Local News
Let Chai Lift Your Spirits

Music and song have the potential to uplift us from darker moments. So, amidst troubling ongoing world events, it is comforting to know the Chai Folk Ensemble is set to release a new album. Chai will launch A Great Light at a June 16th live gala concert at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
Honouring the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba for its generous community contributions, the concert will also be an opportunity to celebrate coming together anew after months (years) apart.

There is no exact formula for how the layers of music, song, and dance work together to create the Chai Folk Ensemble’s unique aesthetic at a live performance, says Chai veteran Arthur Liffmann. But he knows where it all originates. “It starts with the song, whether it’s the melody or the vocals. There’s an expression that informs where the choreography’s going,” says Liffmann, who joined the ensemble as a vocalist in 1991 and is Chai’s longest-serving performer.
But “as the layers come together,” he continues, “it’s like trying to undo a recipe once you’ve cooked something. It’s not just the sum of its parts. It has combined, grown, become something else,” says Liffmann, a former Chai Artistic Director (2002-2003) and Vocal Director (2009-2010).

Each of Chai’s three pillars—song, music, dance—is of equal import to the ensemble, says Sarah Sommer, who began singing with Chai in 2008 and was Vocal Director from 2014 to 2017. “I don’t think Chai would be what it is if it were missing one of those elements. They support each other, allowing us to reach more people. That makes Chai special,” continues Sommer.
While Chai is a balanced integration of song, music, and dance, it is simultaneously a pairing of past and future.

“We have one of our dancer feet firmly planted in our history and our other foot firmlyplanted in our future. We honour and respect and love our history. And at the same time, we’ve broken free of some things that held us tightly for a long time and have found a way to also move into more contemporary places. A huge part of that has been under David’s artistic directorship,” says Liffmann of David Vamos. “He’s dragged us into the future and done an exemplary job of it.”
Sommer, granddaughter to her namesake, the late Chai founder, says the ensemble wouldn’t be where it is today without its history. The evolution of Chai is about “building off that but continuing to grow and change, finding new ideas and fresh repertoire to add into the mix.”
Vamos agrees. “Many audience members still want to see their group reflected back to them. That’s a very human thing and something we need to honour while recognizing we want new challenges. We want to see what Israeli music is like in 5, 10, 15 years.”
As it approaches its 60th birthday, Liffmann says Chai has “a unique opportunity to communicate about Judaism, Israel, our history, and our future—educate and start discussion that is not based on religion or politics.”
Let the music uplift you. Get tickets to the gala concert by visiting Chai’s website www.chai.ca or contacting the Chai office: info@chai.ca or (204) 955-0069.
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First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students
By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard. Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging.
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty. “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”
Local News
Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition
By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”

