Local News
Quintessential community volunteer Howard Kideckel to receive second Kavod award in four years
By MYRON LOVE “Winnipeg is a much better city now than when I first came here,” observes Howard Kideckel. “In truth, it was rather depressing. But now, there is a lot more going on and the community is much more diverse.”
The former Torontonian who moved here close to 40 years ago is one of those who has made our community better by his presence – and our community has been the richer for it. On September 26, our community is expressing its gratitude to Kideckel – and not for the first time. This year, Kideckel is the Gwen Secter Creative Retirement Centre’s honoree for one of our Jewish Federation’s annual Kavod Awards – to be presented at the newly-reopened and expanded Shaarey Zedek Synagogue. This will be Kideckel’s scond Kavod Award. He was previously nominated by the Federation.
There are few Jewish community institutions which have not benefitted from this quintessential community volunteer’s involvement and leadership. Take Etz Chayim for example. He has been an active member almost from the moment he came to Winnipeg – including serving a term as president.
At Gwen Secter, he is the treasurer.
He is on the Federation Planning Committee and canvasses for the CJA.
He is treasurer of Limmud Winnipeg and played a key role in the organization receiving its charitable registration.
He is a regular attendee at the shul at the beach in the summer months.
And he has served on the board of the Chesed Shel Emes. In fact, almost anyone who has attended funerals at any of our community’s four main cemeteries will have come across Howard Kideckel. He would have most likely been one of the volunteer pallbearers.
As far back as he can remember, Kideckel has always been involved in the Jewish community. As he wrote in his entry in the Jewish Foundation’s Endowment Book of Life, the grandson of Yiddish-speaking immigrants from what is now PoIand and Latvia grew up in downtown Toronto. The high school that he attended – although once 95% Jewish – was still about 30% Jewish when he was in Grade 10. From the time he was six, he was a regular visitor to the neighbourhood YMHA . He attended Jewish summer camps and, as a young adult, joined a B’nai Brith chapter.
At the University in Toronto, he was active in Hillel – which is how he met his wife-to-be, the former Hope Jeroff, who was originally from Winnipeg. (Howard and Hope remain on friendly terms althugh they have long since divorced.)
At university, he earned a BA Honours degree in history and political science and first thought that he would try teaching. “I quickly learned that there was little demand for history teachers, so I switched to accounting,” he recalls.
After completing his honours degree in history and political science, Kideckel entered the Faculty of Education and received a teaching degree in business education. He taught accounting and law at university for a couple of years before he and Hope decided to move back (for Hope) to Winnipeg.
“We felt that Winnipeg would be more conducive to raising children and slowing down our hectic pace,” he says. “While I didn’t know that much about Winnipeg,” he continues, “I did know the reputation of Winnipeg’s north end as it was very reminiscent of the Toronto area that I grew up in. One of my terms for moving to Winnipeg was to live in the ‘north end,’ so we moved to the extended north end, and I have never regretted it. The feelings of a warm Jewish community emanated from this end of town. I could never get enough of Selkirk Avenue and all the other streets that serve as a shrine to immigrant Jewish culture. I found Winnipeg to be a very cosmopolitan and compassionate community. The friendliness of the population, as well as their desire to have quality in their education and cultural facilities was, and still is, very uplifting.”
In Winnipeg, Kideckel went to work as an internal auditor for the Province of Manitoba. He worked for the province for 32 years before retiring 14 years ago.
“It was a great job,” he recalls. “I got to travel all over Manitoba.”
Once in Winnipeg, Kideckel quickly picked up where he left off in Toronto when it came to Jewish community involvement. He joined B’nai Brith and the former Rosh Pina Synagogue (which became Etz Chayim after the merger of the three largest north end congregations in 2001.)
He quickly became an integral part of his new community.
“I have always had a strong commitment to Judaism and I devote virtually all my volunteer time to Jewish organizations,” he wrote in his Endowment Book of Life entry. “I understand how important it is that our community has sufficient resources to enable it to meet its obligations in the future. These resources are not only financial but also human in the form of volunteering. Winnipeg is probably the best city in Canada when it comes to people volunteering their time so that those not as fortunate can be serviced.”
Adds the father of two (David and Brent) and zaida of three, “We have good people here, but we are always in need of more volunteers.”
Local News
The Jewish Post Ltd.’s brand new website
Click here to be taken to our new website featuring foods you can find on Facebook Marketplace
Local News
First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students
By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard. Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging.
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty. “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”
Local News
Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition
By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”
