TORONTO — David Koschitzky, right, says he thinks it’s important for people to recognize that UJA Federation of Greater Toronto is “not their father’s federation.”

The organization – of which Koschitzky became president in late
November – has evolved, he said in a recent interview. UJA Federation
is the umbrella and main funder for Toronto-area Jewish agencies
through its annual UJA campaign, which also funds overseas Jewish needs.

Koschitzky, 49, thinks a lot of people see the federation “as a gigantic organization with lots of money – like the Jewish government.”

But that is “a poor perception,” he said in a recent  interview. One reason is that the federation does not tax community members, which means it does not have the ability to decide how much money will be available, he explained.

Koschitzky, who was born in Calgary and moved to Toronto with his family after Grade 6, sees the federation as “an old-style switchboard operator” who connects “donors who want to give money to specific causes, with recognized agencies.”

In Koschitzky’s first speech as federation president, he said his number 1 priority would be “to find solutions so that the middle class will not be squeezed out of the ability to provide their children a Jewish education.”

Ultimately, he said, “the long-term solution is government funding.” Despite the results of October’s provincial election in Ontario, when the Progressive Conservatives under leader John Tory were trounced for their support of the idea, Koschitzky has not given up.

“We’re the only province in Canada that has a major Jewish population that doesn’t have funding,” said Koschitzky, a father of five who first became involved in his children’s day school and in federation while living in Chicago from 1983 to 1995.

“It’s happened in every other province. I believe it has to happen here.

“Do I think it’s possible? When women went to get the vote the first time, they were defeated… Bottom line: they got the vote.”

In the meantime, options for lowering the cost of education include decreasing teachers’ salaries  – which he is “firmly against” – and maintaining or increasing class size, Koschitzky said. He added that he would “challenge anyone” who believes there is much waste in the system.

As well, the federation recently announced $2 million in additional annual funding for elementary schools that provide tuition subsidies. It is also planning to introduce a $100-million endowment fund that would provide an estimated $5 million annually for education.

However, Koschitzky noted, “it will not meet the needs of giving every Jewish child an education.”

“The average family is giving up vacations, cars, and standards of life that other people at their level expect.”

Koschitzky said that there are also sacrifices on the part of the federation. “We have to put a handle on costs. We don’t have the luxury of funding every type of school people would like. [Every] school has to show economic feasibility.”

Continued on page 20

Continued from page 3

A decision on the future of the Dr. Abraham Shore She’arim Hebrew Day School – which is having cash flow difficulties and is being jointly managed by the federation’s Centre for Enhancement of Jewish Education – is expected later this month.

For those who wonder why large sums of money are going to federation projects such as the new Lebovic Jewish Community Campus in Vaughan and rebuilding the Bathurst Jewish Community Centre (BJCC) at a time when there is financial need in the Jewish education system, Koschitzky noted that the federation’s Tomorrow project (which includes Lebovic and the BJCC) is run “completely separately,” and that its funding does not come from the annual UJA campaign.

Federation funding encompasses a number of “circles” – capital projects, endowments, the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto, and the annual campaign – Koschitzky said. “Many times, donors have participated in two of these circles, but many times they are only interested in one.”

The Jewish community has “a number of donors who want to give money to capital projects, whether to an art museum or the opera house,” he added. “What we’re trying to do is be a switchboard to connect them to Jewish causes.”

Speaking in general terms, Koschitzky said that “programs, in general, are a harder sell than capital projects… It’s an easier sell to sell bricks and mortar.”

He said that transparency is “very important to today’s federation,” and that the average donor is told where his or her money is going.

According to information available from the federation online at jewish toronto.com, the organization’s campaign expenses total just under 10 per cent of funds raised and are “among the lowest of any non-profit organization.”

Federation spokesperson Howard English told The CJN that marketing expenses – including a $20,000 campaign video that used, in part, professional actors – accounted for .004 per cent of the federation’s $157 million in revenue last year from all sources.