The 2015 Combined Jewish Appeal is projected to raise over $39.4 million, general chair Barry Pascal announced at the campaign’s official closing on Nov. 25.
Donations and pledges to the base campaign amount to more than $36.3 million, a “card-over-card” increase in excess of $478,000 over 2014, he said.
The campaign also generated close to $2.2 million in one-time donations designated for special local or Israel-based recipients, as well as over $957,000 in undesignated one-time donations.
Pascal expressed delight with the results in what Federation CJA president Evan Feldman termed “not the easiest economy.” The campaign was launched in August.
Montreal continues to rank among the top three annual federation campaigns in per capita fundraising.
Pascal noted that CJA also has one of the most efficient campaigns, with an overhead of 9.7 per cent, and that, for the fifth straight year, more than $1 million in corporate sponsorships were secured to offset expenses, such as the closing event.
The evening, held in the sanctuary of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, was a mixture of celebration and remembrance. The victims of the wave of deadly violence in Israel, as well as the terrorism in Paris and elsewhere, were commemorated. However, the overall tone was that Israelis and Jews worldwide must not despair, or they would be succumbing to the aim of the terrorists.
That message was conveyed musically by the Israel Defence Forces Rabbinic Choir, under the direction of Lt.-Col. Shai Abramson, chief cantor of the IDF. The choir gave a concert of Hebrew melodies, both traditional and popular, including a version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.
The reality of the ongoing violence of Israel has touched the Montreal Jewish community in a direct way. Natan Benitah, the brother of Aharon Benitah (Bennett), 21, who was stabbed to death in Jerusalem on Oct. 3, lives in Côte St. Luc.
Their father, Michael Benitah, visiting from Israel, addressed the more than 800 people attending the closing event, thanking them for their sympathy and the welcome he has been extended in this community.
Expressing himself in allegorical terms, Benitah spoke of the bond that unites all Jews and their commitment to the welfare of each other, and this is key to their survival across the ages.
He said Aharon had been a man of peace who wanted to help others.
The evening reunited Benitah with Israeli Consul General Ziv Nevo Kulman, who recalled that he had the sad duty of informing the Benitah family of the death of their brother and son. The parents happened to be visiting Montreal at the time, which was during Sukkot. Nev Kulman remembered that he had to wait until precisely 7:13 p.m. to knock on their door, because rabbinic advice was that they must not be disturbed until after Shabbat.
Some 500 community members soon gathered outside Benitah’s Côte St Luc home in an expression of sympathy. “I salute you all for that,” Nevo Kulman said.
He added: “I love this community for its diversity. It speaks in so many voices, but when it comes to Israel it speaks in one voice. I thank you.”
The message Israel is sending to the world, he said, is that “life goes on” and he encouraged Jews to go to the country at this time.
Pascal also introduced the leaders of the 2016 CJA, including general chair Joel Segal and Women’s Philanthropy chair Gilda Abdulezer.
The federation is also planning the celebration of its 100th anniversary in 2017, a highlight of which will be a “Mega Mission” for hundreds in May.
