- Accession Number
- 2004-6-12
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2004-6-12
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 3.3 m of textual records
- Date
- [ca. 1970]-[ca. 1990]
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of the records created or accumulated by the Committee for Yiddish, which operated under the auspices of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region and later, the Toronto Jewish Congress (UJA Federation of Greater Toronto).
- Use Conditions
- Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.
- Name Access
- Committee for Yiddish (Toronto, Ont.)
- Toronto Jewish Congress
- Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2009-6-5
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2009-6-5
- Material Format
- graphic material
- sound recording
- moving images
- textual record
- object
- Physical Description
- 187 photographs : b&w and col. ; 24 x 20 cm or smaller
- 20 audiocassettes
- 10 videocassettes
- 1 folder of textual records
- 1 object
- Date
- [193-]-2006
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists predominantly of records collected by Bess Shockett in her work with UJA Federation's Committee for Yiddish and Friends of Yiddish. The accession also contains some personal family records. The photographs document programmes of the Committee for Yiddish in the late 1980s and 1990s, including an outdoor Yiddish concert, several International Conferences of Yiddish Clubs (1995, 1998, 1999), Sunday morning Yiddish classes, and a 1993 Hanukah concert. There are also three photographs of the New Fraternal Jewish Association and its celebration of J. B. Salsberg's eightieth birthday in 1980. The videocassettes contain recordings of other events including a storytelling workshop, Purim Mystery Night, a farewell for Miriam Waddington and several Sof Vokh (weekend retreat) programmes of 1993.
- The twenty cassette tapes feature panel discussions, lectures and interviews, including "Yiddish education," "Yiddish and the Media," "Yiddish and the Younger Generation," "Yiddish and the Performing Arts," and "Yiddish Language and Translation." There are several interviews with Yiddish poet Avrom Sutzkever, as well as two Toronto Yiddish concerts. Other tapes contain radio interviews with [Aaron?] Lansky; "Chava Rosenfarb--Book Fair", 1988; "Plenary reports and presentations"; and an episode of the program The Forward Hour on Peretz Miransky, an influential Polish writer in the inter-war years.
- Personal records in the accession consist of family snapshots dating from the 1930s and 1940s. These were taken in Israel and include images of farming, landscapes, travel, a canal, groups of people, city buildings, and processions. These photos all have Yiddish writing on the back. There is one formal portrait, ca. 1890s, of an elderly Jewish man. As well, there is a folder of original and photocopied poetry (in Yiddish) written by a Jack Shockett.
- Accession also includes a Yiddish typewriter, in case, that Bess used in the late 1960s/early 1970s when the Committee for Yiddish was under Congress.
- Custodial History
- Records were entrusted to the estate of Bess Shockett after her death, and given to her Committee for Yiddish colleague Ethel Cooper, who brought them to the archives.
- Administrative History
- Bess Shockett was born in the Ukraine in 1919. Her father, Solomon Maltin, was the mayor of the town and helped establish a number of Jewish community institutions. He and his wife had two sons along with Bess: Sam and Ben. In 1925, the family moved to Montreal. As an adolescent, Bess became very active in the Jewish community and joined the United Jewish People's Order. She helped organize a union for workers in the knitting industry and later did the same for fur workers. She also travelled to Winnipeg to organize a laundry workers union. She met her husband, Barry Shockett, in Toronto and they married in 1952 and had three children: Michael, Elka and Eric. Bess eventually became very active in the Toronto Jewish community, particularly in regards to supporting and launching several innovative Yiddish programs. She staffed the office of CJC's Committee for Yiddish in its early years, and was Director from 1974 to 1989. She helped found the Friends of Yiddish in 1985 and served as executive vice-president until her death on August 27, 2007.
- Descriptive Notes
- There is little written material; what there is (captions and poetry) is mostly in Yiddish; some captions are in English.
- Subjects
- Committees
- Yiddish language
- Name Access
- Committee for Yiddish (Toronto, Ont.)
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2018-6-7
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2018-6-7
- Material Format
- textual record
- sound recording
- Physical Description
- 30 cm of textual records
- 6 cassette tapes
- Date
- 1973-2005
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of material documenting Cyrel Troster's involvement with various Jewish committees and organizations. Included are: transcripts of oral histories with prominent Jewish Torontonians that were conducted as part of an oral history project in 1973; correspondence between Cyrel Troster and interviewees; index cards listing the dates of the oral history interviews; promotional materials for Jewish arts festivals; public proposal document for the new Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue; and documents and records from Cyrel's involvement in various Jewish organizations. Also included are Local Initiatives Program application forms (1973), lists of presidents of various Jewish organizations, a map of the Jewish York Region (1999), issues of Exodus Magazine in both English and Russian from May 2018, and two issues of the Wilson Heights High School yearbook The Torch (1962-63).
- The six tape cassettes are as follows: Cantor Paul Kowarsky Live in Concert (no date); Highlights from the 1994 Toronto Jewish Storytelling Festival; interview with Esther Volpe (two cassette tapes); interview with Samuel Harris; and one cassette marked "Dov Noy copy of Library tape" (Dov Noy was a Jewish folklorist).
- The accession contains transcripts for the following interviewees: Mrs. Arbus, David Biderman, Benjamin Brown, Benjamin Sherman, Arthur Cohen, Mrs. Draimin, Max Federman, Morris Flicht, Joshua Gershman, Samuel Harris, Ben Heisel, Rose Heisel, Mr. Lean, Mary Levy, Harry Pullan, J. B. Salsberg, Yekil Silverman, A. S. Socol, Nathan Strauss, Esther Volpe, and Annie Zeidman.
- The accession contains records related to Cyrel's involvement in the following committees and organizations: Committee for Yiddish (1997-2004); Cultural Services and Planning Committee (1990-2005), Jewish Public Library (2005); Canadian Jewish Congress, Orthodox Division (1982-1984); Holocaust Centre (1979-2004); Limmud (2000); Ontario Jewish Archives (1973-2004); Jewish Theatre (1996-2002); Jewish Arts Council (2000-2004); Jewish Toronto Tomorrow (1994-2004); Ashkenaz (1997-2004); UJA Federation (1978, 1984, 1990-2004).
- Use Conditions
- Credit to be given to Susan Cohen and Cyrel Troster—coordinators of the Local Initiatives Project project in 1973—and to interviewer(s) and transcribers when using tapes or transcribed interviews.
- Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.
- Descriptive Notes
- RELATED MATERIAL NOTE: See accession 2017-4-6 for related sound recordings. Some may be duplicates.
- Subjects
- Nonprofit organizations
- Name Access
- Committee for Yiddish (Toronto, Ont.)
- Limmud Toronto
- Ontario Jewish Archives
- Troster, Cyrel
- UJA Federation of Greater Toronto
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions