Features
My memories of Peretz Shul
By KINZEY POSEN It was a late Friday afternoon at Peretz Shul in 1964 or so. A good friend of mine at the time whose Yiddish name was Moishe said, “That’s it! I’m not coming back to school on Monday, I’m out of here!” Ok, as an 11 year old, he might have said it in a slightly different way. It was the first day of school in September and we were just about to go home. “Sure you are Moishe, I’m sure you’ll be back on Monday,” I told him.
Kinzey’s Grade 1 Peretz School class circa 1960
(Thanks to Sandy Shefrin for helping with identifying almost everyone; comments supplied by Kinzey)
Bottom Row crosslegged, left to right: Arthur Greenspan, unidentified, Matthew Levin (a.ka. Moishe in the story)
Second Row (l-r): Paula Wolfman, Rosa Scyzgiel, Shirley Starek, Myra Miller, Faye Golubchuk, Ruthie Rosenzweig,, Honey Leah Berman, Marcie Fleisher
Third Row (l-r): Diane McKay, Lucy Baumel, Janice Goldberg, Howard Kaplan, Sandy Shefrin, Heather Wallace, Pammy Zimmer (Kinzey’s wife, Shayla Fink’s first cousin, a beautiful person (alev hasholem)
Top row (l-r): Sidney Lieber, Martin (Kinzey) Posen, Sheldon Weidman, Harvey Zahn, Harvey Koffman (my first cousin) , Sidney Shoib, Morris Glimcher, Shawn Zell, Miss (Claire) Nelko (who is now Claire Breslaw)
Come Monday, true to his word, my friend did not come back. He had entered an alternate dimension it seemed; he was finished with Peretz Shul! Unheard of! Impossible! How did he do it? Moishe’s act of sedition was a reaction to the Yiddish teacher we had been blessed with that year and he was done. All of us in the class were in awe and Moishe, no worse for wear, having left the school, went on to become a respected ambassador for Canada’s Foreign Service.
A little while back, Bernie asked me to write about Peretz Shul from a different perspective: My own, as a student. I have often wondered why this institution. for those of us who went there, lives so large in our memories. Full disclosure: My grandmother Katya Posen Z’l, nee Gurarie, was one of the founders of Peretz Shul and a lifelong member of the Muter Farein – the women’s organization that helped establish the kindergarten and supported the school.
My father, Abe Posen, attended the school as did his sister, my aunt, Goldie Zuidema Z”l. My dad often told me stories of how various teachers at Peretz used to rent one of the rooms in their house on Burrows. To put it mildly, our family was steeped in Peretzness.
My era began in 1957 when I attended nursery school and then, kindergarten. To this day, I can still smell the matches when our teacher lit the Shabbat candles on Friday and we laid out our little mats to have a nap on. Being a socialist school for the most part, you would think Shabbat would not have been part of the school experience, but I have so many great reminiscences of those two years from making little coloured paper rings several metres long, to receiving the right colour star if we behaved. I loved getting those silver and gold ones alongside my name on the wall – wonderful, warm memories.
Our principal in those early days was Chaver Herstein – an imposing man with a wonderful head of hair and a bit of a temper. We called all our teachers by either “chaver” or “chaverteh” which, in this context, translated to “comrade”. We also called them Leher or Leheren – teacher in Yiddish. Our school was located at 601 Aikins, between Inkster and Polson Avenues. How do I remember the address? Early on as soon as we could write, we always wrote the address at the top of the left corner of the sheet of paper. Now, the building is a health community centre. Once we entered Grade One, our days were separated into half day Yiddish and half day English classes.
Grade One for me – and I am sure for my classmates, was a truly seminal experience. Pushed out of the warm bosom of kindergarten, Grade One meant getting down to serious work. Reading, see Dick run, see Jane run, see Dick and Jane run, writing, singing and my own personal challenge………arithmetic. Our Yiddish teacher, Miss Nelko, was the most beautiful woman who genuinely cared about her students. We loved her and she laid the groundwork for us learning Yiddish and how to be little menches and menchettes. Many years later, Shayla and I received a call about playing a wedding for an older couple. They came over to our house one evening and as we planned the event, it occurred to me that I knew who this woman was: My beloved Miss Nelko, some 40 years later. What a reunion it was!
Our English teacher, on the other hand, had a different style of teaching that could be best described, as adversarial. I renamed her Tyrannosaurus Rex and the invisible scars are still with me. Her approach to learning arithmetic was to say the least, extremely challenging. I was one of those kids who learned math in a different way and in those days, kids such as myself fell through the cracks and we fell deeply. All I remember is after a short explanation of one plus one equals two, etc., we all had to stand up by the blackboard as T Rex wrote a problem on the board. We could not sit down unless we put our hands up and answered correctly. Guess who was often the last kid standing? Me, of course, and I eventually memorized it all so I could finally sit down.
Another time, T Rex distributed to each of us a sheet of paper for some writing project. She gave me what we called at the time “grade one” paper. It’s where the lines were printed with one bold line and two lighter lines and then another bold line. It also had big wood chips in it. I noticed that she was also giving out what we called “grade two” paper. These were all symmetrical bold lines and I wanted one. When she finished giving them out, she asked if everyone received one and me, being me, said, “I didn’t.” My six-year-old brain conveniently forgot that my desk was in the front row and I had scrunched up the grade one paper into a ball and cleverly thought she wouldn’t see it in the wood support for the desk.
As I put my hand up and told her I didn’t get one, she approached my desk in a threatening way, reached into the desk support and said, “What is this?” I was fully chastised, and T Rex bellowed, “You will only get grade one paper for the rest of the year.”
The reality was, in those days, especially in the context of a parochial school, you sometimes had people teaching who were not trained and did not have the skills to do the job. Not only that, more than a few were survivors of the Holocaust and we eventually learned that they experienced terrible horrors in the camps and ghettos.
That being said, I had several wonderful teachers, whose voices to this day still reverberate in my head and I often reflect about their ability to connect and elevate the students.
Mrs. Gold, Mrs. Brooks and Pascal Fishman were some of them. Chaver Fishman came to us from Buenos Aires and was one of our Yiddish teachers. He had a great capacity to see potential in students and encourage them. Another of our teachers, Mrs. Wallace, taught us English and her daughter was in our class for years. The family wasn’t Jewish, but Heather my classmate, spoke Yiddish like a pro. I remember one of our later Yiddish teachers, Mrs. Korman, taught us “Zol Nit Keynmol” the Warsaw Ghetto Song, and led us in a procession to St. John’s Park in the spring, while we sang that song and others.
The year at Peretz Schul was highlighted by two major events. The annual essay contest in Yiddish and English, and the graduation, which took place towards the end of June. For each of those occasions, the auditorium would be absolutely packed and very hot. As students, we often escaped outside to cool off in the lane and we could hear what was going on by the open side doors.
The cultural offerings at Peretz were in my opinion, outstanding. We were taught so many great songs, we acted in plays and we created art. Jewish holidays were celebrated with a Yiddishe taam (Yiddish flavour). Since my Hebrew name was Mordechai/Motel, I always got the part of Mordechai in the Purim play. The music component was delivered by Chaver Bronstein or Mr. Brownstone as he was known at Talmud Torah. His classes were always held in the auditorium, where he’d stand by his easel flipping the song sheets written in Yiddish and we’d follow the words as he used his pointer. Contrary to the Talmud Torah choir experience, he never gave us names or hit us. After he retired, Mrs. Udow took over and when I hoped to join the choir, she said, “Modechai, your voice is changing, perhaps another time.”
After the principal Chaver Herstein retired, Mr. Heilik who was previously at the Calgary Peretz Shul became our new principal. He was an interesting man and because of my ‘occasional’ naughty behaviour, I got to know him a little better than most students. He was an artist. His medium was oil painting and I remember, on one occasion, we were taken out of our class and brought to the auditorium. When we arrived, we saw that all four walls had been covered with his paintings. There were dozens of them. It was a full-blown exhibition of his work.
I bring this up because I became the class artist at Peretz and my teachers often ‘commissioned’ me to draw and colour huge murals in the hallway of the school. This gave me the opportunity to get out of class. Chaver Heilik would always come out of his office to check out my work. My artistry was far below his level, but he was always encouraging and interested in what I was doing.
In my day, we all graduated from Grade Seven and you had the choice of continuing in what was called Mittel Shul. These classes were held after 4 o’clock, after you finished English school. No one in my class went to Mittel Shul and we felt sorry for those who did as they arrived at four, just as we were leaving.
For me, and I’m sure others, the experience of attending Peretz Shul, wasn’t truly appreciated until after we graduated. The real world out there wasn’t as warm and friendly as it was at 601 Aikins. I do know that the school gave me the education that my Baba and other founders were hoping to achieve: an ability to speak Yiddish, a love for the language, Jewish history known as Yiddishe geshicteh and above all, an appreciation for the Jewish people and our incredibly rich journey. I also had my Peretz Shul family, the 12 or so students in my class that I spent 35 hours a week with for nine years. We all take something different away from the experience, but I can guarantee you, many of us, including my friend Moishe the ambassador, will always carry Peretz Shul memories with us for the rest of our lives.
Post script:
Ed. note: It didn’t take me too long to figure out who the “Moishe” was to whom Kinzey refers in his article. I was actually friends myself with “Moishe”, although I knew him better as Matthew Levin.
Matthew was always very independent-minded – even as a kid. That being said, he went on to an illustrious career in Canada’s diplomatic service. Among other posts he held, he was Canada’s Ambassador to Columbia, Cuba, and most recently Spain.
It was while he was Ambassador to Cuba that Matthew, along with his wife, Rosealba, played an instrumental role in helping Cuban Jews emigrate to Israel (since Israel and Cuba did not have diplomatic relations).
When I read Kinzey’s story I decided to send it to Matthew – before I outed him as the “Moishe” in the story. Matthew was pleasantly surprised to see that Kinzey mentioned him in a story and even further that he referred to him as “Moishe”.
In my email to Matthew I mentioned that the last time I had attempted to contact him was when Stephen Harper was Prime Minister and Matthew was Canada’s Ambassador to Cuba. At the time, some low level functionaries in what is known as Global Affairs Canada interceded and said that I would not be able to communicate directly with Matthew. Instead, I was told, I could submit any questions that I had to Global Affairs, they would vet them (no doubt looking for anything that might potentially embarrass the government, such as asking about Matthew’s boyhood years in Winnipeg).
So, when I reached out to Matthew – again, this time after reading Kinzey’s piece, I said that I didn’t know whether he would even receive my email since I suspected “apparatchiks” in the government would see it first – and probably attempt to prevent me from communicating with him directly – again.
I was surprised then, to receive a very warm response from Matthew – in which he explained that he is no longer under the supervision of government “apparatchiks”.
Here’s what Matthew Levin wrote to me, in part:
Wonderful to hear from you! I’m so glad you made the effort to reach out.
I finished my posting to Spain a couple of months ago and am now back in Ottawa and transitioning to retirement. So no more apparatchiks.
First of all, I hope you’re well and coping successfully with these strange times.
Your lovely message brings back all sorts of very fond memories. It’s a long time since anyone called me Moishe (often shortened to Moish back then). I never saw most of my Peretz Shul classmates after I left the school, as Kinzey recalls, at the start of Grade 5 (a long story). Kinzey was one of the very few I did see occasionally, including a few times when he was playing with Finjan. But most of the others I completely lost touch with. Now I sometimes wonder what has become of many of them. It’s really heartwarming to think that Kinzey (Martin at the time and I believe he was Mordechai in Yiddish, or maybe Mendel) remembered me as he was writing this story. Since you and I and our group of friends never called each other by our Yiddish names I’m surprised, but delighted, that you thought of me when you saw this reference to a Moishe.
Thanks so much for sending along Kinzey’s story. I’m sending you this reply before having read it, because I didn’t want to delay getting back to you, but I’ll certainly read it with great interest and undoubtedly pleasure. I really feel honoured and delighted to be included. If you’re in touch with Kinzey, please thank him and give him a big hug – virtual of course for now – from me.
Features
How to Use the Internet Safely in Canada
Discover essential tips for using the internet safely in line with the Government’s newest cybersecurity report and whole-of-society approach to digital safety.
Whenever we think we’ve seen it all, the internet chucks something unexpected at the world. In the past few days, we’ve seen two dazzling demonstrations of the power of AI to deceive or convince. First, a hacker infiltrated the internal television screens of the Washington headquarters of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to play a deepfake video of US President Donald Trump kissing Elon Musk’s feet. Next, President Trump shared an AI-generated video of his vision for Gaza on his Truth Social account.
At home, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security recently released a report that underlines the need to keep expecting the unexpected. According to their National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025-2026, Canada is experiencing a barrage of digital attacks.
A Perfect Storm of Cyber Criminality
There has been a notable increase in state-sponsored cyber operations to disrupt Canada’s critical infrastructure. The report specifically mentions the aggressive cyber programs of the People’s Republic of China. Looks like Russia also aims to destabilize Canada and its allies.
Another concern is the flourishing underground network of cybercriminals. In this space, foreign threat actors and financially motivated ‘ordinary’ criminals cross paths. They sometimes find enough common ground to scratch each other’s backs. That may be one reason ordinary Canadians face more attempts to steal personal data and sensitive information.
Data breaches do a lot of damage. Apart from the financial loss, it brings reputation damage, and even legal consequences for both individuals and organizations. For example, a Equifax survey showed that 73.5% of all fraudulent credit card applications and 89.3% of all deposit frauds in Q4 2023 resulted from identity fraud.
The Dangers of Data Sharing Among Thieves
Cybercriminals trade stolen information, and this data-sharing trend is becoming a significant concern. With access to more extensive and diverse data pools, these criminal groups can better leverage people’s personal data. A bigger data pool makes criminals more effective and profitable. Even worse, it allows them to shift their focus to more complex and vastly more disruptive projects.
The Government of Canada is taking the increased threat level seriously. They’ve developed the National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS) to address digital threats. The new plan uses a whole-of-society approach and has a substantial proposed budget.
According to security experts, Canadians can take more steps to use the internet safely. This includes avoiding phishing scams, identity theft, malware attacks, and data breaches. When individuals are safer from fraud and scams, the overall threat to everyone online is reduced.
10 Quick Tips on How to Use the Internet Safely in Canada
It’s not hard to make using the internet safer — a little preparedness goes a long way.
- Install antivirus software and enable your device’s firewall.
- Get a reliable VPN in Canada. A Virtual Private Network is a basic defence system that all devices should have. It encrypts your internet connection to keep out snoopers (like your ISP) and hackers with mayhem on their minds.
- Update devices immediately and keep operating systems (and all your apps) up to date. Updates are important patches addressing security weaknesses and closing loopholes in new exploits.
- Improve your passwords. It is far better to use a password manager to create long, complex passwords or phrases for each account.
- Enable 2FA (two-factor authentication) where possible. Your favourite app or online account is nagging you to enable 2FA for a good reason! 2FA can knock out a considerable percentage of hacking attempts. Would-be hackers with access to your passwords would also need your phone or other authentication device to get into your account.
- Become more privacy-aware. We give away a lot of information by accident. Most people use and accept the default privacy settings on the software and apps they use every day. They’re unaware that the default privacy settings are skewed in advertisers’ favour. Review and adjust the privacy settings on every app, social media account, and search engine you use. Also, check and adjust the settings on your smartphone and other devices. Use your VPN every time you connect to the internet. A VPN changes your IP address and gives you an extra layer of privacy against advertisers and marketers.
- Encrypt sensitive files. Encryption scrambles the file data by making it unreadable to anyone without the correct decryption key.
- Always think: “It might be phishing”. Be suspicious of links that arrive via email, text, or social media. A click could start a malware download. Phishing scams often impersonate well-known businesses like Netflix, Facebook, or government agencies. Phishing attacks are attempts to trick people into divulging sensitive information. Phishing attacks can also lead to hijacking accounts with stolen login credentials.
- Check the legitimacy of websites. Don’t enter personal or financial information on a website that does not display “HTTPS” in the URL. But be cautious even if there is a padlock icon in the address bar. Cybercriminals can easily get a free SSL certificate for a scam website to make it look more professional. If a website seems ‘off’ or the offers are too good to be true, better leave.
- Create a backup. Store copies of important information on an external hard drive or a secure cloud storage service. Making backups won’t make your device safer, but it could help you recover from a cyber incident.
Staying Cyber Aware as a Society
The internet is a vast resource for modern society. Online tools increase productivity, simplify life, and help us learn new things. But cybercriminals have proven they won’t hesitate to use these tools to create havoc. There is always a new threat on the horizon, so we must keep learning and striving to stay informed about emerging threats.
Features
A daughter comes to terms with her father’s Holocaust experience many years later
“How to Share an Egg” by Bonny Reichert
Published by Appetite by Random House, 2025
Book Review by Julie Kirsh, former Sun Media News Research Director
Exclusive to The Jewish Post and News
Bonny Reichert writes with great compassion about her father, a Holocaust survivor. In reviewing children of survivor literature, much has been said about the need to compensate for the suffering of the Holocaust survivor. To upset parents after what they have been through, is to be avoided at all cost.
In my own survivor family, I learned that to ask questions of my parents about what happened during the war and even before the war was to cause pain. I learned not to ask, not to cause pain.
In 2015 Bonny Reichert and her family made a trip to Warsaw. The tomb of an ancestor called out to her father. The author’s great-grandfather was “a pillar of his community and a beloved scholar.” His namesake, the author’s father, was jubilant to find the headstone in the Warsaw cemetery. Afterwards the famished family found a deserted restaurant and revelled in a bowl of borscht garnished with fresh condiments. The description of this delicious meal is the reader’s introduction to the author’s moving memoir about food, love, hunger and survival. The author writes that in her family “food was connected to the meaning of life itself; an understanding woven into our very being.” The dining table was a very important place in the daily life of the family.
At age 5, the author noticed the blue-green numbers on her father’s arm. It was at this time that the father started to talk about his Holocaust experiences. By retelling his stories, the author’s father was reframing the horror into stories of bravery and triumph. In some ways, he was healing himself in the process of telling.
His daughter, the child of the survivor, tests her father’s Holocaust experience by putting a bare foot in the snow or trying to imagine unspeakable hunger. Trauma passed down the intergenerational chain has been explored in the children of the Holocaust survivors’ literature. Bonny Reichert absorbed her father’s trauma without understanding the origin of her own inherent sadness and dark feelings.
My high school years were spent going to movies, shopping and finding out about boys with my best friend, Linda. Her family, unlike my own, was a Canadian Jewish family who came to Toronto before the war. I considered Linda’s family normal and healthy. There were many aunts, uncles, cousins and even grandparents. Similarly, Cathy was the author’s best friend. In Cathy’s home there were no accents and no sad stories about tragedy and loss.
In her twenties, the author takes us through her engagement and marriage to the “right” guy. Turning down an opportunity to go to law school, staying at home with a baby, not dealing with depression was her life which she portrays poignantly in this memoir.
Most unexpectedly, she did not get the support that she needed from her father. He ignored her feelings. He saw her in the role of a traditional wife who had no outside aspirations other than to be a homemaker.
Therapy sessions helped her to take control of her life and become more aware of her authentic self. Her father was able to love her deeply and share the truths that he had learned through his Holocaust experience. However she came to understand that no one can define another person’s path. Taking journalism courses and having her voice published, helped the author’s sense of independence and self-esteem. In her late twenties, after divorcing her first husband, she married Michael, had two more children and balanced motherhood with her job as a magazine editor.
At age forty, the author enrolled in a culinary school. Conquering her unnamed fears, gave her an outlet for the energy trapped within. She learned that “being afraid is no way to live”.
In addition to exploring her personal psyche, the author writes about recreating lost recipes from before the war. The reader learns that Jews have been making cholent for many decades. Putterkuch or butter crumble cake was painstakingly recreated in her modern kitchen and taken to her father for his approval and insight into what he remembered about his mother and his childhood. Food became the trigger for buried memories.
In the final chapters of “How to Share an Egg,” the author goes on a fact finding mission to Berlin and Poland. She visited ghettos and concentration camps with a tour group.
Hedy Bohm is one of the Holocaust’s oldest survivors and was my mother’s best friend. She is the catalyst for persuading the author to conquer her lifelong fear of understanding the Holocaust survivor experience. At age eighty-four, she told her story in a German court of justice. For Hedy, this experience was validating, transforming her entire world view.
The author leaves us with food for thought. Fight the worst that history had to offer the Jews with beauty, happiness and continuation of life. Her father modelled resilience, courage and strength, allowing his daughter to choose her own response to life’s challenges.
Features
Trump Wants to Incorporate Cryptocurrencies into the Strategic Reserve
President Trump intends for digital assets like Bitcoin, Ether, and a select group of other cryptocurrencies to eventually become part of the US strategic reserve. Although the exact process remains uncertain, market trends are already reflecting increased optimism beyond the US, drawing the attention of Canadian crypto adopters. Following Trump’s recent announcement, Bitcoin experienced its highest peak of a long time, a notable recovery from its previous drastic drop just days earlier.
These developments have sparked curiosity among Canadian investors, who could reshape market trends. In initial discussions in financial circles, experts pointed out that if the trend continues on an upward trajectory, this could spur the rise of innovations such as a number of new cryptocurrency. In this context, besides investing in the common Bitcoin and Ether, it would be worth considering investing in other cryptocurrencies. Exploring new cryptocurrency investment opportunities can be challenging, but experts claim that when approached wisely, it has the potential to be highly rewarding.
On Sunday, Trump disclosed for the first time the specific cryptocurrencies that could be integrated into a newly envisioned US crypto reserve. In a statement he posted on social media, he emphasized that leading digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ether should form the core of this reserve, positioning them as essential elements in the nation’s future financial strategy. Following his announcement, President Trump not only emphasized Bitcoin but also identified other lesser-known cryptocurrencies – such as Ripple, Solana, and Cardano – as key components of his envisioned reserve. In his social media post, he declared, “I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World.”
Crypto prices have rallied significantly after Trump’s announcement regarding the inclusion of Bitcoin and other digital currencies in strategic discussions. This announcement has sparked both excitement and skepticism among investors. Industry experts predict that these developments will drive broader institutional acceptance of cryptocurrencies across Canada. This could prove to be an influential factor in comprehensive regulatory reform and increased market stability.
Experts claim that, although vague, Trump’s promises give hope to investors worldwide. In the first few weeks of his presidency, the crypto sector did not receive the anticipated support. However, that initial disappointment seems to have transformed into renewed enthusiasm. Investopedia reports that by Monday morning, Bitcoin – after reaching a peak of about $109,000 in January and dropping last week on Trump’s announcement – had rebounded by over 8% to around $93,000. At the same time, Ether climbed roughly 7%, Solana increased by more than 13%, XRP surged over 16%, and Cardano jumped by over 50%.
Investopedia further reports that Bitcoin’s price encountered obstacles after it was confirmed that the Trump administration would proceed with its intended trade tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Investopedia further explains that investors often see tariffs as a driver of inflation. As a result, the expected interest reductions for the year of 2025 could be effectively offset, increasing pressure on volatile assets such as Bitcoin, which do not generate returns.
Investopedia notes that since 2013 Bitcoin has posted an equal number of gains and losses, making its performance hard to predict. Despite a roughly 5% drop in Bitcoin’s price since the beginning of 2025, Investopedia states that this cryptocurrency remains up approximately 25% compared to its level during the U.S. election period. This upward trend is largely driven by optimism that a Trump-led White House, along with a crypto-friendly Congress, will introduce policies that support the digital asset market.
Canadian crypto advocates see digital currencies as an opportunity to modernize everyday life. Local trading platforms are experiencing rising sales and an increase in user registrations. The recent fluctuations in cryptocurrencies have been accompanied by interest from strategic investors. Experts see the current developments as a potential turning point that could push digital financial solutions further into the spotlight for the public and politicians, which ultimately has long-term implications for Canada’s economic success. One sector that stands to gain significantly is Canada’s online gambling sector, a major contributor to the national economy.
Despite the current peak, financial experts warn of the risks. Cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile, especially when political and economic conditions change rapidly. Investment strategies must therefore adapt to a market that is both promising and unpredictable. Experts advise newcomers to invest cautiously and keep an eye on global trends. Such trends can have a lasting impact on the Canadian market.
Although the exact structure of future reserves remains unclear, the crypto-enthusiast President Trump has taken action by ordering the creation of a digital assets task force. This group is set to determine by July whether the US government should establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Investors are on edge, closely watching the potential ripple effects this development might have on the global trading market. Meanwhile, market observers expect further crypto-focused announcements from Trump in the coming days. The first crypto summit is scheduled to take place at the White House on Friday.
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