By Gail Small and Howard Berger, Co-Executive Directors

We are delighted to launch our first Onews at this particular moment, on the eve of the Jewish New Year 5774 (September 2013) and having just begun our festive 150th anniversary year of service to the community. In July 1863, 30 visionary members of the Montreal Jewish community founded the Young Men`s Hebrew Benevolent Society, today known as Ometz. Established to look after the most vulnerable in the community when it barely numbered 1,000 Jews, today we offer employment, immigration, school and social services to over 13,000 people annually.

We hope with this Onews format to be able to reach out to our friends in a regular and timely way, offering a heads up on what’s going on at Ometz.

In June, at our Annual General Meeting, we honoured all of our past leadership, 31 of whom joined us that night. We unveiled special tribute panels listing all the Past Presidents of our 3 founding agencies (Jewish Employment Montreal, Jewish Family Services and Jewish Immigrant Aid Services) from 1863-2013.

Additionally, to mark this special occasion we have created a timeline to trace our history and in partnership with the Interactive Museum of Jewish Montreal, we have created a virtual walking tour of our evolution in the community. You are just a click away from our roots.

With an eye towards the future, we are asking all community members who have had any tie to Ometz, or one of our founding agencies, to share your stories with us online – whether as a client, a volunteer, a staff member or as a donor. Just as we look backwards at this time to our roots, so will future generations want to know about us. Please take a moment and give our community a special gift that no one else but you can give – a personal reminiscence that will transcend time and place, and reflect who we were in 2013. Please visit our anniversary website at www.ometz150.ca.

We are very grateful to the following sponsors of our 150th anniversary year:

BDH Community Foundation

Les Développements Brookline

Jewish Federations of Canada -UIA

Paladin Labs Inc.

Pear Tree Financial Services Ltd.

Thanks for helping us out – a very Happy New Year to you and your families.