Local News
Gwen Secter Centre and Jewish Child and Family Service working together to provide much needed help for seniors in our community
By BERNIE BELLAN
Beginning two months ago, I’ve been reporting on the incredible job that the Gwen Secter Centre has been doing in providing meals for seniors in our Jewish community since the Province imposed a lockdown on March 13.
As I noted in our May 27 issue, Gwen Secter has gone from producing 60 meals the week of March 30-April 3 to 286 meals for 73 different individuals in late May. This past week, according to Becky Chisick, Executive Director of the Gwen Secter Centre, 340 meals went out to seniors.
I had asked Becky whether there is anyone in particular who deserves a shout-out for what Gwen Secter has been doing?
She wrote: “The shout-out really needs to be going to our volunteer drivers. The routes are increasing and get larger in size. A number of people have come forward to volunteer their time and we are still looking for more. I also have a part-time volunteer meal coordinator, Lauren Cogan. Lauren is helping with on boarding new seniors, coordinating volunteers and making calls to everyone on delivery days. “ (We have a full story about Lauren Cogan in this issue and the extremely active life she leads on page 7.(
Working hand in hand with the Gwen Secter Centre has been Jewish Child and Family Service, which has a large number of senior clients. (The JCFS typically serves between 500-600 seniors a year, according to JCFS Executive Director Al Benarroch.)
Here’s how the JCFS Annual Report described its older adult services: “Older Adult Services is a program designed to support the needs of Jewish elderly living independently in the community. Services ensure an optimal level of psychological, social, cultural, emotional and physical functioning in clients, thereby maximizing their quality of life and allowing them to remain at home and age in place.
“Aging Mental Health is a focused program that addresses the needs of our aging clients who also are living with mental illness and/or other chronic emotional problems. This area provides highly specialized, crossprogram services to clients requiring unique supports for a variety of issues, including those arising from psychiatric illness, memory loss and isolation.”
In addition, JCFS also provides services for Holocaust survivors.
I asked both Becky Chisick and Cheryl Hirsh Katz, Manager, Adult Services at JCFS, whether they could provide me with some names of seniors who might be willing to talk about what Gwen Secter and JCFS have been doing for them during a time when seniors, in particular, are isolated and experiencing much higher levels of anxiety.
In response, I was given the names of six different individuals who, I was told, were willing to speak with me about their experiences. For the purposes of this article, I am using different names for the individuals with whom I spoke, in order to preserve their anonymity. Each of the individuals with whom I spoke lives alone.
“Lisa” told me that (like the 70 other seniors who have been receiving meals from Gwen Secter), she’s been getting four meals a week – two on Tuesdays and two on Fridays.
I asked Lisa how she was put in touch with Gwen Secter to start receiving meals.
“My worker at JCFS is Heather Mandel Kraut,” Lisa explained. “Heather had asked me whether I could use the service (Gwen Secter’s food deliveries)” when the Province imposed the lockdown.
In Lisa’s particular case, while she is able to get out on her own, because of a physical condition, “it’s hard for me to stand – even for the five minutes it usually takes to put together a meal”, she noted. Also, because it’s hard for her to remain on her feet, she does have someone doing shopping for her.
I asked Lisa what she does to supplement the meals she’s been getting from Gwen Secter.
“I’ll buy a chicken and roast it,” she said. She also prepares salads and side dishes but, like the others seniors with whom I spoke, Lisa doesn’t eat a huge amount, so she’s been able to stretch the four meals that she’s been getting from Gwen Secter.
Lisa told me that each time there’s a delivery from Gwen Secter, one meal is meat and one is milk. The meat meals which, she said can be anything from chicken to sweet and sour meatballs, to turkey sausage, to brisket (occasionally), are all accompanied by “a carbohydrate and some kind of vegetable”, Lisa noted.
But, because Lisa is also diabetic, the kitchen staff at Gwen Secter have been careful not to include any items containing sugar in her particular meals so that, in a dairy meal with blintzes, for instance, the strawberries that come with the meal have no sugar.
Something else that Lisa mentioned is that, while she did grow up in a Jewish home where she loved her “baba and aunt’s cooking”, it’s been a long time since she had tasted many of the foods that were so familiar to her as a child. Having lived away from Winnipeg for years, it’s only been since she started receiving meals from Gwen Secter of late that she’s been able to conjure up memories of her baba’s and aunt’s meals.
“I was incredibly lucky in my life to have a baba and aunt who made fabulous meals and the Gwen Secter meals have comparable taste,” Lisa said. “The meals have the traditional edge to them” that she so fondly recalls from her childhood years; eating those meals “brings it all back,” she added.
And – as a sign how thoughtful the Gwen Secter staff has been in arranging those meals, Lisa observed that there “have been extras as well – like boxes of matzah during Passover” and, more recently, challahs on Thursdays.
(I asked Becky Chisick when challahs started to be included with the Thursday deliveries and who’s been providing them? She responded: “We’ve been including Challah for the past few weeks on our Friday deliveries. This was something I really wanted to do for the seniors who are isolated. I felt it was important to bring a little Shabbat into their homes. The challah is not donated, but City Bread is helping us out with a much appreciated deep discount to help stretch our funding dollars. I’m happy to hear everyone is enjoying.”)
*****
“Norman” returned to Winnipeg last year after having lived elsewhere most of his life. In his case though, as a result of an injury, he hasn’t been able to get out, but he is rehabilitating his injury and hopes to be fully functional sometime soon.
In the meantime, his worker at JCFS also told Norman about Gwen Secter’s food delivery program, and he’s most appreciative.
“I do get around with a walker,” he added, but “getting the meals is very helpful”.
I asked him whether the portions in the meals provided by Gwen Secter are sufficient?
“I’ve lost a lot of weight” (since his injury and subsequent operation), Norman answered, “so my eating habits are different – and the portions are sufficient”.
But then Norman mentioned that there are some items in the meals delivered by Gwen Secter that he doesn’t eat, such as potatoes or perogies. I said to him that he should simply let the Gwen Secter staff know that there are certain foods he won’t eat, and I was sure substitutes could be arranged. (I told him about Lisa’s diabetes and how Gwen Secter made sure there was no sugar in any of the foods in her meals.)
Something else that Norman said – and which is probably typical of many of the seniors who have found themselves availing themselves of Gwen Secter’s assistance, is that “I would like to not use it (the food deliveries) so that someone else could use it.”
By the way, Norman had not even heard of JCFS when he returned to Winnipeg last year, so being able to receive assistance from that organization came as a most pleasant surprise.
“JCFS has been very helpful to me,” he noted – “and very supportive – by phone or by email – on an as-needed basis.”
As for the Gwen Secter Centre, again – like JCFS, Norman had never heard of that organization either, and he is deeply appreciative of what the Gwen Secter Centre has been able to do for him.
*****
“Bonnie” has been a client of JCFS in the past but, like Norman, she had been living away from Winnipeg for years.
Unlike Lisa and Norman, however, Bonnie hasn’t had to avail herself of the Gwen Secter food delivery program. She is able to get out and do her own shopping.
In Bonnie’s case, however, it wasn’t a physical condition that led to her contacting JCFS. She has a psychological condition, “but I couldn’t afford to pay a psychologist or a therapist,” she explained.
Yet, Bonnie was not aware that JCFS provides services for individuals such as her. Once she was told though about JCFS’s services for seniors and other individuals with psychological conditions, she did get in touch with JCFS and has maintained weekly contact with a social worker assigned to her case ever since – most recently via ZOOM.
Ever since the provincial lockdown was imposed, Bonnie said she’s been in weekly contact with her social worker. (It used to be only once every two weeks, she noted.)
“The social worker has been really wonderful,” Bonnie said.
*****
The final senior with whom I spoke was “Anne”.
In Anne’s case, she explained, “I have arthritis, so I’ve been stuck using frozen meals.”
“I usually shop at Walmart” (online), Anne said, but “I couldn’t get online” because Walmart’s system was so inundated with users.
“I also tried Cantor’s (early on during the lockdown), “but they were rationing groceries, – things like sweet potatoes,” Anne noted.
“So, I started using Save on Foods for deliveries,” she said, “but they’re quite expensive.
“Then Dan (Saidman, Program & Volunteer Coordinator at the Gwen Secter Centre) phoned me. He knew I’d be in trouble, so he asked me whether I wanted to start getting meals from them – which I did, right from the start” (in late March).
For Anne, just like Lisa and Norman, the meals from Gwen Secter have been a Godsend.
*****
Finally, I spoke with Cheryl Hirsh Katz of JCFS to ask whether there has been an increase in the agency’s caseload of seniors.
Cheryl indicated that has indeed been the case – primarily as a result of the Jewish Federation’s having enlisted volunteers to call seniors (and other individuals in the community who find themselves in particularly unfortunate circumstances as a result of the pandemic). Many seniors have been referred to JCFS as a result of those phone calls, Cheryl noted.
“We’ve identified those of our clients who are most in need,” Cheryl said, and have been keeping close tabs on them, including “sending out 50 care packages to some of the most isolated seniors with plans to send an additional 50 to another group of isolated seniors. Our plan is to do this once or twice per month while this pandemic lasts.”
“We have capacity to take on more clients,” Cheryl noted – and 20 more clients have now been added to JCFS’s caseload to this point.
While JCFS does maintain an “emergency food pantry” to help individuals or families in urgent need of groceries, “there hasn’t, as yet, been an increase in demand”, she said.
What there has been though, is “an increase in demand for emotional support,” Cheryl observed.
“Individuals who have had illnesses” have found themselves isolated and, one other agonizing aspect of the isolation we’ve been enduring is that, for those among us who have lost loved ones during the past three months, it’s been an especially difficult grieving period.
“We have our friendly volunteer phone callers; also our own workers are regularly calling clients”, Cheryl said, but for those seniors who could use some emotional support or would like to be added to Gwen Secter’s food delivery program, the JCFS welcomes your calls.
The JCFS phone number is 204-477-7430. The Gwen Secter Centre’s phone number is 204-339-1701.
Local News
Adas Yeshurun Herzlia Synagogue hosts moving farewell for departing rabbi Yossi Benarroch
By MYRON LOVE It was a bittersweet evening Sunday, July 27, as about 300 members of Adas Yeshurun Herzlia and other community members gathered at the synagogue to express their appreciation to retiring Rabbi Yossi Benarroch for his service to the congregation – and the larger Jewish community – over the past nine years.
Although Benarroch had officially retired at the end of July, he had already returned to his family in Israel. The congregation paid to fly him, his wife, Elana, their daughters Ruchama and Tiferet and Tiferet’s infant daughter, Agam, back to Winnipeg for the moving tribute evening.
As this writer noted in an interview with Yossi Benarroch earlier this year, his assuming the spiritual leadership of Adas Yeshurun Herzlia was a match made in heaven. He grew up in our community, one of four sons of the revered Solomon and Mary Bennarroch. The future rabbi earned a physical education degree from the University of Manitoba in 1984, following which he made aliyah. He studied at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva (among others), receiving smicha in 1991. In 1999, he and his wife, Elana, and their children moved to Vancouver.
He and his family were back living in Israel in 2016 when the Adas Yeshurun Herzlia pulpit became vacant. “I saw it as an opportunity to fulfil what I felt was my obligation to give back to the community which had given me so much in my early years,” he says.
A second motivation was that he would be able to spend more time with his aged parents and two brothers in Winnipeg.
In his remarks on the 27th, Rabbi Benarroch thanked many people in our community who had played an important role in his life. First and foremost, he thanked his wife, Elana. While she didn’t want to leave Israel, he noted, she understood how important this was to him.
The arrangement that they agreed upon was that he would spend blocks of nine weeks in Winnipeg followed by three in Israel. He always made sure to be home (Israel) for Pesach, Sukkot and half of Chanukah. Now, nearing 68 years old, and with his parents both having passed away, Yossi Benaroch feels that it is time to go back permanently.
“I really appreciate the sacrifice that Elana was willing to make – giving up the love of her life for nine months a year for nine years so that I could fulfill my lifelong dream to return to and give back to the community I love so dearly.”
It was also very important to him, Rabbi Benarroch added, that some of his children were able to meet his community in Winnipeg and see what this community meant to him.
Among the many individuals he thanked were the late Dr. Earl Hershfield who – as president of the congregation – persuaded him to come back here; current president Jack Craven; long time congregational leaders Abe and Barbara Anhang; and members of the congregation as a whole – who welcomed him into their homes and lives.
“I have felt a tremendous love here,” Rabbi Benarroch said. “I can honestly say that in nine years, I never had a single argument with anyone in the congregation.”
He noted how much he cherished being able to spend time with his family in Winnipeg – his late parents, his brothers, Michael and Albert, his nephews and nieces and cousins.
Rabbi Benarroch also spoke about his positive relationships – friendships – with his rabbinical colleagues and the leadership at the Federation.
While Rabbi Benarroch noted that he is happy that he is going to be home full time now with his family – including three other children and numerous grandchildren – in Efrat, he added that he is not finished here quite yet. He announced that he will be back one more time to lead yom tov services.
The tribute for Rabbi Yossi Benarroch and his family on July 27 was not the only reason for celebration. The evening also marked the rededication of three of the six Talmud Torah Beth Jacob Synagogue stained glass windows.
Five of the windows were installed at the Talmud Torah Beth Jacob Synagogue – which was then located on Matheson Avenue in the North End (where it shared space with what was then the Talmud Torah School) – in May of 1970. Three of the windows were in commemoration of the late Rabbi Avraham Kravetz, Cantor Benjamin Brownstone and philanthropist Joseph Wolinsky – all of whom played an outsized role in shaping Jewish education in our community. According to an article I wrote for the Jewish Post at the time, the windows were created by Ron Henig, a Toronto-based artist. Marcus Bressler, a Talmud Torah past president, had seen Henig’s work in Toronto and persuaded the Simkin and Chait families to memorialize their loved ones by funding the installation of two windows in the Matheson Avenue shul. So eye-catching were the windows, some other members of the shul decided to have three more windows created in memory of Rabbi Kravitz, Cantor Brownstone and Wolinsky.
The windows moved with the Talmud Torah Beth Jacob Synagogue in 1997 to its new location on north Main Street after the community sold the Talmud Torah/Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate building and centralized Jewish private education in our community at the new Asper Campus.
Winnipeg artist Irma Penn created a sixth stained glass window for the Talmud Torah about 20 years ago at the new location.
Two years ago, facing declining attendance over several years, the Talmud Torah congregation merged with the 53-year-old Chavurat Tefila congregation – which was also dealing with declining attendance – at the latter synagogue on the Corner of Hartford and McGregor.
After the Talmud Torah building was sold last summer, three of the windows – the Irma Penn window and those that were dedicated to Joseph Wolinsky and the Chait Family followed the congregation members to the new Chavurat Tefila – Talmud Torah shul.
The Rabbi Kravetz, Brownstone and Jean Simkin windows were passed on to the Adas Yeshurun Herzlia congregation, where the Rabbl Kravetz “Shoah” window was rededicated in memory of the late Leon and Faye Raber by their children, Frayda and Label Raber.
In rededicating the “Shoah” window n memory of their parents, Frayda Raber pointed out that the window incorporates the Gorenstein (Faye’s) family’s relationship with the Adas Yeshurun shul from its beginnings in 1909 and their father’s survival of the Holocaust.
“Label and I grew up at the Adas Yeshurun Herzlia,” recalled Raber. “We went to elementary school here, attended junior congregation here, Shabbat and Yom Tov services, and celebrated our life cycle events. Despite living away, Label in Vancouver and me in Ottawa, the synagogue has remained our home away from home all these years.”
She added that her mother maintained her membership even after moving away in 2017 after Leon’s passing, and remembered the synagogue in her will.
Faye Raber passed away last September at the age of 103.
Frayda thanked Rabbi Benarroch for bringing the opportunity to refurbish the Shoah window to the family’s attention. “I believe that having this stained glass window displayed so prominently will help keep this part of our history in the forefront for current and future generations,” she said.
Abe and Barbara Anhang rededicated the two other windows – the Or V’Talmud Torah and Shir U’Shvacha windows – in honour of the Benarroch Family. As Barbara Anhang noted in her remarks:
“It was Shammai in the first chapter of Pirkei Avot who pointed out the necessity of daily Torah study, of saying little and doing much, and of receiving everyone with a pleasant countenance. These traits were second nature to Mary and Solomon Benarroch, who, when learning of Winnipeg’s search for a community shochet (slaughterer), jumped at the chance to leave Morocco and came to Winnipeg.”
Shlomo Benarroch, she noted, served as one of Winnipeg Jewish community’s shochetim for over 50 years. He was also a Torah reader, sofer (scribe), mohel (as needed), chazan and educator.
“He was a soft-spoken gentleman who said little but did much,” Barbara said, “and cared deeply about serving his adopted community.”
She described Mary Benarroch as “the consummate Jewish homemaker who provided a loving, supportive home for her husband, twins Yossi and Yamin, Michael, Albert, and their extended Canadian family. Her sons were her treasures.
”She succeeded in nurturing them to grow into observant, caring people who excelled in education and community service.”
Barbara went on to thank “Rabbi Yossi for his inspiring Talmud and parsha classes, his kashrut supervision at Schmoozer’s and Gwen Secter kitchens, Gunn’s Bakery, and Sunday morning Maimonides classes, bar/bat mitzvah preparations and drashas.”
She further thanked Elana Benarroch for her love and devotion in caring for their family in Israel while he was here, that made it all possible.
“Elana, we are all eternally grateful,” Barbar said. “Thank you. Both of you have shown us by example the joy of performing a mitzvah and that Jewish life cannot be sustained without Israel at its core.
“We were blessed to have you as our role models. Every one who had the honour of getting to know you and your dear parents, and seeing how you and they chose to live your lives, was, and is, changed for the better.”
Sid Halpern added his praise for the Benarroch Family: “We are honoured to rededicate these windows in the name of the Benarroch Family,” he said.
“Several weeks ago,” Halpern continued, “in his usual inspiring droshe, Rabbi Yossi in Parsha Balak, taught us that G-d sends us messages in different means from different messengers. The stained glass windows we rededicate today represent passionate messengers – visionaries who built the community we enjoy today with messages if our ears and eyes and hearts are open and receptive. Among the most consequential of these messengers were Shhlomo and Mary Benarroch, who created a new world for themselves in our community just as their community in their native Morocco was being largely destroyed. Their sons, Yamin, Yossi, Michael, and Al, continue to revitalize and inspire communities in Israel, Canada and the world.”
Halpern reIated that, in a reply to a question from his late wife Esther to Mary Benarroch how Mary had achieved such overwhelming success in raising her family, Mary’s response was “with love” which, Halpern noted, is the strongest force on the face of the earth, according to none other than Albert Einstein.
Halpern also had kind words for Faye and Leon Raber – whom he remembered as supporters and builders of Herzlia. “While Leon always sat in the back benches,” he recounted, “he and Faye were always on the front benches when the shul needed their support.
“It is great to have their children, Label and Frayda, with us whom I remember as regular attendees in their younger years and who were always respectful to and caring for their parents.”
Addressing Elana Bennarroch, Halpern said: “While we knew and felt your pain of aloneness for the past nine years, Rabanit Elana – especially in such stressful times, we want you to know how grateful we are to you and your family for lending Reb Yossi to us.
“This is a a time not for farewell but, rather, for Lehitraut, Reb Yossi and Elana, till we meet again Thank you Reb Yossi for your beautiful messages. Keep them coming from Tziyon from whence the Torah will come.”
Speaking on behalf of the Benarroch Family, Kim Bailey, wife of University of Manitoba President Michael Bernarroch, talked about the family’s strong connection with the Talmud Torah Synagogue.
All four brothers had their bar mitzvahs at the synagogue, she noted, her fasther-in-law was the long time Torah reader, and her mother-in-law was a part of the shul’s Emunah women’s group..
“One of my favourite memories,” Bailey recalled, “was listening to my father-in-law read the Megillah every year at Purim.
“That synagogue was central to the whole Benarroch family and they were beloved pillars of the Talmud Torah community,” she added.
While Solomon and Mary moved with the Talmud Torah after the congregation was forced to relocate, Bailey noted, they did move eventually move south to be closer to their children and grandchildren.
“I can imagine the members of the Talmud Torah who are no longer with us would be pleased to see that these windows have found such a beautiful new home and that they are being dedicated to the Benarroch family,” she said. “These windows are a reminder that while many things have changed in our community, the essential things such as Torah, prayer, song, love and respect for family and community don’t.”.
Local News
Shaarey Zedek brings Carnie Rose back home to serve as senior rabbi
By MYRON LOVE The growing family of Roses is continuing to return to Winnipeg.
For more than 45 years, Rabbi Neal and Rebetzin Carol Rose, along with their children, played a prominent role in our community’s religious life. Neil and Carol originally came here in 1968 at the behest of their mentor, the late Rabbi Zalman Schachter- Shalomi. While Rabbi Neal’s “day job” was as a member of the University of Manitoba Department of Judaic Studies, he also served the community as a rabbi – filling in at major synagogues when those synagogues were between rabbis, also performing weddings and funerals.
Of particular note, Neal and Carol and family for several decades led a popular alternative Yom Tov service in the lower level of the Rosh Pina/Etz Chayim synagogue.
As happens in many families though, as each of their five children grew up, the children left Winnipeg. Finally, ten years ago, Neil and Carol also left – moving to St. Louis, where their second son, Rabbi Carnie Rose, was the spiritual leader of Congregation B’nai Amoona, an historic synagogue with about 850 member families.
Eight years ago, Rabbi Kliel Rose, Neal and Carol’s third son, was the first of the family to come back to Winnipeg as the spiritual leader of Congregation Etz Chayim. Now, Kliel has been joined by older brother Carnie – the new senior rabbi at Shaarey Zedek.
In mid July, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Carnie about his career, his decision to come back to Winnipeg and his hopes for the future here.
“I am really excited to be back,” he says. “I remember so many people here – the teachers as well as the characters – who were so much a part of my life growing up here. I feel like I have come home.”
Armed with an MA and Doctor of Divinity degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary, Rose began his rabbinical journey 30 years ago in Columbus, Ohio. In 1997, he and his wife, Pauline, moved to Tokyo, where Carnie served as the rabbi for Tokyo’s Jewish community. From there, his road led to a small congregation in New York. He became the spiritual leader at B’nai Amoona in St. Louis, in 2005.
Three years ago, he notes, he decided to try something different. An opportunity arose for him to take the reins of the Mandel JCC in Cleveland as president and CEO. “It was a chance to try something new, to experience a different aspect of Jewish life,” he observes. “But I found that I didn’t enjoy being an administrator. I missed the personal contact with people and families. I wanted to return to congregational work.”
It was the right time for the Shaarey Zedek to come calling.
“Rabbi (Alan) Green reached out to me,” Rose reports. “I had my bar mitzvah at Shaarey Zedek. I saw the potential here. The Shaarey Zedek has a large and growing congregation, and I decided that I want to be part of its revival. The new sanctuary is beautiful. I love the way the windows have been opened up to allow more natural light in. The catering is top notch. The staff members are great. I also like that there is a day care here again.”
He adds that having his brother, Kliel, here was a further inducement and is looking forward to having their families spend time together.
Rose commented on the most important changes he sees in our community since he left. “The synagogues and other Jewish institutions here seem to be much more open to collaboration,” he observes. “With the community centered around the campus, there seems to be a lot of positive energy.
“I am looking forward to Shaarey Zedek continuing to work together on joint programming with Kliel and Etz Chayim and our other congregations (such as an upcoming joint Tisha B’av program). I am also expecting to work with the Campus, Grey Academy, the Gwen Secter and others.”
He describes himself as an individual who is open to creative ideas and innovation. “Just because we have always done something in a certain way doesn’t mean that we can’t change,” he points out. “Reinvention has been an ongoing aspect of Judaism through the millennium.”
He quotes the revered Rav Kook as saying that it is important to “let the old become new and the new become sacred”.
“I think that is quite powerful,” he comments.”That will be the theme for our high holiday season this year at Shaarey Zedek.”
For Carnie Rose, while he recognizes that each congregation has its own distinct flavour or culture, dialogue among them and unity is most important.
He reports that Carol and Neal will soon be back home and (looking forward to be part of the community again.)
Local News
GrowWinnipeg celebrates 25th anniversary
By MYRON LOVE On Wednesday, June 25, about 250 Jewish Winnipeggers – comprising lifelong residents as well as newer arrivals, came together at the Asper campus to celebrate the 25th anniversary of GrowWinnipeg, an initiative that has revitalized our Jewish community – in our camps, school, synagogues and other institutions and given our community a much more international flavour.
Our community’s population peaked in terms of population in 1961 when Winnipeg Jewry numbered around 20,000. The years after had been a period of steady decline. By 1961, most of the Jews living in smaller communities in the Prairie provinces – the source of much of our ongoing population replenishment up to that point – had largely disappeared.
A s Bob Freedman, the former CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg (and its predecessor, the Winnipeg Jewish Community Council), noted in his remarks at the 25th anniversary party, by 1986, community leaders recognized that ours was an aging and shrinking community with aging infrastructure.
“We recognized that something had to be done,” he recalled.
The first stage, he pointed out, was the planning and construction of the Asper Campus, which brought our major institutions and organizations under one roof in an attractive new building.
The next challenge was to attract more people to our community. GrowWinnipeg was created to take on the challenge. GrowWinnipeg is unique in its efforts to reach out to young Jewish families throughout the Western world .
The genesis was a chance meeting on an airplane almost 30 years ago between former Manitoba Lieutenant-Governor Janice Filmon – at that time the wife of then-Manitoba premier Gary Filmon, and a Jewish businessman from Argentina who was contemplating moving to Toronto. Filmon persuaded him to consider Winnipeg instead. He was impressed by what he saw and suggested that the community send representatives to Buenos Aires to meet with other Argentinian Jewish families who were considering leaving.
That planted the seed.
Shortly thereafter – in 1998 – Larry Hurtig – then the president of the Federation, his son, Jack, and a representative of the provincial government, made an exploratory visit to Buenos Aires to gauge what interest there might be among young Jewish families to consider moving to Winnipeg.
GrowWinnipeg was officially launched in 2000. Our community opened its arms in welcome to the new arrivals who began to arrive, hosting them in our homes and helping them become acclimatized to their new surroundings.
Evelyn Hecht became the principal contact for the newcomers. “I was lucky that I happened to be working for the Federation when we opened the campus and turned our energies to repopulating our community,” Hecht noted in her remarks at the recent celebration. “Fortunately, the pieces fell into place at just the right time.”
Those pieces, Hecht related, included: the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program – which allowed community support groups to recruit specific immigrants; the arrival of a small number of Jewish families from Buenos Aires who encouraged community leaders to look to their former home as a potential source of Jewish immigrants; and the availability of email and the internet.
The initiative – led by Hecht – recruited a group of local Jewish families who were prepared to host potential immigrants who had begun to come for exploratory visits. The connections made by the new arrivals and their local hosts resulted in many long–lasting friendships, Hccht noted.
She praised Jewish Child and Family Service for helping the new arrivals to become established here and integrate into the community.
Efforts were also made to build a data basis of potential employers for the newcomers.
GrowWinnpeg was kicked off by two visits to Buenos Aires – visits Hecht describes as “exciting and exhausting” – in the early 2000s, when Hecht and other Winnipeg representatives met with potential immigrants and heard their concerns about life and personal safety in Argentina and hopes for the future that Winnipeg might be able to give them.
“I remember,” she said, “the numerous meeting I held in my office on the third floor here listening to people’s excitement and concerns and answering questions about life in Winnipeg, our Jewish identity, schools, synagogues, employment, housing and especially, safety. I always emphasized that they would encounter struggles, disappointment and possibly, crises – but I assured them that we would be here to help.
“And I remember feeling so much happiness when people would show up at my door to share good news about babies born, bar and bat mitzvahs, graduations and new jobs – and the numerous times I was in Citizen Court where so many were so proud to receive their citizenship certificates. “
And they are still coming. Dalia Szpiro, Hecht’s successor, reports that, over the past 25 years just under 7,000 people have come here under the aegis of GrowWinnipeg – and not just from Argentina. We have had families from Brazil, Uruguay and other South American countries, Mexico, Europe, and, in more recent years, especially from Israel.
For former Israelis I spoke with on the 25th, such as Slava and Karina Pustilnikov, Irena Oz and Marina Shapiro and her 19-year-old son, Adam, all of whom have been here for 10 to 15 years, the primary motivation was being in a safer environment.
For Ori Rahima and his wife, Anna Shapiro, who have been here for seven years and have three children under six, the pull was greater opportunity and a better standard of living.
Then there is Esther Barna, a teacher by training, newly arrived from Budapest. “Hungary is not a good place to be a Jew,” she says. “There is a lot of antisemitism. I was looking online for a better place to go and came across the GrowWinnipeg website. I love it here.”
In her concluding remarks, Dalia Szpiro, herself an immigrant from Uruguay about 20 years ago, thanked the many Jewish organizations and individuals in the community who have helped to make GrowWinnipeg the success that it is.
“Over 250 volunteers each year meet with our exploratory visitors – opening their homes, their hearts, their time, their insights and their networks,” she noted. “There is something very special about our community and our province. Every exploratory visitor who comes here as part of their immigration journey discovers it.
“This 25-year milestone is a reason for pride and celebration – and a renewed commitment to the future. We are already working on new strategies – to strengthen what we have built, support immigration, foster inclusion and create more opportunities for newcomers to grow and prosper.”