Who We Are

We are a grassroots organization of concerned individuals who have joined forces to try to make Jewish education affordable for every family that wishes to send its children to a Jewish day school in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Mordechai Ben-Dat was the editor of The Canadian Jewish News for 18 and a half years.

Robert Cohen is a partner with Blaney McMurtry LLP, having commenced his employment there as an articling student in 1970. He is married to Marilyn, with 2 married daughters and 5 grandchildren.  He is a (long ago) graduate of Associated Hebrew Day School, a past president of Beth Tikvah Synagogue, and he and wife (and children) have been on the Boards and Executives of numerous Jewish organizations in the Toronto community and are past honourees of United Synagogue.

Sara Dobner is a Senior Policy Advisor with the Ontario Government, married to Michael, and has two daughters who are TanenbaumCHAT graduates. She is currently a member of the Israel Engagement Committee, at the UJA Federation. Previously, she has volunteered at Limmud Toronto, Congregation Darchei Noam, Eran Israel emotional first Aid Line, Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University, ORT Toronto and Kachol Lavan Centre. She was a board member of TanenbaumCHAT, a recipient of the Shem Tov award and has written for the Jerusalem Post and Canadian Jewish News. 

Zac Kaye has worked in the Jewish community for over 45 years, mostly with Hillel around the world. He is currently the Interim Executive Director at Cornell Hillel. Zac retired as the founding director of Hillel of Greater Toronto in 2013, and then he became the Interim Executive Director of Hillel in Minneapolis. Zac has a Masters in Jewish education from Brandeis University’s Hornstein program, and  he studied education at Manchester University, England. Married to Suzanne, they have 4 children and 8 grandchildren.

Israel Mida has been a partner and consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) since 1985, including terms as Chair of the PwC Canadian Board of Directors and a member of the PwC International Board of Directors. Israel is a member of the boards of Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies, and Canadian Jewish Public Affairs Committee (CJPAC), member of the Board of Governors of Associated Hebrew Schools of Greater Toronto, member of the Advisory Committee of the Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, and he is a member of the professional advisory committees of Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto (including two terms as Chair) and Baycrest Hospital. Israel is a past honouree of ORT Toronto and he is inscribed in the Book of Life of the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto.

Jennifer Paton Smith is a technical writer and college instructor. Although born in Toronto, she lived in Israel for 12 years, where she met her husband, Sander, and where their son was born. She is a member of First Narayever Congregation. She was a board member of Kehillat Tiferet Shalom (Ramat Aviv) and a founding member of Kehillat Veahavta (Zichron Ya’acov). Jennifer is a proud day-school graduate and the mother of a day school graduate.

Dr. Howard Price is a gastroenterologist married to Leah, with two wonderful children and son-in-law and three amazing grandchildren. Previously he has volunteered at UJA Federation, JNF, Hillel, Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue, DARA, and Ve’ahavta. Currently he volunteers at UJA Federation, JNF, CIJA, Beth Tikvah Synagogue, and Herzog Hospital.

Jeffrey Stutz is a specialist in public policy. He has worked on relations with Indigenous peoples in Ontario and Arab citizens of Israel. He is a member of Congregation Beth Haminyan. Married to Shirley, he is the father of three day school graduates.

Bob Weinerman is a retired actuary and consultant.  He was a World Wide Partner of the global human resources consulting firm Mercer and a member of the Canadian Management Committee before his retirement.  Bob is married to Donna and the father of two married day school graduates and grandfather to five grandchildren, all of whom are (or will be) attending day school.  He has been a volunteer at Shaar Shalom Synagogue and Beth Tikvah Synagogue.