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From 1972 to 1980, my wife, Susan,
and I were lucky to live in Montreal. During those eight formative years,
we went from a newly married couple to becoming parents and becoming active
participants in that special Jewish community.
 Our contact in the Montreal Jewish community was Rabbi Lavy Becker, the
founding leader of the Reconstructionist synagogue. He took us under his
wing and introduced Susan and me to the community. Within less than a
year we were involved in synagogue life as well as the charitable activities
of the Allied Jewish Community Services of Montreal. In many ways Lavy
was our role model. He showed us how one can make a contribution to the
community at any chosen level —religious, social services, Israel-based
institutions, and education and his influence on us remains long after
his passing.
My interest in Jewish immigration was sparked by a trip to the Soviet
Union in 1974 where I met with refuseniks. After that trip, I realized
how fulfilling the work of rescuing Jews in distress was and I became
active in the Soviet Jewry movement.
In 1980 Susan and I moved
back to Toronto and I continued to work on behalf of Jewish immigrants by
joining the Board of the Jewish Immigration Aid Services (JIAS), and served
that organization for a period of over 15 years in virtually all capacities
including that of National President. One of the most satisfying aspects
of the work at JIAS was our ability to help Jews from the former Soviet
Union settle in Canada and welcoming over 160 Bosnian Jews to Canada during
their civil war.
Settlement of new immigrants meant
not only finding jobs and housing for these new Canadians, but also required
language training, basic Jewish education and the development of all aspects
of citizenship. For me there was a special satisfaction to learn that so
many of these immigrants have become full-participating members of our community.
Jewish education is very
important to Susan and me. We are fortunate that our sons, Benjamin and
Eli, got a strong foundation at United Synagogue Day School and the Community
Hebrew Academy of Toronto. Both, along with their wives, Robyn Kaiser and
Marni Banack, are committed to the community and volunteer in young leadership
projects of UJA and Ben is the co-chair of the Ben Gurion Society of UJA.
We are pleased and thankful
that we can contribute to the endowment fund and show our family’s
commitment to the Toronto Jewish community.
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