Accession Number
1988-5-5
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
1988-5-5
Material Format
textual record
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
Date
1912
Scope and Content
Accession consists of the Constitution of the Beth Israel Men of Minsk (Congregation Anshei Minsk) in the form of a small booklet. Material is in Yiddish and English.
Administrative History
The booklet belonged to Joshua Meslin, the grandfather of the donor. Joshua was a member of the congregation from its inception and its Shames for forty-two years. It was printed by the Royal Printing Company owned by Benjamin Meslin, Joshua's son.
Subjects
Synagogues
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2004-2-6
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2004-2-6
Material Format
textual record
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records (1 v.)
Date
1958-1984
Scope and Content
Accession consists of the minute book of Congregation Anshe Minsk with entries written in Yiddish.
Descriptive Notes
Language note: Yiddish
Subjects
Synagogues
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2004-1-2
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2004-1-2
Material Format
graphic material
Physical Description
1 drawing : pen & ink ; 36 x 30 cm
Date
1978
Scope and Content
Accession consists of a drawing by Martin Mendelow of the Anshei Minsk synagogue.
Subjects
Drawing
Synagogues
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2005-12-1
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2005-12-1
Material Format
graphic material
Physical Description
22 photographs
Date
2002-2004
Scope and Content
This accession consists of twenty-two photographs taken by the prominent architectural photographer Robert Burley. The photographs document the interior and exterior features of six of Toronto's original synagogues: the Kiever, Knesseth Israel, First Narayever, Anshei Minsk, Shaarei Tzedec, and the Beach Hebrew Institute.
These photographs were part of an exhibit held at the Arthur Anderson Gallery that ran from February to May 2005. Burley selected these synagogues for his project because they were the only synagogues in the city still operating in their original buildings. His images reveal the architectural details of the buildings as well as the rich interiors, highlighting the murals, religious artifacts, and interior structure of each building.
Administrative History
Robert Burley graduated with a master's degree in fine arts from the School of Art Institute in Chicago in 1986. He is an accomplished architectural photographer who has exhibited his work around the world. He is a professor at the School of Image Arts at Ryerson University.
Use Conditions
Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Subjects
Architecture
Synagogues
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Beach Hebrew Institute (Toronto, Ont.)
Congregation Shaarei Tzedec (Toronto, Ont.)
First Narayever Congregation (Toronto, Ont.)
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2009-9-8
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2009-9-8
Material Format
graphic material
Physical Description
4 photographs : b&w and col. ; 56 cm x 71 cm
Date
2002-2004
Scope and Content
This accession consists of four framed photographs taken by Robert Burley. The photographs document the Anshei Minsk Synagogue and were part of the exhibit "Recurrent Memories: Historic Jewish Sites in Canada and Poland," which was held at Gallery 345 from 23 April 2008 to 18 May 2008. The photographs are as follows:
1) Burned Books, Anshei Minsk Synagogue, Toronto, 2002
2) Anshei Minsk Synagogue, Toronto, 2002
3) Fire Damage to the Women’s Gallery, Anshei Minsk Synagogue, 2002
4) View from the Bima, Anshei Minsk Synagogue, Toronto, 2004
Administrative History
Robert Burley graduated with a master's degree in fine arts from the School of Art Institute in Chicago in 1986. He is an accomplished architectural photographer who has exhibited his work around the world. He is a professor at the School of Image Arts at Ryerson University.
Use Conditions
Robert Burley holds copyright for these photographs and should be credited.
Descriptive Notes
see 2005-12-1
Subjects
Architecture
Photographers
Synagogues
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Burley, Robert, 1957
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Name
Mel Lastman
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
1 Jun. 2006
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Mel Lastman
Number
OH 290
Subject
Religion
Families
Interview Date
1 Jun. 2006
Quantity
1
Interviewer
Ellen Scheinberg
Total Running Time
60 min.
Conservation
Copied November 2006
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Melvin Douglas Lastman was born in Toronto on 9 March 1933, the son of Rose and Louis Lastman. Raised in the Kensington Market area, he attended Ryerson Public School and Central High School of Commerce, where he was president of the school council. Lastman left high school to work at an appliance store and, in 1955, opened his own appliance store. By the late 1960s, he owned a chain of forty stores, Bad Boy Appliances, throughout Ontario. Lastman lived in North York and, in 1969, ran successfully for the North York Board of Control. In the 1972 municipal election, he was elected as mayor of North York, a position he held for twenty-five years until North York became part of the newly created City of Toronto on 1 January 1998. With the provincially-mandated creation of the new City of Toronto by the amalgamation of Metropolitan Toronto and the six local municipalities, Lastman decided to run for mayor against the other major contender, former City of Toronto mayor Barbara Hall. He won the 1997 election and was sworn in on 1 January 1998. Lastman was easily re-elected in the 2000 mayoralty election; however, in February 2003, Lastman announced that he would not be seeking re-election in the November municipal election.
In 1953, Mel Lastman married Marilyn Bornstein. They have two married sons and six grandchildren.
Material Format
moving images
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Lastman, Mel
Scheinberg, Ellen
Geographic Access
Toronto
Kensington Market
Original Format
Digital videocassette
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories

In this clip, former Toronto mayor Mel Lastman remembers playing as a child at the Minsk Shul in Kensington Market.

Name
Michele Landsberg
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
Aug. 2006
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Michele Landsberg
Number
OH 294
Subject
Religion
Families
Buildings
Interview Date
Aug. 2006
Quantity
1
Interviewer
Ellen Scheinberg and Aviva Heller
Total Running Time
60 min.
Conservation
Copied November 2006
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
An award-winning columnist, staunch feminist, and tireless activist for social justice and progressive causes at home and abroad, Michele Landsberg was a well-known and prominent Torontonian during the mid-to-late twentieth century. According to a biography posted by the University of Windsor where Landsberg was a distinguished visitor in women's studies in October 2003, her "zest for wanting to change the world has its roots in her childhood: growing up as a Jewish girl in 1950s Toronto, where sexual stereotyping and objectification were rampant and overt antisemitism was acceptable." As a result, Ms. Landsberg tackled a wide-range of related issues, often grounding her columns in events, places, and issues of particular interest to Torontonians.
Born on 12 July 1939, Ms. Landsberg attended Toronto public schools, spent time on a kibbutz in Israel, and graduated from the University of Toronto with honors in English language and literature in 1962. She was dissuaded from pursuing a master's degree by her male professors and instead became a reporter at the Globe and Mail newspaper and launched a remarkable career as a journalist and writer. In addition to freelance and full-time stints with the Globe and Mail (1962–1965; 1985–1988), Chatelaine magazine (1965–1971), and the Toronto Star (1978–1983; 1989–2003), Ms. Landsberg frequently appeared on television and radio and wrote three best-selling books. She garnered awards, including the first National Newspaper Award for column-writing, the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, and the 2002 Governor-General's Award in Commemoration of the 1929 Persons Case, and received honourary degrees from several Canadian universities. She also served on the boards of many community organizations, such as CARAL (Canadian Abortion Rights League) and Opportunity for Advancement.
After her retirement from the Toronto Star in 2003, Ms. Landsberg planned to pursue other writing projects and to spend more time at home in her garden and with her family: husband Stephen Lewis, three grown children, and two grandchildren. In September 2005, she was acclaimed as the new Chair of the Women's College Hospital Board when the Hospital ended its partnership with Sunnybrook Hospital.
Material Format
moving images
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Landsberg, Michele
Scheinberg, Ellen
Heller, Aviva
Geographic Access
Toronto
Original Format
Digital videocassette
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories

Canadian author and journalist Michele Landsberg provides recollections of attending the Minsk Synagogue with her grandfather in the 1940s.

Part Of
Gordon Mendly fonds
Portraits series
Level
Item
ID
Fonds 18; Series 1; Item 42
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Gordon Mendly fonds
Portraits series
Level
Item
Fonds
18
Series
1
Item
42
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[ca. 1955]
Physical Description
1 negative : b&w ; 18 x 13 cm
Admin History/Bio
Cantor Rubien (Reuben) Schwebel was a well-known cantor in Toronto. Most notably, he became the cantor of the Anshei Minsk Synagogue in Kensington Market in 1949, and led the congregation in Shabbat and holiday services for over fifty years.
Scope and Content
Item is a portrait of Cantor Rubien Schwebel.
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Schwebel, Rubien
Subjects
Cantors (Judaism)
Repro Restriction
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Places
Kensington Market (Toronto, Ont.)
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 4161
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
4161
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[between 1910 and 1920]
Physical Description
2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
Admin History/Bio
Scheinkman (or Shankman) was the first peddler from Mozir. He arrived in Toronto circa 1903/4. He was a founder of the Minsker Shul.
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Shankman, Mordechai Chaim
Mozirer Sick Benefit Society
Scheinkman, Mordechai Chaim
Subjects
Societies
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
1986-10-10
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 270
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
270
Material Format
graphic material
Date
Jun. 1974
Physical Description
1 slide
Notes
Credit: Syd Shoub.
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Subjects
Synagogue architecture
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.
Places
Kensington Market (Toronto, Ont.)
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
George Morrison fonds
Level
Item
ID
Fonds 99; Item 135
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
George Morrison fonds
Level
Item
Fonds
99
Item
135
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[ca. 1977]
Physical Description
1 slide : col. ; 35 mm
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Subjects
Architecture
Synagogues
Repro Restriction
Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Accession Number
1980-6-3
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 4235
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
4235
Material Format
graphic material
Responsibility
Duncan McLaren
Date
1985
Physical Description
1 photograph : b&w ; 21 x 26 cm
Scope and Content
Copy photograph of Congregation Anshei Minsk, St. Andrews Street, Toronto, August 1985. Notice on door indicates that the High Holiday services conducted by the well-known cantor Rubien Schwebel.
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Schwebel, Rubien
Subjects
Architecture
Cantors (Judaism)
Synagogues
Places
Kensington Market (Toronto, Ont.)
Saint Andrew Street (Toronto, Ont.)
Accession Number
1986-3-8
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
The Shuls Project fonds
Ontario synagogues series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 64; Series 2; File 44
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
The Shuls Project fonds
Ontario synagogues series
Level
File
Fonds
64
Series
2
File
44
Material Format
graphic material
textual record
Date
1979
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
73 photographs : col. slides, b&w and (1) col. print, (16) b&w negative ; 35 mm and 12 x 9 cm
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Subjects
Synagogues
Repro Restriction
Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
The Shuls Project fonds
Reference series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 64; Series 5; File 87
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
The Shuls Project fonds
Reference series
Level
File
Fonds
64
Series
5
File
87
Material Format
textual record
Date
1977
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
Scope and Content
File contains the essay of Lynn Milstone and Sidney Tenenbaum, written as students in the University of Toronto School of Architecture, which first sparked their interest and research into synagogues. It considers the architecture of Holy Blossom Synagogue (Both the old location on Bond Street and the new one on Bathurst), the Minsker, the Kiever, the Palmerston synagogue, the Henry Street Synagogue, the Shaw Street Synagogue, and the Maria Street Synagogue (Knesset Yisrael).
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Holy Blossom Temple (Toronto, Ont.)
Kiever Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Subjects
Synagogues
Repro Restriction
Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
George Morrison fonds
Level
Item
ID
Fonds 99; Item 136
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
George Morrison fonds
Level
Item
Fonds
99
Item
136
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[ca. 1977]
Physical Description
1 slide : col. ; 35 mm
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Subjects
Architecture
Synagogues
Repro Restriction
Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Accession Number
1980-6-3
Source
Archival Descriptions