I’m a lawyer, and when I graduated law school in the 50s I joined the firm of Max Kaufman, who was then very active in Baron de Hirsch. He got me involved in the childcare and youth services committee. I then became an officer and became president of the agency in 1970 and remained president until 1972.

The Quebec government at the time, under Bourassa, passed what became known as Bill 65 which was effectively an expropriation of all family and youth-related agencies of the province. This was unacceptable to the Board and the Jewish Community. We therefore fought the government and traveled to Quebec City to do so. Our main purpose was to retain our Jewish clientele, character and identity. The government even wanted us to change the name of our agency. We were partially successful and the enforcement of the bill became more relaxed. Eventually, it disappeared entirely. That was a very important part of my presidency, and is the project that stands out the most to me.

During my time in office at JFS, an association of Jewish family agencies of North America was created. I was a founding board member and eventually became the 4th president of that association. It was interesting because we met a few times a year, and it gave me an opportunity to interact with other agencies, contribute to, and learn things from them. This too was a highlight of my presidency.