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Update from Jewish Federation

Jewish FedFollowing is a message received from Elaine Goldstine, CEO of the Winnipeg Jewish Federation re closures and changes in plans for various community organizations:

Dear Community Members,

The situation relating to COVID-19 is continually changing, with many communications being issued by companies and organizations regarding cancellations, closures and postponements.

 

 

 

 

All Federation events and programs including Yom Ha’atzmaut, PJ Library programs, PJ Our Way programs, Birthright’s May 2020 trip, March of the Living’s April 2020 trip, and Shoah Week (Holocaust Awareness Week) programs scheduled to take place from April 19-26 are cancelled. The annual Kavod Evening, scheduled for May 5, has been postponed until Thursday, September 10. Our office remains open Monday-Friday from 8:30 am-4:30 pm, however some staff will be working from home. All contact will be by appointment only.

We reached out to all the Winnipeg Jewish community organizations and asked them to provide us with status updates. As not all organizations replied to our request, this list may not be complete.

Asper Foundation
The May 2020 Asper International Program on Israeli Law & Society (Mishpatim) has been cancelled.

Asper Jewish Community Campus
Building hours have been amended to be 7:00 am-6:00 pm Monday through Friday and the building will be closed on weekends. Schmoozer’s will be operating during the week from 8:00 am-3:30 pm Monday-Thursday, and from 8:00 am-2:00 pm on Fridays.

Camp Massad
Camp Massad’s camper reunion booked for March 22 has been postponed.

Congregation Etz Chayim
The physical premises of Congregation Etz Chayim will be closed as of 5:00 pm today for at least the next two weeks, through Tuesday, March 31. This includes the cancellation of Shabbat and daily services as well as Wednesday services at Simkin Centre. Services at Simkin centre will not take place until further notice. Please note that Etz Chayim staff will remain accessible by phone and email on an ongoing basis.

Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Congregation Shaarey Zedek is closed for all services and programs. The reduced operating hours for the building will be 7:30 am-6:30 pm. Rabbis and lay clergy will be on-site for consultation. The general office will be open from 9:00 am-5:00 pm and Fridays to 3:00 pm. The Interfaith Yom Ha’shoah commemoration on April 19 has also been cancelled.

Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre
Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre has cancelled all programming until mid-May. Operating hours will be reduced in order to limit traffic and third-party services. They will be available by phone or email between 9 am-2 pm Monday-Friday. Meals on Wheels and catering are still available.

Gray Academy of Jewish Education
Gray Academy of Jewish Education is closed to students. Teaching and learning will now take place through distance education – “Gray Away”.

Jewish Child and Family Service
JCFS is open from 9:00 am-5:00 pm, Monday to Friday. All workshops and groups are postponed. All contact will be by appointment only. They will not be seeing walk-ins but are still reachable by phone and electronically.

Jewish Foundation of Manitoba
The 2020 Jewish Foundation of Manitoba Luncheon in support of the Women’s Endowment Fund originally scheduled for Thursday, May 7 has been cancelled.

Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada
The JHCWC AGM on April 2 is cancelled. The May 13 Kanee Lecture has been postponed.

Jewish National Fund
The 2020 Negev Gala originally scheduled to take place on May 26 has been postponed to October 27.

Rady JCC
The Rady JCC has closed its fitness facility for the foreseeable future. All memberships and ongoing payments will be frozen at no cost to our members. The facility will remain closed until a time that is deemed safe to reopen their doors. All programs and events have been cancelled until April 30.

The 48th Annual Rady JCC Ken Kronson Sports Dinner originally scheduled to take place Tuesday, May 12 has been cancelled.

Simkin Centre
The Simkin Puzzle Race on Sunday, April 26 and Simkin Brunch on Sunday, May 3 are both cancelled.

Winnipeg Jewish Theatre
WJT’s production of Narrow Bridge from March 26-April 5 has been cancelled.

If there are any events that are not part of this list that you have questions about, please contact the event organizer for an update as it may have been affected based on current circumstances.

Sincerely,

Elaine Goldstine

We also received this message from Becky Chisick, Executive Director of the Gwen Secter Centre:

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many isolated seniors that are not able to leave their homes to purchase food. Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre would like to deliver a healthy meal to as many isolated seniors as possible.
We need your help! If you know of any isolated seniors (those who are living alone and/or have no one to assist them), please sent their contact information, in confidence, to Becky Chisick, Executive Director at becky@gwensecter.com
If you are interested in donating to this specific fund to help isolated seniors receive healthy meals, you can send an etransfer to becky@gwensecter.com (security word: seniors) or call Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre between 9 & 12 Monday to Friday, or donate online at www.gwensecter.com by clicking ”donate now”. Please note “seniors meals” in the message box. All donations over $10 will receive a tax receipt.
Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre is also a drop off location for Winnipeg Harvest. We have moved our bin to the front door. You can drop in the bin without entering the building. If you are in the south end of the city and wish to drop off for Winnipeg Harvest, The Rady JCC is also a drop off location. They have moved their bins to the front entrance. You do not have to pass security to access the bins.
Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre continues to take all necessary precautions, making everyone’s health and safety our number one priority.

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Local News

Shaarey Zedek Sisterhood 60th anniversary interfaith luncheon

Shaarey Zedek Sisterhoodl 60th anniversary co-chairs (l-r); Louise Raber, Marisa Hochman, Amy Karlinsky

By MYRON LOVE On Wednesday, May 28, the Shaarey Zedek Sisterhood hosted its 60th annual interfaith luncheon – with 170 supporters on hand to break bread together, celebrate the Sisterhood’s 95th year in operation – in addition to the luncheon’s diamond anniversary, and enjoy an inspiring presentation by Indigenous business leader and consultant Lisa Lewis, who spoke about the kinship between her people and ours.
The program began with greetings from Lieutenant-Governor Anita Neville and Gail Asper, representing the Shaarey Zedek’s Board of Directors. Asper – the consummate community volunteer – spoke of the importance and benefits of the satisfaction gained from being a volunteer, as well as the important role that the Sisterhood has played in the life of our Jewish community’s oldest and largest congregation – a subject that was subsequently expanded upon by Marisa Hochman – one of the Sisterhood’s three co-presidents (along with Sandy Polanski and Louise Raber).
(Hochman and Raber also co–chaired the luncheon, along with Amy Karlinsky.)
“Our tradition teaches that it is important for us to be part of a community,” Hochman noted in her remarks.  “Our Torah teaches that, while G-d is one, it is not good for man to be alone.”
She emphasized the importance in Judaism of balance and harmony as reflected in our rituals and observances – lighting two Shabbat candles, for example, the Commandments being written on two tablets, and in bringing together the four species of plants for the celebration of Sukkot.
“The mitzvah (of the four species),” Hochmanpointed out, ‘is not complete until all four of the elements are brought together – symbolizing that it takes many kinds of people to make a world – and that each of us brings something special to the table.  It is only when all of us are working together that we are complete.”   
Hochman provided a sampling of some of the ways that the Sisterhood contributes to its members, the synagogue and the wider community: the book club, the tallit-weaving program, monetary donations to the synagogue, support for theological seminaries and other Jewish educational institutions, and Jewish Child and Family Service.
“To me,” she added, “Sisterhood is friendship, community, the power of women working together to create, build and share and the passing on of wisdom and traditions – L’dor V’dor – from generation to generation.
“It is multigenerational, with members ranging in age from 16 into their 90s.  A common thread that binds our members is that no matter their age or life circumstances, they are vibrant and engaged with the world around them.  They love to learn and help others.  They each contain a spark that illuminates.
“Like the glow of the Shabbat candles, we know that, together, we can bring more light and goodness into the world. Together, we definitely shine brighter than we do on our own.”
Following a delicious Shaarey Zedek lunch – salad, party sandwiches and dessert, keynote speaker Lisa Lewis stepped up the microphone.  The speaker is a successful business woman, having started “Beyond Excellence Creative Consulting,” which provides tailor-made training and management assistance to a wide range of organizations.
 

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Local News

Shindico celebrates 50th anniversary

(l-r): Robert, Sandy, Diane Shindleman, Shindico COO Alex Akman & C&T Rentals owner Doug Pinder

(June 11, 2025) Shindico, one of Canada’s leading real estate firms, celebrated its 50th anniversary in typically understated style today. Instead of a lavish banquet in a swank hotel, over 200 Winnipeggers of different stripes gathered in a huge warehouse in St. Boniface to enjoy a variety of different foods served from different food trucks that had been brought onto the parking lot for the occasion in a carnival like atmosphere.

Some of the more than 200 guests & Shindico staff gathered inside a St. Boniface warehouse to celebrate Shindico’s 50th anniversary

There were no long speeches marking the event. Instead Shindico staff mingled with guests and even the top bosses stood in line to order Philly steaks, french fries, cotton candy, popcorn, drinks, and sundry other food items. And, instead of the kind of swag typically given out at fancy celebrations guests were given simple hats saying “Shindico 50th anniversary.”

That’s the Shindico style we’ve come to expect of Shindico’s founders, Sandy & Robert Shindleman, who are known for understatement in their style of clothing – jeans and work shirts being what they are best known for wearing!

And, if you haven’t already read our story about how Sandy Shindleman came to found Shindico with his brother, Robert, you can read it here: The Sandy Shindleman story.

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Local News

Cathy Moser organizing information program and beach party at Camp Massad as part of campaign to raise funds for pioneering Israeli treatment using  psychedelic drugs and psychotherapy to treat PTSD

By MYRON LOVE When it comes to fundraising for worthy causes, Dr. Cathy Moser is one of the most creative and innovative people I know. 
For over a dozen years, she was the annual Cancercare Manitoba Foundation Challenge for Life entrant Serratus Superstars team leader.  Over that time period, Moser and her team raised over $450,000.00 – not only through walking but also through donations from garage sales and bake sales she and her friends organized and concerts organized in their homes.
A few months back, the Jewish Post ran a story about Cathy and her husband Jeff’s newest cause – a campaign to raise money for the Jerusalem Foundation’s new Resilience Centre, a novel treatment center for Israelis suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Aided in fundraising by long time Talmud Torah classmates and friends Donna Weinstein and Gina Chodirker, the Winnipeg couple are pledging to double every dollar donated to the Centre up to $100,000.
As part of that initiative, Moser and her friends are inviting readers to a special event – “Jerusalem at the Lake”  on Sunday, June 22, at Camp Massad. The day’s activities will begin at 11:00 with brunch and presentations by Jerusalem Resilience Center directors Dr. Sinai Oren, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and Pinni Baumol,  a social worker who has been working in the area for decades.  
That will be followed by a family-friendly beach party from 3:00 to 7:00 featuring activities for all ages.  Moser reports that there will be dinner, a live band,  Israeli dancing, sports, a heated pool and arts and crafts for the kids. She adds  that she, Gina Chodirker and Donna Weinstein recruited several other Talmud Torah/JWC alumni – including Miriam Kohn, Avis Raber, Jackie Winestock, Deborah Fleishman and Gail Thau – to help out.
Moser points out that, according to the Jerusalem Foundation, estimates suggest that over half  a million Israelis are suffering from PTSD, as well as other psychological issues, since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and ensuing war. 
“It is not only Israeli soldiers who have been traumatized,” Moser observed in that earlier interview.  “Everybody in Israel knows someone who was affected by the attack on October 7.  This past year has triggered trauma from past wars as well as intergenerational trauma from the Holocaust.”
In response to this tsunami of trauma that has hit Israelis, the Jerusalem Foundation, soon after the October attack, founded the Resilience Centre – operating out of the Shaare Zedek Hospital.  The Resilience Centre utilizes a range of treatments for trauma therapy – including the pioneering use of the drug ketamine, in combination with psychotherapy.
Cathy Moser has been treating patients for the past 40 years. During that time, she says, she has treated victims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse and other horrific life events.  Conventional tools and treatments can successfully treat trauma, but some (traumas) are so barbaric and complex that no matter how skilled a clinician is, “we cannot restore one’s lifeforce,’ ” she points out.
 
Moser initially approached the Jerusalem Resilience Center because of her work in psychedelic medicine.  “Last summer, I visited the Reslience Centre,” she says.  “I witnessed their treatment efficacy.   There are less than a handful of legal psychedelic treatment centers in Israel, and this is a main one.” 
Moser notes that readers who are interested in attending this special event and becoming sponsors can contact her at 204 295-3214, Donna Weinstein – 204 540-9869, or Gina Chodirker – 204 218-4803 or email friendsofJRC@gmail.com.
Registration deadline is June 14.

We owe it to our Israeli brothers and sisters to show them that we care about the mental health sacrifices that they are making to defend our homeland.  While we happily offer donations for forest and building restoration, this gift will help to restore the ability of those that are traumatized to enjoy life again.

“We are hoping to raise at least $250,000.00 for the Jerusalem Resilience Centre,” Moser says.  “That’s a lot of gelt…. but I think we can do it!
It is definitely a worthy cause.”

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