Local News
Michael Eskin, Ava Kobrinsky among newest inductees into Order of Manitoba
By MYRON LOVE Somewhere in the back of my mind, I dimly recall the maxim that it is preferable to be one who honours chase rather than he – or she – who chases after honours. The former is an apt description of both Michael Eskin and Ava Kobrinsky, two of the 2021 class of inductees into the Order of Manitoba.
Although Kobrinsky and Eskin hail from two quite different fields of endeavour – Eskin being a man of science (although he is also a long time chazan and musician with several CDs to his credit) and Kobrinsky’s contributions are in the field of performing arts, both share a sense of humility and thankfulness.
“I am pretty amazed to be so honoured,” says Kobrinsky of the Order of Manitoba induction. “I saw the list of the other folks appointed to the Order of Manitoba and each one has an impressive record.”
Earlier this year, Kobrinsky was also recognized at the annual Canadian Folk Music Awards with the Slaight Music Unsung Hero Award for her lifelong behind-the-scenes involvement in Canadian folk music and the careers of Canadian folk music artists.
Kobrinsky’s career in the promotion of Canadian folk music began through her relationship with the late Mitch Podolak, whom she married at the relatively young age of 22. Where Podolak was considered the “father” of Winnipeg’s folk music scene, Kobrinsky has to be considered the mother.
As she recalls, in the mid-1960s Podolak was working for CBC Radio. Podolak proposed the creation of what was to become the annual Winnipeg Folk Festival (which has had to go on hiatus for the second year in a row due to Covid) as a Manitoba Centennial project.
“Through his connections at CBC, Kobrinsky recalls, Podolak was able to gain the support of the broadcaster, and the Folk Festival was one of the few Centennial project that lived on after 1970.
At university, Kobrinsky says, she studied literature, poetry and theatre. Working with Podolak, she found herself becoming a bookkeeper, fundraiser, financial manager and writer of grant applications.
“I learned as I went along,” she says. “I just seemed to go from one project to another, all of them related to the performing arts.”
Among the organizations to which she has contributed her expertise have been the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre and Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers. Her most recent and current enterprise is “Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous” which brings individual musicians into people’s homes. She and Podolak founded “Home Routes” in 2007.
“We were inspired by the example of Pete Seeger,” she recalls. “When he was not able to book formal concerts because of his Communist beliefs, he turned to giving private performances.
“We started in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta,” she recalls. “We were able to recruit volunteers in 12 communities that were in the same region to open their homes to concerts by travelling artists.”
Today, “Home Routes”, which is now led by Ava and Mitch’s son, Leonard, operates across Canada with almost 200 volunteer who each host six shows a year in houses and small halls in their communities.
Due to Covid, Kobrinsky notes, “Home Routes” pivoted to performances being streamed online. Some of the performances are free to sign onto, she points out, while for others, you will need to buy tickets.
Kobrinsky says that despite her many years doing what she has been doing, she is still learning new skills – most recently to do with online production.
“I am not sure if I will ever retire,” she says.
She is looking forward to post-Covid when normal activities can resume – as are we all.
Michael Eskin, who is nearing his 80th birthday, is still going strong.
The press release from the Lieutenat-Governor’s office announcing the new group of Order of Manitoba inductees noted that Eskin is “a global leader in canola research and one of the world’s leading food science writers. He earned the Order of Canada in 2016 for his work on the physicochemical and functional properties of canola oil that is key to the success of the Canadian canola oil industry. His work changed the agricultural landscape in Manitoba and Canada, making canola oil the third-largest major oilseed crop in the world.”
“It is quite an honour,” Eskin says of being named to the Order of Canada.
In recent years, Eskin has also been recognized with industry awards such as the AOCS (American Oil Chemists Society) Timothy L. Mounts Award (2007), AOCS Alton Bailey Award (2013) and AOCS Herbert J. Dutton Award (2017).
The much-honoured professor in the faculty of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences at the University of Manitoba Department- and a beloved chazan in our community – continues to teach online classes with over 200 students, write and compose and record songs and videos related to Torah and his academic research. Most recently, he wrote a song honoring the 100th Anniversary of the discovery of insulin in Canada, which was recorded and edited by the American Oil Chemists`Society and which was included in their Virtual Annual Meeting held in May.
“As it happens, when I received the call about the Order of Manitoba, from (the honourable) Janice Filmon, she also asked me whether I had done any new raps,” he notes. “She had worked with me on the 100th Anniversary of the Faculty of Human Ecology and was very familiar with my videos.
“I sent her the video on the discovery of insulin.”
The video has already received many positive responses, he adds. (You can watch it at https://youtu.be/4lwyW4WA6C8.
It was also broadcast on CBC at the following link:
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-29-information-radio-mb/clip/15841830-if-hum-it…you-remember-it-an-80-year-old-u
Local News
Nakba exhbit at CMHR – you can see it right here and make your own assessment
By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted June 26, updated July 19) The Nakba exhibit at the Canadian Exhibit for Human Rights opened to the public June 27. The morning before the exhibit was set to open to the public, (it had a private opening for invited guests the evening of June 26) we received a press release from the CMHR. That press release gave a very detailed description of what was in the exhibit, along with photos (supplied by Annie Kierans of the CMHR).
There is also a link right at the beginning of the press release that will allow you to watch the same videos that anyone attending the exhibit can watch. We reprinted what was sent to us without making one edit. We leave it to you to form your own opinion as to whether the exhibit is fair in its presentation, and whether it is lacking “context” – which is an accusation that has been levelled at the exhibit’s organizers by some representatives of Jewish organizations.
We have received many emails in reaction to the exhibit. If you have an opinion and would like to see it published on this website, you can send it to jewishp@mymts.net, but please indicate whether you would be willing to have it published on this website.
Here is what we received the morning of June 26:
Winnipeg, MB — June 26, 2026 — The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) will open a new exhibit tomorrow that explores human rights violations related to the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinian Canadians.
Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present will be on display in the Rights Today gallery on Level 5 until 2028. Featuring personal stories told through artifacts and video testimonies, the exhibit presents Palestinian Canadians reflecting on their ongoing struggle for human rights. The small exhibit reveals enduring patterns of loss and resilience, helping visitors understand more about this contemporary human rights story.
Palestinian Canadian stories are now included alongside many other stories of forced displacement and human rights violations featured in the Museum’s galleries. Each of these stories contribute to our visitors understanding of human rights and help the Museum fulfill its mandate to foster reflection and dialogue.
Exhibition highlights
Personal stories and artifacts: Experience firsthand accounts from Palestinian Canadians sharing their journeys of displacement and memory through a series of five artifacts. Cases display artifacts like property deeds, house keys, and a traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, accompanied by short videos that deepen understanding of the impacts of displacement.
Powerful artworks: In her painting Bound Together in Gaza, Malak Mattar, a Gazan artist, captures the struggles and resilience of her generation shaped by conflict. Her work pays homage to Guernica, Picasso’s powerful masterpiece depicting civilian suffering during war.
Curfews and Closures, by Rajie Cook, bears witness to life under military occupation during the 2000–2005 Palestinian uprising, when curfews and closures were expanded and further limited basic rights and freedoms.
Cultural heritage: Discover traditional Palestinian embroidery called tatreez. Tatreez motifs and colours are tied to place, family history and regional identity. Patterns are associated with particular towns, villages or areas of Palestine. In this way, tatreez is a form of storytelling: a way of preserving memory, sustaining identity and expressing resilience across displacement and exile.
Poetry and reflection: Engage with Mahmoud Darwish’s evocative verses, inspiring personal reflection on exile, voice, and responsibility. Visitors can take a card containing Darwish’s poem and add a personal note, fostering ongoing dialogue beyond the exhibit.
Contemporary context: Witness striking images of current events in Gaza and the West Bank, connecting past displacement to ongoing struggles.
Quotes:
“No force can silence the truth we carry. Growing up in Canada, my children lived the Nakba through our stories. And now we watch it happen again, live, on our phones. When I see the images coming out of Gaza, I am not watching the news. I am watching my history repeat itself.” -Fouad Sahyoun, a Palestinian Canadian featured in the exhibit
“We developed this exhibit with a clear awareness that Palestinian Canadian voices have too often been marginalized, silenced or spoken over — and that anti-Palestinian racism affects whose stories are heard and whose suffering is recognized. That is why we intentionally centred Palestinian Canadian voices throughout the exhibit.” -Isabelle Masson, Curator of Palestine Uprooted
“Human rights matter precisely when they are inconvenient, when the question of who deserves the dignity of having their rights recognized is genuinely contested. These are the moments where having a national museum for human rights is most important.
There are people who believe this exhibit should not exist in its current form. There are people who believe it should have existed sooner. There are people who will visit this exhibit and feel that it does not say enough, and others who will feel it says too much.
We have listened to every one of these voices. We have reflected. And we have renewed our resolve to continue the difficult, sometimes contested, and often controversial work of building understanding about human rights. We are a museum grounded in Canada’s human rights framework, whose mandate requires us to bear witness to the full complexity of the human story. We are proud to open this exhibit because the story it tells will help achieve that mandate, and because this story belongs in the collective memory of Canadians.”
- – Isha Khan, CEO
Local News
A photo that’s being circulated on the internet about me
For those of you not familiar with nutjob Michael Kalo – the psycho who created the notorious “$hitler’s List” years ago and the same psycho who went after Ben Carr, well – now he’s obviously taken a strong disliking to the stance I’ve taken on the Nakba exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. (You can read elsewhere on this website how I simply posted the entire exhibit as it is – and asked readers to form their own opinions.)
Kalo likes to send out emails to various individual using phony names – such as Frank Ostrowski. When people ask me (or asked Ben Carr) why we don’t take action against him, my answer is: What’s the use? He only basks in the attention.
So Michael – enjoy the attention you’re receiving. I know how much of an embarrassment you are to your wonderfully talented daughters.
Local News
Ami Hassan returning as owner of Falafel Place
By BERNIE BELLAN In a surprise move – and after more than a six-year absence as owner of Falafel Place (Corydon at Wilton) the legendary Ami Hassan has decided to return as owner of one of Winnipeg’s most famous eateries.
Long known for his sometimes irreverent attitude to his customers, e.g., “If you’re finished, get out!”, Ami decided to return to running Falafel Place after having retired years ago (or so he thought) from running the Corydon Avenue restaurant.
We asked Ami whether he’ll be sending a special invitation to Julia Roberts to come visit him at Falafel Place. He asked again: “Who’s Julia Roberts?” (Just kidding – he really does know how Julia Roberts is.) Read the story how Ami told her to leave the restaurant and come back later at Julia Roberts turned away from Falafel Place
Ami did note that when customers saw him inside the restaurant one recent day as he was getting it ready for the reopening Monday, August 10, over 20 of them came in asking him if he was open already.
We asked Ami whether the menu will be the same as it was when he last ran the place and he said everything will be the same.
Falafel Place will be open 7 days a week from 7 am – 2 pm. Remember, if you’re finished – get out!
