Dedication

 

 

CTots Childhood Education Centre has been dedicated in memory of Jack Friedman Q.C.

 

There was a special place in Jack Friedman’s heart for children and he carried a special sense of mission about Jewish education.

 

Jack was born in Toronto, in 1919, the youngest of four siblings. He grew up during the Great Depression, protected by his family, imparting feelings of responsibility toward others that he demonstrated all his life.

 

He became a lawyer, representing clients -- many of them Holocaust survivors -- in the area of real estate law, eventually forming his own real estate development company. He was honoured by the Province of Ontario with the designation of Queen’s Counsel for his innovative approach to legal practice.

 

Business and professional life did not distract Jack from the cause of Jewish education. For all the years that his children attended the Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto -- Talmud Torah -- he served as a member of its board. He also served on Toronto’s Board of Jewish Education and headed Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University. He was President of Toronto’s Beth Tzedec Congregation, attracting many esteemed guest lecturers and organizing learning institutes for the sake of community education.

 

To the end of his life, Jack experienced great joy in the presence of children – his own grandchildren, great grandchildren and the children of the neighbourhood surrounding the long term care home in which he spent his final years.

Jack’s son, now relocated to Victoria, and Jack’s three daughters said: “We continue to think of him as “Avi Mori / My Father My Teacher” and for this reason, we and our mother are proud to sponsor CTots Childhood Education Centre in our father’s memory”.

 

Ya’acov Koppel ben Dov Ber v’Sobel. Niftar 27 Tevet, 5776 / 8 January, 2016