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Doctors Manitoba recognizes humanitarian pediatrician

Dr. Murray Kesselman

By MYRON LOVE Dr. Murray Kesselman pronounces himself “honoured” to have been recognized by Doctors Manitoba (formerly known as the Manitoba Medical Association) as this year’s recipient of the organization’s Distinguished Service Award.

“It is always gratifying to be recognized by your peers,” remarks the long time pediatric intensivist who specializes in pediatric emergency medicine and pediatric intensive care patients. “It is also quite humbling.”
The Doctors Manitoba Distinguished Service award recognizes a long career of services to patients and the community that embodies the highest standards and ideals of the medical profession, and in the promotion of the art and science of medicine through teaching, writing and administration.
The presentation, he says, was made virtually May 6th at Doctors Manitoba’s annual general meeting. An in-person presentation is tentatively scheduled for November when it is hoped that Covid restrictions will be lifted.

A south-ender who attended Ramah evening school and graduated from Grant Park High School, Kesselman earned his MD designation from the University of Manitoba in 1974. After some years doing general practice, then a Pediatric Residency, he completed a Fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“At that period, you could take your time figuring out what kind of medicine you would like to focus on,” he recalls. “I worked in ER at the Grace Hospital for a while and spent a couple of years at the Mount Carmel Clinic. I found that I was particularly drawn to pediatrics.”
Dr. Kesselman focuses on the care of critically ill children in the Oeguatric Intensive Care Unit and technology-dependent children living for extended periods in the Pediatric Special Care Unit. For many years, Dr. Kesselman has been involved in developing and furthering the use of procedural sedation for children needing painful procedures or prolonged radiologic studies and the safe and effective transport of children.

Although semi-retired now, Kesselman was, for many years, a staff Pediatric Intensivist and Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician at The Children’s Hospital of Winnipeg, Section Head of the PSCU (Pediatric Special Care Unit) and Section Head of PICU (Pediatric Special Care Unit) as well as Associate Professor in the Max Rady College of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics and Child Health. He has played a significant role in shaping and developing the PICU into its current state. Providing in person pediatric care to the children of Sanikiluaq in Nunavut was also a special privilege that lasted 35 years, he says.

About 15 years ago or so, the Winnipeg pediatrician connected with an organization called “Operation Smile”.
“I felt the need to do something more in helping kids,” he recalls.
Operation Smile was founded in 1982 by Dr. William P. Magee Jr., a plastic and craniofacial surgeon, and his wife, who is the organization’s Chief Executive Officer. According to its mission statement, there are millions of children around the world who are born with cleft lips or cleft palates. The majority of these children are unable to receive the medical care they need because it is too costly, far away, or specialized. Because of this, being born with a cleft condition can be fatal. If a child survives, they may face bullying and social isolation.

Operation Smile currently is active in 34 countries, surgically repairing the condition and providing after-surgery comprehensive care.
Once or twice a year, pre-Covid, Kesselman travelled to different countries in Central American, Africa and Asia as part of Operation Smile initiatives.
“I was even in Russia once,” he says.
The Operation Smile surgeries, he notes, are arranged months in advance so that, when he has been called upon to go, he has had time to reschedule his duties here as necessary.
“I have a lot of memories from my work with Operation Smile,” he says. “I have met a lot of people, forged enduring friendships and learned to appreciate a little bit of what patients and families face in other parts of the world.”

The last mission – pre-Covid – to Malawi in southern Africa was particularly gratifying for Kesselman in that his wife, Jane (an Intensive Care and Emergency Nurse)and oldest daughter Sarah (a Pediatric ICU nurse) were also part of the medical team.
His other children include Rachel, a Fellow in Pediatric Emergency Medicine; Steve, a Resident in Adult Emergency Medicine; and Dan, a Masters student in School Psychology .
“I was supposed to be going to Cambodia last year to teach in their pediatric hospital,” he notes. He has had to settle for weekly Zoom teaching sessions with their residents and staff for now.
These days, he says, he is still doing some work in the PSCU with kids who are on long term ventilation and with the Sedation service. Otherwise, he is riding out this time of lockdown trying to spend some time at the lake working on a construction project at the cottage and preparing to become a Zaida.

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“Students Supporting Israel” suspended by University of Manitoba Students Union

Bassim Eid

By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted March 6, 2024) In October 2022 an art history teacher by the name of Erika Lopéz Prater was fired from her position at a small liberal arts college in Minnesota, Humline University, for having the temerity to show depictions of the Prophet Muhammed to students in her art history class

Lopéz Prater had warned students in advance that images of holy figures, including the Prophet Muhammed and the Bhudda, would be shown in the course and had asked students to contact her with any concerns, but she said no one did.

Aram Wedatalla

One student in the class, Aram Wedatalla, who was also president of the Muslim Student Association, however, claimed to have been deeply offended by the image of Muhammed that was displayed and complained to the university administration. Subsequently Lopéz Prater was fired from her position. As an adjunct professor, however, she did not have the protections granted to tenured professors.

Lopéz Prater later sued Humline on several grounds, including unfair dismissal and emotional distress, but a judge has since dismissed almost all elements of her lawsuit.

What happened to Lopéz Prater though and the ensuing controversy provided a salutary lesson in political correctness running amuck – and the power of members of certain groups to intimidate university administrations and student groups into total acquiescence to their demands to silence any type of discussion that some members of those groups may deem objectionable.

Such apparently was also the case recently at the University of Manitoba where a Muslim speaker by the name of Bassim Eid spoke to students at that university on Monday, February 26. The event was sponsored by two groups: Bridges for Peace and Students Supporting Israel.

According to a CBC report describing what happened at that event and subsequent to it, “Political analyst Bassem Eid, a Palestinian who is a regular commentator on Israeli TV and radio, gave a lecture at a Monday event at the University of Manitoba, organized by Bridges for Peace and Students Supporting Israel, called: ‘What led to the recent war between Israel and Hamas.’

” ‘When it comes to ideology, the Muslims are blind,’ Eid is heard saying during the event’s question period, in audio reviewed by CBC News. He can also be heard calling the ideology of Muslims ‘a major problem,’ saying they aren’t ready for change.

“Belkis Elmoudi, a Muslim student at the university who attended the event, says she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

” ‘I knew I had to get out of there, because I did not feel safe,’ she told CBC News on Thursday (February 29).

” ‘I mean not only were those comments made, [but] no one stood up and said anything, so it just made me feel very isolated, alone and scared.’

Following Eid’s talk and the subsequent complaint made by Elmoudi, the University of Manitoba Students Union decided to suspend Students Supporting Israel, according to UMSU President Tracy Karuhogo, “while an investigation into the event takes place.”

We have attempted to obtain a response from someone from UMSU as to the reasons that Students Supporting Israel has been suspended.

We posed the following questions within an email on Monday, March 4:

“1. Is the suspension still in effect?

“2. If the answer to 1 is yes, can someone explain the reasons behind the suspension?

“3. Is it now UMSU’s policy to suspend an entire group because one student has a complaint about something related to that group?

“4. If UMSU does believe it was justified in suspending Students Supporting Israel, is there anything that would prevent any other student from asking that the Muslim Students Association at the University of Manitoba be suspended for any activities that a student might consider threatening? In other words, where do you draw the line?”

To date, we have not received a response. If we do hear back from someone from UMSU we will update this article.

We also emailed Jeff Lieberman and Adam Levy of the Jewish Federation, along with Gustavo Zentner, CIJA representative for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, asking them whether anyone from either group had attempted to intervene in the matter. (We also cc’d Haskell Greenfield, Head of Judaic Studies at the U of M.) In addition, we have reached out to a representative for Students Supporting Israel. Again, if we hear back from that person we will update this article.

We wrote:

“I’ve been trying to get more information about the suspension of Students Supporting Israel…the notion that the group has been suspended by UMSU is pretty outrageous. Does anyone know what the status of that suspension is?

“This all reminds me of a story I read last year about a Minnesota college professor who was fired from her position teaching art history at a very small college because she dared to show depictions of Muhammed.

“Apparently, even though she had told students in advance that she would be doing that – and asked whether anyone in the class objected, a Muslim student (who hadn’t spoken out prior) later claimed that they were traumatized by seeing those images.

“It all has to do with “trigger warnings”‘ and how any student can silence discussion by saying they’re traumatized by that discussion.

“Has the Federation or CIJA intervened in this matter?”

We received the following response from Adam Levy, Public Relations and Communications Director for the Jewish Federation:

“Hi Bernie,

“Thank you for reaching out regarding the suspension of Students Supporting Israel (SSI).

“Federation and CIJA have been actively advising and supporting SSI as they navigate this challenging time. We are hopeful that the investigation that has been undertaken by UMSU will clear SSI of wrongdoing, and not hold them accountable for Bassem Eid’s comments.”

We also received the following email from Haskell Greenfield:

“In his talk, Bassam made some generalizations about the ideology of Muslims. He has issued an apology since then. But the student union at the University acted precipitously, I would say rashly. They suspended SSI pending an investigation without contacting the SSI student club first. It is a recognized club for the University of Manitoba Students Union.  They suspended the SSI because a Palestinian student made a complaint. They did the suspension solely on the complaint and without contacting SSI to get their point of view. We believe that SSI is working toward explaining their side of the story and hoping for reinstatement. SSI did not make any negative statements about Arabs or Muslims or Palestinians. In fact the moderator at the event disavowed the statement afterwards, saying this does not represent SSI or his own beliefs.

“The same day SSI was suspended, a motion was also put forward by the executive of the University of Manitoba Students Union that would define a new form of anti-Palestinian racism. This very problematic motion prevents anyone from denying the ‘Nakhba.’ It would make denying the ‘Nakhba’ a racist act.”

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Working with late night talk show stars Colbert and Stewart dream job for former Winnipegger

By Myron Love When the Jewish Post last touched base with Raffie Rosenberg in the summer of 2020, she was back in Winnipeg for a few months during the Covid lockdown reconnecting with her father, Lewis Rosenberg (her mother, the late Dr. Fran Steinberg passed away ten years ago) and other relatives while looking forward to returning to New York in the fall to continue her studies at Columbia University.

As far back as she can remember,  she noted in that earlier interview, she has had her sights squarely set on a career in the entertainment industry.   “I started dancing lessons when I was two years old,” she recalled.  “I loved it.”

She added that her interest in the theatre was also stimulated by her parents, both of whom had been involved in the arts. Prior to pursuing a career in medicine, her mother studied at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.  She also taught dancing and further studied dance at York University.  Her dad also has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree – Theatre Design and Technology – from the University of Minnesota.

Having graduated previously (in 2016) from Western University’s  Ivey School of Business, Rosenberg earned her second degree – an MFA – with a focus on theatre management and producing –  from Columbia in 2022.

And she is very happy to report that, over the past two years, she has had the opportunity to work behind the scenes with two of her heroes in the entertainment business – none other than the king of late night television, Stephen Colbert, and his predecessor, Jon Stewart.

She got on with Colbert’s “The Late Show” as a production intern during her final semester at Columbia shortly after graduation from Columbia for a five-month period (January-May, 2022) and followed up on that coup by being hired as a production assistant on Stewart’s return to the air waves via Apple TV with “the Problem with Jon Stewart,” a weekly series featuring hour-long single subject episodes.  The show launched in the fall of 2021.  Rosenberg joined the production team in the fall of 2022. 

(The show was recently cancelled.)

Those were my dream jobs,” Rosenberg notes – “to work with both Stewart and Colbert on televised shows that include elements of live theatre (such as a studio audience and band).”

She points out that entertainment internships are difficult to get – especially in late night. “The team at Colbert is really proactive about interviewing a huge number of candidates and taking a look at people from the online applicant portal,” she reports. “I got lucky and the timing was right for that internship.” 

She notes that, being in an entry level role at The Late Show and at The Problem, she didn’t work with either host directly.  “The staff of The Late Show is over 100 people and at The Problem there were around 60 of us,” she says, “but both Jon and Stephen are incredible bosses. They’re kind, focused, and great leaders. Even though I never worked with either directly, being able to work on their shows was a huge highlight and definitely a childhood dream come true.” 

Her role was different for each of the shows – reflecting the different responsibilities in her job titles and the fact that Colbert is nightly and Stewart’s show was weekly.

As a production assistant, I was more involved in areas such as research, working on the podcast and deeper dives into current events ,” she points out.  “Also, we were working with a longer lead time on Jon’s show – which gave us more room to expand on individual subjects.”

In her independent work as a creative producer, she points out, she is more involved in sourcing funding to help get the project off the ground, crafting the narrative, working with the script writers and hiring lead actors and the director.

For the past two summers,  Rosenberg has produced the Arts in Action Festivals for the Broadway Advocacy Coalition.  The BAC was founded in 2016 by a group of actors and activists with the goal of using the arts to try to create as a vehicle to help create a more just world.  The two-day Arts in Action festivals present workshops, performances, panels and screenings in furtherance of its goals.

With the conclusion of production for the “The Problem With Jon Stewart” last fall, Rosenberg is open to new projects – one of which is a collaboration with a couple of other Jewish artists on a coming-of-age comedy.

It would seem that Raffie Rosenberg has a bright future to look forward to in theatre and film production.   

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Husband and wife team of Russel and Rori Picker Neiss bringing different aspects of Jewish learning to Limmud Winnipeg

Rori Picker Neiss (left) and Russell Neiss

By MYRON LOVE Rori Picker and Rusell Neiss say they are excited about their upcoming first visit to Winnipeg.  The couple, Jewish educators – originally from New York, who have been living and working in St. Louis for the past ten years – will be here on the weekend of March 9-10 – as presenters at our community’s 14th annual Limmud Fest.

Russel Neiss is promising Limmud attendees that those attending his presentation will be in the first audience to view the digitized version of “The Story of Purim,” an award winning Jewish educational filmstrip which is part of a recently rediscovered lost cache produced by the NY Bureau of Jewish Education in the 1950s.  

“We’ll view the slides and table-read the script together as we see how much the field of Jewish engagement and education has (and hasn’t) changed over the last 70 year,” notes Russel Neiss.

Russel is a 2005 graduate of City University of New York.  The recipient – in 2020, of the prestigious Covenant Award (which recognizes educators who have made a noticeable impact on Jewish lives through innovative educational practices and models), served for several years as vice-principal of a Jewish day school in the New York area.

In 2014, Russel changed careers. He became a software engineer specializing in the development of software programming for Jewish educators for an organization called Sefaria.  The nonprofit organization is dedicated to digitizing the entire body of Jewish religious writings in order to make them available so that anyone can engage with the textual treasures of our tradition.

“A couple of years ago,” he reports, “I came across a cache of film strips produced by the New York Bureau of Jewish Education in the 1950s.  These films would have been shown to students in the 1950s and ‘60s. They have not been viewed for more than 60 years.”

At Limmud, he will be showing a film called “The Story of Purim.”  “We’ll view the slides and table-read the script together as we see how much the field of Jewish engagement and education has (and hasn’t) changed over the years,” he says.

His second presentation – on Sunday afternoon – will focus on “what the atheist computer scientist Richard Stallman can teach us about how Torah learning can thrive in the world today while delving into the interplay between Hacker Culture, the Free Software Movement and the teachings of great Jewish thinkers like Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.”

Rori Picker Neiss will also be doing two presentations – one of which will be a study of leadership as exhibited by Moshe Rabbenu in the matter of the Golden Calf. For those who may not know or remember the story in the Torah, some days after leaving Egypt, Moshe climbed Mount Sinai to commune with Hashem. After some time had gone by and he didn’t return, the frightened Hebrews, believing that he wasn’t coming back, gathered together everything they had that was made of gold and created a golden calf to worship – an act of blasphemy that resulted in  severe divine consequences – including the Israelites having to wander in the desert for 40 years until the last of the offending generation had died out.

“What we can take away from this episode,” Rori observes, “and what Hashem made clear to Moshe- is that leadership is not about the leader and fame and glory. Leadership should be about doing what is in the best interests of  the people.”

Her second presentation will be an exploration of what the early rabbis thought about Jesus and Christianity as seen through a censored Rabbinic passage.

Rori Picker Reiss has the distinction of being one of the first half dozen  Orthodox women to be ordained  – through the Yeshivat Maharat organization – founded in 2009 – to serve as clergy.

“I welcomed the opportunity to study Talmud and our religious texts,” she says of her decision to enroll in the Maharat program.  ‘My ordination presented me with a number of different ways to serve our community.” 

In St. Louis Maharat Rori served as Director of Programming, Education and Community Engagement at the modern Orthodox Bais Abraham Congregation. She was also Rabbi in Residence at Holy Communion Episcopal Church, chair of the cabinet of Interfaith partnership of Greater St. Louis and a member of the Board of Trustees for the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Previously, she worked as acting Executive Director for Religions for Peace-USA, program coordinator for the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, assistant director of Interreligious Affairs for the American Jewish Committee, and secretary for the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations.  

While there may be some among the Orthodox community who may be uncomfortable with the concept of women serving as clergy, Rori reports that she was generally well-received in St. Louis and was able to build many relationships both within the Orthodox and the wider communities.

Rori and Russel have recently moved back to New York City where Rori has been appointed the Senior Vice-President for Community  Relations for the Jewish Council for Public affairs.

For more information about this year’s Limmud and to register, please visit www.limmudwinnipeg.org or contact coordinator@limmudwinnipeg.org  or 204-557-6260

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