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Mizrachi Canada

Building a Communal Future in Israel

Throughout Mizrachi’s long history, it has always been involved in helping to build communities in Israel.
Today, Mizrachi Canada is at the forefront of helping a group of Canadian Jews buy property together in Israel.
Rabbi Aron White spoke with Rabbi Elan Mazer, Director of Mizrachi Canada, about his exciting vision and
building a future for the Canadian Jewish community in Israel.

How did this exciting initiative begin?

I began as the head of Mizrachi Canada in 2017, and the birth of
this idea came very soon afterwards. Rabbi Korobkin, the rabbi
of the BAYT shul in Toronto, gave a derasha on Parashat Behar
that provided a new framework for thinking about communal
Aliyah. In many communities, Aliyah is seen as a mixed blessing
– something exciting for the individual family, but a net loss to
the community. Rabbi Korobkin provided a new framework: as
community members, we are always looking to build a strong
future for our community, and we have to recognize that in the
long-term, the future of all our communities is in Israel. In this
framework, a Torontonian moving to Israel is not leaving the
community, but rather helping to build a future for the commu-
nity – in Israel! I found this approach very healthy, and it sparked
many ideas and discussions about gathering a group of Canadian Rabbi Elan Mazer, CEO of Mizrachi Canada, together with Canadian rabbinic leaders
meeting with the developers of Carmay HaNadiv
Jews interested in setting down roots in Israel – together.
with a project like this is a cultural gap – the pace at which Israeli
That is an exciting idea. How do you translate this from real estate moves is very different from what people from chutz
a vision into a reality? la’aretz are used to. The developer said to us that they could set

It certainly takes a long time, and the details are more difficult aside a whole building for our community, but we needed to
than having the vision! I started by simply having conversations confirm that we would be taking it – in two weeks! It’s almost
with community members, which helped us develop the criteria impossible for a community or large group of people to make
of the type of Israeli community we were looking for. We wanted a decision in this time frame, so we chose to wait for a future
somewhere where we could build a community that is built round of construction. We are also open to other communities.
around a shul and rabbi, as people in chutz la’aretz are used to. We’ve certainly galvanized a lot of interest from the community,
Since many community members have relatives in places like and are hopeful that it will bear fruit.
Efrat, Modi’in and Beit Shemesh, we wanted it to be somewhere What are the biggest lessons you have learned from
close by or commutable to those places, and ideally somewhere
where we also could make an impact on the surrounding com- your efforts?
munity by coming there. We wanted a place with lots of green- First, you definitely need to have representatives on the ground,
ery, and we also wanted it to be available to as wide a group as as we had with our lawyers, as things move fast and you need
possible in terms of price. So as you see, not an easy list! someone informed who can find the best opportunity in the
right time frame.
Where does the project stand today?
I also think that if the government made more projects specif-
We identified a potential project in a neighborhood called Carmay ically for olim it could be a big help. If we could slow down the
HaNadiv, thanks to lawyers at Givati Law who have been our decision process, it would allow communities to make informed
representatives on the ground. This community had many of the decisions and enable more of these projects to succeed. We are
things we were looking for. However, one of the great challenges hopeful that our project will bear fruit, even if it takes time! ◼

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