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Jewish Heritage Centre to present talk on Western Canadian Jewish anarchists, including Feivel Simkin
By BERNIE BELLAN Maria Tarasova-Chomard is a young (24 year old) student, originally from Russia, now living in Paris, who will be presenting a talk on Western Canadian Jewish anarchists for the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada on Sunday, October 3rd.
In the September 1st article I noted that I would have more about my interview with Maria in our September 15 issue, including some detailed information about certain Jewish individuals who were leading anarchists in Winnipeg in the early part of the 20th century.
I should also note that Maria is the first student winner of the Switzer-Cooperstock prize, given for an original essay on a subject relating to Western Canadian Jewish history. The Switzer-Cooperstock prize is awarded biennially, with the new student prize awarded in alternate years.
Returning to my conversation with Maria, which occurred over Zoom on August 24 while Maria was in her Paris home, I asked her “whether there were any names of well-known Jewish anarchists from Western Canada that” she could “throw out for the benefit of readers”?
Maria responded: “Yes, there were the Prasow brothers – Zalman and Israel – they were the leaders of the movement actually. Then there was Feivel (Frank) Simkin.”
Saying the name “Feivel Simkin” certainly triggered a greater interest on my part, since the Simkin name is so well known within the Jewish community. While I don’t want to preempt anything Maria might have to say during her talk on October 3rd, I’m sure reading the name “Simkin”, followed by the word “anarchist” might come as a bit of a surprise to at least some readers.
Following my conversation with Maria, I sent an email to Stan Carbone, curator of the Jewish Heritage Centre, in which I noted that Maria had said that Feivel Simkin was a leading anarchist in Winnipeg – which came as a surprise to me. I had known that Feivel Simkin had been the publisher of the Israelite Press, but beyond that, I knew nothing about the man.
So, Stan sent me a transcript of an interview that Roz Usiskin had conducted with Feivel Simkin in 1977, in which he tells his life story – also how he defines “anarchism”. Here is what he said at one point in the interview: “They believed that you should educate yourself, and then you didn’t need government to look after you.”
I said to Maria that I’d always been a little unclear how to define “anarchist”. I said to her that I thought the anarchist movement had begun in the late 19th century, but she said it actually began earlier than that – “in the beginning of the 19th century”, but the “period of the flourishing of the movement was really toward the end of the century”.
I asked Maria to give me “a Cole’s Notes definition of ‘anarchism’”.
Maria answered: “The most important aspect is that it’s a movement that believes in a society based on community, based on unity, and denies constraint and privilege.”
I asked: “But doesn’t it reject most forms of government authority?”
Maria responded: “Yes, but that comes from a rejection of constraint and privilege. Every state, every government (according to anarchists) is based on constraint and privilege – and hierarchy.”
As our conversation continued, I asked Maria how easy is it to actually identify individuals in the early 20th century in Winnipeg as “anarchists”?
She said it is difficult to do because “there are very few records and since the movement was essentially clandestine, they were actually paying attention not to keep evidence as to who was an anarchist, but when I talk about the ‘anarchist’ movement’ in my work, I talk not only about those who were directly involved in the organizations and activities of the organizations, but also everyone who was interested in the ideas – who called themselves radicals or libertarians.
“We can distinguish two circles. There was the core – the actual activists, the organizers – and there were those who participated in events, were sort of around”, but who couldn’t necessarily be described as ‘anarchists’.”
I asked what documentation might have existed that would have led Maria to conclude that the Prasow brothers and Feivel Simkin were the leaders of the anarchist movement?
Maria said it was mostly through “correspondence” among those three figures, especially correspondence between the Prasows and the leading American anarchist at the time, Emma Goldman (who actually stayed with the Prasows in their house at one time when she visited Winnipeg, Maria noted).
I wondered though, whether that correspondence would have been conducted in English or Yiddish – since Yiddish would have been the mother tongue of those early 20th century anarchists.
Maria explained that English was the preferred language of the anarchists, especially since Emma Goldman had insisted that anarchists’ writing be in English, so that it would be understood by “the generation born in America”.
As a result of this emphasis on the next generation, “a lot of their effort went into education,” Maria said.
Given the anarchists’ objection to governmental authority, I wondered whether there was a convergence between anarchism and the kibbutz movement, for instance, which was also predicted on a rejection of authority?
Maria suggested though that there was a fundamental divide between anarchism and Zionism. For anarchists, “the nation should either not exist or should only exist until there are not any nations at all. The Zionist movement (in contrast) was about Jewish nationalism. For anarchists, building the nation or an ethnic movement was not important at all.”
But, just how many identifiable anarchists were there in Winnipeg in the early part of the 20th century, I wondered? “Would they have been in the hundreds?” I asked Maria.
“Oh no,” she answered. “I’ve been able to identify only five or six of them.” (And yet, in Roz Usiskin’s interview with Feivel Simkin, he referred to Emma Goldman filling a hall with 700 attendees when she spoke in Winnipeg, so surely that must have been more than a passing interest in anarchy among a great many Winnipeg Jews in the early 20th century.)
Still, as Maria pointed out, “they may have been people who were simply interested in going to a talk.”
Was anarchism more than a “fringe movement” then? I asked.
“Oh yes,” Maria responded. “They were noticeable in the ideological landscape of the time, especially before (the Winnipeg General) Strike, in 1919. They were bringing about real change in the sense that their influence, their contribution to real projects, to social education was pretty noticeable –and pretty impressive, for the time. It wasn’t just a marginal group, even though it was a lot less numerous than some of the other currents.”
During our entire conversation, the discussion was confined to Jewish anarchists. I wondered, however, whether Maria had come across any references to non-Jewish anarchists during that period in the early 20th century?
“It’s not something I have found a lot of mention about,” Maria answered. “I know there was quite a lot of cooperation in the United States between Jewish and Italian anarchists – and with Spanish anarchists toward the 1930s, and with German groups” as well, “but in Canada it’s truly hard to say (whether there was much involvement by non-Jews in the anarchist movement). “I have not been able to find any mention of that.”
Local News
Newly announced Vivian Silver Centre for Shared Society to further former Winnipegger’s lifelong efforts to foster Jewish-Arab co-operation in Israel
By MYRON LOVE Vivian Silver (oleh Hashalom) devoted her life to working toward dialogue and collaboration between Arabs and Jews in Israel. The culmination of her efforts was the Arab-Jewish Center for Empowerment, Equality, and Cooperation – Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Economic Development (AJEEC-NISPED), which she co-founded 25 year ago with her sister peace activist, Dr. Amal Elsana Ahl’jooj.
Tragically, Vivian was of the 1,200 Israeli Jews, Bedouin and foreign farm workers who were slaughtered during the Hamas-led pogrom of October 7, 2023.
Last month, AJEEC-NISPED announced plans to create the Vivian Silver Center for Shared Society in her memory – a new national hub for Jewish-Israeli Arab collaboration and social innovation in Be’er Sheva – backed by an initial $1 million donation from UJA-Federation of New York, along with support from the Meyerhoff Foundation, the Gilbert Foundation, and other philanthropic partners committed to strengthening shared society in Israel.
“It’s a great honor and a beautiful gesture,” comments Vivian’s son, Yonatan Zeigen, “and I hope it will be a central building for civil society, both in the physical sense, that it will become a substantial home for the organization and for other initiatives that will use the spaced and also symbolically, as a beacon for this kind of work in the specific location in the Negev.”
As this writer noted n an article earlier this year in relation to the announcement of the launch of the Vivian Silver Impact Award by the New Israel Fund (NIF) – of which she was a long time board member, and which was developed in conjunction with her sons, Yonatan and Chen), Vivian made aliyah in 1974. She first went to Israel in 1968 – to spend her second year at university abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, studying psychology and English literature.
In an article she wrote in 2018 in a publication called ”Women Wage Peace,” she related that during her final year at the University of Manitoba, she was among the founders of the Student Zionist Alliance on campus and was invited to its national conference in Montreal. There she met activists in the Habonim youth movement who planned on making aliyah and re-establishing Kibbutz Gezer. The day she wrote her last university exam, she boarded a flight to New York to join the group.
She spent three years in New York, where she became involved in Jewish and Zionist causes, including the launch of the Jewish feminist movement in America.
“It was a life-changing period,” she recalled. “I came to understood that in addition to being a kibbutz member, I was destined to be a social change and peace activist.”
Vivian and her group made aliyah in 1974 and settled on Kibbutz Gezer. In 1981, she established the Department Promoting Gender Equality in the Kibbutz Movement. She moved to Kibbutz Be’eri near the Gaza border in 1990, along with her late husband, Lewis, and their two sons
In 1998, Vivian became the executive director of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development in Beer Sheva, an NGO promoting human sustainable development, shared society between Jews and Arabs, and peace in the Middle East. Soon after, she was joined by Amal Elsana Alh’jooj as co-directors of AJEEC-NISPED, winning the 2011 Victor J. Goldberg Peace Prize of the Institute for International Education.
In the article she wrote for “Women Waging Peace,” she noted that “while we later focused on empowerment projects in the Bedouin community in the Negev, initially we worked with Palestinian organizations on joint people-to-people projects. I spent much time in Gaza until the outbreak of the second intifada. We continued working with organizations in the West Bank. I personally know so many Palestinians who yearn for peace no less than we do.”
According to a report in the Israeli newspaper Arutz Sheva, in the November 24th edition, the Vivian Silver Centre – which is expected to open in the spring – will be located within AJEEC-NISPED’s soon-to-open AJEEC House, and will provide a permanent home for programs that promote equality, leadership, and cooperation among Israel’s diverse communities.
“The Vivian Silver Center for Shared Society, within AJEEC’s headquarters, “the Arutz Sheva report noted, “will serve as a regional platform for dozens of Israeli Arab and Jewish social organizations. Through AJEEC’s educational, vocational, and leadership programs, the center will support thousands of young adults each year – offering mentorship, professional training, and opportunities for cross-cultural collaboration.
“These programs,” the report continued, “already reach more than 15,000 participants nationwide, helping young people integrate into higher education and meaningful employment while narrowing social and economic gaps.”
AJEEC House is located in Be’er Sheva’s Science Park, near Ben-Gurion University. The three-storey AJEEC House has been designed to foster cooperation and dialogue. It will host community partnerships, provide shared workspaces for social entrepreneurs, and serve as a hub for initiatives addressing social and economic development across the Negev and beyond.
Readers who may be interested considering a donation can dial into NISPED’s website – – for further information.
Local News
Stanley Schwartz- it’s a long way from Waterloo
By GERRY POSNER For Stanley Schwartz, it all began on Waterloo Street. For those who remember the 1950s and 60s – take yourself back to the south end of Winnipeg. Waterloo between Corydon and Fleet had enough Jewish families to form its own High Holiday congregation. That is to say, there were a whole bunch of Jewish families there. Not quite McAdam Avenue in the north end – but close enough. One such family was that of Harold and Faye Schwartz, along with their children: Anita, Ruth, and Stanley.
Stanley graduated from Kelvin High School. In fact, he played football for the Kelvin Clipper. In addition, he was a participant in typical Jewish teen activities at the time, particularly AZA. He had a wide network of friends, some of whom remain vital connections to this day. Remember, in those days, there were no cell phones, no internet, and barely the beginnings of TV. So, as a teenage boy, Stanley spent a lot of time with his buddies.
Stanley went on to the University of Manitoba from where he graduated law in 1967. That was Stanley’s first step into a career that lasted close to 50 years. His second big step was his decision to forgo an offer to become a partner in a well known and established law firm in Winnipeg, and instead, go out on his own in a shared space arrangement. The shared space arrangement lasted several years and, during that time, he also opened up an office in Morris, Manitoba. Morris was once home to several Jewish families, but not when Stanley moved there to live.
Along his way to practicing law, Stanley got married – to the former Shirley Hooper, a woman originally from England who had moved to Vancouver and whom Stanley met by chance in Hawaii. They were blessed with two children and now have five grandkids. But the family did not end up in Winnipeg. In what was a huge life changing decision at that time, Stanley and Shirley boldly packed up their belongings and moved to Vancouver. Now, some of the thinking that entered into this move might well have been Shirley’s lack of fondness for the Manitoba winters (even though she had formed close relationships with many people in Winnipeg at that time – relationships she still maintainsto this day). But Stanley was also open to a fresh start in a new place. That decision, looking back on it now in 2025, was a wise one for both Stanley and Shirley Schwartz. For starters, who knew that Vancouver would explode with an immigrant population and with it, a dramatic increase in the value of property, caused in part by non-residents buying up land and buildings in Vancouver? Aside from that, Stanley had a specialty in his practice of law that was a perfect fit for Vancouver’s growing population- family law.
For the entirety of his legal career, Stanley focused on matrimonial law in every aspect, not the least of which was litigation. As a former lawyer myself, let me say that if there is an area of law filled with tension, aggravation, and sadness, it surely must be the field of marriage, children and custody battles, access, division of assets and all that goes with those issues. You often are not just a lawyer, but also a psychologist, father confessor and a lot more. You really have to be able to be able to watch some of the worst in humanity. And you have to be ready to, as they say, “ go for the jugular.”
You may never have to do it, but you have to be ready. Stanley Schwartz was ( nd remains so this day, in my view) on the face of it, not a likely candidate to be thought of as aggressive.That is because he was then and still is now, a friendly guy who does not seem to be one cut out for courtroom battles. But clearly, he was able to be “ rough and tough” when he had to be. When I asked Stanley what advice he would give to somebody wanting to employ him in a family law situation, he was quite frank. His immediate response to these kinds of clients was: “If you want a war, the winners will be two people -the two lawyers. The losers will be your children ( f there are kids in the picture.”)
Stanley might still have been at it, but he had medical issues relating to his back over a period of many years. He has had three spinal surgeries, and none of them has really worked satisfactorily. Standing for periods of time was hard for Stanley. He says he knew it was time to give up his practice of law when one day in court six or seven years ago, while he was in argument, he leaned against the dais and the judge told him that it was ok for him to sit down and argue. That episode confirmed what he had thought for a while: time to call it a day and a career. So with two metal rods in his back and pain in his legs, Stanley retired.
Though no longer involved in the legal world, Stanley has managed, very easily he would add, to settle into his non working life with as much travel as he and Shirley are able to do. That travel includes trips back to Winnipeg, also Winnipeg Beach – where he spent much of his youth. His visits also include time with his sister, Anita Ruth Neville, a name not exactly unknown to Manitobans given her role as the 26th Lieutenant Governor for the Province of Manitoba. And, with one daughter in Toronto, Shirley and Stanley also make regular stops in that city to see his family there.
Not that long ago, Stanley stepped into the world of octogenarians. He is quick to say that getting old is not for sissies, but at the same time, he is one to embrace what each phase of his life has brought.
Local News
Farah Perelmuter – a former Winnipegger in the spotlight
By GERRY POSNER From the north end of Winnipeg, Garden City to be exact, comes yet another Winnipeg woman who has almost singlehandedly built a prosperous business in Toronto – almost out of the blue. And who is this Winnipeg woman? None other than Farah Perelmuter, bornFarah Vinsky, the oldest of Toby and Irv Vinsky’s three daughters.
Farah attended Talmud Torah and Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate, also spent a year at the University of Winnipeg Collegiate. Upon graduation from high school, Farah took a gap year in Toronto working in the modelling industry. During that year, she had a chance to visit Western University in London, Ontario. That visit inspired her to apply there and, after one year at the University of Winnipeg, she was off to Western. Interestingly, not that long ago, Farah served on the Western Alumni Board – a role she filled for six years.
As a teenager in Winnipeg, Farah indicated that she had an entrepreneurial gene, as evidenced by her creating what was a “ self development “ program for teenage girls. When she started that program, Farah was all of 16 and was already working in her spare time in a modelling agency. When she came to Toronto after her graduation from university, she began working at a marketing agency, but the desire to be her own boss was so strong that, in 1995, Farah, along with her husband, Martin Perelmuter, started a business known as “ Speakers Spotlight.”
The business’s purpose was to bring prominent speakers to address audiences at locations all over the world. The couple initiated the business right from the spare bedroom in their apartment – with only one phone and one computer. Worse than that, Farah and her husband had no clients, no experience, no staff and, of course – no money. What they had was a clear vision. That vision was to put the right speaker in front of the right audience and, if they could do that, the impact would be significant and lasting. They also had so little business experience that they tried out different ways of doing things in their business and were not afraid to be innovative. That willingness to create and change likely propelled them speedily into the forefront in their field. As proof of their standing in the industry, Farah and Martin were selected twice as Entrepreneurs of the Year by Ernst and Young.
From that modest beginning emerged what is today called “ Speakers Spotlight,” a business that has grown into one of the world’s largest and indeed most respected speakers’ agencies. Farah and Martin have developed a team of people working for and with them (now up to 35 people, who work both in and out of the office) and, as well, they have created an incredible roster of extraordinary speakers. Their list of speakers includes people with deep experience in their respective fields. That combination of prominent speakers and a loyal, dedicated group of people putting the speakers on to platforms has allowed “Speakers Spotlight” to raise the bar of professional service and integrity within the industry. Would you believe 40,000 speaking engagements over 50 countries are now part of the history of a business that started in Farah’s spare bedroom? Just the list of names who have participated with Speakers Spotlight is staggering. Google Speakers Spotlight and I promise you will be overwhelmed, both by the quantity and quality.
Along the way, the company has received numerous awards and accolades. Most importantly, they have, through the various people that have been involved as speakers, helped to plant the seeds for people in the audience to make changes, alter plans and to inspire them to go forward. Sometimes, it’s as little as hearing the right person tell a story that can affect one person and from there, big things often develop. For Farah, that is what keeps her excited about her business.
In 2017, the couple started another business related to the first one, called “ The Spotlight Agency.” This company connects celebrity talent with opportunities all over the world. The talent comes from every area of life including the fields of entertainment, sports, food, decor and more. What the Spotlight Agency does is to unite these personalities to a brand of partnerships, with digital and creator content,TV, streaming, podcasts and publishing.
Even with the real success of Farah’s business ventures, what pushes her are her two children, Jade and Cole, both now in their 20s, and forging their own trails. As well, Farah appreciates from whence she came and she looks forward to what lies ahead. She treasures her return trips to Winnipeg to see her parents, relatives and indeed, old friends. So much is Farah Perelmuter a true Winnipgger that she still roots for the Winnipeg Jets, especially when they play the Toronto Maple Leafs. So, let the spotlight shine on Farah Vinsky Perelmuter.