Local News
After nine months of war and trauma, Israeli kids are finding a respite at Canadian summer camps

By ALEX ROSE (CJN) Camp Northland B’nai Brith has a pretty standard operating procedure for emergencies. When a fire or other urgent situation occurs, a siren rings that triggers a set of emergency protocols.
This year, though, the camp—located in Haliburton, Ont.—is removing the siren from their protocols.
It’s not because they don’t want to be prepared for emergencies. It’s because they want to be prepared for the Israeli campers and staff who are coming this summer. And, as camp director Simon Wolle learned, the sound is unfortunately similar to the air raid sirens used in Israel.
For that reason, Northland decided to ditch the sirens, so none of the Israelis will have to relive the trauma of the last year in the place that is supposed to be an escape from it all.
“We can give these children a home that is safe, that is comfortable, where they’re going to be in an environment full of laughter, full of smiles, full of activities, heavily programmed, being busy, being active. Just being able to be kids means the world,” said Wolle.
“I think the fact that they’re going to come here and be given that experience in contrast to the darkness that they’ve had to live in now, since Oct. 7, is going to be… what will feel like a new life for them. And it’s super exciting to be able to give that to them. They don’t even know yet what they’re about to experience and how positive this is going to be. And they deserve it. These kids deserve it.”
There are five groups of Israeli staff and campers attending Northland this year. The first is Kids of Courage from Beit Halochem, a hospital in Israel for disabled veterans. Since 2016, Northland has been bringing in campers whose parents were severely injured or disabled in the military. This year, for the second time, a former Beit Halochem camper is returning as staff.
The second are the shinshinim, Israeli students who spend a year in Canada between graduating high school and starting their military service. They spend the first 10 months associated with a synagogue or Jewish school, and the last two at camp.
The third are the shlichim from the Jewish Agency for Israel, who spend a summer at camp after completing their service in the Israeli military. Some of this year’s shlichim staff were on a navy warship or in Gaza only two weeks before starting camp.
The fourth are independent campers, not associated with any programs, whose parents heard that Canadian Jewish summer camps could be a good option for their kids this summer.
And the fifth didn’t even exist until just before the camp season started. They are a group of 13 campers and two chaperones from Kfar Szold, a small kibbutz just over five kilometres away from the border with Lebanon. A few weeks ago, a group of Canadian Jewish camps and community members worked together to find a summer home for these 15 Israelis, who have been living under the shadow of rocket fire for months on end.
The exact distance between Kibbutz Kfar Szold and the Lebanese border is important, because all residential areas that are within five kilometres of the border have been evacuated because of the constant rocket fire coming into Israel from Hezbollah.
Kfar Szold is the closest residential area to the border that was not evacuated. And although they don’t meet the criteria for evacuation, their situation is very similar to that of their neighbours who were moved away.
Elinor Gofer is one of those neighbours. She lives in Kibbutz Hagoshrim, 2.5 kilometres from the border with Lebanon, where she works as a real estate agent (although business has of course been put on hold for the time being). Hagoshrim is one of a group of kibbutzim, including Kfar Szold, that are all connected, with their children attending the same schools.
“I can’t believe these people weren’t evacuated. Their kids go with our kids to our school and they’re just located shy of 500 meters from what the government said isn’t safe. And as someone from Kibbutz Hagoshrim, I know what my kids are going through. I have teenagers, I also have small kids,” she said.
“We get hotels, we get help. And this is a major help, but these people don’t even have the opportunity to go anywhere else. They have to stay in their kibbutz and there’s daily missile attacks. The entire area, there’s not even medical care.”
Back in the winter, Gofer had helped a group of children who had been evacuated secure spots at summer camps in the United States. Eventually, word of that initiative got to Amir Epstein, who runs the Jewish advocacy organization Tafsik, and he offered to help find summer camp spots for the kids in Canada. Although the evacuated children had already been placed, Gofer recognized an opportunity to offer some respite to the kids stuck in Kfar Szold.
“I said, ‘wait a second, there’s someone here that can help. Actually, it’s not a bad idea to see, there’s so many other children that need this.’ And specifically on that Friday (that Epstein reached out), we came home to visit our kibbutz and there were two direct hits on Kfar Szold,” Gofer said.
At that point, Gofer reached out directly to Epstein to see if he would help find spots for kids who hadn’t been officially evacuated by the government. She also offered to help with whatever she could, even though none of her own children would be going, because she is fluent in English and there is no real estate to sell. She also sent Epstein photos that she had taken of the direct hits on Kfar Szold.
Once Epstein agreed to help, Gofer’s next call was to the kibbutz director at Kfar Szold.
“She almost cried on the phone. She was so, so excited that we even thought about them because those people, they feel like everyone forgot about them. I mean, they’re living in a place of war, and they don’t even have financial aid or any kind of notice from the Israeli government,” Gofer said.
Once Epstein and Kfar Szold signed on, it was only a matter of finding spots for the Kfar Szold campers. A message went out to the Canadian Jewish community, and word quickly got around.
Wolle, director of Northland, soon heard about the plight of the kids at Kfar Szold. “For us, this was a very simple answer,” he said.
“There were people from our family, our extended family in Israel, asking for help. And when that happens, we have a policy of saying, ‘We are here,’ and we were prepared for this.”
Multiple summer camps offered spots to the campers, and all of them worked together to find the best solution, Wolle was quick to point out.
Many other initiatives also bring Israelis to camps across Canada. One of those programs is OneFamily, an organization for those who were injured or lost family in terror attacks, which has been sending children to Camp Timberlane since 2006. Another is Israeli Victims of War, which is sending over 200 Israelis to camps across Canada this summer.
In the end, Northland was chosen for the Kfar Szold campers because it had room for all 15 of them—in part because they had held 40 slots in reserve in case just such a need arose. The 13 campers and two chaperones from Kfar Szold will arrive on July 28, for the camp’s second session.
Wolle, Epstein and Gofer are all grateful for the opportunity to help bring these kids to Northland.
Wolle has always been proud of the efforts Northland and other camps have been making over the years to offer a taste of Canadian summer paradise to deserving Israeli campers. But he recognizes the increased importance of providing a safe and joyful home for Israeli campers and staff after a year filled with fear and trauma, and what it means to be able to make a difference from the other side of the world.
“Whether it’s being a camper in the cabin welcoming them, whether it’s being the staff taking them on this journey, whether it’s the board of directors, who have authorized these initiatives, whether it’s the chaperones that are going to be here to facilitate, I think everybody is going to have the reward and that feeling of we’ve done something to help and to contribute… because that’s what everybody that I’ve interacted with is seeking.”
Gofer, who knows firsthand what Kfar Szold is going through, empathizes most of all with the parents, who are able to do something positive for their kids in such a difficult time.
“It’s so fulfilling for me as a person to do something. I don’t know personally the parents or the children, but just to hear their gratitude,” she said. “It’s not even what we’re doing for the kids. It’s even giving the parents the feeling that they’re doing something positive for their child. They can allow their child to have this kind of experience and adventure… it even gives them some kind of hope that they’re able to give their child something like that.”
Local News
Long-time Winnipeg doctor and Israeli colleague make medical app available to general public

By MYRON LOVE Seven years ago, Dr. Gerald Minuk, Canada’s first hepatologist (liver specialist), partnered with Israeli computer science student Daniel Iluz-Freundlich in founding Refuah Solutions Ltd (RSL). Their goal was to create an app – which they called PI-enroll (“PI” stands for “Principal Investigator”), which was designed to be used by clinical trial investigators that would save them time and effort so they could be more personally involved in seeing their trial patients.
Last month, they released their second app, this time for patients. The app, called Patient-empower, informs patients about clinical trials underway for their condition and helps them make an informed decision as to which trial best meets their specific needs and preferences.
“I was approaching retirement,” recalls Minuk, now Rady School of Medicine Professor Emeritus, who has been in practice in Winnipeg since 1987, and “I couldn’t see myself filling my days doing crossword puzzles or Sudoku. I wanted to be able to continue contributing to medical research and patient care.”
It just so happened that, at the time, Minuk was introduced to an Israeli student, Daniel Iluz-Freundlich, who had just finished studying Computer Sciences at the University of Winnipeg. (Minuk notes that Iluz-Freundlich – on graduating – received the Gold Medal in Computer Science.)
“Daniel is an exceptionally talented young man,” Minuk says. “So I tapped his computer programming skills to create our PI-enroll and subsequently, our Patient-empower apps.”
The friendship continued after Iluz-Freundlich returned to Israel in 2020 to begin medical school on a Phil and Elle Kives Scholarship, where he earned numerous honors. Iluz-Freundlich is currently an intensivist anesthesiologist at the Beilinson Hospital in Israel. Despite his new professional responsibilities, including caring for IDF forces wounded in Gaza– he has remained active with Refuah – as vice-president of the company.
Minuk adds that a dozen other senior professors of medicine also contributed to Refuah’s software design. “Together,” he reports, “the company represents 400+ years of clinical trial experience. That experience is being applied to identifying and addressing the major challenges investigators and patients face when conducting or participating in clinical trials.”`
He adds that Refuah Solutions has established a truly global network with company personnel in San Diego, São Paulo, Mexico City, London, Barcelona, Nairobi and Delhi thus far.
According to Minuk, the company has enjoyed worldwide success – with over 2,000 doctors in 40 countries and 50 drug companies signed on for the PI-enroll app. He attributes this success to the app’s impressive results. In a recent global clinical trial, Minuk reports, within 3-6 months of implementing PI-enroll, investigator personal involvement increased by 60% and with that, patient enrolment increased by 80%, patient drop-outs decreased by 50% and there were 20% fewer protocol deviations (mistakes made). In addition, 90% of PIs rated the App 8 out of 10 in terms of usefulness.
He adds that one site that had not enrolled any patients for 12 months, subsequently became the trial’s leading enrolment site.
Regarding the newly released Patient-empower app, Minuk notes that despite the many benefits patients derive from clinical trials including free and early access to new and often safer and more effective treatments, fewer than 10% of patients who would qualify for a clinical trial are ever invited to consider that option. “The problem,” he explains, “is that most Health Care Providers are either unaware of what clinical trials are underway in their area or if they are aware, don’t have the time to discuss the trials with their patients.”
Therefore, Minuk, Iluz-Freundlich and their team designed and recently released their second app – Patient-empower – which informs patients of what clinical trials are underway for their condition and empowers them to select the trial that prioritizes their needs over those of industry.
The platform, he explains, uses AI to generate concise, easy-to-understand summaries of clinical trials tailored to the patient’s location—city, state, country, or globally, depending on their preference. Each summary includes clear explanations of the patient eligibility criteria and key practical details, such as the likelihood of patients receiving a placebo, the number of required site visits, and other important practical considerations. It also suggests questions that patients should consider asking the investigator before they consent to enrolling. The trial information is presented in a shareable format to facilitate discussions with family, friends, and local healthcare providers—supporting both patient confidence and continuity of care.
Once a trial is selected, Minuk continues, Patient-empower provides the contact information for the trial investigator closest to the patient’s location, the trial’s sponsor and, where available, the world’s experts in the field.
The feature Minuk is most enthusiastic about is the “Recent Findings” page which keeps patients up to date on newly published clinical trial results and discoveries relevant to their condition.
“Patient-empower is available to patients from internet venues (App Store or Google Play) or through NFP organizations, associations, societies and patient support group web-sites,” he adds. “Although only recently released, we have already attracted interest from the American Diabetes Association, the Alzheimer’s Society of America, the Canadian Liver Foundation, Colorectal Cancer Canada, the American Myasthenia Gravis Society and many others.”
“Overall, Patient-empower informs patients, and more informed patients benefit everyone involved. After all, it’s the patient’s health; their voice should be heard,” Minuk concludes.
Local News
The South Seas come to the Asper Campus

By MYRON LOVE On Thursday, July 24, about 150 members of our Jewish community got a chance to sample the dance and music of the South Pacific. The event was billed as “Beyachad Together – Celebrating Indigeneity, land, culture and identity.”

The program featured both the Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble dancers and Steinbach-based Island Breeze Manitoba – which describes itself as “a high energy live band & Pacific Island dance team featuring authentic outfits and dances from the islands of Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa and New Zealand.”
According to Dr. Ruth Ashrafi, Regional Director of B’nai Brith Canada in Manitoba, the evening’s performance was connected to an Indigenous Peoples Conference that was held in Steinbach under the auspices of Island Breeze with participants from Canada, the United States (specifically Hawaii), Antigua and Bermuda in the Caribbean, South Africa, the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific island countries of Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Tonga.

“The conference organizers contacted B’nai Brith Canada,” Ashrafi reported. “They wanted to bring greetings to the Jewish community, as the indigenous people of the Land of Israel, and celebrate indigeneity together through dance and music.
“Their support in these difficult times is heartwarming.”
In her opening remarks as emcee for the evening, Ashrafi noted that “it is a great honour for the Jewish community to welcome so many indigenous guests from all over the world.”
She then related the story and miracle of Chanukah and connected it to the experience shared by many indigenous nations around the world.
“They have been told that their religion is wrong, their traditions are not sophisticated,” she pointed out, “just as the Jews of that time were told by the Greek rulers that our religion was wrong and our traditions were outdated.
“Here in Canada, the First Nations were forced into Residential Schools to learn Canadian ways. The manner in which they were taught in these schools was abusive and horrific. Many children died, and many more were scarred for life.
“As with the Maccabbees,” she continued, “courageous individuals have stood up and fought for rights of their indigenous brothers and sisters. They had to overcome a lot of resistance and other obstacles. Indigenous peoples are still over-represented in the Canadian prison system and social services.
“The story of Chanukah tells us that it is okay to be different from the majority culture,” she said, and “that special and unique traditions are important and worth preserving.
“The story of Chanukah also teaches us that fighting for our rights is not easy,” Ashrafi added. “We may be a tiny minority and the other side may be much more numerous, better organized and equipped. But if we take the first step, like deciding to use that little jar of oil (that burned in the Temple for weight days even though there was only a day’s supply), we will be helped along the way.”
“We put the Menorah in our front window,” she noted, “so that the light is shining into the dark winter nights. We want to share the story of the Chanukah miracle and we want to bring light into a world that has still so much darkness in it.”
Ashrafi’s words were followed by greetings from David Harper, a former Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief who spoke glowingly of his visit to Israel in 2014.
“Our faith teaches us that the People of Israel are the people of the Bible and we must bless them and pray for them,” he said. “My people have a lot to learn from the people of Israel about healing the land.”
Next, Ashrafi introduced Pastor Roger Armbruster whom, she described, as the man behind the vision for the evening. Armbruster, a strong Christian Zionist supporter of Israel, is the founder of Canada Awakening Ministries.
She said of Armbruster that “it is a privilege to be his friend. I have learned so much from you.”
According to Armbruster’s bio on the Canada Awakening Ministries website, “his life has been dedicated to a ministry of reconciliation, and of building bridges between cultures, nations, denominations and generations. He sees cross-cultural reconciliation as a key to making disciples of all nations, and in seeing God’s House become a House of Prayer for all nations.
“As director of Canada Awakening Ministries, he is a leader in facilitating Native-Non-native reconciliation, and in restoring the indigenous peoples of the land to reflect that part of God’s image that He has deposited in them in their sounds, songs, praise and dances.”
Armbruster attended the Inaugural World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People in New Zealand in November 1996 as well as gatherings in Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1998, northern Sweden in 2005, and Israel in 2008. In his remarks, he noted that he has visited Israel numerous times over the years – often leading tour groups representing Canadian Inuit, Greenlandic Inuit and Manitoba First Nations at the northern ends of the earth, along with Maori, Fijians and Samoans from the southern ends of the earth – back to the City of Jerusalem from where the original gospel message first came.
“In Israel,” Armbruster said, “these Indigenous People have shared their language, their culture and their faith with both Jewish and Palestinian audiences alike. In one Israeli community, they even shared a message that brought hope to a joint audience of some 500 people that included both Jews and Arabs coming together.”
The dance part of the program was emceed by Isi Masi of Island Breezes. The musical program included several Hawaiian dances, including a rousing foot-stomping number,followed by performances featuring Hawaiian song and gentle movement. The final part of the island dances concluded with a brief Maori war chant.
(The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand.)
The final part of the program included several high octave dances by our own – always outstanding – Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble, with all the performers singing “We Shall Overcome” and the audience invited to join in a round of Israel dancing.
Local News
Israeli-born realtor believes in paying it forward

By MYRON LOVE When Hofit Yanev and her husband, Stefan, first arrived in Winnipeg in May 2013, they knew no one here.
“We were looking for a safer environment in which to raise our children,” she recalls. “We thought that would be Canada, and Winnipeg seemed to be the most welcoming Jewish community.”
Despite not knowing anybody, on their first morning in our community they found that someone had left a challah on their doorstep. That was a small kindness that she has never forgotten. She is a strong believer in paying it forward. Ever since then, she notes, she has made sure to greet newcomers in our community with a challah.
Helping others – whether to buy and sell their homes or manage their money – is a principal focus of the thriving career she has built up here as a real estate agent and insurance adviser.
Sales has always been Hofit Yanev’s strong suit. Originally from Holon (near Tel Aviv), she began her sales career right after her army duty. Her first venture was selling Dead Sea and hair care products. (Some readers may remember the kiosks that used to be set up at some Winnipeg shopping centres some years back.) She worked a year in Chicago and four years in Miami before returning to Israel, where she met and married Stefan.
Soon after settling in Winnipeg, Hofit found work in sales, initially for an HVAC company (while Stefan became a long-distance truck driver and now operates Excellence Fences and Decks). “As I was doing very well in sales for this company,” she recounts, “after taking time following the birth of our third child, I decided to try selling houses.”
She secured her real estate license and went to work. After 18 months of trying, she was still struggling to make a go of it.
“I lacked experience,” she recalls. “I reached a point where I was ready to give up and go back to selling HVAC products.”
However, on what she thought would be her last day, she received two calls that revitalized her hopes. In quick succession, she recounts, she got a call from a former customer who wanted her to sell his house and a new customer who wanted her help in selling his house and buying another.
“I took it as a sign from God,” she says.
Today, eight years later, Yanev, working under the eXp Realty banner, oversees an operation with over 20 agents—nine of whom are on her team and the others working under her in the eXp umbrella.
“I achieved my dream,” she notes, “and I want to help others – either those looking to buy a home or fellow realtors starting out – to realize their dreams as well.”
She notes that she strives to understand what her clients’ needs are and provide the right homes for them. She reports that 70% of her real estate clients are members of our Jewish community. She deals with commercial as well as residential properties and adds that she also helps clients with long- and short-term rentals as well as car rentals.
About a year ago, she notes, she added another entry to her resumé – that of insurance adviser. “As a realtor, I could see how some people are struggling financially,” she says. “I wanted to help.”
As an insurance adviser, she works with single mothers, seniors, and others plagued by financial difficulty. “I advise clients on how to get out of financial trouble, how to save 10% of their net income, and build their savings.”
She makes it clear that she keeps a distinct separation between her real estate clients and her insurance clients.
Now, you would think that an individual working two careers – with five kids to raise (all of whom are enrolled in Jewish educational programs) – would have her hands full. Nonetheless, Yanev has a third avocation – that of a social events planner for fellow Israelis in Winnipeg and other Hebrew speakers.
“For the past six years,” she reports, “I have been producing five programs a year in our community for Hebrew speakers. No one else was doing it, and I felt that it was important for Israelis here to be able to connect with each other.”
She adds that the family-oriented programs have been “super successful.” “We have had as many as 300 people at some of our programs.”
Yanev believes that her success story can inspire other newcomers to Winnipeg. “If you are prepared to work hard, you can achieve your dream,” she says.
She also expresses gratitude to our Jewish community. “We have found the community here to be welcoming and supportive,” she says. “It is thanks to you that we have been successful. This really is friendly Manitoba.”