TORONTO — The Jewish National Fund of Canada’s most successful fundraising event to date, which paid tribute to the 2014 Negev dinner honoree Dr. Max Glassman on Nov. 23, closed with a special performance by actor and comedian Martin Short.
Short, who did stand-up, sang, danced, and performed skits with the Second City comedy troupe, was joined on stage at one point by Toronto mayor-elect John Tory, who laughed heartily throughout a staged interview with one of Short’s most famous characters, celebrity interviewer Jiminy Glick.
After asking Tory for details about his background – “but not in too much detail because I don’t really care” – Short asked him who he would have wanted to see as mayor of Toronto if he hadn’t been elected.
“I’m not answering that question,” Tory shot back.
“How do you see Toronto changing?” Short continued, after he and Tory greedily dug into a heaping plate of donuts.
“I have a suggestion. Have you ever thought maybe getting some cranes up there and doing some construction?” Short asked, eliciting big laughs from the crowd.
“It would be very popular in this room,” Tory retorted. “How about getting some transit so that people can get around?”
Before Short took to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre stage to close the event, Glassman, a physician who founded the Queensway Medical Centre and Clinic in Toronto more than 50 years ago and has been a JNF donor since the mid-1950s, spoke to the 1,500 people who gathered at the annual dinner and thanked his many supporters.
He said he hesitated when he was asked to accept the designation of being this year’s Negev honoree.
“After I considered the potential impact on the citizens of Israel and elsewhere, I accepted the honour on the condition that all funds raised would be earmarked to help build a PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] and health centre associated with the 120-year-old Herzog Hospital,” Glassman said.
Proceeds from the 2014 campaign will build the Dr. Max and Gianna Glassman PTSD and Health Centre, a facility on Jerusalem’s Herzog Hospital campus, where people who have suffered psychological trauma and other mental health issues can seek help.
“My dream is that our facility… will not only be a model of excellence in Israel, but will have international impact,” Glassman said.
“It will become a blindingly bright beacon of light that will brighten the world and will be emulated not only in Israel and Canada, but throughout the entire world.”
JNF Canada CEO Josh Cooper said that although the organization had yet to settle on a final tally, this year’s Negev Dinner brought in the most money “by a long shot.”
The previous fundraising record was $5.7 million, which was raised last year when Prime Minister Stephen Harper was the 2013 Negev dinner honoree.
