Local News
Husband and wife team of Russel and Rori Picker Neiss bringing different aspects of Jewish learning to Limmud Winnipeg
By MYRON LOVE Rori Picker and Rusell Neiss say they are excited about their upcoming first visit to Winnipeg. The couple, Jewish educators – originally from New York, who have been living and working in St. Louis for the past ten years – will be here on the weekend of March 9-10 – as presenters at our community’s 14th annual Limmud Fest.
Russel Neiss is promising Limmud attendees that those attending his presentation will be in the first audience to view the digitized version of “The Story of Purim,” an award winning Jewish educational filmstrip which is part of a recently rediscovered lost cache produced by the NY Bureau of Jewish Education in the 1950s.
“We’ll view the slides and table-read the script together as we see how much the field of Jewish engagement and education has (and hasn’t) changed over the last 70 year,” notes Russel Neiss.
Russel is a 2005 graduate of City University of New York. The recipient – in 2020, of the prestigious Covenant Award (which recognizes educators who have made a noticeable impact on Jewish lives through innovative educational practices and models), served for several years as vice-principal of a Jewish day school in the New York area.
In 2014, Russel changed careers. He became a software engineer specializing in the development of software programming for Jewish educators for an organization called Sefaria. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to digitizing the entire body of Jewish religious writings in order to make them available so that anyone can engage with the textual treasures of our tradition.
“A couple of years ago,” he reports, “I came across a cache of film strips produced by the New York Bureau of Jewish Education in the 1950s. These films would have been shown to students in the 1950s and ‘60s. They have not been viewed for more than 60 years.”
At Limmud, he will be showing a film called “The Story of Purim.” “We’ll view the slides and table-read the script together as we see how much the field of Jewish engagement and education has (and hasn’t) changed over the years,” he says.
His second presentation – on Sunday afternoon – will focus on “what the atheist computer scientist Richard Stallman can teach us about how Torah learning can thrive in the world today while delving into the interplay between Hacker Culture, the Free Software Movement and the teachings of great Jewish thinkers like Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.”
Rori Picker Neiss will also be doing two presentations – one of which will be a study of leadership as exhibited by Moshe Rabbenu in the matter of the Golden Calf. For those who may not know or remember the story in the Torah, some days after leaving Egypt, Moshe climbed Mount Sinai to commune with Hashem. After some time had gone by and he didn’t return, the frightened Hebrews, believing that he wasn’t coming back, gathered together everything they had that was made of gold and created a golden calf to worship – an act of blasphemy that resulted in severe divine consequences – including the Israelites having to wander in the desert for 40 years until the last of the offending generation had died out.
“What we can take away from this episode,” Rori observes, “and what Hashem made clear to Moshe- is that leadership is not about the leader and fame and glory. Leadership should be about doing what is in the best interests of the people.”
Her second presentation will be an exploration of what the early rabbis thought about Jesus and Christianity as seen through a censored Rabbinic passage.
Rori Picker Reiss has the distinction of being one of the first half dozen Orthodox women to be ordained – through the Yeshivat Maharat organization – founded in 2009 – to serve as clergy.
“I welcomed the opportunity to study Talmud and our religious texts,” she says of her decision to enroll in the Maharat program. ‘My ordination presented me with a number of different ways to serve our community.”
In St. Louis Maharat Rori served as Director of Programming, Education and Community Engagement at the modern Orthodox Bais Abraham Congregation. She was also Rabbi in Residence at Holy Communion Episcopal Church, chair of the cabinet of Interfaith partnership of Greater St. Louis and a member of the Board of Trustees for the Parliament of the World’s Religions.
Previously, she worked as acting Executive Director for Religions for Peace-USA, program coordinator for the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, assistant director of Interreligious Affairs for the American Jewish Committee, and secretary for the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations.
While there may be some among the Orthodox community who may be uncomfortable with the concept of women serving as clergy, Rori reports that she was generally well-received in St. Louis and was able to build many relationships both within the Orthodox and the wider communities.
Rori and Russel have recently moved back to New York City where Rori has been appointed the Senior Vice-President for Community Relations for the Jewish Council for Public affairs.
For more information about this year’s Limmud and to register, please visit www.limmudwinnipeg.org or contact coordinator@limmudwinnipeg.org or 204-557-6260
Local News
Shalom Residences board announces hiring of Tamar Barr as new executive director
By BERNIE BELLAN The board of Shalom Residences, the agency that provides housing and support for adults in our community who have special needs, will soon have a new executive director, effective December 22.
Tamar Barr, whose name is well known in the Jewish community, is set to take over from Mike Goldberg, who will be leaving Shalom Residences after having served as executive director since the spring of 2022.
It was in March 2022 that the previous – and to that point, only executive director Shalom Residences had ever had, Nancy Hughes, retired from the position after 31 years at the helm. Mike is moving on to take a senior position elsewhere.
Shalom Residences maintains six different houses in Winnipeg on: Enniskillen Avenue (home to the very first Shalom Residence), Hartford Avenue and Seven Oaks Place – all three of which are in West Kildonan; McAdam and Cathedral Avenues – in the North End; Daffodil – in Garden City; and Oxford Street, in River Heights.
The smallest home has three residents and the largest one – five.
Twenty-nine adults live in those homes, while another nine live in supported independent living apartments, and three adults are supported in community outreach.
Tamar Barr is probably best known in the community for her many years at both the Rady JCC and its predecessor, the YMHA. Tamar served as program director at both the YMHA and the Rady JCC from 1990-2013 and was Assistant Executive Director at the Rady JCC from 2013-2021.
Since then Tamar has filled a variety of different roles, including working in donor relations at the University of Manitoba; project coordinator at the Mennnonite Heritage Centre Gallery; and Alternate Funeral Director for Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
Tamr obtained her B.A. and Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Mantioba; and her Masters of Social Work from Yeshiva University in New York.
Tamar had this to say about her moving into the role of executive director of Shalom Residences: “Stepping into the role of Executive Director feels like a full-circle moment for me. Some of my most meaningful and formative experiences have been alongside people living with intellectual disabilities, whose strength and spirit continue to inspire me. I am honoured to join an organization rooted in Jewish values and dedicated to supporting individuals living dignified, connected and fulfilling lives in a community-based setting.
“I look forward to bringing my enthusiasm, experience and compassion to support and strengthen Shalom Residences important mission.”
In welcoming Tamar as Shalom Residences’ new executive director, the board of Shalom Residences said: “Shalom Residences Inc. is pleased to announce the hiring of Tamar Barr as our new executive director effective December 22, 2025.
“Tamar has a Masters degree in Social Work and brings a wealth of management experience in the non-profit sector and at the Rady JCC. She is looking forward to meeting our residents with intellectual disabilities, families and staff as she transitions into her new role with the kind assistance of our current executive director, Mike Goldberg.
“We wish to thank Mike for his outstanding contributions to Shalom Residences and wish him well in his new leadership role at Community Financial Services where he will be assisting individuals and families facing financial challenges.”
Local News
Canadian produced kosher wine now available in Winnipeg
By BERNIE BELLAN With the imposition last February of a ban on the sale of American liquor in Manitoba, the only type of kosher wines that were available here were from Israel, specifically wines produced by the Galil winery.
Since the latter part of September, however, kosher wines produced by a Canadian winery are now available in Manitoba liquor marts, also the Kenaston Wine Market.
The wines – a red and a white, are produced by a winery known as Tzafona Cellars – located in the Niagara region of Ontario.
On Tuesday, December 2, Rabbi Avraham Gislason, who is a a rabbi in Thornhill, as well as a Tzafona Cellars winemaker, spoke to a large crowd at the Jewish Learning Centre, where he not only explained how kosher wine differs from non-kosher wine, he brought along bottles of five different wines produced by Tzafona Cellars for members of the audience to taste.
So – what makes a wine kosher? you might ask. According to the internet, “A wine is kosher if it is made according to Jewish dietary laws… with strict supervision and handling by Sabbath-observant Jews from the crushing of the grapes to the bottling of the finished product. The winemaking process must use only kosher-certified ingredients, such as yeast and fining agents, and rabbinically-approved equipment.
Rabbi Gislason himself started Tzafona Cellars in 2014. According to the Tzafona website, Rabbi Gislason saw that the “soil, air, and microclimate of the Niagara Peninsula all come together to create an up-and-coming world class wine region, yielding a unique experience that cannot be recreated anywhere else in the world.”
While he appreciated the quality of the wines being produced in the Niagara region, there was one problem: None of the wines were kosher.
According to the Tzafona website, “Starting with the 2014 vintage, Tzafona began to produce kosher wines using the same techniques and high-quality grapes used in producing other premium non-kosher wines. Since then, Tzafona has continued to produce a variety of different wines, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, and Chardonnay. We have produced award-winning Icewines in the Vidal, Riesling, and Gewurtzraminer varietals. Tzafona is the only kosher Icewine producer in North America. Their Cabernet Franc Icewine won a Gold Medal at the All Canadian Wine Championships in 2025.
In 2016 we began to produce a line of refreshing semi-sweet wines under our brand “Nava Blanc” and “Nava Ruby.” (It is the Nava Blanc and Nava Ruby wines that are now available in Manitoba). Both of these wines are Tzafona’s bestsellers here in Canada and the USA.
The process of getting Tzafona wines approved in Manitoba was set in motion by Winnipeg marketing specialist Marsha Friedman, who for many years has worked as a marketing consultant and sales agent for businesses looking to offer premium kosher foods to their customers.
Her business, Excellence & Kosher, focuses on identifying unmet needs in the market. “I see a need and I try to fill it,” Marsha says.
“We also ensure that the most needed Kosher food products for the stores that carry Kosher are available, including Canadian Kosher wine,” she adds.
Marsha explains that she approached Tzafona—the only truly Canadian kosher wine company—some time ago with the idea of opening the Manitoba market for them and introducing their wines to local consumers.
Afterward, she contacted tManitoba Liquor and Lotteries (MBLL), which agreed to begin carrying two Tzafona wines: Nava Ruby (Red) and Nava Blanc (White).
Since that initial success in making Tzafona wines available for purchase in Manitoba, Marsha says that she and her daughter Shira have been making similar progress in Alberta and hope to expand into the British Columbia market as well.
For more information about Tzafona Wines, including the addresses of stores in Winnipeg and throughout Manitoba that carry their products, please visit the MBLL Liquor Marts website:
https://www.liquormarts.ca/liquormarts
Go to “Find a Product” and type “Tzafona.” Both wines will appear. Select the wine you’re interested in, then click “Store Inventory.” A list of all MBLL Liquor Marts that carry that product will be displayed.
Marsha adds that “We are hoping to have more listings of Tzafona wines available for Pesach this year, and we will be presenting them to MBLL for their approval.
“L’Chaim!”
Local News
Thanks to a Grant from the Asper Foundation the Gwen Secter Centre will Soon Begin Offering Free Kosher Shabbat Meals to Jewish Seniors
By BERNIE BELLAN In these increasingly difficult times – when so many families are finding it difficult to make ends meet, one group in society in particular is being hard hit by escalating food prices: seniors.
As food prices continue to rise, many seniors are struggling to afford many food items that they had always enjoyed previously. And, when it comes to Jewish seniors who might want to continue to remain kosher, the struggle is even more difficult – as the price of kosher meat and chicken has gone up even faster than the price of nonkosher meat and chicken.
Now, in an attempt to provide a modicum of comfort to some of those Jewish seniors, the Gwen Secter Centre, with support from the Asper Foundation, is about to begin providing kosher Shabbat meals for up to 50 Jewish seniors on a weekly basis.
Here is how Becky Chisick, executive director of the Gwen Secter Centre, describes what is going to be called the “Mitzvah Meal Program” will work: “We will be launching a new food security program supported by The Asper Foundation. Food security is a going concern is our community, especially with seniors living on a fixed income. The Mitzvah Meal program will ensure no one in the Jewish community is unable to celebrate Shabbat and other important Jewish holidays throughout the year. This program will transform the lives of so many seniors.
“Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre will be working closely with Jewish Child and Family Services to identify those who qualify for the program. There are many seniors that are not able to access Kosher Meals on Wheels (which is already a subsidized program thanks to the Jewish Federation), due to financial restrictions. The Mitzvah Meal Program, Supported by The Asper Foundation, has different criteria than the Kosher Meals on Wheels program.
“During the pandemic, we quickly realized how many seniors were not able to celebrate Shabbat due to lack of resources and finances. The Mitzvah Meal program will provide up to 50 individual low-income seniors with a healthy and fresh Shabbat (meat) meal, including chicken soup, challah bun, full entree of chicken, starch and vegetables, and dessert. In addition, they will receive special holiday foods and tools, so everyone is able to celebrate Shabbat and other Jewish holidays. For example: latkes and sufganiyot for Chanukkah, hamantaschen for Purim, etc. Those that are able to light candles at their residence will also get Shabbat and Chanukkah candles.”
Becky added, however, that “We still require close to $10,000 to ensure we can accommodate the max for a year and I plan to apply to The Jewish Foundation for the support.”
We contacted Anita Wortzman, president of the Asper Foundation, to ask her how the Asper Foundation became involved in this program. Anita responded: “The Asper Foundation is thrilled to support Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre and their new Mitzvah Meal Program. We believe that seniors in our community should be treated with the dignity, comfort and connection that Shabbat and the Jewish holidays bring. The long-term work of Gwen Secter Living Centre in delivering kosher meals on wheels, makes this a wonderful extension of that service to the Jewish community.”
As to how recipients of the “Mitzvah Meals” are chosen, we received this response from Alexis Wenzowski, Chief Operating Officer of JCFS: “Our priority will be ensuring that low-income seniors, those experiencing social isolation, and those facing mobility or transportation challenges are referred into the Gwen Secter program in a timely and effective manner.
“We have shared information about the Gwen Secter Food Security for Seniors Program across our Mental Health and Addictions, Settlement and Integration, and Older Adult Services teams. These program areas collectively serve some of the most marginalized and isolated seniors in our community, many of whom face complex barriers to accessing nutritious kosher food. We foresee there to be many referrals from these JCFS (programs into the Gwen Secter initiative. We are grateful and excited there will now be a formalized cooked meal Shabbat program for food insecure seniors.”
Alexis added this note about the number of individuals within our Jewish community who seek assistance from JCFS as a result of financial pressures: “JCFS is keenly aware that financial stressors and the cost-of-living crisis is impacting everyone. Food insecurity continues to be a significant and growing concern across our community, as it is in all communities. In the past year alone, our Asper Empowerment Program supported 179 unique households, with 7,542 kg of food security supports. An additional 122 households received employment and financial supports — including interest-free loans, grants, gift cards, and budgeting guidance — underscoring the breadth of need we are seeing. People are struggling.”
As noted, however, while Becky Chisick stated that the Asper Foundation funding will help to get the program going, the Jewish Foundation is being approached to provide additional funding in order to guarantee that the program can continue for at least one year. In the meantime though, if you would be interested in making a donation to help fund the program, Becky encourages you to make your contribution to the Gwen Secter Centre, stipulating that you want the money to go to the Mitzvah Meal Program.
One more note: While there are already some volunteer drivers in place once the program begins, more are still needed. To volunteer as a driver, contact Vanessa Ordiz at the Gwen Secter Centre: vanessa@gwensecter.com or phone 204-339-1701. Volunteers will be provided quarterly tax receipts for their service.
At the same time, by volunteering as a driver, it will allow for meaningful connections between clients and volunteers. For many clients this may be the only person they connect with that day.