- Part Of
- Board of Jewish Education fonds
- Executive director series
- Personal correspondence and writings sub-series
- Level
- Sub-series
- Fonds
- 48
- Series
- 2-1
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1969-1993
- Physical Description
- 72 cm of textual records
- Scope and Content
- The sub-series consists of Dr. Joseph Diamond's and Rabbi Irwin Witty's personal correpondence, filed with their executive director records, the text of public talks and of commentaries made on Zelda Young's "Jewish hour" radio programme, broadcast every Sunday on the CHIN (Toronto) radio station. The topics of these commentaries varied widely, including Talmudic commentaries, Israeli and Diaspora Jewish politics, as well as matters relating to Jewish education in Toronto and elsewhere. Although much of the personal correspondence is routine in nature, some of the letters include discussions of Jewish education and activities of the BJE.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- David Vanek fonds
- Level
- Fonds
- Fonds
- 1
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Date
- 1906-1999
- Physical Description
- 12 cm of textual records
- 10 photographs : b&w and col. ; 21 x 26 cm or smaller
- Admin History/Bio
- David Vanek (1915–2008) was born on a farm in Whitchurch Township, York County, Ontario in 1915. He was the sixth of seven children born to Jacob and Jesse Vanek, Jewish-Russian immigrants from the Ukraine who immigrated to Canada in 1913. The family lived in the Newmarket-Oak Ridges area, where they owned a farm and the Vanek Grocery and Confectionary Store in Oak Ridges. The family also owned Cedarholm Park in Lake Wilcox, which had a bandstand and cottages and sold refreshments. They opened the park specifically for Jews who were being excluded from other nearby social venues. The family also lived in Toronto.
- Vanek completed his elementary school education at Annette Street Public School and attended Richmond Hill High School and Harbord Collegiate. He was admitted to the honour law course at the University of Toronto. In 1936, he graduated with a bachelor of arts in honour law and went on to law school at Osgoode Hall. While in law school he worked for Carswell’s Canadian Law Abridgement and was editor of the Obiter Dicta student publication at Osgoode Hall. He received his bachelor of laws in 1939.
- During the Second World War, Vanek served in the Canadian Intelligence Corps and Field Security in England from 1943 to 1945. Following his military service, he returned to Toronto where he tried private practice briefly before beginning a new career as a lecturer in the newly-created Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. He taught a variety of subjects, including legal bibliography, real property, and public international law.
- A community activist, Vanek was the founder of the Lawrence Manor Ratepayers Association. In 1963, he ran for the Ontario Provincial Legislature as a Conservative candidate but failed to win the seat. He was the founder of the Credit Counselling Service of Metropolitan Toronto, which was established in 1965. Vanek was also actively involved in the new Reform congregation Temple Sinai and served as its third president.
- In September 1968, Vanek was appointed to the magistrates' court. A few months later, the Provincial Courts Act came into being and he became a judge of the provincial court's criminal division. Vanek presided over and wrote judgements in many significant cases, including Weightman and Cunningham, involving the residual power of a trial judge to stop unfair prosecution, and Squires, involving the lawful exclusion of cameras from the courtroom. His best-known case was that of Susan Nelles, a nurse who was charged with the death of four babies at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children in the early 1980s. He also served as president of the Ontario Provincial Judges' Association. In 1989, after twenty-one years on the bench, David Vanek retired. A decade later, he published his autobiography, "Fulfilment : Memoirs of a Criminal Court Judge," which documents his life and career.
- David Vanek married Joyce Lester in 1942, and the couple had three children. Vanek died in 2008.
- Custodial History
- The records were donated to the Ontario Jewish Archives by David Vanek in July 2000. The records were used to help with the researching of his autobiography.
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of textual records and graphic material that document Vanek's family history and career as a prominent lawyer and provincial court judge in Ontario. The fonds includes family records from Russia, newspaper articles, correspondence and documentation relating to his military service during the Second World War, and press clippings and photographs of his family and community activities. The fonds has been arranged into the following series: Personal records, Military service records, Occupational records, and Community organizations.
- Name Access
- Vanek, David, 1915-2008
- Subjects
- Judges
- Lawyers
- Creator
- Vanek, David, 1915-2008
- Accession Number
- 2000-7-5
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- David Vanek fonds
- Personal records series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 1
- Series
- 1
- File
- 5
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1968-1999
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of a copy of an 1878 map of Whitchurch and newspaper articles about the history of the Oak Ridges/Lake Wilcox/Richmond Hill areas.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- David Vanek fonds
- Occupational records series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 1
- Series
- 3
- File
- 1
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1946-1982
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of articles and correspondence relating to his education and career at the University of Toronto School of Law. Some of the documents include a copy of a story with photo of the University of Toronto Moot Court 1935-36, and a letter confirming David Vanek's appointment as lecturer in the School of Law for the academic year 1946-1947.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- David Vanek fonds
- Community organizations series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 1
- Series
- 4
- File
- 2
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1966-1996
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of newspaper articles, correspondence, and newsletters documenting David Vanek's role as the "Father of Credit Counselling."
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- David Vanek fonds
- Occupational records series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 1
- Series
- 3
- File
- 2
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1968 -1989
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of press clippings documenting Judge Vanek's court cases and his philosophy on specific judicial issues.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- David Vanek fonds
- Occupational records series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 1
- Series
- 3
- File
- 3
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1974-1990
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- Letters pertaining to professional matters of Judge Vanek. Included is correspondence from W. G. C. Howland, chief justice of Ontario; musician Louis Applebaum; and Professor Martin Friedland.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- David Vanek fonds
- Personal records series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 1
- Series
- 1
- File
- 7
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1983
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of notes relating to the Vanek's trip to China in 1983 with a group of American trial judges.
- Places
- China
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- David Vanek fonds
- Personal records series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 1
- Series
- 1
- File
- 8
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1982 -1990
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Admin History/Bio
- The Shackmans were relatives of the Vaneks, and a Canadian branch lived on a farm near the Cedar Valley farm. Nathan Shackman is a retired doctor in Los Angeles.
- Scope and Content
- File consists of personal letters from Shackman to Vanek relating to his family as well as the family genealogy.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- David Vanek fonds
- Personal records series
- Level
- Series
- Fonds
- 1
- Series
- 1
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Date
- 1906-1999
- Physical Description
- 6 cm of textual records
- 4 photographs : b&w ; 21 x 26 cm or smaller
- Scope and Content
- Series includes correspondence and documents pertaining to the Vanek family in Russia and their early years in Ontario, recent letters from a cousin concerning family genealogy, and personal letters from Vanek to his wife, as well as correspondence concerning personal and professional matters from colleagues and friends. There is also an itinerary and notes from a judges' trip to China that took place in 1983 plus several photographs of the Vanek family.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- David Vanek fonds
- Occupational records series
- Level
- Item
- Fonds
- 1
- Series
- 3
- Item
- 2
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 1980
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : col. ; 9 x 12 cm
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of one photograph of David and Joyce Vanek conversing with Bora Laskin, Chief Justice of Canada, and his wife Peggy, at the closing dinner of the "Annual Conference".
- Notes
- Bora Laskin became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1975, a position he held until his death in 1984.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- David Vanek fonds
- Occupational records series
- Level
- Series
- Fonds
- 1
- Series
- 3
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Date
- 1946-1990
- Physical Description
- 3 cm of textual records
- 2 photographs : b&w and col. ; 21 x 26 cm and 9 x 12 cm
- Admin History/Bio
- David Vanek attended the University of Toronto School of Law and subsequently was a lecturer in that school for one academic year. Twenty years later, he was appointed provincial court judge, criminal division, and served on the bench for twenty-one years.
- Scope and Content
- The material includes articles and correspondence pertaining to his education and career at the University of Toronto School of Law and his career as a provincial court judge. The address David Vanek delivered at his retirement dinner and several photographs taken during the period of his time on the bench are included.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- David Vanek fonds
- Community organizations series
- Level
- Series
- Fonds
- 1
- Series
- 4
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Date
- 1957-1996
- Physical Description
- 2 folders of textual records
- 3 photographs : b&w and col. ; 21 x 26 cm and 15 x 18 cm and 10 x 14 cm
- Admin History/Bio
- David Vanek was involved in a number of community organizations, several of which he helped to establish. These included Temple Sinai in the 1950s. In 1963, he ran for the Ontario Provincial Legislature but failed to win his seat. He was a founder of the Lawrence Manor Ratepayers Association and of the Credit Counselling Service of Metropolitan Toronto.
- Scope and Content
- The material consists of publicity brochures, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and photographs documenting Vanek's association with various organizations.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions