Local News
Winnipeg Jewish community’s newest centenarian gets surprise party at the Shaftesbury
By MYRON LOVE
With her 100th birthday approaching, Ruth Gutkin was resigned to a low key affair due to the Covid situation. However, her younger son, Donald, had other ideas – such that the Shaftesbury Retirement Home resident was more than pleasantly surprised by what actually transpired.
The celebration became in Friday, October 9, the day before her actual birthday with a shout out from CTV’s Morning Show.
Then, looking out from her third floor balcony that morning, she saw below the Shaftesbury management in costume with flowers and streamers and a “happy birthday” sign who commenced to sing the birthday song for her.
Following that, as is traditional at the Shaftesbury, she was given a birthday tea party in the hallway – with the grand piano moved in to the hall for the occasion. “It was beautiful,” she says. “It was outstanding. The Shaftesbury staff outdid themselves.”
On her birthday itself, she was greeted by staff in 1950s and ‘60s attire who sat her in a special chair downstairs surrounded by balloons. Two large tables were set up – one with a huge birthday cake and the other with cards and well wishes from The Queen, the PMO, the Premier, the Mayor and other well wishers.
The celebrations ended with a private dinner for the honoree with her two sons, Terry and Donald and their wives, Carole and Belva, in the multipurpose room and an opportunity to connect with her four grandchildren and six great grandchildren via Zoom.
Of her sons, she says proudly that they helped her realize every Jewish mother’s dream. Terry is a lawyer and Donald a dentist.
At 100 years young – and despite having had a hip replaced about a year ago (when she was the oldest Manitoban to ever undergo that surgery) – Ruth Gutkin still looks 25 to 30 years younger than her chronological age – and her mind is little dimmed by age. The former Ruth Moscovitch was born into a family of eight on Argyle Street. She grew up on Boyd and Anderson in the north end and attended Machray School and St. John’s.
Her earliest memory, she says, was having her tonsils out when she was 6.
Her father, Benjamin, had a candy wholesale on Pacific Avenue, she recalls. “He would take some of us kids out on Saturday when he did his rounds,” she recounts. “WE would go to the grocery stores where he would take the orders. Then, we would go to the manufacturers to pick up the candies and, after we kids helped him sort and fill the order, we would deliver them to the stores.
“It was a real treat helping our dad.”
After Grade 11, the young Ruth set about looking for work. “It was the Depression,” she remembers. “You couldn’t get a job for love or money. I pounded the pavement trying to find work as a sales girl. I finally got a job part time at the Belgian Glove and Hosiery store on Portage near Edmonton. I got paid 25 cents an hour.
“We were worked to the bone. We couldn’t sit for a minute.”
Ruth met her husband-to-be, Jack, in 1940, shortly before he enlisted. Fortunately, he came home from the war early due to a medical discharge. The couple married in 1943.
For their honeymoon, they took the train to Kenora. “Jack had been a salesman before the war and Kenora was part of his territory,” Ruth recounts. “We got off the train. I was farputzed (dressed up) and wearing high heels. Jack said the hotel was just a short walk away. It wasn’t so close.”
She also recalls that the newlyweds visited one of the islands. On their way back, the canoe that they were paddling began to take on water.
“We weren’t wearing life jackets,” she says. “While we made it back to shore, I could see the headlines – Honeymooners Drown in Kenora.”
Back in Winnipeg, the young couple moved into a third floor walkup on Burrows and Salter. And while jack went to work for the late Harry Silverberg, Ruth set about raising a family, looking after the home – or rather, homes, as the Gutkins moved several times from Scotia to River Heights and back to West Kildonan – and throwing herself into volunteer work. Over the years, Ruth Gutkin was involved in Bnai Brith – where she was a chapter president, National Council of Jewish Women, Ort and the Rosh Pina Synagogue – and she and Jack co-chaired an Israel Bonds campaign.
Her real passion, she says, was cooking and baking – as well as decorating and entertaining. “I would get up early in the morning with Jack every morning and start baking,” she recalls.
Jack, she adds, made sure that the family went away for yearly vacations and, after he retired, they began spending winters in the southwest and seeing the world. “We had a wonderful time,” she says. “We went on cruises. We went to Hawaii and Florida, to Europe and Israel (many times).”
After Jack’s passing 16 years ago, Ruth continued to travel – including a tour to China when she was 87.
She moved into the Shaftesbury just four years ago after living at the Tuxedo Estates for 40 years.
Ruth credits her longevity to a lifetime of being physically active. As a teen, she says, she skated, swam, played baseball and tennis. “I have always worked out,” she says. “I joined the Rady centre right after it opened. I swam, took aquacize classes and did Zumba.”
“I never expected to live to 90, never mind 100. I guess the Almighty hasn’t decided that it’s my time yet.”
Local News
Fringe Festival star Melanie Gall to appear at Gwen Secter Centre July 16
By BERNIE BELLAN A veteran performer at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, Melanie Gall, will be making a special guest appearance at the Gwen Secter Centre on Thursday, July 16.
Melanie will be the featured speaker (and entertainer) for the Remis Speakers’ Series that day. The Remis Speakers’ Series is held every Thursday starting at noon and ending at 1:30. This year’s series began May 7 and will continue through the end of October. This year it has been attracting increasingly large audiences – ranging from 40-60 people, as it offers attendees the opportunity to enjoy a delicious – and kosher lunch, while listening to a very diverse variety of speakers – all the way from Gail Asper talking about returning the Ten Commandments to Assiniboine Park to Rabbi Matthew Leibl performing Christmas songs that were written by Jewish songwriters. At the same time it provides those attending a chance to make new acquaintances – or perhaps bump into old friends they haven’t seen in a long time.
Melanie Gall’s own story is sure to be riveting. I’ve written about Melanie in the past, but the past two summers had been especially nerve wracking for Melanie, as she was subjected to a torrent of antisemitic abuse over her support for the State of Israel.
You can read my story about what Melanie went through during the Winnipeg Fringe Festival – both in 2024 and again last year, at Melanie Gall subjected to antisemitic abuse.
Melanie, who will be entering her 13th year of performing at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, will be peforming in only one show this year – a departure from her past practice of performing in multiple shows (as many as three different shows) during the Fringe Festival.
Elsewhere on this website we’ll be offering a preview of Melanie’s show (which is called “The Ballad of Isobel Gunn” and which is based on an incredible, but true story), along with previews of several other shows.
In the meantime, if you’re not already a member of the Remis Speakers’ Series group, but would ike to attend this coming Thursday, simply email us at jewishp@mymts.net and we’ll reserve a spot for you. The cost for the lunch is only $20.
The Gwen Secter Centre is located at 1588 Main Street (corner of Smithfield). There is parking available on a lot behind the centre or on the street.
Local News
Folk Festival Report
(Posted July 10) During this year’s Winnipeg Folk Festival we’re going to be running an ongoing blog report – with photos and blurbs from the festival, sent to us by Heather Silbert and Samara Ebanks.
Here’s Heather’s first entry (sent Friday at 3:33 pm): “It’s a hot hot day at the 51st Winnipeg Folk Festival! Lots of people; lots of good vibes; and an abundance of awesome music!!”
“We just moved to spruce hollow. Nice and shady. listening to Jacob Brodovsky.”
4:21 pm: “Jacob just announced that he lost his job and received a lot of vitriol from the Jewish Community because he’s a Jewish person who believes that Palestinian and Jewish lives are intertwined, and he is against the genocide. He is very deeply feeling, and expresses all these big feelings through his songs. I want to give him a hug, but it’s so hot outside!”
(Keep checking for updates)
Local News
New GrowWinnipeg “Grow Together” highlights diverse origins of our growing Jewish community
By MYRON LOVE On Monday, June 11, about 120 younger Jewish Winnipeggers from diverse backgrounds came together at the Asper Campus for an evening of food and music, games and prizes and, most important, the opportunity to socialize with their peers from a growing community that reflects the long term success of our community’s 26-year-old GrowWinnipeg initiative.
“We are gathered here to celebrate your and your parents’ decisions to come to Winnipeg, build families and raise families here,” noted Dalia Szpiro, GrowWinnipeg’s director, in addressing the young adults in attendance.
To summarize, the GrowWinnipeg Initiative arose when our past community’s leadership recognized that our Jewish population was an aging and shrinking community with aging infrastructure.
The first stage was the planning and construction of the Asper Campus, which brought our major institutions and organizations under one roof in an attractive new building.
The next challenge was to attract more people to our community. GrowWinnipeg was created to take on the challenge. The initiative, which was officially launched in 2000, is unique in its efforts to reach out to young Jewish families throughout the Western world.
The first outreach efforts were directed at Argentina’s sizeable Jewish community at a time when the South American country’s economy was going through a very difficult period. Several of our community leaders visited the Jewish community in Buenos Aires and a website was established. Arrangements were made for local families to host Jewish Argentinians here on exploratory visits and the community helped the prospective immigrants navigate the then new Provincial Nominee Program, find jobs and establish themselves here.
Since then, many young families – from Argentina, as well as a great number of other countries – have chosen to make Winnipeg their new home. The young people at the recent GrowWinnipeg evening were reflective of the diversity of our growing community. During the course of the evening, I had the opportunity to speak with not only Israeli-born participants, also young people from Russia and Ukraine, Turkey and Uruguay – and a young lady who grew up in Ottawa.
Naomi Kirshenblatt Palansky originally came here from Ottawa to go to university. She met and married local entrepreneur Noah Palansky in 2023. (We wrote about Noah in the December 19, 2025 issue). That same year, the former competitive swimmer who competed in the Maccabiah Games in 2009 and 2013 served as manager of the Canadian Junior swimming team participating in the games. She is currently the director of operations and strategy for a company called CoinFlip.
Although born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Yael Borovich grew up in Winnipeg. She is the daughter of Dalia Szpiro and Eduardo Borovich (and younger sister of Vanessa) all of whom moved here in 2002. She is a graduate of the Asper School of Business and works as a senior client relationship manager for Scotia Bank’s commercial branch.
Siblings Igal and Edem Avimelek arrived here from Turkey six years ago with their parents, Etel and Moris. Edem is in her second year at the University of Manitoba while Igal is studying engineering at UBC.
They report that their father, Moris, has established the Upperwear Textile Agency – marketing textile products online – while their mother Etel, is senior IT Director, software development and data analytics and enterprise architecture at Standard Aero.
“Our parents were looking to move to a new country and came across the GrowWinnipeg webpage,” Edem says. “GrowWinnipeg has been really supportive of us in helping us move here and become established.”
More recent arrivals Alex Tsmokaliuk and Jane Hin are from Ukraine and Russia respectively and have been together since 2022. “We were looking for a peaceful place to start a family,”: Alex says. “We heard about GrowWinnpeg and here we are.”
Alex is a fitness trainer while Jane is working for WRE Development as a property manager.
Dora Bronstein, who is originally from Beersheva, is also a recent arrival to our community. “I came to Winnipeg because I wanted to get away from war – and I heard about GrowWinnipeg,” she says.
She is currently working for L.C. Taylor Licensed Insolvency Trustee as an estate manager.
Erele Tzidon and Daniel Mejnov
Last October, GrowWinnipeg introduced its new Youth Ambassadors program.
“Since October, we have been working to create an organized system and opportunities to help young newcomers find their people within our community,” wrote Youth Ambassador Erele Tzidon on Facebook.
“Our mission is to help young immigrants find a sense of home in Winnipeg and support a smooth and welcoming transition.
We are excited to help bring our young Jewish community together.
As reported in the Jewish Post about 18 months ago, Tzidon is originally from Moshav Ginaton in central Israel. She came to Winnipeg in 2018 with her parents Ofer – formerly regional manager for a car rental agency in Israel and now an RBC branch manager – and Sharon – an emotional therapist in Israel who is currently working as an educational assistant at Gray Academy – and three younger brothers.
The 20-year Gray Academy graduate has recently completed her third year in Science at the University of Manitoba. For the past three years, she has also been a member of Dr. Inna Rabinovich-Nikitin’s research team at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences (ICS), researching the link between pregnancy complications and the risk for heart disease.
In November, 2024, Tzidon was presented with the Dr. James S. McGoey Student Award – based on the quality of her cardiovascular research at the ICS, which operates out of the St. Boniface Hospital campus’s Albrechchtsen Research Centre.
Tzidon’s fellow Youth Ambassador is Daniel Mejnov. He was born in Beersheva but moved to Winnipeg with his parents, Dennis and Victoria (and younger brother Alon) 14 years ago. He is currently enrolled in an IT program at the University of Winnipeg.
Mejnov welcomed all those in attendance at the celebration and thanked the volunteers who helped him and Tzidon organize the event.
“It has been great being able to bring so many people together,” he said. “This is a good way to unite our community.
Two other individuals of particular note that I spoke with at the event were Orit Agabayev and Alina Plis, partners in three year old A and O Event Décor, who provided the balloon arches and walls, table settings and centre pieces for the evening.
Agabayev is originally from Netanya and Plis is from Yeruham (in southern Israel). The latter has been here for 18 years and operates a daycare. The former came 16 years. Her principal career is working in the field of animal nutrition.
In an Instagram PosI from four years ago, Plis noted that “I have always been passionate about planning parties and events. I started out with planning big surprise birthday parties for my kids. Eventually I began planning and decorating events for family and friends. Now I am taking the next step with my friend, Orit, who shares the same level enthusiasm as me. What drives me to go above and beyond is simply the excitement my creations bring to those who see my work.
On Facebook, Agabayev added that “Alina and I are so excited to start A&O event decor. We both love decorating and planning different events. We hope that you can put your trust in us to create or decorate an event for you. We do Birthday parties, anniversaries, bachelor/bachelorette parties, proposals, weddings and more..
“Message us with your ideas to get a free quote and you’re one step closer to having an unforgettable event.”
