Returning to the land
Westmount members have visited Eretz Yisrael many times, beginning with our first visit to Chevron in 2000.
Our bond with Eretz Yisrael
The land.
The people.
Our family.
Since our first visit to Chevron in 2000, Westmount's relationship with Eretz Yisrael has been personal, practical and enduring.
More than a destination
A connection rooted in Torah and responsibility.
For Westmount Shul, Eretz Yisrael is not simply a distant place on a map. It is the land given by Hashem to the Jewish people, the home of our Avos and Imahos, and the heart toward which Jews have turned in prayer throughout the generations.
Our connection is not political. It is a bond with the kedushah of the land and with the Jews who live there—with their Torah, their communities, their challenges and their lives. Although we live thousands of kilometres away, we remain one people.
Welcoming Rav Avinoam
Rabbi Avinoam Horowitz returns to visit our kehilla, renewing a friendship that has grown across decades.
Helping Kiryat Arba
Westmount provides matanos la'evyonim to help families in Kiryat Arba celebrate Purim with dignity and joy.
Visiting and experiencing the land
We came to see.
We left more deeply connected.
Our journeys brought Westmount members into the Torah, daily life and living landscape of Eretz Yisrael—not as spectators, but as Jews meeting members of their own extended family.
Chevron and Kiryat Arba
A relationship renewed year after year.
Chevron—the city of the Avos and Imahos—has held a special place in Westmount's relationship with Eretz Yisrael from our first visit in 2000. Over the years we have returned to the area, strengthened personal friendships and helped sustain Jewish life in neighbouring Kiryat Arba.
A central part of that relationship is our friendship with Rabbi Avinoam Horowitz, founder and Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva High School of Kiryat Arba. Rav Avinoam has visited our kehilla nearly every year, sharing Torah and bringing the people of Kiryat Arba close to the hearts of Westmount members.
Westmount has helped the yeshiva financially, and each Purim our community provides matanos la'evyonim for families in Kiryat Arba. These are not occasional gestures. They are expressions of an enduring relationship between one Jewish community and another.
Visit the yeshiva website
Standing with our brothers
Love must become action.
Following October 7, Westmount sought practical ways to stand beside the Jews carrying the burden of protecting Jewish lives. In December 2023, our community helped provide 100 high-quality Columbia jackets to approximately 100 soldiers serving near Gaza. The jackets cost 35,617 NIS—approximately CAD $13,400.
The jackets provided warmth, but they also carried a message: Jews living far away were thinking of these soldiers, davening for them and standing beside them.
December 2023 · 5 minutes
Chareidim Care About the IDF Soldiers
Rabbi Yossi Michalowicz's message accompanying Westmount's donation of 100 Columbia jackets.
The relationship continues
Not a memory.
An ongoing responsibility.
In October 2026, Westmount will welcome a group of IDF combat veterans through Peace of Mind Canada. Their visit will form a central part of a nine-month therapeutic programme led by specially trained therapists from METIV: The Israel Psychotrauma Centre.
Peace of Mind gives veterans who served together the time and space to process difficult combat experiences, both individually and as a group. During an intensive week hosted by a Jewish community abroad, the distance from everyday pressures helps create a safe, quiet and supportive environment. Westmount will provide that embrace—welcoming the veterans into our homes and our kehilla as they strengthen their emotional wellbeing and continue their transition to civilian life.
Learn about Peace of Mind Canada