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New Federation program connects Winnipeggers with Israeli teens trying to improve their English
By MYRON LOVE Last fall, the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg signed onto Israel Connect, an online initiative that brings together community volunteers with Israeli teens seeking to improve their English.
According to the Israel Connect website, the outreach program was founded in 2013 by Sarah Gordon, a former teacher at the Torah Day School in Ottawa, with the goal of creating a grassroots network of Canadian volunteers who answered the call of Israeli educators to provide their students with English language tutoring.
The website points out that “mastering English is crucial for success in Israel. Universities and high-paying jobs require a high level of English language proficiency. However, the current educational landscape presents a significant challenge. Immersive language experiences, proven to be the most effective way to learn, are impractical in overcrowded classrooms. It is virtually impossible for 30-40 students to engage in effective English conversations and interactions, and experiences outside the classroom are prohibitively expensive.”
Israel Connect’s results were dramatic, the website reports. English proficiency among that first group of students quickly improved, and the demand for native English tutors became clear. Within two short years, the informal network grew into a global non-profit organization that has more than 1,000 volunteer mentors strong.
Today, Israel Connect partners with the Israeli Ministry of Education to support hundreds of students in dozens of schools across the country. In just over 10 years, the organization has become the world’s largest external provider of services to Israel’s Department of Education – helping hundreds of 14- and 15-year-olds to perfect their English simply by chatting once a week with a mentor via Zoom.
Winnipegger Rietta Floom says that she learned about Israel Connect from relatives in Edmonton. “I was looking for volunteer opportunities,” notes the retired investigator, mediator and hearing officer with the province, who does some casual work as an education assistant. She filled out an application in September 2022, and, shortly after, she was assigned her first student, a girl in grade 12, living outside of Tel Aviv. Her second student, this year, lives in northern Israel and goes to school in Tiberias.
Tannis Mindell, a former chairperson of Liquor and Lotteries Corporation, was also looking for a volunteer opportunity. “I learned about Israel Connect from my sister-in-law in Ottawa,” she says.
Mindell signed on last fall. She notes it was she who suggested that the Federation might want to support this initiative.
“I connected with Mariana Sussi – who is a member of the Federation Board (as chair of the Israel and Overseas committee) – and Abby Flackman (the Federation’s Youth and Overseas Engagement co-ordinator),” she says. “Both Abby and Mariana are also enthusiastic about Israel Connect.”
Both Mindell and Floom point out that you don’t have to have been an educator to participate as an Israel Connect mentor, and there is little preparation required. All that is necessary is to commit to a weekly 45-minute Zoom session with the student that is convenient for both parties.
Each Thursday, the Israel Connect organizers send out a weekly lesson plan. At the appointed time, the student reads aloud the assigned paragraph and goes over with the mentor proper pronunciation and the meaning of new words. After that, mentor and student chat about any number of subjects
The goal of the program, according to the Israel Connect website, is that by the end of the school year, students have the skills and confidence they need to succeed in the national university entrance exams.
Not surprisingly, the events of October 7 and resultant ongoing conflict have introduced a new psychological element into the tutoring. Students share in the national trauma and most have family members engaged in the fighting. The Winnipeg mentors have had a session with Mariana Sussi – who is also a psychotherapist – and who provided them with some strategies in offering some help to their Israeli students with their trauma.
“My work with my student through Israel Connect has been one of the most gratifying experiences I have ever had,” Mindell says.
Both she and Floom would like to encourage others in our community to consider donating a little bit of their time to Israel Connect.
Interested individuals can contact Abby Flackman at 204 477-7424 or send an email to AFlackman@jewishwinnipeg.org.
“I would love to help anyone who is interested in volunteering to get started,” Flackman says.
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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
Local News
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.