Features
Kevin McIntyre melds Scottish heritage, Jewish faith
By MYRON LOVE
It must have been quite a sight – a bagpiper playing the pipes on a street in Tel Aviv.
The unique event happened one fine day in 2018. Winnipeggers Kevin and Henriette Ivanans-McIntyre were in Israel to celebrate the bat-mitzvah of a cousin of hers.
“I brought my pipes with me,” recalls Kevin McIntyre. “I wanted to surprise the family. I stepped outside to tune up. That created quite a stir. Very quickly, a large crowd gathered. I’m sure most had never heard the pipes before.”
My own introduction to Kevin McIntyre came about in a roundabout way. A couple of weeks ago, while reading the obituaries in the Free Press, I came across the write-up on the late Dr. Jerry Litman. What caught my eye is that he played the bagpipes.
I thought at the time that he would have made for an interesting interview. I happened to mention this the next day to a friend at my synagogue who mentioned that Kevin McIntyre, a member of Congregation Etz Chayim, also was a piper.
A couple of days later, I was participating with my younger daughter at a behind the scenes event at Rainbow Stage. I noticed a framed painting on the wall and asked who the man in the painting is.
The answer: Kevin McIntyre.
The message for me was that I had to interview said Kevin McIntyre.
Now I – and I am sure – some readers are familiar with McIntyre mainly through his stage work. He has a long history of appearances in musical theatre in our community. The painting, for example, was from his performance in “Strike!” last year.
Others may remember him for his role in the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre’s 2015 production of the musical revue, “Stars of David, artistic director Ari Wainberg’s inaugural production.
McIntyre is – as I learned – a man of many parts – performer, professional photographer, bagpiper and serious student of Judaism.
Born and raised in East Kildonan, the son of parents of Scottish origin, he both began playing the pipes as well as treading the boards early in life. For the former, he notes, while his sister took up highland dancing, he became a piper.
As to the latter, he says: “I started in show business at Rainbow Stage in 1988 when I was still a teenager. During a production in 1991, there was a director in the audience visiting from New York. He offered me a role in a touring production of Les Mis”.”
Thus, at 19, McIntyre was off to Toronto. He followed up “Les Mis’ with a role in a touring production of “Miss Saigon” starring fellow Winnipegger Ma-Anne Dionisio.
While in Toronto, he met his wife-to-be, Henriette, who was also an actor – in film and television – and he became interested in Judaism.
“We had a lot of Jewish friends in Toronto and, as it happens, my wife has an aunt (originally from Latvia) who trained as a doctor in England and later moved to Israel where she married an Israeli. The more I learned about Judaism, the more interested I became.
“I instantly saw in Judaism everything I believed in terms of spirituality. It felt right.”
While his parents are actively involved in their church, he reports that they were fully supportive of his decision to become Jewish. (Henriette also converted a couple of years ago.)
In 1996, Kevin and Henriette moved to Los Angeles. While she continued to pursue acting opportunities, he stepped back from performing and reinvented himself as portrait photographer (other than occasionally returning to Winnipeg for performances on stage).
“I did a lot of head shots for actors who later won Oscars,” he recounts.
While in L.A., he continued his study of Judaism – including enrolling in an Introduction to Judaism class at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He also began attending services regularly at a synagogue in the community.
And, last summer, we spent three weeks in Israel studying at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Also, while in L.A., he joined a well-established Scottish piper band which competes regularly at the World Piping Championships in Glasgow. “We were ranked 11th in the world at one time,” he says with pride of his band of pipers.
Wherever he is, McIntyre makes it a point to attend Shabbat services. In Glasgow, he recounts, he found his way to the historic and Orthodox Garnet Hill Synagogue. The first time that he went there he declined an aliyah because he was unsure how the congregation would welcome someone whose conversion was through the Conservative movement. The second time, the congregation insisted on his taking an aliyah no matter who oversaw his conversion.
“The people at the Garnet Hill Synagogue were really great,” he says. “I am looking forward to going back again.”
Kevin and Henriette moved back to Winnipeg to stay in May of 2019 – although, up until the COVID lockdowns went into effect, he was still commuting regularly to L.A. for photo shoots.
McIntyre is disappointed that the productions in which he was scheduled to be appearing have either been cancelled or postponed. He reports that he has been able to do some photography here while Henriette’s book, “In Pillness and in Health: A Memoir”, has been selling well.
(Henriette and Kevin talked about the book at Limmud in 2019. “In Pillness and in Health: A Memoir” is an account of Henriette’s recovery from a kidney transplant for which Kevin was the donor.)
In the meantime, McIntyre is looking forward to Yom Tov services. “I have known Tracey (Cantor Tracey Kasner) for years,” he says. “We grew up singing together. She is great.
“I sang in the choir last year and I have pre-recorded my haftorah for Yom Kippur.”
Features
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Features
Musings from Dizengoff Street – by Bruce Brown
(August 8, 2026)
Outside Basimta Café in Central Jerusalem. Love the red shirt against a tiny sea of black. Not sure I am shrugging because of the ultra-orthodox uproar over a Jerusalem café operating on Shabbat or the lack of an ultra-orthodox uproar over a Jerusalem café operating on Shabbat. For the last six weeks Israeli headlines shouted about the cafe chaos. With the ultra-religious blocking entrances and storming the café. While shouting ‘Shabbos! Shabbos!’ Upsetting the secular amongst us just wanting to enjoy our Saturday iced matchas. So the wife and I thought we would check it out. And. Yes. Buy something to support the business. Uproar. Not. Blocked entrances. Not. Storming the café. Not. Albeit there were police barriers separating the devout protesters from the coffee drinkers. The protesters being just a few dozen black clad, pious Jews. Mostly teenagers. And yes. Shouting ‘Shabbos! Shabbos!’ Certainly underwhelming in its reported mayhem. Reminds me of the famous saying misattributed to Mark Twain – “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do, you’re misinformed.” But I did enjoy my iced matcha.
(August 6, 2026)
Here we go again. Another round of forever negotiations. As someone who negotiates for a living. The way things are going in the straits. If I had to recommend a book on the subject to a new hire. Between The Art of the Deal, A Presidential Edition by Donald J. Trump or The Real Art of the Deal by the Mullahs of Iran with a special forward by the IRGC. Well. I would choose the latter.
(August 3)
Bravo Yoav Segalovitz, Liberal Yesh Atid MK and Monsour Abbas, United Arab Ra’am MK and party head. For breaking a glass ceiling where a Jewish lawmaker joins an Arab political party. No less a political earthquake in my little shtetl. Which can significantly impact coalition block arithmetic and posturing and strategy in the upcoming elections. Now Ra’am can be considered a legitimate ‘Zionist’ partner when forming coalition blocks and potentially pushing the ‘center left/right’ party over the 60 seat majority threshold. In our crazy parliamentary democracy defined by a multi-party (about fourteen!!), proportional representation system. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, Israel’s proportional representation model of governance is the best parliamentary democracy system except for all other forms of working democracies. Stay tuned for more amateurish political musings as we move towards Israel’s 26th national election – five of them held since 2019.
(August 1)
Although both sides say they are open to diplomacy. Neither really trusts the other. And American military action, or its threat, continues. I read headlines in the middle of the night -it’s a nervous habit lately– that the Dynamic Duo of Trump and Netanyahu may again strike in unison. Possibly this weekend. Yikes! Prompting me, at 2:30 AM, to dash around the house stocking my safe room. Bottled water. Canned food. Medicines. Documents. The beat goes on….
If it’s crazy here. It’s insane in Italy. With a recent online ‘Jew Hunt’ in the Milan area. Before being removed, the digital forms urged reportings of Israelis and Italian Jews staying in local hotels. The infamous Global Sumud Movement -yes, the one coordinating ‘peace and humanitarian’ flotillas to Gaza- was somehow connected. Although they deny involvement?! This deranged decree was looking to identify Zionist tourism and Zionist neo-colonization in Italy. I’ll stick with stocking the saferoom.
Then there’s New York Mayor Mamdani, a Global Sumud Movement supporter, threatening to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu if he comes to New York. But since discovered he has no legal right for such a grandstanding, antisemitic, anti-Israel, anti-Western, anti-democratic antic. Maybe Mandami should be arrested! Or at least impeached. For being a grandstanding, antisemitic, anti-Israel, anti-Western, anti-democratic mayor.
Here’s a post Bruce sent us Friday, July 31:
WARTIME MUSINGS
Should credible threats against FLOTUS and ‘FSOTUS’ (first son..) not be justification to attack first.
As for yesterday’s summit. Netanyahu really can’t win. Explainer. If Trump now attacks without victory its ’cause of Netanyahu. If Trump now attacks with victory its ’cause of Trump. And, in Israel, if Trump doesn’t attack -victory or not- Netanyahu failed in his eighth meeting with Trump. And if Trump does attack -victory or not- half the country will vilify Bibi anyway. Missing a permutation?
Ya. I know. Kinda’ need a definition of victory for that musing to work.
And here in my little shtetle. We go to sleep unsure if there will be a code red in the middle of the night. And if not. We wake up thinking it will be tonight. How do you define stress?
Seemed like an appropriate way to end this musing.
Bruce Brown is a former Winnipegger who made aliyah to Israel over 35 years ago. Bruce first began writing for us – in his own inimitable style, in 2012, during what was known as “Operation Pillar of Defense.” His occasional musings on aspects of life in Israel that were far from what you’d typically read in other reports from Israel were hugely popular – both in the print Jewish Post & News and on this website.
We’re now glad to report that Bruce is back writing for us – this time on a regular basis. We will post Bruce’s reports as they arrive – with the date of each post at the beginning of that post.
Here’s some information about Bruce – and awards he’s received for his writing:
Bruce Brown. Canadian born. Now living in Israel (for a long time). Bruce works in Israel’s hi-tech sector by day and, in spurts, is a somewhat inspired writer by night. He received the American Jewish Press Association’s award for writing excellence in 2019 and 2025. And wrote the 1998 satire, “An Israeli is….” Bruce’s musings are political, social, economic and personal. With lots of biting, contrarian, sardonic and irreverent insight.
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