More Than A Gym: Rady JCC Holds Tarbut Festival

Tarbut means culture in Hebrew, and for the past decade, Rady JCC has been holding the Tarbut, a celebration of Jewish culture in Winnipeg.

For over a decade, this event has been well known within the Jewish community of Winnipeg. The hope is to grow the festival outward.

“We really want people from the wider community and or everyone to know about this really beautiful festival of Jewish learning,” says Laura Marjovsky, manager of Programming at Rady JCC. “

Although the pandemic had removed the option of international guests and performances through music, books, and movies, it was a tremendous surprise seeing the amount of Jewish talent available locally, says Marjovsky.

“The uniqueness of Tarbut is we’re highlighting local performers who have suffered so much during the pandemic. In past Tarbut, we’ve always had an international component. We’d bring people from Israel, bands and authors from overseas. This year we couldn’t do that, so switching gears, we found so much talent, we were quite amazed how much talent we have.”

The wide array of talent included musicians Orit Shimoni, George Gershwin, A Celebration of Jewish Stars Through the Decades
with the Prairie Hearts Band, authors Allan Levine, Rebecca Frankel, Wayne Hoffman, and films Ma Nishma Manitoba and Here We Are were just the tip of the iceberg with what was all available.

Another goal of hosting Tarbut is to showcase the vast array of content Rady JCC offers year-round. It’s more than just a gym, says Marjovsky.

“People mostly know the Rady JCC because we have a state-of-the-art gym, pool, and big gymnasium. People come to swimming lessons to work out, but we have also had a large number of arts and cultural events. In general, we promote to the community to come to participate in those events, not just for the Jewish community.”

Those events include art classes, sports, programs for all ages, concerts, and lectures.

With Hanukkah fast approaching, she also opens an invitation for all communities of Winnipeg to come on November 30 for a Hanukkah concert. For anyone attending the concert or any other events or programs at Rady JCC, Marjovsky reminds everyone that you are required to be double vaccinated to ensure the safety of everyone.

– Ryan Funk, U Multicultural