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At Limmud: New University of Manitoba president Michael Benarroch speaks of the challenges presented by stepping into his role in midst of a pandemic
By BERNIE BELLAN While there were a great many interesting speakers at this year’s Limmud, the one speaker to whom I was looking most forward to hearing was Michael Benarroch, the new president of the University of Manitoba.
Since returning to Winnipeg last summer after having served as the provost and vice-president of Ryerson University in Toronto since the fall of 2017, Benarroch was thrust headlong into having to take over his position in the midst of a pandemic.
Naturally, there haven’t been many opportunities to see and hear Benarroch, nor to interview him since he returned to Winnipeg, so his appearing at Limmud allowed Limmud participants the chance to hear directly from a man whose career has seen him move steadily up the academic administration ladder in the past 30 years.
At times wistful – in speaking of his family’s having come here from Morocco, at other times contemplative, in discussing how important it is to include Indigenous students and faculty in reshaping the U of M, Benarroch told a story – of how he’s arrived at his present situation in life and what his goals are looking forward.
“My parents never had the opportunity to go to university,” Benarroch explained at the outset of his presentation.
“My family came to Winnipeg (from Morocco) because my mother’s brother was in Winnipeg. My father was a teacher, but when he came to Winnipeg he found a job as a shochet,” Benarroch said.
It was while he was an undergrad at the University of Winnipeg that Benarroch said he developed a “passion for economics”. He later went on to acquire a PhD in Economics from Carleton University – in 1992.
Upon completing his PhD Benarroch returned to the University of Winnipeg. At the time, he explained during his presentation, Lloyd Axworthy was President of the University of Winnipeg and Axworthy asked Benarroch whether the university should have a business school?
“I designed a vision,” Benarroch said, and eventually he became dean of the new Faculty of Business and Economics.
After 19 years at the U of W, Benarroch said he “interviewed for Dean at the Asper School of Business” at the University of Manitoba, which he became in 2011.
“The University of Manitoba is one of 50 research intensive universities in Canada,” Benarroch noted – something that was to prove a factor in his wanting to return here this past year.
In 2017, Benarroch became Provost and Vice-President Academic at Ryerson University.
For Benarroch, Ryerson was a good fit, he explained, because “it had a real focus on community engagement and entrepreneurship.”
As for moving to Toronto, Benarroch admitted that he and his wife, Kim (Bailey), “missed Winnipeg a lot – especially Kim.” Still, by the time they left Toronto this past summer, both their sons (Keenan and Aden) had also moved to Toronto, so returning to Winnipeg was a bit of a mixed blessing for Michael and Kim.
The story how Benarroch came to be president of the University of Manitoba is an interesting one.
When he applied for the position – in 2019, “I didn’t even tell my family I was applying,” he said. And, when he came to Winnipeg to interview for the position, he didn’t even tell his brothers he was here. (Al Benarroch is Executive Director of Jewish Child and Family Service, while Yosef Benarroch is Rabbi of the Adas Yeshurun Herzlia Congregation, although he also lives part of the year in Israel – during normal times. A fourth brother, Yamin, who is also a rabbi, lives in Vancouver).
Ultimately, Benarroch “was offered the position of president (of the U of M) in 2019,” he said, “then Covid hit and turned everything topsy turvy.”
At that point, the host of this particular Limmud session, Faye Rosenberg Cohen, asked Benarroch: “Did you plan out the career part?”
Benarroch responded: “I knew the presidency at the University of Manitoba was coming up. I kept my eye on it, but I thought that (moving to Toronto) was going to be my last move.
“There had to be a good reason for me to move from one institution to another.
“During my time at the Asper School I thought though that I really meshed well with the atmosphere at the University of Manitoba.”
As for Ryerson, Benarroch noted that the school began as a polytechnic institute and it still carries a very large imprint as a technical training school even though it is now a university.
“Ninety-five percent of the students have an experiential background – serving in apprenticeships” and work programs, while attending classes, Benarroch explained.
Part of Benarroch’s mandate while he was at Ryerson, he noted, was to “rebuild the faculty.”
“We went from 700 to over 900 in the three years I was there,” Benarroch stated.
“We hired quite a few younger academics who brought a lot of energy with them,” he added.
Another major change that Benarroch said he helped to foster was a concerted effort to hire more Indigenous instructors.
“When I arrived there were only six Indigenous professors at Ryerson,” he observed.
“Working with students and elders we launched a reconciliation process. We made Ryerson a place where Indigenous people would feel welcome,” including by “hiring 20 new Indigenous staff,” Benarroch said.
“We also brought in a fair bit of scholarship money for Indigenous students,” he added.
Yet, when the opportunity to take over as president of the University of Manitoba presented itself, Benarroch noted, that despite his having fit in well at Ryerson, he said that “you never want to leave a job, but if I hadn’t taken that opportunity I don’t think it would have come up again.”
Rosenberg Cohen asked Benarroch “How has being a religious Jew worked for you, first as a professor, then as an administrator?”
Benarroch replied: “As a prof, it was great. As an observant Jew I was always able to schedule my time so as to be able to observe Shabbat.”
Benarroch mentioned that one of the two sabbatical years he took as a professor was at the University of Haifa, which was of particular significance for him – being able to spend the year in Israel.
However, upon becoming an administrator, Benarroch suggested, “my schedule was not mine as much as it was in the past…At Ryerson, the president was an observant Muslim, so I always I had to make sure I was on campus on Fridays while he was attending prayers.”
Further, Benarroch noted, while the advent of Zoom during the pandemic has certainly enabled teaching and meetings to carry on, Zoom has, in fact, “made it harder to remain Shabbat observant.”
Prior to the pandemic, he explained, if he had a meeting or conference to attend – even on a Shabbat, “I would be staying in a hotel and I could attend a meeting – without taking any notes.”
Now, it’s impossible to participate in a Zoom session during Shabbat, he said – and since the workday seems to have expanded to include almost any hour of the day, Benarroch admitted that, as much as technology has allowed meetings to be held relatively easily, it has presented problems for him having to decide between his obligations as a university president and his religious observance.
As for some of the other more noticeable effects that the pandemic has had on his role as president at the U of M, Benarroch said: “I have four staff members in my office; I’ve seen one of them in person.”
Benarroch told the Limmud audience that, prior to assuming his new role, he read a book offering advice on “how to be a university president”.
(Rosenberg Cohen asked the question that was probably on everyone else’s minds at that point: Are there enough people in the world who would be in the position that they were interested in becoming a university president that it would be worth it to write a book about that subject?)
In any event, Benarroch said that this particular book did offer two really good pieces of advice:
1. Don’t make a major decision during your first six months in the new position;
and 2. Go out and meet as many people as you can off the bat.
(Obviously, the second piece of advice was thrown out the window when Benarroch returned to Winnipeg during the pandemic.)
In terms of how the pandemic will change the way university courses are taught even following the pandemic, Benarroch suggested that what is likely to occur is that professors will teach classes where some students attend in person while other students will take those same classes online.
“We’re also looking to have classes for Indigenous students up north” offered online, following on the success of Zoom teaching during the pandemic, he suggested.
While “there has been a lot of resistance to teaching online among academics,” Benarroch admitted, “students have been adapting.”
With reference to how many students are actually enrolled at the university this academic year, Benarroch observed that, while there are “fewer first year students at the University of Manitoba, there have been more students return for second, third, and fourth year” than in previous years.
“Enrolment is definitely up,” Benarroch said, “and we expect to see the majority of students return again in the fall.”
Rosenberg Cohen asked: “If I were a parent, thinking of spending money to send my child to a university somewhere, why would I spend all that money when they can take their classes online?”
Benarroch’s response was that, while virtual classes will certainly be a major part of whatever format universities eventually evolve into becoming, there is going to be a greater emphasis on “more participation, more research, more experiential. There are going to be more opportunities outside the classroom”, but they are going to be in person, not online.
As an example, Benarroch said he’s planning on creating a “student start-up zone”, in which students will start their own businesses.”
“It’s better to fail at a business when you’re 23 than when you’re 55,” Benarroch observed.
Rosenberg Cohen asked: “What are your hopes and dreams?”
Benarroch said, “Here at the University of Manitoba we have a tremendous testing capacity. Winnipeg could become a testing centre for vaccines,” for instance he suggested.
Continuing on the thread of what his hopes and dreams are, Benarroch said: “I’d like to see the University of Manitoba become a global leader in certain areas.
“I’d like to see the university become a racist-free zone.” (He noted that the previous president of the U of M, David Barnard, “had launched a task force on Equality, Diversity, and Integration.)
“We know we can’t stamp out racism, on campus,” Benarroch observed. “The question is how to deal with it.”
Someone in the Zoom audience wondered how one can maintain a balance between stamping out racism while still allowing free speech?
“We’re still a university. We are going to have debate and disagreement,” Benarroch said in response.
Someone else wondered “How does the university compensate for lab work that can’t get done?
Benarroch answered that “We allow 20 percent capacity in some spaces…We’ve also developed a way to hold some of the labs virtually.”
As well, Benarroch said that, for ten days in January, students in the Faculties of Nursing, Science, Architecture, Engineering, and Agriculture, were allowed back on to campus” to conduct lab work – under strict Covid protocols.
I asked a question along these lines (although the names of questioners were not given): Professors are having to spend more time than ever before finding funding for their programs. With the emphasis on practical, results-oriented programs, where will that leave programs that don’t necessarily have practical applications? (My question was not worded precisely that way, but it was along those general lines.)
Benarroch’s response was that “the university brings in just under $200 million a year in research money – the vast majority of which comes from the federal government.”
He added that he has two goals as far as where the money for research goes: to allow students who were doing research prior to Covid to continue doing that work; and to obtain additional money to keep university labs running.
Benarroch also noted that there is now a “massive reinvestment in science in the US. We have to remain competitive in how we pay faculty and how we keep up our labs.”
It seems quite evident, therefore, that Michael Benarroch is going to be preoccupied with finding ever new sources of funding for the university, while trying to retain whatever sources have been in place until now.
It seemed fitting, therefore, that one of his final observations was that “one of my mandates as president is to speak to government”.
Still, lost in all the discussion about funding and research was any reference to the less practical aspects of a university education. Of course, that’s a subject that’s been debated for a very long time. I just wonder where faculties such as Arts are going to end up with the even greater emphasis on “research” oriented programs.
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Second annual Taste of Limmud to feature Jewish dishes from around the world
By MYRON LOVE Many words in English have multiple meanings. Take the word “taste” for example. There is the literal meaning – the sense of taste; it can also mean sample – or preferences. It can be a noun or a verb.
In “A Taste of Limmud,” the term is used both in its literal meaning – as a sampling of Jewish dishes from different parts of the world, as well as a prelude to our community’s upcoming 16th celebration of Jewish learning and culture, which is scheduled for Sunday, March 15.
This is the second year for “A Taste of Limmud,” which is coming up on Thursday, February 19. The event will be held at the Shaarey Zedek and will feature Jewish dishes from Argentina, Yemen, Turkiye, Aleppo and Eastern Europe, as well as Israel .
“We sold out last year for A Taste of Limmud,” reports Raya Margulets, Winnipeg Limmud’s newly appointed co-ordinator. “We had 120 participants last year. I am hoping to have 150 this year.”
The 2025 debut of “A Taste of Limmud” was actually Margulets’ introduction to the Winnipeg Limmud co-ordinating team. Originally from Israel, Margulets’ first position with the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg was in 2022 when she was appointed Hillel director – just a year after she had served as Hillel student president at the University of Manitoba.
She left her role with Hillel after about a year to participate in the ten-month online Israel 21c Digital Ambassador program, which is aimed at young people between the ages of 18 and 25. That program is part-time and casual, conducted remotely, intended to provide basic experience in digital communication and storytelling focused on everyday life in Israel.
“I spent a few hours a week working on simple digital content and social media, attended occasional online seminars, and participated in light collaborative projects,” Margulets reports. “The focus was on sharing positive, apolitical cultural stories rather than politics or advocacy.”
She was hired last year by the Federation to oversee our first Taste of Limmud – as a special project that was funded by the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba.
She was appointed at the beginning of September as Limmud Co-ordinator, replacing Florencia Katz, the original co-ordinator, who stepped away after 15 years in the role. Katz remains a member of the Federation staff as Director of Education and Engagement. She also has a focus on the PJ Library program.
“Florencia was a great mentor and is still a big help to me,” Margulets says.
She reports that the upcoming 16th annual Winnipeg Limmud will once again feature a wide and eclectic range of speakers. “I can confirm that all of our community’s rabbis – as well as Rabbi Benarroch – will be among the presenters,” she notes. “Rabbi Benarroch will be coming from Israel and be here in person.”
Also confirmed thus far are Yaron Deckel, an Israeli journalist and broadcaster, as well as Haskel Greenfield, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, and Winnipeg’s own Rimon Art Collective. Collective members include young Jewish artists Mishelle Aminov Kosonovsky, Yael Freifeld, Etel Shevelev, Halley Ritter, and Shan Pullan
Stay tuned for further updates as to other 2026 Winnipeg Limmud presenters on this website or go online to keep up to date or register for programs at limmudwinnipeg.org.
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Sharon Delbridge’s annual health & wellness retreats in Puerto Vallarta have become popular with many Winnipeggers
By BERNIE BELLAN Over the years we have revisited stories from time to time – to catch up with individuals who have made a mark in this city and to see where their lives have taken them since the last time we wrote about them.
One such individual is Sharon Delbridge, the youngest daughter of Sol and Rachel Fink, and younger sister to Percy, Shayla (Posen), and the late Sheldon Fink (who died all too young at the age 57 in 2021).
Myron Love has written many times about Sol and Rachel Fink, who continue to amaze for their vitality – with Sol now 101 and Rachel having just turned 99.
As Sharon notes in an email sent to me, “My parents work out everyday. Not at Rady anymore. They do exercise at home & in their condo gym (200 Tuxedo) Move their bodies daily. My mom leads her and my dad daily in movement. It’s incredible.
“They have been a huge inspiration to all of us.”
Aside from the fact that the Fink family was a very musical family, their penchant for fitness is clearly something that rubbed off on Sharon, in particular.
My own wife, Meachelle, who was quite the fitness fanatic herself in her day (not that she’s been put out to pasture quite yet), profiled Sharon for The Jewish Post & News in 2015. In that story, Sharon explained how she came to be one of the most popular and best known fitness instructors, not only at the Rady JCC – where her classes in a wide variety of different areas, were – and still are, extremely popular, but at many other venues throughout Winnipeg.
Here’s part of what Sharon told Meachelle about how she came to teach so many different types of fitness classes:
“I’ve been into fitness my whole life. I come from a very musical family but also a family that always works out. When I was in my 20s I was teaching aerobics for several years as a part-time job while in university. When I had my three children (Milan, Jared and Cassie Ackerman) I ran a hand-painted clothing business in my home called Milan Designs, and I sold to ladies’ and children’s stores all over Canada.
“I was always working out and have loved fitness classes. I went back and got more certifications in my 40s. I’m certified to teach many specialties and have been actively teaching at the Rady for over 10 years. I now specialize in women’s boutique fitness: Zumba, Yoga and Barre classes. The three specialties blend beautifully together and I have a big following of people from all over Winnipeg that come to my classes. I have every Zumba certification that’s available: Zumba, Zumba Gold (for seniors), Zumba Toning (with weights), Zumba Aqua (in water), Zumba Step and Zumba Sentao (using steppers and chairs).
“I’ve taken many yoga certifications through the past 10 years and I’ve been teaching Barre classes, which are the latest and hottest classes for women. I’m always taking new training in these three specialties to continue to stay fresh and always have new and exciting things to present to my class. That’s how I stay unique in my field. I’m always learning and always developing my classes to be the best they can be. I spend tons of time finding the best music and choreographing.
“I truly feel that if you work out and look after your body, you will always have a positive outlook on life. Exercise is a huge healer mentally and physically. I have seen so many incredible changes in women that come to my classes. They have transformed their bodies and live happier and healthier lives.”
It was a year after Meachelle’s article about Sharon that Sharon and her husband, Darcy, began going to Puerto Vallarta for the winter. As Sharon noted, “I started teaching at a Yoga studio the first winter we were here in PV. It’s easy to meet people & build community when you’re teaching snowbirds from everywhere
I love sharing my love for fitness & yoga & moving our bodies.”
But, for six years prior to making Puerto Vallarta her and Darcy’s winter home, Sharon had already been conducting annual one-week health and wellness retreats in Puerto Vallarta. She has continued to conduct those retreats every year since. The most recent retreat was held from January 25-February 1 at the Fiesta Americana All Inclusive Resort.
Here’s how Sharon describes the purpose of those retreats:
“For over 15 years, my Health & Wellness Retreat has brought together women of all ages to reconnect, recharge, and celebrate movement, friendship, and balance. Hosted at a beautiful all-inclusive resort, guests can truly make the week their own holiday experience. While primarily a women’s retreat, many now bring their husbands or partners who are welcome to participate as much or as little as they choose.
“Throughout the week, we offer seven daily classes ranging from sunrise meditation and yoga to toning, Zumba, yin yoga, and our signature Aqua Zumba — which transforms into a high-energy, joy-filled pool party. Each evening, we gather for sunset yoga and take time to celebrate the beauty of the day together.
“The retreat blends wellness with enjoyment, allowing guests to indulge in the resort’s wonderful restaurants and social atmosphere while still feeling strong, energized, and revitalized. It’s a balanced, uplifting experience where participants leave feeling nourished in body, mind, and heart, often forming lifelong friendships. This year, we were proud to welcome 40 participants.”
In the picture accompanying this article you might recognize several Winnipeggers. I asked Sharon how many Winnipeggers were participants in this year’s retreat?
The answer, she said, was the majority (31) were from Winnipeg, while six were from Las Vegas, one from Ottawa and two from Edmonton.
The last two years, Sharon also noted, another well known member of the Rady JCC staff, Dona Watts-Hastings, who’s a physiotherapist, also a yoga and Pilates instructor, has joined Sharon in conducting the retreat. Sharon adds that Dona’s physiotherapy clinic is inside the Rady JCC. Dona also brings some of her clients to the retreat.
I wondered though, how active Sharon is in teaching classes when she’s back in Winnipeg? Does she never tire of teaching so many classes? I wondered.
Sharon’s answer was: “Yes, I’m still in Winnipeg half of the year and I will always teach at the Rady… Zumba, sculpt , yoga & barre class – also spinning if they need me to sub. . I teach at Assiniboine park and other gyms, too. Every morning I teach and often sub other classes. Busy all spring & summer.”
Whew! It’s tiring just reading about everything Sharon does. If you would like to find out more about next year’s health & wellness retreat in Puerto Vallarta and how you might be able to join up, contact Sharon at sharon@freshsoulfitness.com.
To watch a video of what a typical day at the retreat consisted of go to freshsoulfitness
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Jess Pudavick: artist and business executive
By MYRON LOVE Jess Pudavick is a rare individual in that she combines careers as an artist and a business executive.
I first became aware of Jess last summer when she was one of the artists/craftspeople with a display table at the Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre’s annual garage and craft sale. What piqued my interest was her focus on incorporating resins in her art pieces.
Last week, while interviewing Ms. Pudavick at Super-Lite Lighting on Waverley – I learned much more about the multi-talented Ms. Pudavick.
While I have a passion for art,” she notes, “I was not interested in becoming a stereotypical starving artist.”
The daughter of Stuart and Beth Pudavick joined the company (which her father acquired in the early 1980s (along with partners Simon Simkin and Allan Hochman) 17 years ago. Her brother, Ray, also joined the company 10 years ago, Jess notes.
At Super-Lite, Jess’s title is Custom Homes Lighting Consultant. She works with builders, designers and contractors to build the lighting for the home, as well as to choose the right lights for the space. She also manages the company’s social media and website.
“I enjoy working with my dad and Ray,” she says.”I also love what I do at Super-Lite. It is similar to my feelings about my art. You don’t know the end result when you start. It is nice to see something being built from nothing and seeing the end result – and knowing how happy the client is in the end.”.
As an artist, the graduate of Brock Corydon’s Hebrew Bilingual Program, Shaftesbury Collegiate and the University of Manitoba, recalls that she started at a young age. “As a kid,” she says, “I was always doodling and drawing cartoons.”
While she has worked with several different artistic media, she observes that what she likes about creating art with resins is the challenge.
“Resin is a temperamental material,” she points out. “When you start a project, you have no idea what the finished product will look like.”
She explains that there are two ways to work with resin. You can put traditional resin in a mold and wait 24 hours for the resin to dry. Or you can speed up the process by using a UV style resin and exposing the resin to UV rays.
“I prefer letting the resin dry naturally,” she says. “I find I have more control over it.”
Her resin-infused art comes in many forms. She produces earrings and necklaces, candle holders and ashtrays, dice and computer keys. She has also created resin-infused mahjong and rummikub tiles and even sets of dominoes with paw prints. A popular item, Jess says, is a custom coloured/theme wedding set of dominoes.
“People love them,” she says of the dominoes tiles.
(The latter reflects her own passion for dogs for which she is often a foster “parent”. She notes that she also creates resin-infused memory keepsake urns for the ashes/hair or fur of beloved pets – a product that is gaining popularity.)
Then there is the resin-infused coffee table that has a place of honour in her own home. “With my love of plants and resin, my partner and I took our existing coffee table, added various clippings of my own plants and created a fun resin-sealed table,” she recounts. “It really looks cool. It is unique. it attracts visitors’ interest. Every time I look at it, I see something different.”
Jess reports that generally sells her works of art through craft sales and her Instagram page (@thejesso09) for between $10 and $30. Her major source of sales though, she adds, is through word of mouth.
But Pudavick avers that she doesn’t do her art with an eye to sales.
“I create for myself, not for the approval of others. I find it relaxing – a good way to reduce stress. It’s also rewarding to see that others want something you have created.”
She strongly believes that enjoying your work is an important element in being happy. Equally important, she notes, – both in business and art – is to have satisfied customers.