Local News
Inaugural Magen David Adom fundraising gala evening recognizes generous donors Ida and the late Saul Alpern
By MYRON LOVE On Tuesday, May 7, the Winnipeg chapter of Canadian Magen David Adom (CMDA) hosted its first ever fundraising gala – billed as “A Night of Appreciation – honouring generous supporters Ida and the late Saul Alpern, as well as recognizing several other individuals who have contributed to the success of the local chapter.
The event helped to raise the profile of MDA in Winnipeg. In addition to funds raised – going towards the purchase by the Winnipeg chapter of CMDA of an ambulance to be stationed in the northern IsraeI community of Kiryat Shemona where a MDA ambulance was recently destroyed by a Hezbollah missile, the event also honoured the memory of the late Yoram (Hamizrachi) East.
Ami Bakerman, the Winnipeg chapter president, reported that, to date, the local group has raised slightly more than $100,000 toward the $140,000 cost of the ambulance.
Over 200 members of the Jewish and Christian communities and other supporters of Israel came out for the evening at Caboto Centre to show their appreciation for the work of the Magen David Adom.
For readers who may be unfamiliar with MDA, the organization doubles as both Israel’s Red Cross and the country’s blood services organization. MC for the evening Kinzey Posen noted that MDA was founded on June 7, 1930 and acquired its first ambulance a year later. The MDA has over 4,000 staff and has on its roster 26,000 volunteers. The organization operates over 2,000 ambulances, first responder scooters, helicopters and life-saving boats.
“It takes 8.2 seconds from the time a MDA dispatcher receives an emergency call to the time that the ambulance reaches the caller,” Posen noted.
The really remarkable fact is that the MDA operates without any financial support from the government of Israel. That is why it is so important that donors such as the Alperns have to step up.
Saul, who passed away in October, 2022, had a particularly strong connection to Israel. His younger brother, Avrum, also the last surviving family member (the others died in the Holocaust) died fighting for the Jewish homeland in the War of Liberation in 1948.
Alpern published his autobiography – “No One Waiting For me” – in 1961. Although most Romanian Jews living in Rumania proper were left in place, in 1941 the members of the Alpern family were among the thousands of Jews living in the northern regions of Bessarabia and northern Bukavina – which had been recently annexed by Rumania – who were deported to neighbouring Transnistria. They were expelled from their homes and forced to walk all the way to Transnistria. Saul Alpern’s parents and older sister died shortly after their arrival as a result of the hardships of the walk – leaving 12-year-old Saul and younger brother Avrum to fend for themselves.
“No One Waiting for Me” is largely an account of the two brothers’ struggle to survive in a hostile environment and desperate circumstances.\
After the war, while Avrum went to Palestine while Saul found his way to Winnipeg – where he eventually met and married Ida (Reiss) and built a successful business as a cattle buyer.
Ida was born in the Jewish farm colony at Edenbridge, Saskatchewan. She was youngest of four children and the own daughter of Ira and Raizel Reiss. The family moved to Winnipeg around 1950.
In October 2020, Ida and Saul donated $160,000 to the MDA to buy a mobile intensive care unit. At the time, Saul told The Jewish Post & News that the couple made the donation in memory of his parents and siblings ,who died in the Holocaust.
Saul added that the gift was “an expression of my love for my family and my love for Israel”.
The couple had been donating small amounts to the MDA for years before that. And, just a few months before Saul’s passing, the couple donated another $170,000 toward the purchase of a second mobile intensive care unit with off-road capabilities.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Ida’s nephew, Cary Reiss, recounted how Sail and Ida met in 1963 and were engaged after just a three-week courtship. “They were married for almost 60 years,” he noted. “They were a great couple. They were always there for each other through good times and bad.”
Reiss further noted that he was in Israel last year with his Aunt Ida for the delivery of the second mobile intensive care unit. He praised the MDA for the great work the organization does in Israel.
He also reminisced about the other focus of the evening, the late Israeli-born Winnipegger, Yoram East, who was a prominent social activist in the wider community.
In Ron East’s description of his father he painted a picture of man who was larger than life – and an individual who overcame early adversity.
Yoram was born in 1932 in Jerusalem to Jewish immigrants from Germany. He struggled in school due to being dyslexic. At 16. he dropped out of school and was accepted into the Israel Defense Forces based on false documents.
“In the IDF, he found a home and a purpose,” Ron East recounted.
He rose through the ranks. After taking a break from the military to study art and build a career as a journalist, Yoram rejoined the IDF in the 1970s. From 1976-82, Colonel Hamizrachi was the IDF liaison with the Christian communities in southern Lebanon.
“My dad quit the IDF in 1982, when Israel went to war with Hezbollah in Lebanon,” Ron East recalled. “He strongly opposed the war.”
Hamizrachi moved his family to Winnipeg where he continued to work as a journalist – with regular columns on Israel in The Jewish Post. He also became a social activist and did a lot of work with Indigenous communities.
“Two First Nations communities made him honorary chiefs,” Ron noted.
In Winnipeg, he helped found the Manitoba Intercultural Alliance and became the co-director of the Winnipeg-based Counter-Terrorism Centre.
In addition to honouring Ida and Saul Alpert, CMDA also recognized several other individuals who have contributed to the growth of the CMDA chapter in Winnipeg – among them:Ami Ba kerman, Ron East, donors Bill and Judy Mahon, Barbara Reiss (for organizing the event) and John Plantz who, along with colleague Roy Hiebert – presented a cheque to the CMDA for $10,000 from the Christian Friends of Israel Ministry.
There was much more to the evening. Sharon Fraiman, CMDA’s director for Western Canada, called for a moment of silence in memory of the MDA personnel who were murdered in the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7. She also screened several short videos of the actions of heroic MDA staff and their actions on that horrific day in fighting back as well as rescuing those tthey could.
There were also remarks by Sidney Benizri, CMDA national executive director, and Wayne Ewasko, PC MLA for Lac du Bonnet and interim Opposition leader.
The evening concluded with a half hour show by New York-based stand-up comic Talia Reiss – who happens to be married to the aforementioned Cary Reiss – riffing on Jewish themes contrasting Reform and Orthodox and Sephardi and Ashkenazi differences, reflecting the different backgrounds that she and her husband have brought to their relationship, as well as commentary on parenthood and schooling. For good measure, she also threw in some Winnipeg in-jokes.
Local News
Hershfield sisters star in annual 55+ Manitoba Seniors Games
By MYRON LOVE Mindy (Hershfield) Zabenskie has once again proven the old adage that it’s never too late to try something new.
Last August, the retired office worker, along with her younger sister, Esther Hershfield, entered the 55+ Manitoba Seniors Games, which were held in Steinbach. In a field of about 1,200 senior athletes, Zabenskie, competing in the 100m and 200m races, came away with one gold and two silver medals for her performances in the 65+ category. Hershfield did even better with gold medals in the 200m and 100m runs and silver in the 400m and 800m competitions.
In the swimming portion, Esther Hershfield came in first place in her age category in all her swimming events – including the 50m breaststroke, the 100m freestyle and the 100m breaststroke.
As far as the track races went, Hershfield conceded that she “did find the 800m run a little more challenging. I’m more used to the shorter distances, ” she noted. “I will have to do more training for the 800m run. I found that distance a little tiring.”
“It was a lot of fun,” Zabenskie said of this past summer’s competitions – the second go round for the two sisters. Up to that point, they had only run half marathons.
Hershfield noted that last year’s games were held in Brandon –where the sisters were joined by oldest sister Lois, who participated in the cribbage tournament – which is also part of the activities.
Hershfield pointed out that she has always been involved in athletics. She was a phys-ed teacher in Seven Oaks School Division prior to retirement in 2013. She reported that she swims twice a week and runs twice a week with a friend.
Zabenskie, by contrast, is a late bloomer. She only ran her first marathon in 2013 – in Ottawa, while visiting her daughter, Susan. That was three years before she retired.
Looking back, Zabenskie said, she can’t tell you what motivated her to take up running. “I was never athletic,” she noted. “I was never interested in exercise or physical activity. My daughters (Susan and Pamela – who lives in Winnipeg) have always been athletic. They probably encouraged me.”
It was a real challenge for me to start running,” she added. “I am shocked at how well I have done. I really am proud of myself and my accomplishments.”
While Zabenskie did participate in one marathon in Palm Springs several years ago, she generally restricts her running efforts to just two annual runs – the Winnipeg Police Service run in May, and the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service run in October. Those runs are both 5 kilometres.
The Fire and Paramedic Service run, she reported, started and finished at Canadian Mennonite College, while the police event began and ended at Assiniboine Park. Timers clocked in the runners.
“While everyone gets participation medals for doing the marathon,” Zabenskie pointed out, “I have finished in the top ten several times in my age category and have improved my time to less than 40 minutes. I am happy with my results.
Three years ago, to help motivate her and improve her performance, Zabenskie hired a personal trainer. “She has come to know my strengths and weaknesses,” she noted. “She runs with me and is able to point out where I can improve my technique.
“She also got me started on weight training.”
Zabenskie added that she tries to run three times a week in her neighbourhood – weather permitting. In the winter months, she works out on her treadmill. She does weight training twice a week.
She said that she is looking forward to entering the Police marathon again in the spring and both sisters are eager to take on the 55+ competitions, which will be held in Winkler-Morden next summer.
Local News
Kristallnacht Documentary focuses on courageous Hungarian Jew who saved the lives of the last group of twins in Auschwitz
By MYRON LOVE On November 9 and 10, our Jewish community commemorated the 87th anniversary of Kristallnacht – the Night of Broken Glass – the infamous series of pogroms against the Jewish communities of Germany and Austria – with the showing of a new documentary, titled “The Last Twins.” The documentary, written by Patrick McMahon and narrated by actor Liev Schreiber, tells the story of Erno (Tzi) Speigel, who risked his life to save the last surviving twins in Auschwitz.
In her opening remarks, Belle Jarniewski, the executive director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada (which co-sponsored the evening, along with the Rady JCC and the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg), reported that over a two-day period in 1938, the Nazi-inspired hordes burned more than 1,400 synagogues in the two countries, desecrated Jewish religious objects, vandalized and ransacked thousands of Jewish-owned businesses, homes and apartments, and stole valuable belongings. Nor were Jewish orphanages, seniors homes and hospitals spared the mayhem. Nearly 100 Jews were murdered and about 30,000 Jewish men were subsequently interned in concentration camps.
To add insult to injury, the Nazis then demanded 1-billion reichsmarks from German and Austrian Jewish communities – “atonement payment” – to clean up the mess.
“It was a turning point,” Jarniewski noted. “It was the moment when words of hatred turned into co-ordinated destruction and when indifference from the rest of the world gave way to the Shoah – the murder of over 6 million European Jews at the hands of the Nazis and their willing collaborators.
The great 16th century kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria, taught that when God created the world, he had to hide his overpowering light in a series of shells. At some point, the shells broke and the divine light fell into the darkest levels of hell. It is the responsibility of Jewish souls to descend into that world to redeem the divine sparks in order to repair the world – the original meaning of tikkun olam.
The Shoah certainly represents the lowest level of darkness. The catastrophe also produced many examples of individuals – both Jewish and non-Jewish – who were willing to risk their lives – in the midst of the darkness and danger around them – to save lives. The names of many of them have been enshrined over the years at Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust museum. Erno Spiegel was one of them.
It was in May 1944, when Spiegel and his twin sister were deported to Auschwitz. They were among the thousands of Hungarian Jews who were shipped to the death camp, where the notorious Dr. Joseph Mengele greeted each trainload of Jews and determined which were to be sent immediately to the gas chambers and which were to be allowed to live on a little longer as slave labour in the death camp’s factories.
Spiegel and his sister were spared immediate death because the demonic doctor had a special interest in twins, on whom he did numerous gruesome experiments. Many – perhaps most – died.
When a new group of Jewish twins – all of whom were children – were separated from subsequent trainloads of Hungarian Jews they were housed in separate barracks for boys and girls. Mengele serendipitously put the 29-year-old Spiegel in charge of the boys’ care, and Spiegel determined to do his best to look after them.
According to the documentary, not all of the “twins” were really twins. Some were siblings who were born close together and bore a strong resemblance to each other. Spiegel made sure to enter in the forms the same birthday for both brothers in these cases.
He also quickly let them know what had happened to their families and, between experiments, tried to teach them some math and geography.
The documentary includes interviews with several of these twins – survivors – who had immigrated to Israel or North America (or, in one case, stayed in Hungary) who recalled their experiences in Auschwitz and beyond. They reported that, to them, Spiegel became a father figure who saved their lives.
The closest they came to death came in October,1944, when a junior officer discovered them in their barracks and ordered them immediately to the gas chambers. The survivors recalled how Spiegel saved their lives by risking his own to seek out Mengele. The doctor was outraged that a junior officer would try to countermand him and the boys were returned to the barracks.
Spiegel’s efforts to save as many twins as possible were put to the maximum test in January 1945 – when the Russians liberated Auschwitz and the German guards fled. Just prior to the Russians entering the camp, the Nazis had removed most of the prisoners from Auschwitz – including the older sets of twins – and force-marched them in the worst winter weather in years into Germany – leaving the younger twins to fare for themselves. Very few survived these death marches.
The Russians didn’t stay long. So, Spiegel took charge. He promised the kids that he would get them home again. They all set off on foot. They walked for two days – sleeping one night in an abandoned school and the second night in a farmer’s barn. He got them rides with Russian soldiers to Krakow in Poland, where they were housed in a building that had been German headquarters in Krakow. There he found them enough to eat and got identity papers for the kids. He also acquired a pass from the Russians that guaranteed Russian help along the way.
After dropping all the kids in their home communities, they all went their separate ways. Spiegel married and moved to Israel. He and his wife had two kids (who were also interviewed for the documentary). He became involved in theatre in Tel Aviv.
He never talked about Auschwitz.
The first his daughter, Judith Richter, and son, Israel, knew about his heroism, came in 1981 when Richter’s husband, Kobi, came across a story in Life Magazine at a store in Boston where the couple were living. Flipping through the pages, he stumbled on a story about Mengele. In the story was a picture of Spiegel next to a photo of two of the twins.
One of the twin survivors, also living in the States, also saw the story. He contacted Kobi and Judith (who co-hosted the documentary) which led to a dramatic reunion between Spiegel and the twin.
In 1985, Israel put Mengele on trial in absentia. Speigel was called to testify. To his surprise, all those in the courtroom whose lives he saved were asked to stand and about a dozen did.
Several reunions between Spiegel and one or more of the twins followed and the twins continued to reach out to each other after he died in 1993. Toward the end of the documentary, four of the twins are seen holding a reunion in Israel, reminiscing, and celebrating their bar mitzvahs at the Western Wall.
“The last Twins,” Belle Jarniewski observed, “is not only a Holocaust film, but also an urgent reminder of the human capacity to choose compassion over cruelty, to protect the vulnerable, and to recognize the power one person can have in the face of systemic evil.
“But tonight’s commemoration is not only about the past. It is also about the present and the future. At a time when antisemitism has risen exponentially around the world, we are ever more aware of the danger of leaving hate unchallenged. As our youngest Holocaust survivors reach their tenth decade of life, we must continue to connect to education, remembrance and moral courage.”
Local News
Dave Hill’s participation shows that you don’t have to be Jewish to participate in the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba’s Endowment Book of Life
By MYRON LOVE Despite the impression given by certain biased media, Canadian Jewry has many friends from outside our community. On the one hand, there are the Christian Zionist friends of Israel and the Jewish people – groups such as Bridges for Peace and Christian Friends of Israel (see accompanying article), and individuals such as John and Irene Plantz and Rudy and Gina Fidel, who contribute their moral and financial support to Israel and our local Jewish community. There is also Kevin Klein, publisher and editor of the Winnipeg Sun, whose newspaper is a whole-hearted supporter of Israel and the Jewish People and strong fighter against antisemitism.
Then there is Dave Hill, a prominent local lawyer – a partner in the law firm Hill Sokalski – who has been in practice for more than 50 years. On Sunday, November 2, Hill was one of eight new signatories to enter their names and life stories into the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba’s Endowment Book of Life.
Hill reports that he has been making donations to the Foundation for the past ten years. “I believe in giving back to the community,” he says, noting that he is also a supporter of the Winnipeg Foundation and several medical institutions. “I have always had a great deal of compassion for the Jewish People who have suffered over 2000 years of persecution.”
The 2025 signers – in addition to Hill – were Jack and Belva London, Jeff and Sarah Morry, Moe Levy, Becky Kaufmann (a former JFM board member who flew in from Toronto), and Stewart Fay – in memory of his late wife, Patricia.
As explained on the Foundation website, the Endowment Book of Life program – which was started in 1998 – “is a planned program that offers participants an opportunity to leave both a financial and historical legacy to the community.”
Donors promise to leave a bequest to the Foundation, in return for which their family story is inscribed in the Book of Life.
The annual official unveiling of new stories this year was held on Sunday, November 2, at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue and included brunch, some musical entertainment featuring a talented quartet of singers: Julia Kroft, Alyssa Crockett, Tyler Leighton and Nathanial Muir.
Speaking on behalf of his fellow signers, Jack London noted that, “In Jewish thought, giving tzedakah is not just charity – it’s a moral obligation. An endowment gift is a powerful expression of this duty. It reflects the Jewish principle of tikkun olam. It can be a spiritual act, fulfilling commandments, and enhancing the donor’s connections to their faith.”
The former dean of the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law had words of praise for “the wonderful purpose and mechanisms of the Jewish Foundation and its truly extraordinary staff.”
He noted that the Foundation was established in 1964 by “a group of visionary leaders and has been a beacon of hope and opportunity for decades.” He further pointed out that “its endowment funds have empowered countless initiatives, from supporting education and cultural programs to ensuring the wellbeing of our most vulnerable. Through the Foundation, we see the power of collective generosity, and we remember that when we come together, we can achieve extraordinary things.”
“Giving isn’t just about money,” London observed. It’s also about its impact. Every contribution, no matter how small, has the potential to change and better lives. Every gift by way of endowment results in an endless rate of return from investment which can be employed year after year to support our institutions and assist individuals in need to survive more comfortably and our community to flourish.
“Think of it like planting seeds. You may not see the tree grow overnight, but one day someone will sit in its shade benefitting from the kindness you showed today. In fact, l’dor v’dor, (from generation to generation) is another core Jewish concept. Endowments embody it by supporting those future generations. It is a way for donors to leave not only the currency, but the legacy of Tzedakah (charitable giving), a mitzvah deeply rooted in Jewish ethics.
“So, let’s put some leaves on the ‘tree” of giving’.
“Today’s signers,” London concluded,”have added our familial names, our memories and our promises in support of the Foundation’s good deeds. May good triumph and may peace prevail.”
In his own remarks, John Diamond, the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba’s CEO, described the Endowment Book of Life program as one of the Foundation’s “most meaningful and most successful initiatives”.
“By entering their and their families’ life stories in our book,” he said, “our donors both honour those who came before and inspire those who will come after us.”
In his closing remarks, the JFM’s chair Dan Blankstein reported that the Endowment Book of Life book currently contains over 800 stories. Echoing John Diamond, Blankstein observed that “Our Endowment Book of Life is both a living history of Jewish life in Manitoba and a guide to the future”.