Features
How Norman Stein, a long-time teacher in Winnipeg Jewish schools transitioned into an enventful career in the music business
By BERNIE BELLAN
In May 2021 I began what was supposed to have been a two-part story about the life of a man, Norman Stein, who left an indelible impression on so many Jewish students during his teaching career in the Jewish school system, which began in the 1950s and ended in 1967.
But – I’ve long been a procrastinator; it’s taken me over two years to return to Stein’s story.
Now 91, Stein left Winnipeg many years ago, but he still recalls his years teaching here – at the Talmud Torah, Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate, and the Rosh Pina Hebrew School, with great fondness.
When I published that initial story about Stein’s teaching career, which I began by delving into his childhood growing up first on Pritchard Avenue, later on Redwood, and finally on St. Anthony, I attempted to transcribe a line in Yiddish that I had recorded Stein as saying, but I mangled that line.
Here again is the anecdote Stein related about one time when he had wandered off on a Friday evening into the Ukrainian Labour Temple on the corner of Burrows and McGregor:
“Anyway, one Erev Shabbes – I was three or four, I snuck into the theatre and the manager asked me who I was looking for?
“I told him I was looking for my mommy. He said, ‘You just sit here’, and the next thing I know I’m watching the Priscilla Lane sisters playing tennis in their white shorts. I remembered that.
“The manager called me out and said, ‘Your mother’s here now.’ And I wondered, how could that be? because my mother doesn’t even know I’m here. I go out and there’s my mother and Mrs. Rubinfield, who ran a grocery store a few doors down, and had a pay phone – which they avoided using on Shabbes – but they called the police and the police asked, ‘Is there a favourite place he likes to go?’ and my mother said I like to go to the movies, so the police said: Maybe he went to the Labour Temple.’”
As Stein explained what happened next, when he was confronted outside the Labour Temple by his mother, Mrs. Rubinfield, and a “Bobby” who was with them, in addition to being scolded for wandering into the movie theatre, the Bobby added: “And you didn’t even pay”, to which, Stein said he answered (and remember, this is a four-year-old) – and this is the line I got completely wrong: “M’tur nisht trugen kein gelt oif Shabbes” – “You mustn’t carry any money on Shabbes.”
It may have taken me 26 months for me to correct that adulteration of the Yiddish language, but when I contacted Stein again recently to ask him whether he’d be willing to continue with the story of his Winnipeg years, the first thing he told me is how miserably I had failed in trying to transcribe that line.
Despite that very grave error, however, Stein did tell me that he quite enjoyed the May 2021 interview piece. I told him that piece also evoked a very strong and warm response from many of his former students and that many of them had told me they were very much looking forward to the sequel.
I ended the first part of my story about Stein by noting that, in 1966, he was involved in a very serious car accident when his car was rear ended by a truck. He said, “That’s a period I don’t remember well… I was in a coma for some time. I was a nervous wreck. My doctor suggested I go to some place relaxing, so I went to Hollywood.”
Thus began the next chapter of Norman Stein’s life, which we now take up here:
Stein was working for RCA Records in the A&R (artists & repertoire) department. One day a young, barefoot Black girl came in with a demo tape. She said her name was Natalie Cole (daughter of Nat King Cole).
Stein asked her why she didn’t take her demo tape to Capitol Records, since that’s where Nat King Cole had a recording contract? “She said she didn’t want to be attached to his apron strings,” Stein explained.
Apparently though, Natalie Cole was upset with Stein “and she stormed out of there.” I asked Stein whether there were any other memorable moments from his time in California, and he mentioned that he was still in the United States during the time of the Six-Day War in June 1967.
“The Israeli Philharmonic was touring in the States at the time and I did some PR for them. There was a celebratory concert at the Hollywood Bowl and the guest artist was Jack Benny.”
While he was still in California, Rabbi Witty, who was the then-principal of the Talmud Torah and Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate had phoned Stein and had asked him whether he would be prepared to resume teaching the humanities courses that he had taught to students in Grades 7-12 at JWC for years, including courses in the history of music and the history of art, philosophy, and library science.
I remember taking Stein’s course on the history of art. Part of the course was devoted to a study of architecture. Stein recalled how enthusiastic so many of the students in my particular class were when he gave us an assignment to “take photographs of sites in Winnipeg that would be comparable to some in Ancient Greece by the way they photographed.”
Stein did resume teaching those courses in the fall of 1967, but when he asked to take a leave of absence to attend various music conventions, Tamara Wiseman, who was the vice-principal of the Talmud Torah at the time thought that “it wasn’t fair to the students that I had to leave town to go to conventions to pursue a career in music,” and without even being given a chance to say good bye to his students, Stein was told that he should just “leave.”
I said to Stein that I had heard from someone by the name of John Einarson, who is arguably Manitoba’s foremost music historian – and who gave a brilliant presentation during a recent Jewish Heritage Centre event titled “The Soundtracks of our Lives” about Jewish musicians in Winnipeg through the years, that Einarson had worked for Stein at a time when Stein was selling records out of the back of Strain’s Camera Store on Portage Avenue.
I asked Stein whether he began doing that around the time his teaching career ended (in 1967)?
“We couldn’t get into Polo Park (because Polo Park wouldn’t allow a record store at that time) so we opened in the back of Strain’s (which was owned by the late Manny Wiseman. One of Manny Wiseman’s sons, Bob, went on to become one of the founding members of Blue Rodeo.)
“People were only going up to the camera department and we rarely got anyone coming into our section,” Stein observed.
In 1969, Stein made the move that was eventually to lead to a 10-year period when he achieved his greatest recognition in Winnipeg – with the opening of the famed Opus 69 record store.
“There was space above Clifford’s Ladies Wear “(at 412 Portage Avenue, the corner of Kennedy and Portage), Stein continued. (Cliffords was owned by Johnny Pollock. One of Pollocks’ sons, Harold, went on to become a renowned classical guitarist.)
Thus began Opus 69. Around the same time Stein became host of a nightly program on CKY FM called “Now Flower.” Randy Moffat was the owner of CKY at the time and he was so impressed with the program – and the number of different recordings that Stein was able to play that CKY “even put a console in Opus 69 with live broadcasting by a DJ between noon and 6 pm.”
I remarked that I remember well that second floor location for Opus 69 and how popular it was.
Stein suggested “that small location became the most popular record store in Winnipeg.”
In a 2016 article for the Free Press, John Einarson wrote about the huge impression Opus 69 made on music fans in Winnipeg when it first opened: “Once Opus 69 opened in the spring of 1969 on Kennedy Street just south of Portage, above an optometrist’s shop, it became my destination for music. Opus 69 specialized almost exclusively in rock music and had the most extensive selection in the city, including imported recordings, as well as listening stations to sample before you purchased.
“I remember the first time my friend and I did that, never having used headphones before,” recalls Grant Edwards.“We were busy yelling to each other until one of the workers asked us to please stop yelling as no one else in the store was listening to headphones.”
Unfortunately, while owner Norman Stein had great taste in records, his business acumen was wanting, and when Opus 69 moved to the more spacious ground-floor store on Kennedy north of Portage in the early ’70s it was under new ownership. However, it continued to boast a wide selection and knowledgeable staff.”
Around the same time that Stein was running Opus 69 he also had a company called “Campus Records Distributors,” which sold records to university bookstores across Canada. Campus Records was eventually bought by Deutsche Grammaphone.
As John Einarson noted, “Opus 69 moved to a new location on Kennedy Street (across from what used to be the Town and Country), but by the early 1970s Norman Stein was no longer the owner.” (He told me, during our interview, that he didn’t want to get into what happened with the business. Suffice to say that, by 1979, Opus was in receivership. Stein had long been out of the picture when that happened.)
Stein said that he remained in Winnipeg with his ailing mother until she passed, in 1980. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Vancouver. He did talk about his career in Vancouver, but I said to him that I preferred to keep the focus on Winnipeg.
Before our conversation ended though, Stein said he wanted to tell me one more story from his childhood – when he was about four. The story had to do with the quaint Jewish custom of “shlogn kapores,” during which on Erev Yom Kippur a chicken (or a rooster) is waved over one’s head and one’s sins are transferred to said chicken or rooster.
Here’s how Stein described how the ritual was practiced in his home – and what happened one year: “You have a tablecloth over a table, you take the live rooster and swing it around your head and say certain prayers from a Siddur (prayer book). When you do that you put the live rooster under the table, then you take it to the shochet for Yom Tov.
“Well, this rooster kept pecking at my wrists and hurting me but I was holding on tight, so I threw the rooster under the table. When I pulled it out, it had a limp neck. It was dead. I bawled my head off because it meant the rooster could not have absorbed all my sins. My mother was upset because she didn’t have a tarnigol (Hebrew for rooster) for Yom Tov.”
I asked: “Because it wasn’t slaughtered properly?”
Stein replied: “How could it be slaughtered? I choked it to death. It had an overdose of sins!”
I said to him that so many of his former students offered reminiscences, both in our newspaper and in the Facebook group “1950s and 60s Winnipeg Jewish Students”, about his having been their teacher, that I wondered whether he would be amenable to hearing from former students.
I mentioned to him that one of the contributors to that Facebook group was David Steinberg. I asked Stein whether he had ever had Steinberg as a student? That led him to tell this story:
“When I was teaching in the Rosh Pina Hebrew School the synagogue youth group had socials and David performed his jokes on stage. As I was teaching him, he knew, as an opportunist, that I had some connections with Chicago. He wanted to go to Second City – the famous comedy thing. He could not get in, but he could if he was a yeshiva student. So I wrote a letter to the yeshiva on his behalf and he got accepted into the Hebrew Theological College (from where Stein had also graduated) and, after that the Rosh Yeshiva said to me: ’So where is your David Steinberg?’ He disappeared after a while and Second City had rented in the Jewish community centre across the street from the yeshiva. I never saw him again until one year – it was around 1970, I went to Greenwich Village and saw a poster for a folk music group. At the bottom it said ‘opening act: David Steinberg.’
“A door opened and who comes out but David Steinberg? I said ‘Dudi?’ and he said, ‘Uh, your face is a little familiar…Oh yes, Norman, here’s my business card and we’ll have coffee in my private apartment ….and I never went to his apartment.”
I asked Stein whethe he would be amenable to my putting his phone number into this article so that former students could get in touch with him.
Although each time I’ve phoned Stein, we’ve had very pleasant conversations, I’m not sure whether he would have the stamina to engage in phone convesations on a regular basis with former students. Still, if he’s tired or preoccupied doing something else, I’m sure he would let anyone know. And, even though he says he has trouble remembering things, I certainly didn’t find that to be the case. Stein did say that he wouldn’t have any objection to my putting his phone number into this article, so here it is: 1-604-269-0961. Remember, he’s in Vancouver, so bear in mind the time zone that he’s in if you do plan on calling him.
Features
Gary Bettman and his job at the NHL
Gary Bettman has been the commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL) since 1993, a tenure that now spans over three decades. In that time, he has overseen numerous transformations in the league, from expansion to new markets to labor disputes and even a global pandemic.
Bettman’s reign has not been without controversy, yet he remains a pivotal figure in the league’s history, shaping the modern NHL in ways that fans and players alike continue to feel.
The Businessman and the Visionary
When Gary Bettman became the NHL’s first commissioner, his mission was clear: grow the sport. At the time, the league struggled with player disputes, low TV ratings, and a limited presence in the U.S. Bettman wasn’t a typical hire for the role. He wasn’t a former player or hockey executive but a lawyer with experience in the NBA and a strong reputation for his business skills.
He focused on taking the NHL into new markets, especially in the southern U.S. Cities like Nashville, Dallas, and Phoenix soon welcomed NHL teams. Many doubted whether hockey could succeed in these warmer areas, but Bettman stuck to his plan. Now, teams like the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning have become successful, with both winning the Stanley Cup.
He also modernized the league’s business practices. Bettman secured important TV deals with networks like NBC, which increased the sport’s exposure in the U.S. Recently, he landed a new deal with Turner Sports, a smart move in today’s fast-changing media world.
Bettman has also pushed for a stronger online presence, using streaming and social media to keep up with how fans now consume sports.
Labor Disputes and Lockouts
While Bettman succeeded in expanding the NHL’s business side, his time in charge has also seen major conflicts with players. Under his leadership, the NHL has gone through three lockouts—in 1994-95, 2004-05, and 2012-13. The 2004-05 lockout was particularly damaging, as it wiped out the entire season, making the NHL the first major North American sports league to cancel a full season because of labor issues.
The core of these disputes was Bettman’s push to introduce a salary cap, which many players initially resisted. Team owners, however, supported the move, believing it would help small-market teams survive financially. After the 2004-05 lockout, Bettman succeeded in bringing in the salary cap.
While the decision was controversial at the time, many now see it as a turning point that helped make the NHL more competitive. Smaller teams, like the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights, can now compete with big-market teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers.
Despite the long-term benefits, these labor disputes stained Bettman’s legacy. Many fans and players remain frustrated by the lost seasons, and Bettman is often seen as a tough negotiator who prioritizes long-term stability over immediate harmony.
Expanding the NHL’s Global Footprint
In recent years, Gary Bettman has focused on expanding hockey’s global footprint. The NHL now hosts regular-season games in Europe and China, part of an ongoing effort to tap into international markets and grow the sport beyond North America.
Beyond international games, Bettman has also embraced the digital age to further engage fans worldwide. Through online streaming platforms and social media, the NHL reaches fans who might not have easy access to traditional broadcasts.
In addition, NHL betting has added excitement for fans. Popular platforms like Fanatics Sportsbook, with promotions such as the Fanatics Sportsbook promo, have allowed fans to engage with the game on a deeper level. Betting has helped the league reach a broader, more global audience by making games more interactive and exciting for those watching
Despite these innovations, Bettman’s global efforts haven’t always been met with enthusiasm. The NHL’s decision to skip the 2018 Winter Olympics upset many players and fans, especially in hockey-dominant nations like Canada and Russia. Bettman and the league’s owners opted out due to concerns about player injuries and the disruption to the NHL season schedule.
Growth in Revenue and Franchise Values
One of Bettman’s most significant achievements has been the exponential growth in NHL revenue and franchise values. When he took over in 1993, the league’s total revenue was around $400 million. Fast forward to recent years, and that number has ballooned to over $5 billion annually due to lucrative television deals, expansion fees from new franchises, and increased corporate sponsorship.
Under Bettman’s watch, the league has added multiple franchises, including the Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken. The introduction of Vegas in 2017 was particularly groundbreaking. Many doubted whether a professional sports team, let alone a hockey franchise, could thrive in Las Vegas. Still, the Golden Knights quickly dispelled those doubts, making a historic run to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.
Final Words
As Bettman enters the twilight of his tenure, the NHL’s future seems secure, yet challenges remain. The league must navigate the evolving sports media landscape, where streaming services and social media increasingly dominate. The potential for further expansion within North America or abroad remains a tantalizing possibility. Bettman’s ability to balance tradition and innovation will be key to the NHL’s continued growth.
One thing is certain: love or hate him, Gary Bettman’s impact on the NHL is undeniable. He has transformed a league that once struggled for relevance into a global enterprise that continues to evolve under his steady if sometimes polarizing, leadership.
Features
Filmmaker Shira Newman brings wealth of experiences to role of Rady JCC Coordinator of Arts & Older Adult Programming
By MYRON LOVE As with many people I have interviewed over the years, Shira Newman’s life journey towards her present stage as Rady JCC Coordinator of Arts & Older Adult Programming has encompassed a range of different areas, including: fine arts, filmmaking and teaching stints, working at the Society of Manitobans with Disabilities, and the Women’s Health Clinic and, most recently before coming to the Rady JCC, the Prairie Fusion Arts and Entertainment Centre (as program co-ordinator) in Portage La Prairie.
The daughter of Joan and the late Paul Newman began her life in River Heights. After graduation from Grant Park, she enrolled in Fine Arts at the University of Manitoba. In addition to painting and drawing, she took a course in film – and found that she really enjoyed it.
“I learned a lot about the art that goes into filmmaking,” she recalls. “We watched foreign films and independent films. I fell in love with the ideas of creating this three-dimensiomal world on the screen.”
After earning her first degree at the University of Manitoba, Newman worked for a few years at the aforementioned Women’s Health Clinic and the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities before returning – in her mid-20s – to university, this time Concordia in Montreal – to study filmmaking full time.
After completing the two year program Newman returned to Winnipeg and became involved with the Winnipeg Film Group and the Winnipeg film community.
Over the next few years, she taught filmmaking in Winnipeg School Division No. 1, and also began to get work in our city’s booming film production industry, working in set design and costuming..
Her big break came when she was asked by local filmmaker Sean Garrity to serve as script supervisor on one of his movies.
(According to Wikipedia, a script supervisor oversees the continuity of the motion picture, including dialogue and action during a scene. The script supervisor may also be called upon to ensure wardrobe, props, set dressing, hair, and makeup are consistent from scene to scene. The script supervisor keeps detailed notes on each take of the scene being filmed. The notes recorded by the script supervisor during the shooting of a scene are used to help the editor cut the scenes together in the order specified in the shooting script. They are also responsible for keeping track of the film production unit’s daily progress.)
“I knew Sean’s films and was excited that he asked to me to work with him,” Newman recalls.
That job led to many other assignments as a script supervisor over the next ten years. “I worked on a lot of Hallmark Movies being shot here as well as some Lifetime features,” she says.
The last movie shot in Winnipeg that Newman worked on was in 2018. It was called “Escaping the Madhouse: the Nellie Bly Story”.
It was about that time that Newman felt that she needed a change in direction. “Making a movie is a world in itself,” she observes, “but the work isn’t steady. I decided that I needed something more stable.”
Thus, she responded to an ad for a coordinator at the Prairie Fusion Centre in Portage. The Centre, she notes, has a gallery, a store and classes. She was responsible for educational programming.
Newman stayed at the Prairie Fusion Centre for a year – commuting every day from Winnipeg. Then she saw the Rady JCC ad calling for a Coordinator for Arts and Older Adult Programming.
“It was a perfect fit for me,” she says.
Newman is now in her fourth year at the Rady JCC. One of the first programs she introduced was a new social club for seniors – replacing the former Stay Young Club which had been disbanded some years before due to flagging attendance.
Club programs are Mondays at 11:00. “We have guest speakers and musical programs and we celebrate all the holidays,” Newman notes.
Last year, Newman introduced a new Yiddish Festival – picking up where the former Mamaloshen left off. “While studying filmmaking, I developed an appreciation for the 1930s Yiddish cinema,” she reports. “In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in Yiddish culture, music and literature.”
For the first “Put a Yid in it Festival of new Yiddish Culture,” Newman brought in younger performers in the persons of ”Beyond the Pale”, a Toronto-based klezmer band that also performs Romanian and Balkan music – and, from Montreal, Josh Dolgin, aka Socalled – a rap artist and record producer who combines hip hop, klezmer and folk music.
“We had the concert at the West End Cultural Centre.” Newman reports. “We had a great crowd with people of all ages, including kids.”
For this second upcoming Yidfdish festival at the beginning of February, Newman is organizing three concerts featuring klezmer group “Schmaltz and Pepper” from Toronto; “Forshpil”, a Yiddish and klezmer band from Latvia; and live music to accompany a 1991 movie called “The Man Without a World” – a recreation of a 1920s silent movie set in a Polish shtetl.
This year’s festival will also include three movies and two speakers. Among the movies is “The Jester”. Co-directed by Joseph Green and Jan Nowina-Przybylski – who also made “Yiddle with His Fiddle” in 1936, “The Jester” is a musical drama involving a love triangle featuring a wandering jester, a charismatic vaudeville performer, and Esther, the shoemaker’s daughter, torn between her family’s desire for a prominent match and her own dreams.
“Yiddishland”, by Australian Director Ros Horin, focuses on the art and practices of a diverse group of innovative international artists who create new works about the important issues of our time in the Yiddish language, why they create in Yiddish, what it means to them personally and professionally, and what obstacles they must overcome to revive what was once considered a dying language..
“Mamele” is described as “a timeless masterpiece, brought to life by Molly Picon, the legendary Pixie Queen of the Yiddish Musical. Picon shines as a devoted daughter who keeps her family together after the loss of their mother. Caught between endless responsibilities and her own dreams, her world changes when she discovers a charming violinist across the courtyard. Set in the vibrant backdrop of Lodz, this enchanting musical comedy-drama immerses audiences in the rich diversity of interwar Jewish life in Poland – featuring everything from pious communities to nightclubs, gangsters and spirited ‘nogoodnicks’’.”
The speaking presentation will nclude a talk by the University of Manitoba Yiddish teacher Professor Itay Zutra “exploring the resilience and survival of Yiddish art, from S. Ansky’s The Dybbuk to the demons of I.B. Singer, through the trauma of the Holocaust and beyond.”
There will also be a panel discussion highlighting the pivotal experience of the Jewish community in the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, with a focus on Yiddish-speaking organizations and newspapers.
Back in late October, Newman organized our community’s first JFest – a celebration of Jewish Culture and the Arts – which highlighted the works of seven local Jewish artists. She reports that the art exhibit was well attended.
She also mentions ongoing Rady JCC programs such as the long-running “Music and Mavens” and the annual Jewish Film Festival.
Returning to the subject of filmmaking, Newman has been a film programmer for the Gimli International Film Festival for the last four years. (The first years, she says, she served as the shorts programmer and the last three as the documentary film programmer.)
She adds that her first short film, “The Blessing,” which she made when she returned to Winnipeg from Montreal, was shown at various festivals, including the Toronto International Jewish Film Festival.It was also shown here in Winnipeg at the Winnipeg Jewish International Film Festival where it won the award here for “best short film by an emerging or established local filmmaker.”
In her spare time, Newman reports, she has embarked on a new project. “I am working on a documentary about Monarch butterflies and the community of people who are dedicated to preserving them. These are regular people who have become citizen scientists. I am working with a friend whose zaida was a biology teacher and instilled in his family a love of nature and conservation. I have met people who have gone to Mexico to see for themselves where the butterflies spend their winters.”
Newman is anticipating that the new documentary will be completed within a year.
Features
Rabbi (to be) Lara Rodin
By GERRY POSNER In May 2025, the Jewish Theological seminary will welcome a new rabbi into the fold. A recent graduate of the seminary, she is a young woman from Western Canada with roots in both Winnipeg and Calgary. Her name is Lara Rodin.
Lara will be the new assistant rabbi at the Beth Tzedec Synagogue in Toronto (not to be confused with the Beth Tzedec Synagogue in Calgary, where her family still lives and where they remain members to this day). Her formal induction into the rabbinate will happen later this year, in May, in New York City.
Rabbi Rodin is a fresh, warm, and engaging young woman who already has made a difference in the lives of many families.
The jump from being Lara Rodin, daughter of Greg and Andria (Paul) Rodin, raised in a secular home, to a woman about to become a rabbi, was hardly preordained. Lara was born in Winnipeg, but she moved with her family at a young age to Calgary where she was a student at the Calgary Jewish Academy. Her connection to Judaism, though, was tenuous. Still, with her growing involvement in BBYO, also at Camps B’nai Brith at Pine Lake, Alberta and Hatikvah in BC, the seeds were already starting to grow and sprout. As well, Lara, had a strong Jewish influence from her maternal grandparents, Leonard and Elaine Paul, of blessed memory, both of whom were strongly centred in the Jewish world, particularly at the Bnay Abraham Synagogue in Winnipeg.
Lara was fortunate to attend McGill University in Montreal, where she obtained an Arts degree. Although her father Greg, a lawyer, had pushed her to study law, she was more interested in courses in philosophy and theology. She soon concluded that she need not focus so much on other religions, but work on the one she was born into.
That decision was the impetus for her to improve her Jewish learning. She even taught a class at the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue in Montreal. That experience led to her seriously consider a career in teaching.
To proceed on a path to becoming g a teacher and also to further her Jewish education, Lara applied for and was accepted into the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. It was there that not only did she complete her Masters in Jewish Education, Lara came to realize that, while she wanted to teach, she wanted to do it within a Jewish framework. It was the intense learning at Pardes that stimulated Lara’s passion to begin the trail to the rabbinate.
Once you learn more about Lara’s family history, however, you can see how her becoming a rabbi wasn’t all that surprising. When Lara was born, she came along with a twin brother, Isaac. When her father came into the birthing room to see his newborn children for the first time, he said that he sensed that one of the twins was destined to become a rabbi, but it was Isaac, not Lara. Even as the twins grew up, Greg’s sense of a rabbinical calling for his son persisted. When Lara declared her intention to pursue a career in the rabbinate, Greg was ecstatic, stating he had it right all along – he just missed the correct gender. He likely deserves a pass on this one as back at that time, female rabbis from Western Canada were largely unknown and even to this day, a rarity.
Thus, it came to pass that Lara Rodin entered the Jewish Theological Seminary School in New York. She had to cope with the consequences of Covid and so part of her programme had Lara stuck in the basement of her parents’ home in Calgary. In 2021, while still a student, Lara was privileged to become a Tanenbaum Fellow.
Subsequently she developed a more formal association with the Beth Tzedec Synagogue in Toronto, where she has been for the past three years. In 2023- 2024, Lara became a Resnick Fellow. Both the Resnick and Tanenbaum Fellowships were highly valuable to Lara as she proceeded in her Jewish education.
Along the way, even as far back as her attending Camp Ramah, Lara met a boy there who became her husband: Jonah Levitt. They were recently married at Beth Tzedec on August 18, 2024 – another really good reason to send your children to Jewish camps!
Aside from her responsibilities at Beth Tzedec to date, Lara has been working as a Rabbi in Residence at the Robbins Hebrew Academy in Toronto. There she is putting her skills as a teacher to good use. On top of that, she is the go-to person for conversions within the Conservative movement among several synagogues in the Toronto area. In that way Lara Rodin has made contact with many young couples, all inspired to become Jewish and, in many cases, more Jewish. This is a part of her job that she says she finds particularly challenging, yet satisfying.
Of course, if you really want to check out the newest addition to Beth Tzedec, the place to be is at synagogue, where she can be found most of the time. Her smile, her genuine warmth, and her depth of thought will be obvious immediately. Or, if you like to hike or cycle, when not in the synagogue or classroom, you are likely to find Lara participating in those activities.
As the Beth Tzedec synagogue celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2025, so too it now celebrates the addition to the synagogue of Rabbi Lara Rodin. A blessing for all of us.