Local News
Conservative, Reform synagogues see continued expansion in number of online Yom Tov viewers
By MYRON LOVE In a full page ad on the back page of the August 4 issue of The Jewish Post & News, Shaarey Zedek Congregation let it be known that there would not be any in-person high holyday services come September, but all members of the community would be welcome to participate online.
The ad also said there would not be any charge to join online and that no tickets or passwords would be needed. In addition, the machzorim were to be digital, the aliyot virtual, and viewers would be able to chat online with other viewers.
The result, Ran Ukashi, the congregation’s executive director reports, is that over 16,000 viewers – from around the world – tuned into services at one point or another – a number that is about ten times the number of people who normally attended in person in pre-covid days.
“While the province did loosen restrictions, we felt it better – with conditions constantly subject to change – to take a safe rather than sorry approach,” Ran observes. “Our membership was really understanding.”
The Shaarey Zedek has been a leader among our community’s synagogues in livestreaming services, a technology that has been in use at the synagogue for several years.
“Everything went very well,” he adds. “It was nice to see our viewership continuing to grow.
”Maybe next year, we will be able to return to in-person services for the Holidays.”
While Congregation Etz Chayim opted to return this year to limited in-person attendance – in contrast to last year’s almost entirely virtual service(with the exception of ten people to form an in-person minyan ) – our community’s second largest congregation also increased its online presence.
“We were very pleased with how High Holy Days went this year – given the circumstances and the amount of uncertainty leading up to it,” says Jonathan Buchwald, Congregation Etz Chayim’s executive director. “We offered on-line services for the second year in a row but also included limited in-person attendance. Congregants could choose to attend either for Rosh Hashanah or for Yom Kippur in order to maximize attendance. For the first two days of Rosh Hashanah we had 50 people attend and for Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur we had 100 people attend. We were able to follow all of the safety protocols and everyone was extremely cooperative. It was so nice to have our congregants back in the building for the first time in a very long time. It was actually quite emotional for many of them and they were so grateful that they could attend.”
In terms of the on-line audience, Buchwald estimates that close to 200 screens were watching services daily, including many from out of town. “This would translate into about 500-600 people watching our services at any given time,” he notes. “Congregants were also able to offer special readings live via Zoom.
“Rabbi Kliel, Cantor Tracy and the entire Etz Chayim team deserve a huge Yasher Koach for delivering such uplifting and inspiring services during these most extraordinary times.”
As with Etz Chayim, Temple Shalom, our community’s only Reform Congregation, combined limited in-person services and livestreaming.
“A lot of people still feel uneasy,” observed Rabbi Allan Finkel in an earlier interview. “We are working to make sure that everyone will feel incredibly safe here.”
That included pre-registration – with members being priorized, limited seating, vaccinations and masks, and a shortened service.
Finkel reports that in-person services were limited to 100 congregants -in addition to clergy and technical staff. “We were close to capacity for Rosh Hashonah morning and Yom Kippur,” he says. “We estimate that we had between 400 and 600 people viewing us online. We had a lot of positive comments about our service both from people who attended in-person and those who watched online.”
For our community’s other shuls, livestreaming of Yom Tov services is not an option. While for Orthodox shuls, it goes against Halachah, the Chevra Mishnayes, a Conservative congregation in Garden City, doesn’t have the technology in place.
In a pre-High Holiday interview, Murray Greenfield, a member of the congregation’s executive, reported that “we are going beyond the government Covid guidelines. We are asking people to register ahead of time and we will be assigning seating.”
Social distancing was enforced – although family members could sit together.
As with last year the Adas-Yeshurun Herzlia, our community’s largest Orthodox congregation, limited in-person attendance to a maximum of 50 – but with two services a day for Rosh Hashonah. Congregation members hoping to attend had to register in advance and be able to show their vaccination cards (a scan or photocopy sufficed).
Congregation President Jack Craven reports that everything went well.
The Orthodox House of Ashkenazi in the North End and the Lubavitch Centre in south Winnipeg were the only shuls open to non-members for the High Holidays. The Lubavitch Centre does not actually have a “membership” category.
“While we had to limit our numbers, we had a nice group in attendance,” notes Rabbi Avrohom Altein, our community’s Lubavitch Rabbi for the past 50 years. “For Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur, all of our tables were full.”
Only family members were allowed to share a table, he adds.
And Gary Minuk, the president of the House of Ashkenazi, reports that there were about 30 men and a few women in attendance for Yom Tov services – around the same number as last year.
“We had a nice service,” he says.
The Ashkenazi, he adds, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The synagogue is the last of the old time shuls in the old North End – with a women’s section upstairs. Until Covid restrictions, the Ashkenazi was still offering daily morning minyans. Currently, the congregation is trying to have minyans Thursday mornings.
Local News
New Israeli restaurant opens in River Heights
By BERNIE BELLAN (July 6, 2025) It’s been a long time since our community has been able to welcome the opening of a restaurant that specializes in Israeli food.
That void is now going to be filled with the opening of The Green Falafel, at 1833 Grant (corner of Centennial – next to the Subway).
The restaurant is the fulfillment of a dream long held by the husband and wife team of Ariel and Eden Maudi, who have been living in Winnipeg the past 11 years.
Ariel, who was born in Israel and grew up in Beer Sheva, says that he worked in telecommunications in Ramat Gan for several years. He adds though that he had always dreamed of owning his own falafel stand in Israel, but life was difficult there and he decided to come to Canada as a tourist to see whether there were any opportunities here for him, Eden and their two young children.
Eden, who was born in Russia and moved to Israel with her family in 1996, stayed behind with the two kids, who were both pre-schoolers, while Ariel tested the waters in Canada first.
Ariel says he came to Canada as a tourist in 2013. His first stop was in Toronto, where he acquired his 1st class driver’s license. At the end of 2013 he moved to Winnipeg where he began working as a truck driver. Soon he found himself employed as a successful sales person at Vickar Nissan where, he says, he once achieved the status as the top car sales person in Canada. After working at Vickar Nissan for a number of years, Ariel began working as an installer for Bell MTS.
Meanwhile, Eden began working at a Walmart, later at the Costco on Regent.
But, when the opportunity to move into a space that had been previously occupied by another restaurant, but which had closed, became available, Ariel and Eden decided to open their own Israeli restaurant in an area that hadn’t seen Israeli food served since the controversial closure of Bermax Café in 2019.
The Maudis say that they will be serving a variety of Israeli dishes – all vegetarian, and that they will be fully kosher.
The “green” in Green Falafel, by the way, Ariel Maudi explains, comes from the cilantro and parsley that are added to the chickpeas. In addition, their pitas will be coming from Israel and will be baked fresh daily.
The Green Falafel will be open from 10-8 daily. Delivery will be available through Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Call 204-557-7837 for information.
Local News
Previews of shows with Jewish performers at this year’s Fringe Festival July 16-27
For show dates and venues go to winnipegfringe.com
By BERNIE BELLAN As has been our custom for many years now we try to find shows that have either Jewish performers or themes that would have particular appeal for Jewish audiences. Many of the Jewish performers at this year’s festival have been here before, but several are new. In no particular order here are blurbs about the shows we’ve found that fit the criteria I’ve just described. (By they way, if we’ve omitted a show that should be included in our list there’s plenty of time to get added to this post. Just drop me a line at jewishp@mymts.net.)
You’ve Been Served: A One-Woman Show About Divorce, Cults, and Coming of Age at Midlife
Noemi Zeigler
You are hereby summoned… to laugh, cry, and maybe belt out a Streisand number in solidarity. You’ve Been Served is a raw and riotous solo comedy by writer-performer Noemi Zeigler. It all begins when Noemi is served divorce papers on top of a garbage bin lid while taking out the trash—an undignified start to a full-blown midlife unraveling.
At 50, still clinging to her dream of becoming a singer, she falls under the spell of a music producer slash self-help guru, joins a spiritual cult, and, instead of landing a record deal, she lands in jail. Behind bars, with help from her long-buried inner child, she begins to reclaim her voice and her power. Turns out, dreams really do come true—just not the way she expected.
The show features vividly drawn characters—including a manipulative cult leader, a toxic ex-husband, and a jail guard named Roach who shares Noemi’s obsession with the fashion of Charlie’s Angels (the ‘70s TV version, of course.)
With salsa dancing, twerking, and a belting rendition of Don’t Rain on My Parade, Zeigler dives into abandonment, reinvention, and self-rescue. As she confronts perimenopause, she discovers it’s not the end—it’s the new puberty. The show touches on grief, sexuality, and spiritual confusion, but Noemi’s childlike optimism asks: What if your breakdown is actually your breakthrough?
You’re good for nothing… I’ll milk the cow myself
Written & Performed by Natacha Ruck
France, 1981: The first socialist president is about to be elected and young Natacha is ready to implement her own political platform. But first, she has to take down the schoolyard bully,emasculate the rules of French grammar and make off with grandmother’s chocolate.
If you think you know the limits of Jewish mothers, evil grandmothers and transcontinental lovers, meet Natacha Ruck’s family. This true tale of three generations of women, facing three world wars, is equal parts hilarious, shocking and zany.
A One Human Being, Potentially Comedic Performance of Beauty and the Beast NEW WORK!
Written & Performed by Alli Perlov
Be our guest! Local high school drama teacher Alli Perlov is back for a tale as old as time. Can she sing? Not really. Can she act? That’s debatable. Will you laugh? Oh… probably.
Perlov plays dozens of characters, some human, some animal, and many objects, in a comedic exploration of Beauty and the Beast.
In an homage to this brilliant musical adventure, through witty commentary and unstoppable energy, Perlov aims to entertain an audience that isn’t forced to be there like her students.
Hockey Sticks and Beaver Pie
Written & Performed by Melanie Gall
Take a trip around Manitoba. From the 30,000 ft. St. Adolphe snow maze to the Narcisse snake dens! After all, where else holds both the title of Slurpee Capital of the World and the Guinness Record for the most people simultaneously howling like wolves?
Deanna Durbin, Terry Jacks and Burton Cummings are among the many homegrown stars, and Hockey Sticks features their music along with original songs and the stories that make this province unique.
Starring Melanie Gall from past shows Piaf & Brel, Ingenue and Toast to Prohibition
Nerohilarity Exposed
Produced by Adam Schwartz
We all sometimes feel exposed, whether that’s as a fraud or a pretender.
The performers of the award-winning Neurohilarity show, Danielle Kayahara (Laugh Out Loud CBC), Carole Cunningham (Yuk Yuks, The Debaters), Adam Schwartz (Winnipeg Fringe) and Rollin Penner (Yuk Yuks, CBC, Rumors, Winnipeg Comedy Festival), apply a comedic spin to the experiences that make us feel insecure, stripping away the emotional weight with nittygritty jokes and stories that will have you laughing uproariously.
Brilliantly awkward.
A Lesbian in the Kitchen
Willow Rosenberg
Professional lesbian Willow Rosenberg takes you on a journey through the centuries, superstitions and tablespoons of her lifelong passion for baking in this spiritual successor to 2024’s Jenny Award-nominated A Lesbian in a Bear Store.
Whether you have a favourite spatula, bake once or twice a year, or live in constant fear of being told to “just fold it in”, this one-woman show about family, joy, tradition (but make it gay),
Judaism, comfort, home (but make it gayer*), love, chemistry and magic is for you!
*Who’re we kidding, it’s all gay!
Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany
Written & Performed by Ingrid Garner
(Ed. note: Although Ingrid Garner isn’t Jewish, we thought the theme of this show might have a special appeal for Jewish readers.)
Based on Eleanor Ramrath Garner’s best-selling memoir, this 16x internationally award-winning adaptation – performed by her granddaughter, Ingrid Garner – details Eleanor’s youth as an American caught in Second World War Berlin.
Punctuated with humour and accompanied by cinematic sound and video, Garner embodies her ancestors in this coming-of-age odyssey, delivering an account of war that is more relevant than ever.
Reviewing The Free Press 2
Benji Rothman
The Winnipeg Free Press has run amok, reviewing each and every Fringe show over the past two decades without consequence or recourse. Now, it’s their turn… again.
In this refurbished work that debuted at last year’s Winnipeg Fringe, Benji Rothman once again takes the Winnipeg Free Press to task. In this (mostly) new, (hopefully) hilarious 45-minute show, Rothman dives deep into their past and exposes their faulty journalism, imbalanced reporting and, of course, embarrassing typos.
Local News
Jewish performers at this year’s Winnipeg Folk Festival July 10-13
The Black Sea Station
Long ago, there were the klezmorim, itinerant musicians who roamed the back streets of Eastern Europe, playing at parties for meals and a few coins. The sound they honed then was a visceral exploration of life’s joy, and its loss; they could whip audiences into a frenzy of dancing, or bring them to tears with the mournful wail of a clarinet. Today, Winnipeg’s own The Black Sea Station is carrying on this tradition. Featuring Daniel Koulack (bass), Victor Schultz (violin) and Myron Schultz (clarinet) — cofounders of seminal local klezmer act Finjan — along with Moldovan accordion wizard Nikolai Prisacar and multi-instrumentalist Ben Mink, the quintet transports listeners to a time and place long past. Through a mix of original songs rooted in history, and traditional tunes spun up with modern zest, they whirl through the exuberant klezmer sounds of their Eastern European heritage, tending the old ways with deep love and respect.
The Black Sea Station will be performing Sunday, July 13, at 1:00 pm in Snowberry Field.
Romi Mayes
Romi Mayes has taken some hard knocks in her life, but she’s never faded away. For more than 25 years, Manitoba’s first lady of blues-rock has been a lynchpin of the Canadian roots scene. She earned that position the old-fashioned way, through her gritty, passionately emotive music. With her sizzling guitars and full-throated rasp, the Juno-nominated performer howls and purrs through razor-edged lyrics, rocking out wherever she can find a stage. She’s long been one of the hardest-working musicians on the circuit, keeping a busy slate of gigs and mentoring up-and-coming artists to get a foothold on the trails she blazed. Now, after a nine-year hiatus from the studio, Mayes has put her scintillating sound back on record with her long-awaited seventh album, Small Victories — a return that leaves no doubt, no matter the ups and downs, Mayes is here to stay.
Romi will be performing Friday, July 11, at 1:00 pm in Burr Oak.
Leonard Podolak (with Matt Gordon)
Ireland’s Matt Gordon is a fiddler and singer, whose fleet-footed clogging and thigh-slapping hambone has taken stages by storm since the 1980s. Leonard Podolak is a virtuosic master of the clawhammer banjo, who for decades has whipped up some of Manitoba’s wildest roots parties with his band, The Duhks. Put those talents together, and they can promise you this much: we’re all gonna have a real good time. Longtime friends and musical collaborators, Gordon and Podolak deliver an exhilarating trip through old-time Appalachian music. Their performances seamlessly blend intricate instrumental lines with heartfelt singing and dazzling dance. They’ve teamed up on a few records over the years, including 2020’s bigband extravaganza Power Wagon: Live At Shanley’s. But the best way to experience this duo’s toe-tapping, hand-clapping chemistry is to see it live.
Podolak and Gordon will be performing A concert with a side of clogging Sunday, July 13, at 3:00 pm in Folk School.