A deep dive into local Jewish life – Winnipeg Free Press

What role did Jews play in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919? What was the impact of the Jewish community on the city's garment industry? What do we know about Jewish dance groups or Jewish chess clubs in Manitoba?

These are some of the topics covered in this new book Jewish Life and Times, Volume X.

The 10th collection of essays published by the Jewish Heritage Center of Western Canada explores these themes and 18 others, focusing on Jewish life in Western Canada, including military, labor and social history, as well as gender, class, leisure. activities and religion. All essays are based on center-sponsored presentations over the past 15 years.

The aim of the book is to “provide a perspective on the Jewish community and its contribution to life in Western Canada,” said Stan Carbone, director of programs and exhibitions at the centre.

At the same time, it shows that the Jewish community is “not monolithic,” he said, adding that the essays reveal multiple perspectives and show “the complexity of Jewish life.”

For Carbone, the essays “show that history is a dynamic process that is linear and uneven. The Jewish community, like any other community, is always evolving, changing, inventing and reinventing itself.”

Dan Stone, a retired history professor at the University of Winnipeg, is one of the editors of the newest collection.

“We want to increase the historical knowledge of the Jewish community,” he says, adding that the essays will also be of interest to non-Jews, as many of the topics are about Jewish relationships with others in Manitoba over the past century.

For him, this is a way to “record” this rich history, to make it available for generations.

With the exception of one about Jewish life in the province, the essays show how the Jewish community “gradually became embedded and more widely accepted in the Manitoba community,” he said.

Essay topics include A Stitch in Time: Winnipeg Jews and the Garment Industry; The Jews and the General Strike of 1919; Manitoba Jewish Dance Groups and Musicians; 1918-1919 Jews in Winnipeg Influenza Epidemic; Moving South: The Other Jewish Winnipeg Before World War II; and Lines in the Sand: The Winnipeg Jewish Community and Winnipeg Beach.

Given the challenges facing society in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, Carbone and Stone expect a future edition to include essays that reflect on this time as well.

“I hope it's a discussion,” Carbone says. “It should.”

Stone added: “It will be interesting to look back on how things unfolded there.”

Jewish Life and Times, Volume X Available at the Heritage Center at jhcwc.org or by calling 204-477-7460. Cost is $15.

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John Longhurst
Faith reporter

John Longhurst has been writing for the Winnipeg Faith Pages since 2003. He also writes for Religion News Service in the US and blogs about media, marketing and communications at Making the News.

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