Local News
Jewish National Fund – Canada holds event at Camp Massad featuring former Israel speechwriter at UN Aviva Klompas
By BERNIE BELLAN (Sept. 2, 2024) Despite the recent news that the CRA has revoked JNF-Canada’s charitable status, JNF-Canada is plowing ahead with a full slate of activities.
Included among those was a brunch program held at Camp Massad in Sandy Hook on Sunday, September 1, attended by some 150 individuals who had registered in advance. In addition to a delicious brunch prepared under the direction of Camp Massad head cook Marilyn Ingram, there was an hour-long question and answer session featuring someone by the name of Aviva Klompas.
Attendees were welcomed by Camp Massad executive director or – as he is known by campers, “Abba” Danial Sprintz, along with JNF-Canada Manitoba Saskatchewan executive director Danial Greaves.
Given the news that six Israeli hostages had just been found murdered, there was a somber overtone to the event, as Danial Sprintz recited the names of each of the victims.
Audience members also heard from Dr. Ted Lyons, himself a past Negev Gala honouree, also CIJA Man.-Sask. Representative Gustavo Zentner.
After brunch, Greaves conducted a question and answer session with special guest speaker Aviva Klompas. Klompas, who was born in Toronto, obtained her B.Sc from the University of Toronto, an MPA from New York University, and has extensive experience in the public sector.
Klompas was a Senior Policy Adviser to the Government of Ontario (2009-2013), when she helped with the settlement of Syrian refugees in that province. She was also the Director of Speechwriting for Israel’s Mission to the UN (2013-2015) when, she said, she had a hand, in every speech and bulletin prepared at Israel’s mission. She was also Associate Vice President of Israel and Global Jewish Citizenship from 2016-2021, based in Boston..
For the past three years Klompas has headed an organization which she co-founded known as “Boundless Israel,” whose mission, according to its website, is “to identify and disrupt the challenges impeding leaders and organizations from meaningfully educating about Israel, engaging with Israel, and combating Jew-hatred.”
Also on the website, it is noted that Boundless Israel is “data driven,” works together with polling organizations to study “the root causes, misconceptions, and historical contexts” of antisemitism,” and partners “with community leaders to develop targeted interventions that foster greater societal awareness and a safer, more inclusive society.”
In her just-released book, “Stand-Up Nation,” Klompas focuses on the many areas in which Israeli aid organizations have played vital roles in humanitarian projects around the world.
By titling her book, “Stand-Up Nation,” Klompas admitted, she was clearly capitalizing on the similarity between her book’s title and “Start-Up Nation,” written by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, which came out in 2011. But, rather than her trading without permission on the name of that wildly successful book, Klompas explained that Dan Senor himself had written a blurb for the back of her book, praising “Stand-Up Nation.”
During the question and answer session with Greaves, Klompas covered a wide range of topics, including how Israel has contributed so much to the betterment of third-world nations by promoting the concept of “tikkun olam.”
However, much of the discussion veered into the tremendous upsurge in antisemitism that the world has seen since October 7.
Klompas was quite critical of Prime Minister Trudeau, noting that her own parents’ synagogue in Toronto had been marked by antisemitic attacks five times since October 7.
(I should note that I was asked not to record the day’s event. I had rather anticipated that, based on that request, we might have heard something controversial or surprising. In truth, other than the criticism of Trudeau, there was nothing particularly newsworthy in anything that was said.)
Following the question and answer session Lawrence Pinsky told audience members about an upcoming event that will be featuring British Colonel John Spencer. The date of the event is September 11 but, Pinsky said, the location will not be publicly disclosed except to individuals who register in advance for the event. Those individuals will receive information as to the location shortly before the actual event for reasons of security.
Local News
Shaarey Zedek Sisterhood 60th anniversary interfaith luncheon
By MYRON LOVE On Wednesday, May 28, the Shaarey Zedek Sisterhood hosted its 60th annual interfaith luncheon – with 170 supporters on hand to break bread together, celebrate the Sisterhood’s 95th year in operation – in addition to the luncheon’s diamond anniversary, and enjoy an inspiring presentation by Indigenous business leader and consultant Lisa Lewis, who spoke about the kinship between her people and ours.
The program began with greetings from Lieutenant-Governor Anita Neville and Gail Asper, representing the Shaarey Zedek’s Board of Directors. Asper – the consummate community volunteer – spoke of the importance and benefits of the satisfaction gained from being a volunteer, as well as the important role that the Sisterhood has played in the life of our Jewish community’s oldest and largest congregation – a subject that was subsequently expanded upon by Marisa Hochman – one of the Sisterhood’s three co-presidents (along with Sandy Polanski and Louise Raber).
(Hochman and Raber also co–chaired the luncheon, along with Amy Karlinsky.)
“Our tradition teaches that it is important for us to be part of a community,” Hochman noted in her remarks. “Our Torah teaches that, while G-d is one, it is not good for man to be alone.”
She emphasized the importance in Judaism of balance and harmony as reflected in our rituals and observances – lighting two Shabbat candles, for example, the Commandments being written on two tablets, and in bringing together the four species of plants for the celebration of Sukkot.
“The mitzvah (of the four species),” Hochmanpointed out, ‘is not complete until all four of the elements are brought together – symbolizing that it takes many kinds of people to make a world – and that each of us brings something special to the table. It is only when all of us are working together that we are complete.”
Hochman provided a sampling of some of the ways that the Sisterhood contributes to its members, the synagogue and the wider community: the book club, the tallit-weaving program, monetary donations to the synagogue, support for theological seminaries and other Jewish educational institutions, and Jewish Child and Family Service.
“To me,” she added, “Sisterhood is friendship, community, the power of women working together to create, build and share and the passing on of wisdom and traditions – L’dor V’dor – from generation to generation.
“It is multigenerational, with members ranging in age from 16 into their 90s. A common thread that binds our members is that no matter their age or life circumstances, they are vibrant and engaged with the world around them. They love to learn and help others. They each contain a spark that illuminates.
“Like the glow of the Shabbat candles, we know that, together, we can bring more light and goodness into the world. Together, we definitely shine brighter than we do on our own.”
Following a delicious Shaarey Zedek lunch – salad, party sandwiches and dessert, keynote speaker Lisa Lewis stepped up the microphone. The speaker is a successful business woman, having started “Beyond Excellence Creative Consulting,” which provides tailor-made training and management assistance to a wide range of organizations.
Local News
Shindico celebrates 50th anniversary
(June 11, 2025) Shindico, one of Canada’s leading real estate firms, celebrated its 50th anniversary in typically understated style today. Instead of a lavish banquet in a swank hotel, over 200 Winnipeggers of different stripes gathered in a huge warehouse in St. Boniface to enjoy a variety of different foods served from different food trucks that had been brought onto the parking lot for the occasion in a carnival like atmosphere.
There were no long speeches marking the event. Instead Shindico staff mingled with guests and even the top bosses stood in line to order Philly steaks, french fries, cotton candy, popcorn, drinks, and sundry other food items. And, instead of the kind of swag typically given out at fancy celebrations guests were given simple hats saying “Shindico 50th anniversary.”
That’s the Shindico style we’ve come to expect of Shindico’s founders, Sandy & Robert Shindleman, who are known for understatement in their style of clothing – jeans and work shirts being what they are best known for wearing!
And, if you haven’t already read our story about how Sandy Shindleman came to found Shindico with his brother, Robert, you can read it here: The Sandy Shindleman story.
Local News
Cathy Moser organizing information program and beach party at Camp Massad as part of campaign to raise funds for pioneering Israeli treatment using psychedelic drugs and psychotherapy to treat PTSD
By MYRON LOVE When it comes to fundraising for worthy causes, Dr. Cathy Moser is one of the most creative and innovative people I know.
For over a dozen years, she was the annual Cancercare Manitoba Foundation Challenge for Life entrant Serratus Superstars team leader. Over that time period, Moser and her team raised over $450,000.00 – not only through walking but also through donations from garage sales and bake sales she and her friends organized and concerts organized in their homes.
A few months back, the Jewish Post ran a story about Cathy and her husband Jeff’s newest cause – a campaign to raise money for the Jerusalem Foundation’s new Resilience Centre, a novel treatment center for Israelis suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Aided in fundraising by long time Talmud Torah classmates and friends Donna Weinstein and Gina Chodirker, the Winnipeg couple are pledging to double every dollar donated to the Centre up to $100,000.
As part of that initiative, Moser and her friends are inviting readers to a special event – “Jerusalem at the Lake” on Sunday, June 22, at Camp Massad. The day’s activities will begin at 11:00 with brunch and presentations by Jerusalem Resilience Center directors Dr. Sinai Oren, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and Pinni Baumol, a social worker who has been working in the area for decades.
That will be followed by a family-friendly beach party from 3:00 to 7:00 featuring activities for all ages. Moser reports that there will be dinner, a live band, Israeli dancing, sports, a heated pool and arts and crafts for the kids. She adds that she, Gina Chodirker and Donna Weinstein recruited several other Talmud Torah/JWC alumni – including Miriam Kohn, Avis Raber, Jackie Winestock, Deborah Fleishman and Gail Thau – to help out.
Moser points out that, according to the Jerusalem Foundation, estimates suggest that over half a million Israelis are suffering from PTSD, as well as other psychological issues, since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and ensuing war.
“It is not only Israeli soldiers who have been traumatized,” Moser observed in that earlier interview. “Everybody in Israel knows someone who was affected by the attack on October 7. This past year has triggered trauma from past wars as well as intergenerational trauma from the Holocaust.”
In response to this tsunami of trauma that has hit Israelis, the Jerusalem Foundation, soon after the October attack, founded the Resilience Centre – operating out of the Shaare Zedek Hospital. The Resilience Centre utilizes a range of treatments for trauma therapy – including the pioneering use of the drug ketamine, in combination with psychotherapy.
Cathy Moser has been treating patients for the past 40 years. During that time, she says, she has treated victims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse and other horrific life events. Conventional tools and treatments can successfully treat trauma, but some (traumas) are so barbaric and complex that no matter how skilled a clinician is, “we cannot restore one’s lifeforce,’ ” she points out.
Moser initially approached the Jerusalem Resilience Center because of her work in psychedelic medicine. “Last summer, I visited the Reslience Centre,” she says. “I witnessed their treatment efficacy. There are less than a handful of legal psychedelic treatment centers in Israel, and this is a main one.”
Moser notes that readers who are interested in attending this special event and becoming sponsors can contact her at 204 295-3214, Donna Weinstein – 204 540-9869, or Gina Chodirker – 204 218-4803 or email friendsofJRC@gmail.com.
Registration deadline is June 14.
We owe it to our Israeli brothers and sisters to show them that we care about the mental health sacrifices that they are making to defend our homeland. While we happily offer donations for forest and building restoration, this gift will help to restore the ability of those that are traumatized to enjoy life again.
“We are hoping to raise at least $250,000.00 for the Jerusalem Resilience Centre,” Moser says. “That’s a lot of gelt…. but I think we can do it!
It is definitely a worthy cause.”
