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New Shaarey Zedek Torah reader Tali Millo happy to be “home”

Tali Millo

By MYRON LOVE In looking for a change in career, Tali Millo, didn’t have to look far. She literally just had to move next door.
The newest member of the staff of Congregation Shaarey Zedek was, until just six weeks ago, the operations manager and general manager for 529 Wellington Steakhouse, one of Winnipeg’s leading restaurants.

And, in choosing to move on from the hospitality industry, the daughter of Belle Jarnirewski and Ilan Millo was able to return to her roots. “Growing up (in River Heights), the Shaarey Zedek was always part of my life,” she recalls. “My family was more observant than most of my friends’ families and involvement in Shaarey Zedek was a constant. Throughout my teenage years – after my bat-mitzvah – I continued to read Torah at the Shaarey Zedek and was also a member of the choir.”
She was also active in the Jewish community over the years with BB Camp, both as a camper and as a section head, the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC), Hillel, BBYO, Jewish Child and Family Services (JCFS), and the Friendship Circle at Chabad, as well as Congregation Shaarey Zedek.

Following her first year at the University of Winnipeg in 2013, Millo moved on to Edmonton and the University of Alberta to complete her degree in Political Science. It was while in Edmonton that she began working in the hospitality industry.
“I was hired at the Keg – initially as a server – to support myself while attending university,” she says. “It was a great place to work. I loved it.”
She was eventually promoted to management at The Keg.
After earning her degree in 2017, she decided to return to Winnipeg. “While I enjoyed studying Political Science, I knew that it wasn’t something I felt really passionate about. I found that I preferred working in the hospitality industry. It’s always changing and a great way to meet a lot of new people.”
Family drew her back to Winnipeg where she quickly found work with WOW Hospitality as manager of Carne Italian Chop House downtown. About 18 months ago, Millo was transferred to 529 Wellington.
“The restaurant (529 Wellington) was very, very busy,” she says, “and in need of a second manager.”
She observes that the hospitality industry was great training for her new role at Shaarey Zedek. As noted on the synagogue website, Millo – at 529 Wellington – “managed small-to-large scale functions from weddings to events for clients, such as the Winnipeg Jets and Habitat for Humanity. During the pandemic, she coordinated virtual dinners and wine and food delivery to hundreds of attendees on behalf of non-profit clients, including St. Boniface Hospital, The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and the Young Presidents’ Association.”
Millo notes that the Shaarey Zedek leadership reached out to her last spring. “They were looking for a Torah reader,” she says. “The practice had been for volunteers from the congregation to participate in the readings. Because of Covid restrictions, volunteers were in short supply. The administration was looking for someone to lighten the load for (regular Torah reader) Leslie (Emery) and Rabbi Mass.”
(Emery, the congregation’s cantorial soloist, is studying to become a cantor, Millo adds.) She says that she was getting tired of the long hours required in the hospitality trade. “I was looking for a change, but I wanted something that I would feel passionate about.”
She notes that she waited until the beginning of September because summers are the busiest time in the restaurant business.
With Yom Tov so early this year, Millo found herself thrown into the deep end – so to speak with all the holiday readings in addition to Shabbat morning and evening and Monday and Thursday morning services.
“I’m not perfect at it yet,” she comments, “but I am learning.”

Millo’s job description at the Shaarey Zedek goes beyond “Torah reader”. Her official designation is “Program Director and Lay Clergy Member”. According to the Shaarey Zedek webpage, “Tali will be working to create virtual and in-person events such as Shabbat dinners and celebrations like the Purim Carnival and Pesach Seder. Her work extends into our ritual department and will include coordinating special services such as Simchat Torah, General Monash Remembrance Commemoration, and Tisha B’Av. As a member of the Lay Clergy team, she will also tutor B’nai/B’not Mitzvah students, read Torah on Shabbat and weekday services, and will be one of our Minyan Daveners.”
”I am really looking forward to the return of in-person Shabbat services (as of last October 2) as we slowly transition to normalcy,” she says. “And later in October, we are putting on the Shabbat Project in conjunction with BB Camp, Massad, Hillel, Federation, Rady JCC, Gray Academy, Congregation Etz Chayim, Herzelia, and Jewish Federation.
“The work here that I am doing is the work that I want to do. For me, it is like-affirming.
“As time goes by, the practice of Judaism is changing. I am excited to be part of it on a daily basis.”

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2024 Sol and Florence Kanee Lecture with Mike Fegelman of Honest Reporting

The Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada is pleased to announce that our 2024 Sol and Florence Kanee Lecturer will be Mike Fegelman, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief of Honest Reporting Canada. The lecture will be held at 7 pm on Sunday, April 7, 2024 at Adas-Yeshurun Herzlia Synagogue.

Our speaker, Mike Fegelman, is a seventeen-year veteran of the Canadian journalism industry, Mike is the Editor-in-Chief of HRC and is responsible for the day to day running of the organization, its financial management and project development. Mike’s focus is on delivering efficiency and professionalism as HRC moves into new technological and geographical spheres that include the expansion of Honest Reporting’s  media monitoring services to French Canada with the launch of a Montreal office.

Mike was a former editor-in-chief, reporter, and anchor of various news programs and publications. A graduate of Carleton University’s renowned journalism program, Mike specialized in broadcasting and international reporting. Mike brings a marketing savvy to HRC having been a project manager for the market research firm Canmark Technologies for over six years.

Mike has testified before parliamentary committees and has given testimony to the Standing Senate Committee for Transport and Communications to express HRC’s concerns about the CBC’s reporting of Israel and the Middle East. Mike’s opinions and views are widely sought out for by Canada’s media and political elite. Mike’s work has been published in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post, La Presse, Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen and many more. Mike is a columnist for Huffington Post Canada and the Times of Israel.

In 2013, Shalom Life listed Mike as one of their Top 20 Under 40 due to his dedication and significant contributions to Israel advocacy. Mike is also the immediate past President of the Village Shul and Aish Hatorah Learning Centre.

The annual Sol and Florence Kanee Distinguished Lecture is the Jewish Heritage Centre’s only fundraising event. Tickets are $50 and are available at Eventbrite.ca

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Kadima Dance Company receives rave reviews for Edmonton performace earlier this month

Kadima Dance Troupe Top (L-R): Arielle Block, Jason Cohen, Michael Petrov, Matthew Slusky, Jillian Daien, Valentyna Kabris, Dana Segal Bottom (L-R): Erin Schwartz, Hadera Short, Rinat Mirkin, Emily Kalo, Rotem Keynan, Jenna Senensky

By BERNIE BELLAN Hadera Short has been dancing since the age of three. In an April 2022 story we wrote that Hadera told “The Jewish Post & News that she ‘started doing Israeli dance when I was six. I joined Chai when I was 16.’

“In 2014, at the age of 21, Hadera said, she ‘was accepted into the Jerusalem Academy of Music for a one-year intensive program, where,’ she adds, she ‘studied ballet, contemporary and Gaga styles of dance.’

“Upon returning to Winnipeg, Hadera rejoined Chai, becoming its dance director in 2016. In 2017, after eight years performing with Chai, she retired from the group.

“After a two-year hiatus from dance, however, Hadera said she realized how much she missed performing in front of a live audience. As a result, she had the idea of forming her own dance company.

“Hadera actually began choreographing in her mother’s living room. After sharing the idea of starting a new dance company with other dancers and discussing the concept of forming a new Israeli dance group, Hadera realized the potential success that this group could hold and Kadima Dance Company was born. Kadima, meaning ‘forward’ in Hebrew, had its first rehearsal at Kazka Dance Collective studio on December 1, 2019.

“Asked why she wanted to start her own Israeli dance company, Hadera explained that ‘I started Kadima because I wanted to create a new space for adult dancers who are passionate about Israeli dance and wanted the freedom to express themselves creatively. I encourage the dancers to select their own music to choreograph to, or come to me with potential performance ideas and opportunities. I want to show off everyone’s full potential as dancers, performers and choreographers. One of my primary goals for Kadima is encouraging a balance between professionalism, creativity and fun. Our rehearsals and our relationships outside of the studio are a reflection of just that.’

Kadima in performance at the Westbury Theatre in Edmonton

Just recently Hadera contacted us to inform about Kadima’s most recent experience, when members of the group travelled to Edmonton to perform in an Israeli dance festival, known as Festival Hatzafon, which was mounted by the Aviv Israeli Folk Dance Association (AIFDA) on the occasion of AIFDA’s 18th year anniversary.  According to Hadera, “AIFDA was formed in 2006 by choreographer and artistic director Sari Uretsky.”

The festival, held in the Westbury Theatre in Edmonton,featured Kadima alongside other Israeli dancers and other cultural groups from across Canada in what Hadera said was a “sold out show.”

Currently Kadima has 20 dancers in the troupe, of whom 13 went to Edmonton.

Sari Uretsky (left) with Hadera Short

Their performance elicited this reaction from Sari Uretsky: “You should be so proud!!! You guys are a strong, cohesive group in such a short time! And you’ve already accomplished so much! It was an honour to have you and your company! You are all gorgeous dancers and added so much to our festival! We cannot wait to collaborate with you in the future!”

In addition to having just performed in Edmonton, Kadima also performed in Vancouver last year in what is known as “Festival Harikud.”

Upcoming, according to Hadera, Kadima will also be performing at “MTYP April 4 for the Robyn Braha School of Dance show, and May 14 at the Rady JCC for the 3rd year in a row for Yom Ha’atzmaut.”

In the email Hadera sent to us informing about Kadima’s performing in Edmonton, she added this at the end: Follow Kadima on social media: Instagram @kadimadanceco and Facebook Kadima Dance Company, or email kadimadance@gmail.com for more information or if interested in auditioning. 

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Irwin Isenstein has made a name for himself in two different types of “court”

By GERRY POSNER The name Isenstein is one familiar to many Winnipeggers, particularly for those who remember the late Sheppy and Hannah Isenstein . Sheppy Isenstein was a pharmacist and the owner of McCullough Drugs in St. Boniface. Hannah was a proud member of the Rosh Pina Choir for many years. The Isenstein s, along with older son Norman and younger son Irwin, lived for many years on Forest Park Drive in Garden City.

Irwin Isenstein has become accomplished in two “courts.” The first court relates to his career in criminal law. He is what might be called the “go to guy” for driving offences. I don’t suggest you commit those kinds of offences, but if you do, just know that Irwin has made a real mark in the area, assisting accused people mainly in Ontario, but also in Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Alberta, as well as Manitoba.

How did this happen? A graduate of Talmud Torah and Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate, Isenstein earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Manitoba in 1978 before earning an LL.B. three years later from that university’s law school. After law school, he received his “real education” at two well known Winnipeg law firms – first with the late Alvin and Martin Corne, and then with Wilder and Wilder, as in Joe and the late Sam. For a variety of reasons, Isenstein felt the pull of the larger city of Toronto and, in 1986, he was called to the Bar in Ontario. After a stint with a firm in Toronto, Isenstein started his own law firm where, 42 years later, he continues to practice as a sole practitioner in criminal law, specializing in motor vehicle infractions, many of which can have serious repercussions, such as losing one’s driver’s license, job or worse.

In addition to his large practice, Isenstein has been active within the profession. He has chaired or co-chaired the annual Law Society Continuing Legal Education program on Impaired Driving for over 10 years. This particular program has been so successful that in his last year of chairing the program, the attendance was over 450 members of the legal profession. Moreover, Isenstein was invited to be the guest speaker on several occasions at the Continuing Legal Education program for judges of the Ontario Court of Justice. In addition, Irwin has been a legal commentator on several television networks, and a regular contributor in print media, both as counsel and commentator. In short, he has a reputation as a big player in this important area of criminal law. As an aside, I am not a big fan of ratings for professionals on the internet, but I was impressed by the glowing tributes to Isenstein from many individuals whom Irwin had assisted over a period of years…Quite remarkable.

Now, as often as Irwin appears in the law courts with great success, he has also distinguished himself in another court – the tennis court. In 1976, Isenstein represented North Winnipeg in tennis in the Manitoba Summer Games, which were held in Neepawa that year. He also represented Canada in the Masters Tennis competition at the Maccabi Games in Israel in 2022. The opening ceremony was held in Jerusalem in front of 30,000 spectators, including US President Biden. All told, Isenstein has been a prominent player in tennis for over 50 years.

Isenstein has also been blessed with two daughters. His older daughter Sari received a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology from the University of Toronto and has started to practice in that field. His younger daughter Michelle graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School with a JD. She is now an associate with an established law firm on Bay Street in Toronto. This is Nachas with a capital N. Irwin has also been involved in a long term relationship with Debbie Lindsay, a pharmacist, something that made his parents, especially his father, very happy. 

The Irwin Isenstein story is a familiar one to people from Winnipeg, especially from the North End of the City – “Winnipeg boy” makes good in Toronto. Only this time on two counts and courts.  

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