Features
Eclectic Nathan Zassman always on lookout for new challenges, new fields to conquer
By MYRON LOVE Aviva Natural Health Solutions on St. James Street is not your typical health food store just as Aviva’s founder, Nathan Zassman, is not your typical entrepreneur.
“What is unique about Aviva is that we take a holistic approach to achieving optimum health through a healthy lifestyle,” Zassman says. “I do a tremendous amount of research in a constant quest for finding solutions to people’s health problems. Many of our products were discovered from research I’ve done working to resolve my own health issues.”
As an example, he cites a brand of footwear from Switzerland, kybun, which was recommended after he tore up some knee ligaments four years ago. Doctors told him he would have to have both knees replaced. He tried the shoes – which claim to repair cartilage and, after ten days, he was walking without pain, after having had to use a walker.
“A physiotherapist who shops here was amazed,” Zassman says. “As a result of my own experience, I can advise people about how properly designed footwear can eliminate knee, hip and back pain.”
At Aviva, Zassman focuses on promoting healthy eating (through food products, healthy food preparation, and dietary supplements) and liquids (as in water filtration systems). A healthy living space requires clean air, for which he recommends air purifiers and humidifiers that can improve any environment. He promotes the importance of getting a good night’s sleep (with organic latex mattresses and coverings that facilitate healing while reducing the time it takes to fall asleep), sitting on active health-promoting chairs, and wearing therapeutic footwear.
One of Aviva’s air purifier brands – Blueair – from Sweden – was recently featured on CBC’s Marketplace – which tremendously boosted Aviva’s sales of the products.“We sold more than 300 units in just two weeks after the Marketplace feature,” he reports, and Aviva continues to sell them in large numbers.“We sell our products worldwide, through our website avivahealth.com.”
Aviva’s eclectic mix of products closely mirrors Zassman’s own lifetime of careers and pursuits. The lifestyle guru began life in Beverly, Massachusetts, which is about 20 miles northeast of Boston. In high school and beyond, he studied trombone and voice at both the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in New York City, and, later, at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He was performing regular concerts in Carnegie Hall with the American Symphony Orchestra when he was only 19 years of age.
In Chicago he performed in the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony, and was a member and soloist with the North Side Symphony of Chicago. Nathan’s first experience as an entrepreneur also occurred in Chicago, when he founded The Zassman Brassmen, a brass quintet that performed educational concerts in schools, as well as formal concert performances.
In 1974, after six of years of study in Chicago with the famous brass pedagogue Arnold Jacobs, Zassman won the audition for second trombone in the Winnipeg Symphony. In addition to his role as a trombonist with the WSO, he joined the faculty of the University of Manitoba, teaching the brass instruments, conducting brass ensembles, and teaching “Brass Techniques” at the Faculty of Education, outlining the basics of all the brass instruments to music education students.
But Zassman has never been defined by just one category. Concurrent with his career in music, he trained as a professional photographer at the Winona School of Professional Photography in Indiana, earning 20 diplomas and Certificates of Merit in a wide range of photographic disciplines. “I became interested in photography while in Chicago,” he recalls, “and spent my summers studying at the best schools and with famous photographers, to refine and improve my craft. I approached photography the same way I did music, seeking out the finest photographers who shared their unique techniques, either privately, or through classes.”
While in Chicago, Zassman developed an interest in Eastern philosophy, studying yoga and astrology at the College of Occult Studies in Chicago. In Winnipeg, he later founded Celestial Interface, producing astrological birth charts for those interested in learning how astrology can improve their lives. He was also appointed CBC Official Photographer, appearing on about a dozen radio and TV spots with CBC Radio and Television, preparing and discussing astrological birth charts on political candidates running for local and national elections.
Zassman founded a photography business specializing in architectural, portrait and commercial photography, creating magazine covers and illustrations for local and national magazines. He also became the Winnipeg Symphony’s official photographer, doing portraits of all the musicians for the symphony programs, as well as taking the annual photo of the orchestra. For many years he taught photography at a school he founded in Winnipeg while the symphony was in session from September to May, and taught professional photographic techniques at the Winona School of Professional Photography, the University of Saskatchewan Department of Art, and the Saskatchewan School of the Arts during the summer months. Zassman also founded The Heliograph Gallery, the first gallery that specialized in photography in Winnipeg.
Now, one would think that teaching photography, performing with the Winnipeg symphony and teaching at the University of Manitoba School of Music would be more than enough to keep someone busy, but Nathan Zassman is a cut above average. He further added businessman to his resumé when he got into computer sales on the ground floor in 1982.
“I had always been interested in cooking and nutrition,” he recalls. “In the early 1980s, I was hired by a local book publisher to write a cookbook with an original idea. I was planning to write the book on my IBM typewriter, but a friend recommended I use a word processor, as he told me that no one used a typewriter anymore for writing.”
One of Nathan’s photography students worked for a local company, Westsun Media. They were selling the Kaypro, which had been rated the best value brand of computer that could be used as a word processor. Nathan purchased a Kaypro with two floppy disk drives for $4000, and couldn’t believe the freedom it provided, allowing him to edit his work, and even check his spelling.
Zassman was so enthused with his computer that he encouraged all his friends to buy one as well. “I was sending so many customers to Westsun to buy a Kaypro computer that I asked the owner, Marc Raymond, if he would allow me trade mine in for a new model with a built in hard drive, which was revolutionary at the time for a portable computer. Marc acknowledged that all his sales were thanks to Nathan and offered him the job as sales manager for the computer division of Westsun. After a short time, Nathan decided he should start his own business and left Westsun.
Thus, in 1982, the musician became a businessman with the founding of Aries Microsystems. “Our business grew rapidly,” Zassman recalls. “By 1986, Aries ranked as the fastest-growing business in Manitoba.” But in 1988 he found that the added responsibilities of running a computer business were interfering with his musical career, so he decided to sell Aries to one of his employees. However, Zassman retained his passion for computers and after his three year non-competition clause from the sale of Aries came to an end, in 1991 he started a second computer company – Opus Computer Solutions.
Zassman retired from the WSO in 1995 to devote himself full time to his new company. “In 1997, I bought the former Winestock’s Wholesale building at 52 Adelaide in the Exchange District and moved my computer business into the downtown marketplace area,” he recalls. “In 2001, I decided to set up a gym on the third level for my computer technicians. I wanted to encourage my technicians to include exercise in their lifestyle. I did my research and bought the best fitness equipment available.”
After a short time, he decided to also sell the fitness lines he purchased for the Opus gym, and Aviva Natural Health Solutions was born.
Zassman then went to the United States, studying Nutritional Therapy in Medical Practice with Jonathan Wright, M.D., and Alan Gaby, M.D., and obtaining certificates in 2003 and 2007. By 2005, Aviva was bringing in enough revenue to stand on its own, so Zassman sold Opus Computer Solutions in 2007 to focus entirely on his new venture.
“I seem to change careers every 20 years or so,” he says.
He moved Aviva to its current location, at 1224 St. James Street, in 2010. And, while still very active in the operations of Aviva, true to form Zassman continues to grow and explore other fields. A bass/baritone, he’s returned to singing and was studying with Mel Braun at the University of Manitoba, as well as singing in two choirs – until Covid forced a pause. On top of all that, a few years ago, began taking acting classes with the Prairie Theatre Exchange. He became a member of Shoestring Players, and has appeared in three plays so far.
He continues to indulge his passion for healthy cooking and baking bread. While running Opus, he became well known for offering his customers and staff free loaves of bread, made from freshly ground organic grain, and is still doing so at Aviva. These days though, he concentrates on sourdough bread. He offers his starter to anyone interested in baking sourdough bread, for free.
Features
The Torah on a Lost Dog: Hashavat Aveidah in a Modern Canadian City
A neighbour’s dog wanders into your yard on a Wednesday morning in May, dragging a leash and looking confused. You have a choice. You can close the door and assume someone else will deal with it, call the city, or take a photo, knock on a few doors, and try to find out where he belongs.
For most people in Winnipeg and elsewhere in Canada, that choice plays out in a flash of moral instinct rather than reflection. The hand reaches for the phone and the walk around the block begins. The neighbour, if it goes well, is at the door before lunch. The decision feels minor, but it matters more than it looks.
In Jewish tradition, the act of returning a lost animal sits at the centre of one of the oldest practical commandments in the Torah. Deuteronomy 22, near the end of Parashat Ki Teitzei, contains a passage that has become the foundation for an entire body of Jewish ethical law: “If you see your fellow’s ox or sheep going astray, you shall not hide yourself from them; you shall surely bring them back.” The verse goes on to extend this duty beyond animals to any lost property. “So shall you do with every lost thing of your brother’s which he has lost and you have found.” Then comes the line that has occupied rabbis for two thousand years: “You may not hide yourself.”
The Hebrew name for this mitzvah is hashavat aveidah, the returning of a lost thing. It is one of the more practical commandments in a tradition full of practical commandments, and the rabbinic literature surrounding it is unusually thick.
A small commandment with big implications
The reason hashavat aveidah occupies so much rabbinic attention is that, on closer reading, it sets a high ethical bar. The Talmud, particularly the second chapter of tractate Bava Metzia known as Eilu Metziot, devotes pages to questions a modern reader would immediately recognize. How long must you wait for the owner to claim the item? How hard do you have to look for them? What if the animal needs feeding while you search? What expenses can you recover, and what counts as fair? What if the item is too inconvenient to safely return?
The rabbis answer all of these. The answers are not always intuitive. The finder is obligated to feed and shelter the animal while looking for the owner. The animal must not be put to work for the finder’s profit. The owner, when found, repays reasonable costs but is not on the hook for unreasonable ones. If the search takes too long, there are procedures for what to do next, none of which involve quietly keeping what is not yours.
Underneath the legal detail is a moral assumption that is easy to miss in a hurried reading. The Torah does not say to return the animal if it is convenient. It explicitly forbids the act of hiding yourself, of pretending you did not see, of crossing to the other side of the street. The commandment is as much about the person who finds as it is about the animal that is lost.
What this looks like in 2026
Most people who encounter a stray dog in a Winnipeg neighbourhood today are not thinking about Bava Metzia. They are thinking about whether the dog is friendly, whether they should call the City, whether they have time. The instinct to help is usually present. The question is what to do with it.
The practical infrastructure for hashavat aveidah in this country has changed considerably in the last decade. A finder in Winnipeg in 2026 has access to a regional humane society, a network of local Facebook groups, neighbourhood newsletters, and a handful of national platforms that gather sightings and missing-pet alerts across more than 180 Canadian cities. The mechanism is straightforward. A clear photo and a location pin can reach the right owner within hours when the system works, which it usually does.
The most underused of these resources, in any community, is the simple act of posting a sighting. Many people who find a stray feel they need to first catch the animal, find it food, take it home, or in some way solve the problem in full. The rabbis would actually disagree with that framing, and so does modern pet-recovery practice. The first responsibility is to make the sighting visible. The owner is almost certainly already looking. The finder’s main job is to surface what they have seen.
For people in Winnipeg looking for a place to start, a practical guide for what to do when you find a stray walks through the basic steps. Take a clear photo, note the cross-streets and time, check for a tag, and post the sighting where local owners will see it. The work is small. The effect, on the owner who has been awake for two nights and then sees a photo of their dog with a phone number underneath, is much larger than the work itself.
The ethical centre of the commandment
There is a strain of Jewish thought that reads hashavat aveidah as a kind of training in noticing. The deeper commandment goes beyond returning what is lost. It asks the finder to be the kind of person who sees what is lost in the first place, who does not cross to the other side of the street, who does not pretend not to have noticed.
That reading lines up with another Jewish ethical concept that often gets paired with this one: tza’ar ba’alei chayim, the obligation to prevent unnecessary suffering to animals. The Talmud derives this principle from several places in the Torah, including the rest commanded for animals on Shabbat. The two principles overlap in the case of a lost pet. The animal is suffering. The owner is suffering. The finder is, briefly, the only person in the position to do anything about it.
In a small way, the entire Canadian volunteer ecosystem around lost pets, from neighbourhood Facebook groups to national platforms to the dog walker who recognizes a posted photo, is an example of this ethical structure in action. People do not necessarily think of it in those terms. The framework is there anyway, doing its quiet work.
A community-scale point
Winnipeg’s Jewish community has always understood itself as a network of responsibilities to others, the kind that get described as chesed when they are visible and assumed when they are not. The work of returning a lost animal sits comfortably in that frame. It is not heroic, does not make the bulletin, and is exactly the kind of small obligation that knits a community together when nobody is paying attention.
The dog in the yard on a Wednesday morning in May, leash trailing, is one version of the question Deuteronomy asks. The answer, then and now, is the same. Do not hide yourself.
Features
Basketball: How has Israel become one of the best basketball countries in Europe in the last few years?
When Israeli Deni Avdija became the first Israeli to be drafted as the highest Israeli draftee in NBA history in 2020 – then emerged as a key NBA wing in Portland, it was not so much the breakthrough it appeared to be, but a portent of things to come. Israeli basketball development has been decades in the making, and in recent years its clubs have made Europe take notice.
This is why Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and the national basketball team of Israel are now the subjects of serious discussion in European basketball. It is only natural that fans and bettors reading form, depth of the roster, and momentum would look at our Euroleague predictions and then evaluate how Israeli teams would fit into the continental picture.
A rich history: The Maccabi Tel Aviv mythos
The contemporary narrative dates back to before Avdija. Maccabi Tel Aviv won its maiden European Cup in 1977, beating Mobilgirgi Varese and providing a nation under pressure with a sporting icon. Tal Brody’s declaration: “We are on the map” became not just a quote, it became a declaration of Jewish confidence, Israeli strength and a basketball dream.
Maccabi turned out to be the team of the nation since it bore Israeli identity past the borders. Maccabi has been a cultural ambassador before globalization transformed elite lists into multinational conundrums. Its yellow jerseys were the symbol of excellence, rebellion, and identification for the Israeli people at home and Jewish communities abroad.
The six European championships for the club provided a benchmark that has influenced the Winner League and Israeli basketball. Children were not just spectators of Maccabi, they dreamed of Europe as something accessible. Coaches studied in the continental competition. Sponsors and broadcasters realized that basketball had the potential to be the most exportable Israel team sport.
The modern pillars of Israeli basketball’s success
The recent ascendancy of Israel is no magic. It is the result of history, astute recruiting, youth-building and pressure-tested league culture. The nation has made its size its strength: clubs find talent at a young age and enhance the potential with foreign professionals.
Nurturing homegrown talent: The Deni Avdija effect
The most obvious example is that of Avdija. He was a high-ranking contributor in the system of Maccabi Tel Aviv, was chosen as a teenager, and was picked number 9 by Washington in the 2020 NBA Draft. His career was a reminder that an Israeli prospect could be more than a local star; he could be a lottery pick with two-way NBA potential.
Israeli NBA player Omri Casspi had already opened that door, and Avdija opened it even further for the next generation. Their achievements captivated the expectations of youthful players in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Holon, Herzliya, etc. An Israeli teenager is now able to envision a path from youth leagues to the Winner League, the EuroLeague, and ultimately – NBA minutes.
It is that dream that has been followed by investment. Israeli clubs put more emphasis on skills training, strength training, and analytics, as well as international youth tournaments. The success of the national program in the face of the best of Europe has also helped.
A global approach: The role of international and naturalized stars
The other pillar of the Israeli basketball program is the openness of Israel to global talent. The Winner League has been an important destination, not a stopover, for American guards and forwards. Most come in with NCAA or G league experience and become leaders due to the fact that the league requires scoring, speed and tactical flexibility.
It is enriched with naturalized players and Jewish players, who are able to use the Law of Return to come to Israel to play. Inspired by legendary players like Tal Brody, current imports who can bond both professionally and personally with Israelis have provided teams with uncharacteristic diversity in their rosters. The outcome has been a mixture of Israeli competitiveness, American shot making, Balkan toughness, and European spacing.
Making waves in Europe: Israel’s modern Euroleague footprint
Even in challenging seasons, Maccabi Tel Aviv has remained the flagship team. Currently, Maccabi is out of a playoff spot in the EuroLeague, but Hapoel Tel Aviv has shot up in playoff discussion. That juxtaposition speaks volumes: Israel is no longer represented by one lone, iconic club. Its profile has expanded.
Nevertheless, it is true that the reputation of Maccabi in the EuroLeague does count. Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv is one of the most intimidating arenas for EuroLeague teams to play in: loud and emotional. Recent security and travel realities have affected the usual home-court advantage but the name of the club is still a potent brand.
It is the reason why there is an interesting betting discussion within Israeli teams. The name Maccabi still retains a historical impact, but analysts also need to quantify the present defensive performance, injuries, substitution of venues and guards, and fatigue in the schedule. The emergence of Hapoel has provided another Israeli point of reference and markets have to regard the nation as a multi-club force.
What’s next? The future of Israeli basketball on the world stage
Sustainability is the second test. The Israeli national basketball team desires more serious EuroBasket performances and a future world cup. It requires Avdija types – fit and powerful, more domestic big men, and guards capable of playing elite defense to get there.
The pipeline is an optimistic one. Israeli schools are more professional, teams are bolder with young talents, and the Winner League is a test ground where potential talents have to contend with older, tougher imports each week. Not all players will turn into an Avdija, yet additional players ought to be prepared to participate in EuroCup, EuroLeague, and even NBA games.
To the Jews in the Canadian diaspora, the impact is not only sporting, it is also emotional. Israeli basketball brings pride, drama and a common language to the continents. To the European fan, it provides tempo, creativity and unpredictability. To analysts, it provides a sign that a small nation, with memory, ambition and adaptation, can rise to become a true basketball power. Israel has ceased to be the unexpected guest on the table of Europe. It is a part of it, season after season.
Features
In recent years, we have been looking for something more than a house in Israel – we have been looking for a home
For many Jewish families in the diaspora, Israel has always been more than a destination. It is the land of tefillah, memory, family history and belonging. But in recent years, many families have begun asking a practical question too: should Israel also become a place where we have a home?
Not necessarily immediate aliyah. Sometimes it begins with a future option, something good to have just in case, or simply roots with a stronger connection to Eretz Yisroel.
But what does it mean?
A Jewish home is shaped not only by what is inside the front door, but by what surrounds it: neighbours, synagogues, schools, parks, local services, safe streets and the rhythm of Jewish life. For observant families, these are not small details. They are the things that turn a house into a place of belonging.
This is not a new idea. It is a need that has helped shape Jewish communities in Israel before. The Savyonim idea is rooted in the story of Savyon, the Israeli community established in the 1950s by South African Jews who wanted to create a green, safe and community-minded environment in Israel. It was a diaspora dream translated into life in the Jewish homeland.
That idea feels relevant again today. Many Jewish families abroad are now making plans around where they can feel connected in the years ahead.
Recent figures point in the same direction. Reports based on Israel’s Ministry of Finance data showed that foreign residents bought around 1,900 homes in Israel in 2024, about 50% more than the previous year, with Jerusalem emerging as the most popular place to buy. In January 2026, foreign residents still purchased 146 homes, broadly similar to January 2025, even as the wider housing market remained cautious.
For Lior David, International Sales & Marketing Manager at Africa Israel Residences, part of the continued interest may lie in the fact that today’s residential projects are increasingly built around the wider needs of Jewish families abroad: not only buying a property in Israel, but finding a setting that can support community, continuity and everyday Jewish life. That idea is reflected in Savyonim, the company’s residential concept, which places the surrounding environment at the heart of choosing a home.
This can be seen in Savyoney Givat Shmuel, where the surrounding environment includes synagogues, parks, educational institutions, local commerce, playgrounds and transport links, and in Savyoney Ramat Sharet in Jerusalem, located in one of the city’s established green neighbourhoods.
For families abroad, these things matter. Jerusalem and Givat Shmuel are never just another location. They are home to strong Jewish communities, established religious life and surroundings that allow a family to imagine not only buying property, but building a Jewish home in Israel.
Together, these projects reflect a broader understanding: that for many Jews in the diaspora, the decision to create a home in Israel is not only practical, but rooted in identity, continuity and community. The Savyonim story began with a Zionist community from abroad that succeeded in building a real home in Israel; today, that same vision continues in a contemporary form.