Local News
Winnipeg branch of Canadian Magen David Adom launches fundraising drive in memory of Yoram East
By MYRON LOVE “A force of nature” is a phrase that has long been popular in artistic circles to describe outstanding individuals in that field. Although it is a descriptor that I use sparingly, it certainly applies to the late Yoram East. From his first appearance on the Winnipeg stage, so to speak, he was larger than life.
Two weeks ago, the Winnipeg branch of Canadian Magen David Adom (CMDA) launched an ambitious fundraising drive in memory of East.
For readers who may be unfamiliar with MDA, the organization is Israel’s version of the Red Cross – and much more. It functions as the Jewish state’s ambulance service as well as its blood bank. And it is inarguably the best in the world in delivering the services that it offers.
Incredibly, the CMDA carries out its mission without a shekel of government funding. Most of the work is done by thousands of volunteers scattered throughout the country. Funding for the MDA’s ambulances and other vehicles as well as state-of-the-art lifesaving equipment comes largely from generous overseas donors, such as those of us who contribute to CMDA Winnipeg.
“I first met Yoram about six months before we formed our CMDA chapter,” recalls Ami Bakerman, the Winnipeg chapter’s national board member. “We considered honouring him shortly after he died (on October 13, 2010) not only for his contributions to the State of Israel, but also because of the work he did here raising awareness of social issues and working with a wide range of refugees and other new immigrants to Winnipeg. While we were not in a position to do so at that time, we decided that now is the right time.”
I wrote a story about Yoram East for the Canadian Jewish News at the time of his passing. In that story, I described him as “one of the most colourful characters to have ever made his home in Winnipeg’s Jewish community.”
Born in Jerusalem, Yoram Hamizrachi was a seventh-generation Jerusalemite on his father’s side. He was, by turn, a journalist and author, soldier and counter-terrorism expert, lecturer and community activist, restaurateur, artist and fortune teller. And, in stereotypical Israeli style, he was blunt and direct with his views, letting the chips fall where they may.
At age 17, he joined the Israeli Defence Force and became a paratrooper After his army duty, he studied at the Bezalel Fine Arts School in Jerusalem and then continued his studies in Wiesbaden, Germany. In 1967, as a reservist, he fought in the battle for Jerusalem, and immediately thereafter returned to civilian life.
He worked for many years as a radio and TV journalist for Israeli and foreign media in Israel and abroad. During the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Hamizrachi covered the war for German TV.
In the late 1970s, he rejoined the army as a colonel for what was supposed to be a year to work with the Lebanese Christians on the other side of the border. He stayed for several years and became the first Israeli officer to work with the South Lebanon Army. After that, he returned to journalism and, in the spring of 1982, he immigrated with his young family to Winnipeg. He had several relatives on his mother’s side of the family living here.
In Winnipeg – where he changed his name to Yoram East – he continued to serve as a correspondent for Israeli media. He also began writing a regular column in The Jewish Post & News, commenting on political developments in Israel. To say that his column was not well received is a bit of an understatement. He was highly critical of the then-Likud government that was led by Menachem Begin. He was also an early advocate for a “two-state” solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In his new home, he quickly became involved in community work, becoming the co-ordinator of the International Centre’s multicultural committee. As such, he uncovered a scandal involving forged signatures on application documents for the funding for his position. He pursued the matter through the courts to a successful conclusion.
He subsequently helped found the Manitoba Intercultural Alliance and became the co-director of the Winnipeg-based Counter-Terrorism Centre.
The problem with being a community activist is that it doesn’t pay the bills. In the late 1980s, East’s wife, Beate, went to work as a school principal in a couple of native communities in northern Manitoba. Yoram went with her.
While in the north, he and his wife separated. He returned to Winnipeg and eventually married again. In his later years, until his health began to decline, he was involved in a variety of ventures, ranging from running a restaurant (where he would tell fortunes using a deck of cards he created that combined elements of Tarot and Kabbalah), to lecturing on world affairs at local universities and synagogues, churches, temples and mosques. Later in life, he also resumed painting.
East died of complications from diabetes at the age of 68.
Bakerman reports that the goal of the MDA campaign in memory of East is to buy an ambulance to be based in the northern border community of Kiryat Shemona – a fitting location considering East’s years of service on the other side of the border in Lebanon. The cost of an ambulance, Bakerman notes, is between $140,000 and $150,000.
This ambulance will be the fifth that CMDA has sent from Winnipeg since the chapter was formed in 2011.
Readers who may wish to make a donation can either email Bakerman at amibakerman@gmail.com, donate online at cmdai.org or call 1-800-731-2848.
Local News
Jewish Child and Family Service helped over 1800 families in 2025
By BERNIE BELLAN Jewish Child and Family Service will be entering the 75th year of its existence in 2027.
With a budget over $4,300,000, JCFS is also the largest beneficiary of funding from the Jewish Federation of the 12 Winnipeg Jewish community agencies that are beneficiaries of the Federation. (To see a list of the 12 agencies go to Funding for Beneficiary Agencies.)
Its impact has grown over the years as JCFS has expanded its horizon, continually adding to the many services it provides. During the JCFS’s Annual General Meeting, held in the Seniors’ Lounge of the Asper Campus on Tuesday evening, June 23, the important role that JCFS plays in the lives of so many members of the Jewish community – also a significant number of non-Jews as well, various speakers cited the many ways in which JCFS has continued to have such a huge impact.
With total revenues of $4,325,160 in fiscal year 2025 (which ended March 31, 2026), but slightly fewer expenses, JCFS not only delivered a wide gamut of services, it managed to deliver those services without incurring a deficit in 2025, despite some significant financial challenges.
As outgoing Board Chair Elana Grinshteyn observed, JCFS had to navigate some major reductions in funding, including a cut in funding from the federal government to the tune of $100,000, plus the loss of funding from the Claims Conference, which had provided support for Holocaust survivors.
Yet, despite those setbacks in funding, Grinshtein reported, “Together, we insured that services remained intact.
“We increased access to interest free loans,” she noted, “doubling” the amount that had been allocated in 2024.
And, amidst the ever-increasing demand for services, “JCFS has continued to navigate space limitations,” Grinshteyn noted. (I should note that as far back as 2019 I reported in an interview I had conducted with JCFS CEO Al Benarroch about the JCFS’s dire need for more space. Here is an excerpt from what Benarroch had to say about the JCFS’s need for more room back in 2019: “…we’ve been looking for roughly 3,000 more square feet of space. We have a footprint right now of roughly 5,000 square feet for over 40 staff. We’ve given up a board room here. It’s been taken over by older adult service staff. We have a conference room which is adjacent to the board room; we’ve moved two staff in there.
“Yesterday I gave up my office for the entire morning so that staff could interview clients.
“We need to relieve the pressure we’re facing right now – yet alone plan for expanding and growing.
“Whatever space we’d be looking at would be temporary. It’s now 22 years that we’ve been in this facility. The campus has taken over squash courts, it’s taken over a museum – internally, to accommodate the growth in services. Maybe it’s time now to look at growing outside this building…”
As the saying goes: “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” (That’s me, trying to impress.)
While I tried to take notes during Al Benarroch’s CEO report, I realized following his remarks that there was so much important information conveyed, also a slew of statistics, that it might be more helpful to reprint a good portion of what he said verbatim, so I asked Al to send me a copy of his remarks. (That’s one of the nice things about writing on a website. There’s an infinite amount of room to print the kind of stuff that nerds like me pretend to read.)
During his CEO’s report, Benarroch enumerated the many challenges JCFS encountered in 2025.
Among those challenges, Benarroch noted, were:
• The rising and high cost of living
• Food insecurity
• Housing issues
• Our aging population demographics
• The complex needs of our newcomer families
• The increasingly complex needs in mental health & youth mental health
Yet, despite all those challenges, Benarroch said, “As always… we rose to meet those head on, and with the support of our community.”
In particular, Benarroch cited the support of the Jewish Federation, which contributed $948,800 to JCFS in 2025. (The largest portion of JCFS funding, by the way came from the Province: over $1,100,000.)
Fundraising also played a significant role in contributing to JCFS revenues, with almost $700,000 raised through that route, including direct donations of over $320,000 and bequests over $40,000.
As Benarroch noted, “Every year, we look forward with hope that it will be a quiet year.
“Well, if that’s the case, we are in the wrong business.
“We happen to be in the reflect, respond and pivot business.
“This is the nature of the human existence.”
Benarroch went on to add some more statistics about how JCFS played such a pivotal role in the lives of so many people. In 2025 JCFS:
• Served 1,800 client households – impacting almost 5,000 people.
• Assisted 15 foster children.
• Served 70 families in Child Welfare….
“But what is even more important is that we assisted 90 children that remained at home with their families,” Benarroch said.
The year 2025 also saw the inauguration of what is known as the “Asper Empowerment Program”, through which:
• 311 clients were assisted (including Passover Assistance)
• $80,000 was disbursed in financial assistance
• Over $20,000 was given out in interest-free loans.
• 6,500 kg of food were disbursed
In the area of mental health and counselling services, Benarroch noted that JCFS:
• Supported over 50 adults with mental health challenges
• Our Friday Mental Health Wellness Group participants took part in 22 group activities or outings
• We support some 20 individuals and families impacted by addictions through individual and group services.
• We delivered almost 1,100 counselling sessions, over half of which were subsidized on our sliding scale.
• We continued to support individuals, families, and partner Jewish organizations with the ongoing emotional impacts of the war in Israel and high levels of global antisemitism.
In the area of support for older adults, JCFS served over 250 seniors including:
• 70 newcomer seniors
• 50 seniors living with mental health differences
• 65 Holocaust Survivors (including celebrating “25 years of our Holocaust Survivor Drop-in Group, a partnership with the Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre.”)
In the area of settlement services, JCFS:
• Welcomed almost 80 new families
• Almost 50 families from Israel, seeking reprieve from the ongoing stresses and pressures of the war.
Benarroch noted that “These families are dealing with the deep trauma of displacement, having lived under constant stress, fear and the ensuing post-traumatic impact, family and parenting challenges as a result, emotional exhaustion, financial strain, and more.
“Thanks to the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, we hired a trained specialized support worker, with a background in therapy, to help these families cope, adjust, and receive much needed emotional supports.”
Benarroch went on to describe many more initiatives in which JCFS was engaged in 2025, but I want to return to the retirement of Elena Grinshteyn from the Board of JCFS after nine years serving on the Board, including the last two as Chair. Grinshteyn will be succeed by Bradley Abells, who has been on the Board since 2021. In his remarks, Abells noted that he is an actuary at Canada Life and that he first joined the Board when his particular expertise as an actuary proved extremely helpful in helping to solve a problem that had arisen, and he found the experience so rewarding he decided to remain on the Board ever since .
Also on the Board is Michael Schacter, who is returning as Treasurer and who looks the way you’d expect a finance guy to look.
Local News
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Local News
Jewish Foundation’s asset base surpasses $200 million for first time
By BERNIE BELLAN The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba continues to show stellar growth – having achieved total assets over $200 million in the 2025 fiscal year (a 7.4% increase from the 2024 fiscal year), also having distributed $8.2 million in grants during the year.
Those were among the highlights reported at the JFM’s Annual General Meeting, held Wednesday evening July 18, in the multipurpose room of the Asper Campus.
JFM CEO John Diamond noted that one of the most successful aspects of the year just past was the launch of what is known as “Fund Match II” which, he explained, is “building on the success of the original FundMatch project introduced in 2012.”
Under the terms of the new Fund Match program 18 initial organizations that created endowments with a combined value of $689,388 at the JFM benefitted from matching funds of $178,000 that were added to those endowments, with an additional four other organizations having joined in the program during the course of the year.
Other highlights (which can all be perused in the JFM’s annual report, available simply by going to the JFM website) include the JFM having “awarded 72 scholarships and academic awards totalling $230,759.”
JFM Board treasurer Bruce Caplan also spoke of some other notable achievements of the JFM in 2025, including a 12.64% return on investments and $4.27 million in new contributions.
The AGM also saw a number of changes to the composition of the board. Most notable among them is the retirement of Dan Blankstein as Board Chair – after having served two two-year terms, to be succeeded by Dafna Shore.
Also, the current longest-serving member of the board, Bonnie Cham, is retiring from the board after having served on it for 13 years, including three terms as Chair.
One other significant retirement announced at the AGM was that of Chief Financial Officer Ian Barnes – who will be retiring in December after 26 years as CFO During his remarks to the audience Barnes noted that “When I arrived at the Foundation, the assets were $29 million.” As noted, that figure has now grown to $200 million.
He also noted that “Since the Foundation was established in 1964, total grants and
distributions are $113.6 million.”
Barnes paid tribute to the three Chief Executive Officers with whom he worked: David Cohen, Marsha Cowan, and John Diamond. With regard to Marsha Cowan, Barnes said that “Marsha taught me about business – and how to dress!” (Barnes will be succeeded as CFO by Lynda Joyal.)
One of the annual customs of the JFM AGM is to thank the JFM staff – and to announce how many years each staff member has served at the JFM. While there are a number of individuals who have been with the JFM for a fairly long time, no one comes close to Patti Boorman, Director of Administration, who has been with the JFM for 37 years.
Among the largest new grants given by the JFM in 2025 were: a grant of $122,000 to the Asper Jewish Community Campus, Gray Academy of Jewish Education and Rady JCC to support the construction of a “new accessible outdoor play structure, ensuring safe, inclusive play for children and families; a grant of $150,000 to the Simkin Centre for the hiring a Volunteer Engagement Specialist – a three-year project to modernize volunteer programs and enhance resident, family, and intergenerational involvement.
Among the leading recipients of distributions from donor-recommend endowment funds – all of which had received grants in the past were:
The Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada $149,618
Rady JCC 154,746
Gray Academy 168,535
Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University 163,488
Jewish Child & Family Service 447,471
Simkin Centre 858,654
Asper Campus 431,099
Combined Jewish Appeal 907,688
Jewish Federation of Winnipeg 531,076
Note: A number of the above organizations also received community impact grants – which are one-time grants given for special purposes.
