Features
Josh Morry – outstanding young University of Manitoba alumnus: Becoming a change agent who inspires a new dialogue
Reprinted with permission from UM Today The Magazine
Seven years later, Josh Morry still remembers the unsettling phone call he answered that one day in 2013. It was from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
“Things are out of control,” the man told him. “It’s time you had a bodyguard follow you around campus.”
Morry [BComm(Hons)/13, JD/16], then a 20-year-old student in the Asper School of Business, said he was already geeky and “uncool enough” without a former Mossad agent in tow. He declined their offer. He says in hindsight, he probably should have said yes.
That spring, an international movement—Students Against Israeli Apartheid—held their annual week at the University of Manitoba and at universities across Canada. Criticism of Israel quickly turned into anti-Semitic propaganda.
“There were caricatures of Jews with hook noses and swastikas on their forehead,” Morry says. “At McGill, this group threw pennies at Jewish students because, ‘Jews like money.’ At York University, they chased Jewish students down the hallway.”
UM Jewish students signed a petition. They felt unsafe, unwelcome.
“It’s one thing to have constructive dialogue about complicated issues, but it’s another to demonize and harass Jewish students because of who they are,” says Morry.
As the commerce student representative on the council for the University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU), he pushed to ban the anti-Israeli group from operating—when the motion passed, it broke ground. There had never been a successful motion to decertify the group at any university in the world and it served as a precedent for human rights groups globally to combat anti-semitism on campus.
Morry was praised by the head of the World Jewish Congress, the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg and parliamentarians.
In the aftermath, he received hate mail, but Morry and an Arab friend started the Arab-Jewish Dialogue on Campus to keep a rational conversation going.
“As university students you should engage…with issues that put you outside your comfort zone. When you end up talking, you actually agree much more than you disagree, but when you’re screaming at each other, you disagree with everything,” Morry says. “There should be a space for this on campus. You should talk about the Arab-Israeli conflict. But you should do it in a manner that…respects constructive dialogue.”
Morry also worked on the UMSU council for the rights of Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ groups.
A love for debate
It was no surprise he became the man of the hour when things heated up on campus. Now a tax lawyer at the Toronto firm Torys L.L.P, he has always been enthralled with debate and history—he heard Winston Churchill biographer Gilbert Martin speak and took a signed copy of his book home to read when he was 14 years old.
And he’s quick to identify the absurd, with a natural wit and his dabbling in stand-up comedy. He once took the stage with a nose cast, lobbing his first joke: I should deal with, like, the elephant in the room: This is an Armani blazer. “If they don’t laugh on the first joke, you’re screwed,” he says.
Projecting confidence: “The two suit thing”
A champion debater both in high school and university, Morry says debating culture was “weird” but it did teach him something about confidence.
He remembers a friend in high school who used to bring two suits to each tournament.
“‘Why would you bring two suits?’ I said. He answered, ‘One for the regular round and one for the finals.’ It was like, wow, that’s confidence.”
Morry started to do the “two suit thing” at business school debates.
“You have to project confidence,” he says, “It’s a sport. You gotta get in their heads.”
Lively dialogue around politics was commonplace in the Morry home in Winnipeg’s Tuxedo neighbourhood. His father, sister and aunt are all lawyers.
He was high school president of Gray Academy of Jewish Education, but says his marks were nothing exceptional. “I had B pluses and As, but I was terrible at math.”
But in the Faculty of Law at UM, Morry found his calling and was first in his class every year, ultimately winning the Gold Medal and becoming a Pitblado Scholar. He was then among the few to be accepted for a master’s of law at the University of Oxford. He joined the Oxford Union, one of the world’s most prestigious debating and private students’ societies; its members include top international debaters.
Morry says he imagined Oxford would be so different—that “everything would be Klingon”—but credits UM for “competing at a world level.”
“The best professors at Robson Hall could teach at Oxford. I felt totally prepared.”
This outspoken 28-year-old continues to reframe conversations, writing op-eds and leading discussions with policymakers. We asked Josh Morry to finish the thought for us…
If we want to build a better society…
“…we’ll need to stop seeing our political beliefs as the dogmas that define us. People on both sides of the political spectrum see disagreements over policy as personal attacks.
Unlike personal identity, political ideology is not an immutable characteristic that we must protect from others. Rather, it is a way of seeing the world that must continuously be challenged and reformed as the underlying facts grounding that ideology change.
We cannot allow our cognitive dissonance to prevent us from listening to opposing views, or we will not have a reliable mechanism to determine public opinion and craft policy to reflect or change that opinion.
We should, of course, have no patience for hate speech in the guise of political activism. However, most mainstream political disagreements are the best way to unleash Canada’s full potential. People on the left and right just disagree on the best way to do so.
I’m now working on an online platform for thought leaders on the left and right to publish long-form opinion pieces engaging with complex issues in a respectful manner.”
It’s far too easy to …
“…define the relationship between Muslims and Jews by reference to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The conflict is very personal and painful to those in the Middle East as well as their families and friends in Canada. It therefore becomes very easy to lose hope and attribute the continuing conflict to irreconcilable differences between the two groups.
These disagreements are only amplified on university campuses when professional agitators acting in the name of social justice seek to position Jews and Muslims against each other, thereby creating an unsafe and unproductive learning atmosphere.
But I feel a real sense of hope when I’m able to go to a restaurant with my Muslim friends and talk about sports, movies and anything other than the Arab-Israeli conflict because at the end of the day, we’re not defined by our differences.
It may sound naive, but I honestly believe that the respectful learning environment we created and fostered at the University of Manitoba can serve as a powerful example to students around the world.
I saw this firsthand when I was one of Canada’s representatives to the World Jewish Congress in Budapest, where leaders from around the world approached me about setting up Arab Jewish Dialogues in their countries, based on the University of Manitoba’s model.”
UM Today the Magazine can be accessed at: https://news.umanitoba.ca/magazine/
and the video with David Asper and Josh:
https://news.umanitoba.ca/watch-daa-interviews/#josh-morry.
Features
How Hit And Run Accidents Highlight The Need For Stronger Road Safety Measures
A sudden impact followed by the screech of tires fading into silence leaves a person in a state of shock and confusion. These incidents occur across modern road networks and can profoundly affect victims, especially when the responsible party leaves without rendering aid.
Why does this behavior persist despite modern surveillance technology and increased legal penalties? These incidents highlight gaps in infrastructure and the need for stronger safety protocols to better protect vulnerable road users and improve accountability.
What Role Does Infrastructure Play In Preventing Driver Flight?
Designing roads that naturally encourage slower speeds and higher visibility can significantly reduce the likelihood of a driver attempting to flee. Proper engineering promotes lower speeds and better visibility, supporting safer behavior and easier incident documentation.
Improving Street Lighting Systems
Visibility is a primary factor in both accident prevention and suspect identification. Bright, well‑placed LED lighting can improve visibility for witnesses and cameras, making identification more feasible at night.
Implementing Traffic Calming Measures
Speed humps, roundabouts, and narrowed lanes are associated with lower speeds in pedestrian‑heavy areas. When vehicles move more slowly, impact severity tends to decrease, and immediate flight becomes more difficult.
Expanding Automated Enforcement Cameras
License plate recognition technology acts as a silent sentry on busy intersections. These systems can furnish critical investigative leads, increasing the likelihood of identifying vehicles involved in recorded incidents.
Why Do Hit-and-Run Incidents Increase Despite Modern Technology?
Even with expanded surveillance in many areas, some drivers believe they can avoid consequences after a collision. In cities like Charlotte, where traffic crashes rose by 9 percent in 2025, the psychological urge to flee often overrides logic when panic or impairment sets in. Practitioners frequently observe cases where split-second decisions lead to prolonged legal proceedings, underscoring that technology can aid investigations but does not always prevent offenses. A Charlotte hit-and-run accident lawyer reconciling with precision at StewartLawOffices.net provides a way for victims to understand the available legal avenues, as nationwide fatalities have risen significantly over the last decade.
Furthermore, current data suggests that while high-definition cameras capture more incidents, they often lack the immediate deterrent effect needed to stop a driver from leaving the scene in the heat of the moment. This disconnect between surveillance and behavioral prevention highlights a significant gap that technology alone has yet to bridge. Locals in Charlotte, facing such trauma, can visit Stewart Law Offices, located at 2427 Tuckaseegee Road, on 6 minutes drive from 4th Street Ext, near Frazier Park, for a free consultation, or can call 704-521-5000 to seek guidance on their situation.
Which Misconceptions About Hit And Run Investigations Persist?
A common myth is that if there are no witnesses, the driver will never be found. Many believe that “no face, no case” applies to collisions on quiet streets. However, modern forensics and digital footprints tell a very different and more complex story.
Paint transfer, vehicle parts, and other physical evidence can help narrow vehicle make/model and potentially identify suspects when combined with other investigative leads. The idea that a driver can simply disappear into the void is a dangerous fallacy that ignores the complexity of modern investigation techniques and the ubiquity of digital evidence.
How Can Better Public Policy Improve Survival Rates?
Legislative changes can bridge the gap between a collision and life-saving medical intervention. Policies that improve rapid emergency response during the “Golden Hour” can positively influence outcomes for injured parties.
Mandatory Good Samaritan Education
Including basic first aid and emergency reporting in driver education can improve public readiness and may encourage more responsible behavior after collisions.
Enhancing Alert System Integration
Similar to Amber Alerts, “Yellow Alerts” can be broadcast to notify the public about a vehicle involved in a hit and run. This rapid dissemination of information turns every citizen into a potential witness.
Increasing Penalties For Non-Compliance
Sentencing guidelines, higher fines, and license consequences can align penalties with offense severity and may deter some would‑be offenders.
What Practical Steps Should Be Taken Immediately After A Collision?
Safety is the priority. If a vehicle strikes another and flees, move to a secure location if possible. Calling emergency services promptly initiates a report and can expedite medical assistance.
Elizabeth VonCannon, a Charlotte hit and run accident lawyer, emphasizes that documenting the scene with photos of the damage and the surrounding area can provide clues later. Even small details, like the direction the fleeing car headed or the color of its paint, can be the missing piece for law enforcement to find them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does insurance cover damage if the other driver is never found?
Uninsured motorist coverage may apply to repairs and medical expenses in hit‑and‑run cases, depending on your jurisdiction and policy terms.
What information is most helpful to record after an accident?
Try to note the license plate, vehicle make, model, color, and the direction the driver fled the scene.
Can a driver be charged with a felony for fleeing?
Yes, if the accident involves serious bodily injury or death, the act of fleeing is often classified as a felony.
Features
So, what’s the deal with the honey scene in ‘Marty Supreme?’
By Olivia Haynie December 29, 2025 This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward’s free email newsletters delivered to your inbox.
There are a lot of jarring scenes in Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie’s movie about a young Jew in the 1950s willing to do anything to secure his spot in table tennis history. There’s the one where Marty (Timothée Chalamet) gets spanked with a ping-pong paddle; there’s the one where a gas station explodes. And the one where Marty, naked in a bathtub, falls through the floor of a cheap motel. But the one that everybody online seems to be talking about is a flashback of an Auschwitz story told by Marty’s friend and fellow ping-ponger Béla Kletzki (Géza Röhrig, best known for his role as a Sonderkommando in Son of Saul).
Kletzki tells the unsympathetic ink tycoon Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary) about how the Nazis, impressed by his table tennis skills, spared his life and recruited him to disarm bombs. One day, while grappling with a bomb in the woods, Kletzki stumbled across a honeycomb. He smeared the honey across his body and returned to the camp, where he let his fellow prisoners lick it off his body. The scene is a sensory nightmare, primarily shot in close-ups of wet tongues licking sticky honey off Kletzki’s hairy body. For some, it was also … funny?
Many have reported that the scene has been triggering a lot of laughter in their theaters. My audience in Wilmington, North Carolina, certainly had a good chuckle — with the exception of my mother, who instantly started sobbing. I sat in stunned silence, unsure at first what to make of the sharp turn the film had suddenly taken. One post on X that got nearly 6,000 likes admonished Safdie for his “insane Holocaust joke.” Many users replied that the scene was in no way meant to be funny, with one even calling it “the most sincere scene in the whole movie.”
For me, the scene shows the sheer desperation of those in the concentration camps, as well as the self-sacrifice that was essential to survival. And yet many have interpreted it as merely shock humor.
Laughter could be understood as an inevitable reaction to discomfort and shock at a scene that feels so out of place in what has, up to that point, been a pretty comedic film. The story is sandwiched between Marty’s humorous attempts to embarrass Rockwell and seduce his wife. Viewers may have mistaken the scene as a joke since the film’s opening credits sequence of sperm swimming through fallopian tubes gives the impression you will be watching a comedy interspersed with some tense ping-pong playing.
The reaction could also be part of what some in the movie theater industry are calling the “laugh epidemic.” In The New York Times, Marie Solis explored the inappropriate laughter in movie theaters that seems to be increasingly common. The rise of meme culture and the dissolution of clear genres (Marty Supreme could be categorized as somewhere between drama and comedy), she writes, have primed audiences to laugh at moments that may not have been meant to be funny.
The audience’s inability to process the honey scene as sincere may also be a sign of a society that has become more disconnected from the traumas of the past. It would not be the first time that people, unable to comprehend the horrors of the Holocaust, have instead derided the tales of abuse as pure fiction. But Kletzki’s story is based on the real experiences of Alojzy Ehrlich, a ping-pong player imprisoned at Auschwitz. The scene is not supposed to be humorous trauma porn — Safdie has called it a “beautiful story” about the “camaraderie” found within the camps. It also serves as an important reminder of all that Marty is fighting for.
The events of the film take place only seven years after the Holocaust, and the macabre honey imagery encapsulates the dehumanization the Jews experienced. Marty is motivated not just by a desire to prove himself as an athlete and rise above what his uncle and mother expect of him, but above what the world expects of him as a Jew. His drive to reclaim Jewish pride is further underscored when he brings back a piece of an Egyptian pyramid to his mother, telling her, “We built this.”
Without understanding this background, the honey scene will come off as out of place and ridiculous. And the lengths Marty is willing to go to to make something of himself cannot be fully appreciated. The film’s description on the review-app Letterboxd says Marty Supreme is about one man who “goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.” But behind Marty is the story of a whole people who have gone through hell; they too are trying to find their way back.
Olivia Haynie is an editorial fellow at the Forward.
This story was originally published on the Forward.
Features
Paghahambing ng One-on-One Matches at Multiplayer Challenges sa Pusoy in English
Ang Pusoy, na kilala din bilang Chinese Poker, ay patuloy na sumisikat sa buong mundo, kumukuha ng interes ng mga manlalaro mula sa iba’t ibang bansa. Ang mga online platforms ay nagpapadali sa pag-access nito. Ang online version nito ay lubos na nagpasigla ng interes sa mga baguhan at casual players, na nagdulot ng diskusyon kung alin ang mas madali: ang paglalaro ng Pusoy one-on-one o sa multiplayer settings.
Habang nailipat sa digital platforms ang Pusoy, napakahalaga na maunawaan ang mga format nito upang mapahusay ang karanasan sa laro. Malaking epekto ang bilang ng mga kalaban pagdating sa istilo ng laro, antas ng kahirapan, at ang ganap na gameplay dynamics. Ang mga platforms tulad ng GameZone ay nagbibigay ng angkop na espasyo para sa mga manlalaro na masubukan ang parehong one-on-one at multiplayer Pusoy, na akma para sa iba’t ibang klase ng players depende sa kanilang kasanayan at kagustuhan.
Mga Bentahe ng One-on-One Pusoy
Simpleng Gameplay
Sa one-on-one Pusoy in English, dalawa lang ang naglalaban—isang manlalaro at isang kalaban. Dahil dito, mas madali ang bawat laban. Ang pokus ng mga manlalaro ay nakatuon lamang sa kanilang sariling 13 cards at sa mga galaw ng kalaban, kaya’t nababawasan ang pagiging komplikado.
Para sa mga baguhan, ideal ang one-on-one matches upang:
- Sanayin ang tamang pagsasaayos ng cards.
- Matutunan ang tamang ranggo ng bawat kamay.
- Magsanay na maiwasan ang mag-foul sa laro.
Ang simpleng gameplay ay nagbibigay ng matibay na pundasyon para sa mas kumplikadong karanasan sa multiplayer matches.
Mga Estratehiya mula sa Pagmamasid
Sa one-on-one matches, mas madaling maunawaan ang istilo ng kalaban dahil limitado lamang ang galaw na kailangan sundan. Maaari mong obserbahan ang mga sumusunod na patterns:
- Konserbatibong pagkakaayos o agresibong strategy.
- Madalas na pagkakamali o overconfidence.
- Labis na pagtuon sa isang grupo ng cards.
Dahil dito, nagkakaroon ng pagkakataon ang mga manlalaro na isaayos ang kanilang estratehiya upang mas epektibong maka-responde sa galaw ng kalaban, partikular kung maglalaro sa competitive platforms tulad ng GameZone.
Mas Mababang Pressure
Dahil one-on-one lamang ang laban, mababawasan ang mental at emotional stress. Walang ibang kalaban na makaka-distract, na nagbibigay ng pagkakataon para sa mga baguhan na matuto nang walang matinding parusa sa kanilang mga pagkakamali. Nagiging stepping stone ito patungo sa mas dynamic na multiplayer matches.
Ang Hamon ng Multiplayer Pusoy
Mas Komplikado at Mas Malalim na Gameplay
Sa Multiplayer Pusoy, madaragdagan ang bilang ng kalaban, kaya mas nagiging komplikado ang laro. Kailangan kalkulahin ng bawat manlalaro ang galaw ng maraming tao at ang pagkakaayos nila ng cards.
Ang ilang hamon ng multiplayer ay:
- Pagbabalanse ng lakas ng cards sa tatlong grupo.
- Pag-iwas sa labis na peligro habang nagiging kompetitibo.
- Pagtatagumpayan ang lahat ng kalaban nang sabay-sabay.
Ang ganitong klase ng gameplay ay nangangailangan ng maingat na pagpaplano, prediksyon, at strategic na pasensiya.
Mas Malakas na Mental Pressure
Mas mataas ang psychological demand sa multiplayer, dahil mabilis ang galawan at mas mahirap manatiling kalmado sa gitna ng mas maraming kalaban. Kabilang dito ang:
- Bilisan ang pagdedesisyon kahit under pressure.
- Paano mananatiling focused sa gitna ng mga distractions.
- Pagkakaroon ng emosyonal na kontrol matapos ang sunod-sunod na talo.
Mas exciting ito para sa mga manlalarong gusto ng matinding hamon at pagmamalasakit sa estratehiya.
GameZone: Ang Bagong Tahanan ng Modern Pusoy
Ang GameZone online ay isang kahanga-hangang platform para sa mga naglalaro ng Pusoy in English. Nagbibigay ito ng opsyon para sa parehong one-on-one at multiplayer matches, akma para sa kahit anong antas ng kasanayan.
Mga feature ng GameZone:
- Madaling English interface para sa user-friendly na gameplay.
- Real-player matches imbes na kalaban ay bots.
- Mga tool para sa responsible play, tulad ng time reminder at spending limits.
Pagtatagal ng Pamanang Pusoy
Ang Pusoy card game in English ay nagpalawak ng abot nito sa mas maraming players mula sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng mundo habang pinapanatili ang tradisyunal nitong charm. Sa pamamagitan ng mga modernong platform tulad ng GameZone, mananatiling buhay at progresibo ang Pusoy, nakakabighani pa rin sa lahat ng antas ng manlalaro—mula sa casual enjoyment hanggang sa competitive challenges.
Mula sa maingat na pag-aayos ng mga cards hanggang sa pag-master ng estratehiya, ang Pusoy ay isang laro na nananatiling relevant habang ipinapakita ang masalimuot nitong gameplay dynamics na puno ng kultura at inobasyon.