Accession Number

2013-5-2

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

10 cm of textual records and other material

Date

2011-2012

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records documenting the 100th anniversary celebration of Congregation Knesseth Israel. The records were compiled in an indexed binder by Edwin Goldstein, president of the synagogue. Included are newsclippings, press releases and advertisements; invitations and programs; a commemorative calendar; a volunteer t-shirt, a kippa and a gift bag; correspondence with the Ontario Trillium Foundation; information on a guided architectural walking tour of the area; an Israel Today DVD featuring the synagogue; the book "One Hundred Years at the Junction Shul" written by Neil Ross and Lorne Miller; and a DVD compilation featuring video and photographic highlights from the various anniversary events.

Administrative History

Congregation Knesseth Israel was established in 1911 at 56 Maria Street in the West end of Toronto. Early 20th century membership in the synagogue consisted mainly of new jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, many of whom lived and worked in the Junction as artisans, peddlers, shop owners and scrap and metal collectors. Known as the Junction Shul, Knesseth Israel Synagogue was built with the labour and funds provided by the founding members and their families.

Orthodox services first began in 1913 and since the 1930s the synagogue has functioned without a rabbi, with services being led by a cantor or the congregants themselves. Some family names associated with this early period include: Alexandroff, Goldstein, Nickolaevsky, Kronis, Greenblatt, Usprich, Tanenbaum, and Naftalin.

Knesseth Israel is the oldest Toronto synagogue still in use as a synagogue today and is now cared for by the descendents of these founding families. Although members of the synagogue are now few (as the Jewish population of the Junction has waned greatly since the 1960s), the synagogue still performs High Holiday services for some 75-80 full members and 300 associate members.

Descriptive Notes

Physical description note: includes 1 text, 3 objects and 2 DVDs.

Subjects

Anniversaries

Synagogues

Name Access

Knesseth Israel (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2014-7-5

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

2013

Scope and Content

Accession consists of items gathered to comprise the time capsule commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Miles Nadal JCC. Documents include event programmes, ticket stubs, a timeline, a summary of the history of the Miles Nadal JCC, and several newspaper clippings.

Subjects

Anniversaries

Name Access

Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-10-2

Material Format

moving images

Physical Description

4 DVD's (ca. 4 hours)

Date

2005-2010

Scope and Content

Accession consists of video recordings of Transnistria Survivors' Association's annual commemmoration ceremonies. Included are six DVD recordings of the annual Transnistria Survivors Association Shoa commemoration ceremonies from 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Administrative History

Founded in 1994, the Transnistria Survivors’ Association works to provide a voice for and raise awareness of a lesser known group of Holocaust survivors. Transnistria was the Romanian authorities’ name for the former Ukrainian region located between the Rivers Dniester and Bug. It was placed under Romanian administration following the German and Romanian conquest of Ukraine in the summer of 1941. Prior to the Second World War, Romania was home to the third largest Jewish population in Europe; but beginning with the Citizenship Revision Laws of 1938, the Jews of Romania were deprived their citizenship rights and became the targets of repressive antisemitic policies and laws. Neighbours turned on neighbours. Thousands of Jews were murdered in pogroms, either by Romanian or German troops, Nazi Einsatzgruppen, or the local population. In 1941, the Jews who remained alive in the Provinces of Bucovina and Bessarabia were deported to camps and ghettos in Transnistria. Thousands were jammed into freight trains while others were marched by foot. Many died along the way. Between 1941 and 1944, it is estimated that German and Romanian authorities, along with Ukrainian collaborators, murdered or caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Romanian and Ukrainian Jews in Transnistria. Some of those who survived these tragic circumstances, especially from Bucovina and Bessarabia, and made a new home in Toronto gathered together to lend each other support and to tell their largely unknown story of oppression and survival. The Transnistria Survivor’s Association organized yearly Hazkarah (memorial) services and its dedicated members continue to share their extraordinary stories of survival through speaking engagements at schools, colleges and synagogues. Past presidents include:

1. Felicia (Steigman) Carmelly

2.Osias Nadel

3.Etti Ziegler

4.Lou (Leizer) Hoffer

As of 2017, the current president is Joe Leinburd.

Subjects

Anniversaries

Societies

Name Access

Transnistria Survivors' Association (Toronto, Ont.)

Hoffer, Lou

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2018-6-24

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

90 cm of textual records and graphic material

5 architectural drawings

1 VHS : col. ; 33:50 min.

1 Hi8 video cassette

Date

[198-]-2011

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records documenting the operations of the Knesseth Israel Synagogue, including the preparations for the 100th anniversary celebrations in 2011. Records include meeting minutes for the Davening Committee, Fundraising Committee, Media Committee, Archives Committee, Book Committee, and the Board of Directors; membership lists; programming materials; notices for meetings and services; records related to the repair and restoration of the synagogue in the late 1980s including five architectural drawings of the synagogue showing required restorative work; general correspondence; a small amount of financial materials; planning records, research materials and publicity records related to the 100th celebrations; and a photo album and VHS recording of the provincial heritage plaquing of the synagogue in 2001. The video features remarks by Edwin Goldstein and Joey Tanenbaum as well as a short historical lecture by Dr. Stephen Speisman.

Custodial History

Records were housed in a storage locker belonging to the synagogue.

Subjects

Synagogues

Anniversaries

Name Access

Congregation Knesseth Israel (Toronto, Ont.)

Places

West Toronto Junction (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Level

Item

Item

2319

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1940]

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Name Access

Menachovsky, M.

Poalei Zion

Farband

Subjects

Anniversaries

Dinners and dining

Repro Restriction

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.

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1980-9-1

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Ida Lewis Siegel fonds

Level

File

Fonds

15

File

10

Material Format

textual record

Date

1905-1929

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of one scrapbook containing telegrams and cards with notes of congratulations to mark occasions of wedding, anniversaries, and son's bar mitzvah

Subjects

Anniversaries

Scrapbooks

Weddings

Source

Archival Descriptions