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Saturday, September 30, 2006

Canada In Israel

The other day, I was thinking about different Canadians and Canadian things one may find in Israel. Here is a partial list that I could think of: - The famous Canadian-Israeli architect, Moshe Safdie who designed the new Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem and helped plan the city of Modi'in. He was originally famous for Habitat in Montreal during the 1960s. - The Azrieli Center, a complex of three office towers in Tel Aviv, one shaped like a square, one like a triangle, and one like a circle. It was built by developer David Azrieli, another Canadian Israeli. Although I think it is a coincidence, the circle/square/triangle combo also forms the logo of CTV. - The Aish HaTorah Center, overlooking the Kotel, was funded by the family of Leslie Dan, a well known Canadian businessman who started Novopharm, one of Canada's largest generic pharmaceutical companies. He sold the company to Teva, Israel's largest pharmaceutical company. - I have read that Israel has a real (as in real ice) hockey rink, though I can't recall where. That rink was predictably built with funds donated by Canadians. - Israel's largest pharmacy chain, SuperPharm, is the Israeli branch of Canada's largest pharmacy chain, Shopper's Drug Mart. Shopper's Drug Mart started out as a single store here in Toronto and was called that due to its location in the "Shopper's Plaza" strip mall. My dad, incidentally, once worked in that original store. - Joseph Tannenbaum, the late well known Canadian philanthropist and patron/founder of my shul, the BAYT, was also was very generous with Yeshivos and institutions in Israel and his name can be found on buildings throughout Jerusalem.