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ottawa jewish
JEWISH NATIONAL FUND OF OTTAWA
HAPPY PASSOVER www.ottawajewishbulletin.com
bulletin march 18, 2013
Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Publishing Co. Ltd.
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volume 77, no. 11
21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9
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nissan 7, 5773
Editor: Michael Regenstreif
$2.00
Bill Izso works tirelessly on behalf of Maccabi Canada and Maccabiah Games By Louise Rachlis In 2009, nine Ottawa athletes participated in the Maccabiah Games, the world’s largest gathering of Jewish athletes from around the world held every four years in Israel. This year, the Ottawa contingent will more than double with a record 22 athletes competing in soccer, baseball, basketball, golf, ice hockey, swimming, rugby and volleyball among the 8,000-plus athletes from more than 60 countries competing for medals in more than 30 different sports. “The whole point of the Games is to ladbeek le Eretz Yisrael, which is Hebrew for connecting, sticking, gluing to Israel,” said Bill Izso, a long-time Maccabiah volunteer. “That is what we are all about.” Izso has been an enthusiastic supporter fan of the Games since 1985, when he competed in the 13th “bar mitzvah” Maccabiah Games winning a bronze medal in track and field. “Bill has had multiple roles in the Games,” said Tommy Bacher,
national president of Maccabi Canada, who played softball at the Games back when Bill was doing the half-marathon, “but Bill’s real strength is his heart.” “On a global level, he rallies the troops, gets the kids out there, and gets the parents going,” said Bacher. “His real uniqueness is being the conscience of our organization. Bill is the guy who makes sure we do things right. If somebody needs to be looked at in a more sympathetic way, he will tell us. He’s always looking out for the other person. … He has a knack of getting people motivated and keeping the movement alive.” “He spends so much time on this, at least two hours every night except the high holidays,” said his wife, Ellen. “I know there is invisible ink somewhere in our ketubah that says ‘Maccabi Canada.’” His father passed away in 1976, when Izso was 17. It was the year of the Montreal Olympics, and he discovered running right after that. His inspiration was the Wolf Pack, the (Continued on page 2)
Canada’s chef de mission Jean Béliveau (left) and assistant track coach Bill Izso at the 1997 Maccabiah Games.
New potential buyer found for Beth Shalom building By Michael Regenstreif Congregation Beth Shalom has entered into a new agreement to sell its building at 151-153 Chapel Street in downtown Ottawa to Trinity Properties Investments Inc. The potential sale comes about two months after it was revealed that Claridge Homes had walked away from its offer to buy the prop-
erty, which was announced with great fanfare in November 2011. The terms of the sale to Trinity are expected to be similar to the original Claridge deal, which had been announced as a base price of about $15 million with possibly up to an additional $9 million to be paid depending on possible zoning changes to the property.
“Trinity is currently in a 90-day conditional period to conduct its due diligence,” wrote Beth Shalom President Ian Sherman in a letter to congregation members, which he also made available to the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin. “When Trinity waives conditions, Congregation Beth Shalom will then have a period of 30 days to approve this
new agreement of purchase and sale.” Sherman said a special general meeting of Beth Shalom members will then be held sometime between May 9 and 25 for members to approve the purchase. If the sale is approved, the closing date will be December 31, 2013, after which the (Continued on page 2 )
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