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Former Temple Shalom member’s spiritual journey leading to rabbinical career
By MYRON LOVE
Rebecca Chess credits their home congregation – Temple Shalom – with starting their Jewish spiritual journey that is leading them to a life as a rabbi.
“I really appreciate that my parents (Jim Chess and Karyn Glass) chose to become members of Temple Shalom,” says Chess who came out as Queer in 2016 and non-binary a couple of years ago. “I had often felt ostracized, that I didn’t fit in. At Temple Shalom, there is a sense that everyone is welcome.”
Chess grew up in River Heights where they were initially a student at Brock Corydon School’s Hebrew Bilingual program. They finished their elementary schooling at Montrose School and attended high school at St. Mary’s Academy.
Chess left Winnipeg in 2013 for university in Toronto. “It was important for me to leave home to grow and learn who I was as a person,” they say. “I really loved being in Toronto. I enjoyed the freedom to explore who I was and what I wanted to be.”
Chess observes that they didn’t try to connect with a Jewish community while in their first two years of study at the University of Toronto. In third year, however, they were attracted to a new Hillel rabbi who helped return them to their personal spiritual quest.
“We began working together to reach out to other Jewish members of the LGBTQ2IA community,” Chess recalls. “We started a discussion group called Rainbow Jews in order to create a supportive Jewish community for us, a community based on Jewish tradition in an effort to heal the sense of alienation. Many of us had experienced a lot of pain growing up in Jewish communities that were not inclusive.
“That experience through Hillel refreshed my love of community.”
While at university, Chess was also involved in the theatre community. Following graduation (with a major in English Literature and minor in Jewish Studies), they chose to pursue a career in film as a producer’s assistant.
“It was grueling work, really stressful,” they recall. “There was a lot of yelling. After nine or ten months, I began questioning if this was what I really wanted to do. About that time, my best friend went into the hospital. While looking around the office, I began to think about my values, what impact I wanted to have in the world and if film could fulfill them
“The next day, I Googled how to become a rabbi.”
They further contacted their Hillel rabbi for direction.
“As I had grown up at Temple Shalom, I decided to seek ordination through the Reform Movement, “ they say.
In 2019 they began their rabbinic studies at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s Los Angeles campus. Chess explains that the path to ordination is a five-year program with the first year spent studying in Israel. They spent last year in Jerusalem.
“I made a pact with myself to go to Israel with an open mind,” Chess says. I found the country to be amazing. The country is beautiful and enriching. I was challenged by the complexity of the society. It was a blessing to be in a place where I could engage in Judaism without having to deal with the conflict of living Jewishly in a non-Jewish society.”
Chess adds that they also often found it trying. “There is also a lot that needs to change,” they comment. “I left Israel with a sense of responsibility for the challenges that need to be addressed.”
This year, Chess was supposed to be beginning their studies state-side at the LA campus. Due to Covid, however, they have been back home in Winnipeg for the past few months and, as with many students, learning online via Zoom.
“The plan is hopefully to be in LA next year,” they note.
One of the requirements of the HUC program is that rabbinical students – beginning in second year – gain first-hand pulpit experience through becoming visiting rabbis for small North American congregations – a program from which Temple Shalom has benefitted when the congregation has been between rabbis.
Chess’s congregation is Shir Ami – with about 60 family units – in Castro Valley, California. “It has been a nice experience serving the congregation online,” they note. “There are also advantages to being in contact this way – rather than just going out to the community one weekend a month. Although the congregation can’t have Torah services, I am just a click away on Zoom for anyone who wants to contact me.
“For example, I have a bat-mitzvah student I am able to work with every second week online.”
Over Yom Tov, Chess assisted Temple Shalom’s Rabbi Allan Finkel and Cantor Len Udow in leading Sukkot services.
“I am surprised at how much I enjoy studying Torah,” they say. “I feel an ancestral connection, that I am part of a long line of students studying Mishna and Talmud.
“I have found my place and am excited about what is still to come.”
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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.”
