Features
Former Winnipegger Dr. Meir Kryger takes an impressive turn to fiction with “The Man Who Couldn’t Stay Awake”
By BERNIE BELLAN In the mid-1980s a young Dr. Meir Kryger was beginning to establish his reputation as one of the pre-eminent experts in the area of sleep disorders. Having moved to Winnipeg to take up a position at St. Boniface Hospital (where he was to establish Canada’s first sleep lab devoted entirely to researching sleep disorders and was the first doctor to describe a case of sleep apnea in Canada) Kryger also somehow found the time to begin working on a novel – which, for various reasons, he just couldn’t complete.
Eventually though, in 2020 Kryger did publish that novel which, appropriately enough (given his career’s major primary focus) was titled “The Man Who Couldn’t Stay Awake”. As Kryger wrote to me in a recent email, “While I was still in Winnipeg, I wrote a novel that I never did anything thing with because my medical career had priority. When COVID hit, I published it on Amazon.”
Now, you might expect that after taking more than 35 years to complete his first novel, Kryger was not exactly sitting on an incipient blockbuster that people would really enjoy – but you would be wrong.
If anything, “The Man Who Couldn’t Stay Awake” is a first-rate mystery that moves at a whirlwind pace and which, if it had been promoted by a major publishing house rather than being self published would probably have received considerable renown by now.
I couldn’t help but think that in the past eight months we’ve published reviews of two other novels by Canadian Jewish doctors (“Prairie Sonata, by Sandra Shefrin Rubin, and “Lost Immunity”, by Daniel Kalla), along with a book of poetry (“Tablet Fragments”, by Tamar Rubin). All of these books have gone on to receive widespread critical acclaim and, in some cases, have either won awards or been nominated for them.
That doctors can also be talented writers should come as no surprise. What I wonder though is how a practicing physician can find the time to write for pleasure, given how busy most of them are – and how polished the end products have turned out to be. (As a writer of non-fiction in these pages – although some readers may say that what I actually produce would best be described as fiction, I can attest to how one has to force oneself to sit down and write – on top of freeing oneself from all distractions: no easy task.)
But, as Meir Kryger explained in an email to me, Covid afforded him the opportunity to finish something that he had set aside many years before – and after he had already authored many other books of non-fiction, all to do with the subject of sleep.
I asked him how long he actually spent writing “The Man Who Couldn’t Stay Awake”? He answered: “I did many drafts of the book, some handwritten (which I still have). Hundreds of hours.”
So, what’s “The Man Who Couldn’t Stay Awake” all about? It tells the story of a doctor (naturally) by the name of Sam Moroz, who finds himself enmeshed in a plot involving oil drilling in the Arctic. The book opens up with Moroz falling from the sky on to the Arctic ice – certainly a riveting beginning to what unfolds as a complex mystery involving various subplots, including an elaborate investment scheme, life among the Inuit, marital betrayal, a trip to Las Vegas, followed by a rafting trip on the Colorado River, Swiss bankers, French gastronomy…need I go on?
The plot moves back and forth in time – a device that we’ve come to expect in good mystery novels, as we gradually begin to understand just how it is that Moroz ended up falling from the sky in that opening scene. Through the course of the novel Moroz befriends an Inuit hunter by the name of Pauloosie.
I asked Kryger though, whether in his final draft, he had thought of changing his references to “Indians” in the novel? Although the term would certainly have been acceptable in the 1980s, I’m not so sure that he would escape criticism in our contemporary age of liberal “cancel culture” .
Here is how he responded: “The word “Indian” appears about 35 times in the book. That was the term in common usage in the 1980s. Even government agencies used that word. The book was reviewed by an aboriginal professor at U of M who had no problems with the book. Most of the readers have been Americans: The term “American Indian” is widely used in the US.”
(That’s all well and good, Meir, but in an age when using the wrong term can lead to being pilloried by certain groups, I just don’t know how that would go over with the agents of political correctness.)
I also wondered though whether Kryger had ever thought of updating some other references in the novel to make it more accessible to younger readers. After all, reading about characters using payphones does seem somewhat anachronistic. So, I asked him whether he had thought about revising the book to make it more contemporary?
His answer was: “I did think of updating it, but the events and context are early 80s. I suppose I could have modeled Kian (the novel’s primary villain) as an internet tycoon (rather than an oil baron, which is how he is depicted). Maybe for the sequel?” (By the way, I did suggest to Kryger that he should bring back Sam Moroz in another novel, which is why he referred to writing a sequel – apparently an idea he’s contemplating).
Something else about “The Man Who Couldn’t Stay Awake” that might especially appeal to Winnipeg readers is that some of the action does take place in this city, although the descriptions of some of the seedier parts of Winnipeg are not exactly flattering. Kryger does delve into some interesting historical references though when he writes about the way Inuit suffering from tuberculosis and other maladies were administered to by well meaning White doctors. In his description of Pauloosie’s father’s treatment for TB, he reminded me of a story we published in our paper by Susan Turner about how her uncle, Dr. Earl Hershfield, became the leading expert on the treatment of that disease among the Inuit. (You can read that story on our website at http://jewishpostandnews.ca/8-features/608-dr-earl-hershfield-and-inuit-bobbie-suluk-connecting-over-time.)
In my email correspondence with Kryger, I suggested to him that he has the makings of another Dan Brown (author of “The Da Vinci Code”) in the way he provides the reader with so much interesting information as the action moves quickly from one locale to another while the hero attempts to solve a complicated mystery.
Kryger said though that he was inspired more by Charles Dickens’ “Pickwick Papers”. (I’m sorry to say that I haven’t read that one, but now my curiosity is piqued.)
The painful truth for a writer, however, no matter how good they may be, is that it’s very rare for a book to gain any sort of acclaim unless it’s picked up by a major publisher. Kryger says that he doesn’t have a literary agent, but if Amazon reviews are any indication, readers of “The Man Who Couldn’t Stay Awake” are overwhelmingly positive in their responses to this book.
Comments on Amazon (which is where the book can be purchased) range from “a real page turner” to “a well written travelogue”. And, although there aren’t a huge number of ratings, it does score an impressive 4.9 out of 5 in customer reviews.
For Winnipeggers who knew Meir Kryger when he, his wife, Barbara, daughter Shelley, and sons Michael and Steven, lived here until he took up a new position in 2011 at Yale University, I thought it might be interesting to catch up with where they’ve all ended up, so I asked Kryger to give a summary of where they all are these days.
Here’s what he wrote: “Shelley is a math teacher in NYC. Michael, my middle son is a doctor in charge of a spinal cord unit in Pennsylvania. Steven, my youngest son works in the financial industry. Barbara was a consultant in HR (career development) for APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network) until about 4 years ago.
“We are all vaccinated and well.”
“The Man Who Couldn’t Stay Awake” is available on paperback or in Kindle format from Amazon.
Features
Rabbi Gary Zweig’s new book provides humorous and moving accounts of making minyans in unlikely circumstances
By MYRON LOVE The recitation of the kaddish is a central tenet of Jewish religious life. Even members of our community who are largely secular will likely recite the words of the kaddish for a parent, sibling or spouse at some point in their lives – even if only at the grave site.
The kaddish can only be recited publicly in the presence of a minyan – a gathering of ten (men in the Orthodox tradition. The number, as explained by Rabbi Gedalia (Gary Zweig), stems from the number of spies – as written in the Torah – whom Moshe rabbenu sent into the promised land and who came back with negative reports as compared to the two spies – one of whom was Joshua – who said that the land was flowing with milk and honey.
It is this challenge of putting together minyans for a mourner to recite the kaddish in different locales and circumstances – when a minyan in a shul is not possible – that is the subject of Zweig’a newly released book, “Kaddish Around the World” – a 90-plus page compilation of short stories – some humourous, some heartwarming – of successful efforts to recruit enough daveners for a kaddish minyan, ranging in time and space from a Super Bowl game in San Diego to the middle of a game reserve in South Africa to a Jewish museum in Cordoba in Spain – in a city largely devoid of Jews.
Zweig, who hails from Toronto, was in Winnipeg over Yom Tov to lead services – along with Toronto-based Chazan Manny Aptowitser – at the Chavurat Tefila Talmud Torah Synagogue. On the Tuesday just before Yom Kippur, the synagogue hosted an evening to provide the rabbi with a venue to discuss his new book – a sequel to his first book, “Living Kaddish,” which he released in 2007 (and has been translated into Russian and Spanish).
Zweig is one of the original Aish Hatorah-trained rabbis – having attained his smicha in 1982 from Rabbi Noah Weinberg, the founder of Aish Hatorah. He (Zweig) is much travelled, himself having led Yom Tov services in such exotic locales as Bermuda, Barbados and Curacao in the Caribbean, Mexico and Sweden.
Zweig noted that he was inspired to write “Living Kaddish” after his mother passed away in 2002 when, on one occasion, he was not able to find a minyan so that he could say kaddish.
In his presentation at the Chavurat Tefila, he observed that the first Jew to mention kaddish is purported to be Rueven – about 3,500 years ago – on the passing of his father, Yaacov (Israel). About 900 C.E., Zweig continued, kaddish became part of the liturgy and, 200 years later, was included in the siddur.
It is interesting, he noted, that kaddish is said not for the deceased, but, rather, the living. There is no mention of the Lord in the kaddish either. Kaddish is actually a prayer for hope and the future.
For a parent, one is required to say kaddish three times a day – morning, afternoon and evening – for 11 months. For a sibling, child (God forbid), relative or others, the requirement is just 30 days.
One of the stories in “Kaddish Around the World” tells of one of Zweig’s own experiences – after his father died in 20201 at the age of 101. The author happened to be at a family bar mitzvah in Orlando several months later. He fully expected that in a city with a Jewish population the size of Orlando, he wouldn’t have any trouble putting together a minyan for a Sunday morning. He felt even more confident when he noticed that an AMOR Rabbis convention was being held at the same hotel. On inquiring which sort of rabbis these were, he learned that AMOR stood for “Association of Messianic Rabbis”.
Come Sunday morning, most of the bar mitzvah guests had gone home. He could only muster eight for the minyan. He thought he could try the messianic group in the hope that some of them may have been born Jewish. Four of the group offered to help. A Chabad rabbi suggested that Zweig ascertain that each had two Jewish parents. Two qualified.
Zweig quoted one of the two messianic rabbis who said, after the service that ”this was the most moving service I have ever experienced.”
“Maybe Hashem brought me to that particular hotel at that particular time so that I could provide them with little spark of what Judaism is about,” Zweig said.
Another of the stories in the book concerns a shopkeeper in an American mall where many of the other store owners were also Jewish. The individual, Yossi, needed a minyan for mincha (the afternoon prayer) but couldn’t afford to close his business. He figured he could round up enough of the other store keepers to form a minyan. Everyone he approached was willing to come if he were to be the tenth. (In my own years organizing minyans, that was something I heard often enough – “call me if I will be the tenth”). Yossi’s solution was to assure each one he asked that, yes, he would be the tenth.
“Kaddish Around the World” is available on Amazon and also in digital ebook format and as an audio book.
In addition to being a rabbi and author, Zweig also is a singer/songwriter working in his own genre – Jewish rock and roll. He has a band called “The Kiddush Club,” and a CD called “TOYS.” In addition, he has recently launched a YouTube channel called “Living Kaddish”.
Features
The Gaza Peace Plan is not a Done Deal, but an Opening
By HENRY SREBRNIK (Oct. 23, 2025) The idea that Hamas will voluntarily disarm, that international forces will deploy in the Gaza Strip, and that the process of building a Palestinian government by people like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in which a disarmed Hamas does not participate, are false hopes, if not fantasies. But does this mean U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan was useless? Of course not.
Trump understood the necessity of bringing the war to an end. But he also believed that endless debate among experts or, worse, historian and lawyers, would never produce an agreement. He presented an offer – actually, an ultimatum – to Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas that neither could refuse: immediate, unconditional and complete release of all hostages and missing persons, something the Israeli public longed for, in exchange for a final end to the war, which a humbled Hamas needed.
Two years of war has left Hamas weaker than it had been in decades. Israeli bombardments had shattered the group’s military capabilities and depleted its arsenals. In many neighborhoods, control had drifted to local clan networks and tribal councils. This hinted at something that could one day replace Hamas’s iron grip. To prevent this, Hamas has been ruthlessly murdering all potential rivals in the areas of Gaza it controls since the ceasefire went into effect.
Despite the severe degradation of its military capabilities during the war, Hamas still has more soldiers and weapons than all its rival factions in Gaza combined. Hamas has managed to redeploy approximately 7,000 militants to reassert control over the territory. They have publicized photographs and videos of their forces murdering and torturing; the victims include women and children.
The ceasefire is a temporary reprieve for Hamas: a chance to regroup, rearm, and prepare for the next round of fighting. In Islamist political thought there’s a word for it, hudna — a temporary truce with non-Muslim adversaries that can be discarded as soon as the balance of power shifts. Then the time for jihad will arrive again. Hamas was established in 1987 and isn’t going to disappear.
In fact Hamas also says it expects an interim International Transitional Authority to hire 40,000 Hamas employees, and Hamas spokesman Basem Naim says he expects its fighters to be integrated into a post-transition Palestinian state.
Still, Trump has succeeded in ending the current war in Gaza, where Joe Biden failed. Biden’s national security team, drawn almost entirely from his supposed expert class, didn’t even see the crisis coming. Just five days before the attack, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had published an article in Foreign Affairs in which he wrote that “the region is quieter than it has been for decades.”
Biden also had insulted the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, by publicly condemning the 2018 murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. And, of course, there was Biden’s poor relationship with Netanyahu, and his chronic inability to get the Israeli prime minister to do what he wanted.
By contrast, Trump returned to office with substantially more influence in both the Gulf and Israel, based on his first-term successes in the Middle East, especially the Abraham Accords (for which he’s never been praised by his political enemies).
Four Arab countries formally recognized Israel, beginning with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, followed by Sudan and Morocco. The next stage was intended to include Saudi Arabia. One motive put forward by some analysts for the October 7 attacks was that they were intended to provoke Israel into a response that would derail Saudi Arabia’s admission.
Instead of sitting Israelis and Arabs in a room and expecting them to negotiate an outcome, Trump’s approach has been to exert leverage through other players in the region, especially, Egypt, Turkey, and – most importantly – Qatar.
In Jerusalem, they call Qatar “the spoiler state.” Israelis describe the emirate as two trains running behind the same engine. One, led by the Qatari ruler’s mother and brother, supports the Muslim Brotherhood and is an unmistakable hater of Israel. The other, led by the prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and several other senior figures, seeks rapprochement with the West.
The Qataris were shocked when Israeli jets on Sept. 9 conducted an airstrike in Doha targeting the leadership of Hamas. They then signed onto Trump’s peace plan at a meeting in New York Sept. 23, hosted by Trump and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Ibn Hamad Al Thani, and attended by the leaders of eight Arab states, along with members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Netanyahu was then browbeaten into accepting the plan (and also forced to apologize to the Emir for the airstrike). It was somewhat ironic that the airstrike made the peace plan possible. As well, Trump’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June gave this negotiation some very sharp teeth.
“If you would rather leave peacemaking to the historians and diplomats, then you may wait a long time for wars to end,” suggested Niall Ferguson of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, in an Oct. 15 Free Press article. His advice? Go to the “deal guys: They get the job done.”
In a sense, both Israel and Hamas had accomplished their goals. Israel had broken the Iranian axis of terror by eliminating Hezbollah and Hamas as a fighting force, along with the Iranian nuclear threat. Hamas had succeeded in luring Israel into a trap that led it to become hated and isolated around the world. This included the labelling of Israel as genocidal and the global call for a Palestinian state.
The rest of the 20-point peace plan will be addressed in a step-by-step fashion. Meanwhile, Israel must ensure that it retains freedom of action in Gaza, by decisive action against any attempt by Hamas to rebuild its army, its rockets, its battalions and its divisions.
Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.
Features
Why Fitness Routines Fall Apart — and How to Rebuild Yours
Every spring, gyms see a flood of hopeful faces. New shoes, fresh playlists, unwavering intentions, by mid-summer? Half of them vanish into the fog of abandoned routines. The story repeats year after year until it starts to feel almost scripted. Why does enthusiasm evaporate? The easy answer involves willpower but that explanation misses the point. Habits don’t fail because people are weak. Life stress, boredom, and monotony ruin routines. Timely lever pulls can change narratives. The hardest part is persevering when motivation wanes.
Mistaking Motivation for Momentum
Most chase that opening surge, the lightning strike of motivation, but then stop searching once enthusiasm fizzles. A scroll through sites like PUR Pharma (pur-pharma.is/) or a glimpse of an influencer’s progress triggers a burst of action: new workout gear ordered, plans scribbled in planners destined for dusty drawers. Yet momentum fades when small setbacks pop up (a late meeting here, rainy weather there). Real progress comes from building systems stronger than any fleeting pep talk. Those who frame fitness as something owed to motivation end up back at square one every time life interrupts, which it always does.
Overcomplicating Everything
It’s tempting to turn wellness into a science fair project with spreadsheets and specialized equipment lined up on day one. This is the allure of complexity disguised as seriousness, a new diet paired with seven types of supplements and four color-coded bottles. Simplicity gets lost in the noise almost instantly. Most successful routines rely on two principles: keep it simple and keep showing up even when everything else is chaos outside those gym walls. Anyone insisting that perfection is required before taking step one has already constructed an excuse not to begin at all.
Forgetting Fun Completely
Who decided exercise must hurt or look like punishment? Somewhere along the line, fun got swapped out for grind culture and “no pain, no gain.” That isn’t just unappealing, it’s unsustainable over months or years. If sessions feel like torture devices borrowed from medieval times, nobody should be surprised when commitment falters fast. Seek activities that actually spark some joy or curiosity, a dance class instead of yet another treadmill session, maybe, or play a pickup game rather than slogging through solo circuits again and again.
Ignoring Recovery (and Reality)
Sleep deprivation, disguised as discipline, fools anyone, except perhaps uncritical Instagram followers. Ignoring recovery turns ambition into tiredness faster than any missed session. Because bodies break without rest, routines must breathe with owners. Cycling, real leisure, and honest self-checks regarding weekly goals build endurance, not continual pushing.
Conclusion
Change rarely arrives by force alone but usually grows quietly from patterns repeated imperfectly over time, even if last month looked nothing like this week so far. Drop the hunt for nonstop inspiration. Instead of breaking behaviors at the first hint of stress or boredom, build habits that last. People who rebuild methodically after every stumble or detour make progress, not those who peak and then fall.