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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
From a ‘pie in the sky’ idea to 2,400 young hockey players
By BERNIE BELLAN I didn’t used to cover sports for The Jewish Post & News except for the odd occasion.
For years we could count on the late, great Harvey Rosen to comb the waterfront, looking for any sports story that might have the least connection to anything Jewish. Harvey would even go into visiting teams’ locker rooms during Winnipeg Jets games and, if a player had a name that sounded Jewish, inquire whether that player might be Jewish.
Then, for a few years, we added well-known sports writer Scott Taylor to the mix. Scott offered quite a different perspective, looking for stories about athletes that went far behind the scenes to uncover details that other reporters might have missed.
With both Harvey and Scott gone from our pages, I’ve occasionally found myself filling the sports void. These days, however, I tend to wait for an interesting story to find me.
And that’s exactly what happened with Wheatland Hockey.
Recently, my neighbours Elliot and Linda Katz mentioned that they knew of a Jewish couple who had started a hockey development program in Winnipeg. The couple, Rich Hechter and Rachel Wolfenson, had apparently started Wheatland Hockey only about 16 months earlier.
I subsequently learned that, in that short time, more than 2,400 young hockey players had gone through Wheatland’s various programs.
That number got my attention.
So, I contacted Rachel and Rich to find out what they had created — and why.
It started with a gap
The idea for Wheatland began, as Rachel described it to me, as “this little pie in the sky idea that we were going to have a spring development program in the spring of 2025.”
They started with about 50 kids spread across three age groups.
Sixteen months later, Wheatland has grown into a broad hockey-development organization offering programs for players from U9 through U15, along with specialized programming, female hockey, spring and summer teams, events and high-performance opportunities.
But the numbers aren’t really the story.
The story is why they thought Wheatland needed to exist in the first place.
Rich and Rachel felt there was a gap between traditional minor hockey and the highly specialized — and often expensive — training programs available to elite players.
There were plenty of opportunities for kids to play hockey. But what about the player who needed to improve one particular part of their game? What about the U9 player whose parents had no idea what skills their child should be working on? What about the player who wasn’t an elite athlete but had the potential to become a much better hockey player with the right instruction?
That was the space they wanted Wheatland to occupy.
As Rachel explained it, some families come to Wheatland knowing exactly what their child needs.
“They might know that the kid’s gap is power skating,” she told me. “They might have a great shot and great stick handling, but they’re not strong skaters.”
Other families arrive with a much less specific question.
“They’re new U9 families,” Rachel said. “Their kids have been spat out of the Timbits world and into the U9 world and they don’t know what to focus on.”
That’s where Rich comes in.
‘Pedagogy on ice’
Rich brings an unusual background to hockey coaching.
He is currently taking a one-year sabbatical from his role as vice-principal of Brock Corydon School, the Winnipeg school often known as the only public school Hebrew bilingual program in North America. For many families in Winnipeg’s Jewish community, Brock Corydon is where they know Rich best.
Before becoming a vice-principal, he worked as a high school teacher and as a university professor in the Faculty of Education. He has also spent more than a decade coaching youth hockey.
This year, rather than stepping away from education, Rich is using his sabbatical as an opportunity to continue learning, writing, and growing as a coach and mentor while devoting more time to developing Wheatland Hockey.
That additional time will also allow Wheatland to extend its reach beyond Winnipeg through a new initiative called “Wheatland on the Road”.
Over the coming year, Rich will travel to rural Manitoba communities including Manitou, St. Laurent, Lundar, Steinbach and Elm Creek to lead coaching and mentoring sessions for local players and coaches.
The initiative reflects Wheatland’s belief that access to quality coaching should not depend on where a young player lives. It also gives Rich an opportunity to work directly with local hockey communities, sharing ideas and helping coaches develop their own approaches to teaching the game.
For Rich, education and hockey aren’t separate worlds.
Rachel described his approach as “pedagogy on ice.”
The idea is simple: coaching isn’t just about showing a young player how to execute a skill. It’s about understanding how that player learns, figuring out what they need, and creating an environment where they can improve.
That educational philosophy is evident in the way Wheatland approaches development.
Its programs focus on areas such as skating, puck control, shooting, passing and receiving, positional play, defensive skills, checking, hockey IQ and tactical understanding.
But the organization also talks openly about developing confidence, resilience and character.
The Wheatland philosophy is summed up on its website as building “skills, character and excellence — on and off the ice.”
And that distinction is important to Rich.
The objective isn’t simply to produce better hockey players.
It’s to help young people become better learners, teammates and competitors.
A Jewish leadership team in an unlikely business
There is also an irony at the heart of Wheatland’s success.
We are not exactly the people known for our sporting prowess, and none of the people leading Wheatland played in the NHL. Yet, the organization is run by Rachel and Rich, with Ryan Paul, Eleni Wener, Avi Walker and Dustin Roitelman in senior leadership roles.
That may be unusual in the hockey world, but it is also part of what makes Wheatland distinctive.
This is not a business built around former professional players leveraging on their own playing careers. It is being led by people who believe deeply in the values Wheatland has developed — and continues to develop.
They believe in teaching young people how to learn, how to work with others, how to persevere and how to contribute to their communities.
In that sense, Wheatland’s leadership team reflects the organization’s broader philosophy: hockey expertise matters, but so do education, mentorship, organization, empathy and a commitment to making the game more accessible.
The fact that this group has helped build a hockey organization serving thousands of young players from across Manitoba is, in its own way, pretty remarkable.
Making hockey and coaching accessible
Perhaps the most important word in Wheatland’s philosophy is accessibility.
“Accessibility is one of our guiding principles,” Rachel said. “We believe that all kids should have the opportunity to get on the ice, regardless of socioeconomic conditions.”
For Rich and Rachel, accessibility means more than making hockey available. They believe that good coaching should be accessible, too.
That commitment is reflected in Wheatland’s “Pay-What-You-Can” program, which helps ensure that financial circumstances do not prevent children and families from participating in quality hockey programming.
For Rachel and Rich, the program is one way of giving back to the broader community. They believe that hockey — and the opportunity to learn from good coaches — should be available to as many young people as possible, not limited only to families who can afford the full cost of specialized training.
That doesn’t mean Wheatland is trying to be everything to everyone.
Rather, the idea is that a family shouldn’t need to have an elite-level hockey player — or an elite-level hockey budget — to access good coaching.
The organization keeps its groups relatively small. A typical session might have four or five players, while a larger session could have as many as 20, with several coaches on the ice.
The result is that a player who shows up to a smaller session can end up receiving something approaching a semi-private lesson without the family having to pay a premium for that experience.
And, Rachel noted, if only a handful of players show up for a session, “they would get the benefit of a semi-private class for a very inexpensive cost.”
Building coaches, too
Wheatland’s emphasis on development doesn’t stop with the players.
The organization has also created a Junior Coach program, through which some of its younger participants have an opportunity to begin learning how to teach the game themselves.
Five of Wheatland’s junior coaches are under the age of 15.
That’s significant because it reflects another part of Rich and Rachel’s philosophy: hockey development isn’t simply about producing better players. It’s about creating people who can contribute to the hockey community.
The organization’s coaching staff also includes experienced coaches with backgrounds in player development, athletic development and hockey education.
The same philosophy is at the heart of Wheatland on the Road. By working with coaches in rural communities, Rich hopes to help build local coaching capacity so that players can continue benefiting from quality instruction long after his visit is over.
Hockey as a bridge between communities
One of Wheatland’s most memorable recent initiatives involved a visiting Israeli hockey club.
The visiting players took part in two on-ice sessions with Rich and Ryan. After changing out of their gear, the young players then visited Rich at Brock Corydon School, where they met with grade 5 and 6 students.
For the players from Israel, the experience offered more than additional hockey instruction. It gave them an opportunity to connect with Winnipeg students through a shared language — the language of hockey — while also learning about one another’s communities.
For Wheatland, the sessions demonstrated how hockey can create meaningful connections that extend well beyond the rink.
Rachel and Rich
While Rich is the face of Wheatland on the ice, Rachel’s role is largely behind the scenes.
A Senior Investment Advisor with TD Private Wealth Management, Rachel brings an entirely different skill set to the organization, overseeing operations and communications and helping ensure that families have a positive experience from the moment they register.
The division of responsibilities seems to work. Rachel brings the organizational perspective needed to turn an idea into an operation. Rich brings the educator’s perspective to player development.
The broader leadership team brings additional experience, energy and commitment to the values that guide Wheatland.
And somewhere along the way, that little “pie in the sky” idea became something considerably larger.
More than 2,400 kids have now gone through Wheatland’s programs in just 16 months.
That’s a lot of hockey players. But when I asked Rachel what she thought accounted for that kind of growth, her answer wasn’t really about hockey.
It was about giving families something they were looking for.
“We teach people first, we teach hockey second,” is the philosophy Rich and Rachel have adopted.
Perhaps that’s why Wheatland has grown so quickly.
Because for all the talk about hockey development, what they are really trying to develop is something bigger: young people who feel supported, challenged and capable of getting better.
And through initiatives such as the Pay-What-You-Can program, Wheatland on the Road and its work with visiting teams, Wheatland is also showing how hockey can be both accessible and a bridge between communities.
If the first 16 months are any indication, there are a lot of Winnipeg families — and perhaps many potential community partners across Manitoba — who were looking for exactly that.
For more information about Wheatland Hockey, visit Wheatland Hockey.
Local News
“Chanukah Guilt: A Jewish Holiday Murder Mystery”
Review –Interview by MARTIN ZEILIG
With “Chanukah Guilt: A Jewish Holiday Murder Mystery” (Scribal Scion Publishing 182 pg. $20.00) Winnipeg author Avra Love steps confidently into the world of cozy Jewish crime fiction, delivering a warm, witty, and culturally textured novel that feels instantly familiar to anyone who has spent time in a synagogue social hall.
Published by Scribal Scion in August 2026, the book marks a notable shift from Love’s earlier works — the playful children’s book “Don’t Wake Mommy!” and her flash fiction collection “Into the Junk Drawer” — yet it carries forward her trademark blend of humour, character insight, and affection for the small dramas of everyday life.
Love, who was interviewed by email for this article, grew up surrounded by stories and language, and that early immersion shows. She had long wanted to take on a larger scale project, and this idea — sparked by her own experiences participating in holiday craft sales — lent itself naturally to expansion.
“I was always struck by the diversity and energy you find at these events,” she says. “When I considered it as a background for my story, I chose to make it a Jewish setting.”
The novel unfolds over a single day: the pre Chanukah craft sale at a local synagogue. It’s the kind of event many Jewish readers will recognize immediately — twenty vendors, tables overflowing with handmade goods, the hum of conversation, and the quiet hope that the turnout will justify all the effort.
Into this bustling scene steps Becky, the first time coordinator of the sale, who has taken on the job mostly because no one else would. Becky’s background as a theatre director gives her a keen eye for personalities, staging, and the subtle tensions that animate a room. It also makes her an unexpectedly capable amateur sleuth when a sudden death shatters the cheerful atmosphere.
Love’s decision to set the mystery within a single communal event is inspired. The synagogue social hall becomes a microcosm of Jewish communal life — warm, opinionated, occasionally chaotic, and full of characters who are both endearing and exasperating. The vendors, each with their quirks and motivations, form a lively ensemble cast. Their interactions provide humour, texture, and a steady stream of clues as Becky tries to piece together what happened before the police arrive.
The tone throughout is unmistakably cozy.
Love isn’t interested in grisly details or procedural complexity; her focus is on character, community, and the gentle absurdities that arise when ordinary people are thrust into extraordinary circumstances. The dialogue is sharp and often funny, peppered with Hebrew and Yiddish expressions that feel authentic rather than ornamental. A glossary at the end ensures that readers of all backgrounds can follow along without missing the cultural flavour.
Behind the scenes, Hanukah Guilt was very much a labour of love.
The book began as a “piecework project built over sporadic bouts of creativity,” Love explains, and then underwent multiple revisions.
All told, it took most of three years to complete. When it came time to publish, she didn’t hesitate to bring the manuscript to Scribal Scion.
“I had such a great experience working with James Gershfield on my first children’s book that I went to him first — and I’m glad I did. I’ve been so appreciative of his hard work and expertise in helping me craft the finished product.”
What elevates Hanukah Guilt is Love’s ability to balance levity with sincerity. Beneath the humour lies a genuine appreciation for Jewish communal spaces — their warmth, their imperfections, and their role as gathering points for tradition, creativity, and connection. Becky’s determination to solve the mystery is less about heroism and more about responsibility: to the vendors, to the event, and to the community she cares about.
Love’s writing career continues to expand. In addition to this novel, she has two new Jewish children’s picture books underway with Scribal Scion Kids and continues to write short stories in her spare time. Hanukah Guilt is her third published book — and her most ambitious to date.
In Hanukah Guilt, Avra Love has crafted a charming, accessible, and distinctly Jewish mystery that will resonate with readers across generations. It is a welcome addition to holidaythemed fiction and a delightful new chapter in the career of a Winnipeg writer whose voice continues to grow in range and confidence.
This is a book that belongs on Jewish bookshelves — and one that will make readers smile even as they turn the pages in search of clues.
Avra Love is a Winnipeg educator with a background in English Language studies and Philosophy. She is the author of three books: the flash fiction collection “Into the Junk Drawer,” the children’s book “Don’t Wake Mommy!,” and her new cozy mystery “Hanukah Guilt: A Jewish Holiday Murder Mystery.” She loves to read, write, craft, and practice healthy living.
Local News
Israel’s ambassador to Canada makes first visit to Winnipeg
By MYRON LOVE On Thursday, August 6, Iddo Moed, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, made his first visit to Winnipeg and shared an overview of Israel-Canada relations with an engaged audience of about 100 Jewish community members and supporters. This was an important visit for the Winnipeg community. The event was focused on community affairs, with no presence of government or elected officials.
Moed is a 34-year veteran of the Israeli diplomat corps with a resumé that includes postings in China, Singapore, the Netherlands, and the Dominican Republic as well as some African countries. He has been stationed in Ottawa for the past three years.
The evening before the presentation, according to Jeff Lieberman, the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg’s CEO, the ambassador walked through the Asper Campus introducing himself to people he encountered, then took in the show at the Israel Pavilion. Afterward, Moed spoke with several people at the show. On his way out, he looked into the Bedouin tent in front of the cultural display and visited for a few minutes with a family inside.
The evening began with remarks from Gustavo Zentner, Vice President, Prairies, at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), who highlighted the unbreakable bond between our Jewish community and Israel, as well as the deep and enduring connection between the Jewish people and Israel. “At a time of heightened antisemitism and anti-Zionism across Canada,” Zentner said, “the contributions of Jewish Canadians to Manitoba and to Canada are foundational to our shared society.”
He called on the community to celebrate what makes us strong, our innovation, our Jewish “chutzpah”, our resilience, and our commitment to being there for one another. Zentner noted that our determination to strengthen and protect our community must extend beyond our own institutions and include strong, visible advocacy.
“This means,” he observed, “creating more opportunities for open dialogue and meaningful engagement, while firmly denouncing and pushing back against antisemitism, Jew-hatred and anti-Zionism, not only to protect the Jewish community, but also as a means of safeguarding our Canadian way of life and standing up for other minority communities whose voices may not otherwise be heard.”
During his own remarks, Ambassador Moed spoke about the friendliness of Canadians but, nonetheless, he observed, his time here has been difficult.
“I remember a discussion that I had years ago with a friend who predicted that even though incidents of antisemitism back then were minimal, there would undoubtedly be a resurgence.” he observed. “The level of hate I have seen in Canada and around the world has been quite disturbing.”
Moed claimed that 97% of Jewish university students in North America report that they have experienced antisemitism. He added that for Holocaust survivors, the current levels of hate are bringing back traumatic memories.
“Since October 7, life has been much more challenging and difficult for our people,” he noted. “Social media in particular has been a major problem. We need to reach out to our allies in the non-Jewish world. We need to find ways to highlight all the good that Israel does in the world. We also need to emphasize that Jewish values are largely in sync with Canadian values.
“And our Jewish community institutions need to be working together in a pro-active manner,” Moed said.
When it comes to Canada-Israel trade, Moed described the current situation as “stagnant.” “There is a lot of interest in Canada in potential trade deals with Israel,” he reported, “but federal government policies are not helpful.” Moed did add that he sees much potential for trade at the provincial level. “There has been a lot of interest in Quebec and Ontario in particular,” he said. “We are trying to reach out to the other provinces as well.”
The ambassador spoke for a relatively short time so as to leave a lot of time for questions from the audience. One question was about the possibility of a two-state solution. In response, Moed pointed out that over the years, Israel has offered numerous concessions – to no avail.
“We have learned that we can’t trust the Palestinian leadership,” he said.
A question about war crimes gave Moed an opportunity to contrast the Israel Defense Force’s great efforts to reduce casualties among Palestinian civilians with frequent warnings before the air force drop bombs or infantry units move into populated areas with Hamas and Islamic Jihad literally hiding among and behind women and children and hiding in and storing weapons in schools, hospitals, mosques and private homes.
Moed added that every IDF regiment has a legal advisor embedded with it to ascertain that military actions abide by international law.
He noted that on October 6, 2023, Gaza was quiet. On October 8, social media and the legacy media were already condemning Israel for “genocide”.
Moed emphasized the importance of Jewish education in our communities in Canada and the United States – even suggesting that some of the money our communities send to Israel might be better spent investing in Jewish education here at home.
(Despite almost three years of war, Israel still has one of the world’s strongest economies.)
One questioner asked about the prospect of Israel’s high-tech industry- which is second in size only to California – being able to develop a system that can override all the negativity and present a more positive picture online of Israel and the Jewish People.
Moed agreed that “the left are eating our lunch.” “Maybe we can create a platform using AI that can present a more positive view of Israel,” he suggested.
Moed has one more year to serve in Ottawa before he returns to Israel and finds out where he is off to next.
