Local News
New group established ‘in the spirit’ of Canadian Jewish Congress
By RON CSILAG May 27, 2021 (CJN) Remember the Canadian Jewish Congress? Enough of its former senior leaders do, and fondly- to the point that they have founded a new organization “in the spirit” of CJC.
It was 10 years ago this summer that Congress, then 92 years old and the self-described “Parliament of Canadian Jewry,” was subsumed into a new superagency, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
Now, say hello to the Canadian Jewish Community Forum (CJCF).
“It is the prime objective of the CJCF to take lessons from the past and use them to inform communal policy in the present and future, to promote Jewish values of chesed, diversity, anti-racism and embrace harmony within a Canadian context,” says a media release issued May 26.
“In the spirit of the former CJC, it wishes to create a forum for the greater Jewish community to provide input and determine what the current urgent issues are that our own community and society are facing and witnessing here in Canada and globally.”
The group’s origins are somewhat nostalgic: Interest in creating a new Jewish organization, or maybe resurrecting an old one, arose when stalwarts of the old CJC, including several young people, came together in 2019 to mark the 100th anniversary of Congress’s founding, recalled Les Scheininger, spokesperson for CJCF’s steering committee and president of CJC from 1989 to 1992.
The CJCF, Scheininger told The CJN, will address a need for consultation with the grassroots of Canadian Jewry, much like Congress did.
“The original CJC came together as a result of a number of individuals and organizations feeling that there should be a grassroots organization representative of the Jewish community and the sense was there should be consultations with the grassroots and (that) people should have input in discussions,” he said.
Scheininger gently sidestepped a question of whether the new group will challenge CIJA’s turf.
“It’s not a competition,” he said. The CJCF is “a different forum for discussion and debate. There are a variety of opinions and political affiliations in the Jewish community.”
The organization, volunteer-driven for now, is federally incorporated, has a logo, a statement of purpose, and a steering committee comprised of a long list of former CJC officials from across the country.
Indeed, the CJCF says it hopes to engage the former leadership of CJC, as well as new young leaders, “to honour, learn and draw from the legacy of Congress, a body that worked and fought for social justice in Canada. The CJC understood that making Canada a peaceful, inclusive and just society is good for all of its peoples.”
The actual work of the CJCF will be up to those who respond to surveys in the coming weeks and months, Scheininger said.
“The shape and format will be determined as result of consultations and discussions.”
In its words, the organization will “promote participation in, engagement with, and a sense of ownership of the Jewish agenda in Canada by all members of the Canadian Jewish community by the establishment of active, democratic, local grassroots community advocacy groups across the country.”
The CJCF promises that regional representation will be stressed.
Its founding documents recall CJC’s decades of defending civil and human rights, and championing inclusiveness and dialogue among all groups in Canada—perhaps pointing the way toward an agenda that leans to domestic issues of fairness.
But Israel is not ignored. “The safety and welfare of Israel are central and hold a place of supreme importance to us as a Jewish people,” the group says, and it’s also important “that we communicate with the people and government of Israel with respect to our common interests from the Canadian perspective.”
CJC’s legacy of focusing on domestic affairs and its “democratic tradition” will contribute to making CJCF attractive to younger people, believes Henry Paikin, a 27-year-old advisor to Sen. Frances Lankin and a member of the new organization’s steering committee.
“For too long, young Jews in this country have fled community institutions due to their obsession with Israel-Palestine,” Paikin wrote in an email to The CJN. “Bringing democracy back into the mix will correct the out-of-touch narratives perpetuated by existing leadership, and allow us to re-focus our attention on making Canadian society more just.”
Post script from Bernie Bellan:
I was somewhat surprised to see that there is now an effort underway to reestablish the Canadian Jewish Congress, albeit under a new name. I wondered to what extent this new activity might not only add to the actual number of existing Jewish national organizations whose ostensible purposes are to serve the entire Canadian Jewish community, it might actually confuse Canadian Jews.
So, I contacted Martin Sampson, who is a spokesperson for CIJA, to ask him what he thought of this new group. Here is what I wrote to Martin on May 28:
Hi Martin,
I received an email from Israel Ludwig, whom I’ve known for a long time. In his email, Israel said that there are a number of individuals across Canada who are working to recreate the Canadian Jewish Congress.
In my response to Israel, I asked him whether the members of this group are dissatisfied with CIJA. Israel responded that “to answer your question this is not an issue of whether or not we are unhappy with CIJA. We miss what CJC was able to provide for the community. We hope to seek community input on what are the important issues of the day. We hope to establish lines of communication and support to other communities in Canada that experience difficulties as we do such as racism. We would like to sponsor lectures on topics that are of interest not only to our community members but other communities as well. We plan to organize groups of interested persons from our communities in centers across the country. Eventually that will lead to establishing formal regions that will elect members to serve nationally as was done with CJC.”
Frankly, I’m confused by all this Martin. I was under the impression that CIJA had supplanted the CJC.
Would anyone at CIJA care to comment on this initiative to recreate the CJC?
Regards,
Bernie
Martin Sampson responded later that day:
Hi Bernie,
Hope you are well during these persistently challenging times.
Having not been involved in the discussions that preceded the launch of this new group, we do not know very much about it beyond what you articulated below. As you know, the Jewish community is diverse. Lots of community members have passionate opinions about a range of important subjects. People have every right to organize themselves to advance ideas about which they care. Indeed, if I understand Jewish values at all, many Jews see it as their duty to get involved. Incidentally, this is one of the many reasons I personally love the Jewish community. Judging by the description below, they will be duplicating much of what CIJA does, but it’s not a bad thing to have more people paying attention to these issues. – Martin
One of the members of the former Canadian Jewish Congress was Winnipeg lawyer Israel Ludwig. Subsequently, I spoke with Israel Ludwig to try to find out more about what this effort to reconstitute the Canadian Jewish Congress, albeit under a new name, was all about.
Ludwig said: “We knew there was a service the Canadian Jewish Congress delivered right across the country – and we don’t see that happening now.
“The organized community was not responding as quickly as it should.”
I asked Ludwig if there were some specific examples to which he could point that might better explain how CIJA has not been responding to the needs of the community as well as it should?
He said: “The CJC played a very important role in educating the local public about antisemitsm.
“The JCC used to reach out to different communities that have also suffered”, such as the Indigenous and Black communities, Ludwig said, and was able to forge effective common bonds.
I said to Ludwig that there has always been a certain amount of tension though between the Jewish community and some minority groups, including minority groups of colour, so I wondered how the CJC would be able to improve upon what other Jewish organizations have been able to do to improve relations between those groups and the Jewish community?
Ludwig admitted “that animosity was always there, but the CJC helped to dissipate it to a certain extent.”
I wondered, too, about the extent to which this new organization might also be overlapping the work that B’nai Brith Canada is doing, particularly when it comes to combating anti-Semitism?
Ludwig said that “B’nai Brith’s handicap is that it only represents its members. It cannot say that it represents the entire Jewish community.”
I asked what the next steps are likely to be for the Canadian Jewish Community Forum?
Ludwig said that the first step will be “trying to find people locally to join (the CJCF) – young people especially. We’re going to establish Chairs in different parts of the country.”
Finally , Ludwig noted, “We’ve also got to fundraise.”
Local News
Inspirational Gray Academy teacher Sheppy Coodin retiring
By MYRON LOVE After 20 years at Gray Academy – and 30 years overall as a teacher, Dr. Sheppy Coodin is retiring – leaving behind many indelible memories – not only for himself but also for the numerous students he has taught over the years.
“I tried to inspire my students – and I was in turn inspired by them,” says Coodin, the son of Kayla and the late Fischel Coodin, who was one of the longest serving teachers currently teaching at the school.
The beloved biology teacher’s relationship with our community’s Jewish school system actually goes back much longer than 20 years. He is an alumnus of both the former Talmud Torah School and Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate and his father-in-law, Jerry Cohen, served as principal of Joseph Wolinsky for 17 years – from 1980-1997.
Coodin recounts that his teachers at Joseph Wolinsky – in particular the Grysmans and Binenfelds – inspired his passion for Judaism.
Coodin earned his Ph.D. in Biology from Western University – graduating in 1993. He says though, that his goal all along had been to become a teacher. After Western, he and his late wife, Naomi, returned to Winnipeg where he earned his B. Ed at the University of Manitoba.
He first taught for a year in the Seven Oaks School System – followed by eight years at St. John’s-Ravenscourt. At Ravenscourt, he taught Grade 8-12 Sciences.
Coodin taught at Ravenscourt for eight years before moving to Gray Academy. At the latter, he taught high school Biology and Judaic Studies.
Coodin describes Gray Academy as a very special school. “My colleagues and the students – we are a family,” he observes.
One important trait that Coodin brought to his role as a teacher was his enthusiasm. “I have always loved lesson planning,” he says. “I loved the challenge of finding new ways to help my students connect with the material.
Coodin also has one talent that is unique among his fellow teachers: He can juggle…no, not in the sense of juggling responsibilities – but real juggling. It was an avocation that he learned in high school. In his younger days, he occasionally worked children’s birthday parties as “Sheppy the Clown” – an act that naturally included juggling.
And from his first year as a teacher, he taught interested students to juggle as part of his school’s extracurricular activities. At Gray Academy, he started a yearly Purim variety show which included his student jugglers as well as other students and staff offering stand-up comedy, song and dance.
He happily reports that the variety shows will continue even though he will no longer be a part of them.
Living and modelling an observant Jewish life has also been important to Coodin. For 30 years, Jewish scholar Barry Bender form New York would fly into Winnipeg in January – with a dozen yeshiva students, to lead a weekend Shabbaton for the school’s high school students – a Shabbaton that Coodin was involved in helping organize.
That came to an end with the Covid lockdowns in 2020 but, Coodin reports, last year, he and his fellow teachers organized their own Shabbaton for their students.
“All 14 of us high school teachers who went were actively involved,” he points out.
Another initiative that Coodin started – with fellow Gray Academy High school teacher Avi Posen (who made aliyah in 2019) was the annual “Shabbat Unplugged.” The two created Shabbat Unplugged in 2016 with the idea of building on the annual high school Shabbaton and organizing an annual Shabbaton for Jewish university students, not only from Winnipeg, but also from other Western Canadian Jewish communities.
The Shabbaton is now run by Hillel, he notes. “It was nice to be invited back by (Hillel director) Raya (Margulets),” Coodin commented in an interview with the Post a few months back. “Raya is also a former student of mine who took part in the 2017 Shabbat Unplugged.”
One of the highlights of his teaching career at Gray Academy, he notes, was being able to teach his own sons, Yoni and Elly. “That was really special,” he recalls.
In retirement, he says, he is looking forward to spending time at Gimli over the summer with his partner, Leslie Singer, who is also retiring from teaching this year. “I am planning on renewing my gym membership and getting back to golf,” he continues. “Leslie and I will most likely do some traveling in the fall. I am also looking forward to spending time with family. ”
And though his teaching career is at an end, Coodin fully expects to keep in touch with many of his former students.
Local News
Winnipegger Mark Joseph leading efforts to fund treatment for rare genetic disorder that afflicted his daughter
By MYRON LOVE It’s not likely that many readers are familiar with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), but it is a condition that Mark and Jennifer Joseph know all too well, as their ten-year-old daughter, Darwin, lives with this disorder.
Prader-Willi Syndrome is a rare life-threatening genetic disorder that occurs in approximately one out of every 15,000 live-births. PWS affects many aspects of an individual’s life. A particular symptom is a relentless and insatiable hunger.
“We were fortunate that we were living in Toronto when Darwin was born so that we had access to many, many specialists and the Hospital for Sick Children,” says Mark, a pilot with Westjet who moved to Winnipeg in 2021. Immediately at Darwin’s birth the doctors knew there was something atypical about Darwin. The room flooded with specialists to assess and treat the newborn, who was labelled “failure to thrive,” as she was as limp as a rag doll, and wasn’t crying. “This was definitely one of the scariest and most traumatic experiences of our lives,” adds Mark.
“The hospital’s lead paediatrician had no experience with PWS, but remembered hearing of it. Genetic testing began, and by one-month-of-age, we had a definitive diagnosis of Prader-Willi Syndrome – a diagnosis that would change the trajectory of our lives,” notes Jennifer.
“Darwin’s diagnosis required us to become experts in her condition,” says Mark, who is the newly installed President and Chair of the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research Canada. “Most medical professionals have never encountered anyone living with it. We had to learn all we could to best advocate for our daughter so that we could have the best possible outcome for her future.”
“Darwin’s early years were filled with therapies – physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, hippotherapy, even feeding therapy, as an infant due to her low muscle tone. We still have therapies, but nothing like in Darwin’s first year of life. Before the age of one, we had attended over 165 medical appointments and therapies. It was exhausting and mentally very hard. This was our first child and definitely not how we had envisioned parenthood,” says Jennifer.
As Darwin has aged, her insatiable appetite has grown with her. In order to keep her safe and provide her a bit of independence in her own home, Darwin’s parents have had to put locks on the fridge and pantry. “Anywhere that food is stored needs to be locked. This helps us keep Darwin safe from overeating, as individuals with PWS have a high pain threshold and can unfortunately eat until they rupture their stomach. But it also helps Darwin manage her food-related anxiety so she doesn’t have to worry about gaining access to food and hurting herself,” notes Mark.
Food needs to be controlled and scheduled in any environment in which Darwin is present. Her school has taken great lengths to ensure food safety and open communication about food-related activities. Every meal has to be nutritious and portion controlled, as not only is Darwin always hungry, her slow metabolism requires her to need only half the typical calories of her peers – otherwise she will face life-threatening obesity and its related diseases.
Locally, on Sunday, June 9, Mark and Jennifer – in conjunction with three other Winnipeg families who are raising children with PWS, organized their second annual “One Small Step” Walk for Prader-Willi Syndrome Research at Kildonan Park. Mark reports that this year’s walk attracted 130 participants and raised over $22,000 – about $6,000 more than last year.
The funding, he reports, is being directed toward research. Clinical trials are taking place around the world to help understand the mechanisms of Prader-Willi Syndrome and investigate new treatments. One such trial is being conducted by Dr. Jennifer Miller, a professor and researcher in the division of Paediatric Endocrinology at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Dr. Miller, the world’s leading specialist in PWS, currently works with over 500 patients with Prader-Willi Syndrome from around the world, and has been working towards achieving an effective treatment for hyperphagia (insatiable hunger) for the past 12 years.
The Josephs report that research may be close to a breakthrough in developing a treatment that can minimize some of the more challenging aspects of PWS. “Right now, Darwin is in public school,” Mark notes. “She can read and write and is fairly high functioning, but she is constantly hungry and anxious about food and distracted by the desire to attain food. This obviously has a huge effect on her ability to concentrate and learn. Without treatment, she will not be able to manage the demands of high school or look forward to a career.”
“A treatment will be life-changing for her and for us as a family – she may be able to lead a full and independent future… something we never thought we’d see in the early days of her diagnosis,” adds Jennifer. “Mark himself was responsible for much of the increase in the amount of money raised at this year’s walk thanks to the extensive network of contacts that he has built up over the years through his career in the aviation industry, and as a part of the Jewish community.
“A lot of people are willing to help, but they don’t know how,” Mark observes. “Our fundraising walk provides focus for friends, family, colleagues, and even strangers who want to help.”
For Mark, this is his second go-around in Winnipeg. He previously lived and worked here in 2008. That was when he met Jennifer. He himself is originally from Toronto. He notes that his father is from Haifa and his mother grew up as part of a small Jewish community in Cornwall – which is about 90 km southeast of Ottawa. Although his wife Jennifer is not Jewish, the couple agreed to raise their children – Darwin and younger brother Edison, in the Jewish faith.
“In Ontario, we were living in an area called the Blue Mountains, two hours north of Toronto, and there was no Jewish community,” Mark notes, “So when the pandemic happened, we decided that it was time to move back to Winnipeg to be closer to Jenn’s friends and family. Knowing that there was a large and vibrant Jewish community here made the decision an easy one.”
The Josephs enrolled their son Edison in Gray Academy for junior and senior kindergarten, and then transferred him to the Brock Corydon Hebrew Bilingual program. “We want him to have a strong foundation and connection to his Jewish roots,” Mark says. And though Darwin is not enrolled in the Hebrew program, she enjoys many activities and programs through the Rady JCC. “We are looking forward to deepening our involvement in the Jewish community,”Mark adds.
Readers who would like to support the Josephs’ efforts to develop a treatment for PWS and alleviate the challenges that Darwin and those afflicted with PWS face, can do so by visiting their One Small Step fundraising page at: tiny.cc/70cpyz
To learn more about Prader-Willi Syndrome and the research being conducted you can visit: www.fpwr.ca or www.fpwr.org
Local News
Former Winnipeg JNF Shaliach and Ben-Gurion University Executive Director Ariel Karabelnicoff has new gig with Haifa University
By MYRON LOVE Ariel Karabelnicoff left an indelible mark on our community over the 16 years that he and his wife Grabriela and their daughters lived here. Originally from Argentina, Ariel and Gabriela came here – by way of Israel – in 2003.
On first arriving, Karabelnicoff worked for investment firm Jory Capital. Subsequently, by turn, he served as the State of Israel Bonds’ point man here, then executive director of the local chapter of the Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev – followed by filling the same role for the JNF here. In 2019, he was lured to Toronto by former employer Israel Bonds to serve as national sales director.
About two years ago, Karabelnicoff left Israel Bonds for a new gig as executive director of Canadian Friends of Haifa University.
“I was excited to take on this new role,” Karabelnicoff says. “I strongly believe in the importance of higher education. Higher education broadens the mind and is a path to opening doors to multiple opportunities in life. It is a key to social mobility.”
Karabelnicoff reports that, among the largest universities in Israel, the University of Haifa is the youngest. Fully accredited in 1972, he notes, the university has an enrolment of 18,000 students – with a student body that reflects the diversity of Israel’s population. About 40% of the students come from the Druze, Circassian and Arab communities and – among the Jewish students – there are many whose families are from Ethiopia.
The University of Haifa , he adds, also boasts the highest percentage – among Israeli universities – of students who are the first generation in their families to attend university.
The university has several campuses. The original campus – a 30-floor structure – on Mount Carmel – houses several faculties, among them the Faculty of Law – in its new building – and the Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, which offers the only graduate program in Israel in that field. The Computer Science Faculty is located in the port area. The Faculty of Design and Architecture – formerly the Neri Bloomfield School of Design under Hadassah-WIZ Oauspices – is situated in Haifa’s German Colony neighbourhood.
Coming soon for the University of Haifa, Karabelnicoff reports, will be a new School of Medicine. “There is a serious doctor shortage in Israel,” he points out. “The plan is to work in cooperation with Carmel Hospital. The University of Haifa is proud to lead in the efforts to train medical doctors and to be able to serve and take care of the population in the north of Israel.”
He adds that, as a result of the ongoing war, thousands of young Israelis that fought and are fighting right now, will be able to receive treatment and rehabilitation to their injuries and physical disabilities at the “Rehabilitation Training Center,” which will be built as part of the new Medical School of the University of Haifa . The Center, he says, will be one of the most important facilities to be developed at the School of Medicine to train doctors in rehabilitation.
Karabelnicoff further reports that the new School of Medicine was inaugurated at an event during the recent Board of Governors meeting held on June 2, 2024. The school will start teaching its first 50 students in October 2025. In subsequent years 150 students a year will begin training annually.
The school will be built on the grounds of the main campus of the University of Haifa on Mt. Carmel. The capital campaign that was recently launched totals US $120 million. The university has already secured US$65 million – including US$50 million from the Amir Family, US$10 million more from the Bloom Family in Boston, and another US$5 million from other donors around the world so far.
The Canadian Friends of Haifa University, he notes, has been in operation since 1973. The Canadian chapter has been, until now, largely focused on Toronto. The new executive director is working to expand the CFHU outreach to other Canadian Jewish communities.
“There are a lot of Israelis living in Winnipeg, for example,” he says. “I have begun reaching out to them.
“I would also like to see if we could negotiate some joint programming between Haifa University and the University of Manitoba.”
Karabelnicoff reports that the school year, which was delayed by the October 7 attacks and the current ongoing IDF operation in Gaza, began at the beginning of January. “Things are slowly getting back to normal in Israel,” he says. “We had about 1,500 students and faculty fighting in the reserves. Two-thirds are back in class.”
A current fundraising goal for the CFHU is to raise money for students returning from the fighting to provide scholarships to help pay tuition and rent to make up what they had to sacrifice financially while serving in Gaza.
As an individual whose work history has been all about building relationships, Ariel Karabelnicoff may be just the man to expand CFHU’s footprint across Canada.
For readers interested in contacting Ariel about supporting Canadian Friends of Haifa University, his email address is ariel.karabelnicoff@haifa-univ.ca.