Gary Schecter

I was born in Toronto to a family of three brothers and a younger, spoiled sister.

I am currently divorced.

My paternal grandparents immigrated to Canada in the early 1900s and settled in Toronto and Montreal. My Zaida was well-known back in the day as the towel maven at the Jewish YMHA on Baldwin Street. The family resided on Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market.  The maternal side of the family emigrated from Romania to Canada in 1923. Seeking to escape from the pogroms in Eastern Europe at the time, they embarked on a journey that eventually took them to Saskatchewan before moving to Winnipeg.

I attended Hebrew school at Eitz Chaim – Willowdale (the then-shack constructed of plywood and staples) for four years. I was a Jerusalem Fellow studying at the Aish Hatorah’s yeshiva in Israel. As a proud Kohen, I have continuously tried to deepen my knowledge of Judaism and carve out a role in the Jewish community.  I am a graduate of York University, Western and obtained a Master of Industrial Relations from Queen’s University. As a result, I was fortunate to have a fulfilling career in human resources/labour relations, including twice at both the University Health Network and Baycrest Health Sciences.

I am grateful to have travelled, and would love to continue my journey to Latvia, Lithuania (and hopefully Ukraine) once I am able to do so. I would also return to Auschwitz to make peace with its sorrows and understand the lessons it can teach me about the surge of antisemitism currently being experienced by the Jewish community.

I am thankful to my large extended family and circle of friends who have supported me through this journey. They have consistently provided a shoulder to lean on and an ear for me to bend.

I would also like to acknowledge my gratitude to the nurses at the Oak Ridges Dialysis unit, the amazing Kidney Transplant Program (UHN) and the support of the team at team at Renewal Canada that I found as the result of Facebook and subsequent attendance at a Renewal event at Beth Shalom synagogue in Toronto.

Once I hopefully receive a kidney transplant, I plan to dye my hair a bright yellow so that when strangers stop and ask me about my unusual hair colour, I can talk to them about organ donation, transplantation the uplifting journey to wellness.