Local News
Congregation Etz Chayim puts synagogue building up for sale
Posted Sept. 16, 2022 By MYRON LOVE It would seem that it is finally happening. After “at least a decade” – in the words of Congregation Etz Chayim board member and spokesperson Avrom Charach – of talking about it and considering different options, north Winnipeg’s largest synagogue has taken a concrete step forward in relocating to the south end.
The “for sale” sign outside the 70-year-old building went up last weekend.
Congregation Etz Chayim was formed 20 years ago from the merger of the Rosh Pina, Bnay Abraham and Beth Israel congregations – at the time the three largest congregations in the North End. With the Jewish population in our city rapidly declining in the West Kildonan/Garden City neighbourhoods and increasing at the same pace in River Heights, Tuxedo and related areas south, the leaders of the three congregations felt that merger was the practical way to ensure one strong Conservative congregation in the North End.
The new congregation carried on services at the former Rosh Pina building. The Rosh Pina, founded in 1893, was our community’s second oldest and second largest congregation (after the Shaarey Zedek) and had been at the current location since 1952.
Even with the merger, membership has been declining slowly but steadily over the past 20 years as older members have passed away and the shift south has grown apace.
Charach reports that 80% of Etz Chayim’s membership now lives south. For young families who belong to the congregation, the number is approaching 90%.
It is not only the fact that the majority of the congregation now lives south that is driving the decision to relocate to that area, Charach points out. “After 70 years, our building needs a lot of work,” he notes. ”We think it makes more sense to spend the money where most of our members are living instead of where we are now.”
(Contrary to rumour, Charach adds, Etz Chayim is still “financially viable”.)
The plan, he says, is to purchase and renovate an existing building – or rent temporarily if need be until a suitable building can be found. “All options are on the table,” Charach says.
The goal is to find a location within a 10-minute drive of most of the shul members. That would be a location accessible to River Heights, Tuxedo, Lindenwoods and Charleswood.
“Our Relocation Committee has an idea of what we would like to spend on a new building,” Charach notes. “We also have a fair idea as to how much money we may be able to raise from among our members. We hope that what we receive from the sale of our building will cover most of the cost of buying and renovating our new building.
“We would like to be in our new home by next summer – in time for next Yom Tov.”
Charach, who works in property management, estimates that the current building should sell for up to $10 million. “Our committee is considering all possible scenarios, including the possibility that we can’t get the price we want,” he says. “We have contingency plans should that be the case.”
He adds that the size of the projected new synagogue building is not as important as may have been the case in the past. “We learned during the pandemic that the actual physical space isn’t as important as it used to be,” he points out. “Over the last two years of Covid-related restrictions, we carried on with the minimum ten we needed for a minyan while livestreaming our services. It looks like, in future, a growing number of shul members will choose to watch services from the comfort of their homes – with fewer actually attending in person.”
There is one additional factor that has to be considered in the sale of Etz Chayim’s building and property. That is the presence of the Rosh Pina Co-op on the property. The co-op – which was completed in 1991 – was the last of four low-cost seniors’ apartment blocks that were built adjacent to synagogues – the others being the HSBA Hebrew Sick Gardens (beside the former Beth Israel Synagogue) built in 1971, the Beit Am (beside the former Bnay Abraham Synagogue) which opened in 1972, and Shalom Gardens, next to Temple Shalom, which was completed in 1987.
(The goal originally was to provide low cost housing for Jewish tenants who would hopefully take advantage of living close to the sponsoring synagogue and attend services regularly. However, as the Jewish population in the North End has steadily declined, the number of Jewish tenants in the Hebrew Sick Gardens, Beit Am and Rosh Pina Co-op has dwindled to very few.)
As Charach points out, under the terms of the arrangement with the Rosh Pina Co-op, while the congregation retained ownership of the land, it doesn’t own the co-op.
“We would be able to sell the land,” he says, “but the co-op’s lease doesn’t expire until 2030. The co-op ownership would be a separate negotiation between the co-op management and whoever buys our building and land.”
He reports that while a few members may be unhappy to see Etz Chayim leaving the North End, almost everyone has responded positively to the decision.
Local News
The Jewish Post Ltd. launches new website for food lovers
By BERNIE BELLAN Three months ago I wrote a story about something my daughter, Shira, had started doing on social media that had proved to be wildly successful – much to her own surprise. That story was titled: Local foodie finds fame by trying foods on Facebook Marketplace
What Shira was doing was going on to Facebook Marketplace and trying different foods that she was able to buy from local vendors. She often didn’t know what the heck it was she was ordering, but each time she would get a new food she would film herself reacting to that food.
The results have been consistently entertaining – often hilarious, to the point where Shira now has over 10,300 followers on Instagram, as well as on Facebook, TikTok, and Youtube. (You can find her Instagram page at Winnipeg Marketplace Food Finds.)
I suggested to Shira that she ought to parlay the success she’s found by posting on social media into a further venture: creating a website that would give wider exposure to the food vendors whose food Shira liked the most.
As a result, Shira and I teamed up with the marvellous web designer whose name is Mario Lacunza who is responsible for the design of jewishpostandnews.ca -to create a brand new website called Winnipeg Marketplace Food Finds.
On that website you will find pictures of some of the most popular foods Shira has tried from Marketplace, along with links to the original Instagram posts where she reviewed those foods – and links that will take you directly to the vendors’ Facebook pages.
There are so many brilliantly creative people selling food on Marketplace and Shira’s social media posts have brought many of them a lot of new business. Our hope is that our new website will bring them even more business.
The website will also offer stories about food from a variety of sources. So, take a look at the new site and be amazed at the originality of the foods being produced on Facebook Marketplace.
Local News
UNVEILING for the headstone of Dr. Velimir Kon (Sept. 18, 1950-June 27, 2025)
A true mensch and person of many talents and profoundness, Dr. Velimir (Shlomo) Kon is deeply missed and loved by his family and friends.
Known for his warmth, kindness, integrity and love of learning and teaching, Velimir continues to inspire all who knew him and his memory warms our hearts and souls. Velimir is deeply missed.
You are invited to helps us remember and honour our beloved husband and father who passed away almost a year ago.
We, Branka, Deborah and Lea Kon, wish to inform our relatives and friends of the unveiling of a headstone dedicated to his loving memory on FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2026 at 11:00am at the HEBREW SICK CEMETERY (2605 McPhillips Street) followed by lunch at the Chabad Lubavitch of Winnipeg – Jewish Learning Centre (1845 Mathers Avenue). Please come say a l’chaim in his honour.
In Memoriam
1st Yahrzeit
In loving memory of Dr. Velimir (Shlomo) Kon who passed away June 27, 2025, 12 Days in Tammuz.
⁃ Forever and deeply loved and missed by his wife of over 50 years, Branka, and daughters Deborah and Lea Kon. Velimir brought joy to our lives with his boundless kindness and gentleness, irrepressible humour, great intellect and love of people, tikun olam and Judaism.
Not a day goes by that we do not mention Velimir and feel his presence with us. Our lives are not the same without him and we deeply miss and cherish him. We can never forget his presence that was larger than life, yet also his humility and thoughtfulness.
A gentleman to the very core, Velimir was respected as a scientist, academic, professor, researcher, and later as a teacher and mentor. He always endeavoured to make every place he worked and lived at better and was able to bridge many cultures. He was Abraham of his generation and made many personal sacrifices; giving up status, position and privilege in order for his family to have a better and peaceful future.
May his memory always be a blessing. He left us at only 74 years young and we wish we had had more time together. Indeed, to know him was to love him.
Local News
Younger Jewish talents continue to shine in their respective categories at annual Winnipeg Music Festival
By MYRON LOVE A number of younger members of our community were repeat stars at the most recent (108th annual) Winnipeg Music Festival – which takes place annually in March. Among the repeat Jewish singers and musicians in the ranks of high achievers this year were” Yale Rayburn-Vander Hout, Gregory Hyman, Alex Schaeffer, Juliet Eskin, Noah Kravetsky, and Lyla Chisick.
Vocalist Yale Rayburn-Vander Hout, the oldest of this year’s group of Jewish repeat winners, was competing in his fifth straight festival, where he continued to build on his accomplishments in previous festivals. This year, the 20-year-old son of Samantha and Peter finished first in two musical theatre categories – songs from musical theatre productions between 1965 and 1999, and shows from the past 26 years. Yale sang “I’m Allergic to Cats,” from the 2016 musical “The Theory of Relativity,” and “Suppertime,” from the 1967 musical, “You’re a Good man, Charlie Brown.”
The former Gray Academy student is currently enrolled at the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music in the Choral program. Yale says that he is hoping to get into the performance track in the fall with the goal of earning a degree in Classical Voice Performance en route to pursuing a career in musical theatre.
As reported previously, Gregory Hyman is a multi-faceted artist who can do it all. The 18-year-old son of Hartley and Rishona Hyman is a singer/songwriter/musician (guitar) who records and performs under the stage name, GMH. His versatility shone through once again in his eighth Music Festival, in which he registered first-place finishes for vocal performances in both “Popular and Contemporary Music” and “TV and Movie Music “categories.
Gregory notes that he was also recommended to compete in the provincial finals in June. The St. John’s-Ravenscourt student (and soon-to be) graduate continues to be busy on stage. In January, he headlined a sold out solo show at Sidestage on Osborne featuring some of his new material. In March, he released an album of his newest songs. Readers can check out his latest compositions on any of the music streaming platforms as well as his own social media (thegmh) on Instagram.
Gregory also continues to host his own podcast: “Talk and Rock with GMH – now in its fifth season – in which he interviews various people in the music business across Canada.
While Gregory says that a musical career is his “dream,” he reports that he is hedging his bets and considering different potential career opportunities. Come September, he will be enrolled at the University of Manitoba in a University One program, which will allow him to select from a variety of courses that can count toward a degree.
Sixteen-year-old Alex Schaeffer won first place this year in the “Musicals Prior to 1965, 16 Years and Under” category with “Try Me” from “She Loves Me,” and was runner-up in the “Musicals 1965 to 1999, 16 Years and Under” category with “On My Own,” from “Les Misérables.” For the son of Marc Schaeffer and Kae Sasaki, this was his fifth year competing in the festival.
The Grant Park High School student made his big stage debut three years ago as Kurt von Trapp in “The Sound of Music,” followed by playing Michael Hobbs in “Elf the Musical” this past winter at the Royal MTC.
Alex recently performed in Grant Park High School’s production of “Something Rotten!” This summer Schaeffer can be seen again at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, where he will be appearing in a production staged by Rem Lezar Theatre.
Rounding out the voice winners is Lyla Chisick. The daughter of Daniel and Baillee was competing in her second music festival. This year, she scored Gold performances in the “Vocal Solo,” “Manitoba Composers,” and “TV/Movie Musical, 12 and under” categories.
Lyla reports that she began taking voice lessons from Jessica Kos-Whicher three years ago. She says she regularly takes part in the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue Family Service and has sung at several community events. Lyla adds that she is already looking forward to next year’s music festival.
Nate Kravetsky and Juliet Eskin competed in the festival as musicians rather than singers. Juliet, 16, plays the viola, and is also is the violist in the Assiniboine String Quartet. In this, her fifth go-round at the festival, Juliet, the daughter of the musically talented Kelly Robinon and Josh Eskin, had first place finishes in the “Viola Solo, level 8,” “Baroque or Classical Concerto,” and “Romantic Composers” categories.
Juliet originally took up the violin – adding the viola a couple of years after. She also just finished performing in the Grant Park High School production of “Something Rotten!”
Nate Kravetsky is currently in Grade 5 level piano. He studies with Erica Schultz and has been taking lessons from her since age 5.
Nate competed in three categories at the Winnipeg music festival: “Baroque,” “Sonata,” and “Contemporary/own choice.”
His own choice selection was the theme from his favourite video game, “Hollow Knight.”
Nate, who is in Grade 7 at Gray Academy, is also preoccupied preparing for his upcoming bar mitzvah.
We look forward to the continued musical success off Yale, Gregory, Alex, Nate, Juliet and Lyla, and what new talent may be unveiled at next year’s Winnipeg Music festival.
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