The Second Vatican Council was a monumental shift in the Church’s relationship to the World outside of it. One highly significant progression of the Church is its relationship to the Jewish People. This session  will take us through a short history, the devastating effects of the Holocaust ( Shoa) and the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate- the Declaration on the Church’s relationship with non-Christian religions, with meaningful encounters between Jews and Catholics in its aftermath.

Witness the desperate situation of the Jewish defenders of Jerusalem surrounded by four Roman legions. The historical situation will be shown using the strategy game "Storm Over Jerusalem" and the game mechanics will be explained to give a feel for the tactics used by both sides during this battle.

This presentation will explore the rise of antisemitism and the tools needed to combat and confront the oldest form of hate. One of the best ways to engage learners in the reality and various experiences of survivors of the Holocaust, is to take them on a journey through places of Holocaust memory. This is exactly what Kelly Hiebert has been doing for the last 6 years at Westwood Collegiate. In preparation for this emotional trip, Kelly Hiebert spends one year preparing students through lectures, interviews with survivors, inquiry-based learning on topics that students want to learn more about, and by building relationships and community with the Jewish community. Today, you will hear about the last trip where Kelly took a group of 30 students through Poland, Slovakia, and Austria to learn about the horrors of the Holocaust, but also, the resilience of the Jewish people past and present. Mahina Krause is one of these students and will be sharing her journey with us. 

Cantor Leslie Emery will dive into the history of how 1564 Torah scrolls survived the Shoah and ended up around the world. In this session we will follow the story of a Czech scroll that journeyed from it's original community all the way to Congregation Shaarey Zedek here in Winnipeg. We will explore some of it's more remarkable qualities including the Kabbalistic inspired letters contained within the scroll itself. In a space where history and mystery reside, we will dive into the implications of the nuances within the scroll itself, while giving voice to a scribing practice that was tragically lost to the past.

No Forbidden Fruit – No Angry God
The stories of the Hebrew Bible, the women and men who led the way of faith, are more magnificent than is told in our writings. That is what I believe after composing two channelled books, "Women of the Hebrew Bible: Their Stories" and "No Forbidden Fruit – No Angry God" which present those people and the events in a different light. I will be pleased to share some of these stories with you.

The Winnipeg Connection to Israel's Re-birth
The UN Partition Plan was influenced in a pivotal way by Rev. William Hull, a Winnipegger who went to Jerusalem in 1935 to open a Christian bookstore.  In 1947, he met with Judge Ivan Rand who was the Canadian member of UNSCOP and convinced him that the Jews deserved a state.  The seminar goes into some detail concerning the British Mandate period and how the San Remo agreement boundaries were forgotten due to how the British handled the Mandate.