A Tribute to Rabbi Arthur Bielfeld, z"l

"My greatest wish is that someday Mazon Canada will go out of business."  

These were the parting words of a giant of Mazon’s history upon his resignation from the Board after decades of service – Rabbi Arthur Bielfeld, z”l, who passed on May 11th, 2026. 

I first met Rabbi Bielfeld in 2018 when I took over as Executive Director. He had criticisms of how Mazon had been run since his departure and guidance for me as a young leader, although I soon learned that these criticisms were meant as no insult – the Rabbi held everyone and everything to extremely high moral standards. It was part of the magic that made him such an effective advocate for every cause he took on. He meant what he said about going out of business – as long as Mazon still existed, there would be more work to do, and more criticism to come. 

It was a gift to get to know him over these eight years – the stories he told, the ideas he had. Among my favourites, as a queer person, were his stories about support for the LGBTQ+ community decades ago, including performing shiva rights for gay men who died of AIDS when most Rabbis ignored them. It was a delight to read his firebrand letters in our archive and then hear the same passion from the man across the table from me. It was a wonder to speak on the phone with donors, who’s answer to our common inquiry of how they got involved was, “Do you know Rabbi Bielfeld?”, and to hear the adulations of his work across so many organizations. 

In addition to his role as spiritual leader of Temple Emanu-El for 33 years, and of his key role with us as founding Chair, he was involved over the years in founding, leadership and supporting roles at a dozen institutions, including Leo Baeck Day School, the Tikkun Project, KOLEL, the Campaign Against Child Poverty, Ve'ahavta, and more. For his unending dedication, he was awarded the Order of Canada. As a young community organizer coming into leadership, he was the first person I’d ever known who I placed in the mental category of ‘famous for being a good person’ - people whose reputation for good works ripples far beyond them. 

Laurel Rothman, Mazon’s Advocacy Chair and longtime National Coordinator of Campaign 2000, offers her memories of his impact: 

Arthur was a vital and ever-present voice for social justice in Toronto and, indeed, across Canada. By the time he co-founded Mazon Canada in the mid-1980s, he was well known for keenly and effectively tying Jewish values to enhancing Canada’s identity.  

I worked closely with Arthur and the late feminist writer-activist June Callwood. They co-founded the Campaign Against Child Poverty (CACP) in the late 1990s. Indeed, I remember the first time I met Arthur. My colleague, Rosemarie Popham, and I were working on text for the annual 1997 report cards on child and family poverty that the network known as Campaign 2000: End Child & Family Poverty in Canada had issued since 1992.  

Arthur called and introduced himself, explaining that he was outraged at the provincial government’s tax cuts which necessitated reductions in services and income supports for vulnerable women and children. In his charming but firm way, he asked us whether we thought we could work together to get the public so upset that they would donate some of their tax rebate back to the community organizations that were already assisting vulnerable families. Rosemarie and I looked at each other and were not sure how to respond. 

Arthur, who would not take “no” for an answer, invited us to a meeting to plan the next steps in influencing public opinion. The meeting included June Callwood, a few other faith leaders and others in Arthur’s networks who were in the field of marketing and communications. With the force of his conviction, the moral outrage that we shared and his vision, Arthur convinced us that we could raise the funds – in a relatively short time – to design and place a full page ad in the Globe & Mail urging people to donate back their tax refunds to charities that were working to end child poverty in Canada. 

That ad was the first of many that sought to galvanize public opinion and lead to policy change over a decade. We heard from staff in the corridors on Parliament Hill that they were wondering who this group was and who this rabbi was. Along with the ads, Arthur convened an active campaign of meeting with MPs, bureaucrats and others to express his serious concerns about children and families and to propose solutions that would improve the lives of children across Canada. The meetings with Paul Martin when he was Finance Minister were the most engaging. Arthur would often open with a concept from the Old Testament and June or Paul Martin would add something from the New Testament and then we would get to the issues at hand. 

Arthur's warmth, good humour and gravitas coupled with his vision and insight were key ingredients to his success as a changemaker. 

May his memory be a blessing.  

May his memory be a blessing, indeed. 

Izzy Waxman

Executive Director