{"id":10419,"date":"2015-01-30T00:16:36","date_gmt":"2015-01-30T08:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=10419"},"modified":"2015-01-29T11:45:58","modified_gmt":"2015-01-29T19:45:58","slug":"century-of-interest-free-loans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2015\/01\/30\/century-of-interest-free-loans\/","title":{"rendered":"Century of interest-free loans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michelle Dodek is the new president of the Hebrew Free Loan Association. (photo by Naomi Dodek)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The first free loan society in the Vancouver Jewish community was established 100 years ago, in March 1915. It is in this organization that the Hebrew Free Loan Association (HFLA) of Vancouver has its roots. And so, the association will celebrate its centenary this May with a dinner honoring current and past supporters and borrowers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe centennial celebration is one of the key projects we\u2019re working on right now,\u201d Michelle Dodek told the Independent. \u201cHFLA has so many success stories, and this event \u2013 planned for the evening of Lag b\u2019Omer, May 7, at Beth Israel Synagogue \u2013 will give us the chance to share some of them with the community.\u201d Dodek took over as president from Diane Friedman in December. Friedman led the HFLA board for nine years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to raise our profile. We joke among ourselves that the HFLA is one of the community\u2019s best-kept secrets. It is challenging for us to publicize what we do because we are serve a niche market,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe lend to people who don\u2019t qualify for a bank loan and who also have the means with which to repay a loan. Examples of our borrowers are people who are employed and have encountered difficulties, such as a furnace in need of repair or physiotherapy bills for rehab from an accident. We help old-age pensioners who face the cost of expensive dental work; families with no financial reserves who would like their child to have a nice bar or bat mitzvah; or a new immigrant who needs to buy or lease a car or equipment for a job.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concept of interest-free loans, she said, \u201cstems from the Torah itself. In Exodus, parashat Mishpatim, which will be read this year on Feb. 14, it states that a Jew should not charge interest when lending money to other Jews.\u201d This parashah has been used by many founding members of Jewish communities throughout North America to establish organizations similar to Vancouver\u2019s HFLA. \u201cWe are affiliated with the International Association of Jewish Free Loans,\u201d Dodek said. \u201cMany of the member organizations were also founded by \u2018landsmen\u2019 wanting to help each other when large numbers of Jews began to arrive in communities around North American, about 100 years ago, just like Vancouver\u2019s organization. We all disperse interest-free loans to Jewish people and some member organizations in the States provide interest-free loans to non-Jews, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first free-loan society in Vancouver existed until the 1930s, according to HFLA\u2019s website. Another organization, the Achdut Society, was established in 1927 and lasted into the 1960s. In 1979, Shirley Barnett reestablished the Hebrew Assistance Association and, in 2004 \u2013 HAA\u2019s 25th anniversary year \u2013 HAA was renamed the Hebrew Free Loan Association of Vancouver. From 1979 to 2004, notes the website, HFLA granted more than 1,300 loans, \u201ctotaling more than $3.8 million, with virtually all loans having been repaid in full.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, they dispersed about 40 loans, and they have about 150 loans out in total, said Dodek. \u201cOur numbers are down right now. One of my goals is to build connections in the community to get our mission out to those who would benefit from our service. We have already begun to reach out to different groups and organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The application process is clearly laid out on the website, as are the terms of repayment. \u201cIt\u2019s a relatively easy process with little red tape,\u201d said Dodek. \u201cOnce an application is submitted, a board member contacts the borrower within 24 hours. They meet, discuss the application and, at the next board meeting, the loan is dealt with. The board meets twice a month so applications are processed quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are various types of loans available: personal (maximum $7,000), emergency (maximum $750) and education, business or other special purpose loans (maximum $10,000), all of which require guarantors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking for borrowers,\u201d said Dodek. \u201cWe have a strong board with so many fascinating people from all facets of the Jewish community. Our board members include business people and social workers, people who can help applicants, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last time HFLA put on a community-wide event was in 2007. The association hopes that the upcoming centennial will increase awareness. Celebrating 100 years in a fairly young community like Vancouver\u2019s is an unusual event.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn May 7, people will have the rare opportunity to hear from our borrowers in person. We hope to attract a wide cross-section from the Jewish community who will celebrate our amazing history and help us build for the next 100 years. Having an event on Lag b\u2019Omer is significant to our mission because, although people think of it as a holiday of bonfires, the holiday is really about the importance of treating others with respect and dignity. That\u2019s what HFLA is all about. As we look at our amazing past and to our future, we want to help build capacity in our community. We need to reach out, reconnect with our past borrowers and our supporters to act as a referral network, as well as guarantors for future loans so we can lend more money,\u201d Dodek said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hebrew Free Loan Association changes people\u2019s lives. It enables people to get through a tough situation, to add to their education, to better their situation, to celebrate a milestone \u2013 so many things.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information or to become involved, visit hfla.ca<\/a>, email hfla@shaw.ca<\/a> or call 604-428-2832.<\/p>\n

Gil Lavie<\/strong> is a freelance correspondent, with articles published in the <\/em>Jerusalem Post, <\/em>Shalom Toronto and Tazpit News Agency. He has a master\u2019s of global affairs from the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michelle Dodek is the new president of the Hebrew Free Loan Association. (photo by Naomi Dodek) The first free loan society in the Vancouver Jewish community was established 100 years ago, in March 1915. It is in this organization that the Hebrew Free Loan Association (HFLA) of Vancouver has its roots. And so, the association […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3054,3051,3052,3053,3055],"class_list":["post-10419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-achdut-society","tag-hebrew-free-loan-association","tag-hfla","tag-michelle-dodek","tag-mishpatim"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}