President, Board of Directors

Message from the President, Board of Directors

Howard Simkevitz ’91

Iguess I must’ve been having fun, because the past two years have felt like they’ve flown by. Admittedly, my perception may have been somewhat influenced by the pandemic. I don’t want to belabour the point, appreciating we are all sick and tired of hearing about COVID, but whether I like it or not, it was a hallmark of my time as President of the TanenbaumCHAT Board of Directors.

With the seemingly never-ending list of vaccinations, remote learning, quadmesters and deciphering public health issues, a great deal of the Board’s agenda was necessarily consumed by these critical matters. Even as we dealt with “normal” board business (e.g. strategic planning, approving budgets, managing risk, etc.) the pandemic was ever-present, casting a pall over all that we did.

However, when I think about my tenure at the helm of the Board, what really jumps out at me is not crisis management. What I find most remarkable is our school community’s ability not only to persevere, but to grow, despite the extraordinary circumstances. The TanenbaumCHAT community has been thriving. This is particularly noteworthy in light of the fact that religiosity in Canada is at an all-time low. Judaism has perhaps been hardest hit. Recent StatsCan data indicate that Jewish respondents reported the lowest numbers of those who engage in religious activity. How does one reconcile this incongruence? If religious affiliation within the Jewish community is declining, how is our school flourishing? Our Rabbis conceived of community as a multi-faceted construct, composed of a number of ingredients. In the Talmud’s tractate Sanhedrin:

A torah scholar (םכח דימלת) is not allowed to live in a city that does not have these 10 things: a court of law (ןיד תיב); a tzedakah fund; a synagogue; a bath house (הווקמ); a public bathroom; a doctor; a craftsperson; a bloodletter; a scribe; and a teacher of children.

In other words, communities are dynamic. I would suggest, so too are the parts which form them – the measure of any one ingredient in the recipe may change depending on the circumstances. To be sure, the success of our community at large has always been inextricably linked to Jewish education, but perhaps more so now than ever before. We live in a time where we need a dash more “a teacher of children.” It’s not just about the number of students enrolled in the system; it’s about their families and, importantly, the parents who are making Jewish education a priority. They are all making an investment in their children’s future and the future of Toronto’s Jewish leadership. Make no mistake about it, our school is a key ingredient to the success of our larger community, not just in Toronto, but in Canada and across the globe. As I pass the baton to the very capable hands of my successor, I know that we will continue to leverage our strengths, to make a meaningful impact and to provide for our people. May our community continue to get the recipe right for the benefit of generations to come. ◆