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Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce in San Diego
He began his professional journey at "Shiloach" at the age of nineteen and a half.
He worked in the life insurance arena beginning with management positions at Menulife,
Menorah and Clal, and ownership of insurance agencies.
In 2001, after more than 20 years in the insurance world in Israel,
he began his life anew in California.
In addition to life insurance and securities licensees, he has an advanced degree in Financial Services.
Among a variety of voluntary services for the San Diego community,
he was a member of the Israel Committee at the Jewish Federation.
The title of his lecture is: "Tel Aviv - San Diego - The Fantastic Journey".
I am happy to present Mr. Tibi Zohar.
I have been forewarned of all possible problems, and prepared myself. I was not told whose act I have to follow!
Ladies and gentlemen, another round of applause, because this is a combination of talent and training!
We stood in the plaza, my family and me - my wife and children, friends
It was a warm night, and I felt the touch of history.
I stood there, tears choking me, and my throat constricted with emotions.
I stood and sang as in the throes of madness!
(singing): Sing oh sing for the peace; don’t whisper with a sigh
Sing oh sing for the peace; and shout it to the sky!
I swear, I could feel the wings of that dove of peace caressing my face!
When I look up to the sky and close my eyes, there can not be anything greater than that for the rest of my life.
I felt that this was the ultimate moment, the one I was wishing for all these years growing up in this wonderful country.
For me - this was the culminating point!
Little did I know, that 15-16 minutes later, while I started the car for the drive home
I will be screaming my throat to numbness for a tragedy, that for me was personal,
and the tears of happiness will turn to tears of sorrow, the pain of losing my own dream
the dream of peace. It affected me in a very personal way!
I came here this morning to tell you the story of the journey that began that night in November
That warm night of November the 4th, in the plaza which today bears the name Rabin Plaza for a very painful reason.
My name is Tibi Zohar. I was born in Bucharest, Romania.
My mother is very ambitious! A Jewish mother that could not be satisfied with a physician or a lawyer.
She named me Tiberius. When the boy will grow up, and be an emperor.
What else could he be?!
I was 4 years old when we immigrated to Israel, and you can imagine how easy it was to be a Little Romanian Kid in Israel with the name Tiberius Zaidner.
There is no doubt about it - it could not work! I shortened it immediately into Tibi. The expectations from a Caesar were way too high!
I knew by then that I will not fulfill these expectations, so I became Tibi.
I was still Zaidner until I joined the army.
If any of you served in the infantry and tried to get through the service with a name like Zaidner, please stand up.
I can't even tell you how many times did my squad have to do the rounds due to the Zainder.
Of course, I was called Zainder not Zaidner!
On my first furlough I ran to the Ministry of the Interior, and changed it to Zohar.
I grew up in Kiriat Haim.
I finished high school in Kiriat Haim.
But to tell you the truth, I really had a "Mediterranean education" - there, you can see, on that charming beach of the Haifa Bay,
just in front of Kiriat Haim, that's where I really grew up and almost lived there.
That was my home. After I joined the Nachal, half way through my service
I was a medic on the front, and quite surprisingly due to various reasons, I was transferred near home
I decided I wanted to get married, as I met a wonderful girl
I climbed on a white horse, I was going to save every maid in distress!
She seemed to be in distress, so I immediately proceeded to rescue her.
At this stage, since I had already rescued her, I started working because I needed the money.
Getting married at nineteen and a half is not that simple!
In 1979, still wearing my army uniform, I walked into the Shiloach life insurance office of the Bamira family.
I informed them that I was going to study life insurance, ad indeed I did.
If anyone here remembers Shiloach, Mr. Bamira Sr. used to come in every morning and wish each and every one in the office "good morning". Amazing!
If I am able today to have a long term vision, it is only because I stood on the shoulders of giants.
This is where it all started, beginning with Chaim Hershkowits, who I need to mention- he was my "foundation stone",
Avraham Yam, Sherman, and others.
I went through quite a lot in this field of work during those 21-22 years.
I worked for various companies, and there were many wonderful people that influenced me,
like Ram Amit, who is here with us. I have definitely told him that quite a number of times.
People like Dani Kahal at Clal. and other people that crossed my path.
The last time that I had an insurance presence in Israel, the name up there "Tibinsurance" is self explanatory.
21 years! Since I was nineteen and a half; from Tiberius it grew to be "Tibinsurance".
Tibinsurance was the last entity I had in Israel, and then without any preparations
I left my homeland and my country, and began it all anew in a different world, in the New World.
That was the last entity in Israel; during the last 9 years I have a different entity: Tibi Zohar - Custom Financial Planning.
I will give you an interim report, since I know that people always ask to be shown the figures, "what are you worth".
So at the end of 9 years, I am happy to say that I came as a new person, and today I've done over $3.5 mil.
It's a reasonable sum for 9 years of premiums, when you take into account coming to a new place where I knew no one.
I travelled to all sort of places: qualified, top of the table, etc.
How did I even get there? How did I get up to begin such a journey to find myself in a new country,
speaking a new language, which I thought I knew how to speak until I actually needed to use it.
What happened? To explain this, I need to return to the plaza,
because for me, for me Israel was finished.
You have to understand, for me, the boy who grew up in Kiriat Haim, the workers' town
I was a Labor party supporter to begin with, and constantly moved to the left
and for me, in that plaza, the peace was more important than Israel.
For me there is no Israel without peace. Without peace, there is no need for Israel.
This was my outlook on life at the time, and this is how I saw things then.
Personally, that just finished me off. I was in a situation that required me to make changes.
What usually happens to me, and maybe this is something you are acquainted with,
when I am in this situation, I create my own environment.
An old wise man once said: if you wish to predict the future, create it.
(translates from Hebrew)
Well, I was going around feeling this way for about 2 years; I continued to work, but I was already in a different place.
I was at odds with my own people. What Yigal Amir has done to me - it is finished. I am at odds with my own people, and I am leaving.
Very soon! And this soon - a year and a half later, for those who know this building,
I went to a meeting on Hayarkon Street, a business meeting, and I passed by the American Embassy.
There were people standing around, and they were pretty emotional.
There was talk of a lottery. I asked about it, and they explained that there is a lottery for the "green card".
Seriously? Interesting. I got home, found the forms on the Internet, printed them and mailed them out.
I totally forgot about it. A year later, American are Americans, a year later I received a letter.
You are one of the first 90,000 people to win, and we are running another round to limit the number of people to 50,000.
WOW! What are the odds that I would win again? I won once; there is no chance I will win a second time.
I forgot about it again. A year later, as is the custom in America, nothing takes less than a year
You clean your teeth, a year goes by between cleanings.
Another letter arrives: you are included in the 50,000 winners.
Oh my God! What do I do now? I have a life insurance agency.