Local News
Harvey Pollock was dedicated to the law
By BERNIE BELLAN and MYRON LOVE On Sunday, February 5, Harvey Pollock passed away suddenly. Much has already been written and said about his long and illustrious career as a lawyer for over 65 years, also his legendary talent as a whistler. In November 2017 Myron Love wrote an article describing how Harvey Pollock, who had been practicing law for 60 years to that point, had been joined in the practice by two other generations of Pollocks: Harvey’s son Martin, and his grandsons, Ethan Pollock and Noah Globerman.
There have been many great lawyers in our Winnipeg Jewish community over the years, Harvey Pollock among them. But one line in Myron’s story five years ago always stuck with me – the last line of the story: “There were 43 students in my graduating class,” Harvey said. “I am the only one from that class still practicing law.”
In fact, Harvey went on to practice another five years before his untimely death. His story bears repeating.
Here is Harvey Pollock’s story, as Myron wrote it five years ago:
”Harvey Pollock was born the fourth child of Sam and Sliva Pollock, who came from Russia to join family in 1927. Harvey recalls that when he was called to the Bar in 1958, the practice of law was much different than it is today.
“Back then,” he recalls, “judges knew you. Relationships were built on integrity and respect. Your word counted. I enjoyed a healthy relationship with the court.
He remembers his first murder case – which ended in rather dramatic fashion. “The Crown’s chief witness confessed to the murder under cross examination,” he recounts.
For the first couple of years, Pollock received a lot of work from the Children’s Aid Society of Winnipeg. In 1960, he went to work for Hart Green, Q.C.
“After a year, I realized I wasn’t happy doing commercial work,” he says. “And I wanted to be on my own. I went into the Childs Building (which used to be on the corner of Portage and Main) to look for office space to rent. In the elevator, I ran into Montague Israels (Q.C.). He knew me because I was a friend of his daughter, Hester (Kroft). He offered me a desk in his office and told me that I could pay rent once I started making a little money.”
At the time, Pollock was married with two young children at home.
“For two years, Mr. Israel was my mentor,” Pollock says. “I had a wonderful time and learned a lot from him about how to be a lawyer.”
Shortly after moving into his own office, he received a phone call from the secretary of the Law Society of Manitoba who was calling to ask Harvey if he would consider driving out to Portage la Prairie to help out Izzy Greenberg, Q.C., a lawyer in Portage who needed to take a leave for health reason.
“I met with Izzy and agreed to go to Portage a couple of weeks to help,” Pollock says. “After he got better, he asked me to help him out for a couple more months. He handled a great variety of cases. Izzy continued to act as counsel for the Greenberg firm until 1982.”
During this time, Harvey forged a strong relationship with the Aboriginal community of Manitoba. He was appointed honorary chief of all the bands in 1971.
He was appointed a Queens’ Counsel in 1970.
For the first part of his career, Pollock took on a number of murder cases. He stopped doing murder cases in 1992 after his son, Nathan, was killed by a drunk driver.
Pollock notes that he has had several illustrious lawyers among the many who have articled with him. They include Jack London, OC, Q.C., who later became Dean of the Faculty of Law, as well as Marvin Garfinkel, Arnold Conner, Brenda Keyser, and Robert Doyle – all of whom who were later appointed to the Bench.
“There were 43 students in my graduating class,” he says. “I am the only one from that class still practicing law.”
Local News
Thank you to the community from the Chesed Shel Emes
We’re delighted to share a major milestone in our Capital Campaign, “Building on our Tradition.” Launched in November 2018, this campaign aimed to replace our outdated facility with a modern space tailored to our unique needs. Our new building is designed with ritual at its core, featuring ample preparation space, Shomer space, and storage, creating a warm and welcoming environment for our community during times of need.
We’re grateful to the nearly 1,000 generous donors who contributed over $4 million towards our new facility. A $750,000 mortgage will be retired in November 2025, completing this monumental project in just seven years.
We’re also thrilled to announce that our Chesed Shel Emes Endowment Fund has grown tenfold, from $15,000 to $150,000, thanks to you, the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba’s FundMatch program, and Million Dollar Match initiative in 2024. Our fund helps ensure that everyone can have a dignified Jewish funeral regardless of financial need.
As we look to the future, our goal remains to ensure the Chevra Kadisha continues to serve our community for generations to come. Our focus now shifts to replenishing our savings account and growing our JFM Endowment fund.
We’re deeply grateful for your support over the past several years.
It’s our privilege to serve our community with care and compassion.
With sincere appreciation,
Campaign cabinet: Hillel Kravetsky, Gerry Pritchard, Stuart Pudavick,
Jack Solomon, and Rena Boroditsky
Murray S. Greenfield, President
Local News
Winnipeg Beach Synagogue about to celebrate 75th anniversary
By BERNIE BELLAN (July 13) In 1950 a group of cottage owners at Winnipeg Beach took it upon themselves to relocate a one-room schoolhouse that was in the Beausejour area to Winnipeg Beach where it became the beach synagogue at the corner of Hazel and Grove.
There it stayed until 1998 when it was moved to its current location at Camp Massad.
On August 2nd members of the synagogue will be holding a 75th anniversary celebration.
As part of the celebration anyone who is a descendant or relative of any of the original members of the first executive committee (as seen in the photo here) is invited to attend the synagogue that morning.
If you are a relative please contact Abe Borzykowski at wpgbeachshule@shaw.ca or aborzykowski@shaw.ca to let Abe know you might be attending or for more information about the 75th anniversary celebration.
We will soon be publishing a story about the history of the beach synagogue, which is something I’ve been writing about for over 25 years.
Local News
Vickar Family cuts ribbon on new Tova Vickar and Family Childcare Centre
By MYRON LOVE In the words of Larry Vickar, the Shaarey Zedek’s successful Dor V’ Dor Campaign “is not only a renewal of the synagogue but truly a renewal movement of Jewish life in our community.”An integral part of that renewal movement was the creation of a daycare centre within the expanded synagogue. On Monday, June 23, Larry and Tova Vickar cut the ribbon, thereby officially opening the Tova Vickar and Family Childcare Centre in the presence of 100 of their family members, friends and other supporters of the project.
The short program preceding the morning ribbon-cutting began with a continental breakfast followed by a welcome by both Fanny Levy, Shaarey Zedek’s Board President, and Executive Director Dr. Rena Secter Elbaze. In Elbaze’s remarks, she noted that Larry and Tova wanted their family (including son Stephen and family, who flew in from Florida) and friends at the event to celebrate the opening of the Tova Vickar and Family Childcare Centre, “not because of the accolades, but because, as Larry put it, he hopes that their investment in the congregation will inspire others to do the same.”
“When Larry and I spoke about what this gift meant to him and the message he wanted people to take away,” she continued, “I couldn’t help but connect it to the teachings of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi whose book – Age-ing to Sage-ing – changes the whole way we look at the concept of ageing and basing it on our ancestral teachings.”
She explained that his concept of “Sage-ing” is based on three key ideas – Discover your meaning and purpose; accept our mortality and think about the legacy you want to leave.
“Larry spoke about these exact concepts when we met,” she said.
Elbaze also noted the presence of Shaarey Zedek’s newly-arrived senior Rabbi Carnie Rose, former Rabbi Alan Green, and area MLAs Mike Moroz and Carla Compton.
Larry Vickar expressed his great appreciation for all those in attendance. “Tova and I are deeply moved to stand here with you today for this important milestone in our community”, he said. “We are grateful to be surrounded by all of you, the people we care about, our family and friends… you who have touched our lives and played some part in our journey.”