- 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
- Part Of
- Solomon Edell fonds
- General community activities series
- Level
- Series
- Fonds
- 4
- Series
- 11
- Material Format
- multiple media
- Date
- 1950-2010
- Physical Description
- 77 cm of textual records and other material
- Admin History/Bio
- In addition to his ongoing involvement with Clanton Park, the Canadian Jewish Congress Archives, the Aliyah Support Group, Jones Avenue Cemetery, Shomrai Shabbos and Adas Israel, Sol Edell undertook special projects on behalf of a wide array of Jewish organizations. These include cultural (Toronto Cantorial Scholarship Fund), educational (Netivot Hatorah and Yeshivat Or Chaim Ulpanat Orot), religious (Union of Jewish Orthodox Congregations), social welfare (Association of Jewish Seniors and Co-Ordinated Services to the Jewish Elderly) and Zionist (Canadian Friends of Yeshivat Hakotel and State of Israel Bonds) organizations.
- Scope and Content
- Series consists of records documenting Sol Edell's involvement with a wide variety of Jewish educational, social and religious organizations and institutions in Canada, the United States, and Israel. Included are meeting minutes, publications, reports, photographs, correspondence, invitations, programmes, financial records, an architectural drawing, and a sound recording. While many of these organizations such as Eitz Chaim, Or Chaim Ulpanat Orot (educational), Mizrachi Organization of Canada, Emunah Women (Zionist) and Beth Jacob V’Anshe Drildz (synagogue) are orthodox, others such as Associated Hebrew Day Schools (educational), State of Israel Bonds (Zionist) and Co-ordinated Services to the Jewish Elderly (social welfare) have no religious affiliation.
- Notes
- Physical description note: includes 26 photographs, 1 audio cassette, and 1 architectural drawing.
- Name Access
- Eitz Chaim
- Or Chaim Ulpanat Orot
- Mizrachi Men’s Organization
- Emunah Women
- Beth Jacob V'Anshei Drildz (Toronto, Ont.)
- Associated Hebrew Day Schools
- State of Israel Bonds
- Co-ordinated Services to the Jewish Elderly
- Camp Moshava
- Harbord Collegiate
- Netivot Hatorah
- Union of Jewish Orthodox Congregations
- B'Nei Akiva
- Toronto Committee for Bikur Cholim Hospital
- Subjects
- Charities
- Children
- Education
- Fund raising
- Older people
- Religion
- Zionism
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Solomon Edell fonds
- Adas Israel Synagogue series
- Level
- Series
- Fonds
- 4
- Series
- 5
- Material Format
- multiple media
- Date
- 1958-2008
- Physical Description
- 21 cm of textual records and other material
- Admin History/Bio
- Adas Israel is an orthodox congregation that was founded in the 1920s. The original building was on Cannon Street in downtown Hamilton. After the arrival of Rabbi Morton Green in 1958, a decision was made to move the synagogue to the western suburbs of Hamilton. The new building was built in 1961 and also included the Hamilton Hebrew Academy Day School. Since its move, synagogue membership has increased from 75 families to 350 families. Sol Edell became a member in 1966 after he married Celia Hoffman who was a member of the congregation. He did not attend the synagogue and had no regular involvement but did supervise a number synagogue renovation projects.
- Custodial History
- The material in this series was originally collected by the Hoffman family who were members of the congregation in the 1960s. Sol Edell became a member of the congregation after his marriage to Celia Hoffman in 1966. After her death in 1973, he inherited the material that she had collected and he continued to receive material from the congregation since he maintained his membership until his death in 2000.
- Scope and Content
- Series consists of correspondence, blueprints, photographs, audiotapes and films relating to the establishment and construction of the new synagogue in 1961. It also includes correspondence and anniversary books documenting a variety of synagogue activities such as the dedication of the synagogue and a tribute dinner honouring Rabbi Mordechai Green. Also included are synagogue bulletins from 1958 to 2000. The series is made up of 6 sub series: Building, Clergy, Religious, Programmes, Administration and Finance, and Publications.
- Notes
- Physical description note: includes 27 photographs, 3 audio reels, 1 film reel, 15 architectural drawings, and 1 key.
- Name Access
- Green, Morton, Rabbi
- Hoffman, Celia
- Hamilton Hebrew Academy Day School
- Subjects
- Architecture
- Education
- Synagogues
- 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
- Hoffman family fonds
- Personal series
- Level
- Series
- Fonds
- 6
- Series
- 3
- Material Format
- multiple media
- Date
- [195-]-1962
- Physical Description
- 5 cm of textual records
- Admin History/Bio
- Max and Celia Hoffman lived in Hamilton with their 2 children, Stephen and Jay. They were members of Adas Israel synagogue and the Beverley Golf and Country Club. The children attended the Hamilton Talmud Torah.
- Scope and Content
- Series contains correspondence and blueprints relating to the construction of the Hoffman residence. Also included are the Westlake Secondary School yearbook, the school attended by the Hoffman children and a biography of Meyer Hoffman, a relative of Max Hoffman. In addition, there is correspondence relating to the Hoffman family membership in the Beverly Golf and Country Club.
- Subjects
- Building
- Education
- Golf
- Recreation
- Places
- Hamilton (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Jewish Family and Child fonds
- Level
- Fonds
- Fonds
- 79
- Material Format
- multiple media
- Date
- 1933-2011
- Physical Description
- ca. 4.8 m of texutal records and other material
- Admin History/Bio
- Jewish Family & Child was established in 1943 from the amalgamation of a variety of different social agencies formed as early as 1868. These included the Ladies Benevolent Fund, the Free Burial Society, Jewish Family Welfare Bureau, Jewish Children’s Bureau, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and the Ladies Maternal Aid Society. Much of its funding and support after its inception came from the United Jewish Welfare Fund.
- The first executive director of the agency was Dora Wilensky. She was a trained social worker who served for twenty-eight years, until her untimely death from cancer in 1959. Jerome Diamond took over in 1960 and Gordon Wolfe succeeded him in 1981. Ron Levin briefly replaced Wolfe after his retirement in 2003, and was succeeded in 2006 by Dr. Richard Cummings who then retired in 2015. As of 2017, Brian Prousky is the organization’s current executive director.
- During the early years, fees were established, but the agency never refused to assist clients because of their inability to pay. JF&CS became one of the first agencies to rely on trained social workers. It was also the first social agency in Canada to become unionized.
- Over the years the agency’s role has changed and it has expanded significantly, in terms of its staff and services. After the Second World War it played a pivotal role supporting the Holocaust orphans who came to Canada as refugees, particularly in the area of locating foster parents for these children. By 1957, the agency hired its first counsellor and became a member of the United Community Fund of Greater Toronto. The year 1968 marked the start of JF&CS’ new program involving the use of a mobile treatment centre to reach out to Jewish street kids and in 1974 they established the Jerome D. Diamond Adolescent Centre.
- In 1981, JF&CS was mandated by the Province of Ontario as a Jewish children’s aid society responsible for the care and protection of all Jewish youth in the GTA. In 1983 they established the Just-A-Second Shop at 3101 Bathurst Street, which took in used goods from the community to pass on to needy families. Two years later they established the Henry G. Goodman Home for developmentally challenged children on Wilmington Avenue. The following year marked the opening of the Elm Ridge Group Living Residence for elderly people. In 1988, they opened a special shelter for abused women and children, and in 1994, they introduced their Homework Club for kids.
- The current mission of Jewish Family & Child is to support the healthy development of individuals, children, families, and communities through prevention, protection, counselling, education, and advocacy services, within the context of Jewish values. Their services include counselling, rehabilitation and support, foster care, family services, and community services. These services are offered in a host of different languages including Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian, French, and English.
- JF&CS is an independent organization that receives its funding from a variety of different sources such as UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, United Way Toronto and York Region, the Government of Ontario, and individual donations.
- As of 2017, JF&CS has nearly 130 staff providing more than thirty community services with a budget of almost $20 million. Their main office is located in the Lipa Green Centre for Community Services at 4600 Bathurst Street. They also maintain offices and run services out of their downtown branch at 35 Madison Avenue, their York Region branch inside UJA’s 1 Open Door at the Lebovic JCC, and their Jerome D. Diamond Adolescent Centre in midtown Toronto.
- Name Access
- Jewish Family and Child
- Wilensky, Dora, 1902-1959
- Wolfe, Gordon
- Diamond, Jerome D.
- Subjects
- Charities
- Children
- Families
- Nonprofit organizations
- Access Restriction
- Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director and head of Jewish Family and Child prior to accessing the records.
- Related Material
- See also: Jewish Child Welfare Association fonds (fonds 86); Jewish Family Welfare Bureau fonds (fonds 87); Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Toronto fonds (fonds 66); and, United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds (fonds 67).
- Creator
- Jewish Family and Child (Toronto, Ont.)
- Accession Number
- 2004-5-101
- 2004-1-8
- 2002-10-38
- 2006-6-7 (Shelf 03-6,Orphan index cards)
- 2009-12-9
- 2010-4-1 (Shelf 34-1)
- 2010-10-5
- 2015-8/11
- 2015-9/1
- Source
- Archival Descriptions