Salomon Benzimra – Baruch Dayan Emet

By Ted Belman

Salomon Benzimra was a very good friend of mine. He was also a good friend of Israel and wrote The Jewish People’s Rights to the Land of Israel.

Though Salomon had no legal training, he was an engineer, he was brilliant and was undaunted with the task at hand. He communicated with another Canadian, Howard Grief z”l, and Harvard lawyer, Wallace Brand, and many other authorities in writing his book. He investigated all the written material on our legal rights from the Balfour Declaration on. I considered him an expert.

Both Salomon and Wallace commented on Israpundit from time to time.

I met him by chance at a BDS sponsored debate at York U in Toronto in 2003 and we became very good friends. I held a monthly discussion on events in Israel and Salomon was always in attendance.

I introduced him to Goldi Steiner and together they  founded Canadians for Israel’s Legal Rights (CILR). Together they did great work in promoting Israel’s legal rights.

Just last week they were in Jerusalem with Diane Bederman, a Canadian journalist to meet with Hotovely and Bennett to discuss the governments document on the legality of Israeli settlements. I met them on last Thursday  and then I spent Friday morning with him discussing all manner of issues pertaining to Israel.  He mentioned he would like to make aliya and I told him I would help him.

Then today, I got word of his passing on his flight back to Toronto.  How sad. He will be sorely missed.

Salomon Benzimra has led a fascinating life. He was born in 1943 in the International Zone of Tangiers (now Morocco) which was a refuge for many cultures. His early education was in French schools, but his family was Spanish-speaking. In fact, his distant ancestors lived in Spain during the 1400’s and were among the many who crossed the Straits of Gibraltar to escape the Inquisition. In addition to French, Spanish and English, Salomon also reads Hebrew, and reads and speaks a bit of Arabic.

He studied chemical engineering in France and worked in Morocco and Montreal before moving to Toronto in 1976. He became involved in Israeli and world affairs after 9/11 and began writing for publication.

March 16, 2016 | 6 Comments »
Subscribe to Israpundit Daily Digest

Leave a Reply

6 Comments / 6 Comments

  1. Bluma Grafstein wrote:

    Such an unexpected and Great loss. We had the pleasure to meet Salomon at many of the Toronto events he was so active with.
    He was a humble but most accomplished gentleman. Salomon’s strength and clear thinking as well as his ability to give his message over in a calm, firm manner will be greatly missed not only in Toronto but by Klal Israel.

    May his memory be for a blessing.

  2. Donna Bank wrote:

    Thank you Ted for this beautiful article. I was privileged to be involved with Solomon and Goldie, travelled with them to San Remo, and worked with them and other advocates in Toronto for Israel’s Legal Rights. He was a true gentleman, and his relationship with Goldie was so special. May his neshama have an Aliyah, and may the work that he did on behalf of Israel bear beautiful fruit.

  3. Vic Rosenthal wrote:

    I am so sorry to hear this. I talked with him many times. He was always encouraging and inspiring. I am especially sorry he didn’t realize his goal of making aliyah.

  4. I received this email:

    Thanks for the email re Salomon. I didn’t know you introduced him to Goldi. I met him at my first Israel Truth Week conference, and he spoke at my next two. We shared a stage together a couple of times at events.

    At our 2014 conference I wanted to make a training video based on his presentation, so my video guy worked hard to get the sound perfect to counteract his accent and soft voice. You can watch it here: http://www.IsraelTruthWeek.org/#deed. It’s awesome. You can also download the training booklet he proofread (CILR’s logo is in the back) that I’ve used to train more than 400 pro-Israel activists.

    I was so used to him being there when I had questions, or needed someone to check my writing. Still stunned.

    I used to call him an ‘expert,’ too, but he always demurred. He was so darn modest.

    I never got to meet Howard, but I have met his wife. The 2014 Israel Truth Week conference was in honour of him. See attached.

    Must go; I have a lot more emails re Salomon to reply to. Keep up your great work! Wish I had more money to give you, but alas…trying to keep my own wolves from the door. J

    Regards,
    Mark

    Mark Vandermaas, Director of Training
    Israel Truth Week (www.IsraelTruthWeek.org)
    341 Talbot Street, Suite 102
    London, Ontario, CANADA N6A 2R5

  6. I am so saddened to learn the passing of salomon! We were classroom mates back in Tangiers in the 50’s,and we saw each other once in a while in Montreal where I live.
    We left Morocco (actually we were pushed out)after the French and Spaniards left following independence.Life was becoming very difficult for jews! Out of 325000,only about 2000 remain or are preparing leaving the country. To learn about the life and miseries of jews in Morocco,I definetly recommend reading Le Grand Deracinement (1850-1975) by Georges Bensoussan.