MONTREAL  — He was wearing a T-shirt, faded jeans and sandals when he showed up for the interview. He was bearded and had hair to his shoulders.

Herb Finkelberg was not really sure he wanted the job.

For the past half-dozen years, he had been the resident director of children’s summer camps – Camp B’nai Brith, Camp Wooden Acres, the Y Country Camp.

Heading a seniors’ organization seemed an unlikely career move, but that is the leap Finkelberg took in 1980 and never looked back.

The Golden Age Association’s (GAA) legendary founding executive director Florence Kirshner had just retired after 36 years. The GAA had moved into its own new, spacious building on Westbury Avenue a couple of years before.

The hiring committee astutely saw the potential within the scruffy exterior.

Little did Finkelberg think he would almost match the late Kirshner’s longevity.

Finkelberg has retired as executive director of the Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors (CJCS) after 35 years. It was created by a merger of the GAA and another Federation CJA agency, Jewish Support Services for the Elderly, in 2000.

Finkelberg who has long since become clean shaven, although still he favours casual attire, was feted at the CJCS’s annual general meeting on June 16.

He was credited with developing the CJCS into what outgoing president Maxine Bloom described as an agency that cannot be compared to any other in North America for adults over age 50.

CJCS today has 3,500 members and 800 volunteers, providing a full range of programming and services for, as Finkelberg put it, active baby boomers to the frail elderly. He managed a $7-million annual budget, an increasing share of which is raised by CJCS’s own foundation established 11 years ago.

“His door was always open and his willingness and ability to listen carefully and then give a sound opinion, sage advice or direct help was appreciated,” Bloom said, “not only by those who worked with him, but by many volunteers and members who came to know and count on him…The word ‘menschlikeit’ was coined to describe him.” 

While its clientele grew, CJCS weathered serious budget cuts over the years and, even in its three-storey building, space became tight, she said, but he “always found a way to get things done.”

Among the innovative programs he shepherded are exercise for those impaired by stroke or Parkinson’s disease, and a day program for those with cognitive problems that has grown from one to five days a week, she said.

Finkelberg is also renowned for his sense of humour and desire to change the image of seniors. Those qualities came together with the making of a calendar in 2010 with each month featuring a (semi) nude pin-up of CJCS members.

Max Lipsman, who considers Finkelberg a mentor, flew in from Calgary for the tribute. They worked together almost 40 years ago at Camp Wooden Acres, and Lipsman has continued to seek Finkelberg’s guidance over the 34 years since he left Montreal.  “Herb played a critical role in the direction of my life,” said Lipsman, who went into social work, ran a camp in Western Canada, and is now executive director of Beth Tzedec Congregation.

Finkelberg said he was fortunate to take the helm of the agency during a golden era of Jewish communal professionals, and learned from such exemplars as Joe Kage, Harvey Golden, Paul Trepman and Manny Weiner.

But, more importantly, over the decades he has taken inspiration from thousands of seniors for their openness to new experiences and resilience in the face of hardship, especially so for Holocaust survivors.

He enters retirement with “much curiosity and, yes, some trepidation as I look ahead. I only hope I have been an apt student and can accept change with grace.”

Finkelberg, who is succeeded by Pauline Grunberg, now has the title of executive director emeritus. He has endowed a fund with the CJCS foundation to support staff professional development.

At 71, the lanky Finkelberg remains fit – running, cycling and swimming.

As a volunteer, Finkelberg has served as president of Shaare Zedek Congregation three times. 

“Rather than seeking people to support a position that he may have favoured, Herb invited dichotomous and dissenting views,” synagogue board member Eric Gralnick told The CJN. “The common denominator during those debates was the high level of respect that Herb showed for the person and their position even when he strongly disagreed…I call this wisdom.”