The CJN November 18, 2022

WEEKLY PRINTABLE EDITION

NOVEMBER 18, 2022 / 24 HESHVAN 5783

ANITA NEVILLE on starting her new role as

MANITOBA’S LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR page 2

Obituary: Cynthia Gasner, a prolific columnist for The CJN

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CHARLOTTETOWN 4:19

Obituary: Mark Mendelson, a fundraiser for Israeli causes

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MONTREAL

4:03

Behind the scenes of El Al’s final scheduled Toronto flight

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OTTAWA

4:12

TORONTO

4:31

CHURCHILL

3:30

WINNIPEG

4:23

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Manitoba’s new lieutenant-governor Anita Neville explains how she plans to honour her Jewish heritage through a role that will keep her connected with everyone / Ellin Bessner

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nita Neville says she “feels the responsibility” of being the first Jewish person to be appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba—an office she was sworn into on Oct. 24, using a Hebrew Bible.

And for the next five years, the vice-regal residence in Winnipeg will be where Neville calls home.

But she was quick to start carrying out official duties like laying the first wreath last Friday during the province’s Remembrance Day ceremony, and reading the Stefanson government’s Speech from the Throne to open a new Manitoba Legislature session on Nov. 15.

“The whole thing is new. The protocol is new. I’m fortunate that there are very knowledgeable, experienced people around me. So that makes it easier,” Neville told The CJN Daily in an interview from Government House, acknowledging that she has a steep learning curve for her new role.

Which is why shortly after her swearing in, Neville flew off to attend a round of orientation meetings. She also learned that she will be going to Buckingham Palace, at some point, to present her credentials to King Charles III. “There are three others who have not presented their credentials to the monarch, so there are four of us in line.

“I don’t know where I am in the order, but I look forward to it very much.”

Neville was at her cottage with her grandchildren in July when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called to offer the position. But she took time to think about whether she wanted this very public role.

After all, she already had a fulfilling career in community service, including as chair of the city’s public school board, and then 11 years in politics as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Centre, from 2000 to 2011. She’s also deeply involved in Jewish community matters, with her synagogue Shaarey Zedek, and the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada.

At first, some members of Neville’s family were worried the new position might be too much for their 80-year-old mother and grandmother.

“I’ve got a very bad back,” she said. Neville walks with the assistance of a cane.

But her decision was made after she thought about her grandparents, and her roots, having been born in the traditional Jewish im-

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migrant neighbourhood in the North End of the city, then growing up after the Second World War when barriers to advancement still existed for Jews.

What clinched it was when a grandson scolded her and said “How could you not take the job? How many people get this opportunity?,” and Neville felt that she didn’t “want to lose face with Aaron”.

Considering saying no was “beyond his comprehension.”

The 26th Lieutenant Governor in Manitoba’s history, made sure to put her own stamp on the official swearing-in. The formal ceremony was full of Jewish symbolism.

It not only involved her choice of Bible to swear the oath, but it also had the piercing blasts of a shofar blown by her rabbi, Anibal Mass—who delivered blessings and then led the audience with a loud and sincere “Mazel Tov!” The opportunity is something the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants in Winnipeg’s North End never dreamed would be possible for somebody with such origins.

In her speech, Neville told the audience that her grandparents fled Bessarabia and Odessa a century ago, to escape a climate of murderous antisemitism, and to find freedom and opportunity in Canada.

“I wanted… the larger community of Manitoba, to be aware of who I am and where I came from.

“I did it thoughtfully. I don’t think I was over the top.”

It wasn’t only having Jewish rituals that marked a departure from previous swearing-in ceremonies.

Neville pushed to include Indigenous people in the program, which she claims is the first time this has happened.

It stems from her own decades of work on their behalf, and it will likely be a key part of her mandate.

An Indigenous elder, Myra Laramee of the Fisher River Cree Nation, delivered an invocation during the ceremony, and even called her long-time Jewish friend by the title of “Auntie”.

Neville’s swearing-in also came just three days before the Manitoba government adopted the IHRA definition o f a n tisemitism, becoming the fifth Canadian province to do so. (Canada adopted it nationally in 2019.)

While she did not have anything to do with the timing, and did not work behind the scenes on that file, N eville a grees b oth t hings a re good for the Jews.

“I think for the Jewish community, it is a signal of positive acceptance, integration,“ Neville said. “Not that it wasn’t there before, but it’s a kind of stamp. It’s like getting a check mark.”

Neville isn’t the first Jewish person to hold a similar appointment in Canada: that milestone was pioneered by Myra Freeman, who served as Nova Scotia’s Lieutenant Governor from 2000-2006. (Freeman held Shabbat dinners at the official residence and kept kosher.)

For her part, Neville plans to install a mezuzah at the entrance to her private quarters when she moves into the century-old Government House. And she won’t serve pork or shellfish.

When she was initially appointed, a friend immediately called her, half-okingly anticipating an invitation for the fast-breaking meal at the end of Yom Kippur. But all Neville can say to that for now is, “We’ll see.”

Neville is a long-standing supporter of Israel, and her appointment comes amidst rising antisemitism, including a torrent of hate for Israel and Zionism.

B’nai Brith’s annual audit reported 223 anti-Jewish incidents in Manitoba last year, up from 92 in 2020, and 83 the year before that,

according to Janna Minikovich, a spokesperson for the Jewish human rights group.

Does Neville fear becoming a target for anti-Jewish sentiment in her new role? During her days in Parliament, she remembers receiving some hate mail.

But she declined to comment further on her current opinions on Israel, besides describing those views as “centre left.”

Neville co-chaired the Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel caucus when she was an MP. Moreover, in the House of Commons, she raised the plight of the 800,000 Jewish refugees expelled from Arab lands, saying people needed to pay attention to this historic injustice.

But she also criticized Stephen Harper’s Conservative government for cutting federal funding to KAIROS Canada, an aid agency supported by several churches. The group supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel as a method of combating what it considers is oppression of Palestinians.

(Neville said at the time that without clear explanations of the change in funding, it appeared Canada was stifling criticism of Israel.)

Long an advocate for social justice causes, one that is dear to her heart involves her work with a Jewish-led rescue organization in Winnipeg, Operation Ezra. The group has worked with other faith communities since 2015, to help bring 65 Yazidi refugees to Canada. (The federal government has brought in hundreds more under a federal sponsorship program starting in 2017.)

Which explains why, in between rehearsals for the Speech from the Throne, and planning her move-in date to her new quarters, Neville made sure to turn up at the Winnipeg airport last Thursday morning to greet the latest new arrival.

Ayad Alhussein, 13, was captured by ISIS forces in 2014—along with his entire family—when the Islamic militants took over much of Iraq and Syria and set up a caliphate. Yazidis are not Muslims, and they were ordered to convert, or be killed. The young boy was just five years old at the time, and was kept prisoner for five years, until he escaped.

He has been living in a displaced persons camp in Iraq, while two of his surviving sisters made it to Canada.

According to Michel Aziza, the co-chair of Operation Ezra, it took constant pressure by the committee on local MPs and on immigration officials to get Ayad’s paperwork processed.

“The world moved on, from Yazidis, to Afghans, to Ukrainians,” said a frustrated Aziza, after Neville welcomed the slightly overwhelmed teenager.

But scenes like this underline why Neville’s swearing-in speech referred to her core values of “tikun olam and tzedakah” referring to herself as a descendent of refugees.

“I know that the Jewish community, I just know because of what [feedback] I’ve received, has been very happy and very pleased with my appointment.

“And I feel the responsibility of it, let me tell you.” n

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Obituary: Cynthia Gasner, 91, was a prolific columnist for The CJN and a groundbreaking volunteer in Toronto / Frances Kraft

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he justice ministers of the two Prairie provinces that this fall adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism say the next step is implementation of its objectives in a practical way.

Cynthia Gasner—a longtime freelancer for The Canadian Jewish News, host of a Jewish television show in the 1970s, and the public face of COR (the Kashrut Council of Canada) in its early days—died Nov. 9 at her Toronto home after a year-long struggle with the after-effects of COVID. She was 91.

A community volunteer who served on many boards and committees, and the matriarch of a large extended family, Gasner was known for her warmth, support of younger colleagues, and a seemingly bottomless well of energy, determination, and willingness to take on new challenges. She was “a giver,” recalls The CJN ‘s former editor Mordechai Ben-Dat. Because of her involvement in the community, he said, she found many stories to write about, “and because of her nature, people liked to speak to her… She put people at ease.”

In an online interview hosted by Toronto’s Shaarei Shomayim Congregation last year, Gasner reflected on her life and career, recalling that she never took on full-time employment, in order to be available for her family.

A trailblazer as a working mother and sometimes the lone woman on volunteer boards, Gasner served as the first female on the Baycrest Executive, where she was vice-president for three terms, and was part of a group of women who successfully fought to obtain voting rights for married women at Shaarei Shomayim. She also served on the boards of the Lands of the Bible Archaeology Foundation and the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation.

The daughter of Polish Jewish immigrants, Gasner—born Cynthia Goldie Kleinert—studied accounting in high school. One of her early jobs was as controller of the then YMHA’s Camp Council. It wasn’t until her second daughter reached university age that she pursued post-secondary education herself, taking 12 years to complete an honours BA in Political Science. She also earned a certification in public relations from Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan University).

Raised in a leftist home, Gasner embraced Orthodoxy when she married in 1952. In her online interview, she credited memories of her pious maternal grandmother for her influence in that regard. As well, in a statement on the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto website, she credited her late father-in-law Meyer Gasner as her role model and mentor for volunteerism; and her immigrant parents, Will and Anne Kleinert, originally

from Chmielnik, Poland, for instilling her work ethic and values of family unity and tzedakah.

It was under her father-in-law’s chairmanship that Gasner served as public relations officer of the Orthodox division of Canadian Jewish Congress—as COR was first known, said former COR chair Marvin Sigler in an email. She was “one of the pioneers who helped develop COR from its fledgling years,” updating its kashruth directory and reaching out to homemakers, food companies and retailers.

“Her professionalism created great respect for COR,” Sigler said.

In a eulogy at her funeral, Rabbi Sam Taylor, of Shaarei Shomayim, lauded Gasner as “someone not of theory but of action” who “made a difference to the Jewish infrastructure of the city.”

Her son Jon, also speaking at her funeral, said his mother “always stood up for the underdog, and was never afraid to voice her opinions when she knew she stood up for social justice.”

Grandchildren who spoke at the funeral evoked an independent, hands-on bubbie who raked her own leaves, tackled household tasks at her cottage in the early morning hours, stayed in close contact through FaceTime, and hosted dinners and sleepovers. They recalled her teaching them the importance of volunteerism and tzedakah, how to make gefilte fish and even how to ski, navigating moguls “with grace and passion” at the age of 65.

Gasner’s early volunteer work included chairing UJA’s social services division in the 1950s when she worked for the YMHA. She was a sisterhood president at Shaarei Tefillah synagogue, formed a parents’ advisory council at the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, and served as an executive officer of National Council of Jewish Women.

The news releases she wrote as a volunteer for NCJW came to the attention of The CJN’s founder Meyer Nurenberger, and she began writing for the newspaper at his invitation. In the 1970s, she also hosted a Jewish show called Chai on CFMT Television.

Both positions typified her willingness to pursue opportunities that came her way, including a stint at Loblaw, where she played a role in the launch of the company’s President’s Choice products. “One thing seemed to lead to another,” she recalled in her online interview. “I was willing to try almost anything.”

Ben-Dat recalled Gasner as “a deeply good person” who also cared deeply about what was going on in the community. “She wanted to make it better for people.”

Gasner leaves her sister Renee Solursh, children Myra Mechanic, Brenda Lass, Robert, and Jon; 17 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren. n Frances Kraft was a reporter for The CJN from 1991 to 2003.

Obituary: Mark Mendelson, 73, was a passionate fundraiser for Israeli causes /Janice Arnold

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he sudden death of Mark Mendelson, one of the most successful fundraisers in Canada for Israel-based institutions, has shocked the Jewish community.

Mendelson was 73 when he died in Montreal on Nov. 14, but still fulfilling as enthusiastically and effectively as ever his role as CEO of Ben-Gurion University Canada (formerly the Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University).

He held that position for the past 12 years and was previously executive director of the Jewish National Fund for Eastern Canada for 17 years.

Mendelson was a larger than life figure—physically and in personality—who lit up a room. Recognizable for his signature navy blazer and moustache, he was ebullient and convivial, loved good food and wine, art and entertaining. His skill at cooking is mentioned by all who knew him. Foremost, Mendelson was a family man, taking tremendous pride in his children.

He put this energy and creativity to work for BGU Canada, expanding its presence across the country and increasing the amount of money raised. He reported to supporters recently that the organization had had a record financial year—and this despite the limitations of a pandemic.

Although he came to it relatively late, Mendelson earned a reputation as a consummate Jewish community professional

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and a stellar ambassador for Israel.

After a BA in psychology from McGill University, Mendelson received a MSW at Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work. He then made aliyah and served in the Israel Defense Forces as a paratrooper.

He worked as a psychologist in the air force, where he was promoted to major, and was a spokesperson for the IDF. After his military service, Mendelson went into the delicatessen business and, back in Montreal, ran a popular bagel bakery on Queen Mary Road.

He then found his true calling serving the Jewish community, first with JNF for which he organized memorable galas and brought in teens through annual Tu b’Shevat telethons.

Making BGU, Israel’s youngest university in the developing Negev Desert, better known in Canada turned into a true mission for Mendelson, and his zeal for the cause only burned brighter over the years.

In a recent message he wrote, “I firmly believe that we at BGU Canada represent Israel’s finest and most dynamic university, Israel’s Nation Building University, and I truly am convinced of the almost ‘holiness’ of our mission: to help raise funds to support the cutting-edge research being conducted at BGU, as well as to provide scholarship money for the thousands of students who need it…

“As Israel’s fastest-growing university with over 20,000 students presently enrolled, I know that it’s just a matter of time until Nobel Prize winners will hail from BGU.” Last year, the Azrieli Foundation donated $15.6 million to the National Autism Research Centre of Israel, which brings together scientists from BGU and Soroka University Medical Centre.

In his September videotaped message, Mendelson spoke of looking forward to another banner year.

Said BGU Canada national president Jack Altman: “Mark and I worked closely together and I witnessed firsthand the miracle he achieved by building BGU into the most successful Israeli-based nonprofit in Canada through his leadership and hard work. Mark always went out of his way to look after everyone. He just knew how to make everyone feel good. A genuine mensch, there are not enough superlatives to describe Mark.”

BGU Montreal president Peggi Cohen Rabinovitch commented: “Mark was someone whose sun rose and set on his adored and adoring family. Mark made a family, too, out of everyone who entered his Ben-Gurion orbit, leading the way with panache and pride. The impressive things he accomplished, always looking for another challenge to take things a step higher, exhorting us all to bigger things, Mark was an inspirational figure who lived a full and mentschlekh life.”

Similarly, Wendy Spatzner remembers: “His true love for the Jewish people, its causes and its land, was apparent to all who knew him. His ability to bring people on board for all his causes was a result of his enthusiasm and sincere devotion to better our world. While I was the president of JNF Montreal he was my friend, mentor, and supporter.”

Mendelson is survived by his wife Edna; daughter Omer and son Noam, and grandson Aaron. n Janice Arnold has been reporting for The CJN from Montreal since 1976.

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El Al’s last scheduled Canadian flight from Toronto was met with rounds of applause—but also sadness / Ellin Bessner

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hen El Al pilots Noam Lowenstein and Asaf Porat made their way into the departure lounge at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Thursday, Oct. 27, they probably weren’t expecting their passengers to break out in spontaneous applause.

But that’s what happened as they walked through a gauntlet of travellers holding up their phones to record the flight crew’s arrival at Gate C30 in Terminal 3.

The pilots and flight attendants—and the travellers who were about to board this particular flight to Tel Aviv, knew they were making a bittersweet journey: it was to be the last trip on a route which El Al has been servicing since 1986. (When the airline first came to Canada in 1971, flights were based in Montreal.)

“We tried to approach the management and ask them to reconsider, but we are not the ones who make the decisions,” said Capt. Lowenstein, who has flown in and out of Toronto for more than a half-dozen years.

He revealed that he purposely signed up for this shift so he could pilot the final trip of LY030 out of YYZ. Lowenstein had even prepared some farewell remarks to deliver from the cockpit.

His co-pilot, Asaf Porat, hasn’t flown the route as often, but agreed it was going to be an emotional trip. Then the pair headed for the ramp and onto the Boeing Dreamliner 787 (named “Hod HaSharon”) to prepare for takeoff.

Israel’s national airline confirmed in June it would be chopping direct service to Toronto, Warsaw and Brussels at the end of October. But the company never fully explained why.

In the weeks leading up to the schedule change, its Toronto staff and Israeli consulate tourism promoters unsuccessfully tried to get El Al to reverse its decision.

After the final flight, El Al’s 20 Canadian office staff, gate agents, and security personnel lost their jobs—although one sales agent may remain employed, said Dinah Reich-Kutner, El Al’s long-time Canadian general manager.

“It is a big sadness for all of us,” she told The CJN, ahead of the last flight, adding that it was “still taking a while for this to sink in.”

While the team didn’t hold a special send off at Pearson, agents handed out El Al souvenirs—like blue water bottles and passport holders—to some of the passengers checking in for the final flight.

Moran Akari of Petach Tikvah, and her parents, of Yokneam,

were returning to Israel after visiting her sister in Canada. The Israeli family spends a month together here every year, during the Jewish high holidays.

They heard rumours the decision to shut down the route to Canada had to do with low earnings on carrying cargo, and not because of a lack of paying passengers.

“Every time I fly here, the airplane is packed, like a full flight, so I don’t really know what the reason is,” Akari said.

While the family is resigned to having to change their airline for their next trip, they are worried about Air Canada having a monopoly, and whether that will lead to higher ticket prices.

Israel tourism officials in Canada had said there was good demand for the Tel Aviv-Toronto route before the pandemic hit, with 100,000 passengers flying to Israel from Toronto in 2019.

These numbers included large tour groups from both the Jewish market, and from Christian pilgrim communities.

“We had a lot of groups that we had to hand over to the competition,” El Al’s manager Reich-Kutner said, referring to Air Canada now being the only airline to offer direct service to Israel.

Unlike El Al—which operated a couple of direct flights per week in 2022 once travel resumed after the pandemic—the Canadian flag-carrier now runs daily, non-stop service to Tel Aviv to meet demand.

Coincidentally, on the same day as El Al’s final flight departed from Toronto, Air Canada launched a hiring campaign for flight attendants, particularly for applicants who can speak Hebrew, Greek or Thai.

“It makes no sense,” lamented Giovanna Serrao, who has worked as a check-in agent and gate attendant with El Al in Toronto for 23 years.

“So they handed [business] to Air Canada on a golden platter: ‘Here, make money!’ because that’s what they’re doing now.”

Serrao herself was handing out candies and chocolates— along with hugs—as she bid farewell to some of her regular business class and priority frequent fliers. In her two decades of handling passengers, she has met Maccabi basketball players, Hollywood actors, Israeli singers, and the former Israeli president Shimon Peres.

But the passengers whom she loved best are the late Julia Koschitzky and her family: the Toronto philanthropist and community leader volunteered with many Canadian and Israel-based organizations. (Koschitzky died on March 21, 2022.)

Being on the final flight from Toronto to Tel Aviv felt like coming full circle for Feige Oppenheimer, the rebbetzin of Toronto’s Yavne Zion Synagogue, commonly known as the “Marlee Shul.” She moved to Canada from Israel with her husband, Rabbi Yehudah Oppenheimer, 21 years ago. She was pregnant on that flight.

This was her first trip back to Israel since then.

But this time, she was accompanying that child, now a married woman, her daughter Elisheva, back to the young woman’s home in Jerusalem—with Oppenheimer’s new granddaughter: two-week-old Leah Rivka Janowksi.

Her son-in-law had already flown back to Israel, a few days earlier.

“They came home to have a baby, and he had to go back to yeshiva, but with her baby being so newborn, she couldn’t get a passport for her in time. So we took the first available flight out, and we grabbed this last opportunity,” Oppenheimer said.

Oppenheimer was fully aware that the timing of her trip would mean she could not take a direct return flight back to Canada when her visit in Israel ends. She is coming home via New York—and feeling bittersweet because she doesn’t like stopovers.

Daniel Goldstein was sporting a Toronto Maple Leafs ball cap and a neck pillow as he lined up with his luggage to check in. The former local resident was flying back to Israel alone, to rejoin his wife and four children in their new home in Modi’in—a growing city of mainly North American Orthodox Jewish immigrants between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The Goldsteins made aliyah just three months ago from Toronto. He had come back briefly to help out in the family vinyl window business.

While bringing back a suitcase full of 23 kilograms of Canadian goodies and treats for his family, he was not able to get his hands on any of the free El Al souvenirs. He still hoped there would be some kind of ceremony held when he got on board.

“But you never know. It could just go quietly down into the night.”

Back in the departure lounge, co-pilot Asaf Porat wanted to make sure we knew how attached he and his colleagues are to the Toronto route and to the people.

He cautions that if El Al does eventually decide to reinstate the Canadian city in its North American schedule, the company will face an uphill battle to overcome consumers’ resentment for abandoning them the way it did.

As part of a bailout deal this year with the Israel government, El Al’s owners had to lay off staff and sell a third of the fleet, reducing the number of available planes from 45 to 29, according to reports.

“You always need to work harder to get back something that you gave up,” Porat said. “So if [El Al] finds that this is a good destination to return to, I’m sure they’ll work out winning you back, as it should—being the Jewish airline.”n Ellin Bessner is chief correspondent of The CJN Daily.

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