Local News
JNF Canada loses appeal to retain charitable status—days before a deadline to disburse remaining assets
By ELLEN BESSNER (Canadian Jewish News) November 10, 2024 Jewish National Fund of Canada has lost its first major legal battle to stop the tax department’s revocation of its charitable status, which came into effect three months ago.
Late in the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 8, a Federal Court judge dismissed JNF Canada’s application for a judicial review—and the judge also dismissed a request for an injunction to force the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to remove the official revocation notice that was printed in the Canada Gazette on Aug. 10.
Printing that notice triggered a series of steps JNF Canada was ordered to take under the Income Tax Act rules regarding revoked charities.
Firstly, it could no longer issue tax receipts for charitable donations made by Canadian supporters to fund a portfolio of social service projects in Israel.
Secondly, it was also required to wind down operations that date back to 1967—during which time the charity fundraised in Canada to support tree planting and other work in Israel. The CRA gives revoked charities the option of trying to disperse its remaining assets (JNF Canada’s asserts were stated as about $31 million in 2023) by giving them to another approved charity.
JNF Canada was also instructed to file a special form and remit a cheque to the tax department to pay what is known as a revocation tax. This amount is 100 percent of its remaining holdings after calculating the fair market value of the assets and money the charity had left, once all debts are paid. (The amount could be further reduced should the assets be legally given to a qualified donee.)
The deadline for that tax payment is Nov. 13, according to a letter the CRA sent to the now-former charity in mid-August.
The judge’s ruling came 24 hours after JNF Canada lawyers argued their case via video conference on Nov. 7, alongside lawyers for the Department of Justice, representing the Minister of National Revenue.
JNF Canada asked for a motion to reverse the publication of the Aug. 10 notice, which would save the organization from forced closure.
In her 17-page written decision, Justice Allyson Whyte Nowak explained why she dismissed the appeal. She ruled that her court was the wrong place for the charity to try to seek relief, because the Income Tax Act specifically designated the Federal Court of Appeal as the correct venue for such cases. Earlier court cases have established this fact, she wrote.
Justice Whyte Nowak did acknowledge that JNF Canada’s lawyers are raising a “novel issue,” but said it must be left up to the Federal Court of Appeal—or even Parliament—to correct any gaps in the inner workings of the CRA’s revocation process.
The day before the judge’s decision was released, JNF Canada issued a statement about how it will “never stop fighting for our community and our mission.”
“We stood our ground, and our lawyer made a compelling case in our defense [sic], arguing for procedural fairness, legitimate expectations, and the rule of law,” JNF Canada CEO Lance Davis and the revoked charity’s president Nathan Disenhouse announced together on Nov. 7.
JNF Canada has not commented publicly since learning it had lost this legal appeal. A video conference briefing for supporters has been scheduled for 8 p.m. tonight (Nov. 10), in the evening when JNF Canada’s annual Negev Dinner gala for supporters had been scheduled in Toronto, before its cancellation.
Rally for Humanity, a Sunday afternoon event at Nathan Phillips Square in downtown Toronto—which will feature speakers from Muslim, Hindu, Christian and Catholic organizations in alliance with 13 different Jewish community groups—also lists JNF Canada as a sponsor.
‘Nearly impossible to resurrect the charity’: CFO
JNF Canada’s chief financial officer Edit Rosenstein, in an affidavit submitted to the court on Oct. 30, outlined the impact of the Aug. 10 revocation.
“As we will not have the necessary funds, a total of 31 charitable projects will need to be stopped, which will have a huge impact on the vulnerable populations we serve.”
The affidavit claimed 48 employees would be terminated, with JNF Canada obliged to make severance payments. Four contractors will have their contracts terminated, with JNF Canada liable for the breaches. And other vendor contracts will also be terminated “resulting in penalties to JNF and exposure to further claims for breach of contract,” explained Rosenstein.
“If JNF is forced to shut down, I believe it will be nearly impossible to resurrect the organization, even if it is successful in its appeal before the Federal Court of Appeal,” Rosenstein’s affidavit said.
A separate court document from JNF Canada’s legal team added another consequence should the Federal Court not reverse the CRA’s revocation. The court was told it will result in further irreparable harm such as “the Applicant losing its chance to salvage its reputation.”
CRA explains the revocation and next steps
The CRA told The CJN on Friday it does not normally comment on specific court cases involving taxpayers, due to confidentiality clauses in the Income Tax Act. However, an email from spokesperson Nina Ioussoupova clarified why revoked charities must pay a revocation tax.
“The purpose of this tax is to ensure that charitable property is applied to charitable use,” she said, adding that the remaining assets include all income and gifts made to a revoked charity during its wind-down period.
In the JNF Canada case, the CEO Lance Davis told The CJN in an earlier interview in August that the charity continued to receive donations from supporters after the revocation, even though tax receipts could not be issued.
Two months ago, JNF Canada launched a public relations effort to lobby Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and national revenue minister Marie Claude-Bibeau to intervene on the file and reverse the revocation. Supporters were asked to donate money that would go to plant trees in areas of northern Israel where Hezbollah rocket attacks have burned forests.
The revoked charity vowed to send thank-you cards to the two federal politicians, which would advise them of trees being planted in their names—and also urging them to support JNF Canada’s cause.
How did JNF Canada end up here?
July 2024 brought the first public word from JNF Canada of its decade-long dispute with the tax agency. JNF Canada announced that it had been “blindsided” by the CRA decision it would be moving to shut the charity down, after a confidential 2014 CRA audit painted a harsh picture of its non-compliance with tax rules. JNF Canada vowed to fight any revocation through the courts, and immediately filed an appeal July 24, to the Federal Court of Appeal. A parallel appeal was filed to the Federal Court soon after.
The agency’s findings in the audit ranged from where the charity’s books and records had been kept in 2011 and 2012 (mostly in Israel, which was a no-no), to what language the paperwork and receipts were kept in (mostly in Hebrew, which is not illegal but makes work difficult for auditors), to the conclusion that JNF Canada’s founding charitable purposes of relieving poverty in Israel by paying the salaries of indigent labourers, were not being met.
Another major issue was that because of missing paperwork and superficial oversight on the ground in Israel, it was felt the Montreal-based JNF Canada hadn’t been in control of or directing its own operations overseas. CRA believed the charity was acting merely as a funnel of money to the Jerusalem-based agency, the Jewish National Fund/Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, which ran the projects.
A further red flag for auditors were several projects in 2011 and 2012 that benefited the Israel Defence Forces, such as construction of buildings and green areas on IDF military bases. Registered charities are not permitted to support a foreign military financially, under Canadian laws. Some other projects were located in the West Bank and on other disputed land, the CRA found, something which Canada’s foreign policy frowns on.
JNF Canada disagreed with the CRA’s view of that last category—and still does. But in 2019, the charity assured the public that it had stopped funding both kinds of projects after 2016, in order to comply with CRA requirements in good faith.
The CRA officially informed the charity in August 2019 that it still wasn’t satisfied with JNF Canada’s efforts to come into compliance, and intended to revoke its charitable status.
Three months later, in November 2019, JNF Canada filed an objection with the CRA’s in-house appeals branch. That move put the revocation process on hold until the objection was reviewed.
The review by the agency’s appeal team took about four years.
In documents submitted to the Federal Court as part of the latest hearing, the CRA acknowledged the lengthy time it took. However, it blames the delay partly on “disruptions” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, when in person meetings were cancelled, and when many federal workers switched to remote offices and worked from home. But the CRA also contends it was JNF Canada’s fault the review was held up when the charity filed an Access to Information request seeking confidential CRA documents about this dispute, which caused more delays.
The CRA finished its review of JNF Canada’s objection in 2023, and told the charity it still was planning to proceed with revocation of its charitable status due to the “repeated and serious non-compliance” with the Income Tax Act.
The now-revoked charity has publicly slammed the tax agency for repeatedly refusing to meet with them during the process to discuss concrete suggestions for improving things, such as adopting a new, acceptable charitable purpose. JNF’s Canada’s CEO Lance Davis told The CJN Daily this August that his team has made many internal changes in recent years to come into compliance, and as a result were now “running a tight ship.”
On June 26, 2024, the charity received a further confirmation letter of the CRA’s 2019 Notice of Intent to Revoke.
JNF Canada decried the decision, blamed the department for being procedurally unfair, even biased, and accused tax officials of caving in to anti-Israel activist groups—such as Independent Jewish Voices—which have long been pressuring the government to shut pro-Israel charities such as JNF Canada down. JNF Canada officials have since pointed to internal CRA documents it obtained showing a 2017 meeting between anti-Israel activists and a senior director with the revenue agency.
Procedural fairness disputed by JNF Canada lawyers
JNF Canada lawyers Adam Aptowitzer and Elizbeth Egberts of KPMG told the court this past Thursday that the CRA had given JNF Canada written assurances—dating back as far back as 2019—it would not pull the trigger by having the revocation notice published yet in the Canada Gazette.
Aptowitzer argued this assurance included a promise the CRA would wait until any objections or court appeals were dealt with. He told the court there was a long-standing internal CRA policy that gave audited charities as long as 90 days after the revocation notice was sent out to file an appeal in the Federal Court of Appeal before publication of the revocation.
Aptowitzer told the court that JNF Canada felt the 90-day policy used in 2019 was actually a “commitment” that “had created a legitimate expectation” of how things were going to be handled in 2024.
The lawyers submitted copies of an internal CRA briefing note from May 2024 stating no publication of the revocation notice would happen if JNF managed to submit its appeal in time to the Federal Court of Appeal, which it did on July 24, 2024.
Nevertheless, the CRA went ahead and had the revocation notice published on Aug. 10, which was 30 days after that final confirmation letter was sent out.
JNF Canada also felt it should have been clearly informed that CRA 2019 policy had been changed, since had it been informed about the shorter deadline, the charity would likely have gone much earlier to the Federal Court of Appeal to try to block the publication, before it was too late.
For its part, CRA lawyer Linsey Rains told the court JNF Canada should have been smart enough to figure out the previous, 90-day timeline process wasn’t guaranteed any longer.
“[JNF Canada] is a sophisticated organization and there is sophisticated counsel as well,” Rains said Thursday.
She reminded the judge that under the tax code, the CRA doesn’t have to wait for the final outcome of legal appeals to be exhausted through the courts, and the CRA can publish a revocation in the Canada Gazette after 30 days, as was the case here.
Lawyers for the government argued the tax department was acting to protect the tax base, and wasn’t required to give JNF Canada its own personal treatment and notice.
“Counsel… was told that [the 90-day waiting period in place back in 2019] assurance wasn’t necessarily guaranteed this time around,” said Rains. “The policy changed and it can change and the reason it changed is… the Minister’s statutory duty to publish the revocation.”
While the 90-day policy was followed for many revocation cases before and since 2019-2020, the court heard that, in the last few years, the agency has moved to the much speedier revocation: 30 days.
Moves made to protect taxpayers: CRA
“The CRA now has a risk-based approach towards compliance in the charitable sector,” according to senior CRA official Melissa Shaughnessy in a written affidavit submitted to the court in advance of the hearing.
She said it will cost the Canadian government $4.6 billion in 2024 to give tax deductions to people and corporations who donate money to charities. So, the CRA wants to make sure the charitable sector operates according to the law. That is why it moved more quickly on the JNF Canada case.
“The decision to proceed with revocation now, despite the Organization’s appeal with the Federal Court of Appeal, is to stop the continued flow of tax-receipted donations going overseas to fund the non-charitable activities of a non-charitable third party,” Shaughnessy wrote, referring to the JNF’s partner in Israel.
“The Organization has publicly stated that it will continue receipting donations and distributing funds. Awaiting the conclusion of the legal appeal process could take over a year which would enable the Organization to continue to send millions of dollars in tax-receipted donations to fund foreign non-charitable programs were it not revoked.”
While the CRA acknowledged it had received assurances from JNF Canada that funds were not being used in IDF projects or the West Bank since 2016, the tax agency pointed out the charity didn’t furnish proof to back up this promise.
‘Irreparable harm’ due to revocation
As part of its case claiming irreparable harm from revocation, JNF Canada argued in court that Israeli children with cancer are being jeopardized by the CRA’s revocation. Aptowitzer, one of the JNF Canada lawyers, said the organization promised to help fund the renovation of a building on the grounds of Sheba Medical Centre’s Tel ha-Shomer site near Tel Aviv, where families of young cancer patients are housed while their kids are undergoing lengthy oncology treatments.
The facility is operated by the Israel-based Rachashei Lev charity. Since 2007, the building has offered 20 apartments to temporarily house the families. Aptowizer told the court JNF Canada made an obligation to fund this renovation project.
“The facility is currently turning away sick children,” he said, and the court was told an estimated ten patients have had to be turned away to date, due to the renovations underway. “There is harm to unknown people yet to be diagnosed.”JNF Canada committed $292,500 to fund the renovations, according to the affidavit submitted by CFO Edit Rosenstein.
According to the JNF Canada’s website, the reason the children’s house is being renovated is because since Oct. 7, 2023, the hospital has now commandeered the 20 apartments also to accommodate an influx of Israeli survivors’ families, including next of kin of severely wounded Israeli soldiers who were injured in battle.
“With the increased demand from families of wounded soldiers, they need to quickly renovate and split the current apartments into two thereby doubling the number of families served for a total of 40 apartments,” explains JNF Canada on its website. “Each suite will consist of a bedroom, a kitchenette, private bathroom and a balcony. Renovations include new flooring, electrical, paint, plumbing, replacement of doors and installation of more countertops and sinks.”
JNF Canada’s website adds that donations are required before the Canadian project can send money.
Donations almost completely stopped: CFO
In her affidavit, Rosenstein revealed that after her charity’s status was revoked in August this year, JNF hasn’t been receiving the expected flow of donations.
“As a result, donations to JNF [Canada] have almost completely stopped,” Rosenstein said. “Without the ability to raise funds, or draw on assets, JNF will have no choice but to cease its charitable operations and terminate the employment of its employees.”
CRA lawyer Linsey Rains told the court she wondered about JNF Canada’s claim of irreparable harm and argued it should not factor into the judge’s decision.
Firstly, Rains asked the court why payments couldn’t be sent to the hospital project, regardless of the revocation. She also suspected JNF Canada wasn’t the only organization donating to this Israel-based children’s house project. Rachashei Lev has several fundraising chapters outside of Israel—including in Teaneck, New Jersey, and London, England.
JNF Canada annulment request explained
Even after JNF Canada received the recent June 26 confirmation that its charitable status was going to be revoked, the charity proposed what CEO Lance Davis has previously called an “off-ramp.”
Lawyers asked the CRA on July 12 to pause the revocation, and instead act to annul JNF Canada’s 57-year status as a registered charity.
An annulment would help avoid paying the revocation tax, and would also allow JNF Canada donors to keep the tax receipts they’d been issued prior to the granting of the annulment.
In court, CRA lawyer Linsey Rains told the judge the federal revenue minister didn’t reject the idea, but rather put a pin on the suggestion while the current dispute over revocation plays out in the courts.
The head of the CRA’s charity directorate, Sharmila Khare, wrote on July 24 to David Stephens—another lawyer representing JNF Canada—confirming that the annulment request would be “held in abeyance.”
Rains suggested JNF Canada tried to keep its non-compliance problems out of the public eye. She told the court JNF Canada wanted to “keep it quiet” and “close to their chest” hoping instead, they could get an annulment, and avoid paying the revocation tax in the process.
Briefing notes prepared by CRA staff in April and May 2024 which were submitted to the Federal Court ahead of the hearing show JNF Canada being very concerned about the dispute being made public. The CRA notes also show the agency itself expected to receive additional attention because of its timing.
“Consideration should be given to raising the risk level on this to high, when and if an appeal is filed at the FCA,” the CRA briefing document said. “The Organization is a prominent charity with overseas operations in Israel and given the current Israel/Palestine conflict, this revocation could be contentious for the CRA. There has been recent media attention on charities potentially funding activities related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The authors of the briefing note cited nine published articles, including one published by The Canadian Jewish News last October. However, five of the pieces were negative coverage citing anti-Israel sources— including one penned by Yves Engler, a prominent anti-Zionist from Montreal. A cited story from the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs begins by saying the U.S. branch of Jewish National Fund supported “Israel’s occupation by financing illegal settlement building on Palestinian land.”
What’s next for JNF Canada?
Right now, at least two significant questions remain unanswered.
Have any JNF Canada funds been disbursed to new charities, who could then legally send the money to JNF’s partners in Israel?
And, can the Nov. 13 filing deadline for the revocation tax be met?
JNF Canada’s communications have emphasized it will be left with no funds to pay for court challenges to fight what it feels has been unfair treatment by the CRA.
Despite losing the first court case on Nov. 8, there is still a second appeal in the pipeline—this one was filed with the Federal Court of Appeal on July 24. However, court documents show that any Federal Court of Appeal hearing won’t likely be scheduled any earlier than May 20, 2025.
There could also be other legal avenues, such as an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada—and also to the federal Tax Court.
JNF Canada has two major events scheduled in the coming week, before the Nov. 13 payment deadline. It’s not known if they will be impacted by the appeal being dismissed.
The annual Negev Dinner in Toronto, honouring philanthropist Jeff Rubenstein, was originally scheduled for tonight (Sunday, Nov. 10) before JNF Canada decided to cancel it in September—former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett had been booked as keynote speaker.
But an event was subsequently scheduled for Nov. 11 featuring a panel discussion on the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election as it relates to Israel, featuring former IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus and New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, with journalist Jonathan Kay serving as moderator.
Two additional JNF Canada supporter events in Toronto remain scheduled for Nov. 21 and Dec. 2.
JNF Canada did not cancel its Negev Gala event in Ottawa, scheduled for Nov. 13, honouring Lisa MacLeod, the outgoing Ontario PC MPP for Nepean. Political consultant Warren Kinsella was later added as keynote speaker.
Proceeds from the Ottawa dinner are going to build a resilience centre for people living with PTSD in Sderot, with charitable donations administered by the Israel Magen Fund of Canada, rather than JNF Canada.
Local News
Long-time Winnipeg doctor and Israeli colleague make medical app available to general public
By MYRON LOVE Seven years ago, Dr. Gerald Minuk, Canada’s first hepatologist (liver specialist), partnered with Israeli computer science student Daniel Iluz-Freundlich in founding Refuah Solutions Ltd (RSL). Their goal was to create an app – which they called PI-enroll (“PI” stands for “Principal Investigator”), which was designed to be used by clinical trial investigators that would save them time and effort so they could be more personally involved in seeing their trial patients.
Last month, they released their second app, this time for patients. The app, called Patient-empower, informs patients about clinical trials underway for their condition and helps them make an informed decision as to which trial best meets their specific needs and preferences.
“I was approaching retirement,” recalls Minuk, now Rady School of Medicine Professor Emeritus, who has been in practice in Winnipeg since 1987, and “I couldn’t see myself filling my days doing crossword puzzles or Sudoku. I wanted to be able to continue contributing to medical research and patient care.”
It just so happened that, at the time, Minuk was introduced to an Israeli student, Daniel Iluz-Freundlich, who had just finished studying Computer Sciences at the University of Winnipeg. (Minuk notes that Iluz-Freundlich – on graduating – received the Gold Medal in Computer Science.)
“Daniel is an exceptionally talented young man,” Minuk says. “So I tapped his computer programming skills to create our PI-enroll and subsequently, our Patient-empower apps.”
The friendship continued after Iluz-Freundlich returned to Israel in 2020 to begin medical school on a Phil and Elle Kives Scholarship, where he earned numerous honors. Iluz-Freundlich is currently an intensivist anesthesiologist at the Beilinson Hospital in Israel. Despite his new professional responsibilities, including caring for IDF forces wounded in Gaza– he has remained active with Refuah – as vice-president of the company.
Minuk adds that a dozen other senior professors of medicine also contributed to Refuah’s software design. “Together,” he reports, “the company represents 400+ years of clinical trial experience. That experience is being applied to identifying and addressing the major challenges investigators and patients face when conducting or participating in clinical trials.”`
He adds that Refuah Solutions has established a truly global network with company personnel in San Diego, São Paulo, Mexico City, London, Barcelona, Nairobi and Delhi thus far.
According to Minuk, the company has enjoyed worldwide success – with over 2,000 doctors in 40 countries and 50 drug companies signed on for the PI-enroll app. He attributes this success to the app’s impressive results. In a recent global clinical trial, Minuk reports, within 3-6 months of implementing PI-enroll, investigator personal involvement increased by 60% and with that, patient enrolment increased by 80%, patient drop-outs decreased by 50% and there were 20% fewer protocol deviations (mistakes made). In addition, 90% of PIs rated the App 8 out of 10 in terms of usefulness.
He adds that one site that had not enrolled any patients for 12 months, subsequently became the trial’s leading enrolment site.
Regarding the newly released Patient-empower app, Minuk notes that despite the many benefits patients derive from clinical trials including free and early access to new and often safer and more effective treatments, fewer than 10% of patients who would qualify for a clinical trial are ever invited to consider that option. “The problem,” he explains, “is that most Health Care Providers are either unaware of what clinical trials are underway in their area or if they are aware, don’t have the time to discuss the trials with their patients.”
Therefore, Minuk, Iluz-Freundlich and their team designed and recently released their second app – Patient-empower – which informs patients of what clinical trials are underway for their condition and empowers them to select the trial that prioritizes their needs over those of industry.
The platform, he explains, uses AI to generate concise, easy-to-understand summaries of clinical trials tailored to the patient’s location—city, state, country, or globally, depending on their preference. Each summary includes clear explanations of the patient eligibility criteria and key practical details, such as the likelihood of patients receiving a placebo, the number of required site visits, and other important practical considerations. It also suggests questions that patients should consider asking the investigator before they consent to enrolling. The trial information is presented in a shareable format to facilitate discussions with family, friends, and local healthcare providers—supporting both patient confidence and continuity of care.
Once a trial is selected, Minuk continues, Patient-empower provides the contact information for the trial investigator closest to the patient’s location, the trial’s sponsor and, where available, the world’s experts in the field.
The feature Minuk is most enthusiastic about is the “Recent Findings” page which keeps patients up to date on newly published clinical trial results and discoveries relevant to their condition.
“Patient-empower is available to patients from internet venues (App Store or Google Play) or through NFP organizations, associations, societies and patient support group web-sites,” he adds. “Although only recently released, we have already attracted interest from the American Diabetes Association, the Alzheimer’s Society of America, the Canadian Liver Foundation, Colorectal Cancer Canada, the American Myasthenia Gravis Society and many others.”
“Overall, Patient-empower informs patients, and more informed patients benefit everyone involved. After all, it’s the patient’s health; their voice should be heard,” Minuk concludes.
Local News
The South Seas come to the Asper Campus
By MYRON LOVE On Thursday, July 24, about 150 members of our Jewish community got a chance to sample the dance and music of the South Pacific. The event was billed as “Beyachad Together – Celebrating Indigeneity, land, culture and identity.”
The program featured both the Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble dancers and Steinbach-based Island Breeze Manitoba – which describes itself as “a high energy live band & Pacific Island dance team featuring authentic outfits and dances from the islands of Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa and New Zealand.”
According to Dr. Ruth Ashrafi, Regional Director of B’nai Brith Canada in Manitoba, the evening’s performance was connected to an Indigenous Peoples Conference that was held in Steinbach under the auspices of Island Breeze with participants from Canada, the United States (specifically Hawaii), Antigua and Bermuda in the Caribbean, South Africa, the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific island countries of Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Tonga.
“The conference organizers contacted B’nai Brith Canada,” Ashrafi reported. “They wanted to bring greetings to the Jewish community, as the indigenous people of the Land of Israel, and celebrate indigeneity together through dance and music.
“Their support in these difficult times is heartwarming.”
In her opening remarks as emcee for the evening, Ashrafi noted that “it is a great honour for the Jewish community to welcome so many indigenous guests from all over the world.”
She then related the story and miracle of Chanukah and connected it to the experience shared by many indigenous nations around the world.
“They have been told that their religion is wrong, their traditions are not sophisticated,” she pointed out, “just as the Jews of that time were told by the Greek rulers that our religion was wrong and our traditions were outdated.
“Here in Canada, the First Nations were forced into Residential Schools to learn Canadian ways. The manner in which they were taught in these schools was abusive and horrific. Many children died, and many more were scarred for life.
“As with the Maccabbees,” she continued, “courageous individuals have stood up and fought for rights of their indigenous brothers and sisters. They had to overcome a lot of resistance and other obstacles. Indigenous peoples are still over-represented in the Canadian prison system and social services.
“The story of Chanukah tells us that it is okay to be different from the majority culture,” she said, and “that special and unique traditions are important and worth preserving.
“The story of Chanukah also teaches us that fighting for our rights is not easy,” Ashrafi added. “We may be a tiny minority and the other side may be much more numerous, better organized and equipped. But if we take the first step, like deciding to use that little jar of oil (that burned in the Temple for weight days even though there was only a day’s supply), we will be helped along the way.”
“We put the Menorah in our front window,” she noted, “so that the light is shining into the dark winter nights. We want to share the story of the Chanukah miracle and we want to bring light into a world that has still so much darkness in it.”
Ashrafi’s words were followed by greetings from David Harper, a former Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief who spoke glowingly of his visit to Israel in 2014.
“Our faith teaches us that the People of Israel are the people of the Bible and we must bless them and pray for them,” he said. “My people have a lot to learn from the people of Israel about healing the land.”
Next, Ashrafi introduced Pastor Roger Armbruster whom, she described, as the man behind the vision for the evening. Armbruster, a strong Christian Zionist supporter of Israel, is the founder of Canada Awakening Ministries.
She said of Armbruster that “it is a privilege to be his friend. I have learned so much from you.”
According to Armbruster’s bio on the Canada Awakening Ministries website, “his life has been dedicated to a ministry of reconciliation, and of building bridges between cultures, nations, denominations and generations. He sees cross-cultural reconciliation as a key to making disciples of all nations, and in seeing God’s House become a House of Prayer for all nations.
“As director of Canada Awakening Ministries, he is a leader in facilitating Native-Non-native reconciliation, and in restoring the indigenous peoples of the land to reflect that part of God’s image that He has deposited in them in their sounds, songs, praise and dances.”
Armbruster attended the Inaugural World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People in New Zealand in November 1996 as well as gatherings in Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1998, northern Sweden in 2005, and Israel in 2008. In his remarks, he noted that he has visited Israel numerous times over the years – often leading tour groups representing Canadian Inuit, Greenlandic Inuit and Manitoba First Nations at the northern ends of the earth, along with Maori, Fijians and Samoans from the southern ends of the earth – back to the City of Jerusalem from where the original gospel message first came.
“In Israel,” Armbruster said, “these Indigenous People have shared their language, their culture and their faith with both Jewish and Palestinian audiences alike. In one Israeli community, they even shared a message that brought hope to a joint audience of some 500 people that included both Jews and Arabs coming together.”
The dance part of the program was emceed by Isi Masi of Island Breezes. The musical program included several Hawaiian dances, including a rousing foot-stomping number,followed by performances featuring Hawaiian song and gentle movement. The final part of the island dances concluded with a brief Maori war chant.
(The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand.)
The final part of the program included several high octave dances by our own – always outstanding – Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble, with all the performers singing “We Shall Overcome” and the audience invited to join in a round of Israel dancing.
Local News
Israeli-born realtor believes in paying it forward
By MYRON LOVE When Hofit Yanev and her husband, Stefan, first arrived in Winnipeg in May 2013, they knew no one here.
“We were looking for a safer environment in which to raise our children,” she recalls. “We thought that would be Canada, and Winnipeg seemed to be the most welcoming Jewish community.”
Despite not knowing anybody, on their first morning in our community they found that someone had left a challah on their doorstep. That was a small kindness that she has never forgotten. She is a strong believer in paying it forward. Ever since then, she notes, she has made sure to greet newcomers in our community with a challah.
Helping others – whether to buy and sell their homes or manage their money – is a principal focus of the thriving career she has built up here as a real estate agent and insurance adviser.
Sales has always been Hofit Yanev’s strong suit. Originally from Holon (near Tel Aviv), she began her sales career right after her army duty. Her first venture was selling Dead Sea and hair care products. (Some readers may remember the kiosks that used to be set up at some Winnipeg shopping centres some years back.) She worked a year in Chicago and four years in Miami before returning to Israel, where she met and married Stefan.
Soon after settling in Winnipeg, Hofit found work in sales, initially for an HVAC company (while Stefan became a long-distance truck driver and now operates Excellence Fences and Decks). “As I was doing very well in sales for this company,” she recounts, “after taking time following the birth of our third child, I decided to try selling houses.”
She secured her real estate license and went to work. After 18 months of trying, she was still struggling to make a go of it.
“I lacked experience,” she recalls. “I reached a point where I was ready to give up and go back to selling HVAC products.”
However, on what she thought would be her last day, she received two calls that revitalized her hopes. In quick succession, she recounts, she got a call from a former customer who wanted her to sell his house and a new customer who wanted her help in selling his house and buying another.
“I took it as a sign from God,” she says.
Today, eight years later, Yanev, working under the eXp Realty banner, oversees an operation with over 20 agents—nine of whom are on her team and the others working under her in the eXp umbrella.
“I achieved my dream,” she notes, “and I want to help others – either those looking to buy a home or fellow realtors starting out – to realize their dreams as well.”
She notes that she strives to understand what her clients’ needs are and provide the right homes for them. She reports that 70% of her real estate clients are members of our Jewish community. She deals with commercial as well as residential properties and adds that she also helps clients with long- and short-term rentals as well as car rentals.
About a year ago, she notes, she added another entry to her resumé – that of insurance adviser. “As a realtor, I could see how some people are struggling financially,” she says. “I wanted to help.”
As an insurance adviser, she works with single mothers, seniors, and others plagued by financial difficulty. “I advise clients on how to get out of financial trouble, how to save 10% of their net income, and build their savings.”
She makes it clear that she keeps a distinct separation between her real estate clients and her insurance clients.
Now, you would think that an individual working two careers – with five kids to raise (all of whom are enrolled in Jewish educational programs) – would have her hands full. Nonetheless, Yanev has a third avocation – that of a social events planner for fellow Israelis in Winnipeg and other Hebrew speakers.
“For the past six years,” she reports, “I have been producing five programs a year in our community for Hebrew speakers. No one else was doing it, and I felt that it was important for Israelis here to be able to connect with each other.”
She adds that the family-oriented programs have been “super successful.” “We have had as many as 300 people at some of our programs.”
Yanev believes that her success story can inspire other newcomers to Winnipeg. “If you are prepared to work hard, you can achieve your dream,” she says.
She also expresses gratitude to our Jewish community. “We have found the community here to be welcoming and supportive,” she says. “It is thanks to you that we have been successful. This really is friendly Manitoba.”