“Reb Zale” Newman was born and raised in Toronto.  After completing his MBA studies at McGill University in Montreal and York University in Toronto, he spent the bulk of his professional life in the field of Canadian financial services. He is the founder and President of Bond Street Mercantile. Reb Zale’s passion is partaking in daily Torah study that encompasses many different areas, from Talmud and Halacha to Chassidic thought. Reb Zale’s first love and “real” work is in the area of outreach to Jews who are unaffiliated or marginally affiliated with their Jewish heritage.  

 

He works with numerous charitable projects for needy people in Israel and continues his efforts on behalf of widows, orphans, handicapped children, the sick, and the needy in Toronto and beyond. Reb Zale is a member of Toronto’s Bikur Cholim, the Jewish Volunteer Services, where he serves Jewish patients at Sunnybrook Hospital and other medical facilities. Reb Zale created Lev TO Lev, a bustling not-for-profit matchmaking organization that helps to connect marriage-minded Jewish singles. This organization has been an invaluable resource during the pandemic when networking outlets for Jewish singles are so limited.

 

I initially got involved with shidduchim from a place of outreach – my business associates and colleagues were approaching me saying they were worried their kids were going to intermarry.  I spent a year doing research and found that the existing matchmaking organization for orthodox singles was folding because they weren’t equipped to deal with the ever-expanding technology.  I saw a problem, identified what the different methodologies were, and found some resources and assets that could be used to marry the human side of shidduchim with the technology side (something that has become increasingly vital during the pandemic). 

 

We built a new organization called Lev TO Lev, changing the target demographic from just nineteen-year-olds to singles over twenty-five, many of them modern orthodox and secular.  To be honest, making shidduchim is not something that comes naturally to me, but I do it, quite simply, because I care too much not to.  It hurts me to think that there are people out there who are alone.  My team and I are not here to sell a product, we’re here to help people, and to use our matchmaking and mentorship services to do just that.