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Harvey Chochinov, Steven Kroft recognized with Distinguished Alumni Awards at University of Manitoba Homecoming 2024 celebrations 

Steve Kroft/Harvey Chochinov

By MYRON LOVE  Every year, as part of Homecoming Week celebrations, the University of Manitoba recognizes a group of alumni who have distinguished themselves in their life’s work. Among the honorees this year were two members of our Jewish community.  In a presentation on Thursday, September 19, Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov was recognized with the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award for Academic Innovation while Steve Kroft was honoured for Lifetime Achievement.
 
“This is a tremendous honour,” said Kroft, the president of Conviron, a Winnipeg-based company founded by his father that makes controlled environments, providing researchers and entrepreneurs the ability to grow plants indoors.  “I feel humbled. 
“At the same time, I am somewhat uncomfortable.  For everything that I have accomplished, I have had the help of so many other, good people.
“I am grateful, though, for this honour.”
 
Dr. Chochinov reiterated those same feelings.  “I am humbled,” he said.  “It is gratifying to be recognized by one’s peers.”
 
For the long-time psychiatrist, September also brought him a second highlight. A week after receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award, he was in Maastricht in the Netherlands to accept the Arthur M. Sutherland Award bestowed annually by the International Psycho-Oncology Society for lifetime achievement in the field of psycho-oncology. He is the only psychiatrist in Canadian ever to have received the Sutherland award.
The son of Dave and the late Shirley Chochinov, Harvey is a 1983 graduate of the University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine. After finishing psychiatry residency, he went on to complete his doctoral studies in the Faculty of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba.
It was during his training in psychiatry, he recalled, that he was drawn to the role of psychiatry in palliative care. In furthering his training in that field, he became the first Canadian to complete a Fellowship in Psychiatric Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York.
 Chochinov is now a Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the Max Rady School of Medicine, where he has been on faculty for more than 30 years.  In addition to his local teaching and research, he has given over 500 invited lectures during the course of his career, in most major academic institutions worldwide.
 
The first psychiatrist to be awarded a Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care, Chochinov’s focus throughout most of his career has been finding ways to help healthcare professionals preserve patients’ dignity and to acknowledge their personhood. As an example, he cited a situation with his late sister, Ellen.  Ellen, he pointed out, was born with cerebral palsy.  Five years before she died, he recalled, she was admitted to ICU facing acute respiratory collapse and intubation was being considered. 
 
“The internist came up to me and asked me one question – the only question related to her personhood,” he recounted.  “He asked if she read magazines.  I understood that question to mean if it was worth inserting a breathing tube.  Her internist could see her bent spine, her spastic limbs, her dropping blood gases; but what he couldn’t see was Ellen and the rich, full, complex life she lived.  I took a deep breath and replied, ‘Yes, she can read magazines – but only when only when she is between novels.”
 
The danger for health care professionals is losing sight of the person, he observes.  He cited a conversation with a nephrology nurse, who conceded that, after a while, she looked at patients as “kidneys on legs, not as whole persons.”  Chochinov said that kind of attitude interferes with being able to empathize with patients or to feel compassion.
 
“Patients won’t care what you know, until they know that you care,” he continued. “Patient care must be based on whatever ailment they have, along with who they are as whole persons.  Healthcare providers who can’t do that become more mechanical or robotic in their approach, and often less satisfied with their job over time, placing them at higher risk for burnout.”
He added that patients look towards healthcare providers for affirmation of themselves. “If they sense a healthcare provider can only see their illness, then patienthood will have eclipsed personhood; and that the essence of who they are as a person has fallen off the clinician’s radar.”
 “We must ask patients what they want known about themselves as persons in order to provide the best care possible,” he said.  “Without knowing who people are and the nature of their suffering, a commitment to person-centred care is only lip service.”
“In times of sickness and vulnerability, will all want and deserve not only health care, but health caring.”
 
In the speech when he accepted his Lifetime Achievement Award, 57-year-old Steve Kroft observed that he has always associated “lifetime achievement awards” with the Oscars, “when they wheel out a 96 year-old director, who is well past his prime, to recognize his work, decades after his last movie and just before he appears in the In Memoriam video segment.  So, while it is incredibly humbling to be recognized in this way, and so meaningful that it is by my alma mater, I prefer to think of this as a “lifetime so far” achievement award, because I still have lots in the tank, and have lots more to do.”
A lawyer by training, the son of Senator Richard and Hillaine  Kroft – following the example of his parents, has written a notable resumé for community service.  Among the many organizations that he has been involved with are:  the Assiniboine Park Conservancy, the United Way of Winnipeg, the Business Council of Manitoba. CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, the University of Manitoba’s Advisory Council, the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, the Asper Community Campus board, the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg and the Prairie Theatre Exchange. He is currently National Vice Chair of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and a member of the Board of Directors of the True North Youth Foundation, where he also serves as Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee.
Two years ago, he was awarded the Sol Kanee Distinguished Community Service Medal, the highest honour bestowed on a member of Manitoba’s Jewish Community.
In his speech to students, alumni,  professors and community leaders  on September 19, Kroft courageously tackled the curse of cancel culture at many universities over the past few years.
 “One of the things on my list of possibilities since we sold our business two years ago,” he noted, “was to enrol in a university class or two. But I have wondered whether today’s university campus is one on which I could flourish, or even feel completely comfortable. And it’s this issue that I’d like to spend my last few minutes at the podium speaking about this evening.”
He reminisced about his university days when students and faculty would debate all kinds of issues. “Our classes were as diverse then as they are now,” he remembered.  “We would take our best crack at making our case, and then listen to others make their arguments, and try to convince them why they were wrong. Quite often we would each move a little in our thinking, but when we didn’t, we would agree to disagree and then we’d go – often together – for a beer. Discourse was civil and respectful. And perhaps most importantly, we felt free to say what we wanted to say without fear of being ostracized – or as one would say today – of being cancelled.
“Somewhere along the way,” he pointed out. “Campuses across North America have come to be made up of not a collection of independent thinking individuals, but rather a collection of groups by which individuals identify themselves and by which they identify others. These groups are often based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, but also on things like the perceived haves and have nots. Too often today, positions are presented, or worse yet, assumed, as group positions, and there is little or no interest in discussion or debate. If one is not part of the group, their views are just deemed to be wrong, or out of touch, with little or no exchange of dialogue or ideas. And worse yet, in too many cases, the declaration is not merely that one position is without merit, but that those who hold that different viewpoint are being hurtful or offensive.”
 He noted that he has spent a significant part of his life working with others to help people from diverse backgrounds in their quests to make their lives a little better. “I have the utmost respect for those whose instincts are to protect individuals who have traditionally been misrepresented, under-represented or mistreated,” he said.
“But, at the same time, we have to recognize that this “groupification,” and the over-implementation of policies to guard against potential discomfort caused to any group can and is having unintended consequences, and this is especially the case on university campuses. Well-meaning people have become reluctant or outright scared to ask questions, challenge opinions or even use the wrong word, for fear of being cancelled or worse. Being criticized by one individual is one thing, but to be under intense fire from an entire group is quite another.
“We need to restore an environment in which competing ideas can be debated openly and respectfully but, at the same time, I want to be clear that under no circumstances is there a place for hate or intimidation on campus.”
We need to restore an environment in which competing ideas can be debated openly and respectfully, but at the same time I want to be clear that under no circumstances is there a place for hate or intimidation on campus. I am a strong believer in freedom of speech and academic freedom. And it is on university campuses where such speech rightly belongs. However, when people occupy a space without permission or hijack an event to denigrate, threaten or denounce a group because of their race, religion or sexual orientation – whether that be at a university quad or during a valedictory address, university administrators must act and perpetrators must be held to account. The distinction between free speech based on facts, and hateful and intimidating speech based on lies, is not as blurry as some make it out to be. It is incumbent on our administrators and our security services to make those distinctions quickly and decisively. A university campus should be a place where we can challenge ideas and policies without attacking people for who they are.”
In concluding, he asked his audience to take his message as a positive one,  “I truly believe,” he stated, “that we are uniquely positioned at the University of Manitoba – because of the diversity within our province -to lead other universities in finding the right balance between open dialogue and respect. We are Winnipeggers and Manitobans after all. Every successful project we have taken on in this city and province, has succeeded because we have tackled it together. Whether it’s a museum, a university capital campaign, a new concert hall on campus; or a new cancer research institute, an addictions centre or a camp for underserved youth, we are always determined to do it better than anyone else has done it, anywhere. Our greatest achievements have come by bringing people of different backgrounds and circumstances together toward a common goal.” 

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Young Winnipegger Dr. Yale Michaels receives $550,000 Canadian Cancer Society research grant

By MYRON LOVE It has been shown on many occasions that a teacher can have an outsized role in shaping a young person’s life.  Dr. Yale Michaels’ life story is one example.
During a recent interview with the young cancer researcher – the son of John Michaels and Karen Stern – Yale recounted how a Grade 7 teacher at Grant Park High School was largely responsible for his decision to pursue a medical career in medicine.
The young Michaels attended Brock Corydon Elementary School and was a long time Massad camper.  In junior high school at Grant Park, however, he recounts, “I was having a tough time staying on task. Thankfully, my Grade 7 science teacher suggested that I might find it interesting volunteering to help in a cancer research lab.  He had a contact and got me in.  I loved it. It was a good fit for me.  I never looked back.”
Michaels (whose zaida, Leon Michaels, was a leading cardiologist here) spent much of his free time during his high school years volunteering in the lab.  After graduation, he enrolled in Harvard –with help from the university’s financial aid program – where he earned his Bachelor’s degree.   He followed that up with a Ph.D. from Oxford in 2019, followed by three years as a  post-doctoral Fellow – before returning to Winnipeg in 2023 to work at Cancer Care Manitoba, as well as teach at the University of Manitoba.
“I enjoyed my time both at Harvard and Oxford,” he says.  “What made England even more enjoyable is that Yale has family there. His grandparents – Leon and Joan Michaels – were born and raised in London and Yale’s time there overlapped for a few months with his brother Jamie (about whom there was a story in a July issue of the Post), who  earned his Master’s Degree in Creative Writing at the University of London.  
This past June, the young researcher learned that he was to be the recipient of a $550,000 Canadian Cancer Society Emerging Scholar Research Grant, covering five years of research.
Michaels’ field of research focuses on new ways of combating blood cancers – specifically in the new area of immunotherapy.   He is being aided in his research by lab tech Dana Segal and graduate student Serena Dembowksi.
Michaels adds that he is collaborating with a number of other researchers from Winnipeg – and throughout Canada, including Drs. Harinad Maganti, David Szwajcer, Jody Haigh, Versha Banerji, and David Knapp. 
 Using the patient’s own immune cells – specifically CAR T cells -to treat blood cancers was first approved in 2017, Michaelsreports.  “The treatment has shown itself to be really successful.  Many patients go into remission and some may have the potential to be cured.”
One of the drawbacks, he explains, is that the treatment is prohibitively expensive.  Each dose costs about $500,000 U.S.
“What we are trying to do in my lab and elsewhere is find a way to greatly reduce the cost,” he explains.  “It becomes a matter of scale.  Other drugs used in treating cancer can be produced in amounts of 1,000 doses per production run.  But right now CAR T therapy is made on a one-off basis with an individual manufacturing run for each patient. We are attempting to instead make CAR T cells from stem cells – which can be grown in large quantities. We are trying to use genetic engineering  to manipulate them so that they can be administered safely to patients.
“We (Michaels and fellow researchers) are making good progress in this area,” he adds.
He cautions that the research is still in the formative stages and that clinical trials are still several  years away.  “Our research so far though has shown that our treatment would seem to be effective at killing cancer cells,” he reports.  “This grant from the Canadian Cancer Society will help us to further that research.”
Outside of work, Michaels notes, much of his time is spent with his family – Dr. Allison Marmel and their two-year-old daughter, Rose.
(Ed. note: We should note that Yale Michaels was also the punter for the Harvard University football team – by far his greatest achievement.)

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Rabbi Kliel Rose, Etz Chayim’s spiritual leader, taking a new position in Ottawa

By MYRON LOVE It is with mixed feelings that Rabbi Kliel Rose, the spiritual leader of Congregation Etz Chayim for the past eight years, is once again leaving the community in which he grew up. Immediately after Yom Kippur, he, his wife, Dorit Kosmin, and three of their five children are moving to Ottawa, where Rabbi Rose is to become the spiritual leader of Congregation Kehillat Beth Israel (popularly known as KBI).
“My time in Winnipeg has been wonderful,” Rabbi Rose says. “It has been a privilege to have served as Etz Chayim’s rabbi and be part of the Jewish community here. Our Jewish community has a sense of solidarity that is unlike any other Jewish community in North America.”
He wasn’t actually looking to leave, Rabbi Rose explains. “Last spring, I was just having a cursory look at postings for Conservative rabbis and KBI stood out. What attracted me was not simply the opportunity to serve a larger congregation, but the chance to lead a community with such a rich history and such a strong commitment to egalitarian Conservative Judaism, Jewish learning, inclusion and community engagement. KBI is a relatively young congregation that brings together more than a century of Jewish history in Ottawa, and I was very drawn to the opportunity to help shape its next chapter.”
KBI, Rabbi Rose reports, was created in July 2016 through the amalgamation of two long-standing and storied Ottawa congregations: Agudath Israel and Congregation Beth Shalom. The merger brought together the rich traditions of both communities to create a modern, egalitarian Conservative congregation. Today, KBI is the largest Jewish congregation in Ottawa, serving more than 500 families, with a strong emphasis on Jewish learning, inclusion, community engagement and youth and family programming.
“There is a tremendous amount of energy and possibility at KBI,” Rabbi Rose says. “It is a community with deep roots, but also a very strong desire to think about what Jewish life should look like in the future. That is exciting to me as a rabbi.”
As with many rabbis, Kliel Rose’s career path has been a long and winding road. The son of the revered Carol and Rabbi Neal Rose, he first left Winnipeg after graduating from Grant Park High School.
In an interview with the Jewish Post & News in 2018, shortly after he returned here to serve Congregation Etz Chayim, Rabbi Rose credited his parents with being tremendous role models. “They are a dynamic team,” he commented, “but they never pushed any of us (Kliel Rose is the middle child in a family of four brothers and one sister) in any particular direction. They were really nurturing. They were okay with anything we decided as long as we were passionate about it.”
For the longest time as a young man, he noted, he fought against going into “the family business”. But, he said, working in Jewish summer camps, people in leadership positions in the camps saw something in him and convinced him to pursue rabbinic ordination.
Thus, after graduating with a Judaic Studies degree from Gratz College in Philadelphia, Kliel Rose enrolled in the Jewish Theological Seminary.
He noted that the most important piece of advice his father gave him before he enrolled in a rabbinic studies program was the suggestion that he should work for a time in a large congregation to see what it is like – “both the joy and the underbelly,” as he put it.
“I took his advice,” Rabbi Rose said. “For two years, I worked under the umbrella of a special fellowship at Bnai Jeshurun Congregation in Manhattan. The congregation had 4,000 members at that time. It had been a dying congregation which had been revitalized by Rabbi Marshall Meyer, who had previously helped revive Jewish life in Argentina. Rabbi Meyer, with his vision of social justice, was an inspiration for me.”
Rabbi Rose also spent a year at an Orthodox yeshiva in Israel and a couple of years as a youth director at a large Conservative congregation on Long Island.
Before coming to Winnipeg, Rabbi Rose served congregations in Miami Beach (for three years), Nashville (for five years), and Edmonton (for five years).
The past eight years at Etz Chayim have certainly brought their share of challenges, but Rabbi Rose says they have also been deeply meaningful. Just two years after arriving, the COVID pandemic transformed congregational life. Then there was the congregation’s decision to sell its 70-year-old building on Matheson Avenue and move to a smaller facility in south Winnipeg – a process that was completed just over two years ago.
“It has been really challenging these past few years,” he recounts. “It was difficult leaving behind our old building with so much history. But I think Etz Chayim made the right decision, and I am proud of how our community came together to navigate these challenges and build a new future for the congregation.”
Rabbi Rose says he is particularly grateful for the relationships he has built during his eight years at Etz Chayim and throughout Winnipeg’s Jewish community. “There have been so many meaningful relationships and experiences during my time here. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve this community and to have been part of Etz Chayim’s story during such an important period of transition.”
“I’m leaving with an enormous amount of gratitude,” he adds. “Etz Chayim has given me the opportunity to grow as a rabbi and as a leader, and I hope that I have been able to contribute something meaningful to the congregation and to the wider Winnipeg Jewish community in return.”
Another factor that made Rabbi Rose’s decision to leave difficult is that his parents moved back here two years ago and his older brother, Carnie, returned about 18 months ago to become Shaarey Zedek’s senior rabbi.
“It has been wonderful having my parents and brother here,” Kliel says. “This has been the first time that my children have had grandparents and an uncle and aunt in the same city.”
The Rose family will also miss the many friendships and connections they have made in Winnipeg.

Dorit Kosmin (& Elula)

Our community will also miss Kliel’s wife, Dorit. “My wife is a talented and caring individual who has worked in different areas of the community,” he notes. “Most recently, she was working in spiritual care at the Simkin Centre. She has made a tremendous contribution to the community and will certainly be missed.”
For Rabbi Rose, the decision to leave Winnipeg is less about leaving something behind than about embracing a new opportunity. After eight years of helping Etz Chayim navigate a period of profound change, he says he feels ready to take on a new leadership challenge while carrying with him the lessons and relationships he has gained here.
The Rose family will be leaving two days after Yom Kippur. Kliel reports that they have sold their house and have just a few things to wind up.

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Temple Shalom, Etz Chayim Yom Tov Services to be Held in Different Locations this Fall

By MYR0N LOVE In 2025, one of the most interesting aspects of Yom Tov in Winnipeg was the official debut of new rabbis Carnie Rose and Myriam Saitman, at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue and Temple Shalom respectively – also the imminent departure of Rabbi Yossi Benarroch, since 2016 the Adas Yeshrun Herzlia congregation’s spiritual leader.
This year, The Jewish Post’s pre-Yom Tov story has a different focus. Due to water damage caused by heavy rain in June (see story in previous issue of The Jewish Post) Temple Shalom’s congregation has had to move out of their building until renovations are complete and will be holding Yom Tov services at the Berney Theatre. Also, Congregation Etz Chayim will be returning to its building on Wilkes for Yom Tov after holding services in a larger facility last year and having Yom Kippur services at a Holiday Inn the year before.
 
“This year,” says Morissa Granove, Congregation Etz Chayim’s COO, “we are very happy to be bringing the High Holy Days home to 1155 Wilkes Avenue.  We will be hosting two services each day and have had an overwhelming response to our ticket sales.  Our daytime morning services have already sold out, and we expect to have a full house at each of our services this year. We are excited for everything to come.”.
 
It was about two-and-a-half years ago that Etz Chayim members relocated to Wilkes from their 70-year-old building on Matheson in the North End.  Granove reported last year that the move south has “proven to be a great success in many ways.  Operational expenses are greatly reduced in the newer and more efficient space, and our congregation is seeing an increase in attendance at services, programs, and events due to their new, convenient location”.
 
 Etz Chayim’s services’ will be led once again by Rabbi Kliel Rose (see related story about his departure for Ottawa immediately after Yom Kippur) and Cantor Tracy Kasner, while newly anointed Cantor Kevin McIntyre will be reading the Torah.  There will also be a youth and family service with activities for kids of all ages.
For further information about Etz Chayim’s High holiday services, phone 204 589-6305 or email info@etzchayim.ca.
 
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, our community’s oldest and largest synagogue, would like to invite members of the community to join and experience “a season of Unity, Enlightenment, Invigoration, and Renewal with services in the Sanctuary,” says Dr. Rena Secter Elbaze, the congregation’s executive director.
“We anticipate that our services – featuring Senior Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose, Rabbi Anibal Mass, and Cantor Leslie Emery – accompanied by the Shaarey Zedek Quartet and Ruach Choir with piano accompaniment – will be spiritually uplifting,” Elbaze says.
“Due to high demand, we are also delighted to offer two Family Services for Young Families, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, in the Tova Vickar Family Childcare Centre. These engaging services will be led by Rabbi Anibal Mass, with support from our Youth Band, Shinshinim – Israeli Youth Ambassadors, and dedicated volunteers.”
 
Looking back over the past year, Elbaze reports that Shabbat morning and weekday services have been attracting “a widening circle for prayer, learning, and breaking bread under the leadership of our dedicated clergy team”.
“Our Tova Vickar and Family Childcare Centre is fully operational,” she continues, “and is already recognized provincially for achievement and excellence and connecting childcare families to synagogue life.”
 
She adds that the congregation’s membership base is growing, with 98 families/ households having joined since July of last year – including new members and those who have re-joined – for a total of 228 people of all ages.
 
As well, she notes, the congregation’s sisterhood and the Hebros Men’s Group are thriving, drawing a broad demographic of participants seeking Jewish learning, camaraderie, and connection. As well, Elbaze adds, the Young Adult Group is engaging in synagogue life and gathering regularly for Shabbat dinners and Jewish holiday celebrations.
 
“Our Israeli Youth Ambassador program, the Shinshinim, is infusing youth programming with dynamism, creativity, and a meaningful connection to Israel” she points out.
 
Readers who want to contact the Shaarey Zedek about Yom Tov tickets can call the office at 204 452-3711 or email Rena at rena@szwinnipeg.ca.
 
 As mentioned above, Temple Shalom will be holding High Holy Day services in the Berney Theatre at the Asper Campus. Rabbi Myriam Saitman, who received her ordination last year, noted in last year’s Jeiwsh Post pre-Yom Tov story, “We are looking forward to 10 days of introspection focused on teshuva and we invite our congregation to experience the message, the spirituality, the music, and the poetry of the High Holidays”.
Temple Shalom High Holiday services will, once again, be led by Rabbi Saitman, along with Cantorial Soloist David Vamos – accompanied by the Temple choir led by Janet Pelletier Goetze. 
For further information about Temple Shalom’s Yom Tov services, phone 204-453-1625 or email tshalom1@gmail.com.  
 
South end Winnipeg further offers a fourth liberal Jewish option in the form of Rabbi Matthew Leibl’s “Services on the River: A Modern High Holy Days”. This is the fourth year that Rabbi Leibl will be leading his own services at The Gates on Roblin.
Services will be on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, September 13, starting at 10:00 A.M., while the Kol Nidre service will be on September 20 at 6:00 P.M., with the Yom Kippur service the following morning at 10:00 A.M. Rabbi Leibl will again be joined by the husband-and-wife cantorial team of Justin Odwak and Sarah Sommer, leaders of the SOTR Quartet. New this year will be The Shofar Club Kids Program, led by Halley Ritter for children ages 4-12. 
For tickets, email support@tobatickets.ca, or call (during office hours) 204-934-7564.

South Winnipeg’s orthodox options are the Adas Yeshurun Herzlia and the Lubavitch Centre. High Holy Day services at Adas Yeshurun will be led by Rabbi Yossi Benarroch – with Aden Benarroch serving as Chazzan Sheini. Adas Yeshurun has approximately 100 membership units and can comfortably accommodate 250 worshippers.  Please call the synagogue office – at 204 489-6262. to confirm attendance before September 9.

The Lubavitch Centre has a capacity of between 200 and 300.  There is no charge for davening at Chabad, nor do you have to register in advance.
 
Still with south Winnipeg – The Simkin Centre offers one more High Holy Day option. Services are all held in their multi-purpose room. Family members can join but priority seating is reserved for residents.  Steven Hyman will lead the services along with the Simkin Centre Choir, directed by Bonnie Antel.
If you have any questions, contact Rabbi Matthew Leibl or Heather Blackman, Manager of Resident Experience, either by phone 204 589-9008 or email heather.blackman@simkincentre.ca, so that she knows how many to plan for.

In the North End, High Holiday service options are more limited. The Chevra Mishnayes in Garden City offers an egalitarian service.  Synagogue president Rob Waldman reports that about 100 attended services last year and that he is expecting about the same this year. Services will be led by Al Benarroch. For further information phone the office at 204-338-8503.

Both the venerable House of Ashkenazi, the last of our community’s older-style Orthodox congregations, and the Chavurat Tefila Talmud Torah offer Orthodox services- with each attracting about 30 to 40 daveners for the High Holy Days.  The latter will have Avi Posen back again to lead services while long time Cantor Adi Stoller will be back for another Yom Tov at the Ashkenazi. 

While Camp Massad has also long offered a modified Yom Tov service, the camp at Sandy Hook will bel closed for Yom Tov this year while renovations are underway.

Yom Tov this year begins on Friday, September 11, in the evening.
Wishing all readers a sweet new year.

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