Who Knew There Were so Many Jews in Toronto?

When things started heating up in Quebec between the French and English speakers - it wasn't a great situation for the Jews because it was impacting their business interests. So most of the really affluent Jews escaped Montreal in the 70s - they moved their homes and businesses to Toronto. It was all done very quietly without any big announcements. (By the way, that's when my father decided we're taking a different escape route - and we sailed to Israel.)

WARMINGTON: Walk With Israel support 'overwhelming' after 'record-breaking' turnout >> Toronto Sun

So for a good few decades the Jewish population in Toronto has been steadily growing, but they've never made a really big deal about their presence there until yesterday, June 9th, 2024, when a massive amount (50K) of Jews turned up for the annual United Jewish Appeal march in solidarity with Israel and the release of the four hostages.

I'd like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated - this kind of 'showing up in person' support for Israel means so much to us. It's different than writing a check because it's using our human energy to support Israel, and doing it together makes so much more of an impact. I guess things have gotten so bad that people see we can't simply continue as normal anymore - something's gotta give. We're going to have to make significant moves if we want things to change for the better.

This is truly an amazing outpouring of love for Israel - and not only from Jews! Many others took part in this march to show their support.

But with all due respect to these heartwarming events, that's not where the shift will come from. What defines our future and our fate - is what happens here between the Jews in Israel.

At the moment there is no common vision to unite us, but once we find the right path, we'll be able to cover all other relationships beyond Israel with Jews all over the world.

But the main problem has always been - and will always be - between the Jews living here in Israel. We returned from exile and were given the right to create our own home here. The process began in our past, and now we must complete the work. Which is all about being true to our core Israeli essence - the spirit that the whole world wants to feel. But instead of doing that -- we're still trying to copy the Western world in everything we do.

This is why we're missing a clear vision and identity to aspire to - because we don't see what we all have in common beneath our differences. We're too busy focusing on the negative things about each other. Because the people spreading all that toxic information have control over so many of the main media platforms - that's where all our focus is. It's going to take something very powerful to override it - we're going to need to consciously invest in enhancing our connection. That's the only way out of this.

Incredible posts on every platform tell the story of a massive turnout as never seen before ...