B'nai Brith supporters Earl Barish & Eddie Rice receive B'nai Brith's highest award
B’nai Brith Canada wishes a hearty mazel tov to two of its great supporters, Earl Barish and Eddie Rice, on receiving high honours at B’nai B’rith International’s 2020 International Leadership Forum.
Martin Scorsese’s ‘Casino’ is 25 years old. Here’s a primer on its Jewish protagonist and Hollywood’s other Jewish gangsters.
By STEPHEN SILVER
(JTA) — “Casino,” Martin Scorsese’s examination of the mob’s control of Las Vegas in the 1960s and 70s, debuted in theaters on Nov. 22, 1995 — 25 years ago.
Gail Singer- covering the arts spectrum
By GERRY POSNER
I have often written in this paper about the huge contribution that Winnipeg Jews have made to the arts. To tackle this topic and omit Gail Singer would be a major omission.
New book by noted art expert Celia Rabinovitch explores many themes
By SIMONE COHEN SCOTT
I first began to write this piece as a review of Celia Rabinovitch’s recently launched book “Duchamp’s Pipe, A Chess Romance”, but it turned out to be much more than a book review.
Light and the time of year
By SUSAN TURNER
In November, we left Daylight Saving time behind to return to Standard time. We had already been experiencing increasing darkness each day, which had started with the Autumn Equinox in late September, and that is continuing until the Winter Solstice in late December, shortly after Chanukah and just before Christmas.
Smash Israeli series "Valley of Tears" to premiere in Canada Dec. 19
The biggest budget Israeli TV series of all time, Valley of Tears comes to Hollywood Suite following the smashing success of its debut in its home country and on HBO Max in the US. Hollywood Suite is proud to be the exclusive Canadian home of the all-new HBO Max Original 10-part war drama, Valley of Tears, launching Saturday, December 19 at 9pm ET. VIEW THE TRAILER HERE
Gray Academy has gone eight months with not one single case of COVID
over 675 cases in other Manitoba schools
By BERNIE BELLAN
While Manitobans can rightfully be said to be in a state of shock over how this province has gone from having one of the best records anywhere at keeping COVID at bay to now having one of the worst in Canada, the focus has very much been on the tragic situations in many personal care homes.
JNF holds successful online event - with home-delivered nosh thrown in
By MYRON LOVE
On Sunday, November 15, Jewish National Fund (JNF) chapters across Canada “hosted” “A Night of 100 Dinners” during which participants received in their homes a mix of nosherei and watched a virtual performance featuring YidLife Crisis and a host of other celebrities. David Greaves, the JNF’s executive director for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, reports that the Winnipeg response exceeded expectations.
Leipsics - father Peter, son Jonathon, lead annual campaigns in Winnipeg & Vancouver
By REBECA KUROPATWA
Father and son, Peter Leipsic and Jonathon Leipsic, are chairing the Jewish Federation annual campaigns in their respective hometowns. Peter is co-chair, with Neil Duboff, of the Winnipeg fundraising effort, while Jonathon is in his third consecutive year of leading the fundraising here in Vancouver.
Canadian Associates of Ben Gurion University announce two new co-chairs
The Winnipeg Chapter of Canadian Associates of Ben Gurion University of the Negev (CABGU) is delighted to announce the appointments of two new co-chairs: Diandra Etkin and Aaron Migie.
“Artist” is latest incarnation for Winnipeg entrepreneur Jerry Rubin
By MYRON LOVE
Jerry Rubin has reinvented himself many times during the course of his life. At various times, he has been an elementary school teacher (35 years working in the Seven Oaks School Division), owned an ice cream parlour, had a food manufacturing business, ran a concession at the Red River Ex, manufactured decorative shelving, owned a national jewelry import and distribution company with 1,700 retail outlets in Canada, did home renovations, ran an online marketing company, and been a marketing consultant for a division of K-Tel.
Montreal Jewish nursing home hit hard by COVID infections in 2nd wave
Longtime human rights activist Irwin Cotler named as Canada’s first envoy in anti-Semitism fight
BY RON KAMPEAS
Nov. 25, 2020 (JTA) — Irwin Cotler, a former Canadian justice minister and a human rights activist, is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s choice as his nation’s first envoy to combat anti-Semitism.
This Chanukah - bring a concert directly to your front yard!
Have your own Chanukah concert right outside your door featuring the talented Borzykowski Brothers: Bryan & David.
Is the Manitoba government deliberately underreporting COVID cases in the downtown area?
I’ve been keeping track of the number of new COVID cases that the Manitoba government has been reporting on the website where it provides information on COVID: https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/updates/cases.html
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
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.