Israel
Naomi and Gerald Brounstein: A life of charity, practicing law and farming!
By KINZEY POSEN
Every May, Gerald Brounstein leaves his law practice in Israel, gets on a flight to Canada and makes his way to Kamsack, Saskatchewan where he fires up his tractor, to seed the fields.
He’s been doing it for years……..farming the family farm. Meanwhile, his wife Naomi – back home in Ra’anana, runs a successful charitable organization with her co-founding partner Vivi Mann, paving the way for a brand new approach to helping Israelis in need. Welcome to the lives of Gerald and Naomi Brounstein.
In 1993, while living in Toronto, Gerald, who was born in Kamsack and grew up in Regina, and Naomi, who hails from Hamilton, decided to make aliyah with their three young children. It was a natural move for a couple who both grew up in Zionistic and traditional Jewish homes. Upon arriving in Ra’anana, Gerald went through nine months of articling to be able to practice law in Israel while Naomi, who is also a lawyer, took care of the children and explored volunteering. She also found time to take her master’s in social work at Tel Aviv University.
Fast forward to 2017 – the Brounstein family, still living in Ra’anana, now consisting of six members, with the youngest child serving in the IDF, one an ordained rabbi, another a professional musician, and one a specialist in special education. Three years ago, Noami and her longtime friend, Vivi Mann, came up with a new take on charitable giving – a concept that allows the donor to know exactly where their donation goes and the effect it has on the recipient family. The idea is simple and extremely transparent. It all takes place online, where donors donate any amount they want, up to, but not more than $1500. On the site, donors see specific cases of Israelis-in-need and they decide which of the posted cases they would like to help. It could be the purchase of a fridge, a stove, eyeglasses or medical equipment. These are real items for real people in need. It’s a variation of crowd funding – and a very effective means of raising money for specific needs.
The process starts with Israeli social workers identifying cases where their clients could benefit and submitting an application and case history to Ten Gav. From there, a committee evaluates the request. The name Ten Gav, by the way, which is Hebrew for give back, is a play on words, as it can also mean “I’ve got your back” or “You’re protected.”
In a world where many charities are faceless and the donors don’t know exactly where their money goes, Ten Gav ensures that all the money raised goes only to the case the donor identified. There’s also an option to let Ten Gav decide where it would be most needed. The co-founders do not take a salary and administrative costs for two part time employees and rent comes from monies raised from other donors.
To date, Ten Gav has helped 500 families through 900 donors. Over 50% of those who give are Israelis originally from North America. Over time, Ten Gav has developed a caring network of suppliers who are sensitive to the client’s needs and help by waiving shipping costs.
When asked which cases stand out, Naomi recalled the story of an impoverished family whose cupboards and pantry collapsed in their home, almost killing their young son. Ten Gav was able to provide new ones that were well made and safe. Or there was the case of an 84-year-old woman who spent much of her working life as a seamstress, also managing a program to help Ethiopian immigrant women. Her social worker observed that she was suffering from depression and suggested that having a sewing machine might help her. It did indeed.
Naomi says she finds inspiration from being able to assist people who might get lost between the cracks of the Israeli social system and how her efforts bring her in touch with a segment of Israeli society she might not normally interact with. She and Vivi are constantly looking for ways to improve the process and increase donorship. For instance, upcoming Bar and Bat Mitzvahs can work with Ten Gav to find a meaningful tzedakah project that will help them find a connection and a way to support Israel. To learn more about Ten Gav, go to www.tengav.org
Gerald’s career on the other hand, requires him to split his time among three countries. When he’s not practicing corporate and commercial law in Israel and New York City, he’s farming in Saskatchewan. He comes by his love for working the land honestly. Gerald’s great-grandparents farmed in Ukraine in the late 1800s, but were driven off their land by pogroms. His grandparents and their 10 children made their way to Canada, first arriving in Montreal where they made a living by peddling. From there, they moved to Winnipeg and got involved in the livery business.
Gerald’s grandfather eventually bought land in the Kamsack area of Saskatchewan, just northwest of Roblin, Manitoba, where the Brounstein family ran a mixed farm with cattle, horses and grain. They lived in the town of Kamsack. In 1966, when Gerald was six, his family moved to Regina in order to be closer to a larger Jewish community. Gerald’s dad went on to become the agriculture representative in the area – the liason between the government and the farmers in regard to education and benefits.
Gerald went on to study at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, then moved to Toronto, where he studied law at Osgoode Hall. While at school, he met Naomi at the Jewish Student Federation. All this timeGerald’s father continued to run the farm. In fact, his dad ran the farm with local help into his 90s. Gerald found himself being pulled more and more back to the farm and realized he had a deep passion and connection to the land.
What does it take to be a successful farmer these days? Gerald says you need to be a computer geek, a mechanic, an agriculturist and be financially savvy as well. Besides the love of working the earth, it’s a business that requires motivation, thought and commitment. These days, Gerald commutes every two weeks between Israel and Manhattan, practicing law. In May, he packs his overalls and arrives at the farm for seeding and returns again in July, staying until September for the harvest. He breaks for the High Holidays back in Israel and then returns to the farm for fertilization. His law practice doesn’t stop, as he fields calls from clients even while driving the tractor – when possible.
Gerald says his lifestyle is not that unusual for some Israelis. He knows of other people who commute to Europe, Asia and the U.S. for their jobs. It’s just the reality for some to in order make a successful living in Israel. When Gerald recites the Hebrew prayer for rain, he’s not kidding.
Israel
Israel report by former Winnipegger Bruce Brown
10 minutes
(Posted Dec. 24, 2024)
02:11 AM: Sound asleep.
2.11.01 AM: Wide awake. Awoken by a blaring missile alarm. Incoming. Took me no time to react. Ivan Pavlov would be proud. I quickly scooped up my dog. Grabbed my glasses. An inhaler. My phone and power cord. And sprinted to the safe room. Right across the hall. My wife overseas on vacation. So did this one alone. Er with my dog. We have 90 seconds to reach safety so no real panic, relatively speaking.
2.11.09 AM: In my safe room. Slid shut the heavy steel slabs across the window. You can hear this happening throughout the building. Kinda like a horror movie. Screech. Slam. Screech. Slam. Screech. Slam. Then mine. Screech. Slam. Next I jumped across the room and slammed shut the heavy, reinforced, steel door. It also makes a slamming sound, a really loud one. Then slumped down on the couch with my dog. With some level of relief. Where is this missile coming from. Can’t be from Gaza, they don’t have the capability anymore…I hope. Nor Lebanon, living too far south…I hope. Yemen? Possible. Those dang Houthis?
2. 14 AM: Oh oh. Need to pee. Like really bad. Once in the safe room, you should stay there for ten minutes. Unless there is another siren. Each siren requires a ten minute respite. Respite? Odd choice of words as you are not really resting. Way too tense. Especially as you can occasionally hear the booms of intercepted missiles up above. Kind of unnerving. Back to my need to pee. Its quite dangerous leaving the room during this period. Should your place be hit by the missile or falling debris from the sky. You don’t want to be caught with your pants down, literally, hovering over your toilet. And condos have been hit in Rehovot with some death and much destruction. Hmmm. To pee or not to pee. That is the question. Whether tis better to suffer the pangs of having to pee or the missiles of outrageous fortune. You get the point.
2.14.10 AM: Peeing in the bathroom.
2.14.40 AM: Back in the safe room. With my dog. Sitting on the couch. Fiddling with the remote control. I work in hi tech. The semiconductor world which can be pretty complex. But I simply have not mastered the remote. Really want to see what’s going on. Where is the missile from. Are there more attacks elsewhere in the country. Pushing this button and that button But the TV still off. Okay. Will check my cell. Although the connection sometimes comes and goes when shuttered in the heavily reinforced concrete and steel safe room. Works! Ya! Showing three bars. Sometimes four. Checking my feeds. But no news yet.
2.17 AM: Seriously. I need to pee again. Like really bad. Dang prostate! To pee or not to pee. That is the question…. You get the point. I chose to pee. This time I don’t actually slam shut the heavy, reinforced, steel door. And my dog follows me out. This could get complicated. But first things first.
2.17.10 AM: Peeing in the bathroom.
2.17.40 AM: Chasing after my dog around the condo. Poncho!!! There he is. In the living room. Like master. Like pet. He too is relieving himself. Probably the tension. Dogs can sense these things. “Faster Poncho!. Faster!” I encourage him.
2,18.02 AM: We’re back in the safe room. The heavy, reinforced, steel door slammed shut. And then I start worrying. What if I have to pee again. Its really dangerous out there. Idea! I’ll bring a cleaning pail in here. And if worse comes to worse. Well, I am alone. Sans my dog.
2.18.22 AM: I dart for the cleaning cabinet in the bathroom to grab the pail. Making sure the heavy, reinforced, steel door is shut less my dog run out again. Wait! As it dawns on me at 02.18.22 AM. This is not the smartest thing to do. At least I could have combined grabbing the pail with actually having to pee again. Like maybe I could hold out for the next three minutes or so in the safe room. No urgent need for the pail. But I am already there….
2.18.25 AM: Grab the red cleaning pail
2.18.28 AM: Back in the safe room. The heavy, reinforced, steel door slammed shut again. Siting on the couch with my dog again. Red pail glaring at me from the side of the room…daring me. But my bladder is relaxed. I try the remote again. I feel like my 85 year old mother who often complains about getting her remote to work. I console myself thinking that it must be the batteries. Hmmm. Maybe a mad rush for the utility room to get some new batteries. But that would be mad. I’ll take care of it in the morning. Only a few more minutes and I can safely leave the safe room and go back to bed.
2.19.45 AM: I pour myself a glass of mineral water. This I store in the safe room per Homefront commands. Fresh batteries not, hrmph. As I down the water I realize this is probably not the best idea. Less it creates the urge to pee…. Alas no. Start surfing my feed again. The intercontinental missile was fired by those crazy, dang Houthis from Yemen. All of central Israel sent to their safe rooms. Dang Houthis! The next couple minutes go by pretty smoothly. Although seems like an eternity.
2.21 AM: Back in bed. Albeit sleep comes slowly as my adrenaline starts to reside.
As it were. Israel bombed the dang Houthis that night. For the third time since the outbreak of the war. In retaliation for them firing over 200 ballistic missiles and 170 drones at Israel, which fortunately had not resulted in much damage. We struck them with over 60 bombs in two air raid sorties. Destroying mainly military targets as well as ports and energy infrastructure. Maybe that will teach them for waking me -and a million other Israelis- in the middle of the night.
As it were. Falling debris from the dang Houthi attack landed on a school in central Israel, forcing its collapse. Fortunately and thank G-d it was the middle of the night. Sometime between 2:11 AM and 2.21 AM. So no casualties. Can’t even imagine the tragedy had this strike occurred mid-day.
As it were. I changed the batteries in the remote. It works just fine now. And I left the red cleaning pail in the safe room….just in case. But I hope the dang Houthis finally learned their lesson. Although probably not.
As it were. Two nights later. Another 2:00AM missile from the dang Houthis. . They just wont let me sleep….
As it is. Please continue donating to the Israeli war and revival efforts. You may have given earlier. But give again. The financial costs to Israel are and will be billions. Billions! Sderot and Metulla and Tel Avi and Haifa are Israel’s front lines. Israel is the diaspora’s front line.
Bruce Brown. A Canadian. And an Israeli. Bruce made Aliyah…a long time ago. He works in Israel’s hi-tech sector by day and, in spurts, is a somewhat inspired writer by night. Bruce is the winner of the 2019 American Jewish Press Association Simon Rockower Award for excellence in writing. And wrote the 1998 satire, An Israeli is…. Bruce’s reflects on life in Israel – political, social, economic and personal. With lots of biting, contrarian, sardonic and irreverent insight
Israel
Join the Masa Canadian Professionals Volunteers Program!
You are invited on a 4-week volunteer program in Israel from October 14th to November 10th. Help rebuild Israeli society post-October 7th over Canadian Thanksgiving, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah. Spend three weeks based in Tel Aviv and one week based in Eilat!
This program is exclusively for Jewish professionals aged 22-50, working at Jewish organizations or remotely in any field.
The cost of the program is $150 USD to the organizer and $50 USD to Masa. Participants will receive a Masa grant of $2650 USD that is applied to participation and to cover additional costs. The cost of the program includes housing, meals while volunteering, transportation on travel days, health insurance, leadership training, and more. Volunteers are required to commit to the volunteer schedule, with the understanding that there will be the flexibility to work remotely for 8 specific days during the program. Flights are not included but you get a 15% discount from El Al.
Sign up here: https://www.masaisrael.org/go/canada-jp/ space is limited!
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to make a difference and connect with fellow professionals. For more information, contact Mahla Finkleman, National Manager of Partnerships and Outreach, Masa Canada, atmfinkleman@ujafed.org and/or Sam Goodman, Senior Manager of Israel Engagement, sgoodman@ujafed.org.
Save the Dates for Info Sessions:
- Thursday, September 5th, 12:00 – 12:30 EST
- Wednesday, September 11th, 12:00 – 12:30 EST
Join us in Israel for a meaningful and impactful experience with Masa!
weeks based in Tel Aviv and one week based in Eilat!
This program is exclusively for Jewish professionals aged 22-50, working at Jewish organizations or remotely in any field.
The cost of the program is $150 USD to the organizer and $50 USD to Masa. Participants will receive a Masa grant of $2650 USD that is applied to participation and to cover additional costs. The cost of the program includes housing, meals while volunteering, transportation on travel days, health insurance, leadership training, and more. Volunteers are required to commit to the volunteer schedule, with the understanding that there will be the flexibility to work remotely for 8 specific days during the program. Flights are not included but you get a 15% discount from El Al.
Sign up here: https://www.masaisrael.org/go/canada-jp/ space is limited!
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to make a difference and connect with fellow professionals. For more information, contact Mahla Finkleman, National Manager of Partnerships and Outreach, Masa Canada, atmfinkleman@ujafed.org and/or Sam Goodman, Senior Manager of Israel Engagement, sgoodman@ujafed.org.
Save the Dates for Info Sessions:
- Thursday, September 5th, 12:00 – 12:30 EST
- Wednesday, September 11th, 12:00 – 12:30 EST
Join us in Israel for a meaningful and impactful experience with Masa!
Features
New website for Israelis interested in moving to Canada
By BERNIE BELLAN (May 21, 2024) A new website, titled “Orvrim to Canada” (https://www.ovrimtocanada.com/ovrim-en) has been receiving hundreds of thousands of visits, according to Michal Harel, operator of the website.
In an email sent to jewishpostandnews.ca Michal explained the reasons for her having started the website:
“In response to the October 7th events, a group of friends and I, all Israeli-Canadian immigrants, came together to launch a new website supporting Israelis relocating to Canada. “Our website, https://www.ovrimtocanada.com/, offers a comprehensive platform featuring:
- Step-by-step guides for starting the immigration process
- Settlement support and guidance
- Community connections and networking opportunities
- Business relocation assistance and expert advice
- Personal blog sharing immigrants’ experiences and insights
“With over 200,000 visitors and media coverage from prominent Israeli TV channels and newspapers, our website has already made a significant impact in many lives.”
A quick look at the website shows that it contains a wealth of information, almost all in Hebrew, but with an English version that gives an overview of what the website is all about.
The English version also contains a link to a Jerusalem Post story, published this past February, titled “Tired of war? Canada grants multi-year visas to Israelis” (https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-787914#google_vignette) That story not only explains the requirements involved for anyone interested in moving to Canada from Israel, it gives a detailed breakdown of the costs one should expect to encounter.
(Updated May 28)
We contacted Ms. Harel to ask whether she’s aware whether there has been an increase in the number of Israelis deciding to emigrate from Israel since October 7. (We want to make clear that we’re not advocating for Israelis to emigrate; we’re simply wanting to learn more about emigration figures – and whether there has been a change in the number of Israelis wanting to leave the country.)
Ms. Harel referred us to a website titled “Globes”: https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001471862
The website is in Hebrew, but we were able to translate it into English. There is a graph on the website showing both numbers of immigrants to Israel and emigrants.
The graph shows a fairly steady rate of emigration from 2015-2022, hovering in the 40,000 range, then in 2023 there’s a sudden increase in the number of emigrants to 60,000.
According to the website, the increase in emigrants is due more to a change in the methodology that Israel has been using to count immigrants and emigrants than it is to any sudden upsurge in emigration. (Apparently individuals who had formerly been living in Israel but who may have returned to Israel just once a year were being counted as having immigrated back to Israel. Now that they are no longer being counted as immigrants and instead are being treated as emigrants, the numbers have shifted radically.)
Yet, the website adds this warning: “The figures do not take into account the effects of the war, since it is still not possible to identify those who chose to emigrate following it. It is also difficult to estimate what Yalad Yom will produce – on the one hand, anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews and Israelis around the world reminds everyone where the Jewish home is. On the other hand, the bitter truth we discovered in October is that it was precisely in Israel, the safe fortress of the Jewish people, that a massacre took place reminding us of the horrors of the Holocaust. And if that’s not enough, the explosive social atmosphere and the difference in the state budget deficit, which will inevitably lead to a heavy burden of taxes and a reduction in public services, may convince Zionist Israelis that they don’t belong here.”
Thus, as much as many of us would be disappointed to learn that there is now an upsurge in Israelis wanting to move out of the country, once reliable figures begin to be produced for 2024, we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that is the case – which helps to explain the tremendous popularity of Ms. Harel’s website.
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