Local News
Higher costs for burial for non-synagogue members continue to be the norm in western Canada
By MYRON LOVE A few weeks ago, I contacted the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue on behalf of a friend to inquire as to the cost of his funeral when the time comes (which hopefully is still quite a ways off). The quote I received was $16,000. That would include the plot, the Chevra Kadishe fees (for proper Halachic preparation of the body), transportation, digging the grave and perpetual care.
Now while this would appear to be a rather large chunk of change, the numbers are similar to those of Congregation Etz Chayim (which manages our community’s other three cemeteries – the Hebrew Sick, Rosh Pina and Bnay Abraham) and Beth Tzedec Congregation, which operates one of Calgary’s two Jewish cemeteries. (The rabbi’s or cantor’s fee there is an extra $500.)
I would point out that those numbers are not a great deal higher than were reported in this paper ten years ago, when this writer last surveyed the cost of Jewish funerals across Canada. At that time, the top figure at Etz Chayim was just over $13,000.
What hasn’t changed is that the top line numbers apply to non-members of the synagogues – and that goes for most of the congregational-run cemeteries in the Prairie provinces. At Etz Chayim, for example, members pay $11,000 (as compared to about $8,500 in 2011). Shaarey Zedek members pay $12,000.
(We asked Rena Boroditsky, Executive Director of the Chesed Shel Emes, what happens in cases of an indigent individual. She responded: “SZ, Etz Chayim & Chesed absorb the cost of those without means , there’s a wide range of circumstances. The last several years Chesed has waived all or part of about 5 funerals per year. I’m sure the cemeteries have subsidized far more than that.”
At Calgary’s Beth Tzedec, members pay about $3,000 less. As well, the Calgary congregation has a “plot plan” whereby members in good standing who have been dues-paying members since the 1980s have the price of their plot waived – saving another $3,000.
Now, there is a considerably less expensive alternative in Calgary for members of the Jewish community who are either members of the city’s other four synagogues or are unaffiliated. That would be the 37th Street communal cemetery, which is operated by the city’s century-old Chevra Kadisha.
Former Winnipegger Rick Pollick is the executive director of the Calgary Chevra Kadisha. He reports that the 37 Street cemetery was opened about a dozen years ago. Each of the four congregations has a designated section.
“We have one price ($5,000) – all-inclusive – for everyone,” he says.
Winnipeg also has a less expensive alternative for Jewish burial. That would be Temple Shalom’s Beth Chaim Mikdash Shalom – which is located in a designated area in the midst of Chapel Lawn Cemetery in Headingly – although – as with Etz Chayim and Temple Shalom – there is also separate pricing for members and non-members. Members pay about $3,600, which includes the plot, the funeral shroud, the social hall rental and administrative fee. For a Temple member’s immediate family (parents or children) who are not members, the total maximum price is about $5,500. Non-members pay an additional $1,000.
Perhaps not surprisingly, smaller Jewish communities on the Prairies have lower burial fees. In Edmonton, for example, the Chervra Kadisha operates the one century-old cemetery and charges an all-inclusive $10,000 fee (plus GST) for all burials.
According to a report in the Alberta Jewish News last December, the current six-acre cemetery is running short of space. As a result, the Chevra Kadisha has plans to open a new cemetery – on 30 acres – next spring.
Chevra Kadisha President Rhoda Friedman says that at that time, “we may have to reassess our fee structure”.
Regina’s Jewish burial fees are $8,000 for members of the community’s main synagogue – Congregation Beth Jacob and $12,000 for non-members.
“We haven’t raised our rates in the last five years,” reports Miriam Freedman, Beth Jacob’s executive director.
While the executive director of Saskatoon’s Agudas Israel congregation refused comment, ten years ago, the burial fee for members was $7,250 –with non-members paying $11,250. Most likely, current charges are on a par with Regina’s figures.
Now, to be presented with such a large bill at a time of mourning may be disconcerting for your surviving family members. My advice – buy a plot (or double for couples) now and reduce the future financial burden on your family members.
Editor’s note:
The situation in Toronto is quite different than in any of the Western Canadian cities that have been cited in this article. There are two private funeral homes serving the Jewish community: Benjamin’s and Steeles Memorial Chapel. The cemeteries, however, are run completely on their own. We contacted Steeles to get an idea how funeral costs in Toronto compare with Winnipeg. At the current time all funerals are being conducted graveside.
We were told that a plot at Pardes Chaim Cemetery, for instance, is $3276 plus HST. There is an additional opening and closing fee payable at the time of the funeral, which is currently $1902.06.
As far as the services provided by Steeles, they have a lengthy list of services, including the professional services of staff ($2815); preparation and sheltering of the deceased ($725); automobiles (hearse – $425, general duties vehicle – $295); transfer of the deceased ($375); burial shroud ($395). The total for all these services comes to $5505.
In addition, the costs of caskets range form $1095 for a “classic casket” to $5795 for something called the “Shalom Hardwood”.
Altogether though, the costs for a Jewish funeral in Toronto, going by Steeles’ price list and including the cost of a plot, are somewhere in the $12,000 range.
We were also interested in the typical cost of a non-Jewish funeral. According to one website, the average cost for a funeral in Manitoba in 2020 was $12,094.
Local News
Quick action by archivist Ava Garfinkel saves Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada archives from disaster
By MYRON LOVE The downpour that struck our city on Tuesday, June 9, left a trail of basement flooding and other damage in its wake. As reported elsewhere in this issue of the Post, Temple Shalom, our community’s Reform Congregation, has been forced to relocate its services to other venues because of water damage that has made its building unusable for the foreseeable future.
Another of our institutions that was affected by the storm is the Asper Jewish Community Campus – and specifically the lower level, where the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada stores a good portion of its archives. It was the quick action of archivist Ava Garfinkel and her brother, Max, as well as a number of volunteers in the following days – and the miracle of modern technology – that saved those archives from destruction.
“This was a potentially devastating and irreversible crisis,” notes Belle Jarniewski, the JHCWC’s executive director. “Thanks to the quick and diligent work of our staff and a team of kind volunteers, we were able to implement an emergency disaster plan, separate the affected material and move the damp archives to a frozen storage facility within 48 hours. These crucial actions successfully saved the archive, avoiding any mold growth that would have spread throughout the entire collection at a rapid pace, eventually destroying even the parts of our collection that were left untouched by the flood.”
Jarniewski reports that Garfinkel reached out to conservators across Canada for help. The frozen materials have now been transferred to an out-of-province facility where they will be vacuum freeze-dried in a restoration process overseen by a conservator.
“Our dry and unaffected archives and artifacts were also quickly removed from the basement and brought upstairs to be stored in several places around the Campus,” Jarniewski says. “The directors of the Gray Academy and the Asper Community Campus were kind enough to offer us the space we required to temporarily store our collections.
“The JHC Archive,” she points out, “preserves the precious history and physical memory of our community, also that of the communities across Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario whose histories have been entrusted to us. It dates back to the late 1800s. Information about the delicate, old, and irreplaceable items is frequently accessed by students, researchers, educators, genealogists, and community members. Simply put, the archive constitutes the very heart and memory of our community.”
Jarniewski recounts that when the Campus first opened almost 30 year ago, several rooms on the first floor were specifically designed with climate control suitable for an archive or museum. But, as different community needs arose, the archives were moved out of the specialized spaces and into the basement.
“With space at a premium in the building, we have had to do our best with the cards we were dealt,” she says.
For security and other reasons, Jarniewski points out, moving the JHCWC archive out of the Asper Campus has never been a viable option. “Our museum, our offices, and the other half of our archive are all firmly situated in this building on the main floor,” she notes. “We work within our basement archive daily and we rely on the safety that the security within the Asper Campus affords us.”
To prevent this kind of near disaster again, she added, the lower level storage area has to be renovated for safety while maintaining the standards of practices for long-term preservation. “We have already put a plan into motion for more effective humidity control and the sealing of the room,” Jarniewski reports.
“All of our textual records must be placed in specialized archival enclosures, our artifacts must be re-boxed/wrapped according to their individual preservation needs, and we must purchase adequate shelving that will keep our collections away from the ground and the walls while allowing for effective air circulation. These protective measures will be costly, requiring specialized materials, but they are necessary.”
The overall estimated budget for this project, Jarniewski says, is approximately $100,000. So far, she reports, the JHCWC has received a quarter of that amount through donations..
She expresses the hope that Post readers will consider donating to this essential project so that the JHCWC can continue protecting the priceless history of Western Canadian Jewry for generations to come. A tax receipt will be provided to all donors.
“With the funding in place, we should be able to have everything in place in less than six months,” Jarniewski says.
Readers who may want to consider donating to the JHCWC in support of this vital project can either phone 204 478-8590 or go online to jewishheritage@jhcwc.org. Donations can also be made online though Canada Helps: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/jewish-heritage-centre-of-western-canada-inc/
Local News
A response to Isha Khan’s op-ed in the August 1st, 2026 issue of the Winnipeg Free Press
By SIMONE COHEN SCOTT Ed. note: Isha Khan is the CEO of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. In the August 1st issue of the Winnipeg Free Press Ms. Khan wrote an op-ed defending the museum’s decision to mount the exhibit titled “Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present.” The Free Press has published many letters about the exhibit, but some readers of that paper are frustrated that their letters were not published. We were asked by Simone Cohen Scott whether we would print a letter that she had sent to the Free Press, but which was not published.
Since there is always room on this website to publish as many articles as we’d like, we agreed to publish Simone’s letter, which follows here:
Isha Khan states in her op-ed piece that the choices of what to exhibit, what to examine, what to feature, were made according to certain parameters, which she called a “framework.” What, specifically, comprised this so-called framework? It is obviously exclusive of elements relative to the history of the period displayed. She said the purpose of the exhibit was….”to promote reflection and dialogue.” Reflection and dialogue about what? Did the Arabs who left the area know that the United Nations had offered them a state too? If they had known, would they have wanted to accept? If, given the choice, would they have stayed and lived beside the Jews? Or, did they indeed, want five Arab nations to attack the Jews? Such questions as these would have promoted “reflection and dialogue.”
What is the understanding implicit in the exhibit? Khan quotes from a banner that hangs in the museum: Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “We are all born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Should the Jews have rights? If so, what should they be? May they have a state? When a people is attacked by 5 nations, as Israel was in 1948, wherein lie the human rights?
Why did Khan’s advisors choose to use the word Nakba in the exhibit title? The original use of the Arab word ‘nakba’, meaning disaster, was intended to depict, that in spite of being assured by the Arab/Islamic leaders that it would be a quick war and that they would win, that did not happen. The word disaster was meant to mean the shock and the disappointment. The real disaster, or tragedy, ‘Nakba’ if you will, is that the Arab/Islamic countries in the world, (and there are plenty of them), have refused to welcome refugees of a war their own leaders chose to start. They have allowed these displaced persons to stagnate in UNRWA, an industry in itself. Where are the stories of the people in UNRWA housing? Another group it would have been enlightening to hear from is today’s Israeli Arab population – the doctors, dentists, nurses, lawyers, judges, entrepreneurs, business moguls and more, the descendants of those who stayed in the country in 1948, who had and whose offspring have had the same opportunities as every Israeli citizen. There is much easily accessible research that has been neglected in the preparation of this exhibit. This blatant lack of effort is shameful.
Kahn explained, when asked, that the context of the conflict of the time is too complex to have been included. Is she saying that people who go to museums can’t handle broad, multi-faceted ideas… that she deliberately designed a walk-though soundbite, not a process for mind-expanding grasp of history?
Simone Cohen Scott,
(sent to the Free Press August 13th, 2026)
Post script from Bernie Bellan: This website has never refused to carry any post that may be critical of the CMHR, despite what some readers of this website might think. We do allow comments to articles, but anyone commenting through our “Comment” portal has to register by giving their name and email address so that we can confirm they are a real person. In addition, we welcome longer contributions from readers. Many of the posts you will find on this website come from regular contributors, such as Henry Srebrnik. If you have something you’d like us to consider publishing – and the only criteria are that it be reasonably well written and void of slanderous remarks, email to us at jewishp@mymts.net.
Local News
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.)
