Local News
Rady JCC Executive Director Rob Berkowits on what the future holds for the Rady JCC
By BERNIE BELLAN It’s been 17 months since most Rady JCC members have actually set foot in what had become the centre of Jewish life in Winnipeg. From time to time we’ve written about how Rady JCC Executive Director Rob Berkowits has been forced to pivot, then pivot again and again, as first, stringent lockdown measures were imposed in March 2020, then eased in June 2020, then reimposed again in the fall, and only recently eased again in July.
We noted in January this year that all Rady JCC employees had been laid off in the fall, save Rob himself, Zac Minuk, Director of Development, Partnerships & Communications, and two members of the finance department, Barry Miller and Victoria Morton. As well, no one in the Early Learning Centres has been laid off.
And, while expenses were drastically reduced as a result, the fact that memberships were frozen took a very heavy toll on the Rady JCC’s revenues: By the end of September 2020 it had $700,000 less in revenues than it had anticipated.
While a $700,000 grant from the federal government filled that particular hole, the Rady JCC was still faced with having to pay the Asper Campus monthly fees. On top of that the cancellation of the annual sports dinner for what has now been two consecutive years has only added to the pain of losing membership revenue.
Still, despite the challenges facing the Rady JCC, it did begin to offer programming online, starting with the ever popular Music ‘n Mavens series in January, as well as a Jewish Film Festival, and a program produced jointly with the Gwen Secter Centre titled “Familiar Faces”.
The summer period is generally a quiet one for the Rady JCC – except for the sounds of hundreds of kids enjoying day camp at the Asper Campus. When we read the farewell message announcing Assistant Executive Tamar Barr’s departure, however, we wondered whether the Rady JCC could ever return to being the beehive of activity it had been since the doors to the Asper Campus first opened in 1997. So, we contacted Rob Berkowits to ask him for an update as to what the future holds in store for the Rady JCC. We also wanted to know who, if anyone, could fill the very large shoes that Tamar Barr had filled for so many years.
We began by asking Rob: “When was it Tamar was let go? Was it in October?”
Rob: “She was placed on lay off. She was never ‘let go’. All our staff were also laid off.”
JP&N: “I asked you this before, but since Tamar was so heavily involved with the cultural component of the Rady JCC, why didn’t you try to emulate what other JCCs had done – for instance the Vancouver JCC?”
Rob: “Remind me again what they did in Vancouver.”
JP&N: “It was all online. They had a lot of game playing– Bridge, Mah Jong, exercise classes. They also had something called “Dinner and a Movie”. They had a monthly concert series, a musical trivia program, yoga, morning stretch. I remember talking to you about that back in January, but you pointed out that the Vancouver JCC was still charging members for memberships without having frozen any.”
Rob: “We didn’t have a platform to offer that kind of programming in the fall, but in December we brokered a partnership with the Asper Foundation and began offering programs like Music ‘n Mavens, the Jewish Film Festival, the Asper Jazz Performance series – and the program you participated in (‘Familiar Faces’), which we did together with the Gwen Secter Centre. We also began delivering at that time some online workouts, like yoga.
“All tallied, our virtual programming reached over 10,000 community members. Many people told us that it was our programming that allowed them to continue to feel connected to the Jewish community when so many of us were isolated at home. We offered all of our programming free of charge so no one felt left out.”
JP&N: “Gwen Secter has begun filling the void that I would have thought you might have wanted to fill – with their summer concert series. But they’re doing that in their parking lot – it’s a pretty small venue – can only hold 25 max. Did you ever consider doing something like that – say, a concert series outdoors at the Campus?”
Rob: “Not in the summertime. Traditionally the Rady respects the fact that Winnipeggers go to their cottages in the summer and the reason we offer members the opportunity to freeze their memberships in the summer is there are very few who wish to participate in summer programming.
“We are about to launch a drive-in event which will take place in August. Most of our programming in the summer time is directly related to the day camp program.
“We’re going to announce a roll out program for the fall, which will include Tarbut, the Jewish Business Network, weekly programming that will include parent and baby, fun zone, birthday parties. Of course, this will all be based on the guidelines about what we’re allowed to have.
“We do believe there will be a virtual element in what we have planned because there are seniors who will not be comfortable in coming in person to the centre. We also want to be respectful of the fact that this virtual age is here to stay and as borders reopen, many snowbirds will head south and the virtual content that we’ll be able to produce and deliver will be relevant to them.”
JP&N: “Talking about Tarbut – that would involve people sitting in close proximity in the Berney Theatre. I wonder how comfortable people are going to be doing that, especially when we’re being told to expect a fourth wave (of Covid) in the fall.
“But, you’re talking about programming. Who is designing the programs? This would have been something that would have fallen under Tamar’s rubric.”
Rob: “Laura Marjovsky’s a longtime program manager. We recalled Laura and she agreed to come back. Now she’s in the process of recalling other staff that would take on a variety of roles. The department will not be as large and as robust as it was previously, but it will still provide us with our ability to provide arts and cultural programming, as well as programming for seniors, for teens, tweens, families, newcomers, and individuals with various levels of physical and cognitive disabilities.”
JP&N: “Speaking bluntly, if Tamar were to say that she was willing to work – even on a limited basis, is that something you would consider?”
Rob: “I think that’s something more for Tamar to decide. Tamar made the decision that she wanted to pursue other things.”
JP&N: “I did have a conversation with her. I got the impression that Tamar, under the right circumstances, would be interested in coming back in some capacity. But the message you sent to members seemed to be pretty much a final good bye – effectively closing the door to her returning. Are you saying now that it (Tamar Barr returning to the Rady JCC) is something that you would not rule out?”
Rob: “Nothing is out of the question, I guess, but it’s not a focal point moving forward. Tamar has moved on permanently from the Rady. We are moving forward into this next era of a sustainable hybrid of virtual and in-person arts and cultural programming without her. We have no plans or intentions to work with her on any of this going forward and thank her for everything she did while she was here.”
JP&N: “I don’t want to make this the focal point of what I’m going to be writing, but I just got the impression from reading that farewell message to Tamar that it was “good bye Tamar”, but Tamar is still relatively young – and, quite frankly, there aren’t a lot of jobs out there for cultural programmers. I think that, if Tamar had her ‘druthers’, she’d rather be back at the Rady JCC.”
Rob: “I talked to Tamar about doing something to honour her years of service, and she seemed amicable to do that. But when do you do it so that you can do it justice?”
JP&N: “Switching gears – let’s talk about the exercise facility. You’re up to 50% capacity now – right? So what’s the response been?”
Rob: “The traffic is still slow upstairs, but to be honest I attribute that to it being summertime. Normally we see a significant number of people freeze their memberships for July and August, and we see increased traffic in the facility after the Labour Day long weekend – and we anticipate that’ll be the same.
“The traffic hasn’t been bad; I don’t want to give you that impression. It’s just not at a very high level right now.”
JP&N: “We were in a similar situation last summer, when attendance was way down – and you were expecting a healthy return of members in the fall – and then we got hit with a second wave in the fall – and that kiboshed everything again. I don’t want to be a purveyor of doom and gloom but you must be in such a terrible predicament. How do you plan when you don’t know what’s around the bend? Also, have you done any polling of members to ask how many are actually planning on coming back?”
Rob: “We’re in the process of doing that right now. There are many members whose memberships have lapsed, but we don’t think it’s an issue of their having left the Rady and they’re going somewhere else. Remember, we closed three different times – and reopened three different times. I think we’ll get a real sense of where we’re at (in terms of membership) after the Labour Day long weekend, but keep in mind the Jewish holidays are early this year.”
JP&N: “What about outreach to the community – with the newcomers to the community? Is that just too difficult to plan under these conditions?”
Rob: “We’re looking at various partnerships with Jewish Child and Family Service. I’ve already set up several meetings with Al (Benarroch, Executive Director of JCFS).
For youth, we’re going to bring back ‘Strictly Tweens’, ‘Kids at the J’, we’re going to do BBYO chapter programming again – which has continued on in a virtual manner. We’re going to bring back seniors’ programming – like Bridge and Mah Jong, the Stay Young Club, Active Living classes. We’re going to bring back the lecture lunch series – which is very popular with seniors.
“We’ll obviously offer a hybrid combination of in-person and virtual options for all these things. For inclusion, we’re going to offer ‘Fun and Fitness with Friends’. We’ll do another version of the Israel Asper Jazz series, the Israel International Film Festival.”
At the end of our conversation Rob told me that he would send me a more complete list of programs that the Rady JCC is planning to roll out for the fall. It turns out that he covered them all during our conversation at one point or another – except for birthday parties and Rosh Hashanah Outdoor Challah Bake (Sept. 2).
Local News
Winnipeg Jewish Theatre breaks new ground with co-production with Rainbow Stage
By MYRON LOVE Winnipeg Jewish Theatre is breaking new ground with its first ever co-production with Rainbow Stage. The new partnership’s presentation of “Fiddler on the Roof” is scheduled to hit the stage at our city’s famed summer musical theatre venue in September 2026.
“We have collaborated with other theatre companies in joint productions before,” notes Dan Petrenko, the WJT’s artistic and managing director – citing previous partnerships with the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts in Montreal, the Harold Green Jewish Theatre in Toronto, Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon and Winnipeg’s own Dry Cold Productions. “Because of the times we’re living through, and particularly the growing antisemitism in our communities and across the country, I felt there is a need to tell a story that celebrates Jewish culture on the largest stage in the city – to reach as many people as possible.”
Last year, WJT approached Rainbow Stage with a proposal for the co-presentation of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Rainbow Stage management was really enthusiastic in their response, Petrenko reports.
“We are excited to be working with Winnipeg’s largest musical theatre company,” he notes. “Rainbow Stage has an audience of more than 10,000 people every season. Fiddler is a great, family-oriented story and, through our joint effort with Rainbow Stage, WJT will be able to reach out to new and younger audiences.”
“We are also working to welcome more diverse audiences from other communities, as well as newcomers – families who have moved here from Israel, Argentina and countries of the former Soviet Union.”
Helping Petrenko to achieve those goals are two relatively new and younger additions to WJT’s management team. Both Company Manager Etel Shevelev, and Head of Marketing Julia Kroft are in their 20s – as is Petrenko himself.
Kroft, who is also Gray Academy’s Associate Director of Advancement and Alumni Relations, needs little or no introduction to many readers. In addition to her work for Gray Academy and WJT, the daughter of David and Ellen Kroft has been building a second career as a singer and actor. Over the past few years, she has performed by herself or as part of a musical ensemble at Jewish community events, as well as in various professional theatre productions in the city.
Etel Shevelev is also engaged in a dual career. In addition to working full time at WJT, she is also a Fine Arts student (majoring in graphic design) at the University of Manitoba. Outside of school, she is an interdisciplinary visual artist (exhibiting her work and running workshops), so you can say the art world is no stranger to her.
(She will be partcipating in Limmud next month as a member of the Rimon Art Collective.)
Shevelev grew up in Kfar Saba (northeast of Tel Aviv). She reports that in Israel she was involved in theatre from a young age. “In 2019, I graduated from a youth theatre school, which I attended for 11 years.” In a sense, her work for WJT brings her full circle.
She arrived in Winnipeg just six years ago with her parents. “I was 19 at the time,” she says.
After just a year in Winnipeg, her family decided to relocate to Ottawa, while she chose to stay here. “I was already enrolled in university, had a long-term partner, and a job,” she explains. “I felt that I was putting down roots in Winnipeg.”
Etel expects to graduate by the end of the academic year, allowing her to focus on the arts professionally full-time.
In her role as company manager, Shevelev notes, she is responsible for communications with donors, contractors, and unions, as well as applying for various grants and funding opportunities.
In addition, her linguistic skills were put to use last spring for WJT’s production of “The Band’s Visit,” a story about an Egyptian band that was invited to perform at a cultural centre opening ceremony in the lively centre of Israel, but ended up in the wrong place – a tiny, communal town in southern Israel. Shevelev was called on to help some of the performers with the pronunciation of Hebrew words and with developing a Hebrew accent.
“I love working for WJT,” she enthuses. “Every day is different.”
Shevelev and Petrenko are also enthusiastic about WJT’s next production – coming up in April: “Ride: The Musical” debuted in London’s West End three years ago, and then went on to play at San Diego’s Old Globe theatre to rave reviews. The WJT production will be the Canadian premiere!
The play, Petrenko says, is based on the true story of Annie Londonderry, a young woman – originally from Latvia, who, in 1894, beat all odds and became the first woman to circle the world on a bicycle.
Petrenko is also happy to announce that the director and choreographer for the production will be Lisa Stevens – an Emmy Award nominee and Olivier Award winner. (The Olivier is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in professional London theatre).
“Lisa is in great demand across Canada, and the world really,” the WJT artistic director says. “I am so thrilled that we will be welcoming one of the greatest Jewish directors and choreographers of our time to Winnipeg this Spring.”
For more information about upcoming WJT shows, readers can visit wjt.ca, email the WJT office at info@wjt.ca or phone the box office at 204-477-7515.
Local News
Rising Canadian comedy star Rob Bebenek to headline JCFS’ second annual “Comedy for a Cause”
By MYRON LOVE Last year, faced with a federal government budget cut to its Older Adult Services programs, Jewish Child and Family Service launched a new fundraising initiative. “Comedy with a Cause” was held at Rumor’s Comedy club and featured veteran Canadian stand-up comic Dave Hemstad.
That evening was so successful that – by popular demand – JCFS is doing an encore. “We were blown away by the support from the community,” says Al Benarroch, JCFS’s president and CEO.
“This is really a great way to support JCFS by being together and having fun,” he says.
“Last year, JCFS was able to sell-out the 170 tickets it was allotted by Rumor’s,” adds Alexis Wenzowski, JCFS’s COO. “There were also general public attendees at the event last year. Participants enjoyed a fun evening, complete with a 50/50 draw and raffle. We were incredibly grateful for those who turned out, the donors for the raffle baskets, and of course, Rumor’s Comedy Club.
“Feedback was very positive about it being an initiative that encouraged people to have fun for a good cause: our Older Adult Services Team.”
This year’s “Comedy for a Cause” evening is scheduled for Wednesday, February 25. Wenzowski reports that this year’s featured performer, Rob Bebenek, first made a splash on the Canadian comedy scene at the 2018 Winnipeg Comedy festival. He has toured extensively throughout North America, appearing in theatres, clubs and festivals. He has also made several appearances on MTV as well as opening shows for more established comics, such as Gerry Dee and the late Bob Saget.
For the 2026 show, Wenzowski notes, Rumors’ is allotting JCFS 200 tickets. As with last year, there will also be some raffle baskets and a 50/50 draw.
“Our presenting sponsors for the evening,” she reports, “are the Vickar Automotive Group and Kay Four Properties Incorporated.”
The funds raised from this year’s comedy evening are being designated for the JCFS Settlement and Integration Services Department. “JCFS chose to do this because of our reduction in funding last year by the federal government to this department,” Wenzowski points out.
“Last year alone,” she reports, “our Settlement and Integration Services team settled 118 newcomer families – from places like Israel, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. Each year, our program supports even more newcomer families with things like case management, supportive counselling, employment coaching, workshops, programming for newcomer seniors, and more.”
“We hope to raise more than $15,000 through this event for our Settlement and Integration Program,” Al Benarroch adds. “The team does fantastic work, and we know that our newcomer Jewish families need the supports from JCFS. I want to thank our sponsors, Rumor’s Comedy Club, and attendees for supporting us.”
Tickets for the show cost $40 and are available to purchase by calling JCFS (204-477-7430) or by visiting here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/jcfs-comedy-for-a-cause. Sponsorships are still available.
Local News
Ninth Shabbat Unplugged highlight of busy year for Winnipeg Hillel
By MYRON LOVE Lindsay Kerr, Winnipeg’s Hillel director, is happy to report that this year’s ninth Shabbat UnPlugged, held on the weekend of January 9-11, attracted approximately 90 students from 11 different universities, including 20 students who were from out of town.
Shabbat UnPlugged was started in 2016 by (now-retired) Dr. Sheppy Coodin, who was a science teacher at Gray Academy, along with fellow Gray Academy teacher Avi Posen (who made aliyah in 2019) – building on the Shabbatons that Gray Academy had been organizing for the school’s high school students for many years.
The inaugural Shabbat UnPlugged was so successful that Coodin and Posen did it again in 2017 and took things one step further by combining their Shabbat UnPlugged with Hillel’s annual Shabbat Shabang Shabbaton that brings together Jewish university students from Winnipeg and other Jewish university students from Western Canada.
As in the past, this year’s Shabbat UnPlugged weekend was held at Lakeview’s Hecla Resort. “What we like about Hecla,” Kerr notes, “is that they let us bring in our own kosher food, it is out of the city and close to nature for those who want to enjoy the outdoors.”
The weekend retreat traditionally begins with a candle lighting, kiddush and a traditional Shabbat supper. Unlike previous Shabbats UnPlugged, Kerr points out, there were no outside featured speakers this year. All religious services and activities were led by students or national program partners.
The weekend was funded in part by grants from CJPAC and StandWithUs Canada, along with the primary gift from The Asper Foundation.
Kerr reports that the activities began with 18 of our local Jewish university students participating in a new student Shabbaton – inspired by Shabbat Unplugged, titled “Roots & Rising.”
In addition to Shabbat Unplugged, Hillel further partnered with Chabad for a Sukkot program in the fall, as well as with Shaarey Zedek Congregation and StandWithUs Canada for a Chanukah program. Hillell also featured a commemoration of October 7, an evening of laser tag and, in January, a Hillel-led afternoon of ice skating.
Coming up this month will be a visit to an Escape Room – and a traditional Shabbat dinner in March.
Kerr estimates that there are about 300 Jewish students at the University of Manitoba and 100 at the University of Winnipeg.
“Our goal is to attract more Jewish students to take part in our programs and connect with our community,” she comments.