Michael Sachs is the first director of Western Canada for the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre. <\/i>(photo from FSWC)<\/i><\/p>\n
The role is new, but the face is familiar. On Sept. 15 last year, Michael Sachs took the helm as the first director of Western Canada for the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre. No stranger to Vancouver\u2019s Jews, Sachs has been at the forefront of community engagement for a long time \u2013 first as a volunteer and, more recently, as a communal professional.<\/p>\n
Jews are in a changed world since Oct. 7, 2023, Sachs contended in a recent interview with the Independent<\/i>. He had already made a major career change years ago, moving from diamond wholesaling to Jewish community service. When the Hamas terror attacks happened and antisemitism skyrocketed, he found himself just where he felt he could have the greatest impact.<\/p>\n
For more than three years, Sachs was executive director of Jewish National Fund of Canada\u2019s Vancouver branch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI felt blessed and privileged to be in a role at JNF at a time when Israel faced some of its darkest times, to be able to support Israel and to be able to support the people,\u201d he said. \u201cOver that year, we saw and felt a change, or a progression, in what it feels like to be a Jew outside of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n The world situation hastened the opening of FSWC\u2019s Vancouver office.<\/p>\n \u201cThere always was a plan to open in Vancouver,\u201d said Sachs, \u201cbut because of the speed at which the hate rose to such a level, the need caught up to that.\u201d<\/p>\n Sachs had already accepted his new role by the time JNF lost its charitable status in a conflict with Canada Revenue Agency, a legal and administrative battle that is ongoing. Sachs said JNF was \u201cblindsided\u201d by the federal agency\u2019s rescinding of the crucial charity imprimatur but that it was announced after his acceptance of the FSWC job and had no impact on his decision.<\/p>\n Among the highlights of his time with JNF was going into the schools and sharing stories of Israeli resilience and marking holidays like Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut and Tu b\u2019Shevat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe had a lot of great events,\u201d Sachs said, despite the limitations of the pandemic. \u201cWe did really creative and out-of-the-box thinking on how we approached fundraising.\u201d<\/p>\n For example, JNF transformed the Negev Dinner, which had been a relatively exclusive annual gala, into a \u201cNegev Event,\u201d with far more accessible ticket prices that allowed larger audiences to see and hear Israeli actor, author and activist Noa Tishby in 2023.<\/p>\n Strengthening partnerships with other organizations was also central to his mission at JNF, he said. That cooperation will continue, he promises, as FSWC takes its place amid the constellation of community organizations on the West Coast.<\/p>\n Sachs\u2019s priority for his new office is to maximize FSWC\u2019s antisemitism training and workshops, which they have been delivering to businesses, law enforcement, educational institutions and others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur training is the gold standard for antisemitism training in Canada,\u201d said Sachs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Also top of his mission is continuing to build connections with existing agencies.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve worked closely with CIJA [the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs], we work closely with Federation, we work closely with Hillel, to assist and provide that support,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n His office may be in Vancouver, but Sachs is responsible for the organization\u2019s programs across the four Western provinces, and he foresees much more work with non-Jewish organizations across the West, as well as supporting isolated Jewish individuals and groups.<\/p>\n Michael Levitt, national president and chief executive officer of FSWC, heralded the opening of the branch office and Sachs\u2019s hiring as a sign of positive things in difficult times.<\/p>\n \u201cThe focus of our work in terms of building a more inclusive and respectful society by educating Canadians about the lessons of the Holocaust and advocating for human rights, standing up against antisemitism and racism in all of its forms, could not be more pertinent and critical in today\u2019s society,\u201d Levitt told the Independent<\/i>. \u201cOne of the things that makes us unique is we have a focus and a presence both in education spaces, which is certainly a core pillar of what we\u2019re doing, but also in advocacy spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n Strengthening, rather than competing with other organizations, is the goal, Levitt said.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be inclusive, to not have our elbows up, to look for opportunities to add expertise, but do it in a way that is collaborative and cooperative and empowers any of the partners that we work with \u2013 that\u2019s very much what we\u2019ve been doing in Toronto and across the east and central Canada,\u201d said Levitt. \u201cWe want to be working hand-in-hand with as many of these organizations as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Sachs is the ideal person for the new role, according to Levitt.<\/p>\n \u201cHis door is always open,\u201d Levitt said. \u201cFrom the moment I met Mike Sachs, I just knew that he was a future face for our organization on the West Coast. His experience, his commitment, his passion for the Jewish community, particularly out in Western Canada, the important work he had done with another organization we worked closely with over the years, JNF. He had the relationships, he had the drive and he had the attitude that just fit so well into our core beliefs as a team.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t think of a better individual than Mike Sachs to fly the Wiesenthal flag out in Vancouver,\u201d Levitt said.<\/p>\n Flying the flag on the West Coast is also due to the support of Gordon and Leslie Diamond, and Jill Diamond and the Diamond Foundation, Levitt added.<\/p>\n \u201cGordon is a long-time board member of FSWC and the family have been very active,\u201d said Levitt.<\/p>\n Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, has worked with Sachs in many capacities over the years and welcomed him to the newish role.<\/p>\n \u201cMike\u2019s energy and passion for our community and for Israel are truly inspiring, and he is a dedicated partner in combating antisemitism,\u201d Shanken told the Independent<\/i>. \u201cHe is the definition of a community leader \u2013 always going above and beyond for the benefit of others. Beyond being a trusted partner in so many initiatives, he\u2019s also a great friend. I know he\u2019ll continue to have an incredible impact in this new role.\u201d<\/p>\n While in the private sector, Sachs was also engaged in the community, variously as president of the Bayit synagogue, in Richmond, as a board member at Jewish Family Services and Vancouver Hebrew Academy. In 2017, he received Federation\u2019s Young Leadership Award and was one of the Jewish Independent\u2019<\/i>s 18 Under 36. Sachs is married to Shira and they are raising Izzy, 11, and Desi, 9.<\/p>\n Born in Stamford, Conn., Sachs moved to Vancouver with his mom Sally and stepfather Marshall Cramer in 1993, when the late business leader and philanthropist Joe Segal hired Sachs\u2019s stepfather to run the clothing retailer Mr. Jax.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was only supposed to be for a couple of years, but we fell in love with the city and the community,\u201d said Sachs.<\/p>\n The family purchased and ran Kaplan\u2019s Deli. Vancouver Jews might hang out among their own shul crowd, attend different summer camps or go to different schools, but smoked meat is the ultimate equalizer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people know me from being behind the counter at Kaplan\u2019s,\u201d said Sachs. \u201cThat\u2019s where I got my real dive into the diversity of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n It was during COVID that Sachs decided to make a major life change.<\/p>\n \u201cLike everybody else, we furloughed for a period of time. I said to my wife, I want to go back and do something I love,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He loved the people he worked with in the diamond sector, he stressed, but his launch of a challah delivery service during the early weeks of the pandemic reminded him of the joy of engaging with people for a good cause.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were times that we delivered hundreds of challahs every week. It kind of opened my eyes that this is what I want to do,\u201d Sachs said, defying the assumption that people don\u2019t enter the nonprofit sector for the bread. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Michael Sachs is the first director of Western Canada for the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre. (photo from FSWC) The role is new, but the face is familiar. On Sept. 15 last year, Michael Sachs took the helm as the first director of Western Canada for the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre. No stranger to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45817,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5628,801,3076,21009,53,1122,4875,7673],"class_list":["post-45816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-advocacy","tag-antisemitism","tag-education","tag-friends-of-simon-wiesenthal-centre","tag-holocaust","tag-human-rights","tag-michael-levitt","tag-michael-sachs"],"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\/45816","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=45816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}