A campaign to replace the aging south building of Chesed Shel Emes on Main Street is now underway and officials are excited by early responses from donors.
“As we hear from our first few donors, we’re reminded that Chesed Shel Emes is a cornerstone of our community,” says Rena Boroditsky, Executive Director of Chesed Shel Emes and a member of the Project Steering Team. “People understand the importance of ensuring that our facilities will endure for all time. As long as there is a Jewish community in Winnipeg, we will need a dignified, safe, and functional infrastructure for Jewish funerals.”
“For years, we have been repairing and upgrading the building as effectively as possible,” says Boroditsky. “We are now at the point where further renovations and repairs do not make good sense from either a financial perspective or a safety perspective.”
Chesed Shel Emes is a non-profit, charitable organization. That said, the organization has not conducted a community appeal since the 1940s when the chapel was built. Chesed Shel Emes generates its operating revenues from fees collected from the synagogues’ cemeteries when a funeral is arranged. The organization is healthy financially, and is governed by a board that includes representatives of the community’s Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform congregations and other individuals.
Boroditsky is joined on the Project Steering Team by Hillel Kravetsky, Jerry Pritchard, Stuart Pudavick, and Jack Solomon. The Campaign Leadership Team comprises: Michel Aziza, Ellery Broder, David Gisser, Jason Gisser, Peter Leipsic, Jeff Lieberman, Ted Lyons, Howard Morry, Mira Narvey, Hernan Popper, Elana Schultz, Larry Vickar, and Michael Weinstein.
“Our volunteers are engaged and our early donors have been very generous,” says Boroditsky. “Chesed Shel Emes has touched the lives of thousands of Jewish families since it first incorporated in 1930. It is a vital institution with a tradition of deep compassion and lovingkindness. We are building on our tradition.”
