Local News
Winnipeggers holding weekly rallies for Israeli hostages in Gaza
By MYRON LOVE For 28 straight weeks now – right through the coldest days of the winter and a recent Sunday with thick smoke in the air – a mixed group of Jewish and non-Jewish Winnipeggers have been gathering on the south-east corner of Grant at Kenaston to show their support for the remaining 128 Israeli hostages that are believed to be still in Gaza.
This writer dropped in at the rally on Victoria Day Monday at 5:00. About 200 participants, holding or draped in Israeli and Canadian flags, each with a poster with the face and name of one of the hostages, lined the sidewalk facing Kenaston while cars whizzed by – with many showing their support by honking.
“We have a real cross section of the community here,” said Danita Aziza, one of the rally co-ordinators. “Our participants range from grade school to seniors. Today, we also had a Pakistani and an Iranian family and we generally have supporters from (the Christian Zionist organization) Bridges for Peace. We are averaging about 200 participants each week – although on May 8, the eve of Yom Hashoah, we had 350 turn out.”
Einat Paz, another organizer, adds that all the synagogues are represented.
Paz was born and grew up in Jerusalem. She earned her Master in Social Work degree at Haifa University. She has been living in Winnipeg for the past 17 years and works for Jewish Child and Family Service. Paz had attended the pro-Israel rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in November with longtime friends Danita and Michel Aziza. and the three began working together with Judi Shuster who, with her daughter Baillie (who is currently living and studying in Israel), were among the first members of the community to start putting up posters of the hostages on telephone poles.
“We all felt we needed to do more to bring awareness to the hostages,” Paz notes.
“We started with 36 people,” recalls Danita Aziza, who lived in Israel with her family for five years. “Michel (Aziza) designed our large poster. At our rallies, we hand out posters from the ‘Hostages Families Forum Headquarters’.”
For the first three months, the weekly half-hour vigil was held at the Kenaston location on Friday mornings at 8:00 a. to allow people to get to work by 9:00, Aziza says. “We changed the time to Sundays at 5:00 pm because we felt it would be easier for our supporters to attend.”
The rallies are silent, Aziza points out. “We do not respond to the occasional insults or people swearing at us,” she adds.
“We only allow Canadian and Israeli flags and we hand out the posters at the beginning of each rally and take them back after.”
After each rally, Paz reads out loud a message or invites a rabbi to lead a prayer or a speaker to bring a message pointing out the similarity between the Holocaust and October 7th.
After the rally on May 21, Einat Paz read out loud a letter – in both the original Hebrew and in English, that was received from Merav Berger, whose daughter, Agam, 19, was one of six female soldiers kidnapped from her Army – Nahal Oz base.
Wrote Merav, “Wow…. It’s unimaginable – so long, so many hostages (128 are still in Gaza), this whole reality is unbelievable. I’m very involved in the field of spirituality, and I’m working with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum to promote unity in the country. I believe that our unity, the love we have for one another, and the understanding we all have that there is one common goal will give us the strength to reach our destination. Bring all hostages back home. I have faith in the cooperation and collaboration of every Israeli citizen. This is truly the time for all of us to be involved, to collaborate with one another, and to perform good deeds. May we be blessed with good news very soon! Thank you, Winnipeg for everything you do to bring awareness to the 128 hostages”
“We have heard from other Israelis over the past few months who have heard what we are doing and expressed their gratitude,” Paz says..
After each rally, all participants gather in a group, sing O Canada and Hatikvah and pose for a group photo.
The rallies are advertised through a closed WhatsApp group, and only Einat Paz sends updates about the rallies and photos after each gathering.
“We are working collaboratively with MIC – Manitoba Israeli Coalition, Federation, Synagogues, NCJWC, JNF, and Gray Academy,” she says. “This is a community effort. When we are united we are stronger together.”
“We welcome everyone who wants to show their support for the hostages,” she says. “We would like soon to have 500 of us standing on Kenaston.”
Readers seeking more information about the rallies can go to bringthemhome18@gmail.com.
Local News
Thank you to the community from the Chesed Shel Emes
We’re delighted to share a major milestone in our Capital Campaign, “Building on our Tradition.” Launched in November 2018, this campaign aimed to replace our outdated facility with a modern space tailored to our unique needs. Our new building is designed with ritual at its core, featuring ample preparation space, Shomer space, and storage, creating a warm and welcoming environment for our community during times of need.
We’re grateful to the nearly 1,000 generous donors who contributed over $4 million towards our new facility. A $750,000 mortgage will be retired in November 2025, completing this monumental project in just seven years.
We’re also thrilled to announce that our Chesed Shel Emes Endowment Fund has grown tenfold, from $15,000 to $150,000, thanks to you, the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba’s FundMatch program, and Million Dollar Match initiative in 2024. Our fund helps ensure that everyone can have a dignified Jewish funeral regardless of financial need.
As we look to the future, our goal remains to ensure the Chevra Kadisha continues to serve our community for generations to come. Our focus now shifts to replenishing our savings account and growing our JFM Endowment fund.
We’re deeply grateful for your support over the past several years.
It’s our privilege to serve our community with care and compassion.
With sincere appreciation,
Campaign cabinet: Hillel Kravetsky, Gerry Pritchard, Stuart Pudavick,
Jack Solomon, and Rena Boroditsky
Murray S. Greenfield, President
Local News
Winnipeg Beach Synagogue about to celebrate 75th anniversary
By BERNIE BELLAN (July 13) In 1950 a group of cottage owners at Winnipeg Beach took it upon themselves to relocate a one-room schoolhouse that was in the Beausejour area to Winnipeg Beach where it became the beach synagogue at the corner of Hazel and Grove.
There it stayed until 1998 when it was moved to its current location at Camp Massad.
On August 2nd members of the synagogue will be holding a 75th anniversary celebration.
As part of the celebration anyone who is a descendant or relative of any of the original members of the first executive committee (as seen in the photo here) is invited to attend the synagogue that morning.
If you are a relative please contact Abe Borzykowski at wpgbeachshule@shaw.ca or aborzykowski@shaw.ca to let Abe know you might be attending or for more information about the 75th anniversary celebration.
We will soon be publishing a story about the history of the beach synagogue, which is something I’ve been writing about for over 25 years.
Local News
Vickar Family cuts ribbon on new Tova Vickar and Family Childcare Centre
By MYRON LOVE In the words of Larry Vickar, the Shaarey Zedek’s successful Dor V’ Dor Campaign “is not only a renewal of the synagogue but truly a renewal movement of Jewish life in our community.”An integral part of that renewal movement was the creation of a daycare centre within the expanded synagogue. On Monday, June 23, Larry and Tova Vickar cut the ribbon, thereby officially opening the Tova Vickar and Family Childcare Centre in the presence of 100 of their family members, friends and other supporters of the project.
The short program preceding the morning ribbon-cutting began with a continental breakfast followed by a welcome by both Fanny Levy, Shaarey Zedek’s Board President, and Executive Director Dr. Rena Secter Elbaze. In Elbaze’s remarks, she noted that Larry and Tova wanted their family (including son Stephen and family, who flew in from Florida) and friends at the event to celebrate the opening of the Tova Vickar and Family Childcare Centre, “not because of the accolades, but because, as Larry put it, he hopes that their investment in the congregation will inspire others to do the same.”
“When Larry and I spoke about what this gift meant to him and the message he wanted people to take away,” she continued, “I couldn’t help but connect it to the teachings of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi whose book – Age-ing to Sage-ing – changes the whole way we look at the concept of ageing and basing it on our ancestral teachings.”
She explained that his concept of “Sage-ing” is based on three key ideas – Discover your meaning and purpose; accept our mortality and think about the legacy you want to leave.
“Larry spoke about these exact concepts when we met,” she said.
Elbaze also noted the presence of Shaarey Zedek’s newly-arrived senior Rabbi Carnie Rose, former Rabbi Alan Green, and area MLAs Mike Moroz and Carla Compton.
Larry Vickar expressed his great appreciation for all those in attendance. “Tova and I are deeply moved to stand here with you today for this important milestone in our community”, he said. “We are grateful to be surrounded by all of you, the people we care about, our family and friends… you who have touched our lives and played some part in our journey.”