Mystery of why $725,000 donation to the Simkin Centre was made is likely solved

By BERNIE BELLAN
Readers of this website may recall our story posted a couple weeks ago in which we told about a $725,000 donation that was given to the Simkin Centre by something called the Myer and Corrine Geller Trust.

Former Winnipegger Mira Sucharov bares her soul in new memoir

Reviewed by BERNIE BELLAN
There’s something strangely compelling about reading the memoir of a talented individual who has decided to lay it all out for total strangers to discover some of her innermost secrets.

Jewish Foundation allocates third phase of COVID-19 relief funding

By BERNIE BELLAN
The Jewish Foundation has now completed the third phase of emergency funding for local Jewish organizations, which it first announced last April. Click "Read More" to see a table of all Jewish Foundation grants given since April under the Foundation's emergency funding:

Gwen Secter online concert series fill much needed role in community’s cultural life

By BERNIE BELLAN
It’s been almost eight months since the province imposed the first lockdown due to the COVID pandemic. While we’ve had our fair share of stories in this paper about how the pandemic has affected so many of us, we’ve also been trying to avoid dwelling on the terrible toll it’s taken.

Former Temple Shalom member’s spiritual journey leading to rabbinical career

By MYRON LOVE
Rebecca Chess credits their home congregation – Temple Shalom – with starting their Jewish spiritual journey that is leading them to a life as a rabbi.

Some reflections on the Simkin Centre and saying good riddance to the narcissist-in-chief

By BERNIE BELLAN

The Simkin Centre has certainly been on the minds of many readers of this paper over the past few weeks - in both a very positive way when it comes to hearing about the huge donation given to that institution totally out of the blue, but also in a much more worrying way as we learn of a number of incidents of COVID there, and the sad news of two deaths of residents from COVID.

Dr. Earl Hershfield and Inuit Bobbie Suluk: Connecting over time

By SUSAN TURNER
In March 1971, 15-year-old Bobbie Suluk was medevaced from his home in Eskimo Point, North West Territories, to the D.A. Stewart Centre Respiratory Hospital in Winnipeg. He had pneumonia, and Eskimo Point’s medical clinic, built in 1960, did not have suitable resources for treatment.

Medics are unsung heroes on the battlefield

“Rush To Danger: Medics In The Line of Fire”
By Ted Barris
(HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 406 pg. $32.99)
Reviewed by MARTIN ZEILIG

During the Second World War, Alex Barris was a front line medic with the 319th Medical Battalion of the United States 94th Infantry Division in Europe.

Winnipeg’s Ari Glikman just back from his time in Israel amidst Covid-19

By REBECA KUROPATWA

When Ari Glikman (22) decided to take some time off his studies at the University of Manitoba to go to learn in Israel for a semester at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Covid-19 was not yet on the world’s radar.

Simkin Centre receives $725,000 gift from mysterious donor

By BERNIE BELLAN
(Posted Oct. 29, updated Oct. 30, Oct.31)

On Oct. 21 we received an email from the Simkin Centre informing us that the centre had received a gift of $725,000 from someone about whom they know almost nothing.

Jack London’s memoir an entertaining, as well as an educational read

Reviewed by BERNIE BELLAN
When Jack London set out to write his memoir, he told a Zoom audience Wednesday, October 15, he went through 27 different drafts before arriving at the final version.
The result is an absorbing story, titled "Serendipity: My Path Through Life and Law".

Some of the most important years in my life were spent as a Topper in AZA

Editor’s introduction: Elsewhere on this website we have a story about Elliot Rodin. During the course of one of our conversations Elliot remarked that his years spent in AZA were among the most important in his life. Elliot suggested that the subject of AZA would be one that Gerry Posner would be well suited to tackle.

Jaron Rykiss’s half-year spent on exciting “Kivunim” program in Israel cut short by COVID

 visiting Kivunim in Jersualem

By BERNIE BELLAN
In 2019 Winnipegger Jaron Rykiss embarked on what, for almost any recent high school graduate, would probably be considered the adventure of a lifetime.

Jaron, who had just graduated from Gray Academy in the spring of last year (and doesn’t that seem like an eternity ago, even though it’s really only a little more than a year and a half ago?), had decided to enroll in a program that is probably not all that familiar to many Winnipeggers, known as “Kivunim”.

Winnipeg Jewish community’s newest centenarian gets surprise party at the Shaftesbury

By MYRON LOVE
With her 100th birthday approaching, Ruth Gutkin was resigned to a low key affair due to the Covid situation. However, her younger son, Donald, had other ideas – such that the Shaftesbury Retirement Home resident was more than pleasantly surprised by what actually transpired.

First report of COVID at Simkin Centre

The following was received Thursday, October 22, 2020:

Late yesterday afternoon we were notified that one of our Residents tested positive for Covid-19. The affected Resident has been moved to our Adult Day Program space which has been designated as our Covid-19 Isolation Unit.

The Bermax saga takes a new twist - Is returning to Israel the Berents' next step?

By BERNIE BELLAN
As reported in various media on October 6, the three members of the Berent family: father Alexander, mother Oxana, and son Maxim, are all now living in Los Angeles, having gone there in January of this year.

Dolphins Swim Club looking for new members

Submitted by ALEX SHOGOLEV
We are a medium sized team that has expanded from Selkirk to Winnipeg. Michelle (Head Coach) and I have discussed and agreed that this move will create a spark within the swimming community; by showcasing that two locations can act as one unit. We have created a program that includes our non-competitive (Dolphins Swim School) and competitive (PODs 1-3) program.

Josh Morry – outstanding young University of Manitoba alumnus: Becoming a change agent who inspires a new dialogue

Reprinted with permission from UM Today The Magazine
Seven years later, Josh Morry still remembers the unsettling phone call he answered that one day in 2013. It was from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
“Things are out of control,” the man told him. “It’s time you had a bodyguard follow you around campus.”

Winnipeg Conservative/Reform congregations’ virtual Yom Tov services very well received

By MYRON LOVE
Due to a combination of government-imposed limitations on numbers and many people’s reticence in attending religious services because of Covid, our community’s congregations were forced to rethink their usual High Holiday services.

JNF Manitoba/Saskatchewan president Nola Lazar slated to be next president of Mercaz Canada

By MYRON LOVE
These are challenging times that we live in – but Nola Lazar, the current president of JNF Manitoba/Saskatchewan has proven over the years that she is up to the challenge. If the presidency of the local Jewish National Fund operation is not enough heavy lifting, she is also slated to be stepping into the same position on a national level with Mercaz Canada – the Zionist voice of Conservative Judaism in Canada – as soon as her term as JNF president here comes to a close.

Allan Levine combines his ability as a historian with his talent as a novelist in his latest book

By BERNIE BELLAN
Winnipeg’s own Allan Levine has established himself as an award-winning author of non-fiction history – with probably the book best-known to Winnipeg audiences being Coming of Age: A History of the Jewish People of Manitoba, which was published in 2009.