Montreal is a city with various segments and kehillos, a mosaic of different shades of Torah Judaism, each traveling their own path. Every so often there is a cause for which everyone joins together, an institution that strikes a chord in every Jewish heart, and then the full beauty of the city is evident.

One of those unique mosdos is Yaldei.

The Donald Berman Yaldei Developmental Center and its remarkable director, Rabbi Menachem Meir Leifer, have captured the hearts of Montreal in a big way.

Perhaps it’s the joy and optimism that pervades its halls, maybe it’s the perseverance and tenacity of the children, or even the buoyancy and enthusiasm of the staff; either way, everyone wants to be part of the miracles at Yaldei.

Last year, Yaldei held their first ever dinner and rewrote the way dinner are held in this city. It was an affair that both in terms of elegance and seer magnitude, was like nothing Montreal has ever seen. The Yaldei dinner became the gold standard, and weeks after the dinner, people spoke about the ability of one institution to unify the city in such a memorable way.

This year’s dinner promises to be no different. This week, Yaldei Director Rabbi Menachem Leifer held the first preliminary meeting, ion which he invited selected representatives of each of the city’s kehillos to a private meeting in the elegant banquet hall at the Beth Jacob Seminary.

There were Belzer chassidim and Skver chassidim, Satmar and Tosh, Lubavitch and Vizhnitz. There were representatives of the ‘uptown’ Yeshiva community and of the Sephardic kehilla. Each of the participants in the meeting were given a questionnaire and asked to fill it out; their answers will help the dinner organizers plan this year’s dinner.

The assemblage was welcomed by Reb Itzu Kornfeld, himself a veteran askan for Yaldei, who asked Rabbi Leifer to greet everyone. Rabbi Leifer spoke about the beauty of everyone coming together, reminding his audience that ‘ultimately, it’s our special children that will benefit.’

A short audio visual presentation was shown, detailing the life and struggles that take place each day at Yaldei.

The crowd was moved by this glimpse into the lives of the children.

The next speaker was noted author and Yated columnist, Rabbi Yisroel Besser. He spoke of his own relationship with Rabbi Leifer and the inspiration that he derived from the man and the cause.

After him, one of Montreal’s young askanim, Reb Tzali Leibowitz, was asked to speak. He shared the impressions of his recent visit to Yaldei, calling upon his listeners to join in him in doing whatever it takes to make the dinner a success.

The crowd rose in unison as the evening’s special guest speaker, Rav Yeshaya Yaakov Portugal, the son of the Skulener Rebbe and the Rav of Me’or Hagolah, entered the room. Rav Portugal spoke warmly about Rabbi Leifer and Yaldei, saying that he is unable to refuse a request made by Reb Menachem.

He touched upon the fact that it was Purim katan, and shared various divrei Torah pertaining to the day. He quoted the passuk in Megilas Esther that says ‘im mezera hayehudim Mordechai asher hachilosa linpol lefanav, lo suchal lo,’ asking what the ‘if’ was; of course they knew that Mordechai was a Yid.

Rav Portugal explained that the idea is that ‘im mezera hayehudim Mordechai, if Mordechai is accompanied by the zechus of ‘zera hayehudim’, Yiddishe kinderlach, ten there was no obstacle that could stop him.

Rav Portugal wished his listeners that the zechus of the zera hayehudim accompany them and help them achieve their goals.

After Rav Portugal, a most tireless and dedicated individual, Reb Naftuli Pollack, addressed the olam. He spoke about the success of last year’s dinner and urged everyone to help Yaldei double their success this year.

The evening was closed with a meeting and exchange of ideas which was presided over by Mr. Daniel Amar, he chief of research and development at Yaldei, who discussed different ideas for marketing the event and asked for audience input.

Perhaps it was the minyan for maariv which closed the evening, as different nuschaos, accents and minhagim  came together to ask Him who crowns our efforts with success to ‘spread over us the shelter of your peace; set us aright with good counsel from before Your presence’ to do our part in helping these children.