- Address
- 37 Cecil Street
- Source
- Landmarks
The Folks Farein was first located at 23 Cecil St., however, at some point during the 1940s or 1950s they moved to 37 Cecil Street. In Yiddish Folks Farein translates to People’s Association. It is also known as the Hebrew National Association. They were formed in 1914 by a group of Toronto Jewish immigrants as an organization dedicated to anti-missionary and educational outreach. At this time, a number of Jewish converts to Christianity sought to exploit the situation of poor Jews in the community by making available the services of doctors, midwives and the distribution of direct relief. In addition there was constant street¬corner preaching and proselytizatian. To counteract this, the Folks Ferein was formed. They offered a number of different services including child welfare for working mothers, a reading room, English language classes, and help forJewish hospital patients who could not speak English.