Avrum Rosensweig

Background

Rosensweig was born April 27, 1960 in Kitchener, Ontario. He is the youngest of five children, (sisters Etti, Chavi, Naomi and Leahle) and the only son of Rabbi Phyvle (Philip) Rosensweig (1928- 1989) and Gitel Rosensweig (nee Flicht) (1930-2016).

Rabbi Phillip Rosensweig came from a family of Orthodox Rabbis. They emigrated to Canada during the turn of the last century. Avrum's maternal family were from Wierzbnik, Poland (renamed Starachowice after 1952) who were murdered in the Holocaust.

Rabbi Rosensweig was an avid collector of rare Judaic books, some dating as far back as the 1600s. Among the collection were books buried to avoid being confiscated and burned by the Nazis. They were exhumed and restored. The collection included hundreds of different texts of the Talmud as well as volumes from diverse philosophers and authors such as Martin Buber, and Maimonides.

"Books were a fundamental part of our lives. My Dad had so many books that we always lived in places that could handle so many volumes. At one point we rented two apartments, one for our living quarters, and the other, mostly for his books. Every Passover my Dad would pay my sisters and I to clean each book so that we would not find chametz, unleavened bread crumbs inside the book flaps."

- Avrum Rosensweig

Rabbi Rosensweig and his wife Gitel were active in helping Jewish refugees from Europe flee persecution to come to Canada. They were well known activists fighting on behalf of people in need. Their legacy in Kitchener, Toronto and Southern Ontario was a powerful influence on their son.

Avrum Rosensweig began an Orthodox Jewish education at Ner Israel Yeshiva in Toronto and later he attended rabbinical school in Jerusalem where he studied the ancient Talmud and Torah. He returned to Toronto where he studied journalism at Ryerson University.

In 1990, he began work for Toronto’s United Jewish Appeal (UJA) campaign. One of his earliest initiatives was to work with the UJA and his colleague, Dani Fine to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in pharmaceutical aid and medicines to send to Chad to aid the many of hundreds of thousands of refugees living in camps there after fleeing the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Rosensweig worked with the UJA until 1996 when he made the decision to start his own initiative.

Ve'ahavta

In 1996, Rosensweig founded Ve’ahavta, Canada’s only Jewish humanitarian and aid relief organization. Its creation was predicated on the Jewish value of Tikun Olam, or, "repairing the world". Rosensweig said "it is the obligation of every Jew to play a role in strengthening the world through participation in volunteer and philanthropic work, and to "break down walls between Jews and others in order to move toward a kinder and more unified world." Numerous initiatives were launched in Canada, Israel and elsewhere around the world.

Ve'ahavta volunteers worked in South America, the Caribbean, in Asia (during the Tsunami in Thailand and the Hurricane in the Philippines), and communities in rural Africa (affected by AIDS). Rosensweig was also a vocal advocate raising awareness about the genocide in Darfur.

Locally, he has initiated many programs for the disadvantaged including the Mobile Jewish response to Homelessness. It is a nightly program staffed by volunteers who take a van through the streets of Toronto to distribute basic necessities like food, clothes and water. The other major priority of the program is to engage the homeless and share stories.

The Ve'ahavta Creative Writing Contest receives hundreds from entries every year from people sharing their experiences of poverty, addiction, estrangement and life on the edge. Among some of the judges in past years were former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, authors Michael Ondaatje, Joseph Boyden and Barbara Kay.

The Ve'ahavta Street Academy is an educational initiative for people on or near the street, done in conjunction with George Brown College.

The Immigrant/refugee homework club was a long running program operating in Regent Park. The program was a departure for the Jewish community as it facilitated volunteer work with Muslim communities. For many years volunteers of all backgrounds traveled to Regent Park to tutor children in Mathematics, English and other subjects. The homework club closed in 2012 after budgetary constraints and a restructuring of the programs.

Rosensweig was also instrumental in helping launch the Jewish-Aboriginal arm of Ve'ahavta called Briut, an initiative to form alliances with the Jewish and First Nations communities, especially in the area of health care. Among the people assembled to launch the initiative were former Assembly of First Nations Chiefs, Phil Fontaine, former Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin and the Kenora Chiefs Advisory.

Through the years of organizational solidification, Rosensweig worked with an influential Board of Directors that included Ron Baruch who is now the Chair of the North York General Hospital Foundation; Dr. Michael Silverman was one of the original board members, and now is the chair of infectious diseases at Western University in London, Ontario. Silverman gained world renown for his infectious disease studies "on the ground" in places like Zimbabwe and Uganda; Mark Diamond, of the philanthropic Diamond family has been a Veahavta chairperson; Dr. Andrew Simor, the head of microbiology at Sunnybrook Hospital; and Bernie Farber, the former head of the Canadian Jewish Congress.

Ve’ahavta hosts a gala fundraising event each year, honouring Canadians of all backgrounds for their work in social, humanitarian, medical and educational fields. Honourees have included: Moshe Hammer, Dr. Naomi Azrieli, Dr. Michael Dan, Irwin Cotler, Karen Levine and others.

Hosts, Guest speakers/performers have included: Bob Geldof, Mia Farrow, Mariane Pearl, Steven Page, Emmanuel Jal, Jaffa Road, Michael Enright, Shad (Shadrach Kabango), Evan Solomon and others.

Media Presence

Avrum Rosensweig's work has appeared in various print, TV and Radio Media including: