It has only been two weeks since Ziv Nevo Kulman arrived in Montreal as Israel’s Consul General for Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces and he has already discovered what a special place Côte Saint-Luc is. He spent Yom Kippur at the home of a noted resident of our community, attending services at a few local shuls. On Monday, October 6 I invited him to City Hall to meet with Mayor Anthony Housefather and members of council.

The Consul General, attired in his new CSL cap, with the mayor and members of council.

The Consul General's predecessor, Joel Lion, actually rented a home in Côte Saint-Luc for three years. He and his wife have eight children, so that about explains it. Nevo Kulman does not have a family here with him and will reside near the Consulate in Westmount. "I feel among family here," he told us. "Although I will not be living in Côte Saint-Luc, you can be sure I will be coming here a lot."

The Consul General makes a point.

About 70 percent of Côte Saint-Luc's population of 33,000 is Jewish. We have a tremendous Israeli spirit (not to mention many native Israelis). On Yom Ha'atzmaut we fly Israeli flags along Cavendish Boulevard. Our sister city in Israel is Ashkelon, the site of shellings from Hamas in the recent war. We initiated a fundraising campaign to assist them. Last summer our mayor won seven medals at the Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv.

The Consul General has chosen a truly unique way of introducing himself to the community via this slick YouTube video.

Watch the video. It is a fabulous introduction of the man.

I provided the Consul General with a brief tour of our public library and he was thoroughly impressed.