Page 12 - The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, October 29, 1981
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By BEVERLEY STERN
TORONTO —
For Negev honoree : •'Teddy- Richmond, noblesse oblige . is no enipty-phrase.
The 64-year-old philan-. thropist, a respected figure.in Canadian business, believes that to those ■ "whom much has been given, much is expected."
A successful entrepreneur. Richmond is chairman Of the.. board of Midnorthern Appliance . Industries Corporation, one of Canada's leading distributors of appliances to the building industry. Midnorthern also owns major retail outlets slich as Leder Electric.
Richmond wUi be sdut-ed for his philanthropy on Nov. 19 at the Sheraton Centre by the Jewish National Fund. JNF is celebrating Its 80th annl-versarv.
A one-time chairman of United Jewish Appeal campaign. Richmond has supported key institutions in Toronto and Israel. His name is linked to a long and disparate list which includes Reena, Baycrest Centre, Mt. Sin^ai I^ospi-tal, Israel Bonds, Jewish Community Centre, B'nai B'rith. thcNational Ballet, Toronto Symphony. Uni-. versity of Toronto, Toronto General Hosphal and the St. Alban's Boys' ■ Club.
In particular. Richmond is attached to the cause of Jewish education. He sent all three daughters. Anne, Barbara and Nancy to day school and .firmly believes that Jewish education is the key to Jewis'h survival.
Among the schools which are recipients of the Richmond largesse are: Eitz Chaim. Associated Hebrew, United Synagogue Day Schools, Ner
Israel Yeshiva, Luba-vhcherHassidim. Bar-lian University, Hebrew^Uni-versitytTJaiifa University, Ben Gurion, Technion, Tel-Aviv. Weizmann Institute and Yeshiva' University^
Although his name appears sporadically on plaques. Richmond, himself, disdains the practice of having buildings erected in one's name. "It's just not my bag to perpetuate my memory that way. But it's okay as far as I'm concerned if others do this. The end is the. same."
Refelcting on why people lust for power, Richmond thinks it is a personal ego trip for most. A candid, plain-spoken man, Richmond doesn't disclaim his own share of that. particular human "shtick,''" but his most satisfying moments, he says, corne from helping his fellow man.
"My life has been shaped by my parents, Jacob and Toba. Both were steeped in tzeda-kah," he says. Orthodox Jews from Poland, they came to Canada before he was,born and estabhshed . their lives in the Ward in downtown Toronto.
Richmond is one of nine children, seven of whom are still living. He recalls: "1 don't remember going anywhere as a child that rny father did not take my hand. He was my idol."
At synagogue and work. . Richmond followed his father everywhere. The senior Richmond helped found Beth Jacob Synagogue, and, along with. David Rotstein owned a "junk business" on Chestnut St. "We used to buy old rags and scrap metal from pedlars on horse- . drawn wagons." Richmond recalls,
Richmond's own career
Negev honoree Teddy Richmond will present sculpture by Bernard Simon, top right, to new wing of Baycrest Centre. ■
took off after he opened a coin laundries and subse-became the base from, which he acquired other coin laundrries and subsequently branched' out into
major appliances for the replacement market in apartments, and eventually condominiums.
Early in his pursuit of fortune, Richmond began
to serve the community in the l>est way he Icnew. "I didnU have time for direct volunteering,^' he says, "but I loiew I could be effective hi administration
All day program for
TORONTO —
A regional conference of the Canadian Jewish Congress Ontario Region will be held Sunday, Nov, 8 at the Beth Tzedec Synagogue, in Toronto.
.Representatives from communities across Ontario will take part in the all-day program, which will cover a broad range of communal concerns.
Opening the program is a talk by a C President Irwui Cotler entitled "The Jewish Condition and the
Jewish Agenda." Luncheon speaker is Irving Greenberg, director of New York's National Jewish Resource Centre.
Cotler's talk will lie followed by three concurrent workshops: thriving in small communities, the Jewish family and educa-. tion, and how the organ' ized Jewish community ser>'es its constituents.
Afternoon sessions following Greenberg's presentation will deal with Israel-Diaspora relations,
emice
anti-semitism from left and right, and response to crisis.
Registration and luncheon fees are $10 per person. Student registration is free. For more information, contact Ruth Morrison, at the CJC, 150 Beverley St., Toronto, M5T 1Y6, or phone her at [416)977-3811.
Regional conferences are convened ever>- three years, between plenary assemblies.
and fund raising.
In the early 19408, when (he plight of the Jews hi Europe became known, Chaim Weizmann came lo Toronto to espouse the cause of Israel. Welz-tnann's charisma and commitment had it profound effect on Richmond. Still in his 20s, he pledged a life-long aUegianee to Jewish causes.
Now. years later, Richmond looks back on the Toronto Jewish community and has some trenchant oil its direction and \ilality.
His primary concern is that Hitler might yet win a posthumous victory.- "We lost six million Jews to Nazism, the ultimate in anii-semitism. The irony is that we may lose just as many down the road right in North America, the ulimiate in liberal. democracies."
Assimilation and inter-
marriage are diniinishing the ranks of Judaism, says Richrnond, but the process is so insidious it fails to shock anymore.
"It's funny," Richmond, muses. "People insure jewelry. Bushiesses Insure property' and their partners. Buta culture, a whole way of life, because It is an Intangible, is left uninsured:"
Insurance for the survival of Jewish identity - primarily revolves around support for Jewish education and Israel, In his view.
On the level of Jewish commitments in Toronto, he observes that those who give are renowned for their generosity. But he admits frustration that so many in the community. are unalTiliated.
"About 3% of the Jewish community accounts for at least 50% of the total amount of money raised," he reveals. "Every year that same hard core tries to bring new people.. Sometimes it works out. Sometimes, it fizzles."
He is dismayed by some fund raising practices. Big-name personalities — who have never demonstrated interest in Jewish communal concerns — are occasionally chosen for honors not only in hopes of raising money but also, to seduce them: into com-rnunity service.
But Richmond wonders: If they were not committed before, will they ever be? He doubts it.
For Richmond, the essential criterion for coni-munity tribute must be genuine service or commitment. "It could be a Jew or non-Jew, "-he says, "but the honor must be based on leghimate contributions."
In Richmond's view, tribute dinners hazard cynicis.m in the long run when honorees are chosen
politically or crassly/ Such, mockeries eventually an-dermine respect for the causes tHemselves. Also; a poor honoree gives people a chance to cop out, he . says. ■: ' : ■
Of the widely-held perception that community participation and leader^ ship is the preserve of the rich, Richmond says emphatically this is not the way it is.
Communal leadership is more open than commonly . thought, he maintains, Talent and dedication are what count. He recalls that when he was UJA chairman, his gift \yas insignificant compared to what others gave. "But I always gave what I could and that's all that mattered to me." .
Of all the projects Richmond has been aissociated with, he says, the Negev dinner Is bringing him "gratification beyond expectation." Although he, declines to mention figures, he reveals the
amount raised so far ex-ceeds-any other JNF campaign anywhere hi , the world. . . V_
Of JNF's project to clear and prepare land for more settlements in the Galilee in northern Israel * Richmond is convinced there is -no more crucial under-" taking.
; Theoyerwhelming Arab population demands a stronger Jewish presence in the Galil. he says. Approximately 150,000 Arabs and fewer than 70,000 Jews live between Nazareth and the Lebanese border. And in the central Galil, where the Canadian project called Galil Canada is centred, Arabs and Druze outnumber Jews by 10 to one.
Richmond, who used to have a residence in Net-anya, began to vacation in Florida after open-heart surgery several years ago. But with the return of health, he says he and his wife, Florence, are now-looking for property in
Jerusalem.
A member of the Shaarei Shomayim synagogue, the Primrose Club and the Oakdale Coiintry Club, Richmond says'he spends all his spare time, with his family. He has seven grandchildren.
When Richmond reviews his life, he considers himself a lucky mkn. one who has reaped the rewards of family, hard work and tzedakah.
For most of his life he worked 15 hours a day — "1 was a workaholic," he says. Now, only semi-retired from business, his communal concerns continue to be unceasing. Scarcely a day goes by that he doesn't get a. letter from one organization or another thanking him or making a request.
"It might sound funny tosay this," he isays, ''but I feel when I'm helping others, I'm saving lives in a way — especially when it is the cause of our Jewish people."
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