Chabad of Markham Celebrates 32

A Red Carpet Gala Dinner on Monday, March 19th 2018, celebrated 32 years of Chabad of Markham in Canada and was successful beyond all expectations.

It was an emotionally charged event that touched the hearts of every single person in the packed ballroom of Chabad of Markham.

Chabad honored five unique people who represent some of the finest qualities of our community in general – courage, kindness, leadership, justice and survival.

Darryl and Stephanie Levenberg received the Courage Award; Henry and Esther Icyk the Chesed/Kindness Award; Rafi and Samantha Yablonsky the Young Leadership Award, Justice Alan and Lisa Diner the Keter Shemtov/Good Name Award and Mordechai Ronen the Holocaust Survivor Award.

Giving out the awards were Shluchim Rabbi Avrohom and Goldie Plotkin, Rabbi Meir and Esther Gitlin, and Rabbi Moshe and Mattie Schurder.

The cuisine by our very own in-house caterer, Shazzies was five star and the program, written by Ruchie Stillman and directed by Chips Klein and Kim Cohen, was most memorable.

The mood was electrifying. Singer Benny Friedman accompanied by Avremi Gourari and the Nafshenu Orchestra got the crowd singing, dancing and clapping.

A guest appearance by the Toronto Jewish Male Choir moved the crowd with an emotional rewrite of a famous song by Leonard Cohen to honor holocaust survivor Mordechai Ronen. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as Mordechai raised his hands with a victory sign implying that he was not just a survivor but a “winner.”