Winnipeg’s JCC encouraged the city’s pro sports teams to launch anti-hate campaigns at their games this summer
“Hate is not welcome here.” That’s the message shared in Winnipeg this year by its six professional sports teams through an initiative by the Rady Jewish Community Centre. The initiative is the brainchild of Rob Berkowits, executive director of the centre. He was inspired to do something after antisemitic tweets by rapper Kanye West last […]
Ben Carr won the federal Winnipeg byelection in the riding his late father Jim Carr won for the Liberals three prior times
There will be a familiar name as member of Parliament for the riding of Winnipeg South Centre, now that Ben Carr has prevailed for the Liberals in a byelection held June 19. According to the preliminary results from Elections Canada, Carr received 55.5 percent of the votes with all of the polls reporting. The results […]
Winnipeg’s Ben Baader saw his life pass before his eyes, when his journey as a trans Orthodox Jew was made into a play
Ben Baader found it wonderful to see a play based on his own extremely unique experiences. “The actors did an outstanding job,” he said about Narrow Bridge, which chronicles the transitioning of the main character from female to male—and from being a secular Jew to living in the framework of Orthodox observance and practice. Written […]
After three decades working for Winnipeg’s Jewish community, federation CEO Elaine Goldstine reflects on the changes she has seen
After three decades of working for the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, including eight years as CEO, Elaine Goldstine has seen the community grow and change quite dramatically. She is retiring in August. Goldstine, 68 this year, was born and raised in Winnipeg. She started working part-time in 1993 in fundraising for what was then called the […]
Obituary: ‘Lightning Lou’ Billinkoff, 99, became Canada’s fastest sprinter when he was in his 90s
After suffering a serious heart attack, many people would take it easy. But for Winnipegger Lou Billinkoff, it was just the start of his goal to become a record-holding sprinter. Nicknamed “Lightning Lou,” Billinkoff died March 14 at age 99 after a ten-year sprinting career that saw him become the fastest Canadian man in the […]
Ben Carr hopes to follow in the footsteps of his late father, Jim, by seeking the Liberal nomination in his Winnipeg riding
Ben Carr wants everyone to know he loved, respected and admired his father—former Liberal member of Parliament Jim Carr—but he is running for the nomination for his dad’s old seat as his own person. “This campaign is about me, what I can contribute and my track record,” he said of his decision to seek the […]
Bill Weissmann, unofficial ambassador for Winnipeg’s Jewish community, to receive Lt-Gov.’s award for promoting interfaith understanding
In the late 1990s, Louis Berkal, then rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Winnipeg, had a favour to ask Bill Weissmann. Rabbi Berkal, who died in 2009, was supposed to speak to a local high school class touring the synagogue. Would Weissmann fill in for him and tell them about Judaism? Weissmann had misgivings. But […]
Winnipeg’s Freeman Family Holocaust Education Centre re-opens after a major renovation to engage younger visitors
Technology will make it more engaging for younger visitors.
Obituary: Winnipeg Liberal MP Jim Carr, 71, a strong advocate for the Jewish community
He battled multiple myeloma and kidney failure for the past three years.
Winnipeg writer Méira Cook’s ‘The Full Catastrophe’ is a novel about embracing who you are
Méira Cook’s most recent novel is a love story. But it’s not the kind you may think. The Full Catastrophe is the story of an aging Holocaust survivor, his optimistic grandson and learning to embrace who you are. The book, which Cook considers to be a crossover story for teenagers and adults, focuses on Charlie […]
