Montreal, Canada – An Orthodox Canadian billionaire well known for his philanthropic efforts and his Israeli real estate projects credits hard work and education for his financial successes.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
In an Arutz Sheva exclusive interview, Hershey Friedman of Montreal spoke of his humble beginnings and difficult circumstances brought on when his father was in a serious car accident when he was just ten years old.
“I wasn’t handed over a silver spoon on a golden platter,” said Friedman. “I worked for what I have today.”
Because of his father’s years long hospitalization, his mother was forced to take over the family business while also running a household and raising three sons.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Friedman left Montreal at age 13 to attend Yeshiva Ner Israel in Baltimore, moving on to Monsey’s Yeshiva Bais Shraga two years later before returning home. By age 17, Friedman was working in the family business while his two older brothers stayed in yeshiva, but Friedman’s interest in business had begun years earlier.
“I was more business oriented even as a little child and I was always somehow or other making money,” said Friedman.
Freidman recalled selling pencils as a youngster and as he got older, he frequented construction sites in order to buy lunches for the workmen who would reward him with tips. Later in the day Friedman would return to the same site, picking up deposit bottles and turning them in for cash.
“I was like a little businessman even as a little kid and growing up,” remarked Friedman.
As soon as he graduated high school, Friedman reinvigorated the family business, buying new equipment and moving to a new location. He attended college at night, taking classes in commercial law and accounting. Within four and a half years, the business had grown so much that Friedman was working two eight hour shifts a day.
While the move to a 16 hour workday forced Friedman to drop out of college just six months shy of receiving his degree, he noted the importance of a proper schooling.
“I got the base of my education,” said Friedman “It was really worth it.”
Friedman moved into the plastics, printing and flexible packing business approximately ten years later, taking a company on the verge of bankruptcy and putting it back on solid financial footing. Over the few years he earned a reputation as a turnaround specialist, buying more than two dozen more companies, some in the packaging business, others in unrelated areas and enjoying significant financial returns.
Friedman made headlines when he bought the troubled Agriprocessors meat plant in Postville, Iowa in 2009 as reported on VIN News (http://bit.ly/2c1ZvWk). Under Friedman’s direction, the facility was renamed Agri Star and now uses the government’s E-Verify system to ensure the legality of all workers at the plant, as reported by JTA.
Friedman said that he spent “millions and millions” to upgrade the plant, which places a premium on quality, making little profit on the product in order to keep prices affordable.
In recent years Friedman has invested heavily in Israeli residential real estate, noting that as his own children went to yeshivos in Israel and spent time there as young marrieds, he too, began spending more time in Israel and started investing in small projects.
“I started…putting my heart into Israel and started to do some developments,” said Friedman. “I felt it was the right thing.”
Azorim, Friedman’s real estate company, builds luxury buildings marketed to Jews living overseas. While many Israelis describe dwellings owned by those living outside Israel as “dark apartments” because they are unused much of the time, Friedman disputed that notion, saying that the apartments are inhabited frequently by their owners and their married children who may be living in Israel for extended periods of time.
Friedman noted that while the Israeli government has called for more affordable housing for Israelis, it undermines its own efforts by selling land to the highest bidder at public auction, a process that can double or triple the price of land.
“When the government tries to regulate what you can sell a house for and then the land goes up for public auction, it doesn’t work,” observed Friedman.
“I worked for what I have today.” Not ONE mention of HaKadosh Barukh Hu in this entire article. Kochi v”otzem Yadi asah li es hachayil hazeh”
Many people are well educated and work hard but struggle to make ends meet. Ultimately, you need Seyatta DeShmaya too.
Ok now we need the askanim work on charedim in Israel. Its time to promote work in Israel. If we truly want to alleviate poverty get charedim to work. Show them the way. Encourage charedim to go to college and help them find real secular jobs as accountants, lawyer, health professionals and tech specialists. The time is now ripe. Due to Lapid’s law there is a clause that anyone over 24 prior to 2017, is free to work with no army service. While most of the law has been repealed, that clause remains in tact. Now charedim can finally work with no army service. Now that the army hurdle is cleared we need askanim like Heshy to help clear a few more hurdles.
1)The askanim should encourage the rosh hakolles to allow their guys to work. 2) set up free or affordable kosher college programs like aguda does in the USA. 3) sit down with the government , knesset and business leaders and tackle anti-charedi discrimination in the work place.
4) Help charedi men get high meaningful paying college jobs that will enable them to earn a living.
5) Sit down with kenesst legislators to undo the crazy Israeli progressive socialist tax systems that discriminates against middle income workers.
How does this help our kids in new square who are forbidden to learn English, science, math or other secular subjects? Most can’t even read street signs.
i have done it all what hershey friedman did but hashem wanted me to NOT be so matzliach with Dollars, i b”h have healthy children all making parnassah and i b”h can feed my family with health hopefully till 120.
Hashem byrych es avruhom bakoyl..being rich has nothing to do with being smart or expierenced. Hashem sends it your way.
I believe hashem sent it to the right sheliach Hershey friedman , he is a ish chesed and great bal tzedukeh. May hashem give him many more years of Asheeres and Hatzlocho .
Marbeh nechasim, marbeh da’agah! I’m not even a bit envious Baruch Hashem and I’m sure that I sleep a lot more peacefully at night than he does.
Every year, the monthly magazine Canadian Business lists the top 100 wealthiest Canadians. This year 23 Jews made it to the list, while Mr. Friedman is nowhere on the list. Among the 23 were Yidden who were not billionaires.
Apikorsus,
We don’t make a living,
We take a living.
Anyone who says that his hard work made him rich is apekoires,
It’s all Hashem, nothing besides him!
We need to do ishtadlus, have zchus avos and mazal to make parnosa.
Look at Maharsho last Blat in Kidushin.
We in Beit Shemsh don’t have a hospital! There is a lot of good Mr. Friedman could do for Israel, instead of complaining the government regulates him too much. I’m sure he supports different institutions, but perhaps he could do more. Women in BS have to travel to Jerusalem to give birth, and more than a few give birth en route. Stroke and heart attack victims? How many need to die before someone helps? We need a hospital…the iriya won’t help, they are too busy cleaning up the mess made by the fanatics when they decide to demonstrate and go on the rampage.