Local News
In Winnipeg, Everything’s “Coming up Roses”
Ed. note: Elsewhere on this website we have a story about Rabbi Carnie Rose having recently become the senior rabbi for Shaarey Zedek Congregation. At the time that story appeared, Gerry Posner was not aware that Myron would be doing a profile of Rabbi Carnie Rose, so he sent us his own story about the Rose family. But, in his own inimitable way, Gerry Posner tells the story of the Roses.
By GERRY POSNER With the recent arrival of Rabbi Carnie Rose to serve as senior rabbi for Shaarey Zedek Congregation and with his brother Kliel having served as spiritual leader of Etz Chayim Congregation since 2018, one should realize the full significance of having two brothers both serving as rabbis – for different congregations, in the same city.
You really have to go back 58 years ago – to the summer of 1967, when Rabbi Neal Rose and his wife Carol came to Winnipeg. Neal had come here to take a position in the Judaic Studies Department of the University of Manitoba (from 1967-2000).
Neal Rose had a tremendous impact upon the Winnipeg Jewish community – in the many roles he played. For instance, just ask anyone who was part of the alternative minyan which he led at the then Rosh Pina Synagogue during the High Holidays. You could also chat with anyone who was around during the 13 years when Rabbi Neal Rose served an an instructor in family therapy at the University of Winnipeg’s Department of Spiritual Care (from 2000-2013).
That was “Rose 1.0” (as in the Winnipeg Jets 1.0). As it turns out, Rabbi Neal and Carol are making a return engagement to Winnipeg (which I call “Rose 2.0”) to live here later this year – after some ten years living in St. Louis, Missouri, where Neal worked as a rabbinic scholar at Congregation B’Nai Amoona.
Now, with all of that said, one must not overlook the fact that the Roses and the rabbinate go beyond even sons Carnie and Kliel. Would you believe that the eldest son, Avi Rose, is a rabbi in Israel? Rabbi Avi Rose embraces what might be called the humanist aspect of Judaism. He is actively involved in leading life cycle events, teaching, assisting in rituals and indeed participating in Jewish calendar events. What Rabbi Avi Rose does is to focus on the person in his interaction with his congregants and fellow worshippers, inside and outside of the synagogue.
Then, there is Rabbi Or Rose. He is a rabbi, writer and social activist, and is the founding director of the Centre for Global Judaism at Boston’s Hebrew College. His writing skills likely emanate from his mother Carol, a well known poet. If going for 4 for 4 in the rabbinate for Neal and Carol was not enough of a rabbinical feat, add to that total the fact that daughter Adira is married to a rabbi, Michael Rose Knopf, the senior rabbi at Temple Beth-El in Stamford, Connecticut.
Of course, each of the Rose kids is a story. But one cannot just ignore the reality of the two Rose brothers holding leading rabbinic positions at the two largest synagogues in Winnipeg at the same moment in time. How did that come to pass? is the question congregants are lined up to discover – even if that means an early Shachrit service to get the answer.
Rabbi Kliel Rose has been at the helm of Congregation Etz Chayim since 2018. He returned to Winnipeg after a period of over 25 years away from this city. A graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary, also a former spiritual leader in several congregations in the USA, then the rabbi at Beth Shalom Synagogue in Edmonton, the attraction for Rabbi Kliel Rose to come back to his roots in Winnipeg was palpable. After nearly seven years back with the congregation with which he grew up, he is conscious of the debt he owes to his parents, who were major role models for him. He is also aware of the relationships he developed in his growing-up years and the fact he was able to resume many of those connections so easily. During his time in the pulpit Rabbi Kliel has been honoured to receive a prestigious Human Rights Hero Award from “Truah: the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.” Like his brother Carnie, Kliel is deeply involved in multifaith dialogue.
Kliel acknowledges the very unusual aspect of the two brothers working in the same city as rabbis of major congregations. He says that there was just no way for him to have imagined this scenario. He emphasizes the closeness he has with his older brother, referring to the fact that they often speak twice a day on matters rabbinical – or not. One of the comments Rabbi Kliel made about the future in Winnipeg with both Roses leading the way is that he sees this as a collaborative opportunity and not a competitive one. Interestingly, Rabbi Kliel Rose attributes his love of learning of Torah to his mother, who was his very first teacher. Kliel and wife Dorit Kosmin are the parents of five children. (Is there a future rabbi in the mix ?) He says that he benefitted from his parents in that they did not put any pressure on him or his siblings to enter the rabbinate. It just evolved.
Older brother Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose, now 59, only recently conducted his very first Shabbat service at Shaarey Zedek. (I was there). He has had positions all over the world – in Canada, the USA, Israel, also the Far East, i.e., Japan, and Europe. Like Kliel, he was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He spent over 30 years in the rabbinical trenches. About 18 months ago he ventured into the Jewish organizational world when he assumed the role of President and CEO of the Mandel Jewish Community Centre in Cleveland, Ohio.
But, the pull to return to the synagogue and to Winnipeg was too great for Rabbi Carnie and his wife Paulie Zimnavoda Rose. After all, his whole career was centred in the synagogue. One aspect of Rabbi Carnie’s approach to his rabbinical duties is his emphasis on interfaith dialogue and relationships. He credits his parents for his firmly set belief in the importance of reaching out to the broader community. Most of all, he makes clear that it was Neal and Carol who nurtured his and indeed, all of the Rose family, with the love of Judaism. He, too, is amazed at the turn of events that has brought him and his brother together now. As Rabbi Carnie put it: “Winnipeg gave me grounding and an opportunity. I felt an obligation to return. I will gain if I can give back to those who gave to me.”
Carnie did return to live on Matheson Avenue, where he grew up, as he and Paulie took up residence in the south end of the city, closer to the Shaarey Zedek. The couple are the proud parents of four children, all of whom are now in their twenties, and all of whom are away at university, so Carnie and Paulie are now much sought after by Kliel and Dorit’s children – who finally have an aunt and uncle in the same city with them. Not so surprisingly, one of Carnie and Paulie Rose’s children, son Zakai, is preparing to follow in the family business, as he is a student at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Even the family of the legendary Gordie Howe of hockey fame could only produce two generations of NHL players.
What I came away with after talking to the two Rabbi Roses was first, how much they sounded like each other in voice; second, how close was their attachment to one another; and third, how much joy they anticipate working together from time to time in Winnipeg. At the time that I talked with both of them, for instance, they were excited about their plans to hold the first joint Tiisha B’Av service for Etz Chayim and Shaarey Zedek. They made me feel good about the future of Judaism in Winnipeg.
So what did the parents of these rabbis have to say? The patriarch of the family, Rabbi Neal Rose, was clear in attributing to his wife the fact that he and Carol have four sons who are rabbis and how it was that two of them ended up in the same city at the same time. He says that Carol had a huge influence on the children – right from an early age, in introducing the blessings and inculcating Jewish values. It was Carol, Neal says, who created an environment of learning which had such an impact on sons Carnie and Kliel. Her role in creating a Jewish home in Winnipeg for many years was instrumental in both Carnie and Kliel being open to returning to their original home of Winnipeg. True enough, the Rose boys both had a desire – in both their return engagements here, to serve as pulpit rabbis and, in doing so, to utilize one of their biggest assets: their strong interpersonal skills. Both are very comfortable in and enjoy that congregant to rabbi relationships -so critical in any successful synagogue.
As for the matriarch, Carol Rose, she agrees that this return to Winnipeg could not have been anticipated. She credits Winnipeg’s Jewish schooling and network of close friends for helping to secure a strong Jewish foundation for her sons. As she put it so succinctly, “The family had opportunities to grow up Jewishly.” With four sons now rabbis, and with their only daughter married to a rabbi, Carol clearly made an impact on her children. She admits that when she and Neal return this fall to Winnipeg, their biggest challenge will be to figure out which synagogue to attend each Shabbat. She also recognizes that even though Neal Rose has no plans to return to the pulpit, it is possible he might bless either or both congregations from time to time with his wisdom through occasional Divrei Torah or by teaching classes.
Some readers will recall the late Ethel Merman, who, without knowing it, foresaw this unusual moment in Winnipeg Jewish history appropriately in her song, “Everything’s coming up roses.”
Local News
Shalom Residences Foundation to host third annual donor appreciation evening
By MYRON LOVE On Tuesday, June 16, Shalom Residences Foundation Inc (SRFI) will be hosting its third annual Donor Appreciation evening. Donors and other Shalom Residences supporters can look forward to chilling to the music of local singer/songwriter David Grenon (aka Soul Bear), who will be performing songs by Billy Joel, Elton John and other well-known artists.
Dr. Allen Kraut has organized the donor appreciation night while the entertainment for the evening will be organized by Karla Berbrayer.
For readers who are not yet familiar with Shalom Residences, the organization was originally created to care for intellectually challenged Jewish young adults. The vision was to provide them with a Jewish environment – strictly kosher group homes where all the Jewish holidays are observed and celebrated.
One of Shalom Residences’ objectives has always been to develop a community in which individuals with intellectual disabilities are fully included, self-actualized, and valued in all aspects of life.
The concept has been a remarkable success.
Shalom Residences was founded in 1980 by six far-sighted couples, including Thelma and Ernie Bronstein, Dolly and Zivey Chudnow, Min and Joe Fromkin, Roberta and Larry Hurtig, Elaine and Bobby Paul,
and Sybil and Frank Steele. Jim Gauthier was also among the original group of Zivey Chudnow’s friends who organized the first lottery dinner in 1982 to raise funds for the Shalom Residences with the view of establishing a foundation to sustain the homes long term.The original Shalom Home was a converted house on Cathedral Avenue.
“Thelma Bronstein’s determination and dynamism contributed to making it happen,” says Elaine Paul, currently Shalom Residences’ treasurer (and for the past 20 years, the organization’s leading fundraiser).
I remember the home’s official opening. This was shortly after I started writing for the Jewish Post. Rabbi Charles Grysman affixed the mezzuzah to the door frame.
Today, the organization operates six group homes housing 19 residents as well as 12 residents in supported independent living arrangements.
While the operations today are largely funded by the provincial government – which means that the residences have to be open to accepting non-Jewish clients as well (just over half of the residents are Jewish) – the Shalom Residences Foundation funding supplements the government contribution – providing financial support for increasing staffing levels when needed, as well as extraordinary expenditures and contingencies. The Foundation has also provided the down payment for the purchase of new housing when necessary. .
The necessity of fundraising was evident right from the beginning. Elaine Paul recalls that the first Manitoba Marathon – in which all the founding parents were involved – provided the funding for the mortgage at 175 Cathedral Ave.
“We worked with Helen Steinkopf and John Robertson to develop the marathon,” Paul remembers. ”For several years, Hy Kravetsky and I worked handing out water to the runners.”
Paul relates that it was Zivey Chudnow who was instrumental in starting up Shalom Residences’ annual fundraising. “Three of Zivey’s friends,:Norman Tatleman, Sam Ostrove, and Gary Levinson, asked how they could help,” she recalls. “Their idea was to have a fundraising dinner. We combined the dinner with a lottery. We sold 60 tickets at $1,000 a piece and paid out $15,000 to the winning ticket and lesser amounts to other lucky winners.”
The organization also held annual well attended fundraising teas.
Paul reports that, for years, Chudnow was Shalom Residences’ best fundraiser – with honourable mention to Avrum Katz, Frank Steele, and the late Joe Elfenbaum. Paul took over the role 10 years ago – again with honourable mention to SRFI board members, Dr. Allen Kraut, Peter Leipsic, Donna Chudnow, Jon Feldman, and Mickey Rosenberg.
In addition, the goal was, and remains empowering adults with intellectual disabilities to live meaningful, dignified lives in community-based homes in Winnipeg, enriched by Jewish values.
Charles Tax, the SRFI’s long time president, notes that in 2017, the organization created an endowment fund with the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba. “At the time, we transferred more than half of our assets to the JFM,” he says. “We continue to make contributions to our fund.”
He notes that the annual dinners came to an end with the 20230 Covid lockdowns. The donor appreciation evenings were started in 2023.
“One of our goals is to acquire one or two more houses in the south end,” Tax adds.
Readers who may be interested in attending the donor appreciation evening or otherwise supporting SRFI can contact the office at 204 582-7064 or via email (admin@shalomresidences.com).
\
Local News
Debbie Maslowsky playing lead role in upcoming Dry Cold Productions musical
By MYRON LOVE For the past 40 years Debbie Maslowsky has been entertaining Winnipeg audiences – both Jewish and non-Jewish, with her acting and singing. Arguably Winnipeg’s queen of musical theatre is returning to the stage on May 13 in a lead role in Dry Cold Productions’ upcoming “Kimberly Akimbo”.
Maslowsky is enthusiastic about the Tony-winning production, which debuted on Broadway in November 2022. “It’s a gem of a musical,” she says of the production crafted by the musical team of composer Jeanine Tesori and lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire.
The subject itself is not – on the surface – uplifting. As Maslowsky describes it, “Kimberly Akimbo” is the story of a teenager suffering from a very rare condition – progeria – also known as the aging disease. The genetic condition causes children to age at an accelerated rate causing them to die of old age while still in their teens. For those readers who may recall Rabbi Harold Kushner’s book, “Why Bad Things Happen to Good People” – written years ago, Kushner was responding to the death of his own son from progeria.
In the hands of Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire though, Maslowsky notes, the show is about mindfulness and living day by day. In the production, Maslowsky explains, “Kimberly is trying to live as normal a life as she can despite her illness. Her life is further complicated by a dysfunctional family. Her parents are dealing with their own issues. Then there is the madcap aunt who develops a complicated and hilarious plan to make money for a family road trip, raise funds for choir costumes – with some left over for herself.
“The play is very funny,” Maslowsky comments, “but also poignant. Kimberly knows that she most likely won’t live much beyond 16. Therefore, she wants to live every day to the fullest. She wants to live every day in the now. At the same time, she doesn’t want to hide from reality. She doesn’t want special treatment. She also doesn’t want people – such as her parents – trying to pretend that everything will be okay.”
Maslowsky last appeared on stage in Winnipeg Jewish Theatre’s one-woman production of “A Pickle” in the spring of 2023. That was the true story of a Jewish pickle maker living in Minnesota who had to fight to get her pickles included in the state fair pickle competition, which tried to disqualify her because her pickles were made the Jewish way through a brining process that the non-Jewish judges refused to accept.
In the interim, Maslowsky has been focusing on her longstanding business as a trade show, conference and event manage,r as well as picking up some singing gigs. She reports that she began winding down her business last fall.
She speaks highly of her younger cast mates. “They are an amazing group of young people,” she says. “For some of them, this is their first show. I myself am still learning new things after all these years.”
Maslowsky will next be appearing in the joint Winnipeg Jewish Theatre-Rainbow Stage production of “Fiddler on the Roof” in September. “I played one of the daughters years ago in an earlier Fiddler production,” she recalls. “I feel like I am coming full circle.”
Dry Cold Productions was founded by Donna Fletcher and Reid Harrison (now retired) more than 25 years ago. The company stages a yearly musical theatre production – sometimes edgy – which has played on Broadway and is new to Winnipeg audiences.
The Dry Cold website cautions that “Kimberly Akimbo” contains “strong language (with frequent profanity), mature humour, and references to sexual activity”.
“Kimberly Akimbo” is scheduled to run May 13–17, 2026 at the Prairie Theatre Exchange. Tickets can be purchased by contacting Dry Cold productions online.
Local News
The second Bar Mitzvah: Better than the first
By GERRY POSNER As we pass down the corridor of life, there are certainly times we can identify as moments we will never forget. I had such a moment on April 11 at my second Bar Mitzvah, at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, shared with Dr. Ted Lyons, or E. A. as I called him over the years. We were celebrating this life cycle event at the very same synagogue as the first one, that is – the Shaarey Zede. For me, it was some 70 years ago or 25,557 days – from April 21, 1956 to April 11, 2026. The notion of returning to the original place of Bar Mitzvah 1.0 was too powerful a force, causing me to abandon my plan to do this in Toronto where my wife, Sherna and I have lived for the last 13 plus years.
It was quite the weekend. We started just before Erev Shabbat with photos of our two families on the bimah. Ted had his whole family there, including his daughter Mara, her husband Sheldon, and their two daughters, as well as his son Sami, his wife Rose, and their three kids, all of whom live In Calgary, not to forget his sister Ellen and her husband Howard Goldstein, from Toronto. Our three kids: Ari, Rami and Amira, all of whom live in Toronto, along with two of my grandchildren, as well as my brother Michael from Toronto were also present.
After the Shabbat service, we stayed on in the building for our Shabbat dinner. There were 23 of us, including Michael’s partner, Ruth Grubert, (formerly Mozersky), also a former Winnipegger, as well as Rabbi Mass,his son Ranan, Rabbi Carnie Rose and his wife Pauline. It was a warm group and the dinner was gobbled up and appreciated by all of us. We were all surprised when independently, the respective grandchildren of the Bar Mitzvah “bochers” presented both of us with a kind of tribute – funny and sincere in their affection for their Zaidas.
Then came the big day. It lived up to and even exceeded my expectations. It was a sell-out crowd. I was overwhelmed just at that fact. The only thing missing from the building was the electronic ark. The respective families all participated with aliyahs and indeed Torah readings by Sami Lyons and the 83-year-old Bar Mitzvah boy Ted Lyons. Now, “leyning” from the Torah was not something Ted had done at the first go-round 70 years ago. (In fact, almost all of us were deficient in that area).
One particular moment during the service was especially meaningful for Sherna and me. In the first part of the service, there is a prayer called “Mi Chamocha.” My son Ari had written music for that prayer several years ago and now he was at Shaarey Zedek, where he had his Bar Mitzvah long ago. This time though the clergy had arranged to use his music and to sing his melody. (It had been used many times previously, but without Ari. ) Not only that, he was invited to play his composition at the service as Cantor Leslie Emery sang it. Those few moments – as we watched and listened, at this – my second Bar Mitzvah, at a place where my parents had been members for years and whose names are on the memorial plaque in the chapel, well, that was powerful, to put it mildly.
Ted and his family had various honours as did my family. I was given the Haftorah to chant. Now, I have few talents, but I can chant a Haftroah (not the most marketable skill), so that was not that much of an obstacle for me. In fact, I rather enjoyed doing this part of the service. Rabbi Rose had also given me permission to deliver a D’var Torah on the portion of the week, “Shemini”, and to discuss the meaning of this, my second Bar Mitzvah. Once I had the mic and the stage, I was ready to go in spite of my wife’s protestations that it was too long. And, in fact, as I rolled along into my Haftorah, after about 10 minutes, my parter in the double Bar, Ted, came up from behind me where he was sitting, and nudged me gently, or to put it more accurately, gave me the hook, announcing that it was time to wrap up. It was kind of comical, in fact. I got a large charge from that sudden intervention. To top it off, as I had been speaking, I noticed a congregant on my left near the front who had apparently passed out. It was alarming to me at first, but the medics came and were able to revive this person. I was told later that other first words out of the mouth were “Has he finally finished?”
We concluded the day with a rather large kiddish luncheon highlighted at least for me by traditional party sandwiches, which were a staple of the kiddishes of my youth. I met with so many people of my past, which was a treat and a half for me. I was so into the moment that It was hard to get me out of the building.
As I reflect on the day and the service, I recognized that for all of us, we have times in our lives, whether it be an hour, a day or a week, that we will never forget. This day was for me one such moment. It is etched in my memory to be relived through the Youtube video now in my possession. The gift that keeps on giving, I say.
My first Bar Mitzvah was good, for sure. This one was far better. I knew what I was doing.
Post script (After Gerry had sent us his story, he sent us something else that he said should have been included in the story): True, Ted and I had the Bar Mitzvah no 2. But we only had it because there was one person who did the real work and yet received no credit. She made all the arrangements with the synagogue for both the Friday night Shabbat dinner and the kiddish lunch after the service. She dealt with various people in the synagogue and basically took charge of our simcha. I speak, of course, of Harriet Lyons. That I failed to mention her was due to my excess focus on the eating of the party sandwiches and not enough on the reason we had them in the first place. Harriet teaches the weaving of tallits, but she stands tall in the arranging of Bar Mitzvahs.