Local News
Community leader Brian Scharfstein recipient of 2022 Queen’s Jubilee Medal
Last November, long-time downtown Winnipeg retailer Brian Scharfstein was a recipient of the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee medal, presented annually to Manitobans who have made meaningful contributions to the community. The award was presented to the long-time downtown business owner and community leader by Dr. Jon Gerrard, the Member of the Legislature for River Heights alongside nine other recipients of the award in Gerrard’s riding.
“I was taken aback by the honor,” says Scharfstein. “It was certainly unexpected and humbling.”
Although Scharfstein has held some more visible leadership positions – notably serving as chair of our Jewish community’s Grow Winnipeg initiative as well as chair of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, and is currently a board member of the Mount Carmel Clinic Foundation, he generally prefers to fly under the radar in terms of his efforts in helping others.
“More than money, though, I give of my time,” he points out. “When I get involved in something, I really get involved.”
For the most part though, the president of Canadian Footwear prefers to follow the Torah’s precept that the ideal form of charity is to give of yourself anonymously. Scharfstein says that he looks to his late father, Albert: “Dad always showed compassion and concern for people in need,” Brian Scharfstein recalls. “He tried never to turn down anyone who came to his door seeking a handout.
“That is the way that my three sisters and I were raised.”
Albert Scharfstein acquired Canadian Footwear in the downtown area around 1932. When Albert and his wife Ethel passed away within nine days of each other in 1987, Brian and his wife Pam purchased the business from the family estate.
Soon after the couple acquired the business, Brian Scharfstein started his education to become a Certified Canadian Pedorthist. Working together, Brian and Pam have built Canadian Footwear into a successful, family-owned business in Winnipeg. Today, Canadian Footwear operates four retail stores in Winnipeg and Calgary.
“One of the keys to our success,” Scharfstein notes, “is that we don’t just sell shoes and orthotics. We build relationships. Our goal is to provide a memorable experience for all of our customers and clients”
Scharfstein also follows his father’s example in trying never to turn down people in need. One of the ways in which the Scharfstein family helps those in need is through the family charity program, “Fit on the Street”.
We receive referrals from missions, churches, inner city schools, and resource centers,” he notes. “We try to make sure that no one – whether they be homeless or a newly arrived refugee – has to go without proper footwear”.
“We believe that everyone who comes into our store should be treated with dignity.”
Canadian Footwear is a life member of the industry’s Two Ten Foundation SOS program. “Through this program, we have given away thousands of pairs of shoes,” Scharfstein says. “The foundation receives shipments of footwear that have been turned back for whatever reason by manufactures, importers and other retailers. We are the prairie distributor of this footwear.”
Another important focus for Scharfstein is helping to create a safer downtown in an effort to encourage more shoppers to return there. As part of that effort, Scharfstein has been representing small and medium retailers in Manitoba in a national pilot program – authored by the Retail Council of Canada – called Operation Safe Shop. The pilot project begun three years ago – focused on facilitating better collaboration between retailers, police, and the courts, and is now moving to Phase 2. With over 100 retail storefronts submitting data through the platform, more than 600 incidents reported, and just over 60 repeat offenders identified, the Retail Council of Canada is now working with Winnipeg Police Service, RCMP, and Brandon Police analysts to focus on the most prolific offenders.
In his own stores, Scharfstein has introduced a policy whereby everyone who comes into one of the stores is asked his or her first name and offered a personal shopper – although customers can still browse on their own.
“We haven’t been able to completely eliminate shoplifting,” he concedes, “but these new measures have made a noticeable difference. We employ a lot of people in our organization. We consider every one of them like family. We are responsible for their safety as well as the safety of our customers.”
Brian Scharfstein, the community activist has just stepped down from 5 years serving as the civilian member of the Winnipeg Police Board. As well, a few months back, he appointed David Stern as the company’s new general manager and has stepped back from the day-to-day operation of Canadian Footwear. At 70, the now semi-retired Scharfstein – while still available to mentor new pedorthic practitioners and consult with administrative matters – finds that he has more time on his hands for community service.
The Scharfstein family’s newest initiative, he says, is in support of a group that is trying to open a self-sustaining clothing and footwear depot focused on helping the homeless. “Much of our philanthropic giving is based on our not receiving any recognition and that applies in this case, too,” Scharfstein notes. The concept will be modelled after the successful North End Women’s Centre’s 20-year-old Up Shoppe, a women’s co-op that provides clothing for a small fee for those who can afford – and at no charge for those who can’t. This facility/store will provide those in need with clothing, footwear, and personal hygiene necessities.
“We are currently looking for a location in which to open the store,” Scharfstein adds.
Local News
First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students
By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard. Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging.
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty. “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”
Local News
Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition
By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”
Local News
Team Schvesters teammates Benji Harvey, Kim Gray once again among top ten fundraisers in this year’s CancerCare Manitoba Foundation Challenge for Life event
By MYRON LOVE This year’s annual CancerCare Manitoba Foundation’s Challenge for Life walk at Assiniboine Park is scheduled for Sunday, June 13 – and, once again, in terms of fundraising, Team Schvesters is sitting in second place overall – having raised just over $30,500 as of May 26 – which is $5,000 more than the team members had raised by the same time last year.
As well, team members Benji Harvey and Kim Gray are once again in the top ten among individual fundraisers. Harvey this year sits in fifth place, having raised a little over $16,000 as of May 17 – while Gray has raised just above $8,000 – putting her in seventh place.
Harvey reports that, -over the past 18, years participating in CancerCare Manitoba Foundation’s Challenge for Life, she has personally raised $180,000 for cancer research, while her team as a whole has brought in $367,000. In discussing her success as a fundraiser, Harvey says that she has made a lot of friends over the years and believes in giving back to the community.
The “Schvesters” are the Greenfeld sisters: Harvey and sisters Lesly Katz and Debra Lewis – the daughters of Lil and the late Ike Greenfeld. Two of the sisters are cancer survivors.
There is one other team member – in addition to Kim Gray. Judge Rocky Pollack first joined Team Schvesters in 2023. After a year away in 2024, he returned last year. Pollack lost his wife, Sharon, to cancer in 2014 after a multi-year struggle.
Nancy’s Nightingales has been a top 10 community fundraising team for Cancercare Manitoba and the Challenge for Life since its inception in 2008. As a team, they have walked together since 2006 when they walked 60 km in two days in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer.
Last year, the team – including Louise Raber, Joanne Katz, Rhonda Youell, Connie Botelho and Harriet Lyons – finished fifth in fundraising. So far this year, the team is again sitting in fifth place –having raised just under $12,500 (as of May 26) – a couple of thousand dollars more than last year, and just about $300 behind the fourth place team.
The Nightingales are named after a nurse who is a cancer survivor- and a friend of Louise Raber, Nancy’s Nightingales team leader.
“Our goal, as always, is to raise at least one dollar more than last year,” says Raber.
Team Jason’s Journey team leader Jason Gisser has experienced a more intimate and longer-lasting relationship with cancer than many of the other Challenge for Life participants. He was first diagnosed with cancer when he was 18. “I am a proud cancer fighter, having lived and battled a chronic cancer diagnosis for the last 23 years,” he said in an earlier interview. “I participate in the Challenge for Life not only to give back for the care and treatment which I have and continue to receive through CancerCare Manitoba, but to ensure that others do not have to endure the journey which I have endured.”
This is the ninth year that Gisser has taken up the Challenge for Life. His teammates are returnee Nora Fien, as well as friends Danial Sprintz, Wendy Martin White and Jason Roberts, also his mother, Judge Freda Steele. He has personally raised about $5,500 this year, while the team as a whole has raised just over $7,000.
“The Challenge for Life is great opportunity to raise valuable dollars for cancer research and treatment,” Gisser notes.
Readers can make donations to their preferred team by going online to CancerCarefdn.mb.ca and click on Challengeforlife.ca.
