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Some more reflections on that controversial medical school valedictory address – and why are there so few Jewish medical students?
By BERNIE BELLAN I wanted to return to the subject of Dr. Gem Newman’s valedictory address in front of an audience of graduating U of M medical students, their families, and other guests on May 16, which is almost three months ago.
While Newman’s controversial remarks continue to reverberate – most recently with the forced departure of the Professional Association of Residents and Interns of Manitoba President-elect, Dr. Matthew Bzura, in June of this year, there were several other aspects to the story of that valedictory address that deserve mention.
The first aspect – and one which may have been overlooked by many readers if they hadn’t read a very short column in The Jewish Post by Freda Glow about the graduation ceremony – which she attended because a granddaughter was a member of the graduating class, was Freda’s observation that there were only five Jewish students in this year’s graduating class.
I’m not sure about the accuracy of that observation; after all, as I’ve tried to show time and time again on this website – deciding who is and who isn’t Jewish these days is not at all easy.
But, for the sake of argument, let’s agree that, if not absolutely accurate, Freda’s observation was reasonably close to the mark. Now, I don’t have bona fide statistics on how many Jewish students have graduated from the Faculty of Medicine over the years, but prior to the quota system that was imposed upon Jewish students entering into Medicine by the then-dean, Alvin Mathers, in 1932, one out of every four incoming students in Medicine had been Jewish for quite some time. From 1932-1944, however, the number of incoming Jewish students was reduced to a little over 10 each year.
Even when the quota was lifted, it took some time before Jewish students began to enter into Medicine at the University of Manitoba in substantial numbers. Still, according to Eva Wiseman in her history of Jewish physicians in Manitoba, titled “Healing Lives” (published in 2019), more than 400 Jewish physicians have practised in Manitoba since 1881.
So, if Freda Glow’s observation about how few doctors who were part of this year’s U of M medical school graduating class were Jewish is true, it certainly says a lot about how different our community is today from what is was 30, 40, or 50 years ago when Jewish students comprised a huge chunk of the total medical school enrolment.
When you combine that observation with one that was made by Dr. Michael Boroditsky, who was the then-President of Doctors Manitoba, when he spoke to the Remis lecture group, also in May, that “in a 2023 poll of physicians here, to which one third of active physicians responded, 12% of physicians said they were likely to retire within the next three years; 14% said they were likely to leave Manitoba; and 26% said they were likely to reduce their hours,” we can expect the number of Jewish physicians practising in Manitoba in the near future to soon be a fraction of what it once was.
Which leads me back to Dr. Gem Newman’s valedictory address in May when he said, “I call on my fellow graduates to oppose injustice -and violence – individual and systemic. I call upon you to oppose settler colonialism, both at home and abroad. I call upon you to stand in solidarity with Indigenous people everywhere, here in Treaty One Territory, where an Indigenous man can expect a life ten years shorter than mine – and in Palestine (ed. note: loud cheers erupted at that point from among the students), where Israel’s deliberate targeting of hospitals and other civilian infrastructure has led to more than 35,000 deaths and widespread famine and disease.
“Many medical organizations, including the W.H.O. and Medecins sans Frontiere, and countless unions, including the Canadian Federation of Nurses Union, have repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza, while there has been deafening silence from the Canadian Medical Association, Doctors Manitoba and PARIM (Professional Association of Interns and Residents of Manitoba), and so I call upon you to join me in calling for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza. Join me in calling for unrestricted humanitarian and medical aid in Gaza. Join me in calling for an end to the targeting of medical facilities, medical staff, and journalists.
“I’m sure that some of you here today are worried that you may face censure for speaking out against the genocidal war that Israel is waging upon the people of Palestine, that it could jeopardize your career before it’s even begun. I understand that fear…”
I noted in my report on that speech that “Dr. Newman’s speech was greeted with a standing ovation from his fellow graduating doctors.”
And that might be the most important aspect of what went down that day in May. In subsequent weeks Jewish physicians in Manitoba organized themselves into a new group, “The Jewish Physicians of Manitoba.” As Dr. Michael Boroditsky noted when I asked him about the reasons for the formation of that group, “Jewish physicians in cities across Canada and the U.S. have been forming formal associations in response to heightened antisemitism following the Hamas massacre of October 7.”
While university administrators across North America (including here, both at the U of M and the U of W) cowered in the face of anti-Israel protests that shook their campuses and university teachers who added to the intimidation that Jewish students have been experiencing (such as that notorious teach-in about Israeli genocide and colonialism conducted by U of W professors in November, not too long after the Hamas massacre of October 7), some notable Jewish politicians have not been afraid to challenge the cowardice of university administrations.
Foremost among those politicians has been Josh Shapiro who, until quite recently, was considered the favourite to be Kamala Harris’s running mate in the U.S. presidential election.
By most accounts Shapiro had the prerequisite attributes that should have led Harris to choose him as her V-P candidate, but Shapiro had angered many in the left wing of the Democratic party over this overt support for Israel.
Here’s what the NY Times had to say back in May about Shapiro and his refusal to lay down before the leftist activists who had taken over so many university campuses across the U.S., including the University of Pennsylvania: “As university officials have struggled to define where free speech ends and hate speech begins, a tension upending the final weeks of the school year, Mr. Shapiro has issued stern warnings about their responsibility to protect students from discrimination. The issue hits close to home: On Friday, police cleared an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators off the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Shapiro had said it was “past time” for Penn to do so.”
Did Shapiro’s strong support for Israel cost him a place on the presidential ticket? In time, I suppose we’ll know.
To end this column, I wanted to return to my observation at the beginning of this column that “there were several other aspects to the story” of Gem Newman’s valedictory address that deserve mention.
Aside from the intimidating effect that the resounding cheers Newman received that day must have had on Jewish students (or other students who were made deeply uncomfortable by Newman’s remarks and the standing ovation he received from his fellow classmates), there were some very thoughtful and articulate responses to Newman that I published on this website.
One was by former Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont, titled “First Do No Harm,” which was a lengthy and well researched response to Newman. The other was a more impassioned response by former Winnipegger Dr. Solly Dreman, titled “We Must Not Be Silent.” Both those pieces have been viewed over 4,000 times each on this website since they were first published.
I know that I’ve been hugely critical of Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza from the get-go, but having said that I have nothing but admiration for members of our community, wherever they are, who have been taking strong stands denouncing the antisemitism that permeates so much of the criticism that has been a constant theme of much of the criticism of Israel – beginning the day after the October 7 massacre. Still, the chilling effect on Jewish student that the support individuals like Gem Newman received from his classmates is bound to reverberate for some time to come.
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Shalom Residences Foundation to host third annual donor appreciation evening
By MYRON LOVE On Tuesday, June 16, Shalom Residences Foundation Inc (SRFI) will be hosting its third annual Donor Appreciation evening. Donors and other Shalom Residences supporters can look forward to chilling to the music of local singer/songwriter David Grenon (aka Soul Bear), who will be performing songs by Billy Joel, Elton John and other well-known artists.
For readers who are not yet familiar with Shalom Residences, the organization was originally created to care for intellectually challenged Jewish young adults. The vision was to provide them with a Jewish environment – strictly kosher group homes where all the Jewish holidays are observed and celebrated.
One of Shalom Residences’ objectives has always been to develop a community in which individuals with intellectual disabilities are fully included, self-actualized, and valued in all aspects of life.
The concept has been a remarkable success.
Shalom Residences was founded in 1980 by six far-sighted couples, including Thelma and Ernie Bronstein, Dolly and Zivey Chudnow, Min and Joe Fromkin, Roberta and Larry Hurtig, Elaine and Bobby Paul,
and Sybil and Frank Steele. The original Shalom Home was a converted house on Cathedral Avenue.
“Thelma Bronstein’s determination and dynamism contributed to making it happen,” says Elaine Paul, currently Shalom Residences’ treasurer (and for the past 20 years, the organization’s leading fundraiser).
I remember the home’s official opening. This was shortly after I started writing for the Jewish Post. Rabbi Charles Grysman affixed the mezzuzah to the door frame.
Today, the organization operates six group homes housing 19 residents as well as 12 residents in supported independent living arrangements.
While the operations today are largely funded by the provincial government – which means that the residences have to be open to accepting non-Jewish clients as well (just over half of the residents are Jewish) – the Shalom Residences Foundation funding supplements the government contribution – providing financial support for increasing staffing levels when needed, as well as extraordinary expenditures and contingencies. The Foundation has also provided the down payment for the purchase of new housing when necessary. .
The necessity of fundraising was evident right from the beginning. Elaine Paul recalls that the first Manitoba Marathon – in which all the founding parents were involved – provided the funding for the mortgage at 175 Cathedral Ave.
“We worked with Helen Steinkopf and John Robertson to develop the marathon,” Paul remembers. ”For several years, Hy Kravetsky and I worked handing out water to the runners.”
Paul relates that it was Zivey Chudnow who was instrumental in starting up Shalom Residences’ annual fundraising. “Three of Zivey’s friends,:Norman Tatleman, Sam Ostrove, and Gary Levinson, asked how they could help,” she recalls. “Their idea was to have a fundraising dinner. We combined the dinner with a lottery. We sold 60 tickets at $1,000 a piece and paid out $15,000 to the winning ticket and lesser amounts to other lucky winners.”
The organization also held annual well attended fundraising teas.
Paul reports that, for years, Chudnow was Shalom Residences’ best fundraiser – with honourable mention to Avrum Katz, Frank Steele, and the late Joe Elfenbaum. Paul took over the role 10 years ago – again with honourable mention to SRFI board members, Dr. Allen Kraut, Peter Leipsic, Donna Chudnow, Jon Feldman, and Mickey Rosenberg.
In addition, the goal was, and remains empowering adults with intellectual disabilities to live meaningful, dignified lives in community-based homes in Winnipeg, enriched by Jewish values.
Charles Tax, the SRFI’s long time president, notes that in 2017, the organization created an endowment fund with the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba. “At the time, we transferred more than half of our assets to the JFM,” he says. “We continue to make contributions to our fund.”
He notes that the annual dinners came to an end with the 20230 Covid lockdowns. The donor appreciation evenings were started in 2023.
“One of our goals is to acquire one or two more houses in the south end,” Tax adds.
Readers who may be interested in attending the donor appreciation evening or otherwise supporting SRFI can contact the office at 204 582-7064 or via email (admin@shalomresidences.com).
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Local News
Debbie Maslowsky playing lead role in upcoming Dry Cold Productions musical
By MYRON LOVE For the past 40 years Debbie Maslowsky has been entertaining Winnipeg audiences – both Jewish and non-Jewish, with her acting and singing. Arguably Winnipeg’s queen of musical theatre is returning to the stage on May 13 in a lead role in Dry Cold Productions’ upcoming “Kimberly Akimbo”.
Maslowsky is enthusiastic about the Tony-winning production, which debuted on Broadway in November 2022. “It’s a gem of a musical,” she says of the production crafted by the musical team of composer Jeanine Tesori and lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire.
The subject itself is not – on the surface – uplifting. As Maslowsky describes it, “Kimberly Akimbo” is the story of a teenager suffering from a very rare condition – progeria – also known as the aging disease. The genetic condition causes children to age at an accelerated rate causing them to die of old age while still in their teens. For those readers who may recall Rabbi Harold Kushner’s book, “Why Bad Things Happen to Good People” – written years ago, Kushner was responding to the death of his own son from progeria.
In the hands of Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire though, Maslowsky notes, the show is about mindfulness and living day by day. In the production, Maslowsky explains, “Kimberly is trying to live as normal a life as she can despite her illness. Her life is further complicated by a dysfunctional family. Her parents are dealing with their own issues. Then there is the madcap aunt who develops a complicated and hilarious plan to make money for a family road trip, raise funds for choir costumes – with some left over for herself.
“The play is very funny,” Maslowsky comments, “but also poignant. Kimberly knows that she most likely won’t live much beyond 16. Therefore, she wants to live every day to the fullest. She wants to live every day in the now. At the same time, she doesn’t want to hide from reality. She doesn’t want special treatment. She also doesn’t want people – such as her parents – trying to pretend that everything will be okay.”
Maslowsky last appeared on stage in Winnipeg Jewish Theatre’s one-woman production of “A Pickle” in the spring of 2023. That was the true story of a Jewish pickle maker living in Minnesota who had to fight to get her pickles included in the state fair pickle competition, which tried to disqualify her because her pickles were made the Jewish way through a brining process that the non-Jewish judges refused to accept.
In the interim, Maslowsky has been focusing on her longstanding business as a trade show, conference and event manage,r as well as picking up some singing gigs. She reports that she began winding down her business last fall.
She speaks highly of her younger cast mates. “They are an amazing group of young people,” she says. “For some of them, this is their first show. I myself am still learning new things after all these years.”
Maslowsky will next be appearing in the joint Winnipeg Jewish Theatre-Rainbow Stage production of “Fiddler on the Roof” in September. “I played one of the daughters years ago in an earlier Fiddler production,” she recalls. “I feel like I am coming full circle.”
Dry Cold Productions was founded by Donna Fletcher and Reid Harrison (now retired) more than 25 years ago. The company stages a yearly musical theatre production – sometimes edgy – which has played on Broadway and is new to Winnipeg audiences.
The Dry Cold website cautions that “Kimberly Akimbo” contains “strong language (with frequent profanity), mature humour, and references to sexual activity”.
“Kimberly Akimbo” is scheduled to run May 13–17, 2026 at the Prairie Theatre Exchange. Tickets can be purchased by contacting Dry Cold productions online.
Local News
The second Bar Mitzvah: Better than the first
By GERRY POSNER As we pass down the corridor of life, there are certainly times we can identify as moments we will never forget. I had such a moment on April 11 at my second Bar Mitzvah, at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, shared with Dr. Ted Lyons, or E. A. as I called him over the years. We were celebrating this life cycle event at the very same synagogue as the first one, that is – the Shaarey Zede. For me, it was some 70 years ago or 25,557 days – from April 21, 1956 to April 11, 2026. The notion of returning to the original place of Bar Mitzvah 1.0 was too powerful a force, causing me to abandon my plan to do this in Toronto where my wife, Sherna and I have lived for the last 13 plus years.
It was quite the weekend. We started just before Erev Shabbat with photos of our two families on the bimah. Ted had his whole family there, including his daughter Mara, her husband Sheldon, and their two daughters, as well as his son Sami, his wife Rose, and their three kids, all of whom live In Calgary, not to forget his sister Ellen and her husband Howard Goldstein, from Toronto. Our three kids: Ari, Rami and Amira, all of whom live in Toronto, along with two of my grandchildren, as well as my brother Michael from Toronto were also present.
After the Shabbat service, we stayed on in the building for our Shabbat dinner. There were 23 of us, including Michael’s partner, Ruth Grubert, (formerly Mozersky), also a former Winnipegger, as well as Rabbi Mass,his son Ranan, Rabbi Carnie Rose and his wife Pauline. It was a warm group and the dinner was gobbled up and appreciated by all of us. We were all surprised when independently, the respective grandchildren of the Bar Mitzvah “bochers” presented both of us with a kind of tribute – funny and sincere in their affection for their Zaidas.
Then came the big day. It lived up to and even exceeded my expectations. It was a sell-out crowd. I was overwhelmed just at that fact. The only thing missing from the building was the electronic ark. The respective families all participated with aliyahs and indeed Torah readings by Sami Lyons and the 83-year-old Bar Mitzvah boy Ted Lyons. Now, “leyning” from the Torah was not something Ted had done at the first go-round 70 years ago. (In fact, almost all of us were deficient in that area).
One particular moment during the service was especially meaningful for Sherna and me. In the first part of the service, there is a prayer called “Mi Chamocha.” My son Ari had written music for that prayer several years ago and now he was at Shaarey Zedek, where he had his Bar Mitzvah long ago. This time though the clergy had arranged to use his music and to sing his melody. (It had been used many times previously, but without Ari. ) Not only that, he was invited to play his composition at the service as Cantor Leslie Emery sang it. Those few moments – as we watched and listened, at this – my second Bar Mitzvah, at a place where my parents had been members for years and whose names are on the memorial plaque in the chapel, well, that was powerful, to put it mildly.
Ted and his family had various honours as did my family. I was given the Haftorah to chant. Now, I have few talents, but I can chant a Haftroah (not the most marketable skill), so that was not that much of an obstacle for me. In fact, I rather enjoyed doing this part of the service. Rabbi Rose had also given me permission to deliver a D’var Torah on the portion of the week, “Shemini”, and to discuss the meaning of this, my second Bar Mitzvah. Once I had the mic and the stage, I was ready to go in spite of my wife’s protestations that it was too long. And, in fact, as I rolled along into my Haftorah, after about 10 minutes, my parter in the double Bar, Ted, came up from behind me where he was sitting, and nudged me gently, or to put it more accurately, gave me the hook, announcing that it was time to wrap up. It was kind of comical, in fact. I got a large charge from that sudden intervention. To top it off, as I had been speaking, I noticed a congregant on my left near the front who had apparently passed out. It was alarming to me at first, but the medics came and were able to revive this person. I was told later that other first words out of the mouth were “Has he finally finished?”
We concluded the day with a rather large kiddish luncheon highlighted at least for me by traditional party sandwiches, which were a staple of the kiddishes of my youth. I met with so many people of my past, which was a treat and a half for me. I was so into the moment that It was hard to get me out of the building.
As I reflect on the day and the service, I recognized that for all of us, we have times in our lives, whether it be an hour, a day or a week, that we will never forget. This day was for me one such moment. It is etched in my memory to be relived through the Youtube video now in my possession. The gift that keeps on giving, I say.
My first Bar Mitzvah was good, for sure. This one was far better. I knew what I was doing.
Post script (After Gerry had sent us his story, he sent us something else that he said should have been included in the story): True, Ted and I had the Bar Mitzvah no 2. But we only had it because there was one person who did the real work and yet received no credit. She made all the arrangements with the synagogue for both the Friday night Shabbat dinner and the kiddish lunch after the service. She dealt with various people in the synagogue and basically took charge of our simcha. I speak, of course, of Harriet Lyons. That I failed to mention her was due to my excess focus on the eating of the party sandwiches and not enough on the reason we had them in the first place. Harriet teaches the weaving of tallits, but she stands tall in the arranging of Bar Mitzvahs.