Local News
In defense of the Jen Zoratti column that set off a firestorm of criticism of the Free Press – and a letter explaining why that column so upset so many people
By BERNIE BELLAN As an editor myself I know what it’s like to be accused of bias. As such, I would argue that the anger at the Winnipeg Free Press for what many in our community perceive as an anti-Israel bias is totally unjustified. If any of the paper’s critics actually takes a close look at that paper they will see a vast amount of coverage devoted to local Jewish events. Not only does John Longhurst do a great job covering many events (and he is a far better reporter than I could ever hope to be), the paper also features Sharon Chisvin writing about local Jewish happenings on a regular basis.
One would think that, based on the amount of ink that the Free Press devotes to news of interest specifically to the Jewish community that there was a vast number of Jews in this city. That’s why, when I asked Free Press editor Paul Samyn, when he was speaking to the Remis group at the Gwen Secter Centre last year, just how many Jews he thought there were in Winnipeg, and he guessed “45,000,” he was quite astounded to hear from me that, at best, there were only 12,500 Jews in Winnipeg. (I also said to Paul that there were over 72,000 Filipinos in Winnipeg, but you don’t see nearly as many stories about that community in the paper as you do of the Jewish community.)
So, Jen Zoratti wrote a column that had one particular paragraph that inflamed the minds of many Jews (a lot of whom don’t even read the Free Press, based on what I’ve seen on social media). Not only are many individuals furious at Zoratti – and the Free Press, for even daring to publish what she wrote, even as fair minded and professional a writer as John Longhurst has had his name dragged through the mud. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about read https://jewishpostandnews.ca/faqs/rokmicronews-fp-1/free-press-coming-under-criticism-for-supposed-anti-israel-bias/
For a community that’s long railed against the idea of boycotts being used against Israel (as in the BDS movement – Boycott, Divest, Sanctions), isn’t it a bit much to be calling for individuals to cancel their subscriptions to the Free Press over one column? And as someone who, until this week, had been a newspaper publisher for almost 40 years, I know what it’s like to have pressure put on your to slant coverage in a newspaper. While some newspaper publishers like to get involved in dictating editorial policy, from what I know Bob Silver has been steadfast in remaining apart from that. I personally sent notes offering encouragement to Jen Zoratti, John Longhurst, and Paul Samyn. I didn’t weigh in on whether I thought what Jen wrote was out of line or not (which, by the way, I didn’t). I simply wanted to affirm the importance of freedom of the press –and of columnists, to write without fear of monetary retribution. Heck, Israel has been on the receiving end of that kind of campaign for years. Are Jews going to begin to emulate the tactics of the BDS movement?
In response to the above we received a letter from Cathy Moser, in which she explains the anger that many in the Jewish community are feeling toward the Free Press:
Dear Bernie;
I respect your humane approach to reporting on the war in the Middle East – I don’t think that you will find too many people in the Winnipeg Jewish community that would revel in knowing that thousands of innocent women and children in Gaza were killed in the effort to eliminate Hamas Terrorists. If Jen Zoratti had written a column on the Palestinian women and children whose voices have been deadened – what she said may have been relevant. However – she wrote an OpEd on a talk called HEAR OUR VOICES, with the Voices referring to the women and children who were raped, tortured and killed in Israel on October 7th. It was as inappropriate to talk about the Gazan women in this article as it would have been to talk about the Israeli women and children if she was reviewing a talk given by the Palestinian community on Palestinian women and children. Or if, when newspapers in the 40’s described bombing Nazi headquarters and strongholds, had included in their OpEds the fact that thousands of innocent German civilians were killed by the Allied Forces and they are inhumane.
The problem with Jen Zoratti’s article was well summarized by Mike Federer in his article in the Free Press, January 7th, 2024 – it takes a very special skill to attend an educational event bringing attention to Hamas’ misogynistic and murderous sexual assault of Israeli women during its genocidal October 7 massacre in southern Israel, and turn it into an anti-Israel hit piece. However, that’s exactly what Jen Zoratti managed to accomplish in her January 26 opinion column in the Winnipeg Free Press entitled: “The battlefield between feminism and rapes of war.”.
By the way, there would have been no need to appeal to Bob Silver had the Editor published any one of my letters providing an alternate understanding of some of the issues. Prior to the deluge that was received after the Jen Zoratti article, the Winnipeg Free Press had very one-sidedly published letters to the Editor that were anti-Israel and misleading in facts. I will send a few for your perusal if you are interested. Since the Zoratti ‘affair’, there have been many more letters published that elucidate both sides of the story, as well as articles to the point (e.g., Saturday, Feb 18, 2025 article by Dr. Ruth Ashrafi).
It seems that the volume of letters to the Editor and Owner after the Zoratti article has served its purpose. Perhaps there was a critical look at the past month’s content to determine whether the letter writers’ claims were valid. Freedom of speech is critical to a healthy democracy; however, if those that publish the speeches are biased, there is no freedom.
Sincerely,
Cathy Moser
Local News
New Israeli restaurant opens in River Heights
By BERNIE BELLAN (July 6, 2025) It’s been a long time since our community has been able to welcome the opening of a restaurant that specializes in Israeli food.
That void is now going to be filled with the opening of The Green Falafel, at 1833 Grant (corner of Centennial – next to the Subway).
The restaurant is the fulfillment of a dream long held by the husband and wife team of Ariel and Eden Maudi, who have been living in Winnipeg the past 11 years.
Ariel, who was born in Israel and grew up in Beer Sheva, says that he worked in telecommunications in Ramat Gan for several years. He adds though that he had always dreamed of owning his own falafel stand in Israel, but life was difficult there and he decided to come to Canada as a tourist to see whether there were any opportunities here for him, Eden and their two young children.
Eden, who was born in Russia and moved to Israel with her family in 1996, stayed behind with the two kids, who were both pre-schoolers, while Ariel tested the waters in Canada first.
Ariel says he came to Canada as a tourist in 2013. His first stop was in Toronto, where he acquired his 1st class driver’s license. At the end of 2013 he moved to Winnipeg where he began working as a truck driver. Soon he found himself employed as a successful sales person at Vickar Nissan where, he says, he once achieved the status as the top car sales person in Canada. After working at Vickar Nissan for a number of years, Ariel began working as an installer for Bell MTS.
Meanwhile, Eden began working at a Walmart, later at the Costco on Regent.
But, when the opportunity to move into a space that had been previously occupied by another restaurant, but which had closed, became available, Ariel and Eden decided to open their own Israeli restaurant in an area that hadn’t seen Israeli food served since the controversial closure of Bermax Café in 2019.
The Maudis say that they will be serving a variety of Israeli dishes – all vegetarian, and that they will be fully kosher.
The “green” in Green Falafel, by the way, Ariel Maudi explains, comes from the cilantro and parsley that are added to the chickpeas. In addition, their pitas will be coming from Israel and will be baked fresh daily.
The Green Falafel will be open from 10-8 daily. Delivery will be available through Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Call 204-557-7837 for information.
Local News
Previews of shows with Jewish performers at this year’s Fringe Festival July 16-27
For show dates and venues go to winnipegfringe.com
By BERNIE BELLAN As has been our custom for many years now we try to find shows that have either Jewish performers or themes that would have particular appeal for Jewish audiences. Many of the Jewish performers at this year’s festival have been here before, but several are new. In no particular order here are blurbs about the shows we’ve found that fit the criteria I’ve just described. (By they way, if we’ve omitted a show that should be included in our list there’s plenty of time to get added to this post. Just drop me a line at jewishp@mymts.net.)
You’ve Been Served: A One-Woman Show About Divorce, Cults, and Coming of Age at Midlife
Noemi Zeigler
You are hereby summoned… to laugh, cry, and maybe belt out a Streisand number in solidarity. You’ve Been Served is a raw and riotous solo comedy by writer-performer Noemi Zeigler. It all begins when Noemi is served divorce papers on top of a garbage bin lid while taking out the trash—an undignified start to a full-blown midlife unraveling.
At 50, still clinging to her dream of becoming a singer, she falls under the spell of a music producer slash self-help guru, joins a spiritual cult, and, instead of landing a record deal, she lands in jail. Behind bars, with help from her long-buried inner child, she begins to reclaim her voice and her power. Turns out, dreams really do come true—just not the way she expected.
The show features vividly drawn characters—including a manipulative cult leader, a toxic ex-husband, and a jail guard named Roach who shares Noemi’s obsession with the fashion of Charlie’s Angels (the ‘70s TV version, of course.)
With salsa dancing, twerking, and a belting rendition of Don’t Rain on My Parade, Zeigler dives into abandonment, reinvention, and self-rescue. As she confronts perimenopause, she discovers it’s not the end—it’s the new puberty. The show touches on grief, sexuality, and spiritual confusion, but Noemi’s childlike optimism asks: What if your breakdown is actually your breakthrough?
You’re good for nothing… I’ll milk the cow myself
Written & Performed by Natacha Ruck
France, 1981: The first socialist president is about to be elected and young Natacha is ready to implement her own political platform. But first, she has to take down the schoolyard bully,emasculate the rules of French grammar and make off with grandmother’s chocolate.
If you think you know the limits of Jewish mothers, evil grandmothers and transcontinental lovers, meet Natacha Ruck’s family. This true tale of three generations of women, facing three world wars, is equal parts hilarious, shocking and zany.
A One Human Being, Potentially Comedic Performance of Beauty and the Beast NEW WORK!
Written & Performed by Alli Perlov
Be our guest! Local high school drama teacher Alli Perlov is back for a tale as old as time. Can she sing? Not really. Can she act? That’s debatable. Will you laugh? Oh… probably.
Perlov plays dozens of characters, some human, some animal, and many objects, in a comedic exploration of Beauty and the Beast.
In an homage to this brilliant musical adventure, through witty commentary and unstoppable energy, Perlov aims to entertain an audience that isn’t forced to be there like her students.
Hockey Sticks and Beaver Pie
Written & Performed by Melanie Gall
Take a trip around Manitoba. From the 30,000 ft. St. Adolphe snow maze to the Narcisse snake dens! After all, where else holds both the title of Slurpee Capital of the World and the Guinness Record for the most people simultaneously howling like wolves?
Deanna Durbin, Terry Jacks and Burton Cummings are among the many homegrown stars, and Hockey Sticks features their music along with original songs and the stories that make this province unique.
Starring Melanie Gall from past shows Piaf & Brel, Ingenue and Toast to Prohibition
Nerohilarity Exposed
Produced by Adam Schwartz
We all sometimes feel exposed, whether that’s as a fraud or a pretender.
The performers of the award-winning Neurohilarity show, Danielle Kayahara (Laugh Out Loud CBC), Carole Cunningham (Yuk Yuks, The Debaters), Adam Schwartz (Winnipeg Fringe) and Rollin Penner (Yuk Yuks, CBC, Rumors, Winnipeg Comedy Festival), apply a comedic spin to the experiences that make us feel insecure, stripping away the emotional weight with nittygritty jokes and stories that will have you laughing uproariously.
Brilliantly awkward.
A Lesbian in the Kitchen
Willow Rosenberg
Professional lesbian Willow Rosenberg takes you on a journey through the centuries, superstitions and tablespoons of her lifelong passion for baking in this spiritual successor to 2024’s Jenny Award-nominated A Lesbian in a Bear Store.
Whether you have a favourite spatula, bake once or twice a year, or live in constant fear of being told to “just fold it in”, this one-woman show about family, joy, tradition (but make it gay),
Judaism, comfort, home (but make it gayer*), love, chemistry and magic is for you!
*Who’re we kidding, it’s all gay!
Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany
Written & Performed by Ingrid Garner
(Ed. note: Although Ingrid Garner isn’t Jewish, we thought the theme of this show might have a special appeal for Jewish readers.)
Based on Eleanor Ramrath Garner’s best-selling memoir, this 16x internationally award-winning adaptation – performed by her granddaughter, Ingrid Garner – details Eleanor’s youth as an American caught in Second World War Berlin.
Punctuated with humour and accompanied by cinematic sound and video, Garner embodies her ancestors in this coming-of-age odyssey, delivering an account of war that is more relevant than ever.
Reviewing The Free Press 2
Benji Rothman
The Winnipeg Free Press has run amok, reviewing each and every Fringe show over the past two decades without consequence or recourse. Now, it’s their turn… again.
In this refurbished work that debuted at last year’s Winnipeg Fringe, Benji Rothman once again takes the Winnipeg Free Press to task. In this (mostly) new, (hopefully) hilarious 45-minute show, Rothman dives deep into their past and exposes their faulty journalism, imbalanced reporting and, of course, embarrassing typos.
Local News
Jewish performers at this year’s Winnipeg Folk Festival July 10-13
The Black Sea Station
Long ago, there were the klezmorim, itinerant musicians who roamed the back streets of Eastern Europe, playing at parties for meals and a few coins. The sound they honed then was a visceral exploration of life’s joy, and its loss; they could whip audiences into a frenzy of dancing, or bring them to tears with the mournful wail of a clarinet. Today, Winnipeg’s own The Black Sea Station is carrying on this tradition. Featuring Daniel Koulack (bass), Victor Schultz (violin) and Myron Schultz (clarinet) — cofounders of seminal local klezmer act Finjan — along with Moldovan accordion wizard Nikolai Prisacar and multi-instrumentalist Ben Mink, the quintet transports listeners to a time and place long past. Through a mix of original songs rooted in history, and traditional tunes spun up with modern zest, they whirl through the exuberant klezmer sounds of their Eastern European heritage, tending the old ways with deep love and respect.
The Black Sea Station will be performing Sunday, July 13, at 1:00 pm in Snowberry Field.
Romi Mayes
Romi Mayes has taken some hard knocks in her life, but she’s never faded away. For more than 25 years, Manitoba’s first lady of blues-rock has been a lynchpin of the Canadian roots scene. She earned that position the old-fashioned way, through her gritty, passionately emotive music. With her sizzling guitars and full-throated rasp, the Juno-nominated performer howls and purrs through razor-edged lyrics, rocking out wherever she can find a stage. She’s long been one of the hardest-working musicians on the circuit, keeping a busy slate of gigs and mentoring up-and-coming artists to get a foothold on the trails she blazed. Now, after a nine-year hiatus from the studio, Mayes has put her scintillating sound back on record with her long-awaited seventh album, Small Victories — a return that leaves no doubt, no matter the ups and downs, Mayes is here to stay.
Romi will be performing Friday, July 11, at 1:00 pm in Burr Oak.
Leonard Podolak (with Matt Gordon)
Ireland’s Matt Gordon is a fiddler and singer, whose fleet-footed clogging and thigh-slapping hambone has taken stages by storm since the 1980s. Leonard Podolak is a virtuosic master of the clawhammer banjo, who for decades has whipped up some of Manitoba’s wildest roots parties with his band, The Duhks. Put those talents together, and they can promise you this much: we’re all gonna have a real good time. Longtime friends and musical collaborators, Gordon and Podolak deliver an exhilarating trip through old-time Appalachian music. Their performances seamlessly blend intricate instrumental lines with heartfelt singing and dazzling dance. They’ve teamed up on a few records over the years, including 2020’s bigband extravaganza Power Wagon: Live At Shanley’s. But the best way to experience this duo’s toe-tapping, hand-clapping chemistry is to see it live.
Podolak and Gordon will be performing A concert with a side of clogging Sunday, July 13, at 3:00 pm in Folk School.