Office Bearers
Kurt Rothschild,
President
Kurt Rothschild was born in Cologne, Germany where he attended the Moriah and Yawne Elementary and High School. He left as a youngster to go to England to continue study and work. He was interned along with several thousand other German Jews in May 1940 and sent to Canada. In 1941 he was released from internment camp and sent to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario to obtain a Bachelor of Engineering degree. After working several years for electrical contracting firms in Montreal, he moved to Toronto to establish a large national contracting firm, “The State Group.”
He retired from business in 1987 to devote himself entirely to community activity in Israel, Canada and the United States. He is presently Chairman of the Board and Co-President of Mercaz Olami – World Mizrachi and is on the Board of Bar-Ilan University, Yeshiva University, Share Zedek Hospital, Jewish Federation of Toronto and United Israel Appeal of Toronto, President of the Canadian Zionist Federation. He is active in the field of Jewish Education in Canada and the United States.
He is married with three children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Zevulun Orlev MK,
Co-President
Zevulun Orlev serves as a Member of Knesset of the HaBayit Hayehudi party, Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology, Member of the Committee on Education and Culture, Chairman of the Knesset Lobby to return kidnapped soldiers and Chairman of the Lobby for civil society in Israel. Orlev lives in Jerusalem’s Givat Mordechai neighborhood with his wife, Nira. They have four children.
Harvey Blitz,
Chairman
Mr. Blitz was, until recently, Senior Vice President of AXA Financial, and its principal subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company. He is a graduate of Wayne State University, received a law degree from the University of Chicago where he was an editor of the Law Review, and has an L.L.M. (Taxation) from New York University.
He is a past president of the Orthodox Union and currently chairs its Kashrut Commission, a member of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, a member of the Expanded Executive of the World Zionist Organization and chair of its Resource Development, Personnel and Administration Committee, a member of the Investment Committee of the Claims Conference, and Vice President of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.
Mr. Blitz is married to Judy (Klavan), has three children and sixteen grandchildren, and resides in Kew Gardens Hills, New York.
Solly Sacks,
Director-General
Solly has always been involved with Jewish movements. He served as the chairman of Bnei Akiva South Africa for 7 years, during which he initiated some very important changes in the structure of the youth movement, as well as developing a 25 hectare campsite for the movement which is still in use today.
During the Six Day War, he led a large delegation of volunteers to Israel, to assist in the war efforts. He has led student and Bnei Akiva delegations to numerous World Zionist Congresses. In 1975 he became the chairman of the South African Mizrachi Organization and served in this position and as president for 11 years, until he was appointed as the chairman of the South African Zionist Federation.
In this position, he initiated a meeting of a small group of Jewish leaders with Nelson Mandela immediately after his release from prison, and established an ongoing contact with the ANC leadership. There was also an excellent relationship with President De Klerk, which proved to be one of the best periods in the relationship between Israel and South Africa.
Solly has been serving as the Director-General of the World Mizrachi Organization since 1991, when he made Aliya. Solly presently serves on numerous committees of the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency, and the World Jewish Congress (i.e. Presidium of the WZO, member of the Vaad HaPoel, Committee Member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency, etc.) He is also a member of the Honorary Offices and Executive of the South African Zionist Federation (Israel), and in the past founded and was served as chairman of a number of Gar’inei Aliya (i.e. Alon Shvut, Efrat and Kochav Yair).
Solly, a proud resident of Jerusalem, is married to Gita (Rome) and they have four children.
