Local News
Who was Saul Feldman and why did he leave $2.6 million to the Jewish Foundation?
By BERNIE BELLAN Each year that the Jewish Foundation releases its Annual Report, I scan the report looking for unusual items. During the course of my scanning the Foundation’s 2023 Annual Report – as I was looking for names of new funds, one name jumped off the page for me: Saul Feldman – whose estate gave $2.6 million to the Foundation in 2023.
Who was Saul Feldman, I wondered – and why hadn’t the Foundation made any sort of an announcement that it had received such a huge gift in 2023?
I contacted Drew Unger, Director of Marketing & Communications for the Foundation to ask whether he could shed any light as to who Saul Feldman was – and why had the Foundation not publicized such a huge gift?
Drew replied: “It is a fantastic gift that is going to benefit the community greatly!
“As you know, we are very cognizant of donors’ wishes regarding the recognition and publicity of their gifts, and that is the process we are currently engaged in.
“We hope to feature the gift in the future, but we are still doing our own due diligence on Mr. Feldman.”
In a subsequent conversation that I had with Drew, he explained that the Foundation actually knew very little about Mr. Feldman. I asked whether he would mind if I did my own digging, as a gift of this size – coming totally out of the blue – reminded me of several similar gifts that had been made in the past to Winnipeg Jewish organizations. In 2020, for instance, I had reported on a gift of $725,000 made to the Simkin Centre by the estate of Myer and Corrine Geller – who had lived in San Diego. After a fair bit of investigation I discovered that Myer Geller must have had a mother who lived in what was then the Sharon Home for a time. (You can read that story at https://jewishpostandnews.ca/faqs/rokmicronews-fp-1/mystery-of-why-725-000-donation-to-the-simkin-centre-was-made-is-likely-solved/)
In 2015 the Gwen Secter Centre itself was saved from having its building sold by the then-owner, the National Council of Jewish Women, when an anonymous “angel” stepped forward with a gift of over $900,000. I was able to find out the name of that donor, but as that person had wished to remain anonymous, I never reported their name.
But the case of Mr. Feldman is quite different. Here we have an individual allocating a huge amount of money to the Jewish Foundation, but without any apparent reason why he decided to do that.
I was able to find his name in an old Henderson’s Directory, which I’ve held on to for years. Mr. Feldman lived at 400 Enniskillen Avenue. There were two others living there in 1993, along with Saul Feldman: His mother Rae and his brother Jack.
I also found a reference to Mr. Feldman in a 1946 Jewish Post, where it was noted that he had graduated as an electrical engineer from the University of Manitoba that year.
A search of the Jewish Heritage Centre archives showed that Mr. Feldman died in March 2023.
Through a search of the Manitoba online court registry I was able to find that Mr. Feldman’s estate had been probated in April 2023 and the name of the lawyer who had handled the estate was given. It was a name well know to me, so I contacted Mr. Feldman’s lawyer and asked him whether he could give me the name of Mr. Feldman’s executor? The lawyer said he would get back to me, but rather than wait for his answer, I decided to head down to the Law Courts to ask to see Mr. Feldman’s will. (As a matter of interest, anyone is allowed to see anyone’s will, but you have to attend in person at the Law Courts to see a will.)
I discovered, upon reading Mr. Feldman’s will, that I knew his executor, and I was able to find a phone number for him in an old 2010 phone book I’ve kept. (I was surprised the number was still active and the voice message indicated that the person I was trying to reach still used that number.) I left a message, saying I was trying to find out anything I could about Saul Feldman – and perhaps what had prompted him to leave his entire considerable estate to the Jewish Foundation?
Mr. Feldman’s executor was good enough to call me back the next day and he told me quite a bit about Mr. Feldman.
Apparently Mr. Feldman had worked for Winnipeg Hydro for years. He was “very intelligent,” I was further told and, at his funeral (which is available to watch on Youtube), it was noted that he had participated in the building of the Alaska Highway.
Mr. Feldman never married and had lived with his parents and a brother in the Enniskillen home for many years. Mr. Feldman was a very quiet man, I was told, who took care of his elderly parents for years, also his brother, who was very sick.
Mr. Feldman had another brother, who had moved to Toronto, and that brother was designated as Mr. Feldman’s beneficiary, with the provision that were Mr. Feldman’s brother to predecease him, his entire estate was to go to the Jewish Foundation.
As it was, Mr. Feldman’s other brother did pass on – and Saul Feldman lived to be 99. According to his executor, his final years were spent at the Shaftesbury Park Retirement Residence. The only organization to which he belonged, I was also told, was the Reh-Fit Centre on Taylor. (Apparently he was an original member of the Reh-Fit.)
He had very few friends, I was also told, but his closest friend had been the father of his executor – which explains how this individual came to be appointed executor.
From what I could see in the will, all of Mr. Feldman’s holdings were held in accounts at TD Bank and RBC.
He had led quite a frugal life,”who gave no thought to his own life…who never spent that much energy on himself,” it was said at his funeral (by the brother of the executor).
I suppose it’s not hard to imagine why an individual such as Mr. Feldman, who apparently had no other living relatives, would donate his considerable estate to an organization such as the Jewish Foundation. With over 4500 funds now in place at the Foundation, it has certainly established a very high profile within not only the Jewish community but the community at large as well..
When I contacted Drew Unger to inquire about Mr. Feldman I said that one of the reasons I wanted to single him out for attention was to inspire other people – who might be in similar circumstances as was Mr. Feldman, i.e., no apparent beneficiaries, to consider making the Jewish Foundation their beneficiary.
It would be interesting if anyone reading this who knew Mr. Feldman might want to contact me. As I’ve noted, the Jewish Foundation would like to honour his memory, but other than the information provided here, they don’t have much to go on.
Local News
First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students
By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard. Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging.
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty. “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”
Local News
Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition
By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”
Local News
Team Schvesters teammates Benji Harvey, Kim Gray once again among top ten fundraisers in this year’s CancerCare Manitoba Foundation Challenge for Life event
By MYRON LOVE This year’s annual CancerCare Manitoba Foundation’s Challenge for Life walk at Assiniboine Park is scheduled for Sunday, June 13 – and, once again, in terms of fundraising, Team Schvesters is sitting in second place overall – having raised just over $30,500 as of May 26 – which is $5,000 more than the team members had raised by the same time last year.
As well, team members Benji Harvey and Kim Gray are once again in the top ten among individual fundraisers. Harvey this year sits in fifth place, having raised a little over $16,000 as of May 17 – while Gray has raised just above $8,000 – putting her in seventh place.
Harvey reports that, -over the past 18, years participating in CancerCare Manitoba Foundation’s Challenge for Life, she has personally raised $180,000 for cancer research, while her team as a whole has brought in $367,000. In discussing her success as a fundraiser, Harvey says that she has made a lot of friends over the years and believes in giving back to the community.
The “Schvesters” are the Greenfeld sisters: Harvey and sisters Lesly Katz and Debra Lewis – the daughters of Lil and the late Ike Greenfeld. Two of the sisters are cancer survivors.
There is one other team member – in addition to Kim Gray. Judge Rocky Pollack first joined Team Schvesters in 2023. After a year away in 2024, he returned last year. Pollack lost his wife, Sharon, to cancer in 2014 after a multi-year struggle.
Nancy’s Nightingales has been a top 10 community fundraising team for Cancercare Manitoba and the Challenge for Life since its inception in 2008. As a team, they have walked together since 2006 when they walked 60 km in two days in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer.
Last year, the team – including Louise Raber, Joanne Katz, Rhonda Youell, Connie Botelho and Harriet Lyons – finished fifth in fundraising. So far this year, the team is again sitting in fifth place –having raised just under $12,500 (as of May 26) – a couple of thousand dollars more than last year, and just about $300 behind the fourth place team.
The Nightingales are named after a nurse who is a cancer survivor- and a friend of Louise Raber, Nancy’s Nightingales team leader.
“Our goal, as always, is to raise at least one dollar more than last year,” says Raber.
Team Jason’s Journey team leader Jason Gisser has experienced a more intimate and longer-lasting relationship with cancer than many of the other Challenge for Life participants. He was first diagnosed with cancer when he was 18. “I am a proud cancer fighter, having lived and battled a chronic cancer diagnosis for the last 23 years,” he said in an earlier interview. “I participate in the Challenge for Life not only to give back for the care and treatment which I have and continue to receive through CancerCare Manitoba, but to ensure that others do not have to endure the journey which I have endured.”
This is the ninth year that Gisser has taken up the Challenge for Life. His teammates are returnee Nora Fien, as well as friends Danial Sprintz, Wendy Martin White and Jason Roberts, also his mother, Judge Freda Steele. He has personally raised about $5,500 this year, while the team as a whole has raised just over $7,000.
“The Challenge for Life is great opportunity to raise valuable dollars for cancer research and treatment,” Gisser notes.
Readers can make donations to their preferred team by going online to CancerCarefdn.mb.ca and click on Challengeforlife.ca.
