Local News
17 cases of Covid now at Simkin Centre
Updated April 2 The past few days have seen a resurgence of Covid at the Simkin Centre, although the current variant affecting residents, Omicron B-1 is milder than the previous Delta and Alpha variants. According to information provided on the Simkin Centre Facebook page, 14 residents on Simkin 2 are currently testing positive for Covid, while three residents on Weinberg 1 are also testing positive.
Previously, seven residents on Weinberg 1 had tested positive but, as of March 28, four have recovered. The outbreak on Simkin 2 was first made public on March 28. At that point only one resident on Simkin 2 tested positive. The fact that the outbreak has now spread to 13 other residents is an indication how virulent the current strain of Covid is.
The April 1 Simkin Centre Facebook post warns that “Designated Caregivers on Simkin 2 are welcome to visit at their own risk. Personal protective equipment will be provided and must be worn during your visit.”
The post goes on to say that “With the rising number of Resident and staff cases we are experiencing significant staffing shortages. We want to thank the Designated Caregivers for their assistance during this challenging time.”
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Poarws Jan. 17 A total of 20 Residents have tested positive for Covid. Of those 20, 15 have recovered. The remainder are in the Covid isolation unit. In addition, two more staff have tested positive, bringing the total number of staff who have tested positive to 31. Twenty-six of the staff have returned to work.
Updated Jan. 13 Three more Residents have now tested positive for Covid. The total number of Residents who are now in the Covid isolation unit is up to 15. One Resident has recovered and has been released from the isolation unit.
Updated Jan. 11 Of the 29 staff who had testd positive for Covid, 26 have now returned to work following the mandated five-day quarantine period. One more Resident has tested positive for Covid. The first Resident to test postive for Covid has been released from the Covid isolation unit.
Updated Jan. 10 On Sunday, Jan. 9 the Simkin Centre reported that a total of 10 Residents have now tested positive for Covid. On Jan. 8 3 Residents had been reported as having tested positive. The total number of Residents who have now tested positive stands at 10. The Centre reports that additional tests for some Residents on Weinberg 3 have been administered.
There are no additional reports of staff having tested positive. Twenty-six staff will have recovered and were expected to return to work today.
Posted Jan. 7
A total of 29 staff mmebers have tested positive for Covid. By Monday we expect 20 staff will have recovered and returned to work.Staffing at the moment has stabilized.
There are no new Resident cases of Covid to report. The one Resident with Covid is stable.
Posted Jan. 4
Some staff who tested postive are now back at work. A total of 24 staff have tested positive, with 8 having completed their isolation period.. So far, still only one Resident has tested positive.
Posted Jan. 3
An additional three staff cases have now been identifed at the Simkin Centre, bringing the total number of staff affected to 16. There are no further Resident cases to report.
The Simkin Centre welcomed back Designated Caregivers today. Only one Designated Caregiver is allowed to visit at a time.
Posted Jan. 2
The Simkin Centre now reports that three more staff have tested positive for Covid, bringing the total number of staff affected to 13.
As well, late in the evening of December 31, the Centre was advised that a Resident from Simkin 2 tested positive for Covid.
According to the Centre, “the Resident has been transferred to our Covid Isolation Unit and is receiving excellent care. Family members of Residents living on the affected unit will be contacted. All visitations, including designated family care givers, have. been suspended until further notice.
Posted Jan. 1:
The Simkin Centre now reports that 10 staff members have tested positive for Covid. According to the Centre, “One staff member did not work during their infectious period.”
There are no Resident cases at this time.
Posted Dec. 31:
The Simkin Centre now reports that a total of seven staff members have tested positive for Covid. As well, the Centre reports that “We have also had visitors adivse us that they have tested positive after being at our Centre.”
The Centre also reports that they “are experiencing staffing shortages in all departments.” As a result the Centre has implemented the following steps:
1. Tub baths and showers will be suspended. Residents will be receiving sponge baths instead.
2. Bed linens will be changed only when wet or soiled.
3. Beds will be clean however not necessarily “made” as per usual expectations.
4. Resident personal clothing may be worn for more than one day at a time unless wet or soiled prior to sending for laundering.
5. Residents may be dressed in hospital gowns to facilitate expedited care delivery.
6. Pandemic meal plans will be iniitiated. This includes the use of disposable clothes, standardized menu items such as pureed soup and dessert for all residents.
7. Housekeeping services have been prioritized for Resident areas and high touch surfaces.
As well, the Simkin Centre issued the following all for help on their Facebook page:
Are you a retired health care aide who is interested in coming back to work at the Simkin Centre to assist with our staffing shortages during our outbreak? If so please reach out to hr@simkincentre.ca as soon as possible. We need your experience!
Posted Dec. 30
On December 26 the Simkin Centre reported that “we were notified of a staff member testing positive for Covid-19 who worked on Simkin 2 night shift on December 22nd…”
Then, on December 29 the Simkin Centre issued another report: “Today we were notified of two more staff testing positive for Covid-19 who worked on Weinberg 3 and Simkin 2. Their cases are linked which means we are now in a Covid-19 Outbreak….
“We have no Resident cases at this time. Residents on affected units will be closely monitored and tested if they develop any symptons. The visting restrictions being implemented tomorrw will remain in place.”
To read the complete list of rules that are now in place at the Simkin Centre go to https://mailchi.mp/simkincentre/volume-1-issue-10713006?fbclid=IwAR2mW0ZZgLlC89EM0V7yuK97OFQXGPjFedGQaEMK7N1jJVtQy6BUJTpBHuA
Local News
Cheryl Hirsch Katz, Jewish Child and Family Service’s longest serving staffer, set to retire at end of the month

By MYRON LOVE “I loved working at Jewish Child and Family Service,” says Cheryl Hirsh Katz, who is due to retire at the end of June. “I have always appreciated the warm and welcoming atmosphere here. I feel that the people working here are my extended family. I am going to miss my colleagues”.
“I have derived great satisfaction over the years to have been able to help many people in our community of all ages through my work at JCFS,” she continues.
After 44 years at the agency, Katz, the longest-serving member of the staff, was given an appreciative send-off at the JCFS’s recent (June 23) Annual General Meeting at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue.
The daughter of Art and Bess Hirsh, Cheryl grew up in Garden City. She attended Peretz School, then Jefferson Junior High and Garden City Collegiate. She joined the staff of JCFS in 1981, shortly after receiving her Bachelor of Social Work degree.
She earned an MSW in 1990.
“I chose to become a social worker,” she recalls, “because I always wanted to be able to help people.”
Katz was originally hired by JCFS to work with newcomers. After a couple of years, she was given responsibility for looking after the needs of older adults.
“I really enjoyed working in older adult services,” she says. “That is where I spent the bulk of my time at JCFS.”
After ten years as a case worker, she was promoted to a supervisory role. Later, she was also given responsibility for mental health and addictions programming and settlement services, while keeping the older adult files under her purview.
“As a supervisor, I wasn’t directly involved with individual clients,” she points out. “I was more involved with programming. Among the programs for seniors we organized were – for example – sessions on elder abuse, digital storytelling and memory loss.”
She notes that one of the trends she has seen over the last 44 years is that people are living longer and living in their homes longer. A lot more of our clients are living well into their 90s,” she observes. “We have had to continually expand our staff and the services we provide in order to accommodate the growing demands of an aging population.”
She also spoke of the mental health needs of seniors and aging Holocaust survivors.
She says that she has mixed feelings about leaving JCFS. “After so many years working full time, I am going to have to create a new routine,” she comments.
She notes that, now that she is retired, she will have more time to spend with her parents – who are in their 90s.
And then, there are the two dogs to look after. “I will have time now to try new activities,” she says. “ I might learn to play mah-jong.”
She speaks about maybe doing some traveling – although her husband, Murray, is still working full time.
(She and Murray have one daughter, Farah.)
“Retirement may also include some volunteering,” she adds.
It is quite likely, she will be continuing her association with JCFS but in a volunteer capacity.
Local News
Gray Academy students shine in provincial, national debating competitions

By MYRON LOVE It has been another good year for Gray Academy’s high school students who participated in provincial and national debating competitions. The best results were recorded by Grade 9 student Noa Mednikov, who finished fourth overall nationally, fourth in interpretive reading, and fifth in persuasive speaking at the junior National Public Speaking Championship in early May in Vancouver.
Last October, in the Junior Provincial British Parliamentary Championship – which was held at St. John’s-Ravenscourt – Noa and her partner, Raya Braunstein, finished third as a team while Raya placed third in individual debating.
Their fellow Grade 9 student Maxim Moscalenkov tied for first in persuasive speaking in Vancouver, while the Gray Academy team of Gabe Tapper and Aaron Koplovich finished fifth. Aaron also finished fifth in his individual debate.
Earlier, in March, Maxim finished fifth in the Provincial Juniors debating competition, which was held at Balmoral Hall He and his debate partner, Nate Shenkarow, finished seventh among the teams entered. Last November, he and partner, Ethan Tenenbein, finished seventh in the Junior Prepared Tournament – just behind the Gray Academy team of Nate Shenkarow and Jack Kay.
At the senior high level in that competition, the team of Jacob Tenenbein and Jonah Novoseller finished fourth and Jacob was recognized as fifth best in an individual capacity. Jonah and Jacob also paired up to win the Asper Cup, which was held at their home school.
Jacob represented Manitoba at the Junior National Speech Championship in Vancouver in May and, last October, he and Grade 12 Gray Academy students Julie Krozkin and Daniel Bokser represented Canada at an international debating tournament in Bermuda.
Gray Academy’s debating program was introduced by Linda Martin in 2003. She also led the debating teams at Balmoral Hall. In 2011, Martin was succeeded by Gray Academy high school English teacher Andrew Kaplan.
“Andrew has done a wonderful job with the debating program” says Martin, who has a debating trophy at Gray Academy named in her honour, as well as a provincial trophy for best individual junior debater. “Over the years, Gray Academy students have done very well in many local, national and international competitions,” she adds.
About three weeks ago, this writer had the opportunity to sit down with Andrew Kaplan and six of the school’s top debaters while they discussed the benefits of learning how to debate. According to Noah Strauss – who competed in the Junior Provincials at Balmoral Hall in March, public speaking leaves him with a feeling of accomplishment.
“It’s a good skill set to have,” he observes. “It builds confidence.”
“A benefit of being able to debate is that you learn how to convince people that you know what you are talking about,” adds Maxim Moscolenkov.
Raya Braunstein notes that being able to debate is a skill that she expects to be helpful in many university courses which she may choose to take.
As Andrew Kaplan notes, the ability to express yourself has a great impact in whatever career you choose to pursue.
He points out that debating is compulsory at Gray Academy for all Grade 7 and 8 students – and students can continue debating as an option in the higher grades
Of course, competitive debating is not for everyone. For those students who opt to take that path, the journey begins with internal school debate competition – with the top debating teams and individuals qualifying for local tournaments and – potentially – beyond.
Andrew Kaplan reports that a small number of high schools in Winnipeg and southern Manitoba have active debating programs – including St. Johns Ravenscourt, St. Paul’s High School, St. Mary’s Academy, Garden City and Maples Collegiates in the Seven Oaks School Division, St. Maurice (a Catholic School), as well as Morden Collegiate and Dasmesh, a Sikh private school.
Kaplan expresses his appreciation to the Asper Foundation and an endowment spearheaded by the Kives Family for providing funding for the Gray Academy debating program – as well as the Andrew Slough Foundation – which was established by his friends in memory of the outstanding former Ravenscourt student debater and lawyer who passed away suddenly two years ago at the still young age of 38.
I am confident that our Jewish community can look forward to the continued success of Gray Academy’s star debaters and to the continual emergence of future stars as the times goes by.
Local News
Antisemitism has crept into grade school in Canada

Antisemitism in Canada has moved beyond protests and politics; it is now entering classrooms and altering how Jewish children see themselves functioning within them.
A a university student I have observed the experience of my younger brother in grade eight as a Jewish student. Over the past few months, his school has been at the center of several deeply troubling incidents that have made him feel unsafe in our parks, community, and even his school. Swastikas were drawn around the community, in parks and ponds. Additionally, an older man, who claims to be a pro-Palestinian influencer, stood outside his predominantly Jewish school wearing a keffiyeh, filming a video which then circulated between students on TikTok.
This same man later showed up to our local Jewish community center in keffiyeh to allegedly watch his son play basketball where my brother and many of his classmates go for their lessons, basketball games, and Jewish events. These moments made him and his peers feel watched and targeted just for being Jewish. Local political representatives condemned the incidents and raised awareness about antisemitism, but the fear among students didn’t go away. The feeling of being targeted for simply existing has been taught to my brother, something my parents had tried their hardest to escape from.
Most recently, my brother was chosen to represent his school at a regional science fair. When one of the judges arrived wearing a keffiyeh, he froze. For many, including my brother after the incidents he has faced, the keffiyeh represents a political message. But even more so for my younger brother, it is tied to the fear and intimidation he had already experienced. He felt nervous, distracted, and unsure of how to act.
This is not about silencing political expression. It is about a child who came to share his ideas and left feeling uncertain and afraid. It is about the atmosphere forming in Canadian schools, where Jewish students are being made to feel targeted and unwelcome.
His school made an effort to address the incidents, but the impact is lasting. Posts on social media, much can be very vague at times about inclusion cannot fully undo the feeling of being singled out. A kind word from a teacher does not erase the fear that builds when threats are left unspoken but deeply felt.
I am writing this as a sister who watched her younger brother lose a moment that should have been filled with confidence and pride. He deserved to feel safe. So do all Jewish students in this country.
Moving forward, schools must take concrete steps to protect all students. Antisemitism cannot only be addressed when it becomes violent or overt. It must also be recognized when it appears as intimidation, symbolic targeting, or political messaging that creates fear among students. Children should never have to question whether they are safe in their own classrooms or community spaces.
Events that are meant to support and celebrate students must remain focused on them. Individuals who feel the need to bring political symbols or messages into school grounds or children’s events should not be welcomed in those spaces. Schools must make it clear that their environments exist to support learning, safety, and inclusion, not to host agendas that can intimidate or isolate students.
Administrators and educators must develop clear guidelines for identifying and responding to antisemitic behavior in all its forms. This includes strengthening security measures, offering ongoing staff training, and engaging directly with Jewish families to understand their concerns. Inclusion is not a one-time statement. It is a responsibility that must be reflected in everyday decisions and actions. No child should ever feel unsafe or unwelcome because of their identity.
The author is a Campus Media Fellow with HonestReporting Canada and Allied Voices for Israel who lives in Toronto.