Winnipeg Beach Synagogue: Decades of Community & Prayer

This year, I went to Winnipeg Beach over the Canada Day weekend. There, I had the privilege of participating in the Winnipeg Beach Synagogue’s Saturday morning service.

I also interviewed long-time attendee Howard Kideckel, who has been involved for over 12 years. Howard gave me a brief history of the synagogue and its community.

The synagogue is located on Camp Massad but hasn’t always been. The synagogue used to be situated in the town when the building was bought in 1950. Initially, it was just a plain and straightforward single-room wooden cabin until the community transformed it into a shul.

Unfortunately for the synagogue, in 1998, the Town of Winnipeg Beach made it mandatory for all buildings to have indoor plumbing. This decision would have forced the congregants of the synagogue to fund expensive renovations.

Howard lamented, “Because of the law, it was basically forced, sort of, to move.” However, their fortunes quickly changed again. “The synagogue got lucky,” Howard exclaimed, “and Massad approved the building to come to the campsite!”

Throughout the years I attended Massad, as both a camper and staff member, the Synagogue has been a landmark of the Camp. However, until recently I never had the opportunity to attend a service there because the campers and staff do their daily prayers together in the dining hall. So, it was great to go inside and participate in the service, finally.

After the service, a Kiddish was served in the back room –an addition to the Shul that was created in 2010.

Camp Massad provides the Kiddish meal after the Saturday morning service. It is prepared by Maryln, Camp Massad’s long-time ‘red-seal chef’, in a kosher kitchen.

Howard praised the coordination with Camp Massad, “Daniel Sprintz has been great, and if there’s anything we need, they help!”

Howard explained that previously, “We used to have four women who brought the food up every week. They’d get paid for it, and they would prepare a little kiddush. Anyways, some of them were saying that they’d come up from Winnipeg with the food and that it’s a lot of work. ‘It’s too hard.’ ‘We’re not going to do it anymore.’ Basically, they gave us a notice. So, we went to Camp Massad, and Daniel agreed to be the caterer, and we paid them a modest fee.” Howard gushed over the meal provided, “I mean, our kiddish is the best part of the whole –it sounds awful– but it’s in some ways one of the best parts. They do an outstanding job!”

To Howard, the Shul is more than just a place of prayer and lunch. “You know there’s a Yiddish word: Hamishah. That’s what the synagogue is. You sort of feel at home there.”

Howard enjoys the experience so much that he makes the journey up north from Winnipeg to Camp Massad every Saturday during the short summer season when the synagogues open.

In the past, most attendees were cottage dwellers. However, over the decades, the congregation has increasingly consisted of people making the trek back and forth from the city to the beach and then back again.

Howard says the location is inconvenient because “it’s not in the middle of the city,” but the drive up there is “really nice,” which makes up for it.

Howard enjoys the weekend drives. “We take what I always call the scenic route,” he said. “We’ll be driving down the Gimli Road highway, and we can see the lake. You know, you just get that feeling that you’re in the country.”

Beyond the religious and communal aspect, Howard told me that the Winnipeg Beach Synagogue also has an important historical significance because it is the last functioning synagogue in Manitoba outside of Winnipeg.

“It’s a piece of history, and it’s important. As a log-cabin synagogue, it’s one of the few types of its kind in all of North America.”

To get in touch with the Winnipeg Beach Synagogue, you can phone 204-488-8519 or email wpgbeachshule@shaw.ca