Higher education calls

RHONDA SPIVAK

Israeli-born Rami Kleinmann has become the new national executive director for the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University.

Kleinmann takes up his new position after having served as the emissary for the Jewish National Fund of Canada. In that capacity, Kleinmann brokered four agreements – worth millions of dollars – between the JNF and the Manitoba and Alberta governments, involving academic research in the areas of water, greenhouse technology, agriculture, education and integration.

Kleinmann, described by Canadian Lifestyle magazine as "a friend maker," and by the Jewish Post of America as "a superb artist in his field," is well known for his fund-raising skills. While he was a shaliach for the JNF, he had been invited by both the University of North Dakota and the University of Alberta to give seminars on fund-raising.

Kleinmann said he is pleased to be working with Hebrew University. "To promote the Hebrew University is to promote the intellectual and academic infrastructure of the Jewish people. There is no oil in Israel, but what we can develop is our intellectual abilities as a people. That is the future that we should be focusing on," he said.

Looking back on his work with the JNF, Kleinmann is thankful he was able to "form a great partnership with the late Israel Asper [founder of CanWest Global Communications], the Asper family and the Asper Foundation."

He is especially pleased to have been involved in the establishment of the Asper Community Action Centres, located in Ofakim, Migdal HaEmek, Beersheba, and Ramot, which were developed in partnership with the JNF.

During his term as a shaliach, Kleinmann started a Hebrew- speaking club and, as part of it, began bringing speakers who gave lectures in Hebrew, as well as arranging "talk-show" evenings in Hebrew. "As a community, we spend so much money educating our children to speak Hebrew. It's important to bring the Hebrew language and culture to Canada, otherwise there is very little opportunity for Canadian Jews to use their Hebrew. Otherwise, someone who learns Hebrew is like someone who gets a driver's licence but never actually drives a car," said Kleinmann.

Kleinmann, who is the father of three sons, is very thankful to have worked with so many "wonderful people" during his term as a JNF shaliach. "I worked with very committed office staff, presidents, board members, volunteers and, beyond anything, a very special community," he said.

His dream is to retire eventually in Tel-Aviv, to a place overlooking the sea, "where my wife, Tali, and I can enjoy the cosmopolitan city enriched with culture, a city that has turned out to be a top gastronomic destination."

Rhonda Spivak is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

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