Video: Philanthropist Shares Personal Story To Convey Importance of Chinuch
As the new school year begins, a timely address from Mr. Eliyahu Kholodenko, Founder and CEO of Questrade, speaking at Kinus Hamechanchim about the extraordinary impact of mechanchim and the central role they play in carrying out the Rebbe’s vision for chinuch.
“Mr. Kholodenko’s visionary investment in Chinuch is transforming the face of education for our children,” said Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, general chairman of Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch’s Chinuch Office, who introduced the keynote. “Today more than ever, our Mechanchim and Mechanchos need real support and infrastructure to reach and engage every single child on their level. We are truly grateful for his partnership in making this a reality.”
Drawing from his experience in business, Mr. Kholodenko described mechanchim as the people who turn vision into reality. In the corporate world, he said, strategy only matters when there are people willing to show up every day and execute it. In chinuch, the vision has already been given with clarity, and it is the mechanchim who bring that vision to life in the classroom each day.
He spoke with admiration about the daily dedication of teachers, the patience shown to a child who is struggling, the extra time given after dismissal, and the personal energy a mechanech pours into his students.
“Real impact doesn’t come from speeches at a banquet,” he said. “It comes from the Mechanchim who show up day after day, week after week.”
Turning to the theme of the Kinus, Mr. Kholodenko emphasized that the true measure of chinuch goes far beyond knowledge, skills, or academic achievement. The ultimate goal is to raise פרומע, ערליכע, ווארעמע, חסידישע אידן, children grounded in Torah and Mitzvos, refined in character, filled with warmth for Yiddishkeit, and deeply connected to the Rebbe and their purpose.
Those qualities, he noted, cannot be measured on a spreadsheet or graded on a report card. They are transmitted through the mechanech himself. A child does not only hear what a teacher says, he watches how the teacher lives, feels the warmth in his voice, and absorbs the sincerity and ehrlichkeit he sees each day.
Mr. Kholodenko also shared from his own journey, growing up in a Soviet family where Yiddishkeit had been taken away, and later being reached by the Rebbe through his Shluchim. That personal experience, he explained, gave him a deep appreciation for the generational impact of Jewish education and what it means to build children who are confident, proud, warm, and ready to influence the world around them.
He concluded by describing support for Jewish education as one of the greatest investments a person can make, an investment not simply in institutions, but in generations. He thanked the mechanchim for their patience, dedication, and for seeing in every child the פרומע, ערליכע, ווארעמע, חסידישע איד that he can become.
His message was one of recognition and encouragement, the daily work taking place in classrooms is not only educating children, it is building the Jewish future.