Local News
“The Soundtrack of our Lives”: JHCWC program leaves audience enthralled
Posted July 5 By BERNIE BELLAN (Note: This article first appeared in our June 7 issue but there’s nothing in it that doesn’t bear repeating now.)
Put an audience of aging baby boomers together with three also aging musicians who are experts on Winnipeg’s music scene – and all three great raconteurs besides, along with an MC who is also himself an aging musical aficionado – and what do you get? An afternoon of nostalgia mixed with great humour and the occasional anecdote that defied belief.
Such was the case on a glorious Sunday afternoon, May 28, when, despite the gorgeous weather outside, Temple Shalom was packed with many formerly hirsute men along with an assortment of graying (and a few nicely hair-dyed) women. They were there to attend what was billed as “The Soundtrack of our Lives: Jews in Winnipeg’s Music Industry.”
Although there had been a fair bit of advance billing for the program, including an excellent preview article in the Winnipeg Free Press, even the three experts who had been assembled on stage really had no idea what was going to ensue.
The event was sponsored by the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, which continues to come up with imaginative programming year after year (even if they haven’t yet agreed to follow up on my proposal to do a program on famous Jewish criminals in Manitoba’s history.)
The three expert panelists included, in order: Owen Clark, a musician of great repute (voted “Winnipeg jazz musician of the year” in 2009), also a historian of Winnipeg’s music scene going back to the 1920s; Len Udow, folk singer, cantor, seven-time performer at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and recording artist – with three solo albums of his own; and John Einarson, former musician with a number of different bands and the writer of over 20 books telling the stories of a host of different Winnipeg musicians, including his opus, “Heart of Gold,” which is a comprehensive history of Manitoba musicians, and which is now in its fourth printing.
Keeping the entire affair coherent was MC Kinzey Posen, who was able to inject his own experiences as a band member into the proceedings – going back to a time when as, Jewish Heritage Centre former president Dan Stone noted, Kinzey not only had hair, he had lots of it.
Stone told this story about Kinzey (and, like a lot of the stories told that afternoon, it might have been greatly embellished): It seems that Kinzey (a.k.a. Martin) was kicked out of school for two weeks for having too long hair. His parents, Stone claimed, offered Kinzey a deal: “If you cut your hair, we’ll buy you a bass and amplifier.”
Owen Clark was the first of the panelists to talk about Jewish musicians of the past. He began by showing a 1920s era photo on the screen (next to the stage) of the “Minnedosa Little Symphony Orchestra,” led by Leon Asper and his wife, Cecilia.
Thus began a chronology of Jewish musicians and others associated with the music industry, including Harry Smith, owner of Club Morocco, whose real name, Clark revealed, was Herschel Shmudkin.
Among the musicians mentioned by Clark was Al Sprintz who, as Clark noted, “went to Club Morocco for two weeks and stayed for 22 years.”
Clark also discussed the integration of black musicians into bands that had Jewish musicians over the years, noting that, as members of two groups that suffered from discrimination, there was a kinship that led to the breaking down of barriers for both blacks and Jews.
Len Udow took a somewhat different tack than Clark – also later Einarson, as he focused primarily on his own history of growing up in a supremely musically talented family, including his mother Sarah, his aunt Belva, and uncle David, all of whom were talented opera singers.
Udow recounted his early childhood experiences of being in the Rosh Pina children’s choir and performing at the old YMHA on Hargrave as having been significant in his own development as a performer.
He told one story of having been a member of a group as a teenager known as the “Wayward Four Plus One.” According to Udow, the group was invited to appear on the CKY Amateur Hour one time, where they won the competition by beating out someone by the name of Burton Cummings (who played trumpet that day).
Later, Udow told of his many experiences on the stage of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, paying tribute to two pioneers of that festival, Mitch Podolak and Marvin Terhoch.
Speaking of Mitch Podolak (about whom Kinzey Posen wrote a moving tribute in our October 11, 2017 issue, which you can find on our website), John Einarson began his own remarks about Jews in Winnipeg’s music scene through the years by telling this story: It seems that Einarson and Podolak had never met until one day their paths happened to cross and Podolak told Einarson that he was thinking of starting a music festival for Winnipeg. He asked Einarson what he thought of the idea?
Einarson’s answer, he recounted was: “It’ll never work.”
Growing up in the 1950s, Einarson recalled, opened up a whole new world for him – and countless other youngsters, with the invention of the transistor radio.
“It made a great difference in listening to music,” he explained.
“It broke down barriers…Rock ‘n roll was a great equalizer” among kids in those days.
“I grew up with Jewish musicians,” Einarson continued. “They went on to become doctors and lawyers…The place to go for music was community clubs.”
Einarson took the audience through a Powerpoint presentation that showed pictures of bands from the 1950s, 60s and 70s that were either entirely Jewish or else had a majority of Jewish members.
He also paid tribute to others who played instrumental roles in promoting local talent, such as DJs Doc Steen and Howard Mandshein.
There were other notable figures who were important promoters, Einarson noted, including such individuals as Ivan Berkowits (who hit upon the idea of promoting his Monarch Wear brand of jeans known as TJs through music, with girls wearing TJs appearing at community clubs); Fred Glazerman; Frank Wiener (just recently passed), who opened the Hungry I booking agency; Terry Morris; Jerry Shore (who ran Celebrity Box Office); Roy Levin (of Transcontinental Productions, and who was the first to book the Guess Who here): Sam Katz (of Nite Out Entertainment); and Lorne Saifer (the longtime manager of the Guess Who).
Then, there were the club owners, Einarson told about: Jerry Huck (Jay’s Discotheque); Dick Golfman (The Twilight Zone); Bruce Druxerman (The Fireplace); Phil and Ray Kives (The Zoo, on Osborne); and the Gindin family (St. Vital Hotel).
There were also the record store owners: Murray Posner (Mother’s Records); Norman Stein (Opus 69); and Lilian Lewis (Lilian Lewis Records).
One more name Einarson mentioned was Harry Kreindler, of Banquex Amplifiers.
He told the story how former Manitoba Cabinet Minister Maitland Steinkopf had arranged to bring what was then one of the biggest bands in the world, Led Zeppelin, to play at the old Winnipeg Stadium in 1970 in celebration of Manitoba’s Centennial.
It started to rain, Einarson explained, and the band left the stage. “They had a clause saying they didn’t have to play if it started to rain,” Einarson continued.
But Steinkopf went to the hotel where the band was staying, accompanied by a well-known singer at the time, Diane Hetherington, in an attempt to persuade the band to come back and play inside the Winnipeg Arena.
Steinkopf was told the band wouldn’t do that unless he came up with $25,000US in cash. Somehow, he came back with a suitcase loaded with cash –and the concert did carry on – in the Arena.
Einarson also said that there was a story he had heard – which had never been corroborated, and he asked whether anyone had ever heard the same story: It revolved around well-known restaurateur Oscar Grubert and the Rolling Stones.
Apparently Grubert was the promoter who brought the Rolling Stones to Winnipeg. (Einarson said that Grubert had also tried to bring the Beatles to Winnipeg.) The story he had heard, Einarson said, was that the Rolling Stones stayed at Grubert’s Garden City home. (In later correspondence that I had with Einarson, Kinzey Posen, and Stan Carbone, curator of the Jewish Heritage Centre, when I asked all three of them whether they had heard anything more about that story, Stan Carbone suggested that the Stones had stayed at a hotel owned by Grubert and somehow it got misinterpreted that they had stayed at his home. John Einarson later emailed me to confirm that the Stones had stayed at the Champs Motor Inn on Osborne (which was later bought by the Kives brothers and became the Osborne Motor Inn.)
Too bad, it would have been more fun to think that one of the most famous rock ‘n roll bands in the world actually stayed on Forest Park Drive, no doubt eating only kosher food. (Oscar Grubert was at one time head of the Va’ad Ha’ir in this city.)
Speaking of wild misinterpretations, I interrupted Einarson with my own story, which was about Barbra Streisand. I said that, years ago, I was working for another well-known restaurateur (also nightclub owner), Auby Galpern.
By now, the story of Streisand either being fired by Galpern – or leaving Winnipeg of her own accord, is legendary. (She appeared at the Towers Nightclub in July 1961, when she was only 19, and just starting out in her career).
I said that Auby had told me that he fired Streisand because she was “a dirty hippie” and “sang too loud.” (Later Kinzey Posen told me that she couldn’t have been a “dirty hippie” in 1961; a “dirty beatnik” maybe. Why am I always being corrected?)
A very good website about the history of Winnipeg, known as “Local Dumplings” takes issue with that account of what happened: “Local lore says that Streisand was ‘fired’ by T & C co-owner Auby Galpern and told that she would never make it as a cabaret singer. That has recently been disputed by a couple of former senior T & C staffers who say that she was released early at the request of her agent to return to the U.S. for work.
“In an April 23, 1964 Gene Telpner column, Galpern said of Streisand’”I liked her but I thought she dressed very strangely (she bought her wardrobe at rummage sales to give her an eclectic look).”
In any event, my recalling the famous Barbra Streisand story set off a chain of comments – both from panelists and from audience members, but the wildest stories revolved around Barbra Streisand supposedly being set up on a blind date while she was in Winnipeg. (Later, John Einarson wrote me that would have been impossible because she was only here three nights and would have been performing each evening, so when would she have had time for a date?)
Regardless, the craziest story came from one audience member who said he had heard that Barbra was set up with Ron Braunstein who, at the time, was a very successful curler on his brother Terry’s team. According to what the audience member said, Ron Braunstein told Barbra that, unless she wanted to come to a curling match that night, he couldn’t make it. But this was July! See how tell tales get started! (In subsequent email correspondence with Einarson, Posen, and Carbone, I suggested that I wouldn’t be surprised if the two wild stories – about the Rolling Stones and Barbra Streisand, got so intertwined some day that someone would say they had heard that Barbra Streisand was set up on a blind date with Mick Jagger at Oscar Grubert’s house.)
Speaking of clubs, John Einarson recalled that Winnipeg musicians, after they had finished their gigs in various clubs, used to head over to the Club Morocco after 1 am because it was the only club still serving food.
Someone in the audience brought up the name of another club, The Fourth Dimension (later bought by Mickey Cooperband). Einarson said that many famous musicians had played there, including Stephen Stills, Joni Mitchell, Don McLean, and Neil Young. (Later, after the program was over, someone told me that a musician by the name of Bob Zimmerman (a.k.a. Bob Dylan) used to come to Winnipeg to visit relatives here and stay at Neil Young’s house.)
Len Udow told an amusing story about musician Bernie Senensky. Apparently Udow and Senensky were in a Grade 10 British History class together in high school.
“We were not great students,” Udow remarked. “We didn’t share our intellect with anyone.”
Still, Udow recalled, when he would look over at Senensky, he was busy arranging music rather than paying attention to what was going on in class. “He was so obsessed with music,” Udow said. You could see what lay ahead for Senensky, who went on to a great career as a jazz pianist and composer.
One final – and very astute observation was brought up by someone else in the audience who observed that, while community clubs might have been the venues of choice for rock ‘n roll, church halls were where folk music could be heard. Then, one election year in Manitoba, Gary Doer hit upon the idea of going after the youth vote by promising to lower the drinking age to 18 from 21 – and all of a sudden all those kids congregating in church halls listening to folk music were now able to hit the bars – “and that killed the folk music scene.”
It was truly a great afternoon of memories and anecdotes. I had noticed someone was videoing the program when I walked in, so I emailed Stan Carbone to ask whether a video of the program might be available for people to see. He said he’ll get back to me with further information.
Local News
Jewish Foundation Endowment Book Of Life program Sunday, November 1st
By BERNIE BELLAN The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba first launched its Endowment Book of Life legacy programme in 1998.
This charitable initiative allows donors to promise a future bequest to the foundation in exchange for having their personal history, family experiences, and philanthropic values permanently inscribed in a physical and digital archive.
On Sunday morning, November 1, the Jewish Foundation held its most recent Endowment Book of Life event followed by a brunch at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue. There were five new entries into the Book of Life, from: Brownie Fleishman – in memory of her parents, Beryl and Esther Pierce; Marilyn Goldberg – in memory of her husband, Dr. Norman Goldberg; Melissa Rice – in memory of her husband, Richard Rice; Sharon Wolchock, in memory of her husband, Sid Wolchock; and Anna and Lyle Silverman.
The signers were introduced by Jewish Foundation CEO John Diamond, who, in addressing the signers, said: “Your stories, your generosity, and your commitment to the future of our community will continue to inspire others for generations to come. Thank you for making this meaningful commitment.”
Diamond read excerpts from what the signers had written in the Book of Life or described what had led some of them to be motivated to want to be part of the Book of Life.
From Brownie Fleishman’s inscription about her parents, Beryl and Esther Pierce, Diamond read: “The story of the Pierce family began in Winnipeg in the early 20th century, when Beryl and Esther Pierce came to Canada to establish a new life for themselves and their children.
“Beryl Benjamin Pierce was born in 1883 in Poltova, then part of the Russian Empire, and now Ukraine. He immigrated to Canada in 1912 and settled in Winnipeg, where he became a pioneer in the fur industry. A skilled designer and cutter, he established Pierce Fur Company in the Exchange District. The building that housed that business was later designated a municipal historic building.”
From Marilyn Goldberg’s inscription about her late husband, Norman: “Norman had a deep connection to Judaism and to the Jewish community. He attended synagogue regularly and served on the boards of both the Rosh Pina and the Shaarey Zedek synagogues. He was a leader in the efforts to change the Shaarey Zedek cemetery rules to allow interfaith couples to be buried together. His commitment to Tikun Olam extended to reaching out to the larger world. He helped lead the community’s efforts to settle refugees from Darfur.
“Our children characterized his faith this way: ‘His was a Judaism that was not orthodox in practice, but deeply rooted in Jewish values, tradition, and faith. This led him to good deeds, good words, a good life.’ “
From Melissa Rice’s inscription about her late husband, Richard: “Richard was immensely proud of his Jewish faith and heritage. He celebrated his bar mitzvah, participated in Kadima and AZA, and formed friendships that would last a lifetime.
“His close friend circle included and many who shared countless adventures, misadventures, and laughs over the years. Their friendships endured because Richard understood something important. Relationships require time, loyalty, and commitment.”
John Diamond spoke about Anna and Lyle Silverman’s long commitment to the Jewish community: “Both Anna and Lyle have always been strong philanthropic supporters of the local Jewish community, of Israel, and of Holocaust education.
“A commitment that was reinforced a few years ago after they had participated in an emotionally draining and unforgettable March of the Living trip that took them to the gates of Auschwitz. Their ongoing support of the Jewish community is also inspired by Anna’s memory of the tremendous help that her family received from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society when they landed in Montreal as refugees. Their story goes on to say they have been lucky in love and in business, and now as they continue to enjoy a long, comfortable, and well deserved retirement, they are eager to share their good fortune with others. ‘We have a wonderful life and couldn’t ask for anything more,’ Lyle says, ‘so now it is time to give back.’
“Through hard work, a commitment to education, and a strong connection to their Jewish community, they built a family whose succeeding generations continue to benefit from the opportunities they created.”
Diamond said this about Sharon Wolchock’s inscription about her late husband, Sid: “Sid was Sharon’s biggest supporter. Her volunteer work with the National Council of Jewish Women and the Jewish Federation mattered as much to him as his own legal career, and he backed it fully. He wanted Sharon and their daughters rooted in the Jewish community in whatever way suited each of them. In 1983, on Sid and Sharon’s first trip to Israel, Sid’s lifelong connection with the Jewish state was born.
“Sid’s love of aviation and history and his pride in being a Jew emerged during that trip. He became a passionate supporter of Israel’s soldiers and donated club rooms on two Air Force bases named for his brothers Harvey and Bernie so that the hardworking and often underappreciated technical crews had somewhere pleasant to relax.”
Following the ceremonial signing ceremony, guests in attendance were treated to entertainment by a quartet of talented singers: Julia Kroft, Josh Bellan, Alyssa Crockett, and Vinnie Alberto.
Closing out the day’s programme, current Jewish Foundation Board Chair Dafna Shore paid tribute to this year’s signers – and to the more than 800 signers of the Book of Life who had preceded them:
Shore said: “What makes this program so extraordinary and why it continues to resonate with so many people is the opportunity it gives us to share the stories that shape who we are, stories that might not otherwise have been told.
“Through the Endowment Book of Life, these stories are given a permanent home. Together, they form a living history of Jewish life in Manitoba, one filled with resilience, compassion, humor, and hope. These stories are more than a record of the past. They offer lessons for the future, showing generations to come, what it means to belong, to give, and to take responsibility for the strength of our community. Thank you for adding your voice and your vision.
“To this collection and for making a legacy commitment to the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, your generation helps ensure that the programs, schools, and organizations that sustain Jewish life here will continue to thrive for generations to come.
“One of the great privileges of serving as chair is helping advance the Foundation’s mission, securing our community’s future while supporting its growth today. The Endowment Book of Life embodies that mission beautifully. It reminds us that each of us in our own way has the power to make a lasting difference.
“As we reflect on the importance of leaving a lasting legacy, I’d also like to take a moment to remember two valued members of the Jewish Foundation and Manitoba family who we lost this past year, Sheldon Berney and Lillian Neaman.
“Both served as governors of the Foundation, demonstrating their commitment to our community through their leadership and service. We are grateful for their contributions and the role they played in helping strengthen the foundation. Their memories remind us that a lasting legacy is built through the generosity, dedication, and commitment of those that came before us. May their memories be a blessing.
“As long as members of our community continue to invest in tomorrow, through their generosity, their readership, and their willingness to share their stories, Jewish life in Manitoba will continue to flourish. Thank you all for being part of that story.”
Local News
Application filed by two former members of Etz Chayim Congregation against the congregation to have their memberships restored dismissed by judge
The following is taken from the Canadian Jewish News website: “Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench has dismissed Hadass Eviatar and David Hoult’s application challenging the termination of their membership at Congregation Etz Chayim. In his decision, Justice Vic Toews noted that, although Hoult’s letter describing a hypothetical attack on the synagogue may have lacked sensitivity given the political climate, he did not intend to threaten violence against congregants. However, the judge ruled that the court did not have jurisdiction to intervene in the membership dispute under Manitoba’s Corporations Act, finding that the couple had no financial, proprietary or economic interest that would entitle them to the remedies they sought. The judge concluded that religious organizations are generally free to determine their own membership rules and ordered each side to bear its own legal costs.”
If you would like to read the original article that broke the story about the battle between Hadaass Eviatar and David Hoult with Etz Chayim Congregation you can go to Epic Court Battle.”
Local News
Jewish Federation now says Jewish population of Winnipeg in 2021 (according to the census) was 13,940 – not the 16,000 figure that the Federation had been touting for years
By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted Oct. 27, 2026) Longtime readers of The Jewish Post & News (and this website) would probably know that I have long had a very strong interest in establishing as accurate figures as possible when it has come to reporting the size of Winnipeg’s Jewish community.
For years I argued that our Jewish Federation was exaggerating the size of our Jewish population. I heard the figure of 16,000 bandied about by leaders in our community quite often when it came to reporting the size of our Jewish population – without any empirical evidence to back that figure up.
I had long maintained that the only reasonably accurate figures when it came to reporting the size of Winnipeg’s Jewish population were those produced by the late Evelyn Katz, when she was the unofficial demographer for the Jewish Federation – over 30 years ago. What Evelyn would do is keep careful track of births, deaths, numbers of newcomers but, perhaps most important: the number of people who had left our community.
Thus, in August 2022 when I interviewed Faye Rosenberg Cohen who, at the time, was just about to retire as the Jewish Federation’s Chief Planning and Allocations Officer, I was somewhat astonished to hear Faye say, when I asked her what proportion of our Jewish community was made up of immigrants, she answered that “I can honestly say when I look at those numbers it’s somewhere around 1/3 of the community.”
In response, I asked: “So you’d say it’s somewhere between 4-5,000?”
Faye said: “I think it’s more than that.”
I wrote in that article, “I indicated my skepticism at that time, saying ‘You know that I’ve always been skeptical about the numbers that have been used by the Federation for the population of the Jewish community. I think though that it’s always been more of a case of identification – who identifies as Jewish.’ ”
Later, after the results of the 2021 census were released, I wrote that “if you take into account the results of the 2021 census, the Jewish community cannot be larger than 14,270 at a maximum. But that figure would also include anyone who had either said either their ethnic origin was Jewish or their religion was Jewish.”
Since many of the individuals who had said on the 2021 census that their ethnic origin was Jewish, but their religion was something else, I maintained that ascertaining the real size of our Jewish community was highly problematic.
Still, for the sake of argument I was willing to accept that, realistically, it was somewhere between 13,000-14,000 – but nowhere close to the figure of 16,000 that had come to be suggested by our then president of the Jewish Federation or by other leading figures in our community.
So, it was with a sense of satisfaction that I heard Sharon Graham, who is now the Jewish Federation’s Community Planning and Allocations Lead say to an audience of over 50 people who were at the Gwen Secter Centre on Thursday, October 22, that the Jewish community in 2021 was – at a maximum: 13,940.
Sharon was at the Gwen Secter Centre to speak to Remis Lecture attendees. Her presentation preceded a presentation by Jewish Federation CEO Jeff Lieberman. Sharon used a PowerPoint presentation to provide some very interesting insights into where our Jewish community was at in 2021- and I’m offering some parts of her presentation here for you to read because I thought they were so interesting.
I had actually made many of the same observations about the results of the 2021 census in my own reporting back in 2022, but seeing what I had written confirmed by the Jewish Federation’s point person on planning told me that Sharon has a much more realistic view of our community than did Faye Rosenberg Cohen.
Here, for instance, is a slide that shows the proportion of our Jewish community that is made up of immigrants. It’s slightly under one fifth, not the one third percentage that Faye had suggested.
But, what really set Sharon’s presentation apart from anything else I’ve ever seen presented by someone from the Jewish Federation – other than the aforementioned Evelyn Katz, was the slide she projected which showed that, while there had been a large influx of newcomers to Winnipeg’s Jewish community between 2016-2021 there had also been a significantly high number of people who had left our Jewish community in those same years, as you can see in the following slide:
That is something we just don’t hear discussed by leaders of our Jewish organizations, but let’s be realistic: For many newcomers who came to Winnipeg and were counted as new members of our Jewish community, Winnipeg – for a variety of reasons, was a stepping stone to other communities. It may have been for reasons of better job opportunities, moving closer to other family members, or – the reason that we hear so often when it comes to people saying they want to leave Winnipeg: the weather.
But, whatever the reason, Sharon’s figures show that, as much as GrowWinnipeg may have been an abiding success when it’s come to attracting newcomers to our Jewish community here, getting them to stay long term is a different story.
And, while there were other aspects of Sharon’s presentation that certainly merit discussion, especially the figures she produced about intermarriage, rather than delving into them here, I thought it useful simply to insert them for you, the reader, to see – and draw your own conclusions.
