Local News
Velimir Kon fulfilled goal to teach Aboriginal students
By MYRON LOVE When Velimir Kon decided 20 years ago that he wanted to dedicate his career to teaching Aboriginal students, he recalls how surprised everyone was at the idea.
“People were in shock,” says Kon – who at a time when he was in his early 50s – had walked away from a comfortable position as a lecturer at the University of Guelph to pursue a new career as a high school maths teacher. “But I felt an empathy for the First Nations communities and was confident that I, as a teacher would be able to make a difference.”
The only person (besides his wife, Branka) who supported Kon’s choice of career path, he notes, was a Chabad rabbi in Hamilton who suggested that the teacher would be following a path pre-ordained by God.
Big Trout Lake in northwestern Ontario and Berens River on the southeastern side of Lake Winnipeg, the First Nations communities where Kon taught for a combined 15 years, were two of the more recent stops on a lengthy life journey for Branka and Velimir Kon that began 70-some years ago in Communist postwar Yugoslavia. Velimir grew up in a community called Osijek – with a Jewish community of about 250 – in what is now Croatia. Branka is from Belgrade, the former capital city of Yugoslavia, which is now the capital of Serbia.
Both Velimir and Branka are children of Holocaust survivors whose fathers were leaders in their respective Jewish communities. They met in a Jewish summer camp (Velimir is three years older) and married in 1975.
While their Jewish communities were largely assimilated, Velimir notes that his zaida was a religious Zionist – his father more of a social Zionist. Velimir himself was a Jewish youth leader in his community. “I visited Israel twice in the 1970s and did consider staying there,” he recalls.
Branka describes her family as Jewish Conservative. “We observed all the Jewish holidays,” she says.
Velimir pursued a career in higher education focusing on agriculture – culminating in a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics while Branka became a nurse specializing in neo-natal care.
Although the couple were comfortable in Yugoslavia, Velimir notes that by 1988, he could see that in the new post-Tito era that difficult times were coming. Thus, Velimir and Branka and their young daughters, Deborah and Lea, made the move to Canada.
“Everybody was surprised by our decision,” he recalls. “But, three or four years later, civil war broke out and Yugoslavia was no more.”
The family settled in Guelph, Ontario, where Velimir began his career as a lecturer at the university.
It was while at the university that he first met Michael Eskin, the long time professor in the University of Manitoba department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, who was at Guelph University for a conference. The Kons and the Eskins became close friends. (I actually met Velimir and Branka in early July when Michael invited us to attend his inauguration into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame.)
A second couple who became close friends of the Kons in Winnipeg were Gerry and Sharna Posner. Velimir met The Jewish Post & News columnist – who now lives in Toronto – the first time he attended services at the Shaarey Zedek. (Gerry arranged for Velimir and Branka to buy a house right next door to the Posners.)
Velimir reached another turning point in his life 20 years ago, when, at the age of 51, he decided to quit the university and become a high school teacher. “Because my credentials were not from a Canadian university, I came to realize that I was never going to become a professor or even assistant professor,” he recalls. “ I wanted to do something else where I could get steady work. I liked the idea of working with young people.”
So he enrolled in Education at the University of Ottawa. “I liked the idea of working with First Nations students,” he says. “I felt that I could bring compassion and empathy to my teaching and, in a typically Jewish way, look at old problems with new eyes.”
As noted previously, he began his teaching at Big Trout Lake before moving to the Berens River Reserve (population about 1,000) in 2007. Initially, he taught Grades 8 and 9 mathematics.
“I quickly learned that my students didn’t know basic math,” he recounts. I needed to build up their knowledge one step at a time. I incorporated their own life experiences to help them better understand math.”
He also introduced a chess club to the school. “It was a challenge interesting young people to chess who are mainly used to outdoor activities,” he points out. “In our first session, I explained chess in terms of hunting and the need in both cases to develop a strategy. I had ten students in the club.
“One of the benefits of chess for the students is that those who were suffering with ADHD learned to focus better.”
After a few years teaching at the high school, Kon was appointed adult education coordinator for the community. “Teaching literacy and numeracy are very important skills for people,” he notes.
Kon’s success at Berens River can be measured by the frequency with which he was invited to teach as a guest lecturer in other nearby First Nations communities.
Throughout his tenure at Berens River, he points out, he was also aware of the importance of living and modeling a Jewish life. He kept kosher – with Branka bringing him kosher food from Winnipeg (where she and her daughters were living while Velimir was at Berens River whenever she could get out to the community for Shabbat. She continued working as a nurse in Winnipeg.) Or Velimir would stock up when coming home to visit on Yom Tov when he could or at Pesach.
And Shabbat candles always lit at his Berens River residence. He recalls one time when Branka was visiting and the couple invited some of Velimir’s colleagues for Shabbat supper. On one of those occasions, a colleague revealed that she, too, was Jewish but had never lit Shabbat candles.
Another time, Danny Koulack – best known for his association with Finjan – was in Berens River to lead a two-day workshop. “It was Chanukah and we got snowed in,” Kon recalls. “We organized a Chanukah party and invited all the teachers. We lit the candles and everyone joined in the singing.”
Velimir retired in 2017 – about the same as Branka. In 2020 the couple – along with younger daughter Lea, moved to Victoria where Deborah was living and working. All four Kons recently returned to Winnipeg after Lea was hired by the government.
“In a way,” Velimir notes, “working in First Nations Communities, I saw myself as an unofficial ambassador for Israel and the Jewish People. I found that people respected my beliefs and that there was strong support in the communities for Israel. One individual even apologized to me for the Canadian Government’s refusal to accept the Jewish refugees on the St. Louis in 1938.”
Local News
2026 Winnipeg Limmud to offer a smorgasbord of diverse speakers
By MYRON LOVE There are many facets to the study of Judaism and the Jewish people. The focus may be religious or cultural, historical or Israel-oriented – and Winnipeg’s annual Limmud Festival for Jewish Learning has always striven to cover as many angles as possible.
This year’s Limmud program (now in its 16th year) – scheduled for Sunday, March 15 – is following in that path with a diverse group of presenters.
Limmud’s current co-ordinator, Raya Margulets, reports that all of our community’s rabbis – including Rabbi Yossi Benarroch (who lives most of the year in Israel) – will be among the presenters. Topics to be covered by local experts encompass midrash, Jewish identity, antisemitism, conversion, biblical archaeology, textiles, parenting, art, and more.
But it wouldn’t be Limmud without interesting input from out of town personalities.
Perhaps the most prominent of the guest speakers who are confirmed is Yaron Deckel, an Israeli journalist and broadcaster who is currently the Jewish Agency’s Regional Director for Canada. According to a biography provided by Margulets, Deckel is a highly respected Israeli journalist widely known for his insight into Israeli politics, media, and society. Between 2002 and 2007, Yaron served as Washington Bureau Chief for Israeli Public Television. In that role, he covered U.S.–Israel relations and American politics, also interviewed three U.S. presidents: George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. As well, Deckel produced two acclaimed documentaries: “The Israelis” (about the lives of Israelis in North America), and “Jewish Identity in North America.”
From 2012 to 2017, he served as Editor-in-Chief and CEO of Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio), Israel’s leading national public radio station. He also hosted a prime-time weekly political show.
As a senior political correspondent and commentator for Israeli TV and radio, Yaron has covered the past 14 Israeli election campaigns and maintained close relationships with top political and military leaders in Israel. He conducted the last interview with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin—just 10 minutes before his assassination.
Decker is slated to do two presentations. In the morning, he will be speaking about the crossroads that Israel finds in the Middle East currently and what the challenges and possibilities may be.
In the afternoon, his subject will be “Israel after October 7 and the Iran War “ and what may lie ahead.
Also coming in from Toronto are Atarah Derrick, Achiya Klein, and Yahav Barnea.
Barnea is an Israeli-Canadian educator and community builder based in Toronto, with over a decade of experience working in Jewish and Israeli education, engagement, and community development.
Originally from Kibbutz Shomrat in Israel’s Western Galilee, Barnea’s outlook on life has been shaped by kibbutz values and her involvement in the Hashomer Hatza’ir youth movement.
She currently serves as the North America Regional Program Manager for the World Zionist Organization’s Department of Irgoon and Israelis Abroad, where she leads initiatives that strengthen connection, leadership, and communal life among Israelis living outside of Israel..
Barnea holds a Master of Education in Adult Education and Community Development, with a focus on intentional communities, as well as a Bachelor of Education specializing in Democratic Education, meaningful, values-based communities.
Her presentation will be titeld “A Kibbutz in the City – Intentional Communities and Immigration.”
Atarah Derrick is the executive director of the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind, an organization that is dedicated to improving the quality of life of visually impaired Israelis. The charity, the only internationally accredited guide dog program in Israel, was founded in 1991, and today serves Israel’s 24,000 blind and visually impaired citizens.
Achiya Klein is one of the guide dog centre’s beneficiaries. The Israeli veteran was an officer in the IDF combat engineering corps’ elite ‘Yahalom’ unit. In 2013, while on a sensitive mission to disable a tunnel in Gaza, an improvised explosive device was detonated, severely injuring Achiya and robbing him of his vision.
He has been a guide dog client since 2015.
Klein has not allowed his disability to limit his abilities. He competed for the Israeli national team at the Paralympic rowing championship in the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.
He also earned a Masters Degree in the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy in Counter Terrorism and Homeland Security,at IDC Herzliya.
Klein is married and a father to two boys.
Coming back for a second successive year is Dan Ronis from Saskatoon. A plant breeder and geneticist, Ronis has taken a quite different approach to studying Torah. He has sought out the help of a medium to discern the back stories of Biblical figures.
For readers who may be unsure of who or what a medium is, think Theresa Caputo of television fame. Mediums claim to be able to converse with those who have passed on through a spirit guide. While many may be skeptical, there are also many believers.
Last year Ronis focused on women who played a prominent role in the Torah. This year, he will be discussing the “untold story” of Adam and Eve.
Readers who may be interested in attending Limmud 2026 can go online at limmudwinnipeg.org to register.
Local News
Second annual “Taste of Limmud” a rousing success
By MYRON LOVE “A Taste of Limmud” returned for a second go-round on Thursday, February 19, and I have to commend both Raya Margulets, Winnipeg Limmud’s co-ordinator, as well as the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue’s catering department, for an outstanding culinary experience delivered with flawless efficiency.
“Tonight’s Taste of Limmud showcases our diversity as a community and our unity as we come together to break bread,” observed Rena Secter Elbaze, Shaarey Zedek’s executive director, just prior to leading the guests in hamotzi.
The evening featured a sampling of Jewish staple dishes representing Jewish life in six different regions where Jews had settled over the centuries. The choice of dishes also reflected how diversified our Jewish community has become over the past 25 years.
In her opening remarks, Margulets welcomed her 130 guests. “After last year’s success,” she said many of you asked us to bring it back, and we’re delighted to do so, so welcome again. Today’s celebration is all about sharing stories, connections, and flavours, and it is brought to you in partnership with Congregation Shaarey Zedek and with the support of the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba.
“We would like to take a moment and express our heartfelt gratitude to Congregation Shaarey Zedek for their amazing partnership, to Joel, the Head Chef at Shaarey Zedek, and his fantastic staff for their contributions, and to all the volunteers who made tonight possible,” Margulets said.
“Thank you all for joining us tonight. Savour the flavours, the stories, and the connections as we celebrate the richness of Jewish cuisine and community together.
“Whether you’re returning or attending for the first time,” she continued, “we’re excited to stir up a wonderful evening with old and new friends. Some of you may have realized it already, but the name Taste of Limmud has a double meaning. While, yes, this event is all about taste and sampling Jewish flavours from around the world, it is also a tiny glimpse, in other words, a taste, into our established annual Limmud Festival.”
Limmud, she explained – the Hebrew word for “learning”, is a volunteer-run organization that celebrates Jewish learning, thought, and culture. It’s a conference where participants have a choice of dozens of sessions led by rabbis, scholars, artists, authors, and community members. At Limmud, everyone can be a teacher and a student, in other words, more fitting with tonight’s theme, everyone has something to add to the recipe.
Margulets then introduced the “talented cooks from our very own community who prepared the dishes”: Mazi Frank, who presented a “delicious” Mussakah, a Turkish classic; Adriana Vegh-Levy and Karina Izbizky who brought a “tasty” Pletzalej, a type of bread that the forebears of today’s Argenitnian Jewish community brought with them from Poland; Karen Ackerman, with a special Hard Honey Cake; Naama Samphir, who presented a tasty Yemenite Hawaij soup (and that’s right – Hawaij – not Hawaii; Hawaij is Iraqi); Kseniya Revzin ,sharing a rich Kubbete, a savory pie from the Crimean Karaites; and Ruth Harari, (who wasn’t able to join her sister cooks) who had prepared Mujadara, a flavourful lentil-and-rice dish from Aleppo, Syria.
“We would like to take a moment and express our heartfelt gratitude to Congregation Shaarey Zedek for their amazing partnership, to Joel, the Head Chef at Shaarey Zedek, and his fantastic staff for their contributions, and to all the volunteers who made tonight possible,” Raya Margulets concluded.
“Thank you all for joining us tonight. Savour the flavours, the stories, and the connections as we celebrate the richness of Jewish cuisine and community together.”
The six samplings were dished out – one at a time – in either small paper plates or cups with the paper removed after each tasting.
The first recipe to be presented was pletzalej onion bread. As was the pattern for each tasting, the first food presented was preceded by a brief overview of the history of Argentina’s Jewish community and its connection with its local contributor, followed by a plezelaj bun with a piece of meat inside .
Next up was a taste of Hawaij soup, a Shabbat and Yom Tov staple of Yemen’s former centuries-old Jewish community, most of whom are now in Israel. The soup included piecesof chicken, potatoes, onions, carrots, tomato and several spices. Hawaij is a spice mixture consisting of cumin, black pepper, turmeric and cardamom.
Mussakah comes from Turkey – also a homeland for Jews for hundreds of years. It is a mixture of layered eggplant, beef, savoury tomato sauce and spices and is typically served with rice or a piece of bread.
Mujadara is a product of the ancient Syrian city of Aleppo, one of the world’s oldest cities and formerly home for thousands of years to a once thriving Jewish community. The recipe calls for lentils, basmati rice, onions and spices.
Kubbete is a puff pastry originally from Crimea, where the local Jewish community picked it up from the surrounding Tatar population. The pastry is filled with beef (as was the case that evening) or lamb, onions, potatoes and peppercorn, with paprika added for taste.
The last item on the menu was hard honey cake. “This was my baba’s recipem which she brought with her from Ukraine in the 1920s,” noted Karen Ackerman. “Jews like my baba (Chava Portnoy) have lived in Ukraine for over 1,000 years and they used the local buckwheat honey in their honey cake.
“I am honoured to be able to share this recipe with you,” she said.
All the presenters spoke of how the recipes that had been passed down through the generations connected them with home and family and memories of their babas.
I once had a cousin who, after enjoying a hearty meal, would say: “Good Sample. When do we eat? Well, after the sampling, it really was time for a late supper – the main course – and it was a perfect way to end the evening feasting on pita filled with veggies, falafel balls and humus and French fries with a choice of coffee cake or chocolate cake for dessert.
I ‘m really looking forward to next year’s “Taste of Limmud”.
Local News
New kosher caterer providing traditional Israeli foods for Winnipeg palates
By MYRON LOVE The Israeli community in Winnipeg continues to grow and enrich our community. Among the most recent arrivals are Maxim and Olga Markov – along with their children, who settled here less than two years ago. What the Markovs are contributing to our community is a new kosher catering operation – Bravo Good Food – that specializes in traditional Israeli fare.
The senior Markovs are both originally from Ukraine. They came with their families in the early 1990s when they were young teenagers. For the last several years before moving to Winnipeg, they lived in Afula in north central Israel.
After their arrival in Winnipeg, Olga worked for a time in the Chabad kitchen; Yural still works in the Chabad daycare – while Maxim took a job with an HVAC company.
Maxim’s passion however, and his life’s work has been in food preparation. He points out that he worked in the business for 17 years in Israel. In the early part of his career, he was head chef in a dairy restaurant. He was also a cook in wedding halls preparing food for as many as 1,000 guests.
In more recent years, he worked in a private hospital kitchen where, he notes, he gained experience with dietary menus and healthy food options.
“What we do at Bravo,” he says, “is provide our clientele with the authentic taste of the Middle East. We cook traditional dishes, using only fresh ingredients, with our own original recipes.”
Operating out of the Adas Yeshurun-Herzlia kitchen, Bravo’s menu (which readers can view on its website – bravogoodfood.com) features such well known Israeli items as falafel balls and humus, mini shislek (with chicken) on skewers, beef kebabs on cinnamon sticks, and friend eggplant with tahini.
But there is much more to choose from.
Start with salads.
You can choose from coleslaw, purple cabbage salad, beet salad with pears, celery and parsley, mushroom salad, and green herb salad.
Main course options include beef meatballs and tomato sauce with a trio of fish dishes – salmon, Moroccan fish, and custom fried fish. Also available are a broccoli casserole, pasta, and spaghetti.
Bravo also offers a corporate menu featuring a choice of continental or executive breakfast, full breakfast buffet or a buffet of mini sandwiches – and an events menu.
Maxim adds that Bravo offers vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options.
Olga notes that individual dishes or baking can be ready for the next day. “If it’s a small event like a family dinner, we need at least three days in advance, provided the date is available,” she says. “If it’s a large event – then we need at least a week in advance notice.”
“We are not just providing food,” Maxim says. “We are creating an atmosphere. Our catering makes your event unforgettable through taste, freshness and hospitality.”