{"id":26897,"date":"2017-11-24T03:42:33","date_gmt":"2017-11-24T11:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=26897"},"modified":"2017-11-23T22:39:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-24T06:39:12","slug":"reuniting-in-winnipeg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2017\/11\/24\/reuniting-in-winnipeg\/","title":{"rendered":"Reuniting in Winnipeg"},"content":{"rendered":"

Among those at the reunion were, left to right, Helen Pinsky (Vancouver), Barbara Moser (Montreal), Chana Thau (Winnipeg), Avrum Rosner (Montreal), Cecil Rosner (Winnipeg) and Zev Cohen (Israel). (photo from the reunion)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Anyone who went to a Jewish day school in Winnipeg in the 1950s and 1960s was invited to a reunion recently \u2013 and 220 former students attended.<\/p>\n

The Oct. 6-9 reunion was organized by Avrum Rosner, who now lives in Montreal, Zev Cohen, who now lives in Israel, and Eileen Margulius Curtis and Bert Schaffer, who both still live in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

Rosner started posting high school photos on Facebook. A closed Facebook group followed and then Rosner created a page inviting people to share photos from Winnipeg Jewish schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, some genius \u2013 Zev Cohen \u2013 asked on the Facebook group, \u2018How about a reunion?\u2019 And he then started laying the groundwork,\u201d said Rosner. \u201cIt went viral after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rosner and his wife, Marnie Frain, both attended the reunion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were many different Jewish schools in Winnipeg in the 1950s and \u201960s, of diverse languages, attitudes to religion, attitudes to Israel, left and right,\u201d said Rosner. \u201cAnd, what was a thriving community, with unique cultural and social institutions, that reached its numerical peak around 1960, has been drastically diminished by emigration ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main venue of the October reunion was Holiday Inn West Airport, where some of the out-of-towners stayed. But, on the Sunday, Gray Academy of Jewish Education (GAJE) hosted the reunion. The academy is the entity into which nearly all the Jewish schools have amalgamated.<\/p>\n

The first reunion event was a dinner on Friday evening that included speeches. There was a discussion on Saturday; a brunch and greetings by GAJE staff and students, as well as a bus tour and dance party, on Sunday. On Monday, there was a farewell brunch with live entertainment, performing Hebrew, Yiddish and klezmer songs and 1960s\/70s rock \u2019n\u2019 roll.<\/p>\n

Participants included students, and a small number of former teachers, from Winnipeg\u2019s Talmud Torah, Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate, I.L. Peretz School, Rosh Pina, Herzlia, Ramah, and Sholem Aleichem School.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the highlights are not hard to identify \u2013 renewing half-century-old friendships. For me, and for many, it restored my belief in magic,\u201d said Rosner. \u201cPersonally, I think I gained the pure pleasure of reconnection with childhood friends. Also, the confirmation of the importance and ongoing vitality of the social, cultural and ethical values … and principles many of us absorbed \u2013 not solely through formal education, but by growing up in a unique-in-many-ways Jewish community in an isolated prairie city. It was what I expected and hoped for, though exponentially better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vancouver reunion attendee Helen Pinsky said, \u201cI watched the whole thing happen on Facebook. And, despite the fact that I\u2019d heard very little from other people who I\u2019d gone to school with, the reunion appealed to me a lot. I made arrangements to see all my cousins in Winnipeg, and booked the trip. I attended with my boyfriend, Yossi Amit, who, at that point, knew none of my Winnipeg relatives and had never been to that city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pinsky and Amit stayed at the reunion\u2019s \u201cofficial\u201d hotel and, though the schedule for the weekend had looked quite bare, that was a plus for them, as it allowed for personal visits. \u201cIn the end, most of my cousins attended the reunion, too,\u201d said Pinsky. \u201cThen, we made plans for spending our free time together. The programs were well-received and gave us all a structure from which to build other plans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pinsky enjoyed many aspects of the weekend, including the talk about the history of Winnipeg Jewry, the music and food at Hops, the band Finjan and reminiscences at brunch. \u201cThere were lots of photos, laughter, warmth, memories sharing, good feelings and catching up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Helen Nadel also attended the reunion. Nadel met Vancouverite Tevy Goodman in Winnipeg in 1975, and the couple were married at what was then Rosh Pina Synagogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy childhood stories of growing up in North End of Winnipeg have always interested my children,\u201d said Nadel. \u201cI heard about the reunion when I was in Winnipeg in April for a reunion of my high school Grade 12 class [of 1952] who all turn 65 this year. I also knew I\u2019d have a 40th-year medical school reunion this year [Sept. 15-17]. So, I decided that this was the year to make it a trifecta.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Nadel and her husband decided that he would accompany her, Nadel invited her daughter, Daniella, along, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it was fun to see the older girls who were my cousins\u2019 age, as I was the tag-along with my cousins when I was at Peretz School,\u201d said Nadel. \u201cAfter pointing out that I was the little pisher who was with Carol and Sandi, recognition was achieved. Reminiscences were exchanged. It was remarkable that, by the end of the weekend, people no longer looked unfamiliar. I remembered them as they were some 50 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter loved seeing me with my grade school mates. She loved hearing the stories and began texting her posse about what fun this was, wondering what they might be doing when they are our age. She particularly loved seeing us reminisce when we stopped at the two schools, Peretz and Talmud Torah. I had goose bumps when a few of us spontaneously started singing the Peretz School anthem a cappella in front of the school, although only one in the group \u2013 Pam \u2013 really remembered all the words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nadel was taken aback by how close Peretz School and Talmud Torah were to one another. She had remembered them as being very far apart \u2013 not only ideologically, but in distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll in all,\u201d she said, the reunion was \u201ca chance to re-form and strengthen our bonds and ties to Winnipeg and the wonderful community we all grew up in.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Myron Calof, word of the reunion reached him about a year ago, when his wife, Ros-Lynn Sheps, called him at the office to say that she had just checked their voicemail and there was a message from Bert Schafer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I had not heard that name for over 50 years, I instantly put the name to a face and called Bert,\u201d said Calof. \u201cAfter confessing that, as a kid, I had routinely stolen crab apples off his parents\u2019 crab apple tree, Bert told me a Winnipeg Jewish schools reunion was in the works and asked if I\u2019d attend. I didn\u2019t hesitate for a second to say that both my wife and I would be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calof anticipated that the reunion would be a positive experience, but, he said, \u201cIt was far better than that. First, although I don\u2019t know when I\u2019ll see them again, I feel reconnected with old friends. Second, the experience made me realize that my classmates and I played a vital role in continuing and strengthening Jewish education \u2013 not just in Winnipeg, but in the many North American, Canadian cities where we eventually settled. We carried with us the spirit, value and importance of a Jewish education which, in the raising of our children and through participation in community endeavours, we\u2019ve helped perpetuate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calof noted the similarities between his early Talmud Torah years \u2013 less than 10 years after the founding of the state of Israel and the end of the Holocaust \u2013 and the threat the world and world Jewry face today with the rise of nationalism, antisemitism, xenophobia and challenges to liberal democracy. \u201cI hope history is not repeating itself, especially where Jews are concerned,\u201d said Calof. \u201cBut, if it does, I hope and I truly think, we and the generations of Jewish students who have followed us will be better prepared to oppose and push back our enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best part of the weekend for Calof was Monday\u00a0morning, when so many former students from different years and schools had the opportunity to express their gratitude to teachers, parents and school founders for helping enrich the lives of thousands of students who attended a place of Jewish learning.<\/p>\n

Anyone who attended Jewish school in Winnipeg in the 1950s and 1960s can still add their name to the organizers\u2019 contact list by e-mailing wjsreunion.2017@hotmail.com<\/a> and can join the 800 others in the closed Facebook group facebook.com\/groups\/winnipegjewishschools<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa <\/strong>is a Winnipeg freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among those at the reunion were, left to right, Helen Pinsky (Vancouver), Barbara Moser (Montreal), Chana Thau (Winnipeg), Avrum Rosner (Montreal), Cecil Rosner (Winnipeg) and Zev Cohen (Israel). (photo from the reunion) Anyone who went to a Jewish day school in Winnipeg in the 1950s and 1960s was invited to a reunion recently \u2013 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7616,3391,7615,6123,4048],"class_list":["post-26897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-helen-nadel","tag-helen-pinksy","tag-jewish-school","tag-memory","tag-winnipeg"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}