Hebrew Free Loan Association

Celebrating good deeds – JMABC @ 50

Then-Vancouver mayor Mike Harcourt and members of National Council of Jewish Women in front of the first Mobile Hearing Clinic, outside Vancouver City Hall on June 11, 1984. After raising the funds to build and operate the clinic on a trial basis, NCJW sold it to the provincial health department for the nominal price of $1. They did the same with a second mobile clinic in 1986. (photo from JMABC L.16459)

Passover is one of the foundational stories of Jewish tradition. Around the seder table each year, we learn from our elders the guiding principles of Jewish life: how to be a good person, think of others and pursue justice in the face of persecution.

These same themes can be found in the history of our community locally. The families who laid the foundations of our community, and those who continue to build its future, arrived here from all corners of the world. Mutual aid societies like the Hebrew Free Loan Association (HFLA) and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver (preceded by the Jewish Community Chest and the Jewish Fund and Council) have helped welcome and support new arrivals.

The HFLA was established in 1915 by Solomon Weaver and, while it folded in 1936, it was revived in 1979 by the Jewish Family Service Agency under the leadership of Shirley Barnett. Going at first by the name of the Hebrew Assistance Association, the organization was established to aid a new wave of Jewish immigrants arriving from Russia. With initial capital provided by Joe Segal, Jack Diamond, Morris Wosk and Leon Kahn, the association began issuing loans of up to $3,000. To date, the HFLA has granted more than 2,000 loans, giving people “a hand up, not a hand-out.”

Passover also teaches us that we should apply these principles beyond our own community. As it is written in Exodus: “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of a stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.” This philosophy can be seen as a guiding principle for community groups such as the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre and National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW).

Founded in 1983 by local survivors of the Holocaust, the Vancouver Holocaust Centre Society for Education and Remembrance was formed with the goal of establishing an anti-racism education centre. This goal was realized in 1994 in the form of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (VHEC). Education is central to the mandate of the VHEC and, each year, the centre reaches more than 25,000 students and teachers through exhibits, school programs, teaching materials and professional development initiatives for educators.

Since 1924, the Vancouver section of the NCJW of Canada has been dedicated to social action and human rights. For close to a century, its social justice efforts have taken diverse forms, from pioneering a provincial mobile hearing screening program for preschoolers to championing the cause of Nasrin Sotoudeh – illegally imprisoned in Iran – to recent fundraising and awareness initiatives against human trafficking.

These are just a few of the many organizations and individuals who make real the lessons of Passover each day. It has been inspiring to learn more about these and other people and groups as we at the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia collect stories for our upcoming celebration book marking our 50th anniversary.

We invite you to share your story with us and be a part of this milestone publication. Share your family story, recognize someone notable, or sponsor this project. Full information is available at jewishmuseum.ca/fifty-years.

Jewish way to lend

This Shabbat (Feb. 2), in parashat Mishpatim, the Torah commands, “If you lend money to my people … do not act toward them as a creditor; you may not charge them interest.” This law, along with Maimonides’ teaching that the greatest level of tzedakah is to support a fellow Jew by endowing them with a gift or loan to strengthen their hand, are the guiding principles of the Hebrew Free Loan Association of Vancouver (HFLA).

HFLA provides interest-free loans to help Jewish individuals from British Columbia overcome financial challenges and build better lives. HFLA fosters economic stability and opportunity among low- and moderate-income members of the community by providing access to affordable credit in the form of a no-interest loan.

Over the years, the types of loans the organization has given out have evolved greatly. In the 1980s and ’90s, with a wave of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, the majority of HFLA’s loans went to helping immigrants finance vocational training. While HFLA still helps many new immigrants, its focus now also includes helping people with the rising costs of living in the Lower Mainland.

“With the bulk of people’s income going towards housing costs, many people have very little left over when unexpected bills arise,” said Joanna Wasel, executive director of HFLA. “We are able to be there for people during times of financial stress. A loan from us can help cover things like emergency dental work, physical therapy and short-term home care.”

HFLA is also here to help members of the community when they need support to start a Jewish family through fertility treatments or adoption, host a bar or bat mitzvah, finance university or start a new business. The goal of these loan programs is to help community members build better lives and avoid falling into high-interest debt.

HFLA recently unveiled a new webpage, hfla.ca. The new site is clear, concise and includes a step-by-step guide to applying for an HFLA loan. Potential borrowers can complete and submit an application online.

“We really want to make the process as easy as possible for our borrowers. Every step has been designed with great care to ensure that people’s dignity and confidentiality are respected and protected,” said Wasel.

In the past 40 years, HFLA Vancouver has made more than 1,900 loans. There is no other organization like it in the community and those in need, or with friends in need, are encouraged to seek more information about HFLA’s services by visiting its website or calling 604-428-2832.

Fader joins HFLA

For the first time in the 100-year-plus history of the organization, the Hebrew Free Loan Association of Vancouver (HFLA) has hired an executive director. In July, HFLA brought Lynne Fader on board to fill the new role.

Active between 1915 and the middle of the Great Depression and then reinvented in 1979, the purpose of the volunteer-run organization is, as the name suggests, to provide interest-free loans to members of the Jewish community. As the community has grown and spread out, the current board of directors decided it was time to extend HLFA’s reach and hire a part-time executive director.

photo - Lynne Fader is the first executive director of the Hebrew Free Loan Association of Vancouver — Lynne Fader is the first executive director of the Hebrew Free Loan Association of Vancouver. *(photo from Lynne Fader)*

Fader is a familiar face for many in the Jewish community, especially those in Richmond, as she was a founder of the Richmond Kehila Society. Since 2000, Fader has been co-executive director of Kehila and she will continue her work there, as it and HFLA have complementary missions. She also has served as a volunteer on various boards, including those of Richmond Jewish Day School and Richmond Multicultural Society.

Fader recently sold the company she owned and ran for 14 years, ER Plus Risk Management Inc., an enterprise that involved her in efforts to advance access for women in the trades and in the safety industry. She has worked with different levels of government both professionally and as a volunteer, and is looking forward to using her networking skills and drive to significantly raise the profile of HFLA.

Not only will Fader be meeting in the coming months with community leaders, but she will be planning and implementing educational opportunities for people who could most benefit from an HFLA loan. “I recognize that the HFLA is a hidden community treasure,” she told the Independent. “I look forward to meeting with fellow agency professionals in the effort to allow front-line professionals to have a face and a contact to connect with for their clients and members.”

The grassroots nature of HFLA – it has been run by volunteers for nearly 40 years – is a great fit for Fader. She understands the association’s mission and method: help people before they fall into poverty and as they emerge from financial difficulties. With a deep knowledge of the Lower Mainland’s various social safety networks from her work with Kehila, Fader is in the unique position of being able to refer applicants who don’t fit the HFLA framework for a loan to the appropriate assistance.

The HFLA board will continue to perform the work of interviewing and granting financial assistance. The association currently has $417,000 in loans out in the community. The loans are primarily to people in the Lower Mainland but reach as far away as Tofino, Victoria and Salt Spring Island. One of the reasons HFLA was looking to hire an executive director is the increasing number of Jews migrating to more affordable locations in the province, such as Squamish, the Sunshine Coast and further into the Fraser Valley.

In addition to Fader, HFLA also has recently hired a new office administrator, Judy Walker.

“I’m confident that Judy’s unique blend of technical and interpersonal skills will ensure those inquiring about loans are met with a professional experience,” said Leana Gaerber, vice-president of HFLA’s board of directors.

For more information on applying for a loan or becoming involved as a donor or guarantor, call 604-428-2832 or visit hfla.ca.

Michelle Dodek is a freelance writer living in Vancouver.

A party for Hebrew Free Loan’s 100th

Hebrew Free Loan Association president Michelle Dodek, second from the right, with, left to right, past association presidents Errol Lipschitz, Diane Friedman and Mannie Druker. (photo by Dan Poh)

One hundred years of anything in Vancouver is fairly unusual. On May 7 at the newly rebuilt Beth Israel, the Vancouver Hebrew Free Loan Association celebrated the remarkable milestone of 100 years since it was originally founded.

In January 1915, the year that the Vancouver Millionaires won the Stanley Cup, a group of Jews gathered for the first meeting of the Vancouver HFLA. Designed to give interest-free loans to Jewish people starting out in the community, the association played an integral part in helping establish many early Jewish businesses and getting people settled here.

The HFLA Centennial Celebration reflected its grassroots beginning with a relaxed, different kind of evening. Casual picnic-chic décor and a picnic-style menu went with the fact that the event was held on Lag b’Omer. Greeting the guests were actors and musicians from the volunteer troupe Kol Halev. They were dressed in period costume and introduced themselves in character, sharing “their personal stories” as the founders of Jewish lending in Vancouver.

These actors provided an interactive beginning to an evening that was designed to raise the profile of HFLA. Through a multi-media approach, the event managed to educate those in attendance about the valuable role that interest-free loans play in Vancouver’s Jewish community.

photo - Members of the Kol Halev performance troupe, who represented the Jewish community at the time of Hebrew Free Loan Association’s founding 100 years ago — Members of the Kol Halev performance troupe, who represented the Jewish community at the time of Hebrew Free Loan Association’s founding 100 years ago. *(photo by Dan Poh)*

The program began with a short d’var Torah by Beth Israel Rabbi Jonathan Infeld, touching on the relationship between Lag b’Omer and interest-free lending. HFLA president Michelle Dodek followed the rabbi’s comments by explaining the three objectives of the event: to raise awareness in the community by sharing what HFLA does, to honor the donors and board members who have made the work of the organization possible, and to look to the future. She recognized the multi-generational links of those in attendance, including the remarkable fourth-generation connection of the three Krell sisters (Shoshana Lewis, Simone Kallner and Michaela Singerman), whose great-grandfather, David Davis, was a contributor to the original Vancouver HFLA kitty in 1915 and served as a trustee in 1931. Their grandfather, Charles Davis, was one of the founders of the re-creation of the organization in 1979.

Dodek’s speech was followed by a short video featuring two former borrowers, Mihael Mamychshvili, a prominent shiatsu therapist and Barbi Braude, a graphic designer. Joe Segal and Shirley Barnett shared their historical perspectives and goals for the organization.

Guests then heard from four borrowers whose lives were changed by the loans they received from HFLA. Successful entrepreneurs Zach Berman and Ryan Slater began their business, the Juice Truck, with help from HFLA. Val Lev Dolgin used an education loan to earn her master’s in counseling psychology; she now helps children who have survived physical and sexual abuse. George Medvedev, a neurologist, shared how he and his wife, a hematologist, used a loan to help them when they first arrived in Canada from the USSR almost 20 years ago.

Another story was read by a volunteer to respect the anonymity of the borrower because of the sensitive nature of her situation, while the story of former borrower Maxim Fomitchev was shared by his friend, Tobi Lennet. Briefly, Fomitchev, a deaf mime, while touring with his troupe of mime artists from the USSR in 1991, defected, accompanied by his performing partner. The two found themselves volunteering for Jewish Family Service Agency and, within two years, Fomitchev borrowed money for a car to get from one mime gig to another. He has since achieved one of the pinnacles of success for a mime – he is the head clown in Cirque de Soleil’s Las Vegas show, Zarkana.

The evening’s program ended with the educational element of the night, the stories of four “typical” borrowers: parents of a child needing counseling, a retired woman needing dental work, someone between jobs in a stressful situation and parents borrowing to finance a modest bar mitzvah. All of these stories served to drive home the significance of HFLA.

The HFLA Centennial Celebration was a chance to celebrate a significant milestone in the community, raise awareness of an organization that is “the best kept secret” in Vancouver while recognizing donors and volunteers who make it all happen. The message for the future is that HFLA is looking for borrowers. For more information on how to apply for a loan, to watch the HFLA video or to find out about how the organization works, check out its newly revamped website at hfla.ca.

Century of interest-free loans

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 will celebrate its centenary this May with a dinner honoring current and past supporters and borrowers.

“The centennial celebration is one of the key projects we’re working on right now,” Michelle Dodek told the Independent. “HFLA has so many success stories, and this event – planned for the evening of Lag b’Omer, May 7, at Beth Israel Synagogue – will give us the chance to share some of them with the community.” Dodek took over as president from Diane Friedman in December. Friedman led the HFLA board for nine years.

“We would like to raise our profile. We joke among ourselves that the HFLA is one of the community’s best-kept secrets. It is challenging for us to publicize what we do because we are serve a niche market,” she explained. “We lend to people who don’t 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.”

The concept of interest-free loans, she said, “stems 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.” This parashah has been used by many founding members of Jewish communities throughout North America to establish organizations similar to Vancouver’s HFLA. “We are affiliated with the International Association of Jewish Free Loans,” Dodek said. “Many of the member organizations were also founded by ‘landsmen’ 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’s 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.”

The first free-loan society in Vancouver existed until the 1930s, according to HFLA’s 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 – HAA’s 25th anniversary year – HAA was renamed the Hebrew Free Loan Association of Vancouver. From 1979 to 2004, notes the website, HFLA granted more than 1,300 loans, “totaling more than $3.8 million, with virtually all loans having been repaid in full.”

Last year, they dispersed about 40 loans, and they have about 150 loans out in total, said Dodek. “Our 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.”

The application process is clearly laid out on the website, as are the terms of repayment. “It’s a relatively easy process with little red tape,” said Dodek. “Once 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.”

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.

“We are looking for borrowers,” said Dodek. “We 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.”

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’s is an unusual event.

“On 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’Omer 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’s 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,” Dodek said.

“The Hebrew Free Loan Association changes people’s lives. It enables people to get through a tough situation, to add to their education, to better their situation, to celebrate a milestone – so many things.”

For more information or to become involved, visit hfla.ca, email [email protected] or call 604-428-2832.

Gil Lavie is a freelance correspondent, with articles published in the Jerusalem Post, Shalom Toronto and Tazpit News Agency. He has a master’s of global affairs from the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.