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Nathaniel Lisak is the complete package: brawn and brain
By BERNIE BELLAN Recently we published a story about nominees for Jewish Athlete of the Year. One of those nominees is Nathaniel Lisak, an outstanding football player from Grant Park High School. The picture we ran of Nathaniel, however, was not Nathaniel. We apologize for that error. A correct picture of Nathaniel appears with this story.
We admit though, that impressive a background as Nathaniel has as an athlete, of all the six nominees for Jewish Athlete of the Year, Nathaniel is the only one about whom we hadn’t published a story in this paper – until now.
We were contacted by Nathaniel’s father, Roman, after that issue came out. Roman informed us that the picture we had of Nathaniel was not Nathaniel. I responded contritely, apologizing as best I could, and asked Roman whether Nathaniel might be amenable to being interviewed so that we could do a fuller account of his accomplishments. In short order Nathaniel texted me, saying that he’d be glad to talk about his football career.
When we connected later that day I asked Nathaniel about his family’s background. Nathaniel explained that his parents, Roman and Maria, came to Manitoba from Israel in 2004. They both had originally come from Ukraine, he noted. Nathaniel also has a sister, Priel, who is six years older than him and who was born in Israel.
Upon arriving here Roman began working for Manitoba Hydro in Gillam as a Certified Engineering Technologist, Nathaniel said – and that was where he was born and lived until he was nine. In 2014 the family moved to Winnipeg when his father was offered a job in Winnipeg. (His mother Marina, by the way, works in the Rady JCC day care.)
Nathaniel began attending Brock Corydon School when the family moved to Winnipeg – in the English program. I asked him whether he was “a big kid” back then, given how big he is now.
“No,” he answered, “I was average as a kid.”
But somewhere between Grade Six and Grade Nine, Nathaniel said, he began to grow…and grow. In those three short years, he told me, he grew an astounding 11 inches – going from 5’ 3” to 6’ 2”, and gained an impressive 100 pounds. (If you look at his picture you’ll see that those 100 pounds turned mostly into muscle.)
It wasn’t until he was in Grade 8 that Nathaniel even strapped on pads and began playing tackle football, he noted. Prior to that the sport he played the most was basketball. He had also become a shot putter as he started to grow.
Now, if you consider how quickly Nathaniel grew, you might wonder how he adjusted to that sudden growth spurt. He said that it wasn’t easy and that at times it was quite uncomfortable given how rapidly he grew in height and added weight but, given his success on the football field, it’s clear that he’s adapted himself to his increased size with flying colours.
As the blurb that was sent to us by the Rady JCC in describing the nominees for Jewish Athlete of the Year noted, “Lisak excelled at the defensive tackle position for the Grant Park Pirates Football team this past season. After helping his team compile a 5-1 regular season record and a spot in the championship final, Lisak was honoured with numerous personal accolades. He was named to the CFC (Canada Football Chat) All-Canadian First Team and was the recipient of the Winnipeg High School Football League (WHSFL) Kas Vidruk Lineman of the Year. At the school level he was named the Grant Park Football Most Valuable Player and was awarded the school’s Football Captain Award. He was runner up for the 2021 WHSFL Defensive MVP & 2021 Harry Hood Citizenship Award. In grade 10 he became a known player in Manitoba and was named a Nationally ranked top 100 player in Canada, being a top 5 Manitoban and top three defensive tackle in the 2022 graduating class.”
I wondered whether there are any particular professional football players that Nathaniel has tried to emulate since he started playing football?
“I remember watching J.J. Watt (an extremely mobile, although quite large defensive end) play,” Nathaniel observed. “I was amazed how someone that big could move that fast.”
Yet Nathaniel now says that his role model is Aaron Donald, the huge defensive tackle for the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, who is legendary for his quickness despite weighing 280 pounds. (Donald, by the way, stands 6’1”, so in terms of comparison, he and Nathaniel are roughly the same height and weight.)
As the blurb about Nathaniel in our last edition also noted, he received numerous scholarship offers from universities across Canada. He said though that he’s chosen to go to McMaster University in Hamilton. Not only does McMaster have a great football program, it also has an excellent business school. Nathaniel told me that his plan is to enter that school. Given that he’s also been an honour roll student at Grant Park and that his favourite subject is math, he told me, it should be a good fit.
In addition to his studies and his athletic pursuits, for the past year Nathaniel has been serving as the Regional B’nai Brith Youth Organization president. (He’s a member of “Alaphim,” he noted.) His term will end this June.
Quite the package: An outstanding athlete, a terrific student, and an active member of BBYO. He was also quite forgiving of my running the wrong picture of him. On the other hand I interviewed Nathaniel over the phone. I’m not sure I would have been prepared if it turned out that he wanted to practice a bull rush on me to retaliate for my faux pas.
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Talented Winnipeg composer Sara Kreindler teams up with her mother Reena Kreindler to create new satirical show to premiere here in May
By BERNIE BELLAN It’s been many years since I’ve heard from Sara Kreindler. Sara’s name first appeared in The Jewish Post & News in 2002 when a satirical musical titled “A Touch of Class” was reviewed by the late Arnold Ross. That particular production featured songs from popular Broadway shows that touched upon themes such as “greed, poverty, oppression, and social unrest.”
When she appeared in that show, Ross noted, Kreindler had just recently returned to Winnipeg from England, where she had obtained a doctorate in Social Psychology from Oxford University.
While at Oxford, Kreindler found time to compose a satirical musical titled “Charity,” which played to rave reviews there, and was performed five times.
Continuing in the theme of writing satirical musicals, Sara has now teamed up with her mother, Reena, to write a new musical titled “A Perfect Man,” which is set to run at the Gargoyle Theatre from May 6-17.
According to a press release we received, “A Perfect Man” is “a satirical musical, set on a fictional analogue of ‘The Bachelor’.
“The story follows an anthropologist who arrives to research TV’s hottest reality-dating show — only to discover she’s been made a contestant, and the bachelor is her high school crush. Past and present collide against an exuberant pastiche score that uses vintage musical styles to highlight modern absurdities.”
“Praised as ‘a musician [who] can make biofuels funny’ (CBC), Sara is known for whip-smart satire on a panoply of topics. Her digital musical, ‘Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System, created during her former life as an academic, has garnered over 84,000 YouTube views. Naturally, she had a field day with the subject of reality dating.
“The topic just begs for campy zaniness, which I think we all need in these times — but also for a more cerebral critique of what these shows say about the culture that spawned them,” says Kreindler. And thanks to the romance context, the satire is woven into a deeper, more personal story. “It’s satire with a heart.”
Here is some more information about Sara Kreindler, taken from a 2009 article I wrote about her:
“Born in Israel, Sara’s precocious talent was nurtured by her mother, Reena, whose own particular talent is literary, not musical. According to Reena, however, Sara was singing from the time she was a baby, and she began to study piano at the age of four.
“As a young girl, Sara began writing her own songs and poems, along with the “occasional musical”, notes Reena. Yet, Sara’s rare talent put her at odds with the typical interests of other children her own age, on top of which she attended a school to which she was exposed to a fair degree of antisemtism.
“As a result, Sara says, being bullied was a common aspect of her childhood. On one occasion, when she was nine, she notes, Sara fought back against one particular bully by reciting the following little ditty:
“I write so many epigrams to you that all the people laugh.
I’m tired of writing epigrams.
I want to write your epitaph!”
“Sara went on to compose a musical titled ‘Flutesong’ while she was a student at Vincent Massey Collegiate, she says. After doing her undergraduate work at the University of Manitoba, majoring in Psychology, Sara won a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University.
“Sara eventually earned a doctorate in Social Psychology and returned to Winnipeg, where she began teaching at the University of Manitoba, but she said she didn’t enjoy the “mass production” style of teaching upwards of 300 students at a time, so she switched careers and began doing health research for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.”
All the while Sara has been continuing to compose and perform her own songs, often teaming up with her mother, as she has for “A Perfect Man.”
Showtimes and ticket information for The Perfect Man are available at:
http://www.thegargoyletheatre.com/upcoming-events/the-perfect-man
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Rabbi Kliel Rose to leave Congregation Etz Chayim for new post in Ottawa
The following email from Congregation Etz Chayim Executive Director Morissa Granove was sent to members of the congregation on Friday, April 10:
“Dear Members and Friends,
“As we know, Rabbi Kliel recently spent a weekend with Kehilllat Beth Israel where he has since been offered a position. After much thought and consideration, he has made the decision to sign a contract in Ottawa. He will continue to lead our congregation through Yom Kippur.
“This news marks a significant ending for our Etz Chayim community, and at the same time with change comes opportunity. Congregation Etz Chayim will soon embark on our own Rabbinical search with excitement as we look for our perfect candidates and explore the new possibilities that will help us to continue to shape a strong future for our synagogue and members.”
Kliel Rose took up the position of rabbi at Etz Chayim in August, 2018.
In an article announcing his appointment to the position in the June 6, 2018 issue of The Jewish Post & News, Myron Love wrote:
The congregation has been without a permanent rabbi since last summer when Rabbi Larry Lander chose to retire – after ten years here – and relocate to Toronto.
Kliel Rose is already a well-seasoned rabbi. He was ordained in 2004 by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
He previously served as spiritual leader at the West End Synagogue in Nashville and Temple Enamu-El in Miami Beach. His current posting is Beth Shalom Synagogue in Edmonton.
Following the example of his parents, Kliel Rose has been active in interfaith dialogue and human rights work for which he was honoured in 2014 with the Human Rights Hero Award by Truah: The Rabbibic Call for Human Rights.
He has also participated in the Kellogg Management Education for Jewish Leaders program at Northwestern University and was most recently chosen to be among 20 rabbis from different denominations chosen to train in the Clergy leadership Incubator – a two-year program, under the leadership of Ranni Sidney Schwarz, intended to educate younger rabbis in innovative thinking, change management and institutional transformation.
In Edmonton, Rose also served as Jewish chaplain at the University of Alberta and took the lead on a program called “Faith and Inclusion”, whose mandate was to support individuals with cognitive and physical learning challenges to feel more welcome within various faith communities.