Local News
New Christian Zionist Christian Friends of Israeli Communities director makes first visit to Winnipeg
By MYRON LOVE Last October 7 began as a normal Shabbat for Shmuel Junger. As usual, the longtime resident of the community of Zufim (population about 2,500) in Samaria was at shul studying Talmud with his chevruta (study partner). It was only after they finished that they learned that all hell had been unleashed.
“Everyone was on their phones,” he recalled. “A daughter of friends was at the Nova Festival. She had texted her parents that she was in hiding. A week went by and there was no word from her. She was among the 1,300 who were murdered.”
Junger was in Winnipeg on Tuesday, July 23, in his role as the new Israel executive director of Christian Zionist Christian Friends of Israeli Communities (CFOIC) Heartland, an organization that connects supportive Christians with the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria – the ancient Biblical heartland. He spoke at Christian Zionist Faith Temple, which is led by Pastor Rudy Fidel and his wife, Gina, both strong supporters of Israel.
“Israel is not the same country that it was before October 7,” Junger observed. “People are heartbroken. The trauma is almost of the same magnitude as that which is experienced by Holocaust survivors.”
It is ironic, he noted, that the attack happened in the south. Judea and Samaria, he pointed out, have long been considered to be the most dangerous areas to live in for Israelis – living cheek by jowl with Palestinians and having to be on constant alert for terrorist attacks.
So how was it that the attack was allowed to happen? “Hamas pulled the wool over our eyes,” Junger said. “They had been preparing for two years. No one realized who we are dealing with.”
He showed an interview with a Hamas spokesperson who stated that the Israeli weakness is that they love life whereas the Palestinians worship death.
And it is not only the large number of people murdered that has roiled Israel, Junger continued. “There are also the more than 300 Israeli soldiers who have fallen in battle, the 350,000 reserves who were called up – resulting in labour shortages, and the 250,000 Israelis who were evacuated from their homes in the north and have been internally displaced for months now because the constant Hezbollah missile fire makes it too dangerous for them to return.”
On the other hand, Junger spoke of the thousands of Israeli reservists who flocked back to Israel from all over the world immediately after the October 7 attack.
He also spoke of the individual heroes of that dreadful day who risked their lives to save others in danger – in particular Elhanan Kalmanson, a father of five from Hebron who, after learning of the attack, jumped into his truck with his brother Menachem, drove into the heart of the flames – Kibbutz Beeri – and managed to bring out more than 100 kibbutz members to safety before Elhanan was himself shot and killed.
Junger then showed a video of Hadas Lowenstein talking about her husband Elisha. a tank operator who fell in battle in Gaza in December. In a moving tribute to him, the mother of six painted a picture of a remarkable man, a Torah scholar who had translated the works of the late Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, as well as a modern man who kept himself physically fit.
“He was the love of my life,” she said. “We were planning a wonderful life together. He died for Kiddush haShem. Our response has to be that we love life.”
Junger pointed out that, despite the challenges the country is facing, Israelis are a resilient people. He also noted that the Jewish people in the Land of Israel have had to deal with the threat of attack from their Arab neighbours for decades even before the State of Israel was established. He recounted the story of the Hebron pogrom of 1929 – and how his own family was affected.
(To remind readers, the pogrom was an attack on the ancient Jewish community is the Samarian town. Arabs murdered almost 70 Jews with the remaining 435 forced to leave.)
Among those affected, Junger noted, were his wife’s baba, Esther Slonim. She and her brother were the only two members of their family to survive that massacre.
“For centuries, our people had always dreamed of one day returning to the Holy Land,” he remarked. “Wherever we wandered, there was a deep-rooted longing in every Jewish soul that we would return.”
Israel is the realization of the Biblical prophecy of the ingathering of the Jewish people from exile. Junger noted that his own family – as well as his wife’s family – epitomize the Jewish journey in exile and return. His zaida relocated from Europe to Columbia where he became Rudolpho Rudy. Rudolpho at some point went to Palestine to find a bride to take back to Columbia, where Junger’s father was born.
His mother was born in Tunis and grew up in France.
His parents met in the United States and eventually made aliyah.
“I was born in Israel,” he said.
Shmuel Junger pointed out to his audience that he is among more than 500,000 Israelis who are now living in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria (a.k.a. the “West Bank”) and reclaiming our Biblical heartland.
“We are doing God’s work,” he said. “The Torah is replete with references to places such as Shilo, Bethlehem, Shechem, Beth El and Hebron – all of which are in Judea and Samaria.
“The events of the Six-day war in June 1967 were a step forward in the realization of God’s prophecy.”
Still – living amidst often hostile Arab neighbours, the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria have to be ever on the alert. To that end, one of the requests that Junger had of supporters of CFOIC was funding to purchase advanced security cameras for the Jewish communities in the region – cameras that can differentiate in the dark between potential human intruders and animals.
He is furthering asking CFOIC for funding to provide for children of fathers who have been killed or wounded in the fighting so that those children might enjoy a camping experience or other forms of respite.
At the conclusion of Junger’s presentation, Rudy Fidel indicated his congregation’s enthusiastic willingness to help. In just the past two months, these friends of Israel and the Jewish people, Fidel reported, have already contributed $10,000 to the Jewish Child and Family Service, $700 to the Jewish National Fund and $1,400 to Emunah Women – which supports education and social welfare in Israel.
Readers who may want to contribute to Christian Friends of Israeli Communities Heartland can go to cfoic.com.
Local News
Fringe Festival star Melanie Gall to appear at Gwen Secter Centre July 16
By BERNIE BELLAN A veteran performer at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, Melanie Gall, will be making a special guest appearance at the Gwen Secter Centre on Thursday, July 16.
Melanie will be the featured speaker (and entertainer) for the Remis Speakers’ Series that day. The Remis Speakers’ Series is held every Thursday starting at noon and ending at 1:30. This year’s series began May 7 and will continue through the end of October. This year it has been attracting increasingly large audiences – ranging from 40-60 people, as it offers attendees the opportunity to enjoy a delicious – and kosher lunch, while listening to a very diverse variety of speakers – all the way from Gail Asper talking about returning the Ten Commandments to Assiniboine Park to Rabbi Matthew Leibl performing Christmas songs that were written by Jewish songwriters. At the same time it provides those attending a chance to make new acquaintances – or perhaps bump into old friends they haven’t seen in a long time.
Melanie Gall’s own story is sure to be riveting. I’ve written about Melanie in the past, but the past two summers had been especially nerve wracking for Melanie, as she was subjected to a torrent of antisemitic abuse over her support for the State of Israel.
You can read my story about what Melanie went through during the Winnipeg Fringe Festival – both in 2024 and again last year, at Melanie Gall subjected to antisemitic abuse.
Melanie, who will be entering her 13th year of performing at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, will be peforming in only one show this year – a departure from her past practice of performing in multiple shows (as many as three different shows) during the Fringe Festival.
Elsewhere on this website we’ll be offering a preview of Melanie’s show (which is called “The Ballad of Isobel Gunn” and which is based on an incredible, but true story), along with previews of several other shows.
In the meantime, if you’re not already a member of the Remis Speakers’ Series group, but would ike to attend this coming Thursday, simply email us at jewishp@mymts.net and we’ll reserve a spot for you. The cost for the lunch is only $20.
The Gwen Secter Centre is located at 1588 Main Street (corner of Smithfield). There is parking available on a lot behind the centre or on the street.
Local News
Folk Festival Report
(Posted July 10) During this year’s Winnipeg Folk Festival we’re going to be running an ongoing blog report – with photos and blurbs from the festival, sent to us by Heather Silbert and Samara Ebanks.
Here’s Heather’s first entry (sent Friday at 3:33 pm): “It’s a hot hot day at the 51st Winnipeg Folk Festival! Lots of people; lots of good vibes; and an abundance of awesome music!!”
“We just moved to spruce hollow. Nice and shady. listening to Jacob Brodovsky.”
4:21 pm: “Jacob just announced that he lost his job and received a lot of vitriol from the Jewish Community because he’s a Jewish person who believes that Palestinian and Jewish lives are intertwined, and he is against the genocide. He is very deeply feeling, and expresses all these big feelings through his songs. I want to give him a hug, but it’s so hot outside!”
5:33 pm: The inscription in the plaque below begins with some lines from a Bruce Cockburn song called “Joy Will Find a Way (A Song About Dying)”: and continues with: “Memory Lane honours those who are no longer with us but whose presence lives on in the music, memories and moments we share here…”
7:06 pm “Gorgeous hand made polymer clay jewelry! Amanda Greisman makes gorgeous pieces that can be worn across many occasions! And she’s so so nice!” (See her booth called “Blue Sky Jewelry.”
(Keep checking for updates)
Local News
New GrowWinnipeg “Grow Together” highlights diverse origins of our growing Jewish community
By MYRON LOVE On Monday, June 11, about 120 younger Jewish Winnipeggers from diverse backgrounds came together at the Asper Campus for an evening of food and music, games and prizes and, most important, the opportunity to socialize with their peers from a growing community that reflects the long term success of our community’s 26-year-old GrowWinnipeg initiative.
“We are gathered here to celebrate your and your parents’ decisions to come to Winnipeg, build families and raise families here,” noted Dalia Szpiro, GrowWinnipeg’s director, in addressing the young adults in attendance.
To summarize, the GrowWinnipeg Initiative arose when our past community’s leadership recognized that our Jewish population was an aging and shrinking community with aging infrastructure.
The first stage was the planning and construction of the Asper Campus, which brought our major institutions and organizations under one roof in an attractive new building.
The next challenge was to attract more people to our community. GrowWinnipeg was created to take on the challenge. The initiative, which was officially launched in 2000, is unique in its efforts to reach out to young Jewish families throughout the Western world.
The first outreach efforts were directed at Argentina’s sizeable Jewish community at a time when the South American country’s economy was going through a very difficult period. Several of our community leaders visited the Jewish community in Buenos Aires and a website was established. Arrangements were made for local families to host Jewish Argentinians here on exploratory visits and the community helped the prospective immigrants navigate the then new Provincial Nominee Program, find jobs and establish themselves here.
Since then, many young families – from Argentina, as well as a great number of other countries – have chosen to make Winnipeg their new home. The young people at the recent GrowWinnipeg evening were reflective of the diversity of our growing community. During the course of the evening, I had the opportunity to speak with not only Israeli-born participants, also young people from Russia and Ukraine, Turkey and Uruguay – and a young lady who grew up in Ottawa.
Naomi Kirshenblatt Palansky originally came here from Ottawa to go to university. She met and married local entrepreneur Noah Palansky in 2023. (We wrote about Noah in the December 19, 2025 issue). That same year, the former competitive swimmer who competed in the Maccabiah Games in 2009 and 2013 served as manager of the Canadian Junior swimming team participating in the games. She is currently the director of operations and strategy for a company called CoinFlip.
Although born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Yael Borovich grew up in Winnipeg. She is the daughter of Dalia Szpiro and Eduardo Borovich (and younger sister of Vanessa) all of whom moved here in 2002. She is a graduate of the Asper School of Business and works as a senior client relationship manager for Scotia Bank’s commercial branch.
Siblings Igal and Edem Avimelek arrived here from Turkey six years ago with their parents, Etel and Moris. Edem is in her second year at the University of Manitoba while Igal is studying engineering at UBC.
They report that their father, Moris, has established the Upperwear Textile Agency – marketing textile products online – while their mother Etel, is senior IT Director, software development and data analytics and enterprise architecture at Standard Aero.
“Our parents were looking to move to a new country and came across the GrowWinnipeg webpage,” Edem says. “GrowWinnipeg has been really supportive of us in helping us move here and become established.”
More recent arrivals Alex Tsmokaliuk and Jane Hin are from Ukraine and Russia respectively and have been together since 2022. “We were looking for a peaceful place to start a family,”: Alex says. “We heard about GrowWinnpeg and here we are.”
Alex is a fitness trainer while Jane is working for WRE Development as a property manager.
Dora Bronstein, who is originally from Beersheva, is also a recent arrival to our community. “I came to Winnipeg because I wanted to get away from war – and I heard about GrowWinnipeg,” she says.
She is currently working for L.C. Taylor Licensed Insolvency Trustee as an estate manager.
Erele Tzidon and Daniel Mejnov
Last October, GrowWinnipeg introduced its new Youth Ambassadors program.
“Since October, we have been working to create an organized system and opportunities to help young newcomers find their people within our community,” wrote Youth Ambassador Erele Tzidon on Facebook.
“Our mission is to help young immigrants find a sense of home in Winnipeg and support a smooth and welcoming transition.
We are excited to help bring our young Jewish community together.
As reported in the Jewish Post about 18 months ago, Tzidon is originally from Moshav Ginaton in central Israel. She came to Winnipeg in 2018 with her parents Ofer – formerly regional manager for a car rental agency in Israel and now an RBC branch manager – and Sharon – an emotional therapist in Israel who is currently working as an educational assistant at Gray Academy – and three younger brothers.
The 20-year Gray Academy graduate has recently completed her third year in Science at the University of Manitoba. For the past three years, she has also been a member of Dr. Inna Rabinovich-Nikitin’s research team at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences (ICS), researching the link between pregnancy complications and the risk for heart disease.
In November, 2024, Tzidon was presented with the Dr. James S. McGoey Student Award – based on the quality of her cardiovascular research at the ICS, which operates out of the St. Boniface Hospital campus’s Albrechchtsen Research Centre.
Tzidon’s fellow Youth Ambassador is Daniel Mejnov. He was born in Beersheva but moved to Winnipeg with his parents, Dennis and Victoria (and younger brother Alon) 14 years ago. He is currently enrolled in an IT program at the University of Winnipeg.
Mejnov welcomed all those in attendance at the celebration and thanked the volunteers who helped him and Tzidon organize the event.
“It has been great being able to bring so many people together,” he said. “This is a good way to unite our community.
Two other individuals of particular note that I spoke with at the event were Orit Agabayev and Alina Plis, partners in three year old A and O Event Décor, who provided the balloon arches and walls, table settings and centre pieces for the evening.
Agabayev is originally from Netanya and Plis is from Yeruham (in southern Israel). The latter has been here for 18 years and operates a daycare. The former came 16 years. Her principal career is working in the field of animal nutrition.
In an Instagram PosI from four years ago, Plis noted that “I have always been passionate about planning parties and events. I started out with planning big surprise birthday parties for my kids. Eventually I began planning and decorating events for family and friends. Now I am taking the next step with my friend, Orit, who shares the same level enthusiasm as me. What drives me to go above and beyond is simply the excitement my creations bring to those who see my work.
On Facebook, Agabayev added that “Alina and I are so excited to start A&O event decor. We both love decorating and planning different events. We hope that you can put your trust in us to create or decorate an event for you. We do Birthday parties, anniversaries, bachelor/bachelorette parties, proposals, weddings and more..
“Message us with your ideas to get a free quote and you’re one step closer to having an unforgettable event.”
