Local News
Shalom Residences’ Executive Director Mike Goldberg looks back on 3 years in the job
By BERNIE BELLAN Three years ago – almost to the date (March 30), I reported on the retirement of of one of the longest-serving executive directors of an agency within the Jewish community: Nancy Hughes.
Nancy had been serving as executive director of Shalom Residences since 1991. The very first Shalom Residence opened in 1980, which means Shalom Residences will be celebrating its 45th anniversary this year.
Among the 12 agencies that receive funding from the Winnipeg Jewish Federation, Shalom Residences though might have one of the lowest profiles, as it serves a fairly small segment of the community – adults with special needs intellectual disabilities. As previous editor of The Jewish Post & News and, prior to that, when my late brother Matt served as editor, we always tried to give Shalom Residences due recognition. One of the reasons, as current Shalom Residences executive director Michael Goldberg explained during a recent phone conversation we had, is that there are members of our community who may not be aware of what Shalom Residences provide – and who may have children who would benefit from living in one of the residences once they reach adulthood.
It may be hard to believe, but two of the original residents in that very first Shalom Residence (on Enniskillen Avenue) still remain residents of Shalom Residences. (There are five other homes that house Shalom residents: On Hartford Avenue and Seven Oaks Place – both in West Kildonan, McAdamCathedral Avenue – in the North End, Daffodil – in Garden City; and Oxford Street, in River Heights.)
The smallest home has three residents and the largest one – five.
Twenty-nine adults live in those homes, while another nine live in supported independent living apartments, and three adults are supported in community outreach.
When Nancy Hughes retired in 2022, the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic were still being widely felt. In fact, there were two vacancies within Shalom Residences at that time, as I explained in my March 30 article: “Nancy explained, with the onset of Covid in 2020 a number of parents who might otherwise have wanted to place a child in one of the homes drew back from doing so out of fears that their loved one might contract Covid.”
Actually, the term “child” in referring to residents of Shalom Residences is a misnomer. In order to qualify for residency in one of the residences, one must be at least 18 years of age, but the fact is there has been very little turnover among residents over the years. One of the original Shalom residents, Rochelle Bronstein, just passed away in July last year. Rochelle had moved into a Shalom residence when she was in her twenties. According to Shalom Residences’ annual report, the average age of residents is now 54.
For those readers not familiar with Shalom Residences, its Mission and Vision are stated on the organization’s website:
“To support people with intellectual disabilities in the mainstream of community life so that they may conduct their lives in a meaningful dignified way.To empower adults with intellectual disabilities to live meaningful, dignified lives in community based homes in Winnipeg, enriched by Jewish values.
“Shalom envisions a community where individuals with intellectual disabilities are fully included, self-actualized, and valued in all aspects of life.
“Their values are:
“Inclusion: Shalom believes in the right of every individual to have opportunities to be an active, respected member of their community.
“Empowerment: Shalom supports adults in building capacity to achieve their individualized goals.
“Jewish Heritage: Shalom is committed to providing support that reflects the values and traditions of the Jewish community. They also support individuals to participate in the richness of their chosen religion and culture.
“Awareness & Acceptance: Shalom strives to foster understanding and acceptance of individuals with intellectual disabilities as valued members of the community.
“To enable people with intellectual disabilities to become as self-sufficient as possible.
“To create and maintain Judaic oriented programs for people with intellectual disabilities which reflect the philosophy of Shalom Residences Inc.
“To develop community awareness of, and increase community acceptance of, people with intellectual disabilities as full and equal citizens.
“To enable the persons in Shalom Residences’ programs to achieve their potential as contributing members of our community, and to become as self sufficient as possible.”
In 2022 Michael Goldberg took over as executive director of Shalom Residences. In my March 2022 article about Nancy Hughes’ retirement I noted that Michael was the son of Mark and Kathryn Goldberg, had attended Ramah Hebrew School, Gray Academy, and the University of Winnipeg Collegiate. Michael had also attended Winthrop University in South Carolina, where he had obtained a bachelors degree in Psychology. (He noted that he had actually gone to university on a golf scholarship!)
Later, Michael said, he obtained his masters degree in Gerontology in Regina.
Since 2015, he had been working at Palliative Manitoba in the Deer Lodge Centre Palliative Care.
Even before coming to Shalom Residences, Michael says that he had developed a familiarity with the program, as he “was able to facilitate courses in compassionate care for Shalom Residences staff members.”
Recently, I had a chance to talk with Michael Goldberg – to ask him now that he’s had to gain some experience, how he’s found working as executive director of Shalom Residences?
Michael echoed Nancy’s observation that, as residents of Shalom residences have aged, dealing with aging residents has led to different challenges.
“We want to make sure they’re aging with dignity,” he said, “and that they’re comfortable.”
As well, Michael noted that with the closure of the Manitoba Developmental Centre in Portage and the St. Amant Centre in Winnipeg, the goal now, more than ever, is ” to integrate people (who had previously been institutionalized) “into the community” – something which has been a leading purpose of Shalom Residences since its inception.
I asked Michael how someone who has a child with an intellectual disability and that child is approaching adulthood (or is already an adult) would go through the process of having that child placed in a Shalom Residence?
Michael explained that a parent with a child under 18 who has an intellectual disability has most likely already been in touch with the Department of Families in the provincial government “because they receive funding” from that department “to support their family member.”
“So that’s the first step to make sure you’re eligible to receive funding from Community Living Disability Services, ” he said, “and once people are deemed eligible, and that process involved getting documentation from a physician or psychologist insuring that intellectual impairment was perceived prior to the age of 18, then they can gain access to resources from Shalom Residences if they’re over the age of 18. We have to make sure that they require personal care when it comes to basic needs, management of property, also they have to be Canadian citizens.”
According to its annual report, only 55% of Shalom Residents are Jewish. (Yet, just as the Simkin Centre has a very high proportion of non-Jewish residents, adherence to kashrut is considered a fundamental value of Shalom Residences. I’ll offer no further observations on how important it is for non-Jews to be forced into adhering to the rules of kashrut since I don’t want to elicit another angry letter to the editor of this paper from the Winnipeg Council of Rabbis.) The funding allocated to Shalom Residences from the Jewish Federation, by the way goes to subvent the often extraordinarily high cost of kosher food.
In fact, over 90% of Shalom Residences funding comes from the province. A good chunk of that funding goes to pay the salaries of the 83 staff who work for Shalom Residences, including both part-time and full-time staff.
One of the issues I raised with Michael is the problem raised by the aging of our own Jewish community. As parents of children who have intellectual disabilities may find it increasingly difficult to care for those children – who are now adults – within their own homes, Shalom Residences might be a viable alternative for parents who, until now, would have been reluctant to see their children leave the home.
I wondered whether there is a “wait list” then, of individuals waiting to move into a Shalom residence. I was somewhat surprised to hear from Michael that there is not a wait list.
Again – that might be more of a reflection of a general unawareness of Shalom Residences than anything else because, since Shalom Residences began with only 17 residents in 1984 and has remained constant at roughly 30 residents for several years now – what with the Jewish Federation claiming that our Jewish population has grown hugely in that past 20 years (despite census figures that would show that not to be the case), one would have expected a growth in demand for placements in Shalom Residences, commensurate with that “huge” growth in our Jewish population. (The Federation actually cites the figure of 16,000 in reporting the size of Winnipeg’s Jewish population. The 2020 Canadian census has it at no more than 12,500, but who am I to argue with the Jewish Federation when it comes to embellishing population figures?)
I wondered too whether there were Shalom residents who didn’t have any relatives who had provided care for them – perhaps because those relatives were in need of care themselves or had passed on already – and those Shalom residents were the responsibility of the Public Trustee of Manitoba?
Michael answered that not only is that the case in several instances, it has also been the case that living relatives have considered handinged over responsibility for the care of their children to the Public Trustee because they simply wanted to “relinquish” responsibility for care of a child with intellectual disabilities.
I asked whether there had been any major improvements made to any of the Shalom Homes recently? Michael noted that there had been a major renovation of the kitchen in the McAdam Avenue home – thanks to a donation from the Silver family. (In October 2022 I had reported on another addition to that home when, thanks to a donation from form the Ian and Rochelle Laing Family Foundation, the unfinished basement of that home had been transformed into a beautiful recreation centre, complete with an arts and craft table, exercise equipment, new flooring, a sink, and a chairlift.)
That led me to ask Michael whether perhaps newer members of our community who might have children who would be well served by living in a Shalom Residence are totally oblivious of what Shalom Residences have to offer?
Michael said that, “in fact, we’ve just welcomed a new resident” whose family is from Russia.
“We got in touch with them. There was a vacancy in one of our homes and he actually just moved in.”
Partly in reaction to the unawareness though that exists within many members of our Jewish community about Shalom Residences, Shalom Residences will be “doing a community outreach information night program on Wednesday, April 9, at the Asper Campus in the Kroft Boardroom at 7pm,” Michael said.
Shalom Residences used to hold an annual lottery as well – but it no longer does that. There will be a donor appreciation evening though on May 27 at the Adas-Yeshurun Herzlia Synagogue.
Local News
Rachel Fish, leader in combating antisemitism in academia, this year’s Kanee Distinguished Lecture series speaker
By MYRON LOVE The Jewish Heritage Center of Western Canada would seem to have hit another home run with the announcement that Dr. Rachel Fish, a leading voice in tackling anti-Zionism and Jew hatred in North American academia, is this year’s guest speaker at the JHCWC’s upcoming annual Sol and Florence Kanee Distinguished Lecture – which is scheduled for Thursday, April 30, at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue.
The theme of her timely lecture will be“How the Academy Has Created a Fertile Ground for Antisemitism,” a topic in which she is well versed. Fish has an impressive resumé. She is the co-founder of the nonprofit “Boundless,” a think tank partnering with community leaders across North America to revitalize Israel education and take bold collective action to combat antisemitism. She also serves as Director for The Brandeis University President’s Initiative on Antisemitism; is an associate research professor at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies; and teaches Israeli history and society at The George Washington University as Visiting Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development.
In the past, she has served as Senior Advisor and Resident Scholar at the Paul E. Singer Foundation in New York City and Executive Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, where she trained the next generation of academics in the field of Israel Studies. She has also served on the faculty at Brandeis University, George Washington University, and Harvard University. She has has written articles for several publications in the mainstream press and academic journals, and co-edited the book “Essential Israel: Essays for the 21st Century.”
I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Fish a couple of weeks ago. My first question to her was how she finds the time to do all that she does. Her response is that there are not enough hours in the day. Her multiple activities remind me of an expression I heard once years ago while I was a member of a short-lived Jewish international development group – “if you want to make sure something gets done, you give it to the busiest person you know.”
Fish observes that she has been explaining Judaism to non-Jews all of her life. “I was raised in Tennessee in a place called Johnson City in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains,” she recounts. “My parents were originally from Ohio. There were very few Jews where we lived. My family spent a lot of time teaching our neighbours, teachers in my school and others we associated with about Jews, our practices and the State of Israel.”
She recalls – as early as 2001 when she was studying at Harvard’s Divinity School, that she was noticing what she describes as a “strong undercurrent of anti-Israel feeling and Jew-hatred”.
“I was determined to pursue a career in higher education,” she notes, “in part because I believe that education matters, because I derive oxygen from teaching, and I particularly enjoy dealing with complex issues. As well, I appreciate the opportunities that teaching at the university level gives me to share what I have learned in public forums such as the Kanee Lecture.”
Ideally, she observes, a professor should not – as much as humanly possible – be sharing her political or personal opinions in class. Higher education should be about creating a space where students can debate freely and challenge each other’s ideas. Instead (as I am sure many readers are aware), too many educators are focused on indoctrinating their students in the teacher’s beliefs – with students with dissident opinion facing hostility and risking ostracism.
Too many universities have become ideological monocultures where critical thinking is discouraged and there is a litmus test for new hires. She cites a FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) report in which an overwhelming majority of the faculty at many leading universities share a leftist – anti-Israel, anti-Christian and anti-Conservative worldview.
That is particularly true with Ivy league and other elite universities in both the United States and Canada – and especially in their liberal Arts and Humanities programs. Much of the anti-Zionist and antisemitic atmosphere – such as the takeover of university quadrants in the wake of October 7 – has been created by outside agitators and foreign funders – notably the oil rich Islamic sheikhdom of Qatar.
“Where you have universities with strong administrative leadership,” she points out, “the level of hostility to Jewish students and threats of violence have not been allowed to take root. It has only been the case where the administration and the board are weak.”
So why, I asked her, do so many Jewish students not seek out alternatives to these compromised campuses?. She responded that some Jewish students have chosen to enrol in universities in the southern United States where there is a more welcoming environment.
But many Jewish students, she observes, continue to enrol in leading universities such as Harvard and Yale, Cornell and UCLA (or York or the University of Toronto in Canada). Many Jewish students still share the belief that being identified with being affiliated with a top flight university will benefit their future careers.
Sadly, she further points out, this poison has filtered down to the K-12 level. Many university education departments have graduated numerous indoctrinated teachers who have taken control of school boards and administrations and seek to impose their vile doctrines on susceptible young minds.
Nevertheless, there are a great many state and lesser known universities that provide a more welcoming attitude to Jewish students.
Rachel Fish suggest that, for too long, North American Jewish communities have been complacent and not recognized the danger in our midst. She does see some hopeful signs though. She has observed that more and more communities, parents and student s have woken to the danger and begun to fight back.
“It’s difficult,” she acknowledges. “It can feel overwhelming. But we have to keep chipping away and not just let the other side win.”
The Sol and Florence Kanee Distinguished Lecture series was inaugurated by the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada in 2006 to celebrate Sol Kanee’s 95th birthday. In welcoming the audience to that first lecture, lecture series co-chair Harold Buchwald paid tribute to Kanee, who died on April 23 at 97, as a man who “cast a giant shadow” on world Jewish history in the second half of the 20th century. The former resident of Melville, Saskatchewan, who spent almost all of his adult life in Winnipeg, Kanee was a leader in the development of Israel and the Free Soviet Jewry movement as well as a macher in our Jewish community and across Canada.
I would encourage readers who may be interested in learning more about the current state of antisemitism in academia – and want to support the JHCWC to go online at jhcwc.org for further information or to order tickets. The price of admission is $50.
Local News
Young tech entrepreneur Adam Fainman gathering accolades locally and internationally
By MYRON LOVE Winnipegger Adam Fainman is taking the world by storm. In fewer than three years his new AI start-up – Moonlite Labs – has attracted thousands of users in 550 cities in 95 countries world wide.
As he explained in an interview in the Winnipeg Sun last June, Moonlite Labs is “a creative content platform designed to make multimedia storytelling radically more accessible. With a few prompts,” he noted, “users can generate professional grade videos, animations, voiceovers, talking avatars, music-reactive visuals, and more.”
On Tuesday, February 24, the young entrepreneur garnered his newest accolade when Winnipeg-based North Forge, Canada’s only start-up incubator, accelerator and fabrication lab, gave Fainman its DARE Emerging Innovator Award at a reception at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada.
“I dedicated the award to my zaida, Jacob T. Schwartz,” Fainman says, noting that his zaida was a prominent computer scientist and professor of Computer Science at the New York University Courant Institute of Mathematical Science, and founder, in 1964, of New York University’s Department of Computer Science – which he chaired for 16 years.
At the awards evening, Fainman adds, he had the opportunity to meet many of the movers and shakers in the industry here.
The son of Shane and Rachel Fainman began his life in Toronto. “My father is from Winnipeg, my mother from New York. They met in the Sinai Desert at a music festival.”
The family moved to Winnipeg in 2006 when Adam was in high school. After graduating from the University of Winnipeg Collegiate he went on to earn a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Winnipeg.
“Performing was always my first love” he says.
Post university, he began a career as a rapper, beatboxer, and producer under the stage name Beatox, touring across Canada and central Europe with his rare ability to combine story-telling and singing.
In 2015, he enrolled in a two-year digital media and design program at Red River Community College. After graduation, on the encouragement of a University of Toronto professor, he continued his studies in Toronto earning a Masters Degree in Music Technology and Digital Marketing.
“During the Covid shutdown,” he recounts, “I began experimenting with AI and producing music videos combining music, story-telling and animation. I posted them on social media sites such as YouTube and TikTok. They went viral, garnering millions of views. People were asking me if I could help them with creating similar videos. I saw there was a gap in accessibility to this technology, so I decided I should create a platform as a solution”
“A friend of mine, Brayden Bernstein was involved in the tech scene in Winnipeg, saw the success I was having on TikTok and gave me some advice on how to go about this” Fainman continues. “As well, a few colleagues from the University of Winnipeg expressed interest in building a solution together.”
Wanting to create a platform that would make it easy for others to replicate what he was doing, Fainman sought out resources in Winnipeg that might be able to help him.
He pitched his idea first to NRC-IRAP (National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program), Canada’s leading innovation assistance program for small and medium-sized businesses,
“They loved the concept and traction I was getting, and agreed to help fund us,” Fainman says.
His next stop was North Forge – in 2024 – where Moonlite joined their Ascent Program and was matched with mentors.
In early 2025, Moonlite Labs made its official debut at the Manitoba AI Innovation Showcase where the new company was greeted with an award. “It was a massive confidence boost,” Fainman told the Sun in that earlier interview. “It was our first time sharing with the public what we’ve been up to for the last year. To win the award… that was very, very rewarding.”
Last June, the company made its presence known on the international stage at VivaTech 2025 in Paris — Europe’s largest startup and tech conference, with over 180,000 visitors.
Moonlite was selected as one of TechCrunch’s Top 30 Startups of the Year, a shortlist that included only two Canadian companies.
“Getting the AI Showcase award, getting into VivaTech, being selected as one of the top 30 startups of the Year by TechCrunch, that was pretty crazy,” Fainman told the Sun.“Backed by ScaleAI, Moonlite joined Canada’s official delegation at VivaTech, which had special visibility this year with Canada named Country of the Year at the conference.
“We had a massive space. The French president came through our whole area. It was the craziest thing,” Fainman recalled. “Everyone had their phones. It was like a mob… then we’re like, oh my God, it’s the French president. People were freaking out.”
As per the Sun story, Fainman was given two days to showcase Moonlite, with a booth for both the platform’s business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) offerings. But the most personal moment came on stage, where he delivered a presentation showcasing his journey from beatboxing artist to tech founder.
With Moonlite Labs growing exponentially, Faiman and his team of eight are hoping to become as ubiquitous as Adobe and Canva. “My ultimate goal is to help as many people as possible to create professional-grade videos and ultimately share their stories,” he comments.
He himself, he adds, is hoping to get back to live performances as well. “I recently appeared at Festival du Voyageur and I have just completed my 4th studio album. I can’t wait to use Moonlite for all my videos and world building” he reports.
Readers who might want to try Moonlite for themselves can go to https://moonlitelabs.com
You can get in touch with Adam Fainman at adam@moonlitelabs.com
Local News
Richard Morantz and Sheree Walder fund new MBA degree, annual real estate symposium, at Hebrew University
By MYRON LOVE Last October, the husband and wife team of Richard Morantz and Sheree Walder donated $1 million towards the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue’s ongoing capital campaign. Last month, the couple followed up with an equally generous donation – this time to the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University, to establish a new degree program in real estate through the Hebrew University’s business school.
“We are long time supporters of the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University,” notes Walder, who is a lawyer and former partner in the firm Myers LLP.
“We had funded some smaller projects at the Hebrew University, adds Morantz, the president and CEO of Globe Property Management, one of Canada’s leading privately-held residential real estate firms.
(Globe was founded in the 1920s by Richard’s grandfather, Morris. Richard became the company’s sole shareholder in the mid-1990s after buying out his father Saul, and his siblings. Under Richard’s leadership, the company has expanded steadily and strategically, acquiring and developing real estate almost every year for the past three decades. Over the last 30 years, he has built an impressive and diverse portfolio, which includes over 8000 residential and commercial properties, particularly notable given that Globe remains privately owned and independently operated.
“Two years ago, we approached the (Hebrew) University about doing something more impactful. Since I am a businessman in real estate, we wanted to work on a project with the business school.”
The first fruits of the relationship between Richard and Sheree and the university was the establishment the annual Richard Morantz Real Estate Symposium in the Hebrew University Business School (HUBS) MBA Program.
“I was able to attend the most recent symposium in November,” Morantz reports. “I wanted to see for myself how this was working.”
Morantz also used the occasion to arrange – with the help of CFHU executive director (and former executive director of the JNF office here) Rami Kleinmann – a meeting with HUBS officials about building on the symposium and creating a new MBA program at the university.
The Richard Morantz Major in Real Estate and Finance, in the words of Business School President Dr. Orly Sade, “will, together with traditional academics, feature non-academic practitioners and leaders in all aspects of the real estate industry, providing students an opportunity to expand their professional networks, while gaining real-world industry insights and bridging the gap between theory and practice.
In a press release issued on February 24, Seade added that “this investment is a defining moment in the evolution of the school. The importance of an academic discipline focused solely on the real estate sector has significantly increased, owing to an understanding of the sector’s unique position in the global economy and international finance. HUBS consistently ranks within the top five business schools in Eurasia & the Middle East. The addition of this major will further elevate HUBS academic offerings, and the annual symposium will help expand the Hebrew University and Israel’s footprint as a global hub for intellectual exchange in the sector, drawing diverse professionals from around the world, fostering cross-border collaboration, increasing visibility, and contributing to the potential to attract top-level investors.”
Kleinmann further pointed out that “Richard’s comprehensive industry knowledge, combined with his dedication to Israel and the University, has resulted in an innovative academic program that, combined with the Symposium, is setting a new benchmark for industry education. We are all extremely grateful and look forward to the outcomes.”
As reported in the Jewish Post in relation to the couple’s donation to the Shaarey Zedek, Morantz noted that it was the Hamas-led assault on Israel and subsequent tsunami of antisemitism worldwide that prompted Richard and Sheree to consider stepping up and contributing to the Shaaray Zedek campaign in such a magnanimous way.
“I have never been a religious person,” Morantz remarked. “While I may be more secular, I strongly believe in the traditions of Judaism. I had a charmed upbringing in the 60s and 70s in River Heights. It is not the case that I experienced no antisemitism, but those experiences were very minimal. Post-October 7th, I found myself, for the first time in my life, having to judge every situation and every person I came across before divulging the fact that I am Jewish or discussing Israel. I came to the realization, during the process of considering this donation, that a primary driver for us is that this synagogue is a safe place for Jews, where we can comfortably be ourselves.”
Walder pointed out that, while her mother’s large family were Jewish pioneers, her father was a Romanian Holocaust survivor, with almost no family after the war. “Family matters a great deal to us,” she said, “in addition to strongly agreeing with Richard that the tragedy of October 7th and continuing and growing antisemitism are big drivers for us in making these donations.”
“There will be an event celebrating the new MBA program at the Hebrew University’s Board of Governors meeting in June,” Morantz says. “We are looking forward to attending.”