai Brith

Various groups contributed to making this holiday season somewhat more pleasant for those among us who are less fortunate. B'nai Brith, in conjunction with Jewish Child & Family Service and the Chabad Lubavtich, provided 60 bags containing food and Chanukah-related items for different Winnipeg Jewish families.

Winnipeg Friends of Israel provided food bags containing only Israeli products - this year for Willow Place, which is a women's shelter. Read more about the great work that was the result of dedicated volunteers devoting hours of their time to worthy causes.

8-month-old Aryeh Pfeffer holding a latke (& warning the pararazzi not to take his picture!) while mother Julie & father Aaron look on at the Chabad Chanukah celebration Dec. 22

So many different organizations had different ways to mark Chanukah this year. We've put together a series of short descriptions of what's been happening in Winnipeg's Jewish community this year. Click "read more" to see what's been going on:

l-r Rawan Agbaria, Yonatan Eyov, Omri Zada and StandWithUs Canada Campus Director Rebecca Katzman

By MYRON LOVE
There are undoubtedly many people who ascribe to the stereotype that all Israeli Jews are Caucasian and of European background. One of the purposes of StandWithUs Canada’s recent campus WordSwap tour is to show the real, varied face of Israel. To that end, three Israeli students from the Interdisciplinary Centre at Herzlia – Rawan Agbaria, Yonatan Eyov, and Omri Zada – put in appearances in Winnipeg at both the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg on Monday, November 25, seeking to engage local students in informal conversation about Israel and clear up some of the stereotypes and misrepresentations.

Bill & Judy Mahon

By REBECA KUROPATWA
One year ago, Judy and Bill Mahon decided to make a generous donation to Canadian Magen David Adom (CMDA) with the hope that they made the right choice with their money. They donated enough to send a first responder scooter from Canada to Israel to help Magen David Adom (MDA) do its important work.

Bet Halochem(November, 2019 – Concord, ON) The 12th annual Courage in Motion, an initiative of Beit Halochem Canada, Aid to Disabled Veterans of Israel, was an outstanding success. This year’s ride welcomed cyclists from across Canada, joined by some Americans and Israelis. From October 27-31, these international cyclists rode alongside Israel’s disabled veterans on five fully supported routes through northern Israel’s extraordinary archaeological sites and remarkable landscapes.

(l-r): Israeli PM Netanyahu, former Canadian PM Stephen J. Harper, KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar

At the heart of the Hula Valley, home to millions of migrating birds and hundreds of thousands of tourists every year, a brand new, eco-friendly and hi-tech visitor center was launched on November 6.

After 10 years of planning and construction, the visitor center is now active, offering guests various attractions - including state-of-the-art VR stations simulating a flight from the eyes of a migrating bird, a 194 sq. ft. digital, gesture-controlled wall that projects a live feed of surrounding migrating birds, a 3D digital model of the Hula Valley, dynamically updated with terrain data, a 220 seatsauditorium fitted with a 4K projector that will remain open to the public, and more.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin presents Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with the mandate to form a new government, at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, Sept. 25, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

By JOSEFIN DOLSTEN (JTA) – As votes were counted following last week’s election in Israel, many saw the results as a loss for longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
After all, Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud Party won fewer seats than the Blue and White party of his main competitor Benny Gantz.

(l-r): Ariel Karabelnicoff, Executive Director JNF Manitoba & Saskatchewan; Nathalie Bays, manager of Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretative Centre; Larry Vickar, local businessman, philanthropist and JNF Canada National Board member, who is spearheading the renewal of the collaboration; Paula Grieef, resident naturalist at the centre; and Jacques Bourgeois, who is in charge of marketing and communications for Oak Hammock Marsh.

By MYRON LOVE
On Wednesday August 21, 2019, a meeting was held at Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretative Centre to discuss a renewed collaboration between the Agamon Hula Valley in northern Israel and Oak Hammock Marsh (which is just north of Winnipeg).

Shai Doron, President, & Nomi Yeshua, Chief Development Officer - of the Jerusalem Foundation

By SIMONE COHEN SCOTT
Not often does the Remis Speakers’ Forum have two speakers at once. Further, we almost never have speakers honour us by planning their trips to accommodate our schedule.
But that’s what Shai Doron and Nomi Yeshua did, and we are the richer for it in our appreciation of Jerusalem. These two people are the President and the Chief Development Officer, respectively, of The Jerusalem Foundation, and their outstanding presentation was truly inspirational - at the Speakers’ Forum on July 29.

Products which are currently labeled "Product of Israel", but which also might have to be labeled differently if they are to be exported to Canada

By BERNIE BELLAN

The ruling by a Federal Court of Canada judge that wines produced on the West Bank of Israel cannot be labeled “Product of Israel” could have much greater ramifications for a wide range of products beyond wines that are currently exported to Canada under the “Product of Israel” label.

Jim Carr in conversation with Jewish Federation President Laurel Malkin discussing the benefits of the enhanced Canada Israel Free Trade Agreement

By BERNIE BELLAN
Speaking in front of an audience of businesspeople from the Winnipeg community at large and members of the Jewish community at the Asper Campus on Monday, June 24, Canada’s Minister of International Trade Diversification, Jim Carr, described the many benefits that will ensue as a result of the newly modernized Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement.

Former Mossad head Shabtai Shavit

By BERNIE BELLAN
Shabtai Shavit is a former director general of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, having served in that position from 1989-1996.
During his time as Mossad head, Shavit was involved in many secret negotiations with Arab leaders. On May 29 he was the special guest speaker at an event sponsored by Solly & Orly Dreman on behalf of an Israeli organization known as Ezer Mizion.

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