Local News
Congregation Etz Chayim’s new program director very happy to be living in Winnipeg
By MYRON LOVE Monica Neiman, Congregation Etz Chayim’s new Program and Engagement Director, comes to her new role with impressive credentials. For the past seven years – up until she landed here in June – she served seven years at her home congregation –Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle, Washington – as Assistant Director of the congregation’s religion school.
With about 1600 member families, she notes, Temple De Hirsch Sinai is the largest Reform Congregation for the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The K-12th Grade religion school has an enrollment of approximately 350 students divided between two campuses.
(Monica notes that Seattle has a Jewish population of about 70,000.)
Her duties included developing the Judaica curriculum and programming for students and families, supervising and creating professional development for the teachers,
coordinating logistics for large school events and programs involving both campuses; organizing the transition to online learning at the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic program; involvement in school budget decisions: teacher hiring and monthly payroll submissions and involvement in student and new family registration.
So, what led Neiman to leave her family, community and dream job and move halfway across the continent to our fair city? The answer is “love”.
In early 2019, Neiman was in the midst of spring break – one quarter away from finishing her first year of graduate school at University of Washington – when she connected through a Jewish Dating App called JSwipe with Javier Gore, a recent immigrant to Winnipeg from Argentina.
Initially, Neiman recalls, she assumed that Gore was living in Seattle but, in fact, the former University of Winnipeg HR student was only in Seattle to visit a cousin. Although Neiman was skeptical about the prospect of a long-distance relationship, her new suitor persuaded her to exchange numbers and they started texting. After a week, they arranged to begin meeting via FaceTime and liked what they saw.
In June, 2019, Gore flew to Seattle to meet Monica in person and things progressed from there in a positive direction. In January, Neiman came to Winnipeg to marry Gore in a civil ceremony – a traditional Jewish family wedding is scheduled for next summer – and she began the six-month process of becoming a landed immigrant through spousal sponsorship.
She officially arrived in Canada on August 15 and started in her new position at Etz Chayim on September 20.
“I learned about this opening at Etz Chayim,” she says, “from Lori Binder (Gray Academy of Jewish Education Head of School and CEO) who is a very good friend of Tracy Kasner (Etz Chayim’s cantor). With my background, it seemed to be a good fit.”
In her new role, Neiman will be organizing and co-ordinating programming that encompasses adults and children and families. “We are working on bringing back a modified, in-person Chanukah dinner and other Yom Tov celebrations throughout the year,” she reports. “We are also planning some new educational series every couple of months. In November, for example, we will be starting our next Beit Chayim online education series with a Talmud scholar and, starting during Holocaust Education Week, we will also be offering a three-part series focusing on Jewish art during and after the Holocaust.’
She says of her new home city that she is enjoying the slower pace of life. “I have told my husband that I feel more relaxed and calmer here,” she observes. “The vibe here reminds of what life used to be like in Seattle when I was growing up. I appreciate that people in the neighbourhood still say “good morning” to you.”
Socially, she notes that she and her husband have many friends among Winnipeg’s Argentinian Jewish community.
“We also enjoy outdoor activities,“ she says of herself and her husband, such as picnics at Assiniboine Park and hikes.”
She is also looking forward to visiting our city’s museums, taking in some Jets games and signing up for art classes.
Monica adds that she and Javier are both foodies and enjoy cooking together and trying out different restaurants.
And, while neither has any family here – her parents and siblings are all in Seattle while his parents are in Argentina and he has a sister in Miami – there is always Zoom and other online means of face to face communications.
Then, of course, there is a wedding to prepare for – by which time it is to be hoped that most Covid restrictions will have been lifted.
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.
