16 | AUGUST 29 • 2024 J
N
W
hen Dan Brotman began his position
as executive direction of the Windsor
Jewish Federation and Community
Centre in 2020, the community’s demographics were
discouraging. From an estimated high of
2,300-3,000 in the 1930-50s, Windsor’s
Jewish population had dwindled to
about 1,200, many of whom are elderly.
Some had left to larger cities such as
Toronto or to warmer climates in the
U.S. Brotman felt that something had
to be done to sustain the community
and that life in Windsor offered some
overlooked advantages. He cites a lower
cost of living, proximity to the U.S. and
a close-knit supportive Jewish community. Windsor
has Reform and Orthodox synagogues as well as a
Chabad center and a Federation-run seniors’ resi-
dence. “If you bring in new blood, you’ll have fresh
ideas,” Brotman says.
Some recruitment ads — mostly online — and
webinars were developed along with a word-of-
mouth campaign for J Welcome Home — its offi-
cial name. The first Jewish newcomer to Windsor
actually came through a previous contact with Dan
Brotman.
Marion Zeller, who lived in Johannesburg, South
Africa, met Brotman on a trip to Israel in 2002. She
and her husband, Stuart, were planning to leave
South Africa because they wanted “a better future
for their children and themselves and more work-
life balance.”
Through Facebook, Zeller learned that Brotman
was executive director at the Windsor Jewish
Federation and contacted him. Canada appealed
to Zeller as a possible new home, and the couple
visited Hamilton, Toronto and Windsor to check
them out. Brotman enlisted members of Windsor’s
Jewish community to help Stuart Zeller find a job
and, when he did, the couple’s decision to move to
Windsor was set.
“The community has been fantastic.
The people are lovely and welcoming,”
Zeller says. In Windsor, they appreciate
the proximity to nature, more family
time and opportunities for their chil-
dren, as well as easy and fun visits to the
U.S.
Brotman says their original target
market was Jewish individuals living
in other parts of Canada, as well other
countries including Israel. However,
the wars in Ukraine and Gaza resulted in increased
interest in migration to Canada, especially when the
Canadian government developed a temporary three-
year open visa program, making it easier for some
individuals from war-torn countries to live and work
in Canada.
Brotman says that Jewish communities across
Canada have experienced an influx of Israelis since
the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. He says that poten-
tial Jewish individuals from Brazil, South Africa,
Ukraine and Israel have visited Windsor, meeting
members of the Jewish community and exploring
local life.
“We are helping them with paperwork, jobs and
registering,” Brotman says. The special visa program
ends in July 2025. To date, three Jewish families,
including the Zellers, have moved to Windsor.
The Zellers emigrated in 2022 and soon Marion Zeller will take
over the recruitment campaign as the new executive director of
the Windsor Jewish Federation. She replaced Brotman as of Aug.
6. Brotman is beginning a graduate program at the London School
of Economics. (See sidebar.)
Windsor’s newcomer
recruitment program
shows success.
Canada
Says
‘Welcome’
SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
OUR COMMUNITY
O
n Aug. 6, Marion Zeller, formerly of
Johannesburg, South Africa, took
over duties as executive director
of the Windsor Jewish Federation and
Community Centre. Zeller and her family
moved to Windsor in 2022 — the first new-
comers recruited by the Windsor Jewish
community to expand its small population.
Zeller graduated from the University of
Witwatersrand and received an MBA from
the Gordon Institute of Business, both in
South Africa. She has a decade of experi-
ence in marketing, business and communi-
ty engagement.
Zeller was an active member and vol-
unteer in Johannesburg’s large Jewish
community. Prior to the family’s move to
Canada, she worked at a business incuba-
tor.
The search committee for the Windsor
executive director position was unanimous
in its support for Zeller, stating that they
were “impressed with her vision, passion,
as well as her relation-building and collab-
oration skills.”
Her goal in her new position is to “bring
the community back to life and back
together after COVID.”
She anticipates planning more events so
that community members “have a reason
to come to the JCC — a center where they
feel welcome regardless of their affiliation.”
“I am excited for the opportunity to play
an integral part of the Windsor Jewish
community and work together with its
members to grow and build. It is their
strength, shared vision and values that will
build our community’s future.”
The center was closed during COVID for
health reasons, she says, so rebuilding is
necessary.
Zeller and her husband are mem-
bers of Windsor’s Congregation Shaar
Hashomayim, and her children attend the
Chabad Hebrew School there.
Zeller replaces Dan Brotman who will be
pursuing a master’s degree in international
migration and public policy at the London
School of Economics. Brotman began
the Windsor Jewish community’s effort to
recruit Jewish newcomers from other parts
of Canada and overseas.
Leadership Transition
at Windsor Jewish
Federation
Dan Brotman
Marion Zeller (second
from left) and her
family: daughter
Emma, husband Stuart
and son Rafael
RICCI GOLDSTEIN PHOTOGRAPHY