Local News
Cancercare Manitoba Foundation Challenge for Life adapts to changed circumstances
By MYRON LOVE
The 13th annual Cancercare Manitoba Foundation Challenge for Life 20KM walk (or 200-minute workout) has a new look this year – as a result of COVID 19 – with a smaller number of participants and lower expectations.
And, instead of thousands gathering on the second Saturday in June, participants this year are walking in small groups covering the same distance over a three-week period from August 1-20.
As usual though, several members of our Jewish community are making their presence felt.
Leading the way in more ways than one is Steven Kroft, who is both one of the leading individual fundraisers taking part in the Challenge for Life campaign and an active participant. (See related profile.)
This year, the top-ranked “Jewish” team is Nancy’s Nightingales with close to $16,000 as of August 13 – good for second place in the team rankings. This year, long time team members Connie Botelho, Joanne Katz, Harriet Lyons, Louise Raber, Heather Cram, and Susan Lipnowski were joined by second year member Rhonda Youell.
The“Nightingales” were named after a nurse – a cancer survivor – who is a friend of Louise Raber’s. They have been part of the Challenge for Life since the beginning.
“It is certainly a little more difficult this year because of the pandemic,” Raber says. “And we didn’t do the 20km in one day. Rather, we walked 10 km on August 14 and another 10 on the 15th.”
Cancercare Manitoba Foundation has reduced the minimum pledge for each walker to $250 rather than $1,000 this year in light of the current situation, she notes. Nonetheless, she expects that “Nancy Nightingales” will raise more money than ever before due to the larger number of team members this year.
Team Schvesters – also one of the original teams – is the only other team with a significant Jewish contingent among the top ten fundraising teams this year. The team was founded by the “Greenfeld girls”: Benji Harvey and her sisters, Lesly Katz and Debby Lewis. Two of the sisters had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
This year, Harvey notes, the team members are Benji and Deb, Kim Gray and Jody van de Vijsel. “While Les has not participated for the last few years, she continues to make very generous financial contributions,” Harvey says.
Benji, Deb and Kim all did a 15 km walk, 30 minute upper body core workout and 30 minute yoga stretch.
Jody is also having a garage and bake sale.
Team Schvesters raised just under $7,000.
“We are a small but heartfelt team,” Harvey says. “Even though COVID has changed the event there are still lots of teams participating in their own way, which is fantastic.”
Perennial fundraising dynamos Serratus Superstars have also been walking in the Challenge for Life since the Challenge inception in 2008. Team captain Cathy Moser reported in an interview with the JP&N last year that the group had raised over $370,000.00 since 2008 – through donations, garage sales, concerts, and bake sales.
This year’s team makeup however is much reduced from previous years. Last year, there were 25 walkers under the Serratus Superstars banner. This year, the team numbers six – returnees Moser and her husband Jeff Itzkow, Sharon Goszer-Tritt, Harriet Zimmer and newcomers Bernie Rubinstein and Sheila Kercheff.
Moser, however, remains undaunted. Her own personal goal, she says, is to raise $2,000 and the team’s goal is $10,000. “We want to raise much more though,” she adds.
The bake sale has long been a part of Team Serratus’ fundraising efforts. This year, as reported in the last issue of the Jewish Post & News, Moser has made arrangements with Rachel Nedelec and Madi Spence from Flour and Flower to sell Moser’s popular almond roca, with proceeds from sales being donated to Cancercare. The chocolate almond toffee cost $10 a batch and delivery is free.
“They have already sold over 80 batches,” Moser says.
Retired Provincial Court Judge Rocky Pollack has also been a long time participant in the Challenge for Life. He knows first-hand the ravages of cancer, having lost his wife, Sharon, to the disease eight years ago.
(While Sharon fought cancer for a number of years, she was also a leader in community fundraising activities for Cancercare Manitoba. Rocky has taken up where Sharon left off to a degree. He currently serves as chair of Cancercare’s Community Connection Committee.)
This year, Pollack is captain of Team No Judgment, which includes 12 of his colleagues. “It was a little easier this year having 20 days to complete the challenge,” he notes. “Some of us walked while others also did aerobics, kayaking and other exercises.”
Team No Judgment raised just under $6,000 this year for cancer research.
Sister Act also has a smaller contingent this year. “It’s just me, my mother (Pearl Rosenberg) and my sister, Cindy (Yusim)” says Brenda Dahle.
Pearl Rosenberg, may well be – at 86 – the oldest participant. She has lost two daughters (and Dahle and Yusim, two sisters) to cancer within about a year of each other. Naomi Palansky passed away in 2010 and Michelle Moyer in 2011. Dahle notes that Naomi walked with her family in the first Challenge For Life Walk.
(Readers may aso recall that Naomi’s children, Noah and Lexi, started their own team of walkers, “Kids Count, shortly after their mother received her cancer diagnosis.)
“I started taking part in the Challenge for Life on Team Chai in 2008,” Dahle writes in an email. “I continue to take part in the 20 k walk with my mom and my sister, Cindy Yusim, in memory of our sisters Naomi Palansky and Michelle Moyer, whose love, strength, and courage continue to inspire us. Money raised will remain in Manitoba and will be used for research, clinic trials, and to support individuals and their families fighting cancer.
“With this being a virtual walk,” she continues, “we are being creative in reaching the goal. I have gone on two 6 k hikes and continue to walk 3 k on a daily basis. I also plan on joining my mom on her morning walks in Kildonan Park. I have been doing regular hikes as well as walking with my mother and Cindy.”
Dahle reports that Sister Act’s fundraising goal this year is lower than it has been in the past due to the coronavirus effect. “In the past, my fundraising goal was $1000.00,” she says. “This year, I only reached out once to my former donors, as everyone’s circumstances are different, and with the ongoing pandemic, didn’t want to offend or upset anyone. “
Dahle notes that donations are still accepted at .
Annual Kick Butt fundraiser also going virtual
As with the Challenge for Life and every other former group event, Kick Butt, the annual fundraiser which aims to raise awareness of colorectal cancer, has also gone the virtual route.
Sid Chapnick, Kick Butt’s founder, is once again taking charge of organizing the event – now in its 13th year.
Chapnick notes that colorectal cancer is one of the three most commonly diagnosed cancers among both men and women. He points out that all funds raised stay in Manitoba to support colorectal cancer research, genetic research for Lynch Syndrome, as well as to raise awareness and advocate for the needs of people who have colorectal cancer.
Participants are urged to wear boxer shorts, pajamas or bathing suits, with prizes for the best Butt Cover.
Since 2016, Denny’s Restaurants has been the main sponsor. Chapnick reports that this year, Denny’s is contributing a lump sum rather than a portion of proceeds from restaurant operations.
The event this year is scheduled for Saturday, September 12. In the past, the 3-5km walk has been held at Kildonan Park. Due to Covid, this year participants can walk anywhere.
Readers can sign on to the Cancercare Manitoba Foundation website to register for the event: www.cancercarefdn.mb.ca
Local News
Winnipeg Jewish Theatre breaks new ground with co-production with Rainbow Stage
By MYRON LOVE Winnipeg Jewish Theatre is breaking new ground with its first ever co-production with Rainbow Stage. The new partnership’s presentation of “Fiddler on the Roof” is scheduled to hit the stage at our city’s famed summer musical theatre venue in September 2026.
“We have collaborated with other theatre companies in joint productions before,” notes Dan Petrenko, the WJT’s artistic and managing director – citing previous partnerships with the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts in Montreal, the Harold Green Jewish Theatre in Toronto, Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon and Winnipeg’s own Dry Cold Productions. “Because of the times we’re living through, and particularly the growing antisemitism in our communities and across the country, I felt there is a need to tell a story that celebrates Jewish culture on the largest stage in the city – to reach as many people as possible.”
Last year, WJT approached Rainbow Stage with a proposal for the co-presentation of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Rainbow Stage management was really enthusiastic in their response, Petrenko reports.
“We are excited to be working with Winnipeg’s largest musical theatre company,” he notes. “Rainbow Stage has an audience of more than 10,000 people every season. Fiddler is a great, family-oriented story and, through our joint effort with Rainbow Stage, WJT will be able to reach out to new and younger audiences.”
“We are also working to welcome more diverse audiences from other communities, as well as newcomers – families who have moved here from Israel, Argentina and countries of the former Soviet Union.”
Helping Petrenko to achieve those goals are two relatively new and younger additions to WJT’s management team. Both Company Manager Etel Shevelev, and Head of Marketing Julia Kroft are in their 20s – as is Petrenko himself.
Kroft, who is also Gray Academy’s Associate Director of Advancement and Alumni Relations, needs little or no introduction to many readers. In addition to her work for Gray Academy and WJT, the daughter of David and Ellen Kroft has been building a second career as a singer and actor. Over the past few years, she has performed by herself or as part of a musical ensemble at Jewish community events, as well as in various professional theatre productions in the city.
Etel Shevelev is also engaged in a dual career. In addition to working full time at WJT, she is also a Fine Arts student (majoring in graphic design) at the University of Manitoba. Outside of school, she is an interdisciplinary visual artist (exhibiting her work and running workshops), so you can say the art world is no stranger to her.
(She will be partcipating in Limmud next month as a member of the Rimon Art Collective.)
Shevelev grew up in Kfar Saba (northeast of Tel Aviv). She reports that in Israel she was involved in theatre from a young age. “In 2019, I graduated from a youth theatre school, which I attended for 11 years.” In a sense, her work for WJT brings her full circle.
She arrived in Winnipeg just six years ago with her parents. “I was 19 at the time,” she says.
After just a year in Winnipeg, her family decided to relocate to Ottawa, while she chose to stay here. “I was already enrolled in university, had a long-term partner, and a job,” she explains. “I felt that I was putting down roots in Winnipeg.”
Etel expects to graduate by the end of the academic year, allowing her to focus on the arts professionally full-time.
In her role as company manager, Shevelev notes, she is responsible for communications with donors, contractors, and unions, as well as applying for various grants and funding opportunities.
In addition, her linguistic skills were put to use last spring for WJT’s production of “The Band’s Visit,” a story about an Egyptian band that was invited to perform at a cultural centre opening ceremony in the lively centre of Israel, but ended up in the wrong place – a tiny, communal town in southern Israel. Shevelev was called on to help some of the performers with the pronunciation of Hebrew words and with developing a Hebrew accent.
“I love working for WJT,” she enthuses. “Every day is different.”
Shevelev and Petrenko are also enthusiastic about WJT’s next production – coming up in April: “Ride: The Musical” debuted in London’s West End three years ago, and then went on to play at San Diego’s Old Globe theatre to rave reviews. The WJT production will be the Canadian premiere!
The play, Petrenko says, is based on the true story of Annie Londonderry, a young woman – originally from Latvia, who, in 1894, beat all odds and became the first woman to circle the world on a bicycle.
Petrenko is also happy to announce that the director and choreographer for the production will be Lisa Stevens – an Emmy Award nominee and Olivier Award winner. (The Olivier is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in professional London theatre).
“Lisa is in great demand across Canada, and the world really,” the WJT artistic director says. “I am so thrilled that we will be welcoming one of the greatest Jewish directors and choreographers of our time to Winnipeg this Spring.”
For more information about upcoming WJT shows, readers can visit wjt.ca, email the WJT office at info@wjt.ca or phone the box office at 204-477-7515.
Local News
Rising Canadian comedy star Rob Bebenek to headline JCFS’ second annual “Comedy for a Cause”
By MYRON LOVE Last year, faced with a federal government budget cut to its Older Adult Services programs, Jewish Child and Family Service launched a new fundraising initiative. “Comedy with a Cause” was held at Rumor’s Comedy club and featured veteran Canadian stand-up comic Dave Hemstad.
That evening was so successful that – by popular demand – JCFS is doing an encore. “We were blown away by the support from the community,” says Al Benarroch, JCFS’s president and CEO.
“This is really a great way to support JCFS by being together and having fun,” he says.
“Last year, JCFS was able to sell-out the 170 tickets it was allotted by Rumor’s,” adds Alexis Wenzowski, JCFS’s COO. “There were also general public attendees at the event last year. Participants enjoyed a fun evening, complete with a 50/50 draw and raffle. We were incredibly grateful for those who turned out, the donors for the raffle baskets, and of course, Rumor’s Comedy Club.
“Feedback was very positive about it being an initiative that encouraged people to have fun for a good cause: our Older Adult Services Team.”
This year’s “Comedy for a Cause” evening is scheduled for Wednesday, February 25. Wenzowski reports that this year’s featured performer, Rob Bebenek, first made a splash on the Canadian comedy scene at the 2018 Winnipeg Comedy festival. He has toured extensively throughout North America, appearing in theatres, clubs and festivals. He has also made several appearances on MTV as well as opening shows for more established comics, such as Gerry Dee and the late Bob Saget.
For the 2026 show, Wenzowski notes, Rumors’ is allotting JCFS 200 tickets. As with last year, there will also be some raffle baskets and a 50/50 draw.
“Our presenting sponsors for the evening,” she reports, “are the Vickar Automotive Group and Kay Four Properties Incorporated.”
The funds raised from this year’s comedy evening are being designated for the JCFS Settlement and Integration Services Department. “JCFS chose to do this because of our reduction in funding last year by the federal government to this department,” Wenzowski points out.
“Last year alone,” she reports, “our Settlement and Integration Services team settled 118 newcomer families – from places like Israel, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. Each year, our program supports even more newcomer families with things like case management, supportive counselling, employment coaching, workshops, programming for newcomer seniors, and more.”
“We hope to raise more than $15,000 through this event for our Settlement and Integration Program,” Al Benarroch adds. “The team does fantastic work, and we know that our newcomer Jewish families need the supports from JCFS. I want to thank our sponsors, Rumor’s Comedy Club, and attendees for supporting us.”
Tickets for the show cost $40 and are available to purchase by calling JCFS (204-477-7430) or by visiting here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/jcfs-comedy-for-a-cause. Sponsorships are still available.
Local News
Ninth Shabbat Unplugged highlight of busy year for Winnipeg Hillel
By MYRON LOVE Lindsay Kerr, Winnipeg’s Hillel director, is happy to report that this year’s ninth Shabbat UnPlugged, held on the weekend of January 9-11, attracted approximately 90 students from 11 different universities, including 20 students who were from out of town.
Shabbat UnPlugged was started in 2016 by (now-retired) Dr. Sheppy Coodin, who was a science teacher at Gray Academy, along with fellow Gray Academy teacher Avi Posen (who made aliyah in 2019) – building on the Shabbatons that Gray Academy had been organizing for the school’s high school students for many years.
The inaugural Shabbat UnPlugged was so successful that Coodin and Posen did it again in 2017 and took things one step further by combining their Shabbat UnPlugged with Hillel’s annual Shabbat Shabang Shabbaton that brings together Jewish university students from Winnipeg and other Jewish university students from Western Canada.
As in the past, this year’s Shabbat UnPlugged weekend was held at Lakeview’s Hecla Resort. “What we like about Hecla,” Kerr notes, “is that they let us bring in our own kosher food, it is out of the city and close to nature for those who want to enjoy the outdoors.”
The weekend retreat traditionally begins with a candle lighting, kiddush and a traditional Shabbat supper. Unlike previous Shabbats UnPlugged, Kerr points out, there were no outside featured speakers this year. All religious services and activities were led by students or national program partners.
The weekend was funded in part by grants from CJPAC and StandWithUs Canada, along with the primary gift from The Asper Foundation.
Kerr reports that the activities began with 18 of our local Jewish university students participating in a new student Shabbaton – inspired by Shabbat Unplugged, titled “Roots & Rising.”
In addition to Shabbat Unplugged, Hillel further partnered with Chabad for a Sukkot program in the fall, as well as with Shaarey Zedek Congregation and StandWithUs Canada for a Chanukah program. Hillell also featured a commemoration of October 7, an evening of laser tag and, in January, a Hillel-led afternoon of ice skating.
Coming up this month will be a visit to an Escape Room – and a traditional Shabbat dinner in March.
Kerr estimates that there are about 300 Jewish students at the University of Manitoba and 100 at the University of Winnipeg.
“Our goal is to attract more Jewish students to take part in our programs and connect with our community,” she comments.