LUNCH & LEARN SESSION DETAILS:

OCTOBER 21: VIVIAN FELSON
 

Spotlight on Lili Berger: Yiddish Journalist and Fiction Writer

Adventures in Yiddish Translation

Vivian Felsen's career as a translator began many decades ago, translating from French into English. However, about 25 years ago, she began the more personally meaningful work of translating Yiddish, beginning with the books of her maternal grandfather, Yiddish journalist and author Israel Medres. She has since had the privilege of translating the work of important Canadian writers such as the illustrious Yiddish poet, J. I. Segal and Montreal Rabbi Pinchas Hirschprung who wrote The Vale of Tears.  Her most recently published translation appears in a book published in Poland entitled Idle Chatter by the Yiddish avant-garde poet Moyshe Broderzon.

This session is sponsored by:

 

OCTOBER 29: BARRY AVRICH

Showcase of his documentary, “Against All Odds” The Unstoppable Story of Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital

Acclaimed filmmaker Barry Avrich  chronicles the incredible history of Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, from its humble beginnings to the powerhouse of life-changing care and research it is today. More than 100 years ago, in the face of prejudice and antisemitism, the dream of building an inclusive hospital in Toronto lived with four immigrant women who defied the odds and banded together for the betterment of their community.
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Barry is the founder of Melbar Entertainment Group, one of the largest producers of non-scripted content in North America. Avrich has produced and directed over 70 documentaries and filmed productions including the internationally acclaimed Made You Look, Born Hungry, The Last Mogul, Prosecuting Evil, David Foster: Off The Record, Oscar Peterson: Black + White, 22 award-winning stage-to-screen adaptations of Broadway and Shakespeare productions including The Tempest with Christopher Plummer and King Lear with Colm Feore and many live productions such as the Giller Prize and the Canadian Screen Awards. In 2017, Barry's best selling memoir, Moguls, Monsters and Madmen, was released and in 2025, Barry published The Devil Wears Rothko.

NOVEMBER 4: ALLAN NOVAK

Allan and his sister Carol Sevitt, a writer and educator, present their documentary: “Crossing the River”

A presentation about the oldest living Holocaust survivor siblings - story of their deportation, liberation and post-war life in Canada.

Click here to watch the trailer for their documentary

Born in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany after World War II, Carol was the eldest of three siblings in her family. She grew up in Winnipeg among her loving aunts, uncles, and cousins, and subsequently moved to Toronto.

Carol studied journalism and went on to do a combination of journalism and business writing for more than 20 years. She wrote three books, including The Loving Spoonfuls Cookbook that was nominated for a national cookbook award. It accompanied the TV series by the same name produced by her brother Allan Novak.

In the second half of her career, she taught business communication at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University). At Ryerson she won a Business Students Association award for teaching excellence.

Now retired, Carol volunteers as a guide at the Toronto Holocaust museum. She was thrilled to work with her brother Allan on the film Crossing the River as one of the co-producers.

Allan Novak is an executive producer, director, writer and editor for film and television with a passion for comedy. His company, Indivisual Productions is a creative boutique that has been creating innovative programming since 1999

This session is sponsored by:

NOVEMBER 18: REUVEN GRAJNER
                              & BERNICE GOPIN

Highly requested return of Reuven Grajner 
with singer Bernice Gopin

Bernice & Reuven will play a variety of timeless melodies ranging from The Great American Songbook to Yiddish classics.

Reuven is an accomplished pianist/keyboardist fluent in a breadth of musical styles including jazz, RnB, classical, pop, Latin, and Klezmer. Reuven is one of the city’s most sought after keyboardists/sidemen and is creatively involved composing and playing with several musical projects, as well as appearing as a sideman for various local and international artists. Reuven has performed, recorded, and toured as both a bandleader and sideman throughout Canada, USA, Europe, and the Middle-East.

Reuven is a graduate of the University Of Toronto's elite jazz performance program and has studied with some of the world's greatest pianists including David Restivo, Gary Williamson, Nina Kuźma-Sapiejewska, James Parker, Mark Eisenman, and Chris Donnelly.

Bernice Gopin a singer/entertainer and a Toronto native. Bernice performs primarily but not exclusively for our senior community. Bernice sings in a variety of styles and genres which run the gamut from Broadway, American Songbook, soft rock, folk, easy listening to international, cultural, classical and opera.

In addition to English, Bernice sings in a number of languages.

A seasoned chorister for over twenty years, Bernice augmented choir work by going solo about a decade ago. As a solo artist, she has performed at well over fifty retirement and senior care facilities and a number of senior clubs and centres in Toronto and the GTA.

Sponsored by: 

NOVEMBER 25: CARMI LEVY

Can the Torah fix AI?

Judaism has always had a bit of a contentious relationship with technology - and there is no technology more contentious than artificial intelligence. It lies. It goes rogue. It amplifies hatred and anti-Semitism.

The Torah obviously predates AI by a few thousand years, but shine the light of Halakha on this fancy new tech just so and we might be pleasantly surprised by what we learn in the process.

Carmi Levy is a technology journalist and analyst whose coverage focuses on identifying technology-related stories that most significantly impact our day-to-day lives, and explaining tech issues in a meaningful, relatable, simple manner for diverse audiences.

He has worked extensively with a wide range of media, including CTV News, the CBC, and the Canadian Press, and his bylines have appeared in the Toronto Star, Yahoo Canada Finance, and others.

He was born and raised in Montreal, and is a graduate of Herzliah High School and Concordia University’s Journalism program. He and his family now call London, Ontario home.

Sponsored by: