Reflections on 20 Years

Dr. Max Glassman, OB”M, was a man who did it all. From playing baseball with the Rockcliffe Flyers, to the Royal Canadian Air Force, to the boardroom: a poor kid from Toronto who made it big.

And so, I can’t write about the history of the Forest Hill Jewish Centre without discussing him. 

Merging his medical career with a business one, Dr. Max was able to prosper, and become a philanthropist who championed causes both here and in Israel. He layned a mean Haftorah, and loved going to Shul. 

Overall, he was very involved in he science of happiness and making a difference. Max and his wife Gianna were already spending half their year in Israel when we first met. 

The moment of the moment arrived when Dr. Max donated enough money for us to buy a home in Forest Hill. (Needless to say, this area ain’t so cheap.)

At the time, the FHJC had about 30 members—all but five of whom were at the stage of being newly married and starting their careers. That didn’t stop Dr. Max from being bold, gifting us not only money, but a mandate to be bold ourselves.

With that burst of unexpected generosity, the Latner and Tanenbaum families readily matched that figure. As they say, the rest is Jewish history. 

When playing the stock market, you win big when you buy a lot of shares in a company before it goes big. 

Those early investors of the FHJC invested wisely, I think. May all the merits that the Centre amasses be bestowed to all of us, and especially our foundational visionaries.