Here again they are flabbergasted not knowing what Israelite meant. They talk amongst themselves then one screams: Are you a Jew?
I answer simply, well, in my world we call ourselves Israelites but if You prefer a Jew, well yes I am a Jew.

They were all shocked and after a long silence, one of them tells me:
- Well, sorry, this is a Catholic School and we do not hire Jews and as far as we are concerned, you are a Protestant so we suggest you go see the PROTESTANT SCHOOL BOARD OF GREATER MONTREAL.
A bit disturbed, I picked up my papers and went for the door. I get home and my parents ask me how did my meeting go. And I told them the shocker.
My dad couldn't understand as he kept repeating that they told us they need teacher so how come they didn't hire you, to which I answered: we will see tomorrow as I will go to the Protestant Board.
And here I am at my second interview.
To this date I still remember the name of the person who interviewed me, for it left a rather bad taste.
When I told the man that the Catholic Commission suggested I come here because I am a Jew, he said: oh yes, all Jews come to us.
Show me your papers. I did. He looks at them and says: All looks fine, now tell me how many years of experience do you have?

What a shocker, I am fresh out of school, 19 years of age and this guy wants to know how many years I have bee teaching . What shall I tell him?

So I tell him that besides the various pedagogical stages I did, I have not taught yet.
To which he replied: Well we cannot hire people with no experience, and he adds, by the way, your papers say that you can teach French, Hebrew and Arabic. Forget about Arabic ( he didn't know that 40 years later they will be teaching Arabic in schools in Montreal), but since you have Hebrew, maybe you can go to the TALMUD TORAH, which is the Jewish School Board.

I am back home and tell my experience to my parents who again are more frustrated than I am. I wait for tomorrow to go to Talmud Torah.

As I sit in the waiting room, seeing the principal going back and forth from office to office, after a quarter an hour, I say to him:
- Mister, I am here looking for a job as a teacher.
He looks at me and says: Well I thought you were a student.
Come with me. I sit in his office and he realizes my English is rather poor, almost non existent and he asks me: Are you a French Jew? I answer yes.

He has never seen one. He asks me further;: Did you study French literature?
When I answered yes, he became curious: Do you know Voltaire? Do you know Victor Hugo? Do you know Moli?re? And on.
As I answered yes he now asks me to talk to him of what I know about these people.. I do. The man was a freak of French literature.
After almost half an hour I say: Mister, the Protestant School Board suggested I come to you to teach Hebrew as they could not hire me without experience.

His answer was: if the PSBGM accept you, we accept you.
Had I known the expression then, I would have told him F U, had they accepted me, I would not be here, so I am here because they did not accept me.

He added we cannot hire you because your papers may be good for Morocco but not for here. So I suggest you come to our JEWISH TEACHER SEMINARY and after two years you get a diploma and you can teach with us.
I ask: Can you tell me what the program this Seminary teaches is?
After he told me what it is, I said: Well, I have done all of this, why should I repeat ité
And his answer was: Well you did it in French and Hebrew, here you will do It in English and Hebrew.
What could I answer to that?
Realizing this third interview was my last chance and that if I wanted to teach, as this is all I learnt at my boarding school, I should adjust my plan.
The idea to be anything else never hit me. I never thought of being a doctor, an accountant, an attorney, let alone being a plumber or a technician. My only goal in life was being a teacher.
And this country is not giving me the opportunity.

After few minutes of reflection, I accepted to attend the seminary.

One more time I explain my parents my predicament . They are understandable

The classes consisted of three hours a day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 6pm to 9 pm and Sunday from 9am to 12pm.
Two years later, I get my diploma. I ask for a position but none is available. I have to wait.
Meantime I got engaged with this young lady, originally from Egypt and who was also studying to be a teacher.
Three months later, I get a phone call and a position for me is available in Selkirk, Manitoba, may as well say Tupelo, Mississippi or Oakmulgee, Oklahoma. It is so out of this world, and being engaged, I turned down the offer.
Another three months go by and a new offer comes. It is in Winona, Ontario. Well this is not too far. I accept. But I am given more feedback. This community, not only needs a teacher but also someone who can do the prayer services on Shabbat and Holidays.
Granted, my schooling enables me to be a Hazan and a Cantor, but I am a Sephardi and this congregation is Ashkenazi. The two liturgies are so different that they will not comprehend me and neither will I understand them. Also, most Jews in Canada speak Yiddish and I don't, I speak Hebrew.

So I had to refuse the offer
So after three years in Canada, teaching not wanting me, I became a salesman and teaching helped a lot as with time, I became a super salesman and earned my living with it