Local News
Danial Sprintz: Perseverance has led him to deal with challenges on his way to helming Camp Massad
By SIMONE COHEN SCOTT Last summer at the JNF Breakfast for Israel at Camp Massad, I met the camp’s executive director, Danial Sprintz. We had a lively conversation and before long I realized what an interesting fellow this was, and I wanted to share what I was learning with readers. It took until now for us to get together: Danial isn’t done with Camp Massad when summer ends, but lines up interesting events for his campers during the other seasons as well. His modus operandi is, in his own words, “All Jewish kids in Canada ought to have a meaningful experience in summertime, and touch base with each other in wintertime.” It is this attitude of his that struck me initially, and thrills me. Danial wants to instill Jewish values and love of Judaism in as many of the young community as he can possibly reach, regardless of how much or little each youngster is taught at home. What a wonderful idea: Rear a generation of leaders, steeped in Jewish values and tradition!
Was Danial raised in this kind of an atmosphere? Yes. His mother, a single parent, had spent time on a kibbutz, and wanted her two boys to know Hebrew. To emphasize what Danial was learning in the North End Jewish schools, when he was eight years old she sent him to Camp Massad. He was, he told me, the youngest registrant and he still remembers the efforts of the program director, who was Stuart Slayen, helping him become part of the group in spite of the age difference. This is where and when he fell in love will all the aspects of being a Jew: the Hebrew language; the State of Israel; and the Jewish community that he was becoming a part of, and which would form the matrix for his life from then on. It strikes me as a blessing indeed when a mom makes a decision in her child’s young life that sets him on a path to a later career choice that is both fulfilling and a benefit to a widespread community. This is an achievement in itself. But it wasn’t a straight line.
Danial returned summer after summer to Camp Massad, as a camper, then a counsellor, so by the time he graduated high school he was a senior counsellor. This led to his being in charge of counsellor training and leadership development. By 2003 he was assistant director. When the summer ended in 2003, he was invited to serve as BBYO (B’nai B’rith Youth Organization) regional director. Somehow at this point he squeezed in getting a B.A. in English and History, at the University of Winnipeg. In 2007, after playing a game of hockey, he collapsed, and it was discovered he had a brain tumour. The prognosis was not good. By this time he had become engaged, and he told his fiancé, Rebecca Lewis, to leave him and move on with her life. She said no, she would stay with him. He decided to “stay” too, (his word), gave up all medication, and recovered! Some would say “a miraculous recovery”. Perhaps love and faith and will had something to do with it too.
At this point Rebecca, who was studying Chinese medicine, was accepted into a school in Victoria. Danial went along -perhaps a sort of convalescence. After a time of working at various jobs, he discovered Congregation Emanu-el, the oldest synagogue in continuous operation in Canada. Quoting from Danial’s Book of Life entry*: “The rabbi was away, the building was in disrepair, and programs were non-existent. Danial decided they needed him! At the next board meeting, he made a presentation and was promptly hired. For the next two years he worked tirelessly to grow membership, raise funds, restore the building, and develop programs.” It appears that while Rebecca was getting her doctorate in Chinese Medicine, Danial was developing synagogue programs, High Holy day services and activities, encouraging youth participation, inviting students home for Shabbat dinners. Temple Emanu-el’s website tells us it’s still in operation.
The conversation I had with Danial when we first met was mainly about the epiphany-like experience the brush with death had been for him. It was in evaluating that chapter of his life that he realized what mattered most to him was not a successful career in terms of salary or lifestyle, but in instilling the values that he treasured – yes: Jewish values – into the youth of today who will become the leaders of tomorrow. In other words: to make a difference, but what a difference! To that end, in 2010, Danial applied for and was hired as executive director of guess where? Camp Massad! The couple, now married, returned to Winnipeg. A lovely article by Rebeca Kuropatwa in the Jewish Post & News dated February 9, 2011 is titled: “Camp Massad’s Dynamic, New Leader Breathes New Life into Camp Scene”. Danial was very excited and ambitious to put into effect everything he had learned from his various experiences since leaving the camp in 2003.
And that brings us to now, 14 years later. Danial has implemented most of the envisioned projects mentioned in the Kuropatwa article, but he’s not resting on his laurels, as they say. His vision has widened. He sees Camp Massad as an example to communities everywhere, summer camps teaching youth everywhere of the values and strengths of their own ethnic and religious traditions, sharing and interacting with each other in creative and productive ways. As for his wife, Dr. Rebecca Sprintz now owns Family Acupuncture Wellness Clinic on Corydon Avenue, whose website says: “Her passion has always been helping people achieve greater health and happiness through life’s challenges.” The couple have two children, Sage and Cole, both Massadniks.
*(Danial gave me a copy of his entry in the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba’s Book of Life, which was written by his early program director, as mentioned, Stuart Slayen. In it I found this tidbit: Danial’s grandfather Al Spritz, a child immigrant from Romania, played clarinet and sax in his own band, the house band at Club Morocco. Don’t you love it when jazz turns up unexpectedly? And that was a great jazz era!)
Local News
Jewish Federation now says Jewish population of Winnipeg in 2021 (according to the census) was 13,940 – not the 16,000 figure that the Federation had been touting for years
By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted Oct. 27, 2026) Longtime readers of The Jewish Post & News (and this website) would probably know that I have long had a very strong interest in establishing as accurate figures as possible when it has come to reporting the size of Winnipeg’s Jewish community.
For years I argued that our Jewish Federation was exaggerating the size of our Jewish population. I heard the figure of 16,000 bandied about by leaders in our community quite often when it came to reporting the size of our Jewish population – without any empirical evidence to back that figure up.
I had long maintained that the only reasonably accurate figures when it came to reporting the size of Winnipeg’s Jewish population were those produced by the late Evelyn Katz, when she was the unofficial demographer for the Jewish Federation – over 30 years ago. What Evelyn would do is keep careful track of births, deaths, numbers of newcomers but, perhaps most important: the number of people who had left our community.
Thus, in August 2022 when I interviewed Faye Rosenberg Cohen who, at the time, was just about to retire as the Jewish Federation’s Chief Planning and Allocations Officer, I was somewhat astonished to hear Faye say, when I asked her what proportion of our Jewish community was made up of immigrants, she answered that “I can honestly say when I look at those numbers it’s somewhere around 1/3 of the community.”
In response, I asked: “So you’d say it’s somewhere between 4-5,000?”
Faye said: “I think it’s more than that.”
I wrote in that article, “I indicated my skepticism at that time, saying ‘You know that I’ve always been skeptical about the numbers that have been used by the Federation for the population of the Jewish community. I think though that it’s always been more of a case of identification – who identifies as Jewish.’ ”
Later, after the results of the 2021 census were released, I wrote that “if you take into account the results of the 2021 census, the Jewish community cannot be larger than 14,270 at a maximum. But that figure would also include anyone who had either said either their ethnic origin was Jewish or their religion was Jewish.”
Since many of the individuals who had said on the 2021 census that their ethnic origin was Jewish, but their religion was something else, I maintained that ascertaining the real size of our Jewish community was highly problematic.
Still, for the sake of argument I was willing to accept that, realistically, it was somewhere between 13,000-14,000 – but nowhere close to the figure of 16,000 that had come to be suggested by our then president of the Jewish Federation or by other leading figures in our community.
So, it was with a sense of satisfaction that I heard Sharon Graham, who is now the Jewish Federation’s Community Planning and Allocations Lead say to an audience of over 50 people who were at the Gwen Secter Centre on Thursday, October 22, that the Jewish community in 2021 was – at a maximum: 13,940.
Sharon was at the Gwen Secter Centre to speak to Remis Lecture attendees. Her presentation preceded a presentation by Jewish Federation CEO Jeff Lieberman. Sharon used a PowerPoint presentation to provide some very interesting insights into where our Jewish community was at in 2021- and I’m offering some parts of her presentation here for you to read because I thought they were so interesting.
I had actually made many of the same observations about the results of the 2021 census in my own reporting back in 2022, but seeing what I had written confirmed by the Jewish Federation’s point person on planning told me that Sharon has a much more realistic view of our community than did Faye Rosenberg Cohen.
Here, for instance, is a slide that shows the proportion of our Jewish community that is made up of immigrants. It’s slightly under one fifth, not the one third percentage that Faye had suggested.
But, what really set Sharon’s presentation apart from anything else I’ve ever seen presented by someone from the Jewish Federation – other than the aforementioned Evelyn Katz, was the slide she projected which showed that, while there had been a large influx of newcomers to Winnipeg’s Jewish community between 2016-2021 there had also been a significantly high number of people who had left our Jewish community in those same years, as you can see in the following slide:
That is something we just don’t hear discussed by leaders of our Jewish organizations, but let’s be realistic: For many newcomers who came to Winnipeg and were counted as new members of our Jewish community, Winnipeg – for a variety of reasons, was a stepping stone to other communities. It may have been for reasons of better job opportunities, moving closer to other family members, or – the reason that we hear so often when it comes to people saying they want to leave Winnipeg: the weather.
But, whatever the reason, Sharon’s figures show that, as much as GrowWinnipeg may have been an abiding success when it’s come to attracting newcomers to our Jewish community here, getting them to stay long term is a different story.
And, while there were other aspects of Sharon’s presentation that certainly merit discussion, especially the figures she produced about intermarriage, rather than delving into them here, I thought it useful simply to insert them for you, the reader, to see – and draw your own conclusions.
Local News
Marty Green expands his protest against extremist Jewish settlers to two more venues – and is arrested twice more
(Tuesday, October 27) We received the following press release about Marty Green being arrested again, both at the University of Manitoba and at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue:
Both sides came to blows on Saturday, October 24, at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue as security personnel sought to prevent Marty Green from interfering with synagogue traffic as he protested just outside synagogue grounds against the actions of religious settlers in Israel’s occupied West Bank territory. Synagogue Executive Director Rena Secter Elbaze quickly intervened to prevent further escalation. Police arrived shorty thereafter and detained Green for 45 minutes before driving him home and releasing him. It is not clear whether their decision not to lay charges was the result of their own onsite investigation or whether it was at the request of the synagogue executive.
Green has now been arrested four times in the last month and faces multiple charges for disturbing the peace, including two episodes at the Asper Campus and one more this past Friday (Oct. 23) at the University of Manitoba. While Green says initially he was merely handing out leaflets (at the Asper Campus), since his first arrest on September 23, he has returned to the campus with a large placard and an acccordion, accompanying himself while singing songs with lyrics that include such phrases as “The Jews Are Bananas….B-A-N-A-N-A-S”. In addition to listing actions of the religious settlers as including arson, vandalism, and theft, he pointedly alleges that the IDF has been backing up the settlers in their actions.
Green had earlier notified the Shaarey Zedek that he was contemplating bringing his protest to the synagogue. He was told that if he attempted to enter the grounds he would be prevented from doing so. At that time, Secter Elbaze told Green that his intentions were inappropriate, declaring the synagogue to be “a house of worship dedicated to prayer, learning, community, and spiritual engagement.” Green responded that if the synagogue were willing to contact the Crown and inform them that “that there was never any legal basis for their claims that I was conducting myself inappropriately at the Asper Campus” (with regard to his earlier arrests) that he would “voluntarily refrain from carrying his informational campaign to the synagogue(s).”
Green further argues that the recent “psak” (religious ruling) by leading Israeli rabbi Rov Dov Lior, in which Lior declares that it is not merely permissible but praiseworthy for Jews to steal olives from Arab orchards….that this ruling brings his protest within the proper realm of religious discourse. He says further that if the local rabbis were willing to speak out to their congregations against the aforesaid psak, that he might have refrained from taking his campaign to their grounds.
Although Green was released on Saturday without charges, police confiscated his placard. They explained that it was being held as evidence pending an investigation by Major Crimes as to whether it constituted hate literature.
There was no further information given as to what happened at the University of Manitoba.
Local News
Third annual JFest Winnipeg will be offering programs for all ages
By MYRON LOVE JFest Winnipeg is back with a good variety of musical performances, a book launch, popular Jewish-themed films, children’s activities, and a family-oriented Shabbat dinner.
“JFest,” observes Laura Marjovsky, the Rady JCC Director of Programming, “is an opportunity for our community to experience Jewish art and culture. With our range of JFest events, we are trying to reach out beyond what has been our base audience and appeal to all ages. We have a commitment to bring top notch Israeli performers to share the highest caliber of Israeli entertainment with our audiences.”
The week-long festival (November 14-21) kicks off with a performance by top-ranked Israeli singer-songwriter Harel Skaat. The popular Israeli star began singing as a child. He shot to fame when he finished second in the second season of “Kochav Nolad” – Israel’s version of “American Idol.” His first album was released in 2006 and achieved Platinum status – with one of the songs being ranked as “song of the year.” He followed that up in 2009 with a second album that reached Gold status. In 2010, he represented Israel at the Eurovision competition.
Skaat’s performance is scheduled for the Seven Oaks Performing Arts Centre (which is attached to Garden City Collegiate) beginning at 8:00 P.M. on Saturday, November 14. Patrons will have the opportunity to purchase an enhanced ticket to attend a meet and greet with Harel.
All other JFest programs and activities will be at the Rady JCC.
Music Producer Karla Berbrayer says Ben Caplan’s performance on Saturday, November 21 will also be another highlight. “Ben Caplan redefines what it means to be a modern folk artist,” Berbrayer says. “His music and stories are matched by his larger-than-life stage presence. This concert focuses on how his Jewish upbringing has influenced his entire performance career.”
“Flatland Famous” is returning by popular demand. This quintet, known for its performances at Winnipeg Jets games, will be presenting its concert, “Jewish Soul of Rock and Roll,” on Wednesday, November 18, at 7:30 pm. This year’s show will feature songs by Amy Winehouse, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Simon and Garfinkel, and other famous Jewish icons.
On Tuesday, November 17, local author Deborah Schnitzer will be taking centre stage with the launch of her new book, “The Woman Who Swallowed West Hawk Lake.” The University of Winnipeg English Professor Emeritus’s new novel explores intergenerational trauma related to Nazi breeding programs. Joining Schnitzer on stage will be a panel of professionals who have experience working with children who have experienced trauma.
And of course, “Best of the Fest” is back. Films to be presented will include“The Floaters” and “We Met at Grossingers,” two wildly popular movies at last spring’s Winnipeg International Jewish Film Festival.
“The Floaters,” to be screened on Monday , November 16 at 7:00 pm is a funny and bang-on depiction of Jewish summer camp culture.
“We Met at Grossingers” is a loving look back at the Borscht Belt in New York’s Catskills, where generations of young Jewish performers earned their dues and developed their acts. The film will be screened on Thursday, November 19 at 7:00 P.M.
On Friday November 20, JFest will host a Family Shabbat dinner featuring Anat Kriger, an Israeli-born, Toronto-based musician, actor, and children’s performer, who has made several appearances in Winnipeg at major communal events.
Kidfest on Sunday, November 15, will be a day-long potpourri of programming that will include live performances, workshops, bouncy castles, games and crafts, and much more.
Readers seeking more information about JFest can contact Laura Marjovsky at 204 477-7539 or lmarjovsky@radyjcc/com
