Local News
Ice Dreams Come True at Gray Academy: Gray Academy-Tough Duck Community Ice Rink opens in January
Submitted by Gray Academy
The Winnipeg Board of Jewish Education (WBJE) is thrilled to announce an exciting new addition to Gray Academy of Jewish Education this winter, one that will bring tremendous benefits to students and the entire community. With the generous support of donors, we have recently unveiled a brand-new outdoor ice-skating rink.
Children benefit enormously from spending time outside, so we were inspired to take on a project that would enhance their outdoor experience at school. Over the years, we have often contemplated the idea of an ice rink. This year especially, with students being encouraged to spend more time outdoors and demonstrating such amazing resilience in the face of a pandemic, we were motivated to bring this idea to life for them.
The 100-by-60-foot Gray Academy-Tough Duck Community Ice Rink is situated in the northeast corner of the Asper Jewish Community Campus Danzker Field. We thank the Asper Jewish Community Campus for supporting our drive to make this happen. Students of all ages will be able to use the ice for Phys Ed and other supervised outdoor activities. Outside school hours, it will be available for special school programs and for use by the Rady JCC and other community organizations.
Three substantial contributions made it possible for the school to proceed with the project, funded 100 per cent by donor support. It all started with an inspired idea and a community conversation that blossomed more quickly than we had ever imagined into this exciting new venture.
We are grateful to the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba (JFM) for sharing our idea with a donor who was looking for a special project and loved the school’s vision for this significant enhancement benefiting students and the community. The ice rink is named for the Lead Donor of the initiative, Tough Duck. This fitting name also reflects the resiliency that our children and families, staff and community have exhibited throughout the pandemic.
At the same time, Gray Academy parents Marla and Adam Levene were seeking a way to show their deep appreciation for the school and the hard work of our staff throughout the pandemic. They wanted to support a significant project that would inspire the school community and show their children, Ethan (Grade 10) and Annie (Grade 7), the importance of expressing gratitude by making a lasting impact. The ice rink proved a perfect fit for the Levenes to come on board as a Founding Donor.
Mira and Matthew Narvey had also been looking for some time to lend their support to a project that would express their passion for providing children with opportunities to have fun and be active before, during and after school. They were pleased to get behind the development of the rink as a Founding Donor, helping to make this dream a reality.
We have now completed Phase I of the project, including the ice surface with boards, a skate-change shelter, benches and basic equipment, including skates, hockey and curling equipment. Next winter, Phase II will see the addition of lighting to facilitate nighttime use.
Gray Academy conducted a formal ribbon-cutting in mid-January. Most important, the school is enthusiastic about the many hours of joy this new asset will bring to Gray Academy students, families and the community – now and for many years to come.
At left: Joyce and Tracy – Gray Academy principals Joyce Kerr and Tracy White take a spin, with Tracy’s daughter, Cassidy White.
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Local News
Talented Winnipeg composer Sara Kreindler teams up with her mother Reena Kreindler to create new satirical show to premiere here in May
By BERNIE BELLAN It’s been many years since I’ve heard from Sara Kreindler. Sara’s name first appeared in The Jewish Post & News in 2002 when a satirical musical titled “A Touch of Class” was reviewed by the late Arnold Ross. That particular production featured songs from popular Broadway shows that touched upon themes such as “greed, poverty, oppression, and social unrest.”
When she appeared in that show, Ross noted, Kreindler had just recently returned to Winnipeg from England, where she had obtained a doctorate in Social Psychology from Oxford University.
While at Oxford, Kreindler found time to compose a satirical musical titled “Charity,” which played to rave reviews there, and was performed five times.
Continuing in the theme of writing satirical musicals, Sara has now teamed up with her mother, Reena, to write a new musical titled “A Perfect Man,” which is set to run at the Gargoyle Theatre from May 6-17.
According to a press release we received, “A Perfect Man” is “a satirical musical, set on a fictional analogue of ‘The Bachelor’.
“The story follows an anthropologist who arrives to research TV’s hottest reality-dating show — only to discover she’s been made a contestant, and the bachelor is her high school crush. Past and present collide against an exuberant pastiche score that uses vintage musical styles to highlight modern absurdities.”
“Praised as ‘a musician [who] can make biofuels funny’ (CBC), Sara is known for whip-smart satire on a panoply of topics. Her digital musical, ‘Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System, created during her former life as an academic, has garnered over 84,000 YouTube views. Naturally, she had a field day with the subject of reality dating.
“The topic just begs for campy zaniness, which I think we all need in these times — but also for a more cerebral critique of what these shows say about the culture that spawned them,” says Kreindler. And thanks to the romance context, the satire is woven into a deeper, more personal story. “It’s satire with a heart.”
Here is some more information about Sara Kreindler, taken from a 2009 article I wrote about her:
“Born in Israel, Sara’s precocious talent was nurtured by her mother, Reena, whose own particular talent is literary, not musical. According to Reena, however, Sara was singing from the time she was a baby, and she began to study piano at the age of four.
“As a young girl, Sara began writing her own songs and poems, along with the “occasional musical”, notes Reena. Yet, Sara’s rare talent put her at odds with the typical interests of other children her own age, on top of which she attended a school to which she was exposed to a fair degree of antisemtism.
“As a result, Sara says, being bullied was a common aspect of her childhood. On one occasion, when she was nine, she notes, Sara fought back against one particular bully by reciting the following little ditty:
“I write so many epigrams to you that all the people laugh.
I’m tired of writing epigrams.
I want to write your epitaph!”
“Sara went on to compose a musical titled ‘Flutesong’ while she was a student at Vincent Massey Collegiate, she says. After doing her undergraduate work at the University of Manitoba, majoring in Psychology, Sara won a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University.
“Sara eventually earned a doctorate in Social Psychology and returned to Winnipeg, where she began teaching at the University of Manitoba, but she said she didn’t enjoy the “mass production” style of teaching upwards of 300 students at a time, so she switched careers and began doing health research for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.”
All the while Sara has been continuing to compose and perform her own songs, often teaming up with her mother, as she has for “A Perfect Man.”
Showtimes and ticket information for The Perfect Man are available at:
http://www.thegargoyletheatre.com/upcoming-events/the-perfect-man
Local News
Rabbi Kliel Rose to leave Congregation Etz Chayim for new post in Ottawa
The following email from Congregation Etz Chayim Executive Director Morissa Granove was sent to members of the congregation on Friday, April 10:
“Dear Members and Friends,
“As we know, Rabbi Kliel recently spent a weekend with Kehilllat Beth Israel where he has since been offered a position. After much thought and consideration, he has made the decision to sign a contract in Ottawa. He will continue to lead our congregation through Yom Kippur.
“This news marks a significant ending for our Etz Chayim community, and at the same time with change comes opportunity. Congregation Etz Chayim will soon embark on our own Rabbinical search with excitement as we look for our perfect candidates and explore the new possibilities that will help us to continue to shape a strong future for our synagogue and members.”
Kliel Rose took up the position of rabbi at Etz Chayim in August, 2018.
In an article announcing his appointment to the position in the June 6, 2018 issue of The Jewish Post & News, Myron Love wrote:
The congregation has been without a permanent rabbi since last summer when Rabbi Larry Lander chose to retire – after ten years here – and relocate to Toronto.
Kliel Rose is already a well-seasoned rabbi. He was ordained in 2004 by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
He previously served as spiritual leader at the West End Synagogue in Nashville and Temple Enamu-El in Miami Beach. His current posting is Beth Shalom Synagogue in Edmonton.
Following the example of his parents, Kliel Rose has been active in interfaith dialogue and human rights work for which he was honoured in 2014 with the Human Rights Hero Award by Truah: The Rabbibic Call for Human Rights.
He has also participated in the Kellogg Management Education for Jewish Leaders program at Northwestern University and was most recently chosen to be among 20 rabbis from different denominations chosen to train in the Clergy leadership Incubator – a two-year program, under the leadership of Ranni Sidney Schwarz, intended to educate younger rabbis in innovative thinking, change management and institutional transformation.
In Edmonton, Rose also served as Jewish chaplain at the University of Alberta and took the lead on a program called “Faith and Inclusion”, whose mandate was to support individuals with cognitive and physical learning challenges to feel more welcome within various faith communities.