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Russian-speaking women learn about “Hafrashat Challah” at Jewish Learning Centre
By REGINA TEPLITSKY It looked festive: Challah kits and flowers on tables! Forty women who belong to an organization known as Limmud FSU (former Soviet Union) Labs gathered on Sunday, March 27th at the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish Learning Centre hall to pray for peace.
As a former campaign director for the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, also a former executive director of Camp Massad, I have continued to plan and organize events for the Jewish community here, with a special focus on Jewish Russian-speaking newcomers from Israel and Russia. In February of 2021 I initiated a new project called “Limmud FSU Labs Winnipeg”.
Limmud FSU Labs is a joint project of and the . The goal is to create a meaningful and ongoing platform for varying forms of Jewish expression among different communities of young Russian-speaking Jews around the world, in order to promote a sense of national, collective and personal identity with the Jewish people and with the State of Israel.
Since its inception, Limmud FSU Labs – Winnipeg has organized 15 meaningful events, retreats and lectures that have strengthened Jewish life and engaged Russian-speaking Jewish community members in programs that empower community networks and encourage Jewish learning.
The idea to gather for Hafrashat Challah came from Limmud FSU Labs Winnipeg activists, who wanted to create an uplifting event and pray together for peace in Ukraine. The Russian-speaking Jewish community is taking action in supporting a Ukrainian humanitarian crisis relief initiative. The Jewish Russian-speaking community has strong connections to the Ukrainian community.
We also had seven Ukrainian women attending the Hafrashat Challah program. The goal was to immerse them in Jewish culture through a hands-on experience and to provide them with a great network of supporting Jewish women. It was great to see Jewish Federation of Winnipeg and Rady JCC representation at the event as well.
Rabbanit Chanah Heidingsfeld from Chabad instructed the Hafrashat Challah in special “brachot,” also demonstrating various challah shaping techniques.
Passing the time as the dough was rising, Chanah shared with the program participants inspiring stories about the phenomenal work that Chabad has been doing in Ukraine during the war to save lives. The tears and expressions of pain on the faces of many of the women in the room made clear that there were plenty of requests for peace to make and that they were taking advantage of this special time and opportunity.
After the ingredients had been mixed and the mitzvah of “hafrashas challah” – separating the challah, was performed, the group joined Rabbanit Chanah in repeating blessings and prayers. It was a spectacular climax to this amazing gathering.
The crowd left happily, many staggering under the heavy weight of their bowls of challot, all ready to be baked.
On April 24th, I also organized a fundraising trivia game called IQ Battle Winnipeg to collect funds to promote peace and support the Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg.
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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
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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.