Local News
Jewish Child and Family Service holds successful Annual General Meeting – online

By BERNIE BELLAN
In covering Annual General Meetings over the years I always try and find something different about which I can write – so that an article like this doesn’t end up being simply a repeat of previous years’ reports.
Of course, the fact that Jewish Child and Family Service, like the Jewish Foundation two weeks prior, held its AGM via Zoom (on June 24) is notable in itself. And, like the Jewish Foundation meeting, one must offer congratulations to the organizers of the meeting for how smoothly it ran (thanks in no small part to JCFS Executive Director Al Benarroch, who demonstrated quite a familiarity with technology during the course of the meeting).
Again, however, as was the case with the Jewish Foundation AGM, while the opportunity was presented to viewers to pose questions via the “chat” function that is available on Zoom, no questions were asked. For a wretched news reporter like me there is always the temptation to ask questions that have nothing to do with what is being covered during an Annual General Meeting, but are extremely relevant to the functioning of particular Jewish organizations – but, since those issues weren’t raised during the AGM – I kept my finger off the chat button.
Instead, I exchanged emails with Al Benarroch subsequent to the AGM. Al dealt with some issues that were not covered during the AGM in his email to me.
One of the issues that I raised in my email to Al was that, during the Jewish Foundation’s AGM, the subject that was of greatest interest to me was simply declared beyond the scope of that meeting by Foundation Board Chair Richard Yaffe, i.e., How much assistance have specific organizations received and are going to receive during the ongoing pandemic? (The Jewish Foundation has already disbursed $400,000 to Jewish organizations and will be disbursing $200,000 more sometime soon in the near future. According to Jewish Foundation Board Chair Richard Yaffe, however, we’ll have to wait until next year’s AGM to find out who got what. Now that’s what I call transparency!)
As for the Jewish Child and Family Service, heck, they’re also a well-run organization, – just like the Jewish Foundation, but there was no discussion of two issues hovering over JCFS that have been brought to the fore many times in the past.
While there wasn’t anything in the 2019-20 financial statement to raise any concerns during the JCFS’s AGM, there was also no reference at any time during the meeting to either the JCFS’s need for expanded office space, nor to the supposed plan developed years ago to build an addictions centre.
In the fall of 2019, for instance, this paper reported that JCFS had outgrown its existing office space and was desperately in need of new space.
Following is an excerpt from an interview I conducted with JCFS Executive Director Al Benarroch back in September 2019:
JP&N: … is there any news about where you might be going (to open another office)?
Benarroch: At our May general meeting we struck a task force that was asked to come back in a short period of time (by this September) with a plan. We’ve already looked at about half a dozen properties in and around about a 5-kilometre radius to the campus – in addition to having discussions with the Federation and the Asper Campus what can we do in this facility. And, are there any plans to expand the footprint of this campus if, in fact, the Federation’s strategic planning has said we have to grow services in many areas?
The strategic planning’s report talked about expanding services in education, in mental health, in support for seniors. If, in fact, we’re going to expand these services, where are they going to go.
…we’ve been looking for roughly 3,000 more square feet of space. We have a footprint right now of roughly 5,000 square feet for over 40 staff. We’ve given up a board room here. It’s been taken over by older adult service staff. We have a conference room which is adjacent to the board room; we’ve moved two staff in there.
Yesterday I gave up my office for the entire morning so that staff could interview clients.
We need to relieve the pressure we’re facing right now – yet alone plan for expanding and growing.
Whatever space we’d be looking at would be temporary. It’s now 22 years that we’ve been in this facility. The campus has taken over squash courts, it’s taken over a museum – internally, to accommodate the growth in services. Maybe it’s time now to look at growing outside this building, whether it’s on to the land – although apparently there are issues around digging on the land.
However, despite the issue of the JCFS’s need for more space, nary a word was mentioned about that during the AGM.
In his email to me following the AGM, Al Benarroch had this explanation why there was no mention of the lack of adequate space for JCFS: “This was not mentioned, as most of this was put on hold as a result of COVID-19, which has understandably taken priority. We shifted our focus to insuring that services are being provided to our most vulnerable. With staff working remotely and face-to-face & group programs being suspended at this time, space needs have not been a concern to service delivery at this time.
“Even in the face of the pandemic, we continue to work on our strategic planning goals, of which space needs remain a high priority. We will continue with this planning and resume more activity once the pandemic hopefully passes.”
As well, I’ve been writing for years about the supposed plan by JCFS to greatly expand addiction services. In 2015, when the National Council for Jewish Women announced that it was going to sell the building that housed the Gwen Secter Centre, the ostensible reason was to use the money to create a “Winnipeg Jewish Recovery and Resource Centre”. According to an article written by Myron Love back then, “The NCJW-supported residence, operated in conjunction with Winnipeg’s Jewish Child and Family Service, would provide a home environment with a Jewish atmosphere that would be open to both Jewish and non-Jewish residents with addiction issues.”
We haven’t heard much about that project either – although the National Council for Jewish Women did sell the building that houses the Gwen Secter Centre for $900,000.
Al Benarroch did however, offer this explanation for the lack of movement on building an addictions centre in his email: “I’m sure you can appreciate that non-profit organizations move at a slower pace and have to be much more accountable to donors and funders in planning these things, than would a project launched in the private sector.”But, my bringing up past plans shouldn’t get in the way of lauding the JCFS for another successful year (and the JCFS’s fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, just as the lockdown brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic was setting in.)
In recent issues I’ve written about how JCFS has responded so quickly to many of the needs that have developed within our community as a result of the pandemic, whether it be taking its counseling program online or offering food assistance to those in need, again working closely with the Gwen Secter Centre in coordinating the providing of shopping services to individuals who either can’t get out themselves or actual meals, as the case may be.
During the JCFS AGM, Al Benarroch referred to the manner in which JCFS has adapted to the reality of not being able to see clients in person, noting that “All staff transitioned to working from home. Food and pantry deliveries have ramped up.”
But even before the pandemic brought about such drastic changes in how we are all leading our lives, JCFS had been continuing to deal with growing demand for its many services.
Benarroch cited some figures to illustrate how vital a role JCFS has been playing in our community. In the 2018-19 fiscal year, JCFS:
• handled over 2500 cases involving 5700 individuals
• provided assistance to 77 immigrant families
• assisted an additional 50-60 Yazidi refugee families
• assisted over 500 frail seniors, including Holocaust survivors
• provided help for 150 clients with mental health or addiction issues
• provided counseling services for 200 individuals
• tended to the needs of 23 children in foster care
• helped another 200 individuals requiring financial assistance or food from the JCFS’s food pantry
• in cooperation with the Gwen Secter Centre, provided 150 Passover hampers
• provided seven inmates at Stony Mountain Penitentiary with kosher for Passover meals
Those were just some of the accomplishments Benarroch cited during his report.
In other news, outgoing JCFS President Sherry Lercher Davis reported that the JCFS’s endowment fund at the Jewish Foundation had grown by over $1 million in the fiscal year just passed – from $2 million to $3 million. As is the case with other Jewish organizations here, the Jewish Foundation has been encouraging them to create endowment funds that will provide a solid financial foundation for years to come.
In his Treasurer’s report, Al Shpeller noted that, once again, the JCFS operated in the black, with an excess of revenues over expenses of $28,447. It should be noted that the JCFS held a very successful “Community of Caring Gala” in 2018. During the 2019-20 fiscal year the proceeds from that gala were transferred to the Jewish Foundation, which is administering the JCFS endowment fund.
In one final piece of business, outgoing JCFS President Sherry Lercher Davis passed the gavel (figuratively, since everyone participating in the meeting was in their own home, save Al Benarroch, who was doing a masterful job coordinating the meeting from the JCFS offices) to incoming President Ari Hanson, who will now take on that role for a two-year term.
Local News
Long-time Winnipeg doctor and Israeli colleague make medical app available to general public

By MYRON LOVE Seven years ago, Dr. Gerald Minuk, Canada’s first hepatologist (liver specialist), partnered with Israeli computer science student Daniel Iluz-Freundlich in founding Refuah Solutions Ltd (RSL). Their goal was to create an app – which they called PI-enroll (“PI” stands for “Principal Investigator”), which was designed to be used by clinical trial investigators that would save them time and effort so they could be more personally involved in seeing their trial patients.
Last month, they released their second app, this time for patients. The app, called Patient-empower, informs patients about clinical trials underway for their condition and helps them make an informed decision as to which trial best meets their specific needs and preferences.
“I was approaching retirement,” recalls Minuk, now Rady School of Medicine Professor Emeritus, who has been in practice in Winnipeg since 1987, and “I couldn’t see myself filling my days doing crossword puzzles or Sudoku. I wanted to be able to continue contributing to medical research and patient care.”
It just so happened that, at the time, Minuk was introduced to an Israeli student, Daniel Iluz-Freundlich, who had just finished studying Computer Sciences at the University of Winnipeg. (Minuk notes that Iluz-Freundlich – on graduating – received the Gold Medal in Computer Science.)
“Daniel is an exceptionally talented young man,” Minuk says. “So I tapped his computer programming skills to create our PI-enroll and subsequently, our Patient-empower apps.”
The friendship continued after Iluz-Freundlich returned to Israel in 2020 to begin medical school on a Phil and Elle Kives Scholarship, where he earned numerous honors. Iluz-Freundlich is currently an intensivist anesthesiologist at the Beilinson Hospital in Israel. Despite his new professional responsibilities, including caring for IDF forces wounded in Gaza– he has remained active with Refuah – as vice-president of the company.
Minuk adds that a dozen other senior professors of medicine also contributed to Refuah’s software design. “Together,” he reports, “the company represents 400+ years of clinical trial experience. That experience is being applied to identifying and addressing the major challenges investigators and patients face when conducting or participating in clinical trials.”`
He adds that Refuah Solutions has established a truly global network with company personnel in San Diego, São Paulo, Mexico City, London, Barcelona, Nairobi and Delhi thus far.
According to Minuk, the company has enjoyed worldwide success – with over 2,000 doctors in 40 countries and 50 drug companies signed on for the PI-enroll app. He attributes this success to the app’s impressive results. In a recent global clinical trial, Minuk reports, within 3-6 months of implementing PI-enroll, investigator personal involvement increased by 60% and with that, patient enrolment increased by 80%, patient drop-outs decreased by 50% and there were 20% fewer protocol deviations (mistakes made). In addition, 90% of PIs rated the App 8 out of 10 in terms of usefulness.
He adds that one site that had not enrolled any patients for 12 months, subsequently became the trial’s leading enrolment site.
Regarding the newly released Patient-empower app, Minuk notes that despite the many benefits patients derive from clinical trials including free and early access to new and often safer and more effective treatments, fewer than 10% of patients who would qualify for a clinical trial are ever invited to consider that option. “The problem,” he explains, “is that most Health Care Providers are either unaware of what clinical trials are underway in their area or if they are aware, don’t have the time to discuss the trials with their patients.”
Therefore, Minuk, Iluz-Freundlich and their team designed and recently released their second app – Patient-empower – which informs patients of what clinical trials are underway for their condition and empowers them to select the trial that prioritizes their needs over those of industry.
The platform, he explains, uses AI to generate concise, easy-to-understand summaries of clinical trials tailored to the patient’s location—city, state, country, or globally, depending on their preference. Each summary includes clear explanations of the patient eligibility criteria and key practical details, such as the likelihood of patients receiving a placebo, the number of required site visits, and other important practical considerations. It also suggests questions that patients should consider asking the investigator before they consent to enrolling. The trial information is presented in a shareable format to facilitate discussions with family, friends, and local healthcare providers—supporting both patient confidence and continuity of care.
Once a trial is selected, Minuk continues, Patient-empower provides the contact information for the trial investigator closest to the patient’s location, the trial’s sponsor and, where available, the world’s experts in the field.
The feature Minuk is most enthusiastic about is the “Recent Findings” page which keeps patients up to date on newly published clinical trial results and discoveries relevant to their condition.
“Patient-empower is available to patients from internet venues (App Store or Google Play) or through NFP organizations, associations, societies and patient support group web-sites,” he adds. “Although only recently released, we have already attracted interest from the American Diabetes Association, the Alzheimer’s Society of America, the Canadian Liver Foundation, Colorectal Cancer Canada, the American Myasthenia Gravis Society and many others.”
“Overall, Patient-empower informs patients, and more informed patients benefit everyone involved. After all, it’s the patient’s health; their voice should be heard,” Minuk concludes.
Local News
The South Seas come to the Asper Campus

By MYRON LOVE On Thursday, July 24, about 150 members of our Jewish community got a chance to sample the dance and music of the South Pacific. The event was billed as “Beyachad Together – Celebrating Indigeneity, land, culture and identity.”

The program featured both the Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble dancers and Steinbach-based Island Breeze Manitoba – which describes itself as “a high energy live band & Pacific Island dance team featuring authentic outfits and dances from the islands of Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa and New Zealand.”
According to Dr. Ruth Ashrafi, Regional Director of B’nai Brith Canada in Manitoba, the evening’s performance was connected to an Indigenous Peoples Conference that was held in Steinbach under the auspices of Island Breeze with participants from Canada, the United States (specifically Hawaii), Antigua and Bermuda in the Caribbean, South Africa, the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific island countries of Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Tonga.

“The conference organizers contacted B’nai Brith Canada,” Ashrafi reported. “They wanted to bring greetings to the Jewish community, as the indigenous people of the Land of Israel, and celebrate indigeneity together through dance and music.
“Their support in these difficult times is heartwarming.”
In her opening remarks as emcee for the evening, Ashrafi noted that “it is a great honour for the Jewish community to welcome so many indigenous guests from all over the world.”
She then related the story and miracle of Chanukah and connected it to the experience shared by many indigenous nations around the world.
“They have been told that their religion is wrong, their traditions are not sophisticated,” she pointed out, “just as the Jews of that time were told by the Greek rulers that our religion was wrong and our traditions were outdated.
“Here in Canada, the First Nations were forced into Residential Schools to learn Canadian ways. The manner in which they were taught in these schools was abusive and horrific. Many children died, and many more were scarred for life.
“As with the Maccabbees,” she continued, “courageous individuals have stood up and fought for rights of their indigenous brothers and sisters. They had to overcome a lot of resistance and other obstacles. Indigenous peoples are still over-represented in the Canadian prison system and social services.
“The story of Chanukah tells us that it is okay to be different from the majority culture,” she said, and “that special and unique traditions are important and worth preserving.
“The story of Chanukah also teaches us that fighting for our rights is not easy,” Ashrafi added. “We may be a tiny minority and the other side may be much more numerous, better organized and equipped. But if we take the first step, like deciding to use that little jar of oil (that burned in the Temple for weight days even though there was only a day’s supply), we will be helped along the way.”
“We put the Menorah in our front window,” she noted, “so that the light is shining into the dark winter nights. We want to share the story of the Chanukah miracle and we want to bring light into a world that has still so much darkness in it.”
Ashrafi’s words were followed by greetings from David Harper, a former Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief who spoke glowingly of his visit to Israel in 2014.
“Our faith teaches us that the People of Israel are the people of the Bible and we must bless them and pray for them,” he said. “My people have a lot to learn from the people of Israel about healing the land.”
Next, Ashrafi introduced Pastor Roger Armbruster whom, she described, as the man behind the vision for the evening. Armbruster, a strong Christian Zionist supporter of Israel, is the founder of Canada Awakening Ministries.
She said of Armbruster that “it is a privilege to be his friend. I have learned so much from you.”
According to Armbruster’s bio on the Canada Awakening Ministries website, “his life has been dedicated to a ministry of reconciliation, and of building bridges between cultures, nations, denominations and generations. He sees cross-cultural reconciliation as a key to making disciples of all nations, and in seeing God’s House become a House of Prayer for all nations.
“As director of Canada Awakening Ministries, he is a leader in facilitating Native-Non-native reconciliation, and in restoring the indigenous peoples of the land to reflect that part of God’s image that He has deposited in them in their sounds, songs, praise and dances.”
Armbruster attended the Inaugural World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People in New Zealand in November 1996 as well as gatherings in Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1998, northern Sweden in 2005, and Israel in 2008. In his remarks, he noted that he has visited Israel numerous times over the years – often leading tour groups representing Canadian Inuit, Greenlandic Inuit and Manitoba First Nations at the northern ends of the earth, along with Maori, Fijians and Samoans from the southern ends of the earth – back to the City of Jerusalem from where the original gospel message first came.
“In Israel,” Armbruster said, “these Indigenous People have shared their language, their culture and their faith with both Jewish and Palestinian audiences alike. In one Israeli community, they even shared a message that brought hope to a joint audience of some 500 people that included both Jews and Arabs coming together.”
The dance part of the program was emceed by Isi Masi of Island Breezes. The musical program included several Hawaiian dances, including a rousing foot-stomping number,followed by performances featuring Hawaiian song and gentle movement. The final part of the island dances concluded with a brief Maori war chant.
(The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand.)
The final part of the program included several high octave dances by our own – always outstanding – Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble, with all the performers singing “We Shall Overcome” and the audience invited to join in a round of Israel dancing.
Local News
Israeli-born realtor believes in paying it forward

By MYRON LOVE When Hofit Yanev and her husband, Stefan, first arrived in Winnipeg in May 2013, they knew no one here.
“We were looking for a safer environment in which to raise our children,” she recalls. “We thought that would be Canada, and Winnipeg seemed to be the most welcoming Jewish community.”
Despite not knowing anybody, on their first morning in our community they found that someone had left a challah on their doorstep. That was a small kindness that she has never forgotten. She is a strong believer in paying it forward. Ever since then, she notes, she has made sure to greet newcomers in our community with a challah.
Helping others – whether to buy and sell their homes or manage their money – is a principal focus of the thriving career she has built up here as a real estate agent and insurance adviser.
Sales has always been Hofit Yanev’s strong suit. Originally from Holon (near Tel Aviv), she began her sales career right after her army duty. Her first venture was selling Dead Sea and hair care products. (Some readers may remember the kiosks that used to be set up at some Winnipeg shopping centres some years back.) She worked a year in Chicago and four years in Miami before returning to Israel, where she met and married Stefan.
Soon after settling in Winnipeg, Hofit found work in sales, initially for an HVAC company (while Stefan became a long-distance truck driver and now operates Excellence Fences and Decks). “As I was doing very well in sales for this company,” she recounts, “after taking time following the birth of our third child, I decided to try selling houses.”
She secured her real estate license and went to work. After 18 months of trying, she was still struggling to make a go of it.
“I lacked experience,” she recalls. “I reached a point where I was ready to give up and go back to selling HVAC products.”
However, on what she thought would be her last day, she received two calls that revitalized her hopes. In quick succession, she recounts, she got a call from a former customer who wanted her to sell his house and a new customer who wanted her help in selling his house and buying another.
“I took it as a sign from God,” she says.
Today, eight years later, Yanev, working under the eXp Realty banner, oversees an operation with over 20 agents—nine of whom are on her team and the others working under her in the eXp umbrella.
“I achieved my dream,” she notes, “and I want to help others – either those looking to buy a home or fellow realtors starting out – to realize their dreams as well.”
She notes that she strives to understand what her clients’ needs are and provide the right homes for them. She reports that 70% of her real estate clients are members of our Jewish community. She deals with commercial as well as residential properties and adds that she also helps clients with long- and short-term rentals as well as car rentals.
About a year ago, she notes, she added another entry to her resumé – that of insurance adviser. “As a realtor, I could see how some people are struggling financially,” she says. “I wanted to help.”
As an insurance adviser, she works with single mothers, seniors, and others plagued by financial difficulty. “I advise clients on how to get out of financial trouble, how to save 10% of their net income, and build their savings.”
She makes it clear that she keeps a distinct separation between her real estate clients and her insurance clients.
Now, you would think that an individual working two careers – with five kids to raise (all of whom are enrolled in Jewish educational programs) – would have her hands full. Nonetheless, Yanev has a third avocation – that of a social events planner for fellow Israelis in Winnipeg and other Hebrew speakers.
“For the past six years,” she reports, “I have been producing five programs a year in our community for Hebrew speakers. No one else was doing it, and I felt that it was important for Israelis here to be able to connect with each other.”
She adds that the family-oriented programs have been “super successful.” “We have had as many as 300 people at some of our programs.”
Yanev believes that her success story can inspire other newcomers to Winnipeg. “If you are prepared to work hard, you can achieve your dream,” she says.
She also expresses gratitude to our Jewish community. “We have found the community here to be welcoming and supportive,” she says. “It is thanks to you that we have been successful. This really is friendly Manitoba.”