Local News
Winnipeggers set to participate in upcoming Maccabiah Games
By MYRON LOVE After a year’s delay due to the ongoing Covid situation, the 21st Maccabiah Games are back on track. The Maccabiah, aka “The Jewish Olympics”, is the world’s largest Jewish athletic competition.
The (usually) quarterly event highlights the centrality of the State of Israel in the life of the Jewish people. The games, which were first held in 1932 and 1935 in what was then Palestine and – resumed in 1950 after Israeli independence, is organized by Maccabi World Union. The most recent competition in 2017 featured 10,000 athletes representing 80 countries, making it the third largest event in the world, behind only the Summer Olympics and the World University Games.
Maccabi Canada sent a delegation of 600, one of the largest delegations from any Diaspora country. Canadian athletes won 72 medals at the Games, including 15 Golds.
Now, my impression of the Maccabiah Games has been that it is a regular sporting event geared to Jewish young people – much like the Olympics. I have been wrong, however. The Games, reports Sam Lazareck, has a Masters category – for amateur athletes over 40 – and Winnipeggers Lazareck and his close friend Michael Stoller are looking forward to participating in this summer’s Maccabiah – scheduled for July 12-26 with opening ceremonies scheduled to take place, as usual, at Teddy Kollek Stadium in Jerusalem. Lazareck and Stoller will be members of the Canadian Men’s hockey team, in the Masters category.
Both Lazareck, a psychiatrist, and Stoller, a portfolio manager (StollerWealth), have been playing hockey for years. For Stoller though, his first sport as a competitor was racquetball. It was racquetball in which he competed as a junior (under 18) on the Manitoba men’s team at the Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island in 1991.
Lazareck started playing hockey as a 10-year-old. He was on the St. John-Ravenscourt team in high school, played at university and has been part of various men’s leagues around the city. Lazareck also coaches his hockey-playing sons, Dylan, 12, and Ben, 10, at SJR. His daughter, Julia, 14, is a synchronized swimmer.
Stoller coached his younger daughter, Madelyn, who is now 13, at SJR when she was younger in hockey there. This past season (2021-2022), she played for the U15 AA female Rangers. (He notes that his older daughter, 16-year-old Reina, takes dancing classes at the Shelley Shearer School of Dance.)
Both Stoller and Lazareck play forward.
“I love the speed of the game,” Lazareck says. “It is exhilarating. And there is a lot of opportunity for creativity and improvisation.”
It was Lazareck who first saw the Facebook posting calling for prospective players for the Canadian Men’s Maccabiah Masters hockey team. He later recruited long time friend Stoller to try out with him.
“We had to fly out to Toronto last July for the tryouts,” Lazareck reports. “Our team practices have all been in either Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa. All the other players are from Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
”The practices – all optional – have been fun.”
“Israel is an amazing place” says Stoller, whose wife Miriam hopes that she will be able to join him in Israel. (Their daughters, he notes, will be at BB Camp in July.)
For Sam Lazareck, this will he his second time in Israel in three years. In 2019, he says, he and his wife, Chloe, joined his parents (Karyn and Mel), Sam’s siblings, and all their children for a multi-generational family visit.
“I didn’t expect to be back this soon,” observes Sam, who will be accompanied by Chloe and younger son Ben. (The other kids will be at camp.)
Prior to the Maccabiah Games, Lazareck notes, he is involved in putting together a fundraising hockey tournament. “The Goals for G.R.O.W. Tournament” – scheduled for June 4 at the Iceplex – aims at raising money for the G.R.O.W. in Winnipeg Program – which was founded by his mother Karyn 20 years ago, (originally under the auspices of the Rady JCC).
The program provides the opportunity for mentally and physically challenged individuals to learn and practice life skills and social skills in a safe environment. The transitional day program for young adults (21 and older) prepares them for independent living – with the focus on life management and healthy living – and the development of social, recreational and pre-vocational skills.
The Goals for G.R.O.W. tournament was last held in 2019.
(Readers who may want to participate in the upcoming tournament or make a contribution can email info@growourway.ca or phone 204 505-3799.)
For Israeli-born teenager Ariel Tsaiger, representing Canada at the Maccabiah Games will be a homecoming of sorts
Tsaiger says he is really looking forward to being a participant in this summer’s Games. “I have some friends who have gone to the Maccabiah before and they really loved it,” says the Israeli-born junior basketball player, whose parents, Dmitri and Lana, moved to Winnipeg when he was three.
The rising local star has been playing basketball since he was five. The 15-year-old Henry J. Izzat High School student plays point guard for the Manitoba-based Northstar Preparatory Institute (NPI) team, which competes in tournaments and circuits around North America. He is also a participant in Triumph, Winnipeg’s premier youth basketball program.
“What I like most about basketball,” he says, “is that, unlike most other sports, you can’t afford to lose focus. You have to be fully engaged at all times.”
In addition to participating in this sumemr’s Maccabiah, Tsaiger is also looking forward to seeing some of the many relatives he still has in Israel.
His dream , he says, is to be able to play college basketball – hopefully on a full scholarshop.
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!”
5:33 pm: The inscription in the plaque below begins with some lines from a Bruce Cockburn song called “Joy Will Find a Way (A Song About Dying)”: and continues with: “Memory Lane honours those who are no longer with us but whose presence lives on in the music, memories and moments we share here…”
7:06 pm “Gorgeous hand made polymer clay jewelry! Amanda Greisman makes gorgeous pieces that can be worn across many occasions! And she’s so so nice!” (See her booth called “Blue Sky Jewelry.”
(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.”
