Features
Rooslana Zodek has built a successful business here after having come to Winnipeg from Israel six years ago
By BERNIE BELLAN It was in the summer of 2016 when I approached then Rady JCC Assistant Executive Director Tamar Barr with an idea: Why not start a “Jewish Business Network” where members of the community with different backgrounds but one common interest could meet on a regular basis? The idea was not new in itself; there had been various attempts previously to do the same sort of thing, including having a “Jewish Chamber of Commerce” as an adjunct to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, but nothing had really taken off.
I was aware that there were many newcomers in our community who were anxious to network – not only with other newcomers, but with longtime members of the community. Tamar – with the full support of then Rady JCC Executive Director Gayle Waxman, was fully supportive of the idea and the JBN launched in the summer of 2016, with the first meeting held outdoors in the Danzker Garden area of the Asper Campus.
For the first three years the JBN was a terrific success. With regular meetings and interesting guest speakers,with at times meetings attracting over 100 attendees, there were plenty of opportunities for newcomers to mix with older members of our community. Two of our guest speakers in those first two years, and who attracted quite large crowds in particular were well known businesspeople Brian Scharfstein and Sandy Shindelman.
Over time, however, the JBN came to be a forum for newcomers themselves to speak to the audience – and their audiences began to be made up largely of fellow newcomers. While that may have been worthwhile, I felt that the JBN was deviating from its original purpose, which was to have newcomers and longtime Winnipeggers mix.
Then came Covid – and the JBN was put on hiatus.
This past fall, however, under the direction of Sheldon Appelle, Rady JCC Manager of Marketing, Communications & Digital Content, the JBN was “back in business” so to speak. I didn’t manage to make it to that fall meeting, but on January 24 I did attend the most recent meeting of the JBN.
The guest speaker was Rooslana Zodek, who arrived in Winnipeg with her husband and two children in 2016. (Since then Rooslana has had another child, born in Winnipeg.)
Rooslana Zodek has quite an interesting background. Born in Ukraine, Roolsana and her husband lived in Ashdod for 26 years before emigrating here in 2016.
She said that she had worked as a financial adviser for Bank Leumi for many years – until she transitioned into a completely different field, which was the subject of her talk. Rooslana explained that she had acquired a Bachelor of Economics and Accounting Studies degree from something called the “Open University” in Israel.
After she made that remark, Rooslana asked the audience, which numbered about 60, how many had also studied in the Open University? Quite a few hands shot up. I admit I had never heard of the Open University, so once I got home, I did some research and found out that it’s an online university in Israel which was established in 1974. It offers quite an array of courses at both the Bachelors and Masters level with all courses taught in Hebrew, but several also offered in Russian and Arabic. Since opening almost 50 years ago, over 50,000 students have graduated from the Open University, with 47,000 students currently registered taking at least one course. Its flexibility is particularly popular among soldiers, who are able to enroll even while serving in the military.
Returning to Rooslana – the turning point in her life, she said, came in 2009 with the birth of her first child, Ethan. Rooslana suffered from postpartum depression, she explained.
“I knew I had to find different ways to help myself, but I didn’t know where to start,” she said.
The search for possible therapies eventually led Rooslana to discover a number of different holistic approaches that worked for her, including “aromatherapy, Reiki, and homeopathy – after trying many healing practices.”
(Ed. note: Although I am writing about the path Rooslana took I do not intend anything I write to be taken as an endorsement of any particular treatment.)
As Rooslana explained, “spirituality transformed my postpartum mental health and helped me through the recovery process.”
It was while researching aromatherapy that Rooslana said she discovered that by combining various “essential oils” in different combinations she was able to help, not only herself, but the other members of her family as well with various conditions. Eventually, as she went on to relate, it was through the study of aromatherapy that Rooslana was able to open her own business here: “scentifique.ca.”
During her talk Rooslana spent quite a bit of time describing the benefits of certain essential oils, but we won’t get into any of those descriptions here. (If you want to find out more about what Roolsana says aromatherapy can do for you, go to scentifique.ca.)
In 2014, Rooslana’s second child was born, a daughter, Neomi. Rooslana said that, thanks to the holistic treatments to which she now subscribed, she “knew what to expect this time (insofar as postpartum depression is concerned) and I was prepared.”
However, Neomi also suffered from a terrible case of eczema, Rooslana explained. By combining certain essential oils, Rooslana said she was able to relieve the eczema, but once she stopped applying them, “the condition came back.” That experience – along with her previous experience dealing with her depression convinced her to further her knowledge of aromatherapy.
Upon coming to Canada though, Rooslana first found work as a full-time financial advisor with RBC. All the while though she was advancing her study of aromatherapy, going so far as to go to Europe for further training.
“I went back to school (in England) to learn about aromatherapy, natural skincare formulation, and nutrition,” she explained. (European schools are much better for learning about skincare, Rooslana added.)
Subsequently, Rooslana switched to a part time position at RBC and, in 2019, registered her online business, Scentifique Holistic wellness boutique. One year ago she joined the Essential Balance Center on Grant Avenue and began working as one of the practitioners there.
It was at that point in her talk that Rooslana made a number of observations that have special relevance for newcomers to our community, including that “it is very easy to start a business in Canada as opposed to Israel.”
“I opened a business account,” she noted, and “it took me only an hour to register my business.”
“In the beginning I was making things only for my family,” she observed, but then friends began asking her to develop skincare products for them, “and those friends told other friends.”
“Most of my clients are word of mouth,” Rooslana said. She also does a fair number of workshops – where she is able to bring her kids along, not only to share their company, but also to help her set up. (You might have seen Rooslana at her booth during Yom Ha’atsmaut at the Campus, also during Folklorama.)
“If I have an event I try to take the kids with me,” she noted. “If I’m at a market I try to make them part of a family business. It makes them feel engaged.”
One other interesting observation Rooslana made is that “men are my most loyal customers.”
Still, working part-time at RBC, then spending a good deal of the rest of her time devoted to her business must be quite demanding, as one audience member asked Rooslana: “How do you combine everything in a day?”
“At times it’s tough,” Rooslana admitted. But she does set aside “Sunday as a family day,” she noted. “I try to spend time after work at the bank with the kids,” she added, seeing “clients only after 9 pm during the week.”
But, not only is Rooslana actively engaged in developing her business, she is also a regular volunteer – both for the Jewish community and the Ukrainian community – from where she came. She thanked the Jewish Federation and, in particular, Dalia Sz
piro, for helping her and her family in their move to Winnipeg over six years ago.
Moreover, along with several other members of our Jewish community who also came from Ukraine originally, Rooslana spends a fair bit of time providing assistance, by giving financial advice, to Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Winnipeg since the Russian invasion of their country almost one year ago.
Where she gets the energy to do all that she does is hard to understand, but Rooslana Zodek is an example of the kind of spirit that so many newcomers to Winnipeg have embodied over the years. So many of our own ancestors followed a similar path – by working from home to fashion a successful business. Rooslana – and so many other newcomers to our community display a kind of energy and drive that is inspiring to see.
Features
History of a Holocaust Survivor Turning Eighty
By HENRY SREBRNIK On July 19, I turn 80 years old. This is indeed a milestone, but for me, an even bigger one was just being born. My parents were Holocaust survivors, and I found out just a few months ago that, technically, so am I. My parents were from Czestochowa, Poland, where I was born in 1945. By 1943 most Jews in the city, including their own families, had been murdered by the Nazis, at Treblinka, and after the uprising in the Jewish ghetto, my parents, by now married, became slave labour in a major Nazi munitions plant, the HASAG-Pelcery concentration camp, in the city.
The Russian army liberated Czestochowa January 16-17, 1945, and I was born July 19, six months later. You can do the math. My mother was emaciated and didn’t even know she was pregnant, but another month, and it would have been obvious, and she would have been killed. (I never asked how this happened but found out when listening to her testimony for the Shoah Foundation in 1995. The men and women were housed in different barracks, but one night the Germans were delousing one of the buildings and allowed married couples to sleep together in the other.)
In 1945 the 9th of Av fell on July 19, and the Jewish world had just gone through our worst period in history. I was born in a makeshift hospital at the Jasna Gora, the famed Pauline Catholic monastery in the city. The actual city hospital had been destroyed in the fighting. It is home to the Matka Boska Czestochowska, (“the mother of God”), a very beautiful and large icon of Mary and the baby Jesus. Other women giving birth were surprised and one said, “Ona jest Zydowka.” So, though I am a proud Polish Jew, this could only have helped! The doctor who delivered whispered to my mother that he was Jewish but added that he wanted it kept quiet because he wasn’t going to leave Poland. It also took awhile for a mohel to come to the city for me.
The next few years were spent in Pocking-Waldstadt, a DP camp in the American zone in Bavaria, Germany, and then on to Pier 21 in Halifax and Canada. We lived in Montreal, though at home we were to all intents and purposes in Czestochowa, Jewish Poland.
As I was packing up my books in May because we all had to vacate our offices for the summer due to repairs in our building, I came across a book that I had never read – I don’t even recall where I got it — by the Polish historian Lucjan Dobroszycki, Survivors of the Holocaust in Poland: A Portrait Based on Jewish Community Records 1944-1947 (Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1994). Chapter 5 is comprised of “Lists of Jewish Children Who Survived,” in alphabetical order. I am listed on p. 146 (Heniek Srebrnik, 1945). I sent in a form to the Claims Conference in New York informing them. So, at age 80, I’ve become a Holocaust survivor! Compared to that start, the next decades have been easy street! As the Aussies say, “no worries! But the Jewish world has grown darker. Like many others, were I to write a memoir, I’d call it From Hitler to Hamas.
I grew up in Montreal, and have lived in Calgary and Charlottetown, as well as London, England, and four American cities. But I’ve only been to Winnipeg twice, in 1982 and, more dramatically, the weekend of Sept. 7-10, 2021. I presented a paper on “Birobidzhan on the Prairies: Two Decades of Pro-Soviet Jewish Movements in Winnipeg,” to a conference on “Jewish Radicalism in Winnipeg, 1905-1960,” organized by the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada. I left the morning of Sept. 11. An hour into the flight to Toronto we were told all airplanes had to land at the nearest major airport. I spent the next three days in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., with fellow passengers. We mostly watched the television reporting on the 9/11 catastrophe.
Though an academic, I have always written for newspapers, including Jewish ones, in Canada and the United States. Some, like the Jewish Free Press of Calgary, the Jewish Tribune of Toronto, and the previous version of the Canadian Jewish News, no longer exist, which is a shame. Fortunately, the Jewish Post still does.
Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.
Features
Why Prepaid Cards Are the Last Refuge for Online Privacy in 2025
These days, it feels like no matter what you do online, someone’s watching. Shopping, streaming, betting, even signing up for something free—it’s all tracked. Everything you pay for with a normal card leaves a digital trail with your name on it. And in 2025, when we’re deep into a cashless economy, keeping anything private is getting harder by the day.
If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t want every little move tied to your identity, prepaid cards are one of the only real options left. They’re simple, easy to get, and still give you a way to spend online without throwing your info out there. One card in particular, Vanilla Visa, is one of the better picks because of how widely Vanilla Visa is accepted and how little personal info it needs.
Everything’s Online, and Everything’s Tracked
We used to pay for stuff with cash. Walk into a store, hand over some bills, leave. No names, no records. That’s gone now. Most stores won’t even take cash anymore, and the ones that do feel like the exception. The cashless economy is here whether we like it or not.
So what’s the problem? Every time you swipe or tap your card, or pay with your phone, someone’s logging it. Your bank saves the details. The store’s system saves it. And a lot of times, that data gets sold or shared. It can get used to target you with ads, track what you buy, where you go, and when you do it.
It’s not just companies either. Apps collect it. Hackers try to steal it. Some governments keep tabs too. And if you’re using the same card everywhere, it all gets connected pretty fast.
Why Prepaid Cards Still Matter
Prepaid cards are one of the only ways to break that chain. You go to a store, buy one with cash, and that’s it. No bank involved. No name. You just load it up and use it. And because Vanilla Visa is accepted on most major websites, you can use it just like any normal card.
You’re not giving out your real name or tying it to your main account. That means when you pay for something, it’s not showing up on your bank statement. It’s not getting saved under your profile. You’re basically cutting off the trail right there.
Why Vanilla Visa Stands Out
There are a few different prepaid card brands out there, but Vanilla Visa is probably the most popular. You can grab one at grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies—almost anywhere. And once you’ve got it, you can use it on pretty much any site where Vanilla Visa is accepted.
No long setup. No personal info. You don’t need to register it under your name. You just pay, go online, and spend the amount that’s on the card. When it runs out, you toss it and move on. No trace.
This makes it great for anyone who wants to sign up for a site without attaching their real identity. People use it for online gaming, streaming, subscriptions, or just shopping without giving out their main card info.
The Good and the Bad
There are some solid upsides to using a prepaid card:
- You don’t need a bank account
- You don’t give out your name or address
- It’s easy to budget since you can’t spend more than you loaded
- Most major sites take them, especially where Vanilla Visa is accepted
But there are a few downsides too:
- You can’t reload the card. Once it’s empty, it’s done
- You can’t use it to get money out, like at an ATM
- Some cards have small fees or expiration dates, so don’t let them sit too long
- A few sites want a card tied to a name and billing address, which doesn’t work here
- If you lose it or someone steals the number, you’re probably not getting the money back
So yeah, prepaid cards aren’t perfect. But if privacy is the goal, they’re still one of the few things that actually help.
Real Ways People Use Them
Let’s say you’re trying out an online casino. You don’t want your bank seeing it. You don’t want it on your statement. You walk into a Walgreens, buy a Vanilla Visa with a hundred bucks in cash, then use it to make your deposit. Done. The casino sees a card, but not your name.
Or maybe you’re signing up for a new subscription. Could be a video platform, a magazine, whatever. You don’t want it auto-charging your main card every month or sharing your info with advertisers. Use a prepaid card, and it stays off the radar.
Even if you’re just buying something from a site you don’t totally trust, using a card that isn’t tied to your real money is a smart move.
Will These Cards Still Be Around?
That’s the thing people are starting to worry about. Some stores have started asking for ID when you buy higher-value prepaid cards. And there’s talk in some countries about requiring people to register cards before using them.
Governments don’t like anonymous money. Companies definitely don’t. There’s a chance that in the future, prepaid cards will be harder to get or come with new rules.
But for now, they still work. You can still walk into a store with cash and walk out with a prepaid card. And as long as Vanilla Visa is accepted at the places you shop, you’ve got a way to stay private.
Bottom Line
If you’re living in 2025 and trying to protect your privacy online, prepaid cards are one of the last easy options. The cashless economy makes it almost impossible to pay without leaving a record, but prepaid cards break that pattern. They don’t ask for your name. They don’t track your habits. And they don’t leave a trail if you use them right.
They won’t fix everything. They don’t keep you completely invisible. But they give you a level of control that’s hard to find now. In a world that wants to watch your every move, that still counts for something.
Features
Winkler nurse stands with Israel and the Jewish people
By MYRON LOVE Considering the great increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Canada over the past 20 months – and the passivity of government, federally, provincially and municipally, in the face of this what-should-be unacceptable criminal behaviour, many in our Jewish community may feel that we have been abandoned by our fellow citizens.
Polls regularly show that as many as 70% of Canadians support Israel – and there are many who have taken action. One such individual is Nelli Gerzen, a nurse at the Boundary Trails Health Centre (which serves the communities of Winkler and Morden in western Manitoba). Three times in the past 20 months, Gerzen has taken time off work to travel to Israel to support Israelis in their time of need.
I asked her what those around her thought of her trips to Israel. “My mother was worried when I went the first time (November 2023),” Gerzen responded, “but, like me, she has trust in the Lord. My friends and colleagues have gotten used to it.”
She also reports that she is part of a small group of fellow believers that meet online regularly and pray for Israel.
Gerzen is originally from Russia, but grew up in Germany. Her earliest exposure to the history of the Holocaust, she relates, was in Grade 9 – in Germany. “My history teacher in Germany in Grade 9 went into depth with the history of World War II and the Holocaust,” she recalls. “It is normal that all the teachers taught about the Holocaust but she put a lot of effort into teaching specifically this topic. We also got to watch a live interview with a Holocaust survivor.”
What she learned made a strong impression on her. “I have often asked myself what I would do if I were living in that era,” she says. “Would I have been willing to hide Jews in my home? Or risk my life to save others?”
Gerzen came to Canada in 2010 – at the age of 20. She received her nursing training here and has been working at Boundary Trails for the last three years.
“I believe in the G-d of Israel and that the Jews are his Chosen People,” she states. “We are living at a time of skyrocketing anti-Semitism. Many Jews are feeling vulnerable. I felt that I had to do something to help.”
Gerzen’s first trip to Israel was actually in 2014 when she signed onto a youth tour organized by a Christian group, Midnight Call, based in Switzerland. That initial visit left a strong impact. “That first visit changed my life,” she remembers. “I enjoyed having conversations with the Israelis. The bible for me came to life. Every stone seemed to have a story.”
She went on a second Midnight Call Missionaries tour of Israel in 2018. She went back again on her own in the spring of 2023. After October 7, she says, “I couldn’t sit at home. I had to do something.”
Thus, in November 2023, she went back to Israel, this time as a volunteer. She spent two weeks at Petach Tikvah cooking meals for Israelis displaced from the north and the south as well as IDF soldiers. She also spent a day with an Israeli friend delivering food to IDF soldiers stationed near Gaza. She notes that she wasn’t worried so close to the border.
“I trusted in the Lord,” she says. “It was a special feeling being able to help.”
Last November, she found herself at Kiryat Shmona (with whom our Jewish community has close ties), working for two weeks alongside volunteers from all over the world cooking for the IDF.
On one of her earlier visits, she recounts, a missile struck just a few metres from the kitchen where the volunteers were working. There was some damage – forcing closure for a few days while repairs were ongoing, but no injuries.
In January, she was back at Kiryat Shmona for another two weeks cooking for the IDF. She also helped deliver food to Metula on the northern border. This last time, she reports, there was a more upbeat atmosphere, “even though,” she notes, “the wounds are still fresh. It was quieter. There were no more missiles coming in.
“Israelis were really touched by the presence of so many of us volunteers. I only wish more Christians would stand up for Israel.
“It was really moving to hear people’s stories first-hand.”
She recounts the story of one Israeli she met at a Jerusalem market who fought in the Yom Kippur war of 1973, who was the only survivor of the tank he was in.
“This guy lost so much in his life, and he was standing there telling the story and smiling, just trying to live life again,” she says. “The people there are so heartbroken.”
Back home, she has been showing her support for Israel and the Jewish people by attending the weekly rallies on Kenaston in support of the hostages whenever she can.
She is looking forward to playing piano at Shalom Square during Folklorama.
Nelli Gerzen doesn’t know yet when she will be returning to Israel – but it is certain to be soon. “This is my chance to step up for the truth,” she concludes. “I know that supporting Israel is the right thing to do. When I am there, it feels like my heart is on fire.”