Local News
World-famous Klezmer musician visits Winnipeg for ten days
By SHARON LOVE Dr. Alan Bern, the world famous and Berlin based Klezmer musician, scholar, teacher and cultural activist, was here in Winnipeg from November 13th, 2022 until the 23rd. In that time frame he held three workshops, was involved in two concerts, was an honoured guest and speaker at The Museum for Human Rights, and was a guest lecturer for Dr. Itay Zutra’s Yiddish in North America class at the University of Manitoba (in which I am a student).
They say that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, that is the best description as to how Dr. Bern’s visit here came about. According to Dr. Ben Baader, Associate professor at the University of Manitoba, the planning process for Dr. Bern’s visit took several months. Initially, Professor Laura Loewen, of the Faculty of Music was contacted by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. She did much of the organizing and was then joined in the planning process by University of Manitoba professors Simone Mahrenholz, Itay Zutra and Ben Baader. Also at the university, the Desautels Faculty of Music, the Mauro Institute for Peace and Justice, the Department of German and Slavic Studies, along with the Rady JCC, all played their part.
Dr. Bern was born in Bloomington, Indiana and has an MA degree in Philosophy and a DMA in music composition. He is widely known for his work in the promotion and preservation of Yiddish music. He has been based in Berlin since 1987 and has also done much of his work in Weimar. He is the founder and artistic director of the Yiddish in Summer Weimar program, and the founder of the Other Music Academy (OMA). He is also a founding member of the Klezmer groups ‘Brave Old World’ the ‘Other Europeans’ and the ‘Semer Ensemble’. He is also an international music conductor and arranger for theatre and dance productions. In 2016 he was the recipient of the Weimar Prize in recognition of his cultural contributions to that city. Earlier this year he received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. He has also been featured in many audio recordings and films.
Dr. Bern’s first three lectures were held at the University of Manitoba. He spoke about why Yiddish matters and traced the history of the Yiddish language up until today’s new Yiddish music. During his second lecture he spoke of the Shoah and the new Yiddish song. His third lecture was hands on and he introduced music students to the origin and the philosophy behind the Hasidic Nign.
The Sunday afternoon concert held at the Berney Theatre was definitely jam packed. The program opened with an introduction by Dr. Bern and his brief explanation of Nigunim as wordless songs which serve to move Hasidic Jewry beyond the rational towards the mystical prayer. This was followed by three musical numbers performed by the Desautels Klezmer Group from the the Desautels Faculty of Music, accompanied by Dr. Bern on the accordion and Myron Schultz on clarinet. The audience was invited to join in with some chanting on cue. I have a feeling that these dozen students playing various instruments were not aware of this genre of music prior to Dr. Bern’s visit and his hands on workshop and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. The family of one of the violinists was sitting in front of me. I could just tell that they were inspired and pleased. Myron Shultz and Alan Bern played a few lively numbers together.
The musical portion of the afternoon was followed by the screening of ‘The New Klezmorim. Voices Inside the Revival of Yiddish Music.’ This documentary was filmed in 1998 both at Klez Canada in the Laurentians and at the Askenaz festival in Toronto and is a study of the revival of Klezmer music and Yiddish culture commencing in the 1970’s. At the end of the film we were joined via Zoom from Toronto by David Kaufman, the producer, in discussion with Alan Bern.
‘An Evening with Dr. Alan Bern’’ took place on Monday the 21st at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Opening remarks came from Myka Burke, the Communications and Culture Officer of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ottawa. Greetings were extended by Jutta Essig, Honourary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany and by Gustavo Zentner, President of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg.
Those in attendance were treated to a screening of ‘60 Years in 22 Minutes,’,a biography of Alan Bern starting from his childhood. This was followed by an interview with Matthew Cutler (CMHR Vice-President, Exhibitions) in conversation with Dr. Bern. Some topics discussed were Bern’s interest in the philosophy of music and how it can be a vessel for bringing people together, the Klezmer revival, why he is based in Berlin, the Shoah and Jewish relations vis a vis the Republic of Germany today.
The evening closed with a musical performance by Dr. Bern and a reception.
The highlight for me of Bern’s visit was his lecture for the Yiddish Culture in North America class the next afternoon. The focus with video was on three specific entertainers and musicians and their roles in the revival of Yiddish and Klezmer music. They were: revival pioneers Adrienne Cooper(z”l), Josh Waletzky, and present day musician and songwriter, Klezmer-Yiddish -Punk Rocker Daniel Kahn (who is now based in Berlin). I found Bern to be very personable, knowledgeable and having presented a very friendly and ‘haimish’ atmosphere at the events that I took in.
On Wednesday November 23rd, at the Eva Clare Hall, the performances of the final term Chamber Music students took place. Bern conducted the Desautels Klezmer group in performance one last time.
What can I say but Dr. Alan Bern was very busy during his time spent here. I am sure that his audiences learned a lot, and enjoyed themselves. Kudos to the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and to Prof. Laura Loewen who got the ball rolling and to the rest of those who joined in to ensure that this project was such a success!
And I am still humming those nigunim…..
Local News
Nakba exhbit at CMHR – you can see it right here and make your own assessment
By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted June 26, updated July 19) The Nakba exhibit at the Canadian Exhibit for Human Rights opened to the public June 27. The morning before the exhibit was set to open to the public, (it had a private opening for invited guests the evening of June 26) we received a press release from the CMHR. That press release gave a very detailed description of what was in the exhibit, along with photos (supplied by Annie Kierans of the CMHR).
There is also a link right at the beginning of the press release that will allow you to watch the same videos that anyone attending the exhibit can watch. We reprinted what was sent to us without making one edit. We leave it to you to form your own opinion as to whether the exhibit is fair in its presentation, and whether it is lacking “context” – which is an accusation that has been levelled at the exhibit’s organizers by some representatives of Jewish organizations.
We have received many emails in reaction to the exhibit. If you have an opinion and would like to see it published on this website, you can send it to jewishp@mymts.net, but please indicate whether you would be willing to have it published on this website.
Here is what we received the morning of June 26:
Winnipeg, MB — June 26, 2026 — The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) will open a new exhibit tomorrow that explores human rights violations related to the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinian Canadians.
Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present will be on display in the Rights Today gallery on Level 5 until 2028. Featuring personal stories told through artifacts and video testimonies, the exhibit presents Palestinian Canadians reflecting on their ongoing struggle for human rights. The small exhibit reveals enduring patterns of loss and resilience, helping visitors understand more about this contemporary human rights story.
Palestinian Canadian stories are now included alongside many other stories of forced displacement and human rights violations featured in the Museum’s galleries. Each of these stories contribute to our visitors understanding of human rights and help the Museum fulfill its mandate to foster reflection and dialogue.
Exhibition highlights
Personal stories and artifacts: Experience firsthand accounts from Palestinian Canadians sharing their journeys of displacement and memory through a series of five artifacts. Cases display artifacts like property deeds, house keys, and a traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, accompanied by short videos that deepen understanding of the impacts of displacement.
Powerful artworks: In her painting Bound Together in Gaza, Malak Mattar, a Gazan artist, captures the struggles and resilience of her generation shaped by conflict. Her work pays homage to Guernica, Picasso’s powerful masterpiece depicting civilian suffering during war.
Curfews and Closures, by Rajie Cook, bears witness to life under military occupation during the 2000–2005 Palestinian uprising, when curfews and closures were expanded and further limited basic rights and freedoms.
Cultural heritage: Discover traditional Palestinian embroidery called tatreez. Tatreez motifs and colours are tied to place, family history and regional identity. Patterns are associated with particular towns, villages or areas of Palestine. In this way, tatreez is a form of storytelling: a way of preserving memory, sustaining identity and expressing resilience across displacement and exile.
Poetry and reflection: Engage with Mahmoud Darwish’s evocative verses, inspiring personal reflection on exile, voice, and responsibility. Visitors can take a card containing Darwish’s poem and add a personal note, fostering ongoing dialogue beyond the exhibit.
Contemporary context: Witness striking images of current events in Gaza and the West Bank, connecting past displacement to ongoing struggles.
Quotes:
“No force can silence the truth we carry. Growing up in Canada, my children lived the Nakba through our stories. And now we watch it happen again, live, on our phones. When I see the images coming out of Gaza, I am not watching the news. I am watching my history repeat itself.” -Fouad Sahyoun, a Palestinian Canadian featured in the exhibit
“We developed this exhibit with a clear awareness that Palestinian Canadian voices have too often been marginalized, silenced or spoken over — and that anti-Palestinian racism affects whose stories are heard and whose suffering is recognized. That is why we intentionally centred Palestinian Canadian voices throughout the exhibit.” -Isabelle Masson, Curator of Palestine Uprooted
“Human rights matter precisely when they are inconvenient, when the question of who deserves the dignity of having their rights recognized is genuinely contested. These are the moments where having a national museum for human rights is most important.
There are people who believe this exhibit should not exist in its current form. There are people who believe it should have existed sooner. There are people who will visit this exhibit and feel that it does not say enough, and others who will feel it says too much.
We have listened to every one of these voices. We have reflected. And we have renewed our resolve to continue the difficult, sometimes contested, and often controversial work of building understanding about human rights. We are a museum grounded in Canada’s human rights framework, whose mandate requires us to bear witness to the full complexity of the human story. We are proud to open this exhibit because the story it tells will help achieve that mandate, and because this story belongs in the collective memory of Canadians.”
- – Isha Khan, CEO
Local News
A photo that’s being circulated on the internet about me
For those of you not familiar with nutjob Michael Kalo – the psycho who created the notorious “$hitler’s List” years ago and the same psycho who went after Ben Carr, well – now he’s obviously taken a strong disliking to the stance I’ve taken on the Nakba exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. (You can read elsewhere on this website how I simply posted the entire exhibit as it is – and asked readers to form their own opinions.)
Kalo likes to send out emails to various individual using phony names – such as Frank Ostrowski. When people ask me (or asked Ben Carr) why we don’t take action against him, my answer is: What’s the use? He only basks in the attention.
So Michael – enjoy the attention you’re receiving. I know how much of an embarrassment you are to your wonderfully talented daughters.
Local News
Ami Hassan returning as owner of Falafel Place
By BERNIE BELLAN In a surprise move – and after more than a six-year absence as owner of Falafel Place (Corydon at Wilton) the legendary Ami Hassan has decided to return as owner of one of Winnipeg’s most famous eateries.
Long known for his sometimes irreverent attitude to his customers, e.g., “If you’re finished, get out!”, Ami decided to return to running Falafel Place after having retired years ago (or so he thought) from running the Corydon Avenue restaurant.
We asked Ami whether he’ll be sending a special invitation to Julia Roberts to come visit him at Falafel Place. He asked again: “Who’s Julia Roberts?” (Just kidding – he really does know how Julia Roberts is.) Read the story how Ami told her to leave the restaurant and come back later at Julia Roberts turned away from Falafel Place
Ami did note that when customers saw him inside the restaurant one recent day as he was getting it ready for the reopening Monday, August 10, over 20 of them came in asking him if he was open already.
We asked Ami whether the menu will be the same as it was when he last ran the place and he said everything will be the same.
Falafel Place will be open 7 days a week from 7 am – 2 pm. Remember, if you’re finished – get out!
