Accession Number
2003-5-5
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2003-5-5
Material Format
multiple media
Date
[192-?]-1975
Scope and Content
The records in this accession document the Raxlen family and the Raxlen Clinic and Doctor's Hospital that was set up by the Raxlen brothers. The records also include personal correspondence between Katie Cherney and her mother, family photographs, greeting cards, press clippings and a booklet of articles written by Rabbi Fine of Peterborough. This booklet includes translated documents that he produced as rabbi from 1926 to 1934. Finally, there are three historic postcards documenting Holy Blossom's building on Bond Street, Jarvis Collegiate, and the Doctor's Hospital
Custodial History
Records were collected by Karen Fejer, the daughter of Alexander Raxlen.
Administrative History
The Raxlen brothers were born in Toronto in Cabbagetown, where their father operated a grocery store. The four brothers were Saul, Benjamin, Alexander, and Sam. All of the brothers graduated in medicine during the 1930s, except for Sam, who became a dentist. Together, they opened up the Raxlen Clinic in 1937, which was located on Carleton Street.
In 1953, the brothers opened their own private hospital, the Doctor's Hospital, which was located on Brunswick Avenue. The hospital started in a ninety-year-old building that was owned by a religious order. The brothers modernized and expanded it from a facility accomodating 59 patients to one that could hold up to 168 beds by 1955. It soon became the largest privately-held, non-profit hospital in North America. By the time the brothers sold it during the late 1970s, it had 554 full-time staff and five hundred hospital beds.
The other family documented in this accession is the Cherney family from Peterborough. The patriarch and matriarch were Abraham and B. Cherney. They had two children, Katie ("Kaye") and Meyer. Abraham and B. divorced, and Abraham remarried and had three more kids: Harry, Helen, and Louis. The family remained in Peterbough, but the ex-wife moved to Toronto. Kaye married Dr. Alexander Raxlen, and they had three children. Karen Fejer, their daughter, is the donor.
Use Conditions
Correspondence is restricted. Researchers must contact donor for permission to access them. The rest of the collection is open.
Descriptive Notes
Restrictions on access, use, reproduction, and publication: Some of the photographs are the property of the City of Toronto Archives.
Subjects
Families
Hospitals
Rabbis
Name Access
Doctor's Hospital (Toronto, Ont.)
Fine, Abraham
Places
Peterborough (Ont.)
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-3-16
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-3-16
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
81 photographs and other material
Date
[ca. 1937]-1998
Scope and Content
Accession consists of records relating to the life and weightlifting career of Bill Gryfe. The textual records are photocopies of correspondence, clippings, and certificates from a family album. The photographs are scanned copies from this same album and include images of Bill with various individuals and images of weightlifting teams and individuals that he had coached. There are two trophies: one is a Grand Order of Israel bowling award and one is an award presented to Bill in 1979 by the JCC for over fifty years of service. There is also a CD with Bill Gryfe's memoirs and some additional photographs of Bill at a young age and of him at various weightlifting events and on vacation.
Administrative History
Bill Gryfe was an early member of the YMHA. He began as a weightlifter and in 1931 became a barbell coach of the YMHA weightlifting team.
He coached at many national and international competitions such as the Canada games, the Commonwealth Games, the Pan American Games, and the Maccabean Games. He also officiated and refereed at national and international competitions including the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Throughout his life, Bill was devoted to the promotion of physical fitness and competitive weightlifting. He was a founder of the Ontario Weightlifting Association and its first president in 1968. He also organized the national-championship weightlifting competitions, held annually at the Canadian National Exhibition, an institution that had a distinct effect on his life from his earliest years when it was first established by Bill Oliphant in 1935. Over the years, Bill Gryfe received numerous awards and citations, including a nomination for the Order of Canada in 1982. Bill died in 2005 at the age of ninety-five.
Use Conditions
Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Descriptive Notes
Physical description note: includes 3 cm of textual records, 2 items, and 1 electronic record.
Subjects
Weight lifters
Name Access
Gryfe, Bill
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-4-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-4-4
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
3 photographs : b&w (tif)
5 documents (tif)
1 folder of textual records
1 DVD
1 videocassette
Date
1941-2004
Scope and Content
Accession consists of copies of electronic copies of photographs, postcards and telegrams as well as newsclippings, a video and a DVD documenting the career of Sam Shapiro in the RCAF and his time as a Prisoner of War at Stalag Luft 3 in Poland.
Administrative History
Sam Shapiro enlisted as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force in September 1940. He received his wings in Brantford and was sent overseas in April 1941 as a sergeant pilot. He was in Squadron ten and flew eight successful missions before his plane was shot down over Holland in August 1941, killing two of the crew.
Shapiro was captured by German forces on 17 August 1941 and was taken to Stalag Luft 3 camp in Poland, where the "Great Escape" took place. Shapiro was not part of the breakout, but did help dig the tunnel that allowed seventy-six of his fellow prisoners to escape.
While a Prisoner of War, Shapiro was promoted to warrant officer. He was liberated on 16 April 1945 and arrived in England five days later. Shortly after arriving home in 1945, Shapiro received the YMCA sports badge for his conduct in the POW camp and the Canadian Volunteer Service medal. He married his fiance Geraldine Perlman in 1945.
Use Conditions
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Subjects
Canada--Armed Forces
World War, 1939-1945
Name Access
Shapiro, Sam.
Stalag Luft 3
Perlman, Geraldine
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2007-7-10
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2007-7-10
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
19 photographs : b&w
1 folder of textual records
2 books
1 CD
1 vest
1 hat
Date
1938-1986
Scope and Content
This accession consists of material documenting the donor's family, particularly her father, Nathan Rivelis. The items include a vest and hat worn by her father during the late 1950s as part of the Lion's Club. It also consists of an oral history of her father conducted in 1983; his school primer and English reader; photographs of the business and Hebrew classes; certificates; and, finally, newspaper clippings.
Administrative History
The Rivelis family owned a large clothing store in North Bay from 1926 until 1986 called Rivelis. They sold men's and women's mid-range clothing and became famous in town for their annual sale held on 16 November. The business grew from a small family-run store to a large department store with twelve employees.
In addition to running the business, Nate Rivelis was also involved in the local Lion's Club and was the president of this organization from 1957-1958. He was the only Jewish member at that time. In addition, he also served as the president of the Hebrew school during the 1940s.
Subjects
Business
Communities
Name Access
Rosen, Rheta
Rivelis, Nathan
Places
North Bay (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2007-9-2
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2007-9-2
Material Format
graphic material (electronic)
textual record (electronic)
architectural drawing (electronic)
Physical Description
37 photographs : b&w and col. (jpg) + 2 identification keys
16 documents (28 jpgs)
2 architectural drawings (jpg)
Date
[189-]-2004
Scope and Content
Accession consists of scanned copies of original records documenting the Jewish community in Cornwall. The records relate to various individuals in the community, including the donor, as well as organizations such as B'nai Brith, Hebrew Ladies' Aid Society, and the Beth-El Congregation. The items include scans of cemetery plans, burial certificates, photographs, meeting minutes, memorial books and various legal documents.
Photographs are as follows:
01. Sixtieth anniversary of D-Day program.
02. Abe and Rose Goldhamer, Long Sault Rapids before the seaway, ca. 1941.
03. Al Burnes in uniform. Al lived in Cornwall and moved to Toronto, [between 1939 and 1945].
04. Archie Dover, first person buried in the new cemetery, pg. 1, 1962.
05. Archie Dover, first person buried in the new cemetery, pg. 2, 1962.
06. Beth El Synagogue, exterior, nd.
07. Beth El Synagogue, interior, nd.
08. Birdie Phillips Miller.
09. B’nai Brith, ca. 1961. [obverse]
10. B’nai Brith, ca. 1961. [reverse]
11. B’nai Brith entertaining seniors from Glen Stor Dun Lodge, 1964.
12. B’nai Brith girls temporary charter, 1967.
13. B’nai Brith Youth Organization temporary charter, 1967.
14. Boys playing hockey behind the shul, 1930s. Back row, left to right: unidentified, Jack Abrugov, Murray Berns, Julius Kolomier. Front row, left to right: unidentified, Jack Goldhamer, unidentified, unidentified, unidentified.
15. Braham Goldhamer on piano.
16. Cemetery plan from office of LP Stidwill, civil engineer and Ontario land surveyor, April 18 1958.
17. Cemetery plan, nd.
18. Construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, Robert Saunders Dam, 1957.
19. B’nai Brith emergency meeting minutes, 1967.
20. Entertainer, Helen Goldhamer and her father, Julius Miller.
21. General meeting regarding building of the synagogue, pg. 1, Oct. 5, 1924.
22. General meeting regarding building of the synagogue, pg. 2, Oct. 5, 1924.
23. B’nai Brith Cornwall Lodge, 1961. [obverse] Pictured are, Standing left to right: Moe Helperin, Peter Solway, Oscar Niduvitch, Louis Dubinsky, Alex Abugor, Sam Nyman, Moe Schulman, Bernard Miller, I. Martin, Saul Schulman. Seated left to right: Mark Goldhamer, Sam Smolkin, Saul Kaye, Mrs. Eddie Cantor (guest speaker), Rabbi Matts, Julius Miller.
24. B’nai Brith Cornwall Lodge, 1961. [reverse]
25. Hebrew School, ca. 1958.
26. Helen, Mark and Brham Goldhamer, ca. 1958.
27. Helen Goldhamer on the St. Lawrence just west of Cornwall.
28. Helen Goldhamer speaking.
29. Helen Goldhamer thanking guest speaker.
30. Joel Horovitz, bar mitzvah programme, 1954.
31. Julius Miller and daughter Helen Goldhamer with father Moses Miller (seated) and grandson Braham Goldhamer at age 2.
32. Julius Miller and wife Birdie in front of their furniture company’s first truck, ca. 1946.
33. Julius Miller Grove invitation to ceremony, 1969.
34. Julius Miller Grove letter, 1969.
35. Julius Miller Grove plaque, ca. 1969.
36. [Phillips family?], ca. 1900.
37. Annette Phillips and Mary Phillips, ca. 1948.
38. Julius Miller presented with a pin by Mrs. Eddie Cantor at an Israel Bonds drive, 1961.
39. Nathan Phillips with unidentified boy.
40. Left to right: Annette Phillips, Mary Phillips, Birdie Phillips Miller and Riva Phillips, 1940s.
41. Left to right: Archie Dover, Julius Miller and Rabbi Lewin at the Memory Board dedication.
42. Left to right: Helen Goldhamer, Sarah Vineberg, Mrs. M. Phillips, Birdie Phillips Miller, Annette Phillips, ca. 1938.
43. Succot. Left to right: Margot Miller, Jack Miller and Braham Goldhamer, ca. 1956.
44. Left to right: Mark Goldhamer, Iruim Thaw, Saul Schulman and guest speaker, ca. 1961.
45. Nathan and Sam Phillips, ca. 1920.
46. Legal letter regarding the deed to the cemetery, pg. 1, 1929.
47. Legal letter regarding the deed to the cemetery, pg. 2, 1929.
48. Markus Goldhamer RCAF discharge papers, pg. 1, 1945.
49. Markus Goldhamer RCAF discharge papers, pg. 2, 1945.
50. Markus Goldhamer RCAF photo, Second World War.
51. Mary Phillips, life member of Hadassah-WIZO card, April 5, 1954.
52. Memorial book, pg. 1, 1926.
53. Memorial book, pg. 2, 1926.
54. Memorial book, pg. 3, 1926.
55. Memorial book, pg. 4, 1926.
56. Memory board.
57. Moses Miller.
58. Original minutes forming the B’nai Brith chapter in Cornwall, pg. 1, 1934.
59. Original minutes forming the B’nai Brith chapter in Cornwall, pg. 2, 1934.
60. Original minutes forming the B’nai Brith chapter in Cornwall, pg. 3, 1934.
61. Original minutes forming the B’nai Brith chapter in Cornwall, pg. 4, 1934.
62. Part of crowd at the annual dinner in Beth El Synagogue hall.
63. Photocopy of Hebrew Ladies’ Aid meeting minutes, pg. 1, Nov. 29, 1922.
64. Photocopy of Hebrew Ladies’ Aid meeting minutes, pg. 2, Nov. 29, 1922.
65. President of B’nai Brith Mark Goldhamer speaking. Helen Goldhamer seated to his left.
66. Riva Phillips beside Julius Miller Furniture shop, 1950s.
67. Thank you card to Mark Goldhamer, pg. 1.
68. Thank you card to Mark Goldhamer, pg. 2.
69. [Phillips family?], ca. 1900.
Custodial History
The original records are in the possession of the donor. The OJA was granted permission to scan the records in September 2007, as part of the Ontario Small Jewish Communities initiative. These copies were then donated to the Archives on 2007-09-04.
Subjects
Communities
Cemeteries
Name Access
Goldhamer, Mark
Places
Cornwall (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-8-23
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-8-23
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
5 cm textual records
22 photographs : b&w (4 jpg)
Date
ca.1928-1994
Scope and Content
Accession consists of textual records and photographs pertaining to the interrelated Bogomolny and Greenspan families of Niagara Falls. Included is correspondence and speeches relating to Hadassah, a 1957 Sisterhood cookbook, a Hadassah-WIZO 75th anniversary Commemorative Book, a syngagogue yearbook 1960-1961, B'nai B'rith certificates of Abe Bogomolny's, programmes and invitations to special events, two picture postcards and other family photographs, newspaper clippings relating to the Bogomolnys, and immigration documents from 1928. Also included is a senior undergraduate research paper written by Gerald Enchin (originally of Kitchener), entitled, "A Locational Analysis of the Kitchener-Waterloo Jewish Community," 1971.
Custodial History
Many of these records were collected and created by Jennie Greenspan Bogomolny, mother of the donor. They were passed to Brenda upon Jennie's death and kept until they came to the OJA.
Administrative History
Brenda Bogomolny Enchin is the daughter of Jennie Greenspan and Abe Bogomolny. Jennie was 8 years old in 1928 when she came to Canada with her mother and three brothers. Jennie's mother, Faige Bracha Pomerantz, posed as a widow coming to marry Morris Greenspan, even though they were already married. Morris had come ahead to Ontario where his brother Samuel was already settled. The accession includes documents from the rabbi in Poland attesting to Faige's widowed status so that she could get into Canada. Jennie's older brother was Joseph (father of Eddie and Brian Greenspan). Her younger brother, Abram, is living in Dundas as of 2008. The youngest child was Samuel, who was born in Sept. 1927 just a month after Morris had left Poland, so he met his youngest son a year later. Samuel died at age 48 in 1975.
Brenda’s mother Jennie married Abraham Bogomolny in 1946. He came to Niagara Falls in the 1930s, and with his brother Hymie opened the Niagara Rug Company, with braided and woven rugs. They were the biggest suppliers to department stores like Woolworths and Eaton’s. There was a fire in May 1968. Jennie was an elementary school teacher, she taught at Memorial School where the Greenspan children went, and Battleford Elementary School, which now gives out the Jennie Bogomolny Citizenship Award every year.
Use Conditions
Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-6-7
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-6-7
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
6.82 m of textual records and other material
Date
1935-2008
Scope and Content
Accession contains records documenting the administration, programs and events of Beth Jacob Synagogue in Kitchener, from 1935 to 2008. Non-textual records include photographs, architectural drawings, artifacts, and a couple of books. The textual records include newsletters, correspondence, financial ledgers, community directories, event programmes, membership lists and dues ledgers. There is considerable material on the Talmud Torah, including teaching materials, curricula, student guides, notes on parent meetings, and correspondence. There are approximately 40 photographs in the accession, of which 25 are from one 1985 shul event. Other records relate to the cemetery, memorial plaques, adult education, nursery school, Sisterhood, youth programs, bar and bat mitzvots, clubs and chevra kadisha. There are several artifacts: Rabbi Rosensweig's quill pen, athletic trophies and medallions, I.D. bracelets, Tree of Life plaques, a Hadassah Convention name tag with ribbon from 1951, and an (empty) copper mezuzzah. Records of the Kitchener-Waterloo Hebrew Day School will form a second fonds when the accession is described (see accession file folder for proposed arrangement scheme). The Hebrew Day School records include parents and staff handbooks, procedure manual, teaching materials, certificates, correspondence, governance documents, student records and attendance books with class lists.
Use Conditions
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.
Subjects
Cemeteries
Synagogues
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-10-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-10-4
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
6 m of textual records and other material
Date
1939-2000
Scope and Content
The accession consists of records and artifacts created or collected by Rabbi David Monson during his career. This includes his annual journals, marriage registers (1939-2000), newspaper clippings, photographs, awards, certificates, letters, a vinyl record, and several artifacts. The artifacts include objects of recognition from Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Jerusalem and from a Negev Tribute in 1977, and items of regalia clothing from the Order of the Masons. There are also two scrapbooks of clippings: one documents Beth Sholom Synagogue in the 1940s, and the other is about the University of Waterloo in the 1960s.
Among the photos in this collection is the confirmation of Iona Feldt (m. Silverberg) daughter of Samuel (Shmeal) Feldt.
Administrative History
Rabbi David Monson was born in Ottawa in 1917. He was educated at Yeshiva University and later was ordained by the Rabbinical College of Canada of Montreal in 1939.
He served as a rabbi for Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue in Toronto from 1939 until 1943. During the war, he served as a Chaplain with the Canadian military until 1945. After his return to Toronto, he founded Beth Sholom Synaogogue and served as rabbi there until his retirement in 1985. During his tenure, he officiated his first bat mitzvah in 1953, introduced a mixed choir to the service, and allowed men and women to sit together in the sanctuary.
Rabbi Monson was a founding member of the Canadian Council for Christians and Jews. Over the years, he served on the Ontario Police Services Commission and many other government committees. He also helped establish Or Yehuda, a community centre for underprivileged Iraqi and Romanian children in Israel. As well, he was also instrumental in the establishment of the University of Waterloo. He organized the Hebrew Association of the Blind, and was named by the Prime Minister John Diefenbaker to the Board of the Canada Council. He was also active in the Order of the Masons. Finally, Rabbi Monson was a great supporter of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Centre. Through his persistent efforts, the small hospital he first visited during the Six Day War was transformed into a modern, state-of-the-art facility.
During his career he became widely known as the "people's rabbi", due to his ability to connect with community members from all branches of Judaism as well as non-Jews. He died on July 28, 2008, at 91 years of age. His wife Susan predeceased him and he left behind one child, Judith Waldman.
Descriptive Notes
Associated material note: Library and Archives Canada possesses 30 cm of records created by Rabbi Monson as well.
Source
Archival Accessions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Level
Series
ID
Fonds 67; Series 17
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Level
Series
Fonds
67
Series
17
Material Format
multiple media
Date
1938-2008
Physical Description
2.18 m of textual records and other materials
Admin History/Bio
Superseding the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, the first Annual Campaign of the new United Jewish Welfare Fund took place in 1938. It combined the appeals of 37 organizations into one, eliminating much of the inefficiency and competition of the previous twenty years. Money raised was for agencies and causes new and traditional, local and overseas. Recipients included; the Jewish Immigrant Aid Services, Canadian Jewish Congress, the United Jewish Relief Agencies, the Joint Distribution Committee, and Palestine. In 1938, Campaign could be completed within a mere two weeks and raised $161,000. This figure rose to $348,000 in 1942 and surpassed one million dollars in 1951. When the State of Israel was established in 1948, Campaign was combined with the CJC and the United Palestine appeals into a new, combined campaign and re-named The United Jewish Appeal (UJA).
With different local and world challenges and crises over time, annual campaigns have had a variety of foci: for example, the plight of Displaced Persons in Europe after the Second World War; the 1957 Rescue Campaign for refugees in Russia, Europe and North Africa; the first Emergency Campaign in 1967 in response to the Six Days’ War; and Operation Exodus 1990-1991, which raised funds to aid Soviet Jews.
Early Campaign leadership was provided by lay people. Chairmen of the Campaign Cabinet included Samuel Godfrey, Ben Sadowski, Samuel J. Granatstein, Bernard Vise, Morris S. Till, and Samuel J. Zacks. A small administration committee carried out daily operations, but the bulk of the fundraising work was performed by the Service Council, a group of volunteers who planned, canvassed and evaluated each campaign, as well as organizing educational programs and public meetings. A Women’s Service Council and a Young Peoples’ Service Council also played key fundraising roles.
Canvassing was conducted by volunteers from each professional or trade Division, such as doctors, lawyers, retail sales, etc. The volunteers were responsible for canvassing the members of their own group. A special Women’s Campaign had its own chair, sub-committees and programming. Divisions were further added to reflect the amounts of donations, Top Gifts, and Major Gifts for example. By the 1980s, the Service Councils had given way to professional Campaign Associates employed by UJWF. With further changes to UJWF/UJA Federation’s structure, Campaign first fell under the Financial Resource Development Department, then Integrated Development, and, in 2009, the Centre for Philanthropy. It is now supported by the Donor Relations Management, Donor Research, and Missions/VIP departments which cater to the diverse interests of individual donors.
Through the 1940s and 1950s, face-to-face canvassing was the norm, with donor’s names and gifts published in the UJWF annual report. By the 1960s, an expanding community and a need for efficiency increased the use of the telephone, with regular telethons involving hundreds of volunteers. In 1970, a regular springtime Walk with Israel was included within the rest of Campaign events. In the 21st Century, the internet is used to solicit donations, publicize campaign news and events, and register volunteers for telethons and events like the Walk.
Scope and Content
Series consists of two sub-series, Walk with Israel (sub-series 17-1) and General Campaign Records (sub-series 17-2).
Notes
Physical description note: Includes photographs, videocassettes, posters, DVDs, artfacts and books.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 17
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
17
Material Format
multiple media
Date
1936-1992
Physical Description
47 m of textual records and other material
Admin History/Bio
By 1919 the plight of post-war eastern European Jewry and the need for a united community voice for Canadian Jewry led to the creation of the Canadian Jewish Congress. Its founding meeting was held on March 16, 1919 in Montreal. Though it briefly maintained a tiny regional office in Toronto, the CJC remained inactive until 1933, when it fully reconvened by opening offices in Winnipeg, Montreal, and Toronto. Egmont L. Frankel was the first president of the new central division in Toronto. While the national office in Montreal focused on the overarching issues of the social and economic rights of European Jewry, assistance for Jewish immigrants, and combating prejudice in Canada, the Toronto office dealt with local, violent anti-Jewish demonstrations as well as continuing discrimination both in employment and in access to public recreational facilities. The structure was based on regular national biennial plenary conferences, at which policies were delineated and national and regional executives were elected. Between plenary sessions, national and regional councils were in charge. These were augmented by the following standing committees: administrative, officers, personnel, financial, publications, and educational and cultural. Special committees were created to deal with issues such as: youth, community loans, kashruth, fundraising, Israel, Russian Jewry, and various emergency issues such as refugees, immigration, and housing.
During the 1930s the central division office moved several times and occupied offices in the following locations: Yonge Street, the Bond Street Synagogue, Scheuer House, the Zionist Building, and its long-term home at 150-152 Beverley Street, where it remained until its July 1983 move to the Lipa Green Building in North York.
The CJC's activities expanded to include taking responsibility for Jewish educational standards, but by 1941 its main efforts shifted to support for Canada’s war effort. Immediately after the end of the war, the focus again shifted to Jewish immigration projects and the maintenance of Jewish identity in small communities. By 1950, the CJC’s use of the title “division” was changed to “region” to accommodate internal operational divisions within each region. Also, by then, the central region was busy expanding its programs for all Ontario Jewish communities, creating a province-wide council of youth groups, and working with the newly-created Bureau of Jewish Education (later Board of Jewish Education, now Mercaz). Standardization of kashruth rules in Ontario was implemented. As well, regular educational conferences and cultural events were held throughout the province, while province-wide fundraising efforts in support of Moess Chittin for relief projects in Israel and for local Congress activities were expanded. Many of its educational and cultural responsibilities necessitated working with other Jewish organizations such as the United Jewish Welfare Fund, Jewish Immigrant Aid Society (JIAS), Hadassah, the Canadian Legion, B’nai Brith, the World Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Congress, and the many landsmenshaften (Jewish mutual benefit societies, each formed by immigrants originating from the same Eastern European community).
During the 1960s, the central region began sending Moess Chittin relief shipments to Cuban Jews unable to acquire kosher foods for Passover. Its lobbying efforts included participation in the Royal Commissions on Hate Propaganda, and its greatest success came with the introduction and implementation of Ontario’s fair employment and fair accommodation practices legislation, an achievement in which Congress played a pivotal role.
From 1971 to 1989 the major focus became international and national lobbying for, and providing support to, Soviet Jewry. Virtually all local and Canadian efforts to assist the Soviet Jewish “refusniks” were organized and coordinated in Toronto by the Ontario region office, which provided staff and funding for the many lobbying activities and public demonstrations that characterized this successful effort.
As of November 1975, the central region’s responsibilities in Toronto were radically altered. To improve cost efficiency in Toronto, CJC educational and social service program activities were merged with similar programs already provided by Toronto’s United Jewish Appeal. The UJA assumed sole responsibility for these amalgamated programs in Toronto and was renamed Toronto Jewish Congress. The central region still retained province-wide responsibilities for Ontario’s smaller Jewish communities, and its office remained in Toronto. Also, following this reorganization, its name was changed to Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region. Although CJC no longer provided direct social and educational programs to Toronto, the TJC’s senior executive was, at the time, still obliged to continue to keep it notified about developments concerning previous Congress responsibilities.
From 1983, the Ontario Region's offices were located in the Lipa Green Building at 4600 Bathurst Street. It continued its work of financially supporting various Israeli institutions and fostering Canada-Israel relations. It also spearheaded the movement to support and protect Jews in Arab lands, especially in Syria. Funding for the CJC came from the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy, which restributed a portion of the funds raised by the local Jewish federations across Canada.
The CJC dissolved in 2011. Today, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) acts as the Jewish community's primary lobby group.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of the records of the Ontario Region office of the Canadian Jewish Congress. Of primary importance in documenting this organization’s history are its minutes of the Executive and Administrative Committees and the various standing, and short-term committees such as Community Organization, Finance, Fund Raising, Educational and Cultural, Research, Immigration, War Efforts, and Jewish Education. Most of these records are still managed all together within Fonds 17, Series 1. Fonds 17, Series 2 contains the general subject and correspondence files of these committees. Records in both series require further processing.
Records now found in Series 3 document the efforts of the Committee for Soviet Jewry in coordinating the activities of the many Toronto and Ontario organizations involved in assisting Soviet Jewry during the 1971 to 1989 period.
Series 4 consists of administrative and committee records of the United Jewish Refugee and War Relief Agencies in Toronto from 1938 through 1967. These document its work rescuing the survivors of European Jewish communities, settling as many as possible in Ontario, and providing assistance to those attempting to obtain restitution payments.
Series 5 consists of the records of the Community Relations Committee (1938-1976). Responding to depression-era anti-Semitism in Canada, the Canadian Jewish Congress and B’nai Brith together established in 1938 a new joint committee. Since then this Committee has documented racist threats in Canada; initiated advocacy activities to work for improved civil rights; promoted legislation combating hate; worked to ensure equality of access to employment, education and accommodation; and investigated specific incidents of discrimination. The Committee, for example, played a key role in achieving the Anti-Discrimination Act of 1944, and the Fair Employment Practices Act of 1951, key steps leading to Canada’s current Human Rights Code. Although originally named Joint Public Relations Committee in 1938, a series of name changes later occurred; s follows: Joint Community Relations Committee, Central Region (1962-1978), Joint Community Relations Committee, CJC, Ontario Region (ca. 1978-ca. 1991) Community Relations Committee, CJC, Ontario Region (ca. 1991-present) Records in this series were reorganized into 5 sub-series and a further 9 sub-sub-series during the 2009 to 2011 period. For further details please view the database records for Fonds 17, Series 5. Although this series will eventually hold all CRC records up to 1992, only those prior to 1979 are currently fully processed.
Notes
Physical description note: Includes 1839 photographs, 89 audio cassettes, 11 videocassettes, 4 drawings, and 6 microfilm reels (16 mm).
Processing note: Processing of this fonds is ongoing. Additional descriptive entries will be added in future.
Name Access
Canadian Jewish Congress. Ontario Region
Subjects
Pressure groups
Access Restriction
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the Archivist prior to accessing some of the records
Arrangement
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the Archivist prior to accessing some of the records.
Creator
Canadian Jewish Congress. Ontario Region (1919-2011)
Places
Ontario
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds
General office subject and correspondence files series
Level
Series
ID
Fonds 17; Series 2
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds
General office subject and correspondence files series
Level
Series
Fonds
17
Series
2
Material Format
multiple media
Date
1948-1998
Physical Description
ca. 7 metres of textual records and other material
Scope and Content
Series consists of the general office subject and correspondence files of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region. Included is correspondence, memos, reports, speeches, bulletins, news releases, conference proceedings, promotional material, news clippings, photographs, videos, and sound recordings. The records relate to a wide variety of topics, such as small communities, Yiddish culture, Holocaust survivors and remembrance, Jewish youth and seniors, fundraising initiatives, neo-nazis, Cuban Jews, education, and human rights issues and legal cases.
Notes
Physical description note: Includes 390 photographs, 89 audio cassettes, 11 videocassettes, and 4 drawings.
Files created by the United Jewish Relief Agencies have been removed and may now be found within Fonds 17, Series 4.
Files created by the Committee for Soviet Jewry have been removed and may now be found within Fonds 17, Series 3
Files created by the Joint Community Relations Committee have been removed and may now be found within fonds 17, Series 5.
Access Restriction
Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Maurice Solway fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 13
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Maurice Solway fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
13
Material Format
multiple media
Date
1919-1989
Physical Description
11 cm of textual records and other material
Admin History/Bio
Maurice Solway (1906-2001) was a violinist, music teacher, composer, author and actor who lived and worked for most of his life in Toronto. Although he was highly respected as a musician in Toronto, and thoroughly immersed in the city’s musical culture from the 1920s until the 1980s, his greatest fame came to him later in life, as an actor in the Academy Award nominated NFB short film “The Violin”.
Maurice Solway's family lived at 164 York Street, Toronto, where he was born, in 1906. His parents, Jakob (b.1877) and Roza Solway (b.1877), had only just emigrated that year from Halofzen, Russia, where Jakob had been a musician and band leader. In Canada, Jakob adopted his father's trade and worked as a Kosher butcher, in Toronto’s St. John’s Ward. As a youth, Maurice played the violin in variety programmes with his sister, Dora, accompanying him on piano. His father was his first teacher, but he quickly showed enough promise to warrant private lessons with Harry Adaskin, and later with Dr. Luigi von Kunits, at the Canadian Academy of Music. He also studied at the Hambourg Conservatory in Toronto with Henri Czaplinsky and Geza de Kresz, starting in 1921.
Solway began his professional career with the New Symphony, which later became the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO). During the 1920s, he also played in the Famous Players Cinema orchestras that accompanied silent films, and performed lunch concerts in Toronto hotel and department store orchestras, professional venues that would disappear by the 1930s.
From 1926 to 1928, Solway left Canada to study in Brussels with the highly regarded violinist, Eugène Ysaÿe. There he befriended other students of Ysaÿe, such as Nathan Milstein, William Primrose, Viola Mitchell, Robert Velton, and Joseph Gingold.
Upon his return to Toronto, Solway gave several recitals that were both critically and publicly well-received. Few such opportunities, however, existed in Canada at the time, and Solway was obliged to find work in-between solo concerts. He also suffered an injury to his left hand while moving a piano in 1929 that required him to adjust his technique for three fingers and interfered with his being able to play comfortably for a number of years.
He was married in 1930 to Anne Cass (1907-1994), and they had a son, Stephen. Facing his financial obligations to his new family, he opted for the more dependable income of orchestral playing versus the riskier and transitory life of a soloist. Besides classical music, he played with jazz groups like the Jolly Bachelor’s Orchestra, Oscar Peterson, Jerome Kern, and Percy Faith, and on numerous recordings for the CBC, CFCA, and CKGW radio stations. He also played chamber music with the Joyce Trio, founded by Simeon Joyce (piano) and featuring Charles Mathe (cello).
In 1952, Solway retired from the TSO, dedicating himself to his chamber playing and radio work. He founded the Solway String Quartet (SSQ) in 1947, with Marcus Adeney (cello), Nathan Green (viola) and Jack Groob (violin). The quartet played a mixed repertoire that included standard classical music with more widely recognized popular songs and new compositions, especially works by Canadian composers such as Howard Cable, John Weinzweig and Jean Coulthard. Sponsored by the Ontario Board of Education and the CBC, the SSQ played rural Ontario towns and broadcast concerts for a wide demographic of music listeners. In 1955, they performed the Canadian debut of the Castelnuovo-Tedesco Quintet for guitar and strings with Andres Segovia. The SSQ, with frequent changes in personnel, continued performing until 1968. Other players in the SSQ included Robert Warburton, Martin Chenhall, Murray Adaskin, Arthur Milligan, Charles Dobias, Eugene Hudson, Berul Sugerman, Joseph Pach and Ivan Romanoff.
In 1973, Solway was invited to act in a short children’s film “The Violin,” co-produced by George Pastic and Andrew Walsh. Solway also contributed the original music to the film, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1975. Following the success of the film, Solway also appeared on television, making guest appearances with Sharon, Lois and Bram, on the Elephant Show and Mr. Dressup. During this time, his wife Anne traveled with him and managed his appointments.
Solway was also a violin teacher throughout his career. In 1989, he published a preparatory book, Fiddling for Fun: the Visual and Aural Art of Violin Playing, in which he outlined a new theory for violin practice that proposed an easy to use visual system for familiarizing students with intervals and fingerboard positions.
He also wrote an autobiography, Recollections of a Violinist, in 1984, and continued to lecture and speak about music. In 1981 and 1983 he devised a lecture performance series to commemorate Ysaÿe, the proceeds of which went to the establishment of a music scholarship at the Royal Conservatory. As he began to play less frequently in the 1980s, he also began to compose more regularly, completing more than one hundred compositions, primarily works for solo violin and for violin and piano. As a composer, he returned frequently to folk themes and completed a series of songs based on his travels around the world. Among his folk themes are songs inspired by his visits to such diverse countries as Norway, Maui, Japan, Israel and Spain.
Maurice Solway was affiliated with the Beth Tzedec Synagogue and frequently contributed to charity concerts and fundraising efforts for organizations such as the Inner City Angels, a cultural society for disadvantaged children. He died in 2001 in Toronto.
Scope and Content
The Solway fonds is arranged into twelve files. The documents relate to Solway's professional activities as a musician, educator, composer, actor and author. These include printed texts, photographs, original music scores, promotional materials, programmes, audio cassettes, articles, correspondence, radioscripts and a video.
Notes
Includes 31 photographs, 2 v. of text, 1 videocassette (VHS) and 17 audio cassettes.
Name Access
Solway, Maurice, 1906-2001
Subjects
Musicians
Related Material
Fonds 25, Series 11, Item 9: Photo cabinet, photo #179 (oversized)
Photo cabinet, photo #501
Two titles in the archives library collection (1984-12-6) (1 title missing 15 Aug. 2006)
A vertical file has been created for Maurice Solway.
Creator
Solway, Maurice, 1906-2001
Accession Number
1988-10-9
1991-3-3
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Morris Norman collection
Level
Collection
ID
Fonds 22
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Morris Norman collection
Level
Collection
Fonds
22
Material Format
multiple media
Date
1856-1995
Physical Description
1.1 m of textual records and other material
Admin History/Bio
Morris Norman (b. 1946) is a chartered accountant living and working in Toronto. He is an avid collector of Canadiana, specifically Judaica. He purchases lots at auction and donates them to the Ontario Jewish Archives, as well as other institutions.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of the individual items collected at auction by Morris Norman. The records relate to the Toronto Jewish community and Ontario Jewry and include textual documents, photographs, near-prints, publications, artifacts, posters and broadsheets, sound recordings, and ephemera. Most of the items relate to various Jewish organizations, businesses, synagogues and individuals, and to Christian missionary work in Toronto. The material has been described at the file level, or where appropriate, the item level.
There are also four distinct series of records which document Berul Sugarman, who was a concert violinist and orchestral leader; the Franklin family, who owned a large amount of property in Toronto in the late 1800s and early 1900s; radio and television scripts written by Wayne and Shuster, Henry Karpus and Russell Bradley; and a collection of Turofsky photographs.
Notes
Physical description note: Includes 49 objects, 25 photographs, 7 audio recordings and 4 prints.
Name Access
Norman, Morris
Norman, Jessie
Creator
Norman, Morris (1946-)
Accession Number
1995-9-3
1995-9-4
1995-9-8
1996-6-3
1996-7-3
1996-9-1
1997-7-1
1998-1-1
1998-3-44
1998-7-2
1999-10-1
2000-7-4
2000-12-3
2001-3-3
2001-4-3
2001-8-5
2001-10-6
2001-11-1
2002-4-1
2002-5-1
2002-7-1
2002-9-1
2002-10-5
2002-10-58
2002-12-3
2003-5-3
2003-10-6
2004-7-4
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Benjamin Brown fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 49
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Benjamin Brown fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
49
Material Format
multiple media
Date
1902-1949
Physical Description
ca. 1500 architectural and technical drawings
6 photographs : b&w ; 38 x 30 cm or smaller
16 cm of textual records
Admin History/Bio
Benjamin Brown (ca. 1888-1974) was the first practicing Jewish architect in Toronto. Born in what is now Lithuania, he arrived in Toronto at an early age and soon after, quit school to take a job in a garment manufacturing factory to help out his impoverished family. Not finding this career to his liking, Brown enrolled in the Ontario School of Art and Design with the intention of becoming an artist. When this profession proved financially unfeasible, Brown decided to pursue a career in architecture. After completing his high school equivalency, he enrolled in the University of Toronto architectural program, graduating in 1913. Soon after, Brown opened up a practice with fellow architect Robert McConnell, which lasted until the early 1920s. After the partnership ended, Brown set up an independent practice, which he maintained until his retirement in 1955.
Scope and Content
The fonds documents Brown’s design work and renovations of existing buildings through his original drawings, renderings, and building blueprints. The fonds consists of approximately 1500 drawings that are organized into about 150 projects. These projects include single-family residences, apartment buildings, commercial and industrial buildings, as well as synagogue and other community buildings. Many of Brown's buildings were designed in the Art Deco style, with some containing Georgian, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, Tudor and Romanesque elements.
Brown's most important commissions include the Beth Jacob Synagogue located on Henry Street, which was one the largest synagogues in Toronto, and the Balfour Building, an office tower built in the Art Deco style. The designs of Mendel Granatstein’s mansion, which contained a retractable roof for Sukkoth, and a colour sketch of the Primrose Club, which is currently the University of Toronto Faculty Club, may also be of interest to researchers. The fonds also includes some of Brown's files containing articles and illustrations from architecture and design journals of the early twentieth century, which he used as a resource to assist him with his work.
Fonds includes six photographs, one of the Balfour Building, one of Cumberland Hall, and four of Brown as a young man.
Notes
Architectural plans of a lead mine in Burnt River Ontario have been sent to the Kawartha Lakes Archives.
Name Access
Brown, Benjamin, 1890-1974
Subjects
Architects
Creator
Brown, Benjamin, 1890-1974
Accession Number
1975
1987-9-3
1989-10-6
2004-5-109
2004-5-139
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Dora Till fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 52
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Dora Till fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
52
Material Format
multiple media
Date
1921-1986
Physical Description
1.4 m of textual records and other material
Admin History/Bio
Dora Till (1896-1987) was a leading member of the Toronto Jewish community. She helped found and served on the executives and boards of many organizations, including the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Toronto, the United Jewish Welfare Fund (UJWF), the Candian Jewish Congress Central Region, and the Baycrest Hospital Women's Auxiliary. She was honoured numerous times in her life with awards and tributes for her contributions to the Jewish community.
Till was born in New York City on 20 March 1896, one of six children of Max and Yeta Tobias. Her parents had emigrated from Poland prior to 1892. When Dora was four, the family moved to Toronto where Max Tobias worked as a tailor. In her teens, Till was an active member of two social clubs for girls, the Boot and Shoe Society (for mothers and children in need) and the Herzl Girls Club.
Dora Tobias married Morris S. Till on 21 May 1916, in Toronto. They had two children, Sigmund and Cecile, both of whom she outlived. Sigmund died tragically at the age of 11 after a sudden illness. Cecile married Frank Goldhar and they had two children, Sheila Anne and Meyer Garson.
In 1918, Till joined the Hebrew Maternity Aid Society and she served as its vice-president for the next fifteen years. This was the beginning of a lifetime career in family welfare, health care and services for the aged. Till helped found and was the first president of the Mothers' and Babes' Summer Rest Home located in Bronte and then Tollandale, which provided mothers and children in need with a two-week holiday in the country.
From the 1920s until the 1940s, Till served on several boards including the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Toronto, and the United Jewish Welfare Fund, as well as the Welfare Fund's Women's Division and Women's Service Council. In 1950, she became the first woman to be named honourary vice-president of the UJWF. In 1955, after many years affiliation with the Jewish Home for the Aged, Dora Till organized the newly built Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care's Women's Auxiliary, becoming its first president. She also served for 40 years on the executive board of the Family and Child Service Bureau, the precursor to Jewish Family & Child Services. Till was an active member of many other Jewish organizations, including the Naomi Chapter of Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women, B'nai Brith Women, the Mount Sinai Women's Auxiliary, the Jewish Camp Council, and Toronto United Community Appeal - Community Chest. She was also a member of Goel Tzedec Congregation and its successor, Beth Tzedec Congregation.
Dora Till was honoured with several awards and tributes in her lifetime for her contributions to Jewish life, health and welfare in Toronto. In 1956, the Dora and Morris Till Bungalow at the Mothers and Babes Summer Rest Home was dedicated. In 1969, she was the first woman to recieve UJWF's Ben Sadowski Award for Jewish Community Service. As well, in 1977, she received the Queen's Silver Jubilee medal for outstanding community service. In 1983 a Baycrest Centre tribute dinner was held in her honour and in 1984, the top floor of the Baycrest Centre was dedicated to her. This was the culmination of a lifetime devoted to social welfare and community service, and it came just a few years before Till's death, on 22 November 1987.
Custodial History
The records were in the possession of Dora Till's granddaughter, Mrs. Sheila Gottlieb, until they were donated to the OJA in 1987.
Scope and Content
This fonds consists of records documenting the personal and philanthropic activities of Dora Till, including her ongoing involvement with the Mothers' and Babes' Summer Rest Home, the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care Women's Auxiliary, the United Jewish Welfare Fund, and to a lesser extent other organizations that she was involved or affiliated with. Till's records of the Mothers' and Babes' Rest Home are some of the few to have survived from this important social service organization.
The organizational records in the fonds include minutes, correspondence, reports, speeches, financial records, newsclippings, pamphlets, brochures, invitations, architectural drawings, and photographs, primarily of the Mothers and Babes Rest Home and the Baycrest Centre. As well, there are two artifacts: a Baycrest Centre pin and a gold shovel from the groundbreaking ceremony. The personal records in the fonds include family photographs and portraits, writings, newsclippings and general correspondence.
The fonds has been arranged into eight series: 1. Mothers' and Babes' Summer Rest Home Association. 2. Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care Women's Auxiliary. 3. Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care Heritage Museum Committee. 4. Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care Furnishings Committee. 5. Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care : other committees. 6. United Jewish Welfare Fund. 7. Other organizations. 8. Personal. The records have been described to the file level, while a selection of photographs have been scanned and described at the item level.
Notes
Physical description note: includes 197 photographs (54 negatives), 9 architectural drawings, and 2 objects
Name Access
Till, Dora, 1896-1987
Access Restriction
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing some of the records.
Related Material
For related material on the Mothers' and Babes' Summer Rest Home, please see: Jewish Community Centre of Toronto fonds 61, Federation of Jewish Philanthropies fonds 66, United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds 67, Ida Lewis Siegel fonds 15, and the Rebecca Kamarner family fonds 11.
For related material on the Baycrest Centre Women's Auxiliary, please see: Pat Joy Alpert fonds 77 and fonds 14.
For related material on National Council of Jewish Women please see fonds 38.
Arrangement
This fonds had previously been arranged and described as MG6 H. The current arrangement was implemented by the archivist in 2010 and as a result, several files from the former MG were culled or merged. Therefore, the former MG finding aid is no longer accurate.
Creator
Till, Dora, 1896-1987
Accession Number
1987-1-5
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Jewish Community Centre of Toronto fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 61
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Jewish Community Centre of Toronto fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
61
Material Format
multiple media
Date
[ca. 1920]-1994
Physical Description
3 m of textual records (19 v.) and other material
Admin History/Bio
The Schwartz-Reisman Jewish Community Centre, the Prosserman Jewish Community Centre (formerly the Bathurst Jewish Community Centre or BJCC) and the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre (MNJCC) in Toronto are the current incarnations of what began, in 1919, as the Hebrew Association of Young Men's and Young Women's Clubs, later known as the Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association of Toronto (YM-YWHA). The YM-YWHA, in turn, began as a merger between several other small athletic clubs operating in the city. The original mandate was strictly athletic, but soon broadened to include other areas of interest, in order to provide a sense of Jewish identity and camaraderie through physical, educational, cultural and community based programming. During the 1920s, the 'Y' became known simply as the Young Men’s Hebrew Association (YMHA) – the name under which it was incorporated in 1930.
For close to two decades, the ‘Y’ had rented rooms in the Brunswick Avenue and College Street area, including the basement facilities of the Brunswick Avenue Talmud Torah. By the mid-1930s, these facilities were overcrowded and unable to support the growing membership, particularly when the young women’s programming was reintroduced in 1936.
As a result, in 1937, the YM-YWHA constructed its own athletic building at 15 Brunswick Avenue, next door to the Talmud Torah, to ease the overcrowding. However, the ‘Y’ still had to make use of five scattered buildings to meet its needs, including the Central YMCA gym for its basketball teams. The early ‘Y’ was staffed by volunteers who were granted free memberships in exchange for their time and expertise.
On 3 February 1953, a new Jewish Community Centre was dedicated at the corner of Bloor Street and Spadina Avenue. By the end of the 1950s, the ‘Y’ was providing services for all ages, ranging from a nursery school to their Good Age Club for seniors.
As the Jewish community moved northward, so too did the ‘Y’, with the dedication of a new northern branch on 1 May 1961. This new branch, located at Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue, was created in order to address the athletic, educational, cultural and community needs of the expanding Jewish community in the north end of the city. Fourteen years later, an improved cultural and physical education wing was added as part of the completion campaign. This included the addition of the Leah Posluns Theatre and the Murray Koffler Centre of the Arts. In 1978, the YM-YWHA changed its name to the Jewish Community Centre of Toronto, in order to better reflect its broader role in the community. A new Northeast Valley branch was also established in Thornhill in the early 1980s and later closed in the late 1990s.
In 1994, the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto took over the operation of the northern branch, due to financial difficulties. At this point, all three branches became independent of one another and were no longer constituted as the Jewish Community Centre of Toronto. They each had independent boards of directors, while still receiving some of their operating funds from the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto.
Scope and Content
This fonds consists of the records created and accumulated by the Jewish Community Centre of Toronto -- which included the Bloor branch and the northern Bathurst Jewish Community Centre -- and its predecessor, the YM-YWHA. The records include textual records maintained by the office of the executive director, financial reports, architectural plans, Y-Times newsletters, program material, photographs and oral histories.
The records have been arranged into the following series: Executive director, Jewish Community Centre Archives Committee, Publication Committee, Communications Department, Sports Celebrity Dinner, and Combined Building Campaign Committee.
Notes
Includes 2539 photographs, 42 architectural drawings, 13 sound recordings, 4 artifacts, and 2 posters.
Name Access
Jewish Community Centre of Toronto
Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre
Subjects
Community centers
Related Material
See photo #2369-2646, 3412, 3519, 3804, 4201, 5004, 6125, accession #1986-7-8, MG2 N1a
Creator
Jewish Community Centre of Toronto (Toronto, Ont.)
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Accession Number
2004-6-6
2004-5-13
2004-5-2
1988-11-7
1988-4-9
1984-7-2
1983-12-1
1982-12-2
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Solomon Edell fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 4
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Solomon Edell fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
4
Material Format
multiple media
Date
[ca. 1900]-2010
Physical Description
3.1 metres of textual records and other material
Admin History/Bio
Sol Edell (1919-2000) was a prominant member of the Toronto Jewish community who initially pursued a career as a pharmacist and was later founder and president of the property development company, Elmdale Investments. He held positions as board member or chair in a wide variety of religious, educational and social service organizations and institutions both in Canada and Israel. In Toronto, these included: Clanton Park Synagogue, Adas Israel Synagogue, Jones Avenue Cemetery, Canadian Jewish Congress and the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto (formerly Toronto Jewish Congress, and now the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto).
Edell was born in Toronto on 5 March 1919, the son of Pesach and Molly Edell. He attended Harbord Collegiate and graduated from the Toronto College of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, in 1943 while on leave of absence from the army. He was enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces during the Second World War and served in the signal corps.
After he completed his army service, he opened Edell’s Drug Store at 1978 Queen Street in Etobicoke in 1948, the first shomer Shabbat drug store in the city. He operated a second store at 494 Spadina Avenue in the late 1940s. In 1955 the Queen Street location was expropriated by the City of Toronto. Subsequently, Edell founded Elmdale Investments, the company which built and managed the Elmhurst Plaza in Etobicoke. He reopened the drug store, which was renamed Elmhurst Drugs in the plaza. He also invested in two retail textile stores, Deltex Drapery and Dodd’s Drapery which had been founded by group of businessmen including his cousin Israel Edell.
In 1952 he married Dolly Weinstock, the daughter of Moishe and Sylvia Weinstock. They lived in the newly developed suburb of North York with their four children: Ethel, Simcha, Malka and Joseph. After 10 years of marriage, Dolly died and in 1966, he married Celia Rogen Hoffman.
Sol Edell was a founding member and first president of the Clanton Park Congregation. He was actively involved in the construction of the synagogue and its development. He continued to be affiliated with Shomrai Shabbos where his grandfather Rabbi Yosef Weinreb had been the rabbi. He was also involved with Adas Israel, the synagogue in Hamilton where his wife Celia had been an active member.
He was chair of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region -- Toronto Jewish Congress Archives Committee, which subsequently became the Ontario Jewish Archives. During his tenure, the archives was responsible for the reconstruction of the Kiever Synagogue which had been built in the early 1900s but had fallen into a state of disrepair by the 1960s.
Sol Edell was also involved in a number of Zionist organizations. He was the founding chair of the Aliyah Support Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto, whose mandate was to assist Torontonians who had moved to Israel and ease their transition into Israeli society. He was also an active member of the Mizrachi organization and its affiliated institutions. Another one of Sol Edell’s interests was ensuring the preservation of local cemeteries. He was president of the Jones Avenue Cemetery and on the board of Pardes Shalom and the Bathurst Lawn Cemetery, Clanton Park section.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records documenting Sol Edell's business activities, community involvement and personal life. Included is correspondence, meeting minutes, photographs, financial records, legal records, publications, audio-visual material, invitations, newspaper clippings, artifacts, lists, reports, speeches, and architectural drawings.
The fonds is organized into the following eleven series: Personal; Edell's Drug Store and Elmhurst Pharmacy; Elmdale Investments; Deltex Drapery and Dodd's Drapery; Adas Israel Synagogue; Clanton Park Synagogue; Shomrai Shabbos; Aliyah; Cemetery and funeral home; Historical materials; and, Activities and organizations.
Notes
Physical description note: includes 739 photographs, 232 architectural drawings, 11 audio cassettes, 9 audio reels, 13 film reels, 7 videocassettes, 4 slides, 1 plaque, 4 badges, and 1 key.
Name Access
Edell Solomon, 1919-2000
Clanton Park Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Edell, Dolly
Edell, Celia
Edell's Drug Store
Elmhurst Pharmacy
Jones Avenue Cemetery
Canadian Jewish Congress/ Toronto Jewish Congress Archives
Aliyah Support Committee
Subjects
Business
Pharmacists
Access Restriction
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing some of the records.
Physical Condition
The bulk of the architectural drawings are currently being stored rolled up. They should be flattened and encapsulated in melinex.
Film and sound reels should be digitized.
Related Material
See fonds #5 for material related to Paul Edell.
See accession #2012-10/9 for material related to the Edell family.
Creator
Edell, Solomon, 1919-2000
Accession Number
2002-12-2
2008-8-29
2011-5-4
2012-10-9
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Solomon Edell fonds
Personal series
Level
Series
ID
Fonds 4; Series 1
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Solomon Edell fonds
Personal series
Level
Series
Fonds
4
Series
1
Material Format
multiple media
Date
[ca. 1900]-2000
Physical Description
49 cm of textual records and other material
Admin History/Bio
Sol Edell, the son of Paul and Mollie Edell, was one of five siblings. He and Dolly Weinstock, the daughter of Moishe and Sylvia Weinstock, had two daughters and two sons and lived in Toronto. After Dolly died in 1961, he married Celia (née Rogen) Hoffman, a widow, in 1966. He became the stepfather to the two sons of Max and Celia Hoffman who had been residents of Hamilton. Some members of the family remained in Toronto while others moved to other parts of Canada, the United States and Israel. Sol Edell was actively involved in or provided financial support to many educational, professional and religious organizations.
Scope and Content
Series includes correspondence, invitations, publications, photographs, family films and a sound recording. The series is made up of seven sub-series: Associations, Charities, Community Activities, Education and Extra-Curricular Activities, Life Cycle and Family Events, Religious, and Residence.
Notes
Physical description note: includes 12 photographs, 7 film reels, 1 audio reel, 1 plaque, 4 badges, and 47 architectural drawings.
Name Access
Hoffman, Max
Hoffman, Celia
Rho Pi Phi
Harbord Collegiate
Subjects
Education
Greek letter societies
Physical Condition
Film and sound reels should be digitized.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Solomon Edell fonds
Personal series
Life cycle and family events sub-series
Level
Sub-series
ID
Fonds 4; Series 1-5
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Solomon Edell fonds
Personal series
Life cycle and family events sub-series
Level
Sub-series
Fonds
4
Series
1-5
Material Format
multiple media
Date
[ca. 1900]-2000
Physical Description
37 cm of textual records and other material
Admin History/Bio
Sol Edell had a large family and a large circle of friends and aquaintenances. Consequently, he was invited to many circumcisions, weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs. He also set up several memorial funds in memory of his sister and wives.There are also documents in this sub-series that relate to family members.
Scope and Content
Sub-series consists of correspondence, receipts, diplomas, photographs and films documenting various family celebrations, vacations and home life. There is a selection of invitations, cards and benchers sent by the Edell, Weinstock and Hoffman families as well as ones that they received from family and friends. In addition, there are newspaper clippings and notices of the deaths of Edell family members and friends as well as correspondence and receipts relating to memorial funds set up in their memory. The sub-series also contains films of family and friends taken at home, on vacation and at family celebrations.
Notes
Physical description note: includes 10 photographs, 7 film reels, and 1 audio reel.
Name Access
Hoffman family
Weinstock family
Edell, Dolly
Edell, Celia
Subjects
Families
Source
Archival Descriptions
Accession Number
2010-3-1
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2010-3-1
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
ca. 300 photographs and other material
Date
1906-1983
Scope and Content
The accession includes records documenting the family of Sharon Abron Drache. This includes both sides of her family: the Abramowitz/Abrons and the Levinters. The material consists of two beta home movie tapes, three DVDs, several photo albums, four artifacts (as well as newspaper clippings), correspondence, certificates, and other material. The donation also includes a book entitled Window on Toronto, a certificate for the Jewish Colonial Trust, examples of Murray Abron's photographs, and a recording of a speech Abba Eban gave at the UN.
Custodial History
The records were in the custody of Sharon Abron Drache. She has interherited the family photos and documents from both sides of her family.
Administrative History
Murray Abramowitz was born in 1912 in Toronto. His parents were David Abramowitz (1884-1963) and Sarah Abramowitz (née Winfield) (1885-1955). David arrived in Toronto in 1906. Sarah and her parents, Jacob and Anna, settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania around 1880. Jacob worked as a grocer and relocated his family to Toronto around 1894. Sarah and David were married at the McCaul Street Synagogue in Toronto on March 6, 1906. They resided at 159 York Street after their nuptials. The couple had three children: Rose (1907-2001), Oscar (1910-1986), and Murray (1912-2005). David's father, Shevach, served as the lay cantor at the First Roumanian Hebrew Congregation (now Adath Israel). David owned the men’s shop in Union Station. His sister, Sophie Abramowitz, ran the ladies' shop. The shops were located on the east end of the Great Hall, beneath the composite glass windows. Rose Abron Lahman became a physician, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. Initially, she practised in Toronto; later, she practiced in Atlanta, Georgia. Rose graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto when there were quotas for both women and Jews.
Murray married Edythe Levinter (m. Abramowitz) on June, 8, 1941. The event took place at the bride's family's home above their furniture store, J. Levinter Ltd, at 1169 Bloor Street West. The couple had one child, Sharon Abron Drache. Murray began using the Abron surname during the 1940s, changing it legally in the 1950s.
During his life, Murray worked as an hotelier and ran several businesses. These included the Rex Hotel in Toronto, Tent City at Lake Simcoe (ca. 1935-1945), and the St. Lawrence Hotel in Port Hope (1949-1955). When Murray managed the Rex Hotel he was a fifty-fifty partner with his mother's brother-in-law, Leo Hertzman. Leo owned and managed the store, United Clothing, which fronted the Rex Hotel on Queen Street at the south side of the beverage room. When Leo’s son Harold Hertzman returned from military service in 1945, Leo bought out Murray’s share in the business for Harold. Jack Ross and Morris Meyers purchased the hotel from the Hertzmans in 1951. Murray was also a co-owner of the Tent City business with his father, David Abramowitz, coinciding with his Rex Hotel years. During the late 1950s he worked as a real estate broker in Toronto and Florida. From the 1960s to the early 1970s, he worked in his mother-in-law’s furniture business, J. Levinter Ltd. After Murray retired from the furniture business, he became a stock broker. His hobbies included fishing, photography, and storytelling. He died on October 10, 2005.
The Levinter family was headed by Samuel Levinter and Rebecca Levinter (née Godfried). They were both born in Austria (Galicia) and came to Canada in their teens. After their marriage in 1890, they resided in St. John's Ward. The couple had seven children: Jacob (b. 1892), Etta (b. 1894), Manny (b. 1895), Isadore (b. 1898), Molly (b. 1900), Rose, and Dolly. Isadore became a prominent Toronto lawyer and was the first Jew appointed as a bencher at the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Samuel established Levinter Furniture in 1890. The business was initially located at 401-405 Queen Street. By 1925 Samuel had relocated his store to 287 Queen Street West, and his son Jacob had opened a second location at 1169 Bloor Street West. Jacob later expanded his location to 1171 Bloor Street West. Samuel died on April 30, 1942. Rebecca died in 1952. Jacob married Sara Kamin (b. 1894, Lodz, Poland) on June 25, 1916. They had six children: Edythe (1918 -2011), Alfred (1919-1919), Evelyn (1922-2006), Murray (1925-), Molly (1926 -), and Florence (b. 1930-). Jacob died of a heart attack in 1944. After his death, Sara took his place as owner and manager of the family business, grooming her son Murray to succeed her. Sara’s daughter Molly had an early career as a concert pianist in Toronto and New York. Sara died in Toronto in 1990.
Sharon Abron Drache attended Forest Hill Collegiate, graduating in 1962, and then completed an undergraduate degree and post-graduate diploma in psychology at the University of Toronto, the latter from the Institute of Child Study. She was enrolled as a special student in the Department of Religion at Carleton University from 1974-78. She has published four books of adult fiction: the Mikveh Man, Ritual Slaughter, the Golden Ghetto, and Barbara Klein Muskrat – Then and Now. She has also published two children's books: the Magic Pot and the Lubavitchers are Coming to Second Avenue. She has also worked as a literary journalist and book reviewer for several newspapers and journals including the Globe and Mail, the Ottawa Citizen, Books in Canada, the Glebe Report, and the Ottawa and Western Jewish Bulletins.
Use Conditions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Descriptive Notes
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION NOTE: Includes 4 objects, 2 videocassettes (beta-tapes), 3 DVDs, 1 book, and 1 folder of textual records.
ASSOCIATED MATERIAL NOTE: Please see Sharon Drache's fonds at Library and Archives Canada and at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto for material related to her literary career. Please see Sharon Drache's fonds at the Ottawa Jewish Archives for material related to her journalism career. Finally, for additional material related to Sharon's family please see her fonds at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto.
RELATED MATERIAL NOTE: See accessions #2010-12/8 and # 2013-7/15 for addtional records donated by Sharon Abron Drache.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2010-3-2
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2010-3-2
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
88 photographs (44 jpgs): b&w ; 12 x 20 cm or smaller and other material
Date
[1922?]-1950
Scope and Content
Accession consists of textual records, photographs and films that document the Laufer family and Gordon Laufer's military service during the Second World War. Records include an ISCOR program from the Minsker Synagogue, newspaper clippings relating to Gordon's military service, photographs of Gordon's grade school classes at Lansdowne Public School, early life growing up in the countryside, wedding, and military service overseas, including one of a passover dinner for military personnel. The verso of the scanned photographs were also scanned to show the annotations and dates on the originals. The scanned photographs and documents were originally maintained together in an album. The two parchments likely document Isaac Goldman's membership in the Beizetchiner mutual benefit society. Finally, the films document the wedding of Gordon Laufer's step sister Sylvia Snider to Abe Sapoznik (1950), a passover family dinner (1947) and a family trip to Crystal Beach (1949).
Administrative History
Fanny Laufer (1921-2022), daughter of Isaac and Esther Goldman, was born in Toronto in 1921. Her parents immigrated to Toronto in 1903 from Poland after coming here on their honeymoon. Upon arriving in Toronto, Isaac worked for Eaton’s, but soon opened a dry cleaning and pressing store on Terauley Street, which moved to 469 Dundas Street West in 1922. Fanny married Gordon Laufer (1915-1981) on June 25,1946 at Beth Jacob Synagogue (Henry Street shul).
Gordon served in the Irish Regiment of Canada during the Second World War. He originally found work as a furrier, but later worked for the liquor board. Together, he and Fanny had two daughters; Gloria (b. 1947) and Sandy (b.1950). Gordon passed away in 1981 and Gloria passed away in recent years. Fanny passed away on 10 September 2022.
Use Conditions
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Descriptive Notes
Physical Description Note: Includes 5 scanned documents (jpg), 2 parchments, 3 film reels (ca. 20 min.), and 1 folder of textual records.
Language note:Parchments are in Yiddish
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2010-12-8
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2010-12-8
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
ca. 11 cm of textual records and other material
Date
[ca. 1905] - 1989
Scope and Content
Accession consists of textual records, photographs and audio-visual material documenting Sharon Abron Drache's family and career. Family records document both sides of her family: the Abramowitz/Abron and Levinters. Family records include correspondence, invitations, photographs, five beta tapes of home movies, certificates, newsclippings, family genealogy trees and one scrapbook. Professional records include Sharon's curriculum vitae, newsclippings and a manuscript of Sharon's unpublished novel entitled, Weekend Commute.
Custodial History
The records were in the custody of Sharon Abron Drache. She has interherited the family photos and documents from both sides of her family.
Administrative History
Murray Abramowitz was born in 1912 in Toronto. His parents were David (1884-1963) and Sarah (nee Winfield) (1885-1955). David arrived in Toronto in 1906. Sarah and her parents, Jacob and Anna, settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania around 1880. Jacob worked as a grocer and relocated his family to Toronto around 1894. Sarah and David were married at the McCaul Street Synagogue in Toronto on 6 March 1906. They resided at 159 York Street after their nuptials. The couple had three children: Rose (1907-2001); Oscar (1910-1986); Murray (1912-2005). David's father, Shevach, served as the lay cantor at the First Roumanian Hebrew Congregation (now Adath Israel). David owned the Men’s shop in the Union Station and his sister, Sophie Abramowitz, ran the Ladies shop. The shops were located on the east end of the Great Hall beneath the composite glass windows. Rose Abron Lahman became a physician, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. Initially she practised in Toronto and then in Atlanta, Georgia. Rose graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto when there were quotas for both women and Jews.
Murray married Edythe (née Levinter) on 8 June, 1941. The event took place at the bride's family's home above their furniture store, J. Levinter Ltd, at 1169 Bloor Street West. The couple had one child, Sharon Abron Drache. Murray began using the Abron surname during the 1940s, changing it legally in the 1950s.
During his life, Murray worked as an hotelier and ran several businesses. They included the Rex Hotel in Toronto and Tent City at Lake Simcoe (ca. 1935-1945) and the St. Lawrence Hotel in Port Hope (1949-1955). When Murray managed the Rex Hotel he was a 50/50 partner with his mother's brother-in-law, Leo Hertzman. Leo owned and managed the store, United Clothing, which fronted the Rex hotel on Queen Street at the south side of the beverage room. When Leo’s son Harold Hertzman returned from military service in 1945, Leo bought out Murray’s share in the business for Harold. Jack Ross and Morris Meyers purchased the hotel from the Hertzmans in 1951. Murray was also a co-owner of the Tent City business with his father, David Abramowitz, coinciding with his Rex hotel years. During the late 1950s he worked as a real estate broker in Toronto and Florida. From the 1960s to the early 1970s he worked in his mother-in-law’s furniture business, J. Levinter Ltd. After Murray retired from the furniture business he became a stock broker. His hobbies included fishing, photography and storytelling. He died on 10 October 2005.
The Levinter family was headed by Samuel and Rebecca (née Godfried). They were both born in Austria (Galicia) and came to Canada in their teens. After their marriage in 1890, they resided in St. John's Ward. The couple had seven children: Jacob (b. 1892); Etta (b. 1894); Manny (b. 1895); Isadore (b. 1898); Molly (b. 1900); Rose and Dolly. Isadore became a prominent Toronto lawyer and was the first Jew appointed as a bencher at the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Samuel established Levinter Furniture in 1890. The business was initially located at 401-405 Queen Street. By 1925 Samuel had relocated his store to 287 Queen Street West and his son Jacob had opened a second location at 1169 Bloor Street West. Jacob later expanded his location to 1171 Bloor Street West. Samuel died on April 30, 1942; Rebecca died in 1952. Jacob married Sara Kamin (b. 1894, Lodz, Poland) on 25 June 1916. They had six children: Edythe (1918 -2011); Alfred (1919-1919); Evelyn (1922-2006); Murray (1925-); Molly (1926 -); Florence (b. 1930-). Jacob died of a heart attack in 1944. After his death, Sara took his place as owner and manager of the family business grooming her son Murray to succeed her. Sara’s daughter Molly had an early career as a concert pianist in Toronto and New York. Sara died in Toronto in 1990.
Sharon Abron Drache attended Forest Hill Collegiate (g. 1962) and then completed an undergraduate degree and post-graduate diploma in Psychology at the University of Toronto, the latter from the Institute of Child Study. She was enrolled as a special student in the Department of Religion at Carleton University from 1974-78. She has published four books of adult fiction, The Mikveh Man, Ritual Slaughter, The Golden Ghetto, Barbara Klein Muskrat – then and now, and two children's books, The Magic Pot and The Lubavitchers are coming to Second Avenue. She has also worked as a literary journalist and book reviewer for several newspapers and journals including, The Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen, Books in Canada, the Glebe Report and the Ottawa and Western Jewish Bulletins.
Use Conditions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Descriptive Notes
Physical description note: Includes 1 scrapbook, ca. 8 photographs, 5 beta-tapes, and 4 DVDs.
Associated Material Note: please see Sharon Drache's fonds at Library and Archives Canada and at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto for material related to her literary career. Please see Sharon Drache's fonds at the Ottawa Jewish Archives for material related to her journalism career. Finally, for additional material related to Sharon's family please see her fonds at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto.
Related Material Note: see accessions #2010-3/1 and #2013-7/15 for addtional records donated to the OJA by Sharon Abron Drache.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2012-3-8
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2012-3-8
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
58 photographs (tif) and other material
Date
1945, 1965-2003
Scope and Content
Accession consists of records documenting the establishment and activities of Toronto's Holocaust Memorial and Education Centre as well as the personal life and professional activities of Gerda Frieberg. Holocaust Education Centre records include audiovisual material, sound recordings, meeting minutes, financial records, booklets and brochures, photographs, and flyers. Of note is a video of the opening and dedication of the Holocaust Museum in 1985 and the sheet music and sound recordings of the musical score Gerda commissioned for the centre by Srul Glick.
Records in the Gerda Frieberg fonds document her involvement with the Holocaust Education Centre, the Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Canada, B'nai Brith Women, the Federation of Jewish Women's organizations, and her other activities. Included are photographs, newspaper clippings, meeting minutes, and correspondence. Also included is a sound recording from a Federation of Jewish Women's Organizations event and a DVD copy of the film "Mend the World," a CBC documentary that features Gerda and other Toronto Holocaust survivors. The electronic images were scanned from Gerda's personal scrapbooks.
Custodial History
Records were in the possession of Gerda Frieberg until she donated them to the OJA in 2012.
Use Conditions
Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Descriptive Notes
Includes 4 audio cassette tapes, 4 VHS tapes, 3 DVDs, 3 cm of textual records, and 8 photographs.
Subjects
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Name Access
Frieberg, Gerda
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2012-4-2
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2012-4-2
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
30 cm of textual records and other material
Date
[190-]-1994
Scope and Content
Accession consists of records documenting the literary and military careers of Leo Heaps, as well as a small selection of family photographs and textual records. Included are various manuscripts and other writings, newsclippings and documents related to Heaps' role as a British paratrooper and his subsequent awarding of the Royal Military Cross. The photographs document the Heaps family, as well as the underground resistance movement in Arnhem, of which he was a part.
The videocassette documents a family trip to Arnhem in 1994 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem.
Photo Caption (035): Seargent Alan Kettley of the Glider Pilot Regiment, [194-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2012-4-2. Courtesy of the Heaps Family.
Photo Caption (038): Gilbert Sadi-Kirschen known, head of the Special Air Service mission to Arnhem, [194-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2012-4-2. Courtesy of the Heaps Family.
Photo Caption (046): Major Tony Hibbot (left) about to take off for Arnhem, [194-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2012-4-2. Courtesy of the Heaps Family.
Custodial History
The records were in the possession of Adrian Heaps, son of Leo Heaps.
Administrative History
Leo Heaps (1923-1995) was born in Winnipeg in 1923, the son of A. A. Heaps and Bessie Morris. His father A. A. was a founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the forerunner of the New Democratic Party. Leo Heaps was raised in Winnipeg and received an education at Queen's University, the University of California, and McGill University. During the Second World War, at the age of 21, Heaps was seconded to the British Army and found himself commanding the 1st Battalion's Transport. He participated in the Battle of Arnhem as a paratrooper.
Leo Heaps was awarded the Royal Military Cross for his work with the Dutch Resistance. His brother, David, had also achieved the same distinction, thereby making them the only Jewish brothers during the Second World War to win the decoration. After the war, Heaps went to Israel and aided their army in the establishment of mobile striking units. Whilst there, he met his wife-to-be, Tamar (1927-). Together they had one son, Adrian, and three daughters, Karen, Gillian, and Wendy.
During the Hungarian Revolution he led a special rescue team to bring refugees out and across the border. In the mid-1960s he returned to Britain where he dabbled in various entrepreneurial projects as well as writing several books, notably "The Grey Goose of Arnhem", telling his own story of Arnhem, the aftermath of the battle, and also the stories of other Arnhem evaders and their dealings with the Resistance.
Leo Heaps spent most of his life in Toronto, Canada, and was amongst the forty Canadian veterans who returned to Arnhem in 1994 to mark the 50th anniversary. He died in 1995.
Use Conditions
Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Publication credit line must read: Courtesy of the Heaps Family.
Descriptive Notes
Physical Description note: Includes ca. 100 photographs; 1 videocassette (ca. 32 min) : col, sd. ; VHS, and 1 presentation piece : 52 x 49 cm.
Subjects
World War, 1939-1945
Name Access
Heaps, Leo, 1923-1995
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2012-8-1
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2012-8-1
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
ca. 18 cm of textual records and other material
Date
1884-1985
Scope and Content
Accession consists of records documenting the Coppel and Cooper families of Galt (now Cambridge) and Toronto respectively. Coppel family records include family correspondence, photocopies of Moses Kappel's discharge papers from the Austro-Hungarian military (1884), B'nai Israel Synagogue sisterhood meeting minutes, financial records, photographs, Hadassah booklets and programmes, and a photo album documenting the closing of B'nai Israel Synagogue in 1985. Also included are records relating to Elizabeth Cooper (née Coppel)'s involvement in Canadian Young Judaea and her work as a camp counselor at a Jewish day camp near Kitchener-Waterloo (Judaean Day Camp/Camp Ruach). These records include correspondence, publications, activity schedules, lists of camp counselors, and a Young Judaean scarf. Coppel family records also include marriage and burial records of Aaron Coppel, audio cassettes of an oral history interview conducted with Cy Coppel in 1976, and military records documenting Max David Simonoff's service in the Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Finally, included is a Farband Shule (Folks School) program book (1927) and class photo (ca. 1931). Identified in the photograph is Ethel Raicus (first row, third from the right).
Cooper family records include digital photographs of Sam Cooper and the weightlifting club at the YMHA in Toronto (1930s), portraits of Jacob Cooper (Cooperberg), a school photo of Sam and Max Cooper, and a photo of Hilda Cooper.
Finally accession consists of program books for various events, including a Canadian Jewish Congress song book, an Israel Dance Theatre at the Royal Alexandra, and a Queen Esther Purim play.
Administrative History
Aaron Selig (Archie Aaron) Coppel (Kappel / Koppel / Cappell / Kappele) was born to Moses Kappel and Perl (nee Pistenfeld) in Galicia in 1882. He came to Canada in 1903 and lived with a landsmen family, the Siegels. Mr. Siegel was a horse dealer who took Aaron under his wing and taught him the horse trade. Aaron married Mr. Siegel's daughter, Chaya Geitel (Gertrude) Seigel, in 1905. Aaron and Geitel had seven children: Helen, Rose, Newt, Cyrus ("Cy," born in 1911), Les, George, and Harry. After marrying, Aaron and Geitel remained in Galt, and Aaron continued dealing in livestock. Although he was eager to assimilate into Canadian society (he gave his children British names and spoke with no accent), the family kept kosher and Aaron hired itinerant Hebrew teachers for the children.
Cyrus Coppel married Channa "Anna" Simonoff on 25 August1946. Anna was born in Russia to Avraham Dov and Chashe Bryna Tzaitzeck. Anna had three siblings: Sarah Merle, Faigle (died en route to Canada), and Mordecai Doved. She immigrated to Ottawa in 1914 with her family. An uncle already living in Ottawa had changed his last name to Simonoff and the family decided to change their name to Simonoff as well. Avraham worked as a tailor in Russia and likely continued in this profession in Canada. The family moved to Toronto sometime after 1919 and was actively involved in the Labour Zionist movement. Anna was in the milliner's union and two of her aunts, Slaava Raicus and Esther Cohen, were members of Club One (Pioneer Women). Anna and Cyrus had two children together: Bryna (24 February 1949-12 January 2006) and Elizabeth (b. 16 Dec. 1950). Cyrus initially worked as a mechanic, but later worked in the office of an auto shop and traded in auto parts. He also traded in livestock as a hobby. Cyrus was one of the founders of the B'nai Israel Synagogue in Galt. Initially, synagogue services were held in the homes of local residents, such as the Spring family; however, a building was finally purchased in 1946. After the synagogue closed, the Torahs and plaques went to the synagogue in Kitchener. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacob Cooperberg (Kupferberg, Cooper) came to Canada around 1910 from Kielce, Poland. His wife and children (Max, Sam, and Aidel or Ida) remained in Poland, waiting for Jacob to earn enough money for them to come to Canada as well. His family was unable to join him until after the First World War had ended, arriving in 1920. Jacob and Sarah had three more children in Canada: Irving, Joey, and Hilda. Jacob worked as a peddler in Toronto and later opened a scrap yard, Cooper Iron and Medal. The family lived on Oxford Street in the Kensington Market area.
Sam Cooper married Kay Gernstein in 1948. They had two children together: Neil and Donna (married name is Speigel). Sam initially worked as a tailor, but later worked as a scrap dealer. Neil married Donna Coppel and also works in the scrap trade. Donna is a librarian.
Use Conditions
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Descriptive Notes
Includes 1 photo album, 7 photographs (tiff), 3 photographs, 2 audio cassettes, and 1 scarf.
Subjects
Families
Places
Galt (Cambridge, Ont.)
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2012-9-7
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2012-9-7
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
ca. 160 photographs : b&w and col. (ca. 80 tiff)
1 film reel (ca. 8 min.) : col., sd. ; super 8 mm
1 folder of textual records
Date
[ca. 1944]-[199-]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of records documenting the life of Dr. John Ackerman. The bulk of the material consists of photographs that were taken by Dr. Ackerman. Included are photographs documenting Dr. Ackerman's family, military career during the Second World War, university education, and involvement in the Jewish scouting movement. Also included are photographs and one film of Jewish war veteran parades that took place in Toronto in the 1980s. The parades were likely led by the General Wingate Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion and probably took place along Bathurst Street. Of note are photos of the homecoming of Dr. Ackerman's brother, Albert, from military service overseas. Dr. John E. Ackerman, Albert Ackerman, and Robby Engel are identified in the photographs.
Custodial History
The Jewish war veterans parade photos were donated by Dr. Ackerman's wife, Frances. She had originally left the photos with the Jewish War Veterans of Canada. They brought the photos to the OJA, and the OJA contacted Frances directly to formally donate them to us. She then let us know about additional material in her possession and added this new material to the donation.
Administrative History
Dr. John E. Ackerman was born in Toronto on December 16, 1921 to Jacob and Mindel Ackerman. He was one of four children. Jacob initially worked as a presser in a factory. Mindel opened and ran a small grocery store at Dundas and Elizabeth Street. Jacob died around the age of fifty-seven.
Dr. Ackerman went to school at Jarvis Collegiate and later enrolled in dentistry school at the University of Toronto. As part of the school's program, Dr. Ackerman had to enlist in the Canadian Army's General Corp. While in school, he also met his future wife, Frances, at a Hillel lecture on campus. Frances was a graduate student studying psychology. Dr. Ackerman graduated from university in 1946. He initially worked as a dental intern at the Toronto General Hospital, but after a few years he opened his own practice above the Royal Bank at Dundas and Elizabeth Street.
Dr. Ackerman married Frances on September 12, 1954. They had three children together: Martin (b. 1959), Penina (b. 1963), and David (b. 1965).
As a young teenager, Dr. Ackerman took up photography as a hobby and remained passionate about it for the remainder of his life. He took many photographs of family life, Toronto, his military involvement, and other activities. He also shot many family films and even converted part of his house into a darkroom.
Dr. Ackerman became involved in the Jewish Boy Scouts after his son Martin became a cub. He was active in Troop 166 out of Beth Tzedec. Frances initially worked in the outpatient department of the Toronto Psychiatric Hospital, but later worked with the Toronto District School Board until her retirement. Dr. Ackerman retired his practice in 1995 or 1996. He passed away on December 13, 2008.
Use Conditions
Credit photos and films to Dr. John E. Ackerman.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2012-10-9
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2012-10-9
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
ca. 12 cm of textual records and other material
Date
1917-[ca. 2000]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting the Edell family, Rabbi Weinreb, Paul Edell's printing company, the She'arim Hebrew Day School, and the Edell family's involvement with the Mackziki Hadas Congregation. Accession also includes records documenting Rabbi Kelman's involvement with the Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda synagogue. Records include photographs of family gatherings and family members participating in a Balfour Declaration march in 1917, correspondence, flyers, invitations, and genealogical information and family reminiscences collected by Sara Kelman. Also included are two printing blocks from Paul Edell's printing company and one stamp used by Rabbi Weinreb. Of note, is a flyer and correspondence documenting the Husiatyner Klaus Beth Israel synagogue and its closure. The bulk of the material is in English, but a small amount is in Yiddish or Hebrew.
Use Conditions
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Descriptive Notes
Includes 9 photographs (tiff), 2 photographs, 1 stamp, and 2 printing blocks.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2013-7-15
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2013-7-15
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
13 film reels (ca. 3 hrs.) : b&w and col., si. ; 16 mm and other material
Date
[ca. 1938]-1965, 2013
Scope and Content
Accession consists of records documenting both sides of Sharon Abron Drache's family: the Abramowitz's/Abron's and the Levinter's. Included are film reels with footage of both the Abramowitz and Levinter families as well as an album documenting a Jewish National Fund Negev tribute dinner in honour of David Abramowitz's 70th birthday. The album includes congratulatory letters and telegrams, photographs, newspaper clippings, and one vinyl recording entitled "Great Moments of Beth Tzedec". Identified in the photographs are David Abramowitz and Nathan Phillips.
Accession also includes a copy of an oil painting of Jacob Levinter that was by Kenneth Forbes, a wedding portrait of Sharon Abron Drache (1965) by Al Gilbert, and Sharon's curriculum vitae (2013).
Custodial History
Sharon found these records in her home. She inherited them from her parents. The film reels had been stored in an old suitcase in her building's storage locker.
Administrative History
Murray Abramowitz was born in 1912 in Toronto. His parents were David (1884-1963) and Sarah (nee Winfield) (1885-1955). David arrived in Toronto in 1906. Sarah and her parents, Jacob and Anna, settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania around 1880. Jacob worked as a grocer and relocated his family to Toronto around 1894. Sarah and David were married at the McCaul Street Synagogue in Toronto on 6 March 1906. They resided at 159 York Street after their nuptials. The couple had three children: Rose (1907-2001); Oscar (1910-1986); Murray (1912-2005). David's father, Shevach, served as the lay cantor at the First Roumanian Hebrew Congregation (now Adath Israel). David owned the Men’s shop in the Union Station and his sister, Sophie Abramowitz, ran the Ladies shop. The shops were located on the east end of the Great Hall beneath the composite glass windows. Rose Abron Lahman became a physician, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. Initially she practised in Toronto and then in Atlanta, Georgia. Rose graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto when there were quotas for both women and Jews.
Murray married Edythe (née Levinter) on 8 June, 1941. The event took place at the bride's family's home above their furniture store, J. Levinter Ltd, at 1169 Bloor Street West. The couple had one child, Sharon Abron Drache. Murray began using the Abron surname during the 1940s, changing it legally in the 1950s.
During his life, Murray worked as an hotelier and ran several businesses. They included the Rex Hotel in Toronto and Tent City at Lake Simcoe (ca. 1935-1945) and the St. Lawrence Hotel in Port Hope (1949-1955). When Murray managed the Rex Hotel he was a 50/50 partner with his mother's brother-in-law, Leo Hertzman. Leo owned and managed the store, United Clothing, which fronted the Rex hotel on Queen Street at the south side of the beverage room. When Leo’s son Harold Hertzman returned from military service in 1945, Leo bought out Murray’s share in the business for Harold. Jack Ross and Morris Meyers purchased the hotel from the Hertzmans in 1951. Murray was also a co-owner of the Tent City business with his father, David Abramowitz, coinciding with his Rex hotel years. During the late 1950s he worked as a real estate broker in Toronto and Florida. From the 1960s to the early 1970s he worked in his mother-in-law’s furniture business, J. Levinter Ltd. After Murray retired from the furniture business he became a stock broker. His hobbies included fishing, photography and storytelling. He died on 10 October 2005.
The Levinter family was headed by Samuel and Rebecca (née Godfried). They were both born in Austria (Galicia) and came to Canada in their teens. After their marriage in 1890, they resided in St. John's Ward. The couple had seven children: Jacob (b. 1892); Etta (b. 1894); Manny (b. 1895); Isadore (b. 1898); Molly (b. 1900); Rose and Dolly. Isadore became a prominent Toronto lawyer and was the first Jew appointed as a bencher at the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Samuel established Levinter Furniture in 1890. The business was initially located at 401-405 Queen Street. By 1925 Samuel had relocated his store to 287 Queen Street West and his son Jacob had opened a second location at 1169 Bloor Street West. Jacob later expanded his location to 1171 Bloor Street West. Samuel died on April 30, 1942; Rebecca died in 1952. Jacob married Sara Kamin (b. 1894, Lodz, Poland) on 25 June 1916. They had six children: Edythe (1918 -2011); Alfred (1919-1919); Evelyn (1922-2006); Murray (1925-); Molly (1926 -); Florence (b. 1930-). Jacob died of a heart attack in 1944. After his death, Sara took his place as owner and manager of the family business grooming her son Murray to succeed her. Sara’s daughter Molly had an early career as a concert pianist in Toronto and New York. Sara died in Toronto in 1990.
Sharon Abron Drache attended Forest Hill Collegiate (g. 1962) and then completed an undergraduate degree and post-graduate diploma in Psychology at the University of Toronto, the latter from the Institute of Child Study. She was enrolled as a special student in the Department of Religion at Carleton University from 1974-78. She has published four books of adult fiction, The Mikveh Man, Ritual Slaughter, The Golden Ghetto, Barbara Klein Muskrat – then and now, and two children's books, The Magic Pot and The Lubavitchers are coming to Second Avenue. She has also worked as a literary journalist and book reviewer for several newspapers and journals including, The Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen, Books in Canada, the Glebe Report and the Ottawa and Western Jewish Bulletins.
Use Conditions
Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Descriptive Notes
Physical description note: includes 1 album, 1 painting, 1 photograph, and 1 folder of textual records
Associated Material Note: please see Sharon Drache's fonds at Library and Archives Canada and at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto for material related to her literary career. Please see Sharon Drache's fonds at the Ottawa Jewish Archives for material related to her journalism career. Finally, for additional material related to Sharon's family please see her fonds at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto.
Related Material Note: see accessions #2010-12/8 and #2010-3/1 for addtional records donated to the OJA by Sharon Abron Drache.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-7-2
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-7-2
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
ca. 30 cm of textual records and other material
Date
1939-2005, predominant 1955-1978
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting the personal and family life of Miriam Beckerman. The bulk of the material is correspondence written to Miriam and her husband from their children Daniel (who was studying abroad in England) and Rina (who was studying and living abroad in Israel). Also included is correspondence from Miriam's brother-in-law and sister-in-law Tziporah and Chanan Piran as well as her sister-in-law Malka (Malkin) Beckerman and Malka's parents .
In addition, accession includes family films documenting family life in Toronto and trips around Canada and other locations such as Israel and Hawaii. Also included is a grade 5 Bialik school class photo of Dan Beckerman (1967), Miriam's diploma and composite graduation photograph from Glendon College at York University (1972-3) as well as flyers and programmes for Dan's various musical performances. Of note are photographs of Miriam's father David Dashkin beside the memorial to his father Yom Tov Yudashkin in Roselawn Cemetery (1939), a photograph taken on the ship (Marine Carp) that Miriam took from New York to Palestine/Israel (Dec. 1946), a scanned copy of Miriam's Palestine Identity card and Israel military registration card (1947) as well as a University of Toronto graduation photo of Miriam's life-long friend Ruth (nee Zaionce?) Young. Finally, accession includes the Rosh Hashanah cards of Rabbi Nachman Shemen and a State of Israel Bonds of Toronto brochure (1968).
Administrative History
Miriam Beckerman (nee Dashkin) is a Yiddish literature translator. She attended the Farband Folkshule in Toronto during the 1930s and later worked as a bilingual secretary (Yiddish and English) at the Ontario Region, Canadian Jewish Congress. In 1946, she travelled to Israel where she met her husband, Moshe Beckerman, at a kibbutz. The couple and their children emigrated from Israel to Toronto in 1952. Beckerman continues to work as a Yiddish translator. She has a number of published translations, including her recent collaborative work "A Thousand Threads: A story through Yiddish letters." Her work has been recognized by the Dora Teitelboim Foundation of Coral Gables, Fla. Moshe passed away in 1993.
Use Conditions
Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Descriptive Notes
Physical description note: includes ca. 20 film reels (8 mm), ca. 10 photographs, and 1 audio reel.
Language note: English and Hebrew
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-8-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-8-4
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
1 m textual records and other materials
Date
1915-2013
Scope and Content
Accession consists of personal and professional materials of Gerald Tulchinsky. Documents include agendas and journals written between 1958 and 2013, clippings, research notes, articles, correspondence and vacation souvenirs. Among the resarch materials are notes, oral histories and films on Joe Salsberg for Tulchinsky's book, Joe Salsberg: A Life of Commitment. Photographs pertain mainly to Tulchinsky's Salsberg research material but there are also personal photographs of Tulchinsky family gatherings. The audio cassettes include several oral histories used for Tulchinsky's research. The stamps appear on empty envelopes addressed to different recipients, including Tulchinsky's parents, Harry and Anne Tulchinsky, with return addresses from all over the world.
Administrative History
Dr. Gerald Tulchinsky was Professor Emeritus at Queen's University, Department of History, and author of several books on the history of Canadian Jewry and labour issues in Canada. His books include: Shtetl on the Grand (2015); Joe Salsberg: A Life of Commitment (2013); Canada's Jews: A People's Journey (2008); Branching Out: The Transformation of the Canadian Jewish Community (1998); Taking Root: The Origins of the Canadian Jewish Community (1992); and The River Barons: Montreal Businessmen and the Growth of Industry and Transportation, 1837-53 (1977).
Tulchinsky was born in Brantford, Ontario in 1933 to Harry and Anne Tulchinsky. He resided in Kingston, Ontario until his death on 13 Dec. 2017.
Use Conditions
Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing the records.
Descriptive Notes
Physical description note: Includes textual records, ca. 50 stamps, ca. 20 photographs, 2 video cassettes, 6 audio cassettes
Name Access
Salsberg, J. B.,1902-1998
Tulchinsky, Gerald, 1933-2017
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-8-14
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-8-14
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
1 scrapbook
1 folder of textual records
2 photographs : b&w ; 13 x 18 cm and 21 x 25 cm
Date
1941-1951, 1959-1961
Scope and Content
Accession consists of a scrapbook documenting the military career of Seymour Bernard. Included in the scrapbook are photographs, newspaper clippings, correspondence, the transcript for a CFRB radio segment featuring Bernard, invitations for dinners honouring Bernard, a booklet (possibly by the Canadian Jewish Congress) entitled "Jews Have Always Fought for Freedom", and a torn black ribbon that was likely worn by Bernard's parents during shiva after he died in 1951 (kriah). The scrapbook was likely assembled by Bernard's parents.
Accession also includes material documenting Joel Snitman's confirmation at Holy Blossom Temple and involvement in the BBYO. Included are photographs and programs documenting Holy Blossom Temple's confirmation class of 1959, the program book of the B'nai Brith Youth Organization (BBYO) Southern Ontario Region Fall Conclave (1960), a BBYO AZA Sweetheart Ball booklet (1961), and the Lorac Letter newsletter (1959) which was a chapter of the AZA BBYO. Identified in the photographs are: Joel Snitman, Susie Romm, Karen Smith (?), Don Smith, Rabbi Eisen, and Rabbi Feinberg.
Administrative History
Beatrice Bernard (1913-1998) was born to Louie Bernard (1895?-1956) and Esther Berger (1892-1983) in Toronto in 1913. She had two younger siblings: Seymour (was a tailgunner in the RAF during the Second World War) and Gertrude. The family lived at 410 Crawford Street and Louie owned his own dress store at St. Clair and Yonge Street. Beatrice helped her father in the dress store in the 1930s. Louie eventually owned a coat manufacturing business which was located in the Balfour Building. Beatrice married Michael Snitman in 1935. Michael Snitman (1910-1978) was born to Harry and Lottie in Russia in 1910. He immigrated to Canada with his parents in 1912 and had two younger siblings who were born in Toronto: Bill (1912-2013) and Judy (Judith). Michael attended Harbord Collegiate and ran his own business called Plastwood Products in the early 1940s. Around 1947 he entered the photographic business as a distributor. He ran the Toronto branch of Montreal-based Anglophoto, which was owned by his brother-in-law, Abe Feigelson. Michael and Beatrice had two children together: Joel (b. 1943) and Bernard (Bernie) (b. 1948). Joel received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto and taught Biology for five years before entering the real estate and property management business. He met his wife Blossom (nee Houpt) in the B'nai Brith Youth Organization and they had their first date on April 9, 1960. They later married in Aug. 1964 and had three children together: Aryeh, Sheri, and Aviella.
Descriptive Notes
Availability of other formats: Digitized material.
Subjects
Canada--Armed Forces
Scrapbooks
World War, 1939-1945
Name Access
Bernard, Seymour
Snitman, Beatrice, 1913-1998
Snitman, Michael, 1910-1978
Snitman, Joel, 1943-
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-9-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-9-4
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
1.2 m of textual records and other material
Date
[ca. 1936]-2012
Scope and Content
Accession consists of records documenting the activities of Eitz Chaim. Included are photographs, yearbooks, class lists and registers, teachers record books and student grade reports, curriculum materials, anniversary books and 2 DVDs from a gala dinner and fundraising event. Also included is the Beth Jacob High School dedication and founders dinner book.
Administrative History
Known then as the Poylishe Talmud Torah, Eitz Chaim began in 1915 with a few students in one classroom guided by one teacher. The school’s first premises were in the Elm Street Shul. Within a year, a second teacher, Reb Leibish Noble, was hired, and he remained actively involved in Eitz Chaim for 30 years. There were now 30 students in two classes. The four-hour nightly sessions were held at the end of the regular public school day with an additional six hours on Sunday. Classes continued throughout the summer as well.
The school’s first building on Chestnut Street was inaugurated in August 1916, with additional classes held at a branch on Simcoe Street. The second president of the school, Yosef Shidlowsky, in a move to be more inclusive of all Orthodox Jews, changed the name of the school to Talmud Torah Eitz Chaim.
In 1917, Mr. Shidlowsky, Itshe Meyer Korolnek, and Joseph Cooper managed not only to obtain a provincial charter to open a religious school, but were also instrumental in purchasing the Italian Club at 68 D’Arcy St. to accommodate the school’s growing enrollment.
In 1920, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Graubart arrived from Stashow, Poland, and assumed the post of spiritual leader of the Talmud Torah. He introduced more Hebrew instruction and a more intensive Torah curriculum.
In 1926, Rabbi Pinchas Ravad became the next principal, a position he retained for the next nine years. During that time, a separate girls’ class was formed and the first female teacher was hired. Although a fire in 1927 destroyed the wooden school building on D’Arcy St., a new, larger school was constructed on the same site and dedicated on December 30, 1927. After moving into the new building, student enrollment increased dramatically. Beginning with 300 students in 1929, the student body grew to 400 in 1931, 503 in 1933, and 600 in 1938.
After the passing of Rabbi Graubart, an evening high school yeshiva, the Maharil Graubart Yeshiva, was founded in 1939 to serve boys 14 years of age and up with Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky acting as rosh yeshiva beginning in 1941. The building next door to the Talmud Torah, at 80 D’Arcy Street, was purchased to provide space for the yeshiva and was connected via a walkway to the Talmud Torah. As the students of Eitz Chaim Talmud Torah graduated from the elementary school, they would eventually attend the Maharil Graubart Yeshiva. That same year, Rabbi Jacob I. Wohlgelernter became principal of the Talmud Torah and a kindergarten was added in 1942.
Seven years later, Rabbi Chaim Nussbaum officially assumed the role of principal of Eitz Chaim Schools. Beginning with only a grade 1, new grades were added every year until grades 1 through 9 were in place. Eitz Chaim gradually broadened its scope, welcoming Jewish students from many diverse backgrounds and establishing afternoon and day classes beginning in 1950 at a branch on Burnside Ave. To meet the growing demand for classes, the Torath Emeth Jewish Centre was established at 1 Viewmount Avenue in 1956.
By 1958, in response to the geographical shift of the Jewish population northward, the Tanenbaum Building was added to the complex, followed by the Korolnek Building in 1961, both at 1 Viewmount Avenue. By this time, Eitz Chaim had two principals: Rabbi Nussbaum, who oversaw Hebrew studies, and Rabbi Shlomo Jakubovitz, who oversaw general studies.
The two buildings on D’Arcy St. were sold in 1966 and the proceeds were designated toward purchasing a new school building to the north of the city. Rabbi Shlomo Jakobovits, Avraham Bleeman, Joe Goldwasser and Sam Wortsman led the way in persuading the Board of Directors to purchase the land at Patricia and Bathurst Streets. Patricia and Bathurst Streets served as the temporary location for portable units until the large, permanent building was completed in 1970. This location evolved into the boys’ campus, servicing students from all areas of the city.
Rabbi Shneur Weinberg succeeded Rabbi Nussbaum in 1969 and served as the Hebrew principal until his retirement in 1995, when Rabbi Aaron Levine took over. The position of Hebrew studies principal for the girls’ school was created in 1974 and was held by Rabbi Leibish Adler for 26 years. Rabbi Mordechai Gewirts succeeded Rabbi Adler in 2002 and was principal of the girls’ school until 2012. Eitz Chaim Schools developed rapidly and acquired an excellent reputation among North American day schools.
The female graduates of Eitz Chaim, for the most part, attended public high school. To counter this trend, Beth Jacob High School, with the guidance of Eitz Chaim, was launched in 1963, with classes conducted near the Viewmount branch. In 1966, the Beth Jacob High School and Teacher’s Seminary was completed on Lawrence Avenue, culminating in the opening of a girls’ high school that became completely independent of Eitz Chaim. Today, many female graduates of Etiz Chaim continue their education at Beth Jacob High School.
The Spring Farm campus, named for the farm formerly on that site, opened its doors in 1988. Currently, Eitz Chaim serves primarily as an elementary educational institute under the guidance of Rabbi Isser Pliner.
History from http://www.eitzchaim.com/index.php?page=history (viewed Oct. 6, 2014)
Use Conditions
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.
Descriptive Notes
Physical Description note: Includes ca. 500 photographs, texts, 2 DVDs and 1 betacam cassette.
Use Conditions note: student grade reports are closed until 30 years after the death of the individual.
Subjects
Education
Children
Name Access
Eitz Chaim Schools (Toronto, Ont.)
Places
Toronto, Ont.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-10-2
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-10-2
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
40 cm of textual records and other material
Date
[192-]-[200-]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of records related to the life and career of David Green and the Jaffey family. Records include sound and video recordings of events, Goodwill Sales accounting ledgers, meeting minutes from the Jewish Canadian Military Archives and Museum, David Green's military ephemera, manuals and reports of the Jewish Federation Board of Trustees and Bequest and Endowment Fund, and Jaffey family correspondence and photographs. Records also include certificates of appreciation awarded to David Green, mainly from UJA Federation.
Administrative History
David Green (1919-2014) was born in the Junction in west Toronto. He served as a private in the Canadian army as part of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He was captured and designated MIA when he was held as a POW in Belgium. He became a member of General Wingate Branch 256 Jewish Canadian Legion. In the mid-1940s he married his wife, Sylvia (nee Jaffey) (d. 2010) and they had a daughter, Miriam. He was a longtime volunteer for the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. In 1990, he was one of the first individuals to establish an Endowment Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto.
The Jaffey family consisted of Kaby Jaffey, his wife, Nellie, and their children Sylvia, Jess and Albert.
Descriptive Notes
Physical description note: Accession also consists of photographs and textiles.
Subjects
Canada--Armed Forces
Charities
Families
World War, 1939-1945
Name Access
Green, David, 1919-2014
Places
Toronto, Ont.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2013-12-6
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2013-12-6
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
ca. 200 photographs and other material
Date
[193-]-[2007?]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting the personal life and family of Myra Merkur. The bulk of the accession consists of photographs and home movies documenting family activities and an outing to High Park and the Toronto Zoo, holiday celebrations (such as Hanukkah Purim, Passover, and New Year's Eve costume parties), milestones (such as, Myra's wedding and graduation), cottage life at Gamebridge Beach and Camp Wishiwami, and family holidays and travel (such as to Israel, Blue Mountains in Collingwood, and Grossingers in New York).
Also included are sound recordings of a speech made by David Merkur to Nomi Tepperman at her bat mitzvah (17 May 1998) and of an interview with David Merkur who explains to his tweleve year old granddaughter what life was like when he was twelve (1 Nov. 2000).
Finally, accession includes a photocopy of a tribute Myra wrote for her late mother Lena Charlotte Gula documenting Lena's life and Myra's memories of her.
Administrative History
Myra Merkur (née Gula) was born to Lena Gula (née Neimen) and Jack Gula in Toronto in 1933. She had one sister, Elaine Wolfish. As a child, Myra and her family lived with her maternal grandmother, Betty "Brindel", at 234 Markham Street. They later moved into their own home at 1 Enid Crescent in 1949. Myra's father initially worked as a tailor but later went into the sales business selling furniture and insurance. Myra's mother initially stayed at home but obtained work in the mid-1950s as a saleswoman at Morgan's department store.
Myra married David Israel Merkur in 1954. David was a civil engineer and lawyer. He later started a family real-estate business that involved buying, selling, and maintaining properties. Myra and David had three children together: Shauna Tepperman (b. 1956), Lorne Merkur (b. 1957), and Jordan Merkur (b. 1962).
Myra completed her undergraduate degree from Atkinson College (York University) around 1975. She obtained her master of education from OISE in 1982. Myra worked as an ESL teacher with the Toronto Public School Board and was involved as a volunteer and leader with the National Council of Jewish Women, JF&CS, and the Jewish Women's Federation (Women's Philanthropy).
Descriptive Notes
Physical description: includes 1 folder of textual records, 2 sound recordings (wav), and 7 DVDs
Subjects
Families
Vacations
Fasts and feasts--Judaism
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
New York (State)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-9-3
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-9-3
Material Format
graphic material (electronic)
architectural drawing (electronic)
textual record (electronic)
Physical Description
ca. 30 photographs (tiff)
ca. 15 architectural drawings (tiff)
3 textual records (pdf)
Date
[1945?]-[ca. 1990]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of photographs and architectural drawings documenting Jaime Levy-Bencheton's architectural career in Ontario and Morocco. The bulk of the material relates to projects Levy-Bencheton designed while working for the Government of Ontario including: a greenhouse for the Ontario Science Centre, OPP Headquarters building in London, ON, Rideau Correctional Centre, and Chestnut Hill (Southwestern Ontario regional archaeological office). Also included are architectutal drawings and photographs related to Levy-Bencheton's private practices in Morocco and Toronto and work for architect Martin Mendelow.
Administrative History
Jaime Levy-Bencheton was born on July 6, 1918 in Casablanca, Morocco. Jaime started a private architectural practice in Morocco in 1945. He immigrated to Canada in 1963 and initially found work with the architect Martin Mendelow. In 1965, he started working for the Government of Ontario's Department of Public Works as a draftsman. Starting in 1969, he worked for the Ministry of Government Services as an architectural job captain until his retirement in 1985. During his career Levy-Bencheton specialized in designing facilities for persons with disabilities and worked on a variety of buildings across Ontario including, industrial, institutional, and office use buildings. In his retirement, Levy-Bencheton became devoted to the study of the Bible and creating Jewish religious art.
Subjects
Architects
Occupations
Name Access
Levy-Bencheton, Jaime, 1918-
Places
Casablanca, Morocco
Toronto, Ont.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2015-3-6
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2015-3-6
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
5 cm textual records and other material
Date
[ca.1890]-[ca. 1940]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of personal records of Hyman (Ben) Benjamin, and records documenting Arthur Benjamin's military service. Records include ca. 30 photographs of three generations of the Benjamin family, Rosh Hashanah greeting cards, Hyman Benjamin's birth certificate and first aid certificate. Records also include correspondence between several branches of the Canadian government and Arthur's mother, Annie, regarding the circumstances of Arthur's death; his grave site and his army pension.
Custodial History
The records were donated to the Archives by Nancy Rose, daughter of the great-nephew of Hyman (Ben) Benjamin.
Administrative History
Hyman "Ben" Benjamin (ca. 1884-1969) was born in Leeds, England to Lazuras and Annie Benjamin. He married Hilda (Holds) Benjamin, and they immigrated to Canada in 1911. He worked as a car mechanic. They had two daughters, Laura (b. 1911) and Florence (b. 1912).
Arthur "Abraham" Benjamin (ca. 1882-1917) was Hyman Benjamin's brother. He immigrated to Toronto from Leeds some time after 1911 and worked with Hyman as a car cleaner. He joined the 198th Battalion of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in 1916, and was killed in the First World War.
Use Conditions
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Subjects
Canada--Armed Forces
World War, 1914-1918
Name Access
Benjamin, Arthur, 1882-1917
Benjamin, Hyman, 1884-1969
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2015-9-18
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2015-9-18
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
85 cm of textual records
184 photographs : b&w and col. (tif and jpg)
ca. 200 photographs : b&w and col.
14 moving images : mov and mp4
Date
[192-]-2015, predominant 1983-2015
Scope and Content
Accession consists of the records related to the activities and operations of the First Narayever Congregation. Included are board and general meeting minutes (1984-1996); general correspondence, high holiday tickets and membership lists (1970s-1990s); membership and dues ledger (1929-1983); Ritual Committee meeting minutes (1984-1988); Implementation Committee records (1970s-1980s); constitutions (1980s); newsletters (1983-2004); a blank seat deed (1920s); a cemetery map (1950s?); records regarding burial rights for the Owen Sound Hebrew Congregation (1966-1980); records regarding a court case filed by members of the congregation surrounding the egalitarian changes being planned; an album documenting SHTICK! A Celebration of Jewish Playwrights (2005-2006); an album documenting the congregation's participation in a UJA Mission to Israel (2003-2004); a binder of material containing photocopied and original records in support of the research for the congregation's 100th anniversary celebrations (1970s-2014); photographs and a video recording of the 100th Anniversary exhbition opening at the Miles Nadal JCC; photographs of events hosted by the congregation; and 9 video interviews with individuals connected to the shul conducted by Sharoni Sibony, Peter Gold, and Harry Schachter for the anniversary celebrations. Interviewees are: Peter Gold, Sharon Weintraub, Murray Teitel, Rosalyn Katz, Julia Gluck, Shaya Petroff, Stuart Schoenfeld, Sylvia Solomon and Ben Rothman. Also included are family photographs and written transcripts of oral interviews conducted with members of the Hersh Petersiel family, who lived in Hastings, Ontario and had early connections to the Narayever Congregation.
Custodial History
The records related to Hersh Petersiel were given to the First Narayever by Marsha Beck for their upcoming one-hundredth anniversary. Marsha agreed to donate them to the OJA along with the Narayever records.
Administrative History
In 1914, Jews from eastern Galicia (now in modern Ukraine) established the First Narayever Congregation in Toronto as a landsmanshaf, i.e. a society of Jewish immigrants from the same town or region. The synagogue takes its name from the small market town of Narayev, which is located in eastern Galicia. The synagogue's founders belonged to the working class and many worked in Toronto's garment industry.
Initially, congregation members met in different locations, but by 1923 their numbers and financial means had grown such that they were able to rent a small house at 70 Huron Street at the corner of Huron and Dundas. This house served as the congregation's home for twenty years.
The congregation's first president was Israel Chaim Katz and its first meeting was held at the Katz home at 156 William Street. The congregation's first rabbi was Solomon Langner, who was hired by the congregation in 1923. He retained this affiliation despite serving the Kiever Synagogue as a full-time rabbi from 1929 until he died in 1973.
In 1943, the congregation purchased property at 187-189 Brunswick Avenue from Bethel Church. This is where the the synagogue is located today. In 1950, Henry Young became president of the congregation. He occupied that position until his death in 1976. Shalom Langner, the son of Rabbi Solomon Langner, succeeded Young as president.
As Toronto's Jewish population began to move north, the First Narayever continued to serve Orthodox Jews living downtown. In the 1980s, the congregation struggled to balance the needs of this older generation with the young generation's desire to make the synagogue more egalitarian with respect to gender. In 1983, the congregation's new leadership team successfully advanced a proposal to allow the full participation of women in traditional services. This innovation led to several long-standing members taking legal action, but their case was dismissed on the grounds that it was not a matter for civil law.
The First Narayever's identity continued to evolve. In 2009, its membership voted to allow its rabbi, Edward Elkin, who began serving the congregation in 2000, to officiate at same-sex marriages.
Subjects
Synagogues
Name Access
First Narayever Congregation (Toronto, Ont.)
Petersiel, Hersh
Places
Hastings (Ont.)
Owen Sound (Ont.)
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2015-8-7
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2015-8-7
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
ca. 70 cm of textual records and other material
Date
1928-2013
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting the activities of Ben Zion Shapiro and his family. The bulk of the records document the Shapiro family's involvement in Young Judaea. The Young Judaea material includes: yearbooks, photographs, correspondence, meeting minutes, event programmes, song books, newsletters, and two Camp Biluim flags made by Bunny Shapiro. One flag contains Camp Biluim's crest (1951) and the other one was created for Camp Biluim's colour war and contains the text "We will try and we will succeed Camp Biluim" (1954?). Also included is a VHS tape containing a copy of the Toronto Zionist Council's video about Camp Shalom (1991?). Of note are minute books maintained by Roy Shapiro for the Toronto Young Judaea Administrative Board (1928-1934) and for the Leadership Club (1940-1948).
Accession also contains material relating to Roy and Ben Zion's involvement with the following organizations: the Coordinated Services to the Jewish Elderly (Circle of Care), B'nai Israel Beth David Congregation, Beth Tzedec's Mispacha Program, Beth Tzedec's Israel Action Program, Congregation Beth Haminyan, and Holy Blossom Temple's Department for Jewish Living. These records include, minutes, correspondence, newsletters and publications, evaluation reports and other reports. Also included is a demographic report entitied "Rapid Growth and Transformation: Demographic Challenges Facing the Jewish Community of Greater Toronto" (1995), material from a conference at the University of Toronto on the university's partnership with Israel, CHAT alumni directories, and a CHAT book entitled, "Voices: Jewish Teens of the 90's". Of note are buttons, photographs, reports and correspondence documenting Bunny and Ben Zion's trip to the Soviet Union on behalf of the CJC's Committee for Soviet Jewry.
Finally accession includes material documenting family activities of the Shapiro and Sherman family. Included is a transcript of Bessie Sherman telling her life story (1978), haggadot, PowerPoint presentations created by Ben Zion for his grandchildren and for a family reunion outlining the family history of his family and Bunny's family. There is also a video of Ben Zion presenting his PowerPoint at the Michalski / Cohen family reunion. Also included are family films and videos containing footage of Bunny and Ben Zion's wedding and honeymoon, Camp Biluim, Young Judaea events, Bunny on Machon, family wedding anniversaries and birthday parties, trips to Israel, the United States, and Europe as well as footage of the Cousin's Club. Also included is a VHS tape containing a recorded segment from CityPulse News featuring the family's Pesach festivities in 1995.
Photo identification: Back row, left to right: Ray Markus, Michelle Landsberg, Menachem ?, Frank Narrol. Front row, left to right: Gilda Mitchell, Bunny Shapiro, BenZion Shapiro, Malka Rabinowitz.
Administrative History
Ben Zion Shapiro was born in Toronto in 1931 to Roy Shapiro and Beck Shapiro (née Cohen). He has a younger brother, Morden "Mort" Shapiro (b. 1940). His father worked as an office manager at Rotstein Furniture and Maple Leaf Cleaners, and his mother worked as a legal secretary until marriage. Roy was active in a number of organizations including: Young Judaea, Sons of Jacob Society, Toronto Camera Club, a founding member of Beth David Synagogue, Coordinated Services to the Jewish Elderly (Circle of Care) and president of the Association of Jewish Seniors. Beck was active in Young Judaea and Pioneer Women (president of the Golda Meir Club).
Ben Zion received a master of social work degree from the University of Toronto and attended the Jewish Agency Institute for Youth Leaders from Abroad in Jerusalem (1951-1952). He has worked for a number of organizations throughout his career, including: Young Judaea (he was director of both Camp Shalom [1962-1969] and Camp Biluim [1954-1956]), B'nai Brith Youth Organization, University Settlement, St. Christopher's House and director of the Novomeysky Centre in Jerusalem (1957-1961). He was also professor and associate dean of social work at the University of Toronto and three times visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Ben married Bunny "Bernice" Shaprio in 1955. Bunny was born in 1934 in Noranda, Quebec to Irving Sherman and Bessie (née Consky). Bunny attended public school in Noranda, Noranda High School and Forest Hill Collegiate in Toronto, University of Toronto (BA), the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (M.Ed. in special education), and the Jewish Agency Institute for Jewish Leaders from Abroad (1952-1953).
Bunny graduated from the first Camp Biluim Institute for leadership training in 1951 and worked with Ben Zion at Camp Shalom as Camp Mother in 1962 and from 1964-1969. She also worked at Camp Biluim from 1955-1956. In 1983, Bunny and Ben Zion went to the Soviet Union to visit refuseniks on behalf of the Soviet Jewry Committee of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region.
Bunny and Ben have two children: Ayala and Ilan. Since Ben Zion's retirement in 1996, he and Bunny have been living in Jerusalem for half of each year. In 2015, they moved full-time to Jerusalem.
Use Conditions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Descriptive Notes
Physical description note: includes ca. 300 photographs (256 tiff), 2 PowerPoint presentations, 1 textual record (doc), 4 buttons, 2 flags, 5 VHS tapes, and 18 film reels (8 mm).
Subjects
Camps
Youth
Zionism
Name Access
Shapiro, Ben Zion, 1931-
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2015-9-2
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2015-9-2
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
ca. 8 cm of textual records and other material
Date
[ca. 1938]-[ca. 2009]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting the Silberg family's immigration to Ontario, family life in South Africa and Ontario, education, communal involvement in Hamilton, and pharmacy businesses. Included are photographs, correspondence, ephemera from the pharmacy businesses (such as bags and a name tag), newspaper clippings, certificates, invitations, flyers, school transcripts, architectural drawings for Night-Day Pharmacy on Ryman Road East, cookbooks, and photo albums. Also included is a JNF book for a Negev dinner honouring Hilton and Shirley Silberg as well a copy of Beth Jacob Synagogue's 125th anniversary book (the Beth Jacob Family Album).
Administrative History
Hilton Silberg was born in Durban, South Africa in 1951 to Sam and Brina Silberg. Sam worked in the retail furniture business and Hilton has three siblings: Sheryl, Lynn and Brett. Hilton was very active in sports and played soccer, cricket and swimming. At age 11, he started competing in ballroom dancing with his sister Lynn. At age 16, he and Lynn were the South African Juvenile Ballroom Champions and runners up in the Latin American Championship. In highschool, Hilton started his own DJ business which he continued through his first years of pharmacy school.
Shirley (nee Gitlin) Silberg was born in Durban in 1951 to Max and Isabel Gitlin. Max was a physical medicine specialist and Isabel ran his practice. Shirley has two siblings: Brian and Barbara. Shirley was very active in her school's netball, field hockey and swimming teams.
Hilton and Shirley met at the Natal Pharmacy School in Durban and married in 1974. After marriage, Hilton completed his one-year mandatory service in the South African army as an officer. After his service, he and Shirley went on a ten month long backpacking trip which ended at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. This trip was an eye-opener for them and they realized that they no longer wanted to live in a country with apartaid politics. They didn't want to raise children in South Africa. They chose Canada as their destination and applied three times for entry. Thier application was rejected all three times, but Hilton staged a "sit-in" at the Canadian embassy in Pretoria and an immigration officer eventually met with him and overturned thier rejection. They arrived in Canada in August 1977.
They went to the University of Toronto School of Pharmacy for two years to re-license in Canada. In the evenings they worked in a pharmacy owned by their Canadian sponsor. In 1981, Hilton and Shirley partnered with their Canadian sponsors and opened the Amhurst Pharmacy in Dundas. In 1982 the pharmacy's name was changed to Hilton's Pharmacy. In 1987 Shopper's Drug Mart purchased Hilton's Pharmacy. The Silberg's stayed on to operate two of the franchises in Dundas. In 1992, Hilton and Shirley left Shppers Drug Mart to open the DayNight Pharmacy on the east Hamilton Mountain. This was the first pharmacy in Hamilton to remain open until midnight. Their pharmacy eventually expanded to include five stores. In 2007, they sold their business to Rexall Pharma Plus.
Hilton and Shirley have three children: Mark, Maxine and Brad. Hilton and Shirley were very active in Hamilton's community. Hilton was involved in a variety of organizations including, Beth Jacob synagogue, Shalom Village, and Jewish National Fund Hamilton. Shirley has volunteered with various Hamilton JCC programs, the Hamilton North End Breakfast Program, the 'Out of the Cold' Program, Goldie's Place day program for adults at Shalom Village, and the Jewish National Fund Hamilton.
Descriptive Notes
Physical description note: includes ca. 80 photographs, 4 cookbooks, 1 architectural drawing, 3 bags, and 1 name tag.
Related material note: oral history #419.
Subjects
Immigrants--Canada
Families
Occupations
Societies
South Africa--Emigration and immigration
Name Access
Silberg, Hilton
Silberg, Shirley
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2015-11-13
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2015-11-13
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
8 photographs : b&w ; 41 x 51 cm and smaller
1 object
1 book
Date
[193-]-1976
Scope and Content
Accession consists of photographs of Sandra (née Title) Samuels; a hanger from Shiffer-Hillman and a published book "The Prominent Jews of Canada" that belonged to Sandra's in-laws, Kate and Alex Samuels.
Administrative History
Samuel (ca. 1882-1929, Russia) and Gussie (nee Moscovitz) (b. ca.1884, Romania) Fishman, immigrated to Welland, Ontario from Romania. Both arrived in the United States as teenagers sometime around the turn of the century. Samuel and Gussie were married in the United States and by 1920 had immigrated with their young family to the historic township of Crowland in Welland County. Here they opened and operated a men's clothing store. Together they had six children; Molly (b. 1909, USA), Abe (b. 1911, USA), Morris (b. 1916, USA), Ruth (b. 1915, USA), Ann (b. 1920, Ontario) and Ethel. Morris married Pauline and lived in St. Catherines, Ruth married Nate Oelbaum and lived in Tucson, Arizona, Anne married Alec Rothman and lived in Port Colborne, Ethel married Eddie Matchtinger and lived in Toronto and Abe never married. Yeva Fishman, the niece of Samuel Fishman married Morris Turk. Her father was (Frank Fishman?) and her mother was Sara Leah Fishman. Molly Fishman married Harry Title (Teitelebaum) (b. ca. 1903). They had three children, Greta (nee Title) Greisman, Sandra (nee Title) Samuels and Stephen (m. Carole Hillman, niece of Ben Hillman). Harry Teitelbaum was the son of Israel and Frumeth Teitelbaum. He was born in Gdansk, Poland (b. ca., 1903). Harry Title had four younger siblings; Lloyd, Birdie (m. Witlin), Arthur and Lorelle (Lieba) the youngest who was born in Toronto. Harry arrived to Canada shortly after the First World War and worked in the garment industry. He and his brother Arthur founded the Title Dress Company in the late 1920s and operated the business out of 355 Adelaide St. West. In the late 1980s, the business moved from this location to Adelaide and Bathurst. Sandra Title (b. Oct 27, 1936, Toronto), the middle daughter of Molly Fishman and Harry Title, married Lawrence Samuels. Together they had five children Joanna, John, Noah, Tom and Caroline. Lawrence was the eldest son of Alex Samuels (d. 1966) and Kate (nee Goldberg) Samuels. He had two younger siblings Herbie and Florence (m. Bill Goodman). Lawrence's father Alex Samuels immigrated to Canada from Dubrovna, White Russia (present day Dubrouna, Belarus). He immigrated to Canada with his parents Samuel and Chana Samuels and his younger siblings Sol, Ben, Riva and Polly. Alex and his brothers Sol and Ben established Reliable Toy Company around 1929 on Carlaw Ave. They sold the company in 1990.
Use Conditions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Subjects
Families
Name Access
Samuels, Sandra, 1936-
Shiffer-Hillman (Toronto, Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2015-12-5
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2015-12-5
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
4 folders of textual records
ca. 94 photographs : b&w and col. (44 tiff.) ; 20 x 25 cm or smaller
1 plaque
Date
1936-1990, predominant 1951-1990
Scope and Content
Accession consists of records documenting the activities of Ronnie Roth. Included are textual and graphic materials relating to Ronnie's personal life and career such as, photographs of family milestones and events; Ronnie's youth and early adulthood in South Africa, his involvement with Betar; and time as a paratrooper with the Israeli Army; Ronnie and Sandra's wedding; travel; Ronnie's insurance broker license graduation; and condolence letters sent to the Roth family after his passing. Also included are records documenting Ronnie's communal involvement, particularly his involvement with B'nai Brith Raoul Wallenberg - Yorkdale Circle Lodge, Antibes-Torresdale Ratepayers Association, and Forest Hill Ratepayers Association . B'nai Brith material includes photographs of Ronnie's participation in B'nai Brith Canada's 1986 Mission to Israel; photographs of events honouring Ronnie and his work; and an issue of The Orbit that eulogizes Ronnie. Finally, the accession consists of a business card for Ronnie's film and video entertainment company in South Africa and a Prime Minister's Certificate of Appreciation from the Conservative Party of Canada.
Identified in the photographs are: Ronnie Roth, Sandra Roth, Chantal [Roth], Gavin Roth, Elana [Roth], Morris Flicht, Frank Dimant, Ralph Snow, Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir, Harry Bick, Sam Pacht, Merv Rosenstein, Ralph Cohen, [?] Steinmetz, Colin Baskind, Dr. Meister, Esther Shiner, Peter Roth, Paul Roth, and Annie Guttman.
Custodial History
Material was in possession of Sandra Roth, Ronnie's wife. Sandra donated it to the OJA.
Administrative History
Ronnie Roth was born on December 24, 1938 to Mr. Dezso (Desmond) and Mrs. Erzsi (Elizabeth) Abraham of Johannesburg, South Africa. Throughout his youth, Ronnie was active in a variety of Zionist groups including: the Zionist Youth Movement of South Africa, Betar, the Zionist Revisionist Organization and the South African Zionist Federation. In his late teens, Ronnie went on Na[c]hal Tzonei-ach and joined the Tzanchanim, the elite paratrooper corps of the Israeli Army. Ronnie served in the military for three years. His time in Israel also included work on a kibbutz.
By the age of 25, Ronnie had returned to South Africa and was a director of the Tollman Group of hotels and manager of the famous Johannesburg restaurant, The Colony. Ronnie married Sandra Benn from Port Elizabeth, SA, in August 1964. Sandra was a singer, dancer and entertainer. After their marriage, they settled in Johannesburg where Ronnie continued to work as an hotelier. Their first daughter, Chantal, was born in 1966 followed by Gavin in 1969 and Elana in 1973. During this period, Ronnie’s community involvement grew as he became Executive Director of Tel Hai in 1968 and served in this role until 1970. He then joined the Jewish United Communal Fund and ran their fundraising campaign.
The Roth’s were unhappy with South Africa’s apartheid politics and were eager to emigrate. Ronnie sought employment opportunity abroad and was offered employment as a fundraiser for UJA Federation in Toronto in 1975. Ronnie accepted the position and immigrated to Toronto in 1976. Sandra followed him with their children a few months later. When he completed his UJA assignment, he became an insurance broker. After a year, he founded KRG Insurance Brokers with two partners in 1980.
Upon arriving in Canada, Ronnie became interested in immigration issues and co-founded the South African Jewish Association in Canada (SAJAC) to help other South Africans with immigration and adjustment to Canadian life. He was the organization’s first president from 1976 to 1981 and again from 1986 to 1987. Ronnie’s involvement in assisting newcomers extended to his roles as Member of the Board of Directors and Member of the Integration Committee of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society as well as Chairman of the Sherut Shalom Employment & Integration Assistance to African Jews.
Ronnie was also active in B’nai Brith Canada. He joined the Yorkdale Lodge in 1983 and went on to serve as both vice-president and president. During his tenure as president, he played a critical role in the integration of the Yorkdale and Circle Lodges into the unified Raoul Wallenberg Lodge. He also served in various positions at the National level with B’nai Brith Canada, including as National Chairman of the Israel Cabinet, Co-Chairman of the Fundraising Committee and a member of the National Executive and Board of Governors. In 1986, the National Leadership awarded him with the B’nai Brith Canada Achievement Award. In the same year, he and his wife and fellow lodge member Sandra (the lodge’s first female full member) were honoured recipients of the Israel Bonds Negev Award.
Ronnie also held important roles in the community at-large as president of the Antibes-Torresdale Ratepayers Association and Forest Hill Ratepayers Association; president and founder of the Rockford Community Summer Day Camp; Member of the City of North York Condominium Committee; Member of the Board of Directors of Baycrest’s Men’s Service Group; and Member of the Board of Directors of Bank Leumi (Canada).
Ronnie passed away on October 14, 1989 at the age of 50 years.
Use Conditions
Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Subjects
Immigrants--Canada
Societies
South Africa--Emigration and immigration
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2017-2-12
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2017-2-12
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
45 cm of textual records and other material
230 photographs : sepia and b&w ; 23 x 30 cm and smaller
8 sound recordings (50 wav files; 1 microcassette)
1 artifact
Date
1937-2004
Scope and Content
Accession consists of textual records, photographs and audio recordings documenting the lives of Dick Steele, his wife Esther, and friend Bill Walsh. The materials are mostly correspondences between Dick and Esther during his internment at the Don Jail and Ontario Reformatory in Guelph, and from Dick and Bill's military service overseas during the Second World War. They also include correspondences between Esther and Bill, Bill and Anne Walsh, "Jack" and Esther, and other family and friends. Some of the letters show evidence of being censored. There are news clippings in English and Yiddish about the family from various newspapers including the Canadian Tribune (a Communist Party paper). There is a letter Esther wrote to campaign for Dick's release from internment, part of women's activism in this period. There is also a photocopy of a memoir written by Moses Kosowatsky and Moses Wolofsky "From the Land of Despair to the Land of Promise" ca. 1930s.
The photographs include Dick and Bill in the army during the Second World War, a signed picture of Tim Buck addressed to Esther and the twins and a photo of Dick delivering a speech related to the Steel Workers. Also included is a recording of edited sound clips of Bill and Esther talking about Dick, Esther speaking about the letters, (how she received letters and flowers from Dick after he had already been killed), Bill reading a letter Dick wrote to Esther that he left with friends in England to send her in the case that he was killed (which he was), recordings of "Bill Walsh Oral history" Vols.1 and 2 compiled by Leib Wolofsky's (Bill's nephew), and 5 audio recordings by Adrianna Steele-Card with her grandparents Bill and Esther. There is also a microcassette labelled "Joe Levitt."
The accession also includes the stripe of a German corporal that Bill captured as a prisoner, peace stamps and an early copy of Cy Gonick's A Very Red Life: The Story of Bill Walsh, edited by Bill.
Administrative History
Richard "Dick" Kennilworth Steele is the name adopted by Moses Kosowatsky. He was born in 1909 in Montreal to Samuel Kosowatsky and Fanny Held. He lived in a laneway off Clark Street, below Sherbrooke, where his father collected and recycled bottles. He grew up with his siblings, Joseph, Mortimer, Matthew, Gertrude, and Edward.
Bill Walsh (birth name Moishe Wolofsky) was born in 1910, to Sarah and Herschel Wolofsky, the editor of the Keneder Adler (Montreal's prominent Yiddish newspaper). He attended Baron Byng and then Commercial High School, where he met Dick Steele. Bill recalled that Dick denounced militarism in the school when a teacher tried to recruit students to be cadets.
Bill moved to New York City in 1927. His brother, who was living there, helped him get a job as a messenger on Wall Street. He also worked in the drug department at Macy's while attending courses at Columbia University in the evening. Dick worked on a ship for a year and then joined Bill in New York City in 1928. Dick worked at a chemical plant called Linde Air Products while also studying in the evenings at Columbia University.
In 1931, Dick and Bill boarded a ship together in New York bound for Copenhagen. Together, they travelled across Europe, witnessed a Nazi demonstration in Breslau, Germany, and found work in Minsk and Moscow, Russia. This trip inspired them to become Communists. In 1933, Bill's father was on a Canadian trade mission to Poland, which he left to "rescue" his son from the Bolsheviks. Bill agreed to return to Canada after being advised to do so by the Comintern. He then changed his name to Bill Walsh to protect his family.
In 1934, Bill moved to Toronto. He worked as the educational director for the Industrial Union of Needle Trade Workers and the Communist Party, where he met Esther Slominsky/Silver, the organization's office manager. Dick joined Bill in Toronto soon after. Bill introduced Dick and Esther, who then married. In 1940, Esther gave birth to twin sons, Michael and John Steele. Esther was born in Toronto in 1914 to Joseph Slominsky and Fanny (Blackersany?). Her siblings were Bella, Eileen, Morris, and step-sister Eva. Her father, Joseph, was a cloak maker and Esther also worked in the garment industry. Her mother Fanny passed away in 1920 at the age of twenty-six from tuberculosis.
Dick was a metal worker and became a union organizer in the east end of Toronto. He was the head organizer of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and the Steel Workers Organizing Committee of Canada (SWOC) until 1940, when he was dismissed for being a Communist. Bill helped organize Kitchener's rubber workers into an industrial union and was also an organizer for the United Auto Workers of Windsor, Ontario.
Jack Steele, an alias for Dick's brother Mortimer, fought with the Mackenzie-Papineau Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. Jack Steele was recalled to Canada in October 1937 to rally support for the efforts in Spain, returned to the front in June 1938, and was killed in action in August. Some of Dick's letters to his wife, Esther, are signed "Salud, Jack" and were likely written in 1940 when the Communist Party (CP) was banned by the Canadian government under the War Measures Act.
In November 1941, after Mackenzie King's call for enlistment, Dick wrote to the Department of Justice to ask permission to join the army. He never received a reply. On 1 April 1942, Dick's home was raided and he was interned at the Don Jail until September 1942, when he was moved to the Ontario Reformatory in Guelph. Esther wrote a letter to the minister of justice, Louis St. Laurent, to appeal on his behalf.
Major public campaigning by Communists and the wartime alliance with the USSR after 1941 shifted public opinion toward the CP, and the Canadian government slowly began releasing internees in January 1942. Dick was released in October 1942 and enlisted at the end of the month. Dick died on 17 August 1944 in Normandy, France. He was a tank driver in the Canadian Army.
Bill was similarly arrested in 1941, spending time in jail and then an internment camp with other members of the CP. He joined the Canadian Army in 1943 and fought in Holland and Belgium. Bill was first married to Anne Weir who died of a brain hemorrhage in 1943, just before he enlisted. The family believes this may have been due to drinking unpasteurized milk. Encouraged by Dick Steele to take care of his family should he pass in the war, Bill married Esther Steele in 1946. They had a daughter named Sheri and were members of the United Jewish People's Order. For twenty years, Walsh worked for the Hamilton region of the United Electrical Workers (UE). Bill remained a member of the CP until 1967, when we was expelled for criticizing another union leader. He died in 2004. Esther passed away in 2010 at age ninety-six.
Use Conditions
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.
Descriptive Notes
RELATED MATERIAL NOTE: Library and Archives Canada has the William Walsh fonds and MG 28, ser. I 268, USWA, vol.4, SWOC Correspondence, has various letters from Dick Steele ca. 1938. Museum of Jewish Montreal has an oral history with Leila Mustachi (daughter of Max Wolofsky, Bill's brother) where she speaks about Bill, Dick and Esther. USE CONDITION NOTES: For "Bill Walsh Oral history" Vols.1 and 2, some contributors stipulate that recordings are restricted to personal use only and must not be used for any commercial purpose.
Subjects
World War, 1939-1945
Politics and government
Labour and unions
Name Access
Steele, Michael
Steele, Dick
Walsh, Bill
Walsh, Esther Steele
Places
England
Fort William (Ont.)
Germany
Guelph (Ont.)
Hamilton (Ont.)
Montréal (Québec)
Netherlands
Oshawa (Ont.)
Ottawa (Ont.)
Thunder Bay (Ont.)
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2017-8-10
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2017-8-10
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
3 cm of textual records
3 photographs : b&w ; 13 x 9 cm and smaller
1 DVD
Date
[ca. 1920]-2012
Scope and Content
Accession consists of records related to the history of the Dora Wilensky Salsberg Memorial Fund at Jewish Family and Child. Included are: a Canadian Jewish News feature ("Legacy of Life") on Dora Wilensky; a Dora Wilensky Memorial Fund pamphlet; correspondence from J. B. Salsberg regarding Sharyn’s ongoing role with the Jewish Communal Service Graduate Studies Scholarship Program; correspondence regarding the Fund between Sharyn Salsberg Ezrin and Richard Cummings, Ron Levin, Gordon Wolfe, and Sam Helfenbaum; fund and endowment statements regarding the Dora Wilensky Memorial Fund; and correspondence between Sharyn and the Toronto Jewish Congress Endowment Fund. Also includes: records documenting the J. B. Salsberg Tribute Dinner held at Beth Sholom Synagogue on November 13, 1991; Canadian Jewish News and Toronto Life profiles of J. B. Salsberg; an interview of J. B. Salsberg by Sandy Naiman; J. B. Salsberg's eulogy by Irving Abella; and one DVD of a J.B. Salsberg video tribute. Also includes three photographs of J. B. Salsberg and Dora Wilensky, and four issues of various JF&CS publications.
Administrative History
Dora Wilensky Salsberg was one of Toronto’s earliest professionally trained Jewish social workers and a leader in the Canadian social work field. She was born in Russia on July 28, 1902 to Hyman and Mary Wilensky. She had three younger sisters: Bertha (b. 1903) Jenny (b. 1905), and Fagel (b.1910). In 1907, the family immigrated to Toronto where Hyman worked at a cap factory.
Dora had the highest marks in the province of Ontario upon graduating from high school and graduated as a gold medalist in modern history from McMaster University in Toronto. She initially pursued a career in teaching, but had difficulty securing a job due to discrimination. When her only job offer from Oshawa was given on the condition that she change her last name, Dora decided to become a social worker.
After studying at the New York School for Social Work and working briefly in Chicago, Dora returned to Toronto and took up the position as Executive Director of the Jewish Family Welfare Bureau in 1931. When the JF&CS was formed in 1943 she served as its first Executive Director. Under her leadership, JF&CS gained a reputation as being one of the most advanced and progressive agencies in Toronto. She was among the first to hire a psychiatric social worker and to introduce play therapy as part of treatment; she remained on top of advances being made in the field in other countries and encouraged her staff to regularly engage in professional development activities.
Dora attempted to enter the United States for professional development in the fall of 1948. She was refused entry by the commissioner of immigration and naturalization. Her aim was to attend a postgraduate course in social work at the University of Pennsylvania. In spite of numerous official letters of endorsement, her application for admission was denied.
Dora was also actively involved in various professional organizations. She was a member of the National Board of the Canadian Association of Social Workers, served on the Board of Governors and various committees of the Canadian Welfare Council, and was active on the Social Planning Council (formerly the Welfare Council of Toronto). In addition, she was instrumental in the establishment of the University of Toronto’s post-graduate course in social work. For her service to the field, she earned both the King George V and Coronation medals.
In 1927, Dora married J. B. Salsberg. Although she legally adopted his name, she always used her maiden name professionally. They did not have any children. On March 20, 1959, Dora passed away from cancer at the age of 56.
Subjects
Charities
Charities
Name Access
Salsberg, J. B.,1902-1998
Wilensky, Dora, 1902-1959
Places
Toronto, Ont.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-1-2
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-1-2
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
3 m of textual records and other materials
Date
[194-?]-2016
Scope and Content
This accession consists of records documenting Adam Fuerstenberg's life and career as educator, scholar and expert in Yiddish and Canadian Jewish literature; director of the Holocaust Centre of Toronto and active involvement in Jewish community organizations. Included are manuscripts, drafts, correspondence, newspaper clippings, grant proposals, audiocassettes, videocassettes, photographs, and research related to scholarly and non-scholarly articles, reviews, lectures, speeches on Jewish literary figures, such as A.M. Klein, J.I. Segal, and Sholem Shtern; Canadian Jewish Studies; and the Holocaust, including publications of the journal Voice of Radom. Also included are administrative records, submissions, and correspondence related to his role as founder the Canadian Jewish Book Awards, director of the Committee for Yiddish, president of the American Association of Professors of Yiddish, and editor of Parchment. In addition, the accession includes correspondence, minutes, newspaper clippings, brochures, pamphlets and other records related to the Holocaust Centre of Toronto's exhibitions on Anne Frank and Bergen-Belsen and Holocaust Education Week. The accession also includes records related to his tenure as Professor of English, Continuing Education Coordinator, and member of the Board of Governors at Ryerson University; establishment of a Toronto Jewish museum; and other community activism and civic engagement. Some family records and correspondence are also included in addition to biographical material and genealogical research.
Administrative History
Adam Fuerstenberg (1939 - 2016) was a scholar, educator, community leader, and authority on Canadian Yiddish and Jewish writers. He was born in Radom, Poland on March 25, 1939 to Regina and Henry Fuerstenberg. After some years in Central Asia and Displaced Persons camps in Germany, the family, including his sister Anna, arrived in Montreal, Canada in 1951. Adam studied at the Sir George Williams University (Concordia University) and received his M.A. in English at State University of New York, Buffalo. He also studied Yiddish and Yiddish folklore at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem with folklorist Dov Noy and Yiddish critic Dov Sadan. In 1964, he married Gloria Lidsky in Montreal and the couple soon moved to Toronto. Adam was a professor of English at Ryerson University from 1964 to 1998, and was a long serving member of Ryerson’s Board of Governors. After retirement from tenured faculty, he continued to teach and serve at Ryerson as Adjunct Professor and Professor Emeritus. He was also the Continuing Education Coordinator, English, from 1977-1982 and 1988-1993. As a scholar and authority on Yiddish, the Holocaust, Canadian Yiddish literature, and Canadian Jewish writers, in particular A.M. Klein, Adam has lectured and presented papers at various conferences, and written articles and reviews in academic journals and other publications, such as the The Forward, Canadian Jewish News, The New Canadian Encyclopedia, and The Globe and Mail. Adam founded the Canadian Jewish Book Awards in 1987 and was the editor of Parchment, a journal of contemporary Canadian Jewish creative writing from 1994. He also provided editorial consulting to individuals and firms with publications. From 1998 to 2003, he was director of the Committee for Yiddish and after was director of the Holocaust Centre of Toronto at the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto from 2003 to 2005. As director, he created a partnership with the General Romeo Dallaire Summer Institute on teaching the Holocaust and Genocide, brought the exhibits “Bergen-Belsen DP Exhibit” and “Anne Frank Family Photo Album,” and organized an educational Holocaust trip to Europe. He was active in the community and was involved in various organizations, such as the Canadian Jewish Congress, Board of Metro-Credit Union, the Ryerson Faculty Association, Canadian Association for Jewish Studies, Association of Canadian University Teachers, and the American Association of Professors of Yiddish. He ran to be a school board trustee for the North York Board of Education and was involved as an advisor to issues related to housing, as co-author of a report on Senior Citizens’ housing development in Metropolitan Toronto. He was also committed to the development of a Toronto Jewish Museum.
Subjects
Yiddish literature
Name Access
Fuerstenberg, Adam, 1939-2016
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-7-21
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-7-21
Material Format
textual record
graphic material
multiple media
Physical Description
113 cm of textual and other records
1 scrapbook
Date
1938-2016
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting the Act to End Violence Against Women organization. Included are: meeting minutes of the executive board; a ledger containing executive board waivers of notice; meeting minutes and resolutions from the yearly conventions; photographs of Act to End Violence Against Women members; correspondence with other organizations; correspondence, research material, public reactions, and ephemera from various campaigns; a commemorative booklet for a B'nai Brith cantorial concert; a scrapbook on the formation of the B'nai Brith Women Claire Morry Chapter; constitutions, constitutional amendments, reports, budgets, resolutions and other records of Act to End Violence Against Women; member lists and honour roll of past chapters; material and correspondence with B'nai Brith Washington; UJA material concerning assimilation and intermarriage and 2001 Jewish census data results.
Administrative History
The first Canadian chapter of B'nai Brith Women International was formed in Windsor, Ontario in 1923. Other chapters were soon formed throughout Eastern Canada and additional chapters were established in Winnipeg and British Columbia after 1949. The organization was initially administered by the American B'nai Brith Women. In 1976, it finally became autonomous (although still affiliated with the American agency) and changed its name to B'nai Brith Women of Eastern Canada. In 1981, its name was changed again to B'nai Brith Women of Canada. In 1995, the organization became known as Jewish Women International of Canada (JWIC). In November 2011, the organization underwent a final name change to Act to End Violence Against Women.
JWIC is committed to social change, with a particular focus on improving the lives of women and their families. In the 1980s, the agency initiated programs to counter domestic violence and began operating safe housing for Jewish women and children known as ASTEH (Alternative Safe Temporary Emergency Housing). JWIC also runs the JWI Residential Treatment Centre for emotionally disturbed youth.
Use Conditions
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.
Descriptive Notes
Language note: Material in English, Russian and French.
Subjects
Charities
Family violence
Women
Name Access
Act to End Violence Against Women
Places
Canada
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-8-5
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-8-5
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
2 photographs : b&w ; 2.5 x 3 cm
Date
1940-2010
Scope and Content
Accession consists of materials documenting attempts by Mr. Ladner's aunt in England to locate him and his parents in Nazi-controlled Europe. Documents include photocopies of passports and correspondence from relatives, the International Red Cross and other aid organizations. Also included are documents related to his subsequent relocation to England and Canada.
Administrative History
William Ladner is a Holocaust survivor, born en route from Austria to Antwerp, Belgium in 1940. As a child, William Ladner and his mother fled to Belgium from their home in Austria following the arrest of his father by the Nazis. Will's parents had attempted to immigrate to Switzerland but were turned away. Both of Will's parents perished during the Holocaust. William's father was an [electrician] and his mother a nurse. At the time of their immigration, Belgium was occupied by Germany having capitulated on the terms of unconditional surrender on May 28, 1940. Germany invaded Belgium and Holland on May 10, 1940 (Plan Yellow). Desperate for work, Mrs. Ladner reported to an employment office but was quickly discovered to be Jewish and deported to Malines. Deportation trains from Malines to Auschwitz began on August 4, 1942. Will has records documenting the movement of his parents during the war up until their deaths. Will's mother arranged for his safekeeping during the war by placing him in an orphanage operated by a Catholic Convent before she was deported to Auschwitz where she was murdered. After the war, arrangements were made by a cousin [Schindler] who worked for the British Intelligence in Birmingham, as well as William's mother's sister, who resided in Birmingham, England. Will Ladner immigrated to England in January 1946 to join his aunt. He then moved to Canada. Much of the documentation relates to Will's aunt's attempts to locate her sister and nephew.
Descriptive Notes
Language: Some records in French or German.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2019-4-5
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2019-4-5
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
30 cm of textual records
23 photographs : b&w and col. ; 17 x 24 cm or smaller
345 photographs (electronic) : jpgs
70 sound recordings : (WAV)
1 VHS : 1:00:28 min.
1 CD : 00 61:10 min.
Date
1937-2008
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material collected and created by Bill Gladstone. Included are: photos and textual records of J. B. Salsberg and Dora Wilensky, oral histories and interviews conducted by Bill, family bar mitzvah cards and telegrams, a book of Yehoash poetry (signed), Beth Tzedec Synagogue research materials, a CD recording of an Agudas Mishpoche breakfast from 1968, a DVD of photos of the Rubinoff family from London, a DVD of photographs of the 80th anniversary of the Agudas Mishpoche, a VHS tape and poster for "Coat of Many Colours", newspaper supplements documenting 100 years of Jewish life in Western Canada (1867-1967) and 100 years of the London Jewish community (1867-1967), a photo of the grave site of Lionel Cohen and a manuscript written by Sam Shapiro entitled The Rise of the Toronto Jewish Community.
Administrative History
Bill Gladstone is a researcher, writer and genealogist living in Toronto. He has written and edited numerous books on Canadian Jewish history and is a frequent contributor to the Canadian Jewish News, the Globe and Mail and other publications. He is often asked to give community presentations on a variety of topics related to the history of Jewish Toronto.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2019-6-5
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2019-6-5
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
4 m of textual records and other material
Date
[194-]-2017
Scope and Content
Accession consists of textual records, photographs, sound recordings, moving images, and several felt badges and crests. The textual records include strategic planning documents, pedagogical and curriculum documents, meeting minutes, capital planning documents, fundraising records, school yearbooks, graduation programs, newsletters to parents and internal newsletters, and other operational documents. Photographs document the building and classrooms; school classes; sports teams; class outings; special guests; Jewish holiday celebrations; and Bialik groundbreakings, galas, and anniversary celebrations. The audio recordings include the school choir and an interview with Pearl Meckler. Moving images include graduations.
Custodial History
Records were stored in the Viewmount location. A committee of past alumni and parents formed to sort the archival material in preparation for donation to the OJA.
Administrative History
Bialik Hebrew Day School was established by the Labour Zionist Alliance, which also operated the Farband Folks Shule and The Borochov School. In the 1950s, the Labour Zionist Alliance sold its property on Cecil Street in order to finance the purchase of the 12 Viewmount Avenue, which housed both the offices of the Labour Zionist Alliance and Bialik Hebrew Day School. The school was intended to fill a gap in Jewish education in Toronto, namely by teaching Yiddish as well as Hebrew and by promoting Zionism. The school was named for Chaim Nachman Bialik, Israel’s national poet.
Bialik Hebrew Day School began with 29 pre-school and first grade students in 1961, and by the mid-2000s had grown to over 800 students in kindergarten through grade 8. Several renovations and expansions took place over the intervening decades, and in 2003 a new school was opened at 2760 Bathurst Street. In 2013, the school opened a northern campus (Bialik North, or the Ben and Edith Himel Education Centre) on the Joseph & Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus in Vaughan to serve students in the York Region.
Use Conditions
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.
Descriptive Notes
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION NOTE: Includes ca. 1000 photographs, sound recordings, moving images, and several objects.
Subjects
Education
Jewish day schools
Name Access
Bialik Hebrew Day School
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2017-3-12
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2017-3-12
Material Format
multiple media
Physical Description
2 folders of textual records
7 photographs : col
2 photographs : b&w
Date
1949-2011
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting Miriam Beckerman's work as a translator. Included are correspondence, English translations with corresponding Yiddish texts, awards, and some promotional materials relating to published translations. Also included are several photographs of Miriam.
Subjects
Yiddish language
Yiddish literature
Name Access
Beckerman, Miriam
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2017-8-14
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2017-8-14
Material Format
graphic material
textual record
multiple media
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records ca. 2cm of textual records
12 photographs : b&w and col ; 30 x 35 cm or smaller
1 scrapbook
Date
1900-1950, [196?], 1970-1995
Scope and Content
Accession consists of 12 photographs (ca. 1900-1930, 196?) of members of the Schönberger family, including family portraits, class portraits, and a group photograph of the United Cloth Hat & Cap Makers Union Local No. 41. Accession also contains a scrapbook (ca.1937-1945) kept by Walter Schoenberger consisting of ca. 90 photographs and other graphic materials (eg. cigarette cards, photographic postcards) documenting his life in Vienna, England, Quebec and Toronto. This scrapbook includes photographs of Schoenberger's internment at a Kitchener Camp in Kent, England, as well as photographs of a parade at Old City Hall in Toronto.
Accession also consists of 1 folder of textual records, including Canadian citizenship and naturalization documents, a Vienna drivers license, one postcard, wedding invitations and certificates, newspaper clippings, personal writings, and a death certificate. There are also a number of documents ca. 1939-1942 relating to Walter Schoenberger's time at the Kitchener Camp in England, including letters from the Red Cross, the American Embassy to Vienna, the American Consulate General in London, the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society, the Central Council for Jewish Refugees Agricultural Committee, and Tip Top Tailors.
Accession also includes Victory Bonds certificates (1943-1945), an issue of the Toronto Star from December 3, 1992, a Toronto Transit Commission map, a program for a "Life Begins at 65" celebration for George Burns, and a book entitled "Collective Poems - The Terrace Holocaust Survivors Group" consisting of poetry by Holocaust survivors. Also included are documents relating to the Schwab family.
Ancestor chart of Mindy Schönberger
Custodial History
Collection of Walter Schoenberger, donated by daughter Mindy Pollishuke.
Use Conditions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Subjects
Tailors
Immigrants--Canada
Labor unions
Clothing workers
Postcards
Refugee camps
Refugees
World War, 1939-1945
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
England
Austria
Germany
Source
Archival Accessions