By MYRON LOVE The Winnipeg Jewish Theatre (WJT) has introduced a new award –  the Chai Legacy Award. The award recognizes individuals for their “artistry, craft and lifetimes commitment to Jewish performing arts in Manitoba” – and the first recipient is none other than Harry Nelken.
A  WJT press release described the new award as “a historic first for the company.” In making Harry Nelken the first recipient of the award, the WJT says it recognizes Nelken’s “artistry, craft, and incredible dedication to Jewish performing arts in Manitoba.  
“To know Harry is to know the ultimate mensch,” the WJT press release continues. “Whether he is lighting up a room with his infectious, ear-to-ear smile while cheering on his fellow cast members, or bringing profound depth to the stage, his generosity of spirit is unmatched.

In response, Nelken, a veteran of more than 45 years gracing Winnipeg’s stages as well as other performing venues across Canada,  says “It was a complete surprise,” to be the first recipient of the award.
The award was presented on Sunday, September 13, during the cast party following the last performance of the WJT’s joint presentation  with Rainbow Stage of “Fiddler on the Roof.”  “Dan (Petrenko – the WJT’s artistic director) and Carson (Nattrass – Rainbow’s artistic director) were talking about the input of the Jewish actors in Fiddler,” Nelken recalls, “and then I heard my name.  I never expected to be singled out for my acting like this.  I know I mumbled something. I checked with (fellow cast member) Debby Maslowsky to make sure I said thank you. She assured me that I did.”

Nelken’s history with the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre goes back to the very beginning of the WJT.  He recalls that he was cast in the WJT’s first production in 1987. Bev Aronovitch was the artistic director (and WJT founder) and the production was “Today, I am a Fountain Pen,” in which Harry played the role of the bar mitzvah’ boy’s father.   

Over the years, he reports, he has appeared in 16 WJT productions.  This most recent production of “Fiddler” was also the third time that he has appeared in a Rainbow Stage production of the show. His previous show performances were in 1984 and 1993. It’s also the second time that he has portrayed the rabbi.  (He was cast as Lazar Wolf in the ’93 production.)   
Nelken reports that he took the initiative to contact Carson Nattrass about the role of the rabbi after he learned about the planned joint production.
“I threw my shtreimel into the ring,” he jokes.

Every role, he notes, is a new learning experience for him. He prepared for the part this time by researching what life was like for a rabbi in a small eastern European shtetl.
“I realized that Jewish life has always been about resilience,” he points out.  At the end of the play, after the Jews have been banished from Anatevka, when the rabbi’s son asks his father about how the Messiach will know where to find them, the rabbi replies that they will simply have to wait for him somewhere else.
“There is a great lesson to be learned here,” Nelken continues.  “We don’t know what the future will bring.  The question is do we put our faith in God or in man?”

Resilience is a primary feature of Harry Nelken’s career.   He recounts a story about Abe Vigoda (“Fish” to some of us older readers who, when asked by Johnny Carson how he felt about becoming an overnight star,  Vigoda’s response was that “I’m an overnight star but overnight was 25 years long.”)
In a much earlier interview I did with Harry for the Post, he recalled how his first acting gigs were in high school theatre. At the University of Ottawa, while studying criminology, he auditioned for and got a role in a play. From 1972 to 1979, he immersed himself in local amateur theatre.
He noted that even the busiest of working local actors – of which he has been one – barely scrape by and need a second source of income.  For over 40 years, he supplemented his income by driving a cab.
”Particularly in my early years, when acting roles were sparse, driving a cab was my lifeline,” he recalls. “On occasion, even when doing a play at MTC,  after the show, I would  report for taxi duty for a night shift.”
In recent years roles have been fewer. In the last four years, he has been in five locally-shot film projects: two Hallmark films – “ Hanukah on Rye” and “ Haunted Wedding”; the feature film,”Normal, ”starringf Bob Odenkirk and Henry Winkler; (available on Amazon Prime); and  the mini series “American Hostage,”,starring Jon Hamm and Giovanni Ribisi (available on Crave).
Nelken’s current film project is called “Pikohowin.” It’s the true story of how in 1990, Saskatoon police officers were revealed to be driving inebriated Indigenous people in winter out of the city and depositing them on the highway.  Harry has the role of  judge Shiebel.
“I’m 79 now,” Nelken says.  “I am no longer willing to go out of town for stage or film work unless it is for a really undeniable role.  I am happy to be doing more film work.  I feel energized by the work.  I am still regularly auditioning for film roles,
“Most of all, I appreciate that I can look back on a fulfilling career doing what I wanted to do more than anything else.”

By BERNIE BELLAN If you had been following the coverage that the Winnipeg Free Press has given to several major American-originated film and TV productions that have been shot in and around Winnipeg in recent years, you would know by now that Winnipeg has become a popular destination for production companies looking for a particular vibe – especially the kind of look the Exchange District can impart for period pieces.
And, while stars such as Bob Odenkirk (perhaps best known for his star role in “Better Call Saul”) sang the praises of Winnipeg to such a degree that he decided to shoot not just one, but three feature films here, Odenkirk’s praise for Winnipeg certainly reverberated among other Hollywood A-listers. Odenkirk’s first film shot here, called “Nobody,” was followed by a sequel, “Nobody 2”, a good part of which was filmed in Winnipeg Beach – which would have made many of the locations of the film’s scenes very familiar to members of our Jewish community. (Odenkirk also made a third movie in Winnipeg, called “Normal,” which co-starred Henry Winkler.)

But perhaps no production in recent times has received more attention than the eight-part TV series, “American Hostage,” starring Jon Hamm – who vaulted to fame in the TV series “Mad Men” and has gone on to achieve major stardom on both TV and in the movies.
Here’s a brief synopsis of what “American Hostage” is all about:
“Based on the acclaimed first season of the scripted podcast of the same name, American Hostage is a psychological thriller set in the 1970s inspired by the harrowing true story of Fred Heckman, a beloved Indianapolis radio reporter who is thrust into the middle of a life-or-death crisis when hostage-taker Tony Kiritsis demands to be interviewed on his popular radio news program.”

While Hamm was in Winnipeg between last November and February of this year, he made quite a name for himself as someone who was quite eager to explore our city, despite the cold weather he and the rest of the crew encountered. (One time he and two other actors in the series actually drove to Stonewall to take in that town’s recently reopened movie theatre.)
In addition to Hamm, “American Hostage” features many other well-known actors, although I have to admit that, since I don’t watch a lot of television, I have to take the word of other writers, especially writers for the Free Press, whose stories about “American Hostage” I read prior to writing this article, in order to give myself a better understanding of how this particular series came about and just who in it is considered well-known in the film and TV business.
Since what really made “American Hostage” so popular within our own actors’ community was its use of so many Winnipeggers as extras during its filming, I though I’d focus on several members of the Jewish community who have roles in the series.

Chief among them is Harry Nelken, who has had a prolific career in Winnipeg’s theatre scene, especially as a star in many Winnipeg Jewish Theatre productions. In “American Hostage,” Nelken provides some comic relief to the often heavy tone imbued by the hostage crisis. Nelken plays an over-the-hill sports reporter by the name of Franco (although I don’t recall hearing his name actually called out in the first three episodes I’ve been able to watch as of the time of writing.)

Another local performer, Susanna Portnoy, also has a comic turn as a nosy neighbour named Pearl in Episode 2 of the series.
In addition, in Episode 6 we can expect to see Kevin McIntryre (Cantor at Congregation Etz Chayim) play a role, also his wife Henriette Ivanans.
While there are a number of other individuals listed in the credits who are Jewish, the most prominent among them is Adam Arkin, who not only directed the first four episodes of the series, he plays the role of a lawyer by the name of Ruckelshaus, who serves as the lawyer for the hostage taker, Tony Kiritsis.
The show is being rolled out on a weekly basis on Crave TV. If you have a Crave TV account you have to login on your computer to see all episodes of the show that have been aired to date (four as of this writing).
Or – if you don’t have a Crave TV account, but have USA TV (Channels 104 or 1104 on Bell MTS TV or Channel 425 on Shaw T) as one of the channels in your TV package, you can watch episodes every Friday evening at 10:00 pm – and set your TV box to record all other episodes of the series. However, USA TV will be showing Episode 3 on October 9. If you want to catch the first two episodes of the series, you’ll have to watch them through your computer.

By BERNIE BELLAN I guess that my reputation as someone who is willing to go behind the scenes to try and find out what’s really happening within the Jewish community has led, in many cases, to people – or entire organizations, clamming up when it comes to being willing to talk to me.
You might have read my story about the incident at the Asper Campus, during which one individual, Marty Green, was arrested by members of the Winnipeg Police Service, apparently for “disturbing the peace.”
Despite repeated attempts to elicit an explanation from the WPS how exactly Marty was disturbing the peace, no one in WPS has responded to my requests for information.
Let’s face it: the WPS is in the uncomfortable position of having to be seen as “doing something” about the nervousness that many members of our Jewish community feel about the dangers that come with doing things that we used to take for granted we could do in peace and security, such as attending synagogue, sending kids to Gray Academy, or going into the Asper Campus.
So, when one lone individual seems to be behaving in an odd manner – walking around in front of the campus, holding out leaflets – well, it alarms many individuals. One can assume many of those individuals complained to our Jewish Federation, perhaps to B’nai Brith as well. (I did see Ruth Ashrafi, Regional Director for B’nai Brith Manitoba, talking to two policemen around the time that Marty was arrested.)
But – it’s now part of a pattern of Jewish organizations – and leading individuals within our community – joining the trend to suppress freedom of speech.

In my particular case, I often send emails to individuals asking for comment about a particular issue that has been brought to my attention. Rather than responding with a “no comment” response, lately the trend has been not to issue any response at all.
Further, in two cases within the past month, when speakers have been been made aware that I would be in the audience when they were speaking, I was told beforehand that I was not to report on what they were going to say.
And – here’s a really surprising result when I asked to see a transcript of a particular speaker’s remarks, when that speaker had appeared at an event held in the Berney Theatre on September 2. His name was Jeffrey Herf. His talk was publicly advertised by the Rady JCC as “The History Behind Today’s Headlines – A timely conversation about Israel, history, and the events shaping our world.”
I didn’t attend Herf’s talk, but I was told by someone who did attend that he was quite interesting and he wondered why no one from the Jewish Post had been there to cover the talk. That same person said that the was pretty sure the talk had been recorded.
So, I contacted Laura Marjovsky, Director of Programming at the Rady JCC, on September 15, to ask whether there had been a recording of Herf’s talk and, if there was one, could I get a copy?
Laura responded (on Sept. 16): “I’ll have to get back to you on the recording. I’ll need approval in getting that released.”
I bumped into Laura more recently and asked her whether there’s been any movement on that request, but she said she hadn’t heard anything yet. That’s almost two weeks now, so it doesn’t seem likely that she’s going to get permission to release a recording of Herf’s talk to me.
What’s particularly strange is that you can do a search for Jeffrey Herf and find all sorts of instances where he’s been interviewed and his talks have been covered by various media. Maybe he was worried that if I wrote a report about his talk I wouldn’t be fair or accurate in reporting what he had to say, but I hadn’t told Laura that I wanted to write about Herf’s talk. I just wanted to know whether I could get a recording of his talk. In many instances I’ve transcribed speeches – or interviews, and printed them verbatim.
But, in this case, it appears Jeffrey Herf doesn’t want anything written about his talk here. I wonder why that is?

Then, there were two further instances of speakers asking that their remarks go unreported. Both instances occurred at the Gwen Secter Centre – at Remis Speakers’ luncheons. (By the way, the luncheons have seen record attendances this year. Kudos to Simone Cohen Scott for bringing in such an interesting range of speakers. If you’ve never been to a Remis luncheon but might be interested in having a great – and kosher lunch, followed by hearing an interesting speaker – all the while being able to socialize with friends, you really ought to give it a try.)
The first instance was when Prof. Bryan Schwartz, who is now a rabbi as well as a lawyer and professor, gave a talk about Torah commentaries. Why Bryan didn’t want anything written about something as innocuous as Torah commentaries is beyond me, but that was his prerogative.

The second instance was more frustrating for me. It was when Anita Wortzman, president of the Asper Foundation, was speaking about the Asper Foundation’s philanthropic endeavours. Again, Anita had also asked that there be no reporting of her remarks.
Yet, I found what she had to say quite interesting – and she delivered her remarks so clearly in such an organized manner that I was prompted to ask Anita for an interview, during which, I suggested, she could describe the Asper Foundation’s work. I emailed Anita asking her whether she would be willing to sit for an interview but, rather than responding with a rejection, I received no response at all. So, I emailed her again. Still no response.

And then there’s an interesting situation that had been brought to my attention about a policy of Congregation Etz Chayim’s of which I was not aware.
The policy involves who would be entitled to officiate at a funeral held at one of the three cemeteries managed by CEC: The Rosh Pina, Bnay Abraham, and Hebrew Sick cemeteries.
In June 2025 Rabbi Kliel Rose emailed various rabbis and several other individuals about Etz Chayim’s policy re outside clergy being able to officiate at funerals in any of those cemeteries. The email was titled “Update on CEC Clergy Funeral Policy & New Pre-Approval Process July 25, 2025.”
The wording in the email was somewhat confusing at times. For instance, one line says “All services conducted in the CEC synagogue require the participation of CEC clergy (Rabbi and/or Cantor).” Wouldn’t it stand to reason that services in CEC would require the participation of a member of CEC clergy, I wondered?
Further, it stated that “Requests for outside clergy must be approved by the CEC rabbi.”
But CEC is now without a rabbi, as Rabbi Kliel has left Winnipeg for Ottawa. Who will be able to grant requests for outside clergy in the interim?

Apparently though, what the policy was meant to refer to wasn’t services in the CEC synagogue, it was meant to refer to funerals in CEC administered cemeteries.
As a result, I sent emails to the CEC funeral director, Margot Carr, and CEC Chief Operating Officer Morissa Granove, in which I asked them to clarify CEC’s policy on funerals and outside rabbis being able to officiate at CEC administered cemeteries.
I noted in my email that outside rabbis had previously been allowed to officiate – on their own, at CEC administered cemeteries.
I also noted that I had spoken with individuals who had told me they had wanted a certain rabbi to officiate at their loved one’s funeral, but were told that they had to use one of CEC’s clergy. In certain instances, however, I was also told that when some families absolutely insisted on using an outside rabbi, CEC did relent and allowed them to use an outside rabbi. Thus, one might say CEC’s policy of not allowing outside rabbis to officiate on their own at one of their cemeteries is “honoured more in the breach than the observance,” if a family were to absolutely insist that an outside rabbi be allowed to conduct a funeral at one of CEC’s cemeteries.
The vast majority of funerals in a Jewish cemetery in Winnipeg are conducted at the Shaarey Zedek Cemetery, however, and the Shaarey Zedek has always allowed outside rabbis to officiate at funerals in its cemetery.
CEC’s policy, moreover, was intended to target one particular rabbi in Winnipeg, I further learned. That rabbi received a separate email from Rabbi Kliel informing him that he would no longer be able to officiate, under any circumstances, at a CEC administered cemetery.
As Rabbi Kliel noted in his email, “While we understand some may request your officiation, this will no longer be possible.”
In my emails to Margot Carr and Morissa Granove I suggested that barring a specific rabbi from being able to officiate at funerals in any of their cemeteries would likely prove very painful to many families who would want a particular rabbi to officiate at their loved one’s funeral.
To date I have not received any response to my emails to either Carr or Granove.
So, there you have it: A pattern either of emails going unanswered by the parties to whom they were sent or of being told that I would not be able to report on remarks on particular occasions.
At the very least, one would expect a simple “no comment” in response, but we’re now living in an age when requests from media for information or comment are simply ignored all too often. I guess I have to get used to that.