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
2014-1-10
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-1-10
Material Format
graphic material
textual record
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
1 presentation piece : 50 x 42 cm
Date
[ca. 1982]-[ca. 1983]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of one folder of textual records related to the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and one presentation piece in the form of a framed photograph of Hilda Naiman complete with a commemorative plaque.
Custodial History
Records came via Shelly Rotman, Adminstrative Assistant with the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.
Administrative History
Hilda Naiman was the former Executive Secretary of Toronto Jewish Congress when they were located on Beverley Street in Toronto.
Use Conditions
UJA Federation meeting minutes and general correspondence are closed for 10 years from date of creation. Contracts and donor agreements are permanently closed.
Subjects
Nonprofit organizations
Name Access
Haiman, Hilda
Toronto Jewish Congress
UJA Federation of Greater Toronto
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-5-7
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2014-5-7
Material Format
textual record
Physical Description
90 cm of textual records
Date
1968-1985
Scope and Content
Accession consists of the general financial ledgers for the United Jewish Appeal (1975-1978, 1980-1982); the United Jewish Welfare Fund (1975-1980, 1984-1985); the Toronto Jewish Congress (1980-1985); the Bequest and Endowment Fund (1968-1985); and the Toronto Hebrew Memorial Park (1983-1985).
Use Conditions
UJA Federation meeting minutes and general correspondence are closed for 10 years from date of creation. Contracts and donor agreements are permanently closed.
Descriptive Notes
Use Conditions note: Some of the ledgers contain payroll information. This information is closed until 30 years after death of the individual documented.
Name Access
UJA Federation of Greater Toronto
Toronto Jewish Congress
United Jewish Welfare Fund (Toronto, Ont.)
Toronto Hebrew Memorial Park
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2016-4-14
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2016-4-14
Material Format
textual record
graphic material
moving images
Physical Description
ca. 35 cm of textual records
ca. 5 cm of photographs : b&w and col. ; 45 x 30 cm or smaller
1 VHS : col. ; 43 min.
Date
1905-2007
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting the family history and publishing career of Alvin Abram. The records include a scrapbook created by Alvin’s father Herman "Harry" Joseph Abramovitz, managing editor of the Canadian Jewish Weekly. The scrapbook documents Abramovitz’s Canadian national lecture tour entitled “The Jews in Two World Wars,” in which he spoke on the plight of the Jewish people during the First World War and the ongoing destruction of the Jewish people in the Second World War. Abramovitz also lectured on the heroism of Jews participating in the Allied armed forces and the importance of the Tehran Declaration. The same scrapbook also includes newspaper clippings, rail tickets, and programs related to his 1944 tour and subsequent 1945 tour “From Destruction to Reconstruction.” A second scrapbook created by Alvin Abram shares the Abramovitz family tree and includes several early family photographs of Alvin and his siblings and his parents’ marriage certificate. A third scrapbook, also created by Alvin Abram, is oversized and includes a few personal items, such as a page from his high school yearbook, caricature sketches of Alvin, and photos and flyers from the book launch of “The Light After The Dark.” There are a number of miscellaneous items including a copy of Louis Epstein (Alvin Abram's father-in-law)’s immigration card, condolence cards for Annie Ruth Abramovitz (née Schwartz), and personal items such as a 1935, Yiddish-language, ten-page, anti-communist booklet portraying Herman Abramovitz as a barber (Herman’s trade) and Stalin in his barber shop chair, as well as a personal Yiddish-language diary (1941).
In addition, there is a signed poster of Dubi Arie’s The Mission: Under The Wings of God and The Shadow of Amalek, a broadside of The Light After The Dark, associated newspaper clippings, a Leonard Mayzel-Ontario B’nai Brith Lodge Charter Certificate (1949), a fiftieth-anniversary video prepared for the Leonard Mayzel Lodge #1800 B'nai Brith celebration (1998), a video-and-photograph compilation that includes a slideshow with a brief history of the lodge, and a tribute to Leonard Mayzel.
Lastly, the accession includes published book titles On The Shoulders of Giants by Alvin Abram, Toronto Street Names by Leonard Wise and Allan Gould, and The Light After the Dark by Alvin Abram.
Administrative History
Alvin Abram (1936–2021) was a storyteller, writer, printer, and graphic designer. He was born on 11 May 1936 in Toronto to Herman Joseph Abramovitz (1905–1954) and Annie Schwartz (1903–1994).
Alvin's father, Herman ("Harry"), was born in Ataki, Bessaravia (Moldova). He immigrated to Canada in 1927 at the age of twenty-two and married Annie Schwartz (of Romania) in Hamilton, Ontario on 23 December 1928. Together, they had three children, Murray (b. 1929), Alvin (b. 1936), and Morton (b. 1938). Herman, a professionally-trained barber, was active in the union and worked as a journalist, lecturer, and editor of the Canadian Jewish Weekly.
Alvin Abram married Marilyn in [1961]. They had three children, Lisa, Lori, and Jason. Alvin ran a successful printing business and, upon completing several creative writing courses in the 1990s, he launched his accomplished writing career publishing dozens of short stories and several books.
Alvin was very involved in community work and volunteered his to time to many Jewish causes including B'nai Brith Canada, where he served on the executive of its Leonard Mayzel Ontario Lodge.
Subjects
Authors
Name Access
Abram, Alvin
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-7-2
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-7-2
Material Format
textual record
Physical Description
20 cm of textual records
Date
1979, 1989-2005
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting Shoel Silver's involvement with various committees, including: Project Renewal, NECHAMA. Keren Hayesod, Israel Center for Treatment of Psychotrauma and The Jewish Agency for Israel, UJA and others. Included are reports, correspondence, proposals, a 1979 edition of the Jewish Standard, first edition of the Children's Newspaper in Kfar Gvirol and assorted research material.
Use Conditions
Conditional Access. Researchers must receive permission from the donor prior to accessing the records. Please contact the OJA for more information.
Descriptive Notes
Language: Most of the items are in English, with some items partially or fully in Hebrew.
Subjects
Charities
Israel
Name Access
Jewish Agency for Israel
Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto
Project Renewal (Israel)
Silver, Shoel
Toronto Jewish Congress
Places
Israel
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-9-3
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-9-3
Material Format
textual record
graphic material
moving images
Physical Description
ca. 30 cm of textual records and graphic material
2 optical discs
1 scrapbook : 62 x 47 cm
1 videocassette
Date
1975-2018
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting Alvin Abram, the Jewish National Fund of Toronto (JNF Toronto), and the Leonard Mayzel Ontario Lodge (LMOL).
LMOL records include certificates (1975-1977); issues of the Observer (1978-1979), Planet Observer (2016-2018), and the Bulletin (2017-2018); a VHS tape made on the occasion of the lodge's fiftieth anniversary (1998); a DVD made on the occasion of the lodge's sixtieth anniversary (2008); and a scrapbook commemorating the lodge's community volunteer services (1977-1978).
JNF records include annual reports for the years 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008; copies of the Roots newsletter for the years 2000-2008; and Negev Dinner tribute books for the years 2003, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015.
Other records include a Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue Yakir Hakahal gala tribute dinner book honouring Sir Nicholas Winton (2010), a Temple Har Zion gala dinner book honouring Rabbi Michael S. Stroh (2005), a Wiesenthal Award book honouring Judy Feld Carr (2002), and a DVD-R with 34 photographs (jpg) taken at an Unto Every Person There is a Name event on 5 May 2016 that was attended by Andi Reti, Councillor James Pasternak, and Daniel G. Lovell.
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
Authors
Clubs
Nonprofit organizations
Name Access
Abram, Alvin
Jewish National Fund of Toronto
Leonard Mayzel Ontario Lodge
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-10-14
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-10-14
Material Format
textual record
Physical Description
7 cm of textual records
Date
1964-2018
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting different public and Jewish organizations in Toronto. Included are: 1964 and 1965 issues of the William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute's Advocate yearbook; a record of the Eglinton chapter of B'nai Brith Women of Canada's opening meeting on 16 September 1992; a booklet with short profiles of the 1998-99 UJA Federation Board of Directors; a 2013 commemorative booklet celebrating Darchei Noam's fortieth anniversary and Rabbi Tina Grimberg's ten-year anniversary at the synagogue; a program for the 8th Annual Symposium in Germanic Studies University of Toronto, which was titled Global Yiddish Culture, 1938-1948; various materials from the 2018 Ashkenaz Festival; newspaper clippings; and informational material for the Canadian Jewish Congress/Toronto Jewish Congress' Heritage-in-a-Box project
Subjects
Festivals
Public schools
Synagogues
Name Access
Ashkenaz Festival
B'nai Brith Women of Canada
Canadian Jewish Congress. Central Region
Congregation Darchei Noam (Toronto, Ont.)
Grimberg, Tina
Toronto Jewish Congress
Troster, Cyrel
University of Toronto
William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-12-5
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-12-5
Material Format
graphic material
textual record
moving images
Physical Description
30 cm of graphic material and textual records
1 videocassette (20 min., 50 sec.) : col., VHS
Date
1970-2018
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting the activities related to B'nai Brith's Leonard Mayzel Ontario Lodge (LMOL). Included are: four photo albums; copies of the LMOL Observer/Planet Observer newsletter; minutes of LMOL executive meetings (2017-2018); letters of thanks to LMOL from various organizations; posters advertizing LMOL events; newspaper clippings; a booklet for the 1979 B'nai Brith annual convention; a 2001 Ontario Jewish Resource Directory.
Administrative History
Alvin Abram is on the executive of the Leonard Mayzel Ontario Lodge. He is the son of Herman Joseph Abramovitz (1905–1954) and Annie Schwartz (1903–1994). Herman Abramovitz born in Ataki, Bessaravia (Russian empire) immigrated to Canada in 1927 at the age of twenty-two. He married Annie Schwartz in Hamilton, Ontario, on 23 December 1928. Together, they had three children, Murray (b. 1929), Alvin (b. 1936), and Morton (b. 1938). Herman, although trained as a barber, was active in the union and worked as a journalist, lecturer, and editor of the Canadian Jewish Weekly, the only national Jewish weekly in Canada.
Descriptive Notes
Availability of other formats: Dirty Bagel feature available as an optical disc reference copy.
Name Access
Abram, Alvin
Leonard Mayzel Ontario Lodge
Source
Archival Accessions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Photographic and audiovisual collection series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 67; Series 27; File 541
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Photographic and audiovisual collection series
Level
File
Fonds
67
Series
27
File
541
Material Format
graphic material
Date
29 Mar. 1981
Physical Description
11 photographs : b&w (11 negatives) ; 28 x 28 mm
Scope and Content
File consists of eleven negatives depicting a Toronto Jewish Congress awards event at Beth Tzedec. Sheldon Sper is depicted being recognized with a Leadership Development Award. Wilf Posluns and Irwin Gold are also identified.
Notes
Photos by Graphic Artists Photographers, Toronto.
Name Access
Toronto Jewish Congress
Subjects
Awards
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Photographic and audiovisual collection series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 67; Series 27; File 549
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Photographic and audiovisual collection series
Level
File
Fonds
67
Series
27
File
549
Material Format
graphic material
Date
26 May 1981
Physical Description
5 photographs : b&w (5 negatives) ; 28 x 28 mm
Scope and Content
File consists of five negatives of a TJC event. Identified in the negatives are James Kay and Mark Gryfe.
Notes
Photos by Graphic Artists Photographers, Toronto.
Name Access
Toronto Jewish Congress
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Photographic and audiovisual collection series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 67; Series 27; File 557
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Photographic and audiovisual collection series
Level
File
Fonds
67
Series
27
File
557
Material Format
graphic material
Date
5 Oct. 1981
Physical Description
2 photographs : b&w (2 negatives) ; 28 x 28 mm
Scope and Content
File consists of two negatives of two unknown men at the TJC offices.
Notes
Photos by Graphic Artists Photographers, Toronto.
Name Access
Toronto Jewish Congress
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 6156
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
6156
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[between 1987 and 1989]
Physical Description
1 negative : b&w ; 10 x 12 cm
Scope and Content
This item consists of an original portrait, which is hanging on the fourth-floor wall, and a copy negative. The negative is housed in the OJA's photo cabinet.
Name Access
Rosenfeld, Herb
Toronto Jewish Congress
Subjects
Portraits
Repro Restriction
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 Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 6149
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
6149
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[19--]
Physical Description
1 negative : b&w ; 10 x 12 cm b&w ; 10 x 12 cm
Admin History/Bio
Campaign Chairman: United Jewish Appeal 1976.
President: Toronto Jewish Congress1980-1982.
Scope and Content
This item consists of an original portrait, which is hanging on the fourth-floor wall, and a copy negative. The negative is housed in the OJA's photo cabinet.
Name Access
Posluns, Wilfred
United Jewish Appeal
Toronto Jewish Congress
Subjects
Portraits
Repro Restriction
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 Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 3824-3827
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
3824-3827
Material Format
graphic material
Date
Jan. 1982
Physical Description
4 photographs
Scope and Content
Pictured are Rabbi Sheldon Steinberg (Congress Chaplain), Meyer Feldman (Cairman Book Committee), United Synagogue Day School students.
Name Access
Toronto Jewish Congress
Subjects
Genizah
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Accession Number
1985-11-6
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 67
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
67
Material Format
multiple media
Date
1936-2010, predominant 1938-1976
Physical Description
14.3 m of textual records
5593 photographs, 25 x 20 cm and smaller, and other media
Admin History/Bio
The Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Toronto (FJPT) was incorporated in Ontario in March 1917 to coordinate the fundraising activities of Jewish charitable, philanthropic, and social service agencies in Toronto. In 1918, ten separate agencies were funded by the FJPT. By 1937, fourteen agencies were funded. The Great Depression of the 1930s and the development of several newer Jewish aid, education, and medical care organizations created both increased need for resources and growing competition for ever-more scarce dollars. Within a very few years, this funding crisis forced a major review of the organization.
During 1936, a series of special meetings of leading individuals were held to examine the income and expenditures of all Toronto Jewish agencies and also to speculate about the need for a new Toronto Jewish "community chest" as the sole fund-raising organization for a federation of all Jewish agencies, including the FJPT. In 1938, the new United Jewish Welfare Fund was formally constituted. Added to the FJPT's previous list of Toronto client agencies in 1938 were: the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Hebrew National Association, the Jewish Immigrant Aid Association, the Mizrachi Society, the Toronto Free Loan Association, the Geverkshaften, and Old Folks Home, and the United Palestine Appeal, raising the total number of agencies to twenty-two.
When the State of Israel was established in 1948, the UJWF's annual fundraising campaign was combined with the CJC's United Palestine appeal to form a new, combined campaign named the United Jewish Appeal (UJA). In 1967, the UJA name was legally changed to the United Jewish Appeal of Metropolitan Toronto.
In mid-1976, the organization's public name was changed to the Toronto Jewish Congress. Although initially thought of as a merger between the UJWF and the CJC, the actual result was the expansion of the UJWF responsibilities to include local education and welfare services previously shared with the Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region. The UJWF, however, remained the legal senior entity.
In 1991, the public name was again changed to the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto and, in 1999, to UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. By this date, over thirty beneficiary and affiliated agencies, forty-nine affiliated schools and five federation departments were fully or partly funded by the federation.
In June 2010, the organization altered its legal structure, with the senior legal entity becoming the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of 25 series: Annual Meetings, Annual Reports, Board of Directors, Constitution Committee, Executive Committee, Officers Committee, Budget and Finance Committee, Administration Committee, Social Planning Committee, Committee on Capital Needs and Planning, Central Committee on Scholarships in Aid, Joint Committee of the BJE and UJWF Study on Jewish Education, Nominations Committee, Pension Fund Committee, Coordinating Committee, Special Ad Hoc and Temporary Committees, Annual Campaign, Client Agencies, Joint Committee of the CJC and the UJWF, Committee on Community Organization, Sub-Committee on Construction and Administration of Community Schools, Joint Committee on Fundraising, Personnel Committee, Community Leadership Development Council, and Israel at Fifty Community Celebration.
Over 4500 photographs and a variety of other media are managed within Series 17, Campaign records.
Notes
For exact details about the contents of individual series and sub-series, please review their scope and contents notes.
Name Access
United Jewish Welfare Fund
Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Toronto
United Jewish Appeal
Toronto Jewish Congress
Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto
UJA Federation of Greater Toronto
Subjects
Charities
Fund raising
Access Restriction
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing some of the records.
Related Material
For records of the predecessor of the UJWF, see Fonds 66, the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Toronto fonds.
Further detailed documentation of the proposed merger between the UJWF and the CJC (creation of the TJC) may be found in Fonds 67, Sub-sub-series 5-5-1, Files 171 and 221.
Further documentation on the United Jewish Welfare Fund may be found within Fonds 9, Series 7, records of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society.
For further detailed records of a key community leader's involvement with the UJWF see Accession 1982-8-8, the records of Samuel Godfrey, 1943-1972.
Creator
United Jewish Welfare Fund (1938-)
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Descriptions