Local News
The Bermax saga takes a new twist – Is returning to Israel the Berents’ next step?
By BERNIE BELLAN
As reported in various media on October 6, the three members of the Berent family: father Alexander, mother Oxana, and son Maxim, are all now living in Los Angeles, having gone there in January of this year.
Readers may recall the notoriety surrounding the Berent family in relation to the charges of “public mischief” that were laid against them in April 2019 following the sensational report of what appeared to be the worst case of antisemitic vandalism ever having been seen in Winnipeg to that point, when what appeared to be the targeting of the Bermax Caffé on Corydon Avenue for vandalism drew widespread public attention. (It was also alleged that Oxana Berent had been attacked and rendered unconscious by whoever perpetrated the vandalism.)
In an email issued to various media by lawyer Michael Lazar of the Broadway Law Group on October 7, Lazar notes that he is now acting for Oxana Berent – having taken over from Martin Glazer. (Phillip Cramer is acting for Maxim Berent; Cramer is the only one of the three original lawyers retained by members of the Berent family who is still on the case. Brett Gladstone is acting for Alexander Berent, who was originally represented by James Lowry.)
In Lazar’s email he writes: “In the aftermath of the events (which took place in April 2019) there was a great deal of publicity which exposed the Berent family to ostracism in the community. Compounded by financial difficulties, the Berents lost both their business and their family home.”
We searched the title to the Berent home, which is off Highway 8 in the municipality of St. Andrews. The property was listed for sale in July 2019 for $669,000, but remained unsold until the listing expired in July of this year.
There are three different mortgages on the property: one held by the Royal Bank for $249,318; one by the Cambrian Credit Union for $1,000,000; and one by something called Community Futures North Red Inc. for $150,000. In addition, there are various judgments against various Berent-owned companies, including Bermax Design and Bermax Capital, amounting to over $120,000.
There are other claims pending against both Berent-owned companies and Alexander and Oxana Berent personally.
There is also a personal judgment against Maxim Berent from the Royal Bank for $44,000.)
On September 24 of this year the Royal Bank began foreclosing proceedings on the property off Highway 8.
Lazar’s email continues: “They had no community support in Winnipeg, but were offered support by the Chabad movement in Los Angeles. They advised the court of their intention to relocate to California, and were told that they were free to go so long as they maintained contact with their defence lawyers and returned for their trial. They relocated to California in January 2020.
“The subsequent arrival of the COVID pandemic raised difficult procedural issues in the case. Manitoba currently requires people arriving from the United States and elsewhere outside of Western Canada to quarantine for two weeks upon their arrival in Manitoba. This means that the Berents would have to return to Manitoba at least two weeks before the scheduled trial dates and quarantine here for two weeks. They had nowhere to do that, and do not have the means to quarantine in a hotel for two weeks.”
Presumably the Berents entered the United States on what is known as a B2 Visitor Visa, which is normally good only for six months. The Berents entered the United States in January, which means their visa would normally have expired either in June or July. Under certain circumstances visitors can request a further six-month extension of that visa.
Toward the end of his email Lazar also says the following: “The intent here (and this was expressed on the record by the crown attorney and confirmed by the defence lawyers) was that the Berents could return to Winnipeg and report to the police once COVID has receded and the quarantine requirements were removed. They would be released on a new bail and new trial dates would be scheduled. This was a creative and cooperative effort between crown and defence to deal with one of the unique challenges raised by the pandemic situation.”
While we have no way of knowing what is in the minds of the Berents, the option of returning to Israel (where they lived before moving to Canada in 2006) is open to them. While Israel does not necessarily extend the “right of return” to a Jew with a criminal record, (Article 2(b) of the Law of Return asserts that an entry visa will not be granted to a Jewish person if they have a criminal record that suggests they may pose a risk to public safety), none of the Berents have been convicted of a criminal offence.
The following information is taken from an article I wrote about the Berent family in 2013: “Originally from Ukraine, where Maxim’s father, Alex, worked in the design and production of custom-made furniture and cabinets with Maxim’s grandfather and his mother, Oxana, worked first as an engineer – later joining the Berent family business, the family moved to Israel 22 years ago. Of all places to live the Berents ended up in Metulah, Israel’s northern-most location, where they began selling furniture produced for them at nearby Kibbutz Hagoshrim. The family opened a furniture store in Kiryat Shmonah…”
“When the Berent family moved to Manitoba eight years ago (in 2006), settling in the St. Andrews area, it wasn’t long before word of their ‘old world’ craftsmanship spread, and the orders began pouring in. As a matter of fact, Oxana Berent has been nominated for the 2013 ‘Woman Entrepeneur of the Year’ award for her work in developing Bermax into a design and manufacture company of great repute.”
Thus, it would not be difficult to conceive of the Berents re-establishing themselves in Israel – if they should so choose. (Presumably, they could also return to Ukraine if they still hold Ukrainian citizenship.) While Israel does have an extradition treaty with Canada, it hardly seems likely that the Crown in Manitoba would go to the trouble of initiating extradition proceedings with Israel over a charge of public mischief any more than the Crown is likely to do that with American authorities.
Also, given the fact that they have been given help by the Chabad movement in Los Angeles, it is not difficult to conceive of the Chabad movement (or perhaps some other Jewish movement) helping the Berents to move back to Israel – once the COVID epidemic subsides.
Of course, this is all mere speculation on our part. As Michael Lazar makes clear in his email, the Berents say they are quite willing to return to Winnipeg to face trial “once COVID has receded”.
Local News
Jewish Child and Family Service helped over 1800 families in 2025
By BERNIE BELLAN Jewish Child and Family Service will be entering the 75th year of its existence in 2027.
With a budget over $4,300,000, JCFS is also the largest beneficiary of funding from the Jewish Federation of the 12 Winnipeg Jewish community agencies that are beneficiaries of the Federation. (To see a list of the 12 agencies go to Funding for Beneficiary Agencies.)
Its impact has grown over the years as JCFS has expanded its horizon, continually adding to the many services it provides. During the JCFS’s Annual General Meeting, held in the Seniors’ Lounge of the Asper Campus on Tuesday evening, June 23, the important role that JCFS plays in the lives of so many members of the Jewish community – also a significant number of non-Jews as well, various speakers cited the many ways in which JCFS has continued to have such a huge impact.
With total revenues of $4,325,160 in fiscal year 2025 (which ended March 31, 2026), but slightly fewer expenses, JCFS not only delivered a wide gamut of services, it managed to deliver those services without incurring a deficit in 2025, despite some significant financial challenges.
As outgoing Board Chair Elana Grinshteyn observed, JCFS had to navigate some major reductions in funding, including a cut in funding from the federal government to the tune of $100,000, plus the loss of funding from the Claims Conference, which had provided support for Holocaust survivors.
Yet, despite those setbacks in funding, Grinshtein reported, “Together, we insured that services remained intact.
“We increased access to interest free loans,” she noted, “doubling” the amount that had been allocated in 2024.
And, amidst the ever-increasing demand for services, “JCFS has continued to navigate space limitations,” Grinshteyn noted. (I should note that as far back as 2019 I reported in an interview I had conducted with JCFS CEO Al Benarroch about the JCFS’s dire need for more space. Here is an excerpt from what Benarroch had to say about the JCFS’s need for more room back in 2019: “…we’ve been looking for roughly 3,000 more square feet of space. We have a footprint right now of roughly 5,000 square feet for over 40 staff. We’ve given up a board room here. It’s been taken over by older adult service staff. We have a conference room which is adjacent to the board room; we’ve moved two staff in there.
“Yesterday I gave up my office for the entire morning so that staff could interview clients.
“We need to relieve the pressure we’re facing right now – yet alone plan for expanding and growing.
“Whatever space we’d be looking at would be temporary. It’s now 22 years that we’ve been in this facility. The campus has taken over squash courts, it’s taken over a museum – internally, to accommodate the growth in services. Maybe it’s time now to look at growing outside this building…”
As the saying goes: “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” (That’s me, trying to impress.)
While I tried to take notes during Al Benarroch’s CEO report, I realized following his remarks that there was so much important information conveyed, also a slew of statistics, that it might be more helpful to reprint a good portion of what he said verbatim, so I asked Al to send me a copy of his remarks. (That’s one of the nice things about writing on a website. There’s an infinite amount of room to print the kind of stuff that nerds like me pretend to read.)
During his CEO’s report, Benarroch enumerated the many challenges JCFS encountered in 2025.
Among those challenges, Benarroch noted, were:
• The rising and high cost of living
• Food insecurity
• Housing issues
• Our aging population demographics
• The complex needs of our newcomer families
• The increasingly complex needs in mental health & youth mental health
Yet, despite all those challenges, Benarroch said, “As always… we rose to meet those head on, and with the support of our community.”
In particular, Benarroch cited the support of the Jewish Federation, which contributed $948,800 to JCFS in 2025. (The largest portion of JCFS funding, by the way came from the Province: over $1,100,000.)
Fundraising also played a significant role in contributing to JCFS revenues, with almost $700,000 raised through that route, including direct donations of over $320,000 and bequests over $40,000.
As Benarroch noted, “Every year, we look forward with hope that it will be a quiet year.
“Well, if that’s the case, we are in the wrong business.
“We happen to be in the reflect, respond and pivot business.
“This is the nature of the human existence.”
Benarroch went on to add some more statistics about how JCFS played such a pivotal role in the lives of so many people. In 2025 JCFS:
• Served 1,800 client households – impacting almost 5,000 people.
• Assisted 15 foster children.
• Served 70 families in Child Welfare….
“But what is even more important is that we assisted 90 children that remained at home with their families,” Benarroch said.
The year 2025 also saw the inauguration of what is known as the “Asper Empowerment Program”, through which:
• 311 clients were assisted (including Passover Assistance)
• $80,000 was disbursed in financial assistance
• Over $20,000 was given out in interest-free loans.
• 6,500 kg of food were disbursed
In the area of mental health and counselling services, Benarroch noted that JCFS:
• Supported over 50 adults with mental health challenges
• Our Friday Mental Health Wellness Group participants took part in 22 group activities or outings
• We support some 20 individuals and families impacted by addictions through individual and group services.
• We delivered almost 1,100 counselling sessions, over half of which were subsidized on our sliding scale.
• We continued to support individuals, families, and partner Jewish organizations with the ongoing emotional impacts of the war in Israel and high levels of global antisemitism.
In the area of support for older adults, JCFS served over 250 seniors including:
• 70 newcomer seniors
• 50 seniors living with mental health differences
• 65 Holocaust Survivors (including celebrating “25 years of our Holocaust Survivor Drop-in Group, a partnership with the Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre.”)
In the area of settlement services, JCFS:
• Welcomed almost 80 new families
• Almost 50 families from Israel, seeking reprieve from the ongoing stresses and pressures of the war.
Benarroch noted that “These families are dealing with the deep trauma of displacement, having lived under constant stress, fear and the ensuing post-traumatic impact, family and parenting challenges as a result, emotional exhaustion, financial strain, and more.
“Thanks to the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, we hired a trained specialized support worker, with a background in therapy, to help these families cope, adjust, and receive much needed emotional supports.”
Benarroch went on to describe many more initiatives in which JCFS was engaged in 2025, but I want to return to the retirement of Elena Grinshteyn from the Board of JCFS after nine years serving on the Board, including the last two as Chair. Grinshteyn will be succeed by Bradley Abells, who has been on the Board since 2021. In his remarks, Abells noted that he is an actuary at Canada Life and that he first joined the Board when his particular expertise as an actuary proved extremely helpful in helping to solve a problem that had arisen, and he found the experience so rewarding he decided to remain on the Board ever since .
Also on the Board is Michael Schacter, who is returning as Treasurer and who looks the way you’d expect a finance guy to look.
Local News
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Local News
Jewish Foundation’s asset base surpasses $200 million for first time
By BERNIE BELLAN The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba continues to show stellar growth – having achieved total assets over $200 million in the 2025 fiscal year (a 7.4% increase from the 2024 fiscal year), also having distributed $8.2 million in grants during the year.
Those were among the highlights reported at the JFM’s Annual General Meeting, held Wednesday evening July 18, in the multipurpose room of the Asper Campus.
JFM CEO John Diamond noted that one of the most successful aspects of the year just past was the launch of what is known as “Fund Match II” which, he explained, is “building on the success of the original FundMatch project introduced in 2012.”
Under the terms of the new Fund Match program 18 initial organizations that created endowments with a combined value of $689,388 at the JFM benefitted from matching funds of $178,000 that were added to those endowments, with an additional four other organizations having joined in the program during the course of the year.
Other highlights (which can all be perused in the JFM’s annual report, available simply by going to the JFM website) include the JFM having “awarded 72 scholarships and academic awards totalling $230,759.”
JFM Board treasurer Bruce Caplan also spoke of some other notable achievements of the JFM in 2025, including a 12.64% return on investments and $4.27 million in new contributions.
The AGM also saw a number of changes to the composition of the board. Most notable among them is the retirement of Dan Blankstein as Board Chair – after having served two two-year terms, to be succeeded by Dafna Shore.
Also, the current longest-serving member of the board, Bonnie Cham, is retiring from the board after having served on it for 13 years, including three terms as Chair.
One other significant retirement announced at the AGM was that of Chief Financial Officer Ian Barnes – who will be retiring in December after 26 years as CFO During his remarks to the audience Barnes noted that “When I arrived at the Foundation, the assets were $29 million.” As noted, that figure has now grown to $200 million.
He also noted that “Since the Foundation was established in 1964, total grants and
distributions are $113.6 million.”
Barnes paid tribute to the three Chief Executive Officers with whom he worked: David Cohen, Marsha Cowan, and John Diamond. With regard to Marsha Cowan, Barnes said that “Marsha taught me about business – and how to dress!” (Barnes will be succeeded as CFO by Lynda Joyal.)
One of the annual customs of the JFM AGM is to thank the JFM staff – and to announce how many years each staff member has served at the JFM. While there are a number of individuals who have been with the JFM for a fairly long time, no one comes close to Patti Boorman, Director of Administration, who has been with the JFM for 37 years.
Among the largest new grants given by the JFM in 2025 were: a grant of $122,000 to the Asper Jewish Community Campus, Gray Academy of Jewish Education and Rady JCC to support the construction of a “new accessible outdoor play structure, ensuring safe, inclusive play for children and families; a grant of $150,000 to the Simkin Centre for the hiring a Volunteer Engagement Specialist – a three-year project to modernize volunteer programs and enhance resident, family, and intergenerational involvement.
Among the leading recipients of distributions from donor-recommend endowment funds – all of which had received grants in the past were:
The Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada $149,618
Rady JCC 154,746
Gray Academy 168,535
Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University 163,488
Jewish Child & Family Service 447,471
Simkin Centre 858,654
Asper Campus 431,099
Combined Jewish Appeal 907,688
Jewish Federation of Winnipeg 531,076
Note: A number of the above organizations also received community impact grants – which are one-time grants given for special purposes.
