Welcome to one of the most squalid Jewish-owned office buildings in Canada: 788 Marlee Ave. in midtown Toronto. Over the years, it’s been home to countless Zionist organizations and Jewish charities—including Mazon Canada, Canadian Young Judaea, Sar-El Canada, Camp Shalom, Machane Lev summer camp, the Association for Soldiers of Israel, Canadian Friends of Yad Sarah, and more. Some tenants have been complaining for years about the conditions, including a rat infestation; mould on lobby ceilings; extensive water damage from a leaky roof and broken skylights; an elevator that hasn’t been inspected since at least 2020; bathrooms with no lights and broken sinks; and a toilet with human feces that wasn’t cleaned in eight months. The city has cited the building several times for garbage violations and uncut grass.
The conditions have become so bad that at least one tenant moved out permanently in May. Others choose not to work in their offices much, except to drop off the rent.
On top of it all, there are two lawsuits filed in the Ontario courts against the longtime owners of the building, the Toronto Zionist Council. Among the lengthly list of allegations in the court documents are accusations of wilful negligence, misappropriation of money (particularly by one of the directors, Paul Rotenberg to the tune of at least $70,000), forgery, deliberate misconduct and allowing the once-proud symbol of the Zionist movement in Canada to fall into “appalling” conditions.
The TZC also owns a 75-year-old summer camp in Gravenhurst, Ont., called Camp Shalom, which is also discussed in the court documents, amidst questions wondering where the money to upgrade the camp has gone.
The CJN will be publishing several reports as part of this exclusive investigation. To start, on today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we take you inside 788 Marlee Ave. You’ll hear from Mazon Canada’s Izzy Waxman; Jessie Lash, the owner of a catering business; and Roni Perez, who served on the board of the ground-floor synagogue known as The Marlee Shul.
What we talked about
- Take a video tour of 788 Marlee Ave. on The CJN’s YouTube channel
- Toronto Zionist Council director Paul Rotenberg has spoken out often in favour of expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including in 2016 in The CJN
- Read why the Canada Revenue Agency revoked charitable status of the Toronto Zionist Council’s charity, the Zionist Organization of Canada Charitable Fund, in 1995, for funneling money illegally to settlements in the West Bank
- A new charity has been set up with a similar name by the same directors of the Toronto Zionist Council, now called the Ontario Jewish Education Association, in Toronto, since July 24, 2020.
Credits
The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.