משתמשת:Genevieve/ארגז חולA12

Andres Spokoiny (born 1968) is a native Jew of Argentina. He lives now in Montreal, Canada and since 2009 has worked as the executive director of Federation CJA.

Youth life

Spokoiny was born at Buenos Aires in 1968. Both his paternal and maternal grandparents emigrated from Poland in the 1930s. Although relatives remained in Europe and some died, Spokoiny said he has chosen not to define himself by the Holocaust.

He and his younger brother were raised by their divorced mother, who still lives in Buenos Aires.His childhood coincided with tough economic times, and the local Jewish community centre was a refuge for his family.He grew up in a strong Jewish home and, with assistance from the local community, attended Jewish schools. I knew the names of the streets of Haifa before I knew those of Buenos Aires.

At his bar mitzvah, he discovered that being Jewish involved a religion, as well as a culture, and entered a Conservative seminary of Masorti movement. His formation is well-rounded and includes seven years at a rabbinical seminary.Though he was never ordained Rabbi. He received a MBA degree equivalent for Jewish education studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also studied Business Administration from the University of Buenos Aires. Spoinky is now married to wife Erica, also a Jew native of Argentina. The couple has two young children.

Early career

He worked in the private sector working for IBM in South America. He thought he would make his career in the corporate world until he received a phone call from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee(JDC) in 1997 to come and work in Paris,France.

While working at the JDC, an Jewish American NGO known for supporting Jewish communities around the world, in Paris, Spokoiny served as the JDC's Regional Director. He was on the frontline of the rebuilding of the Jewish communities in Poland, the Baltic states and parts of Russia after the fall of communism and also involved in other projects to develop communities internationally for Northeast Europe

Spokoiny has, concurrently, been Director of Leatid Europe, the leading training institute for Jewish lay and professional leaders in Europe.It was rewarding but not fun work for him. Rebuilding Jewish communities that had basically been wiped out by Nazism and communism was like taking revenge on history. It was fascinating, but daunting and emotionally heavy..

Arrival in Montreal

At first he was reluctant about the Federation CJA offer. The federation CJA had been without a top executive officer since the resignation of Danyael Cantor in April 2008 after 11 years. The family Spokoiny immigrating to Canada in March,2009 . Spokoiny and wife, Erica, believes Montreal as one of the best places to raise Jewish children offering a stronger Jewish environment than Paris does. Fluent in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew and Yiddish, Spokoiny is well positioned to provide leadership in an increasingly diverse Montreal Jewish community.

Projects

With the census Imagine 2020 the new direction of Jewish Federation CJA believes firmly that the Federation must be more including and recognize that all Jews of Montreal. Spokoiny has definite assets in a diverse Jewish population, and “building bridges” is something he thinks he is good with. He wants to hear from the community at large about what it thinks should be done.

My job is to try to begin to articulate the change the community needs. To some it means being more efficient and cutting budgets; to others developing more services and programs; or creating greater connections between the different segments of the community or improving our relations with the non-Jewish world.

Having had no previous connection to Montreal or Canada, Spokoiny says he has the advantage of coming without preconceived ideas. He intends to do a lot of listening to the leadership and the grassroots and to “those who do not say anything.

... Montreal a unique Jewish community. On the one hand, this is one of very few bilingual cities in the world. And we are the only bilingual Jewish community in North America. For years, we tended to see bilingualism as a limitation or a problem. But for those three years old at the CPE, it is only positive. They will grow up in both languages and will have a unique asset that will set them apart from the rest of North America: being completely at ease in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual environment. Their horizons will be widened in a unique way, thanks to that cosmopolitanism.

See also

• Federation CJA

External links

• ( in French and in English) The blog of Andres Spokoiny
• IMAGINE 2020: Survey reveals a dynamic, diverse and committed community,November 2010