Features
Canadian Associates of Ben Gurion University hold online gala event featuring Shira Haas of “Shtisel” and “Unorthodox” fame
By BERNIE BELLAN Shira Haas may be only 26 years old, but she has already become one of Israel’s best known actors, having starred as an Orthodox Jew in both “Shtisel” and “Unorthodox”. (In real life Shira is not Orthodox, by the way.)
On Wednesday, July 7th, Canadian Associates of Ben Gurion University presented a cross-Canada online event promoting brain research at Ben Gurion University, during which Senator Linda Frum, who was in Toronto, took a leaf from her late mother, Barbara Frum’s playbook, and interviewed Shira Haas, who was in Tel Aviv, in what turned out to be an enjoyable and quite interesting 40 minutes back and forth.
In introducing the event, CABGU National CEO Mark Mendelson said that the event had raised a total of $850,000 toward brain research at BGU.
Mendelson also noted that last year’s “Support our Students” campaign had also raised $1.4 million starting in the spring of 2020 – when Covid was taking an especially heavy toll in Israel. The funds raised were used to allow students at the university to remain in school rather than having to drop out due to financial constraints brought about by Covid.
“Canadian Associates of Ben Gurion University” is “the number one Israel based organization in Canada,” Mendelson said.
Proceeds from the gala event will “fund research into neuro-degenerative disease,” Mendelson explained, including Epilepsy, ALS, Alzheimer’s,
Parkinson’s, Dementia, and Stroke. Prior to Senator Frum’s interview of Haas, some 1500 audience members were given an overview of the advances various researchers at BGU have been making in the treatment of different disorders associated with the brain.
Five different researchers at BGU offered explanations of new developments in which they have been involved in each of those areas. In commenting on the challenges they face, BGU President Daniel Chamovitz quoted David Ben Gurion himself, who once said: “If an expert says it’s impossible, find another expert.”
Chamovitz, who was born in Pennsylvania and obtained his undergraduate degree from Columbia before transferring to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he obtained his Ph.D. in plant science, offered the audience some very personal reflections about the toll Covid had taken on both him and his wife.
Chamovitz noted that he had his own experience dealing with Covid, when both he and his wife, Shira, came down with Covid last September. (Chamovitz has been keeping a very interesting online journal tracking Covid at BGU, called “My Covid Year”.) He said that he’s still dealing with the effects of Covid many months later, noting that “Post Covid Syndrome” affects about 10-15% of individuals – mostly women, who have come down with Covid.
Later, however, during the portion of the evening in which Shira Haas was being interviewed, Chamovitz, who displayed a wry sense of humour whenever he appeared during the event, made a funny observation about his Hebrew-speaking ability.
It turns out that Haas’s next starring role will be as a young Golda Meir in a movie about Golda’s life, to be produced by none other than Barba Streisand, called “Lioness”. Haas was asked how she will master Golda’s American-accented Hebrew. (Golda Meir, although born in Russia, moved to Milwaukee as a young woman, which is where she learned to speak English.)
Haas said it was really just a matter of mastering an accent, to which Chamovitz added that he can readily identify with Golda Meir, whom Israelis often made fun of for her American English manner of speaking Hebrew.
In accepting the position of President of BGU, Chamovitz said, he was proud to become head of a university that has been at the forefront of so many advances within Israeli society, including its inclusion of many members of the Bedouin minority who live near Beer Sheva.
Ben Gurion University is now home to the first female Bedouin professor in Israel, he noted: Sarab Abu-Rabia-Queder, who was also the first Bedouin woman to receive a Ph.D.
When it comes to innovation, Chamovitz observed, “All the nations in the Middle East are looking to us (in Israel) for answers. We’ve been living in the desert” – no university more so than BGU.
Turning to Senator Linda Frum’s question and answer session with Shira Haas, while Frum was seated in some sort of studio, Haas was in a room in her home, which looked quite unadorned – hardly what you would expect to see in the home of a major television star. Following are excerpts from the interview:
Frum: “What’s it like to be an Israeli celebrity?”
Haas: “It’s a feeling of being a family in Israel. Everyone knows everyone. When you walk in the streets and get compliments it’s like people feel they know you.”
Frum: “How did you know you were going to be an actor?”
Haas: “I was very shy. I never thought I’d be an actor. Thanks to Facebook I auditioned for a part just before I turned 16. One of my first auditions was for ‘Shtisel’ (in which she played the part of Ruchamie). It’s hard to believe that was already 10 years ago.”
Frum: “Did you think you’d have a career only in Hebrew or did you want to be an international actor?”
Haas: “When we were doing ‘Shtisel’ or ‘Unorthodox’ nobody ever thought it would get to Netflix – so I never thought I would become an international actor.”
Frum: “When you choose your projects, you don’t take the easy road. Of all the difficult things you’ve done, what was the hardest?”
Haas: “Your question reminded me that a few weeks ago someone stopped me on the street and complimented me. I gave him a big smile and he said: ‘Omigod, it’s so nice to see you smile!’” (in reference to Haas’s roles in “Shtisel” and “Unorthodox” where she faced unremittingly difficult choices and hardly ever smiled.)
“My most challenging role was in ‘Asia’ (pronounced A-seea – in which Haas plays a young girl struggling with a degenerative neurological disease. It hasn’t reached Winnipeg yet.) It was very personal for me.” (Haas had kidney cancer when she was 2, and saw her growth stunted as a result of her chemotherapy treatments, according to a story we ran in our June 23 issue.)
Frum: “You are obviously secular. How did you prepare yourself for ‘Shtisel’ and ‘Unorthdox’?”
Haas: “I was very young when I started doing ‘Shtisel’. I didn’t know much about the Orthodox world. It didn’t occur to me that it’s an Orthodox story. It’s a story about people. It brings people together.”
Frum: “It’s popular because it’s unusual, but also because it humanizes a group about which we don’t know very much. Did it change the dialogue in Israel?”
Haas: “It opened people’s minds – the power of watching art. People all over were suddenly interested.”
Frum: “Did you learn Yiddish for ‘Unorthodox’?”
Haas: “I found out that the Yiddish I needed to learn was completely different from the Yiddish I learned for ‘Shtisel’. Two of my favourite words from ‘Shtisel’ were a ‘bissel’ (meaning “a little”) and ‘koach’ (pronounced “coy-ach” – meaning “strength”).
“I know there are a lot of curse words in Yiddish, but I played Orthodox characters, so I didn’t learn any Yiddish curse words.”
Frum: ‘You’re on a list of the ten hottest Israeli women. (Haas blushed.) How are you going to play Golda Meir?”
Haas: “When she was a young lady she had lovers. I’m going to tell her story. I’m not going to imitate her.”
Frum: “Golda had an American accent. How are you going to pick it up?”
Haas: “Her Hebrew was good, but not as good as her English or Yiddish. She learned Hebrew in her 20s.”
Question from Daniel Chamovitz: “Without Covid, would you be where you are today” (referring to the fact that ‘Unorthodox’ first debuted on Netflix on March 26, 2020 – just as so much of the world was going into lockdown mode)?
Haas: “The first time I knew it (‘Unorthodox’) was a big success was when I was in quarantine and I looked out my window and saw my face on so many screens. I wish circumstances were different.”
Chamovitz: “Covid opened up markets for smaller scale TV shows. Shira, I read that you said you might have been a psychologist. Is that something you’d still consider doing? We have a great psychology program at Ben Gurion University.”
Haas: “Yes, I know. My sister studied psychology at Ben Gurion for her first degree.”
Frum began reading questions sent in by audience members. The first one was: “Time Magazine named you one of the 100 most influential people in the world. How do you feel about that?”
Haas: “It’s amazing. Here I am in Tel Aviv in my pajamas. It’s hard to think of me as one of the 100 most influential people in the world!”
Question: “Are you very active on social media?”
Haas: “Not much. I have an Instagram account, but to me it is something that doesn’t come naturally.”
Chamovitz: “You said that as a child you were shy. Maybe that explains it (her not being active on social media).”
Frum: “I wonder about that – you’re being private and interior, and forcing yourself to expose yourself A lot of times actors let their acting speak for themselves rather than talking.”
Frum: “Why do you feel it’s important to do events such as these? We’re in a moment when it’s not so easy.”
Haas: “I am Jewish, I am Israeli. Even if I play Mary Magdalene, I’m still Shira. I’m very proud Ben Gurion University is where my sister studied, and where my best friend is now studying.”
Frum: “Do you feel pressure to be a voice for Israel?“
Haas: “I don’t have to be political to do what I do.”
Frum: “Are you close with the ‘Shtisel’ family? Will there be a Season 4?”
Haas: “Very close. They will forever by my ‘mishpoche’. (But), it doesn’t feel like there will be a fourth season.”
At that point, various representatives of CABGU came on screen to thank Shira Haas and Linda Frum. And, even though it was the middle of the night in Israel, Shira said she had enjoyed herself so much she would have liked to continue. (There’s an idea for some other Winnipeg organizations.) It was a truly delightful evening. There’s something to be said for a well-planned online event. Congratulations to the organizers.
Features
Brain drain affecting Israel could lead to severe economic difficulties
By BERNIE BELLAN (Oct. 27, 2026) As of the time of writing, the future shape of Israel’s Knesset was clear as mud. I always remember one of the most important lessons I learned as a Political Studies student, which is the structure-function relationship of any country’s political system, in which the structure of a country’s system of government determined how stable that country’s government was likely to be.
Are we lucky to be living in a parliamentary democracy – with a first past the post system of government, where it is not that complicated to cobble together a majority government – even if it means sometimes aligning with rival parties to form that majority?
After watching the spiral into authoritarianism now taking place in the U.S. under their fragmented democratic system where an unscrupulous president can appropriate almost unlimited power – unchecked by the toadies on the Supreme Court or members of Congress, I would say we’re so much luckier to be living within a parliamentary system of government.
But, when it comes to total disarray – no one can beat Israel’s system of government, where it is near impossible to put together a stable government unless – following the pattern of so many other formerly democratic countries, an authoritarian leader manages to assert himself and neutralize so many of that country’s democratic institutions – which is what we have seen happening under Netanyahu’s leadership.
I ask all these questions after having read an article on the Times of Israel website back in August, but whose relevance has become only more prominent as a result of Israel’s continual slide into disarray.
We in the West can pretend that Israel, for all its problems, is still a democracy, and that no matter what may be happening there, its citizens still want to live there.
But, after reading the TOI article, which was titled “Emigration of doctors, engineers, other highly educated Israelis hits record high,” one might be forgiven for thinking that Israel’s best and brightest are hurrying to leave their country.
Here are some figures from that story: A “Tel Aviv University report released earlier this week showed a record-setting trend of emigration from Israel continued in 2025, with nearly 50,000 Israelis leaving the country for the third year in a row.”
The article also noted that “High-earning Israelis working in tech and healthcare are emigrating in sharply rising numbers, almost doubling over five years, a new study by the Israel Tax Authority has found.
“The research by the Israel Tax Authority’s Planning and Economics Division, which examined incomes of Israeli emigrants over the past decade, found the rate at which affluent Israelis left the country increased sharply in 2023 and 2024 to record highs, and was almost double what it was until 2019.”
Although I posited that Israel’s political instability is a major reason for the exodus so so many high-income earners, the authors of the study say that it is not altogether clear what is behind the departure of so many talented Israelis: “The authors of the study stated that it was difficult to determine whether this shift in the makeup of emigrants stemmed from major changes that occurred in society and the labor market following the COVID-19 pandemic, or whether it was a reaction to the political upheaval over the judicial overhaul and security events that started with the October 7 onslaught and war in Gaza that have been shaking Israel since 2023.”
One might well ask whether a significant number of other Israelis would also leave the country, were they in an economic position to do so? After all, for many years, here in Manitoba we saw a large influx of Israelis, almost entirely coming from the middle class, who were drawn to come here by a combination of factors, including the GrowWinnipeg initiative – which made it attractive for young Israeli families to look to Winnipeg as a potential landing point, also the Provincial Nominee Program, which offered immigrants opportunities to find employment in areas where Manitoba was short of particular types of workers.
But, what of those high income Israelis to which the TOI article refers? Anecdotally, we have read and heard accounts of highly educated Israelis moving here (and Myron Love has often profiled some of those individuals), but if 150,000 Israelis have left the country, one wonders where they have all gone?
Here are the favourite destinations for Israelis looking to move somewhere else (in order): the U.S. Canada, United Kingdom, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Malta, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand.
Many of those countries have tightened their immigration rules, however, as the backlash in Western countries against immigrants from poorer countries has also led to an overall decrease in the number of immigrants allowed in from other Western countries, including Israel.
Still, for individuals with particular talents – or with very high incomes, finding a country to which they can move does not present the same problems as it would for people of lesser means.
Let me end this with this cautionary note from the TOI article: “For a country where the top 20% of income earners are paying 92% of all income tax revenue, the change in the mix of Israelis leaving the country represents a significant strategic risk to state revenues and growth in the economy.”
And, with so many countries now seeing Israel as a pariah state, with all the attendant economic consequences that portends, it is hard to be optimistic about Israel’s future.
Features
Coincidence or not: Two books launched the same night – by my brother and by my niece
By GERRY POSNER Recently, on October 8, to be exact, an odd timing coincidence occurred in my family that struck me as highly unlikely. Two books were launched on the very same night in Toronto, at two separate locations. What was unusual for me was that one book was by my brother, Michael Posner and the other book was written by my niece, Elana Shira Segal. The topics, unsurprisingly, were not connected to each other. But you could not have planned that timing any worse than it turned out to be.
Michael Posner’s book, This Jewish Moment, an oral history of the Diaspora after October 7, 2023 had various people giving their opinions on a set of questions Michael posed to them as he interviewed them following the October 7, 2023 massacre. The interviews were conducted by Zoom. Each person interviewed was aware of the fact that the interview was recorded and that the interview might be used in a book. Each person’s name and age is given along with a brief description of who that person is. Some of the interviews were with people well known in Manitoba circles.The oral history technique is not new to Michael as he used it in the Leonard Cohen trilogies he created not that long ago and before that in his book on Mordecai Richler.
Michael interviewed over one hundred Jews in Canada and the United States. The thrust of the book was to explore how the events of October 7 affected the interviewees, how it changed (or didn’t change) their interpersonal relationships; altered, if at all, their spiritual lives; their trust in Jewish institutions and indeed, their perceptions about their own safety. It includes their thoughts about what lies ahead and even the idea of leaving North America. Without giving too much away, I can say that the opinions canvassed in the book do reflect a definite shift for many of the interviewees from their previous thoughts on these topics. If you read Michael’s book, you will not come away singing cheery songs. For many people, the future is bleak.
At the book launch held at the Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto in front of about sixty people, there were several former Winnipeggers in attendance, including: Paul Shuckett, Bernie and Sheila Rubenstein, Aubrey Caplan and Philipa Glazerman, the former Susan Silverman, Gary Diamond, my son Ari Posner, and even a current resident of Winnipeg, Dolly Cohen, who came to visit her cousin Philipa.
Michael’s book, published by Sutherland Press, is in hardcover and ebook. It can be purchased at Indigo, and through Amazon.
Elana’s book is in an entirely different genre than her Uncle Michael’s book. Even the Darkness Has Stars is the title of her book -also her very first book. It is a work of fiction based on her career as a social worker and therapist for over 30 years in Toronto. The book explores the life of a teenage girl dealing not only with the usual teenage angst, but other issues as well. It is a book that will resonate with teenagers, and indeed parents of teenagers. It is a story of resilience and is an honest reflection of the very real problems facing many teens and ways to address their problems. I would suggest that the themes in the book are very relevant to teenagers today, especially girls. I think it is also fair to say that many parents of teenage children will identify with the difficulties faced by the chief protagonist in the book. Even counsellors and trained therapists will recognize the issues raised in this book. Schools and libraries would benefit from the book.
At her book launch, Elana outdrew her Uncle Michael as she had over one hundred people there. The conflict of the two books presented several of us in the family with an issue as to which event to attend. While my son Ari came to his uncle’s launch, his wife Tamar Kagan went to Ari’s first cousin Elana’s debut book launch. Even my wife and I split our allegiances.
Elana’s book can be ordered through Amazon or Barnes and Noble in the USA.
Now, if the oddity of the two books in the family being released at the same time was not enough, in November, another family member has a book coming out. This book is by my nephew Sam Posner’s wife, Erin Rothstein. Her book, called Watch Me is a guide to unlocking creative power. Erin is a visual artist, whose original paintings and limited edition prints have made her a name in the world of art already. She has a large following due to the success of her art. Her book deals with the ways to find your inner creativity and the ideas that spring to life when a person unlocks that creativity and gives him or herself permission to think bigger. If the book lives up to the art Erin creates, she will have a best seller. Erin’s book will be launched in four cities: Toronto, Montreal, New York and Los Angeles. It will be available at Indigo, Barnes and Noble, and through Amazon in hardcover, paperback, e-book and audiobook.
To the readers of this article, get out there and support the Posner family.
Features
The late Dr. Maurice Shnider had a fascinating life – from serving in WWII to meeting famous celebrities who passed through Winnipeg
By MARTIN ZEILIG I first visited Dr. Maurice Shnider at his home in Winnipeg’s River Heights neighbourhood to talk about war.
His house reflected the life of a successful physician. It was spacious and comfortable without being ostentatious. Family photographs occupied shelves and tables. Sunlight spilled into the kitchen where we sat drinking coffee.
By then he was an elderly man, friendly, thoughtful, and possessed of that rare quality found in some people who have lived through extraordinary times. He never seemed impressed by his own experiences.
He had been born in Sheho, Saskatchewan, in 1923 and grew up in Inglis, Manitoba.
Then came the war.
As a young man he served with the Royal Canadian Air Force before being seconded to the Royal Air Force. Flying aboard Catalina flying boats in the Bay of Bengal, he participated in missions searching for downed Allied aircrew and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Those were the stories I had come to hear and later wrote about for the Jewish Post & News.
Stories of long flights over open water.
Stories of rescue.
Stories of courage.
Yet as the interview continued, another chapter of his life emerged.
After the war he returned to Canada, attended medical school at the University of Manitoba, and eventually built a successful family practice in Winnipeg. His patients often became his friends. He took pride in caring for generations of families and became known as a gifted and dedicated physician.
For a period of years, he also served as the physician responsible for checking vaccination records and health documentation for international travellers passing through Winnipeg International Airport.
It was then that his eyes brightened.
The war stories were important.
The airport stories were fun.
“You’d be surprised who came through Winnipeg,” he said.
The coffee was fresh. Outside, a warm prairie breeze shifted the trees beyond the kitchen window.
Then he smiled.
“Even the Beatles.”
The name immediately caught my attention.
“The Beatles?”
He laughed.
“The whole city went crazy.”
It was August 18, 1964.
The Beatles were on their way to begin their first major North American tour and Winnipeg was merely a refuelling stop. They weren’t playing a concert. They weren’t staying overnight.
They were simply passing through.
Yet somehow word spread.
Radio stations reported it. Teenagers rushed to the airport. Parents drove excited daughters across the city. Traffic clogged nearby roads. The terminal filled with screaming fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the four young Englishmen who seemed to have conquered the world overnight.
Maurice happened to be the airport doctor assigned to examine the passengers’ health records.
What should have been a routine day suddenly became anything but.
Almost fifty years later, what remained vivid in his memory was not the famous faces but the sound.
The noise.
The shrieking.
The excitement.
For a brief moment Winnipeg became the centre of the universe for thousands of young Canadians.
Then the aircraft door opened.
John, Paul, George, and Ringo appeared.
They waved.
The crowd erupted.
A few photographs were taken.
A few words were exchanged.
And then, scarcely more than twenty minutes after they had arrived, they were gone.
Winnipeg returned to being Winnipeg.
Maurice chuckled at the memory.
“John Lennon was cheeky.”
I asked what he meant.
He considered the question.
“Always had a smart answer.”
He smiled again.
“Not rude. Just cheeky.”
The passage of decades had done nothing to diminish his amusement.
For a few moments we sat quietly.
Then another memory surfaced.
“Steve McQueen was one of the nicest.”
That surprised me.
Maurice encountered the actor in the airport restaurant.
McQueen was seated alone.
No entourage.
No photographers.
No one making a fuss.
Just a man eating lunch between flights.
Maurice rarely approached famous people.
But there was a reason that day.
One of his children was facing serious medical challenges and was a devoted Steve McQueen fan. Movies offered an escape from hospitals, treatments, and uncertainty.
So Maurice walked over to the actor’s table.
He introduced himself and explained the situation.
McQueen listened carefully.
Then he asked for the family’s address.
That was all.
No promises. No performance. No grand gesture.
Simply an address.
Several weeks later a package arrived at the Shnider home.
Inside was an autographed Steve McQueen poster.
Maurice’s expression softened as he recalled it.
The poster itself wasn’t what mattered.
What mattered was seeing the joy it brought.
Even years later, that was the part of the story he remembered most clearly.
“He was a very humble man,” Maurice said.
“Very soft-spoken.”
The kitchen fell silent.
For a moment the famous actor disappeared entirely from the story.
What remained was a father’s gratitude.
Then Maurice laughed again.
“Vanessa Redgrave.”
Another unexpected visitor.
She was travelling through Winnipeg on her way to Los Angeles when it was discovered that she lacked the proper vaccination documentation required for international travel.
In those days such requirements were taken seriously.
The problem needed solving.
So Maurice solved it.
He drove her downtown to his office.
One of the world’s most celebrated actresses riding through Winnipeg in a doctor’s car.
No limousine.
No security detail.
No red carpet.
Just traffic lights, city streets, and ordinary conversation.
There he administered the required vaccination and drove her back to the airport in time for her flight.
He told the story as though it were perfectly routine.
Perhaps for him it was.
I remember thinking that this was what made his stories so wonderful.
To everyone else they sounded extraordinary.
To Maurice they were simply things that had happened during a long and interesting life.
As our conversation drew to a close, he looked down into his coffee cup and reflected on the famous people who had crossed his path.
The Beatles.
Steve McQueen.
Vanessa Redgrave.
Different personalities.
Different kinds of fame.
Yet in the end they all became the same thing.
Travellers.
People worried about schedules.
People missing paperwork.
People trying to catch flights.
People trying to get somewhere.
The old airport had been a great equalizer. For a few moments, between arrival and departure, fame gave way to ordinary life.
And Maurice Shnider occupied a unique place in that world.
He wasn’t a celebrity.
He wasn’t an observer standing outside the story.
He was part of it.
A prairie boy who became a decorated wartime airman, flew rescue missions over distant seas, returned home to study medicine, built a respected family practice in Winnipeg, and devoted his life to helping others.
Some of the people he met happened to be famous.
Most were not.
To Maurice, it made little difference.
He especially enjoyed the company of pilots, storytellers, musicians, and adventurers. He remained fascinated by the Second World War, by history, and above all by people. Fame interested him far less than character.
He remembered the famous ones not because they were celebrities, but because, for a few brief moments, they revealed themselves to be something far more interesting.
Simply human.
When Dr. Maurice Shnider died in 2013 at the age of ninety, Winnipeg lost not only a distinguished physician and decorated veteran, but also a man who never lost his curiosity about the world or his affection for the people who passed through it.
Some departures are quickly forgotten.
Others leave a lasting mark.
That was how I remember him.
And that is how he deserves to be remembered.
