Print | Ontario Jewish Archives

Gilbert Seltzer [textual record] – [19--].

Accession Number: 2023-2-1

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2023-2-1

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records; 1 photograph : b&w ; 34 x 29 cm

Date: [19--]

Scope and Content: Accession consists of material that belonged to the late Gilbert Seltzer. Included are handwritten copies of a Camp Yungvelt paper, the Whoosis, and a photograph of a Yiddish youth group, the Yiddisher Kunst-Tsenter (Yiddish/Jewish Art Centre). The Whoosis issues are undated, while the photograph is from 1929/30.

Custodial History: Richard Seltzer discovered the material after his father's death and donated it to the Ontario Jewish Archives.

Administrative History: Gilbert Seltzer was born on 11 October 1914 in Toronto, Ontario, to Julius Seltzer and Marion Seltzer (née Liss). Gilbert's parents were both Russian immigrants. Julius owned a knitting mill, and Marion was a homemaker. Julius was also an anarchist, and he and Marion had a cottage in the Workmen's Circle Colony in Pickering, Ontario. As a child, Gilbert attended Camp Yungvelt, a Yiddish summer camp for Jewish children. His son, Richard, would later recall that Gilbert "sang songs from there and vaguely spoke of the Whosis," the camp's publication.; Gilbert studied architecture at the University of Toronto, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1937. After graduating, he worked for an architectural firm in Manhattan. During the Second World War, he served with the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, a secret army unit that would become known as the Ghost Army. According to Gilbert's obituary in the New York Times, "The unit fooled German forces with inflatable tanks, dummy airplanes, fake radio transmissions and sound effects." In later years, Gilbert would serve as an ambassador for the unit's veterans.; After the war, Gilbert resumed work as an architect. His projects included the Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, New York; buildings at West Point and the US Merchant Marine Academy; and the East Coast Memorial in Battery Park, Lower Manhattan. He worked as an architect until January 2020.; Gilbert met his future spouse, Molly Gold (m. Seltzer), in New Jersey. The couple had two children together: Joan Seltzer and Richard Seltzer. Molly died in 1994, and Gilbert died on 14 August 2021. He was 106.

Use Conditions: 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.

Subjects: Architects; Camps; Portraits, Group

Name Access: Camp Yungvelt; Seltzer, Gilbert, 1914-2021

Places: Ontario

Source: Archival Accessions

Camp Yungvelt, Pickering [graphic material] – [ca. 1943].

Accession Number: 1993-6-6

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1993-6-6

Material Format: graphic material

Physical Description: 2 photographs : b&w (1 negative) ; 14 x 9 cm and 13 x 10 cm

Date: [ca. 1943]

Scope and Content: This accession consists of one photographic postcard and one negative of a group of girls at Camp Yungvelt in Pickering. Some of the girls have been identified as follows: Terry Krever is in front row on far left; Miss Simon (M. Shainhouse) is next to her in center; Miss Naomi Strauss is in the far left-hand corner; Mrs. Danilak is in back row, second from right; and "Creed" is in back row, far right.

Subjects: Children; Camps

Name Access: Krever, Terry; Strauss, Naomi; Danilak, Mrs.; Camp Yungvelt

Places: Pickering, Ont.

Source: Archival Accessions

Constitution of Beth Israel Anshei Minsk [textual record] – 1912.

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

Congregation Anshei Minsk minute book [textual record] – 1958-1984.

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

Camp Balfour Manor and Camp Yungvelt [graphic material] – 1938-1943.

Accession Number: 2004-5-37

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2004-5-37

Material Format: graphic material

Physical Description: 36 photographs : b&w and hand col. (12 negatives) ; 13 x 18 cm or smaller

Date: 1938-1943

Scope and Content: Accession consists of photographs taken at Camp Balfour Manor on Morrison Lake in Muskoka, Ontario and Camp Yungvelt in Pickering, Ontario. Scenes include a group of young people on the steps of a building, a Shabbat service, a flag lowering ceremony, boxing lessons, an arts and crafts class, and a photograph of Hyman Riegelhaupt at Camp Yungvelt.

Subjects: Camps

Name Access: Balfour Manor Camp; Camp Yungvelt

Places: Muskoka (Ont. : District municipality); Pickering (Ont.)

Source: Archival Accessions

Workmen's Circle (Arbeiter Ring) [graphic material, moving images] – 1959-1965.

Accession Number: 1979-4-4

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1979-4-4

Material Format: graphic material; moving images

Physical Description: 18 photographs : b&w (9 negatives); 1 film reel

Date: 1959-1965

Scope and Content: Accession consists of photographs documenting the Workmen's Circle (Arbeiter Ring) Peretz School and Camp Yungvelt. Also included is a film reel of activities at Camp Yungvelt from 1959.

Subjects: Camps; Schools

Name Access: Camp Yungvelt; Matenko, Isaac, 1874-1960; Workmen's Circle (Toronto, Ont.)

Places: Ontario

Source: Archival Accessions

Anshe Minsk Synagogue [graphic material] – 1978.

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

Robert Burley [graphic material] – 2002-2004.

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

Syd Wise [graphic material (electronic)] – [ca. 1925-1926].

Accession Number: 2006-12-3

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2006-12-3

Material Format: graphic material (electronic)

Physical Description: 3 photographs : b&w (tif)

Date: [ca. 1925-1926]

Scope and Content: This accession consists of electronic copies of three photographs of Syd at Camp Yungvelt on Lake Wilcox. Also pictured are some of Syd's relatives and childhood friends. Identified individuals include Sydney Wise, Isadore Tepperman, David Wise, Leo Tepperman, Reuben Goldstein, Ben Lapidus (Lappin), George Trimble, Sam Stellman, Lil Stellman, Min Stellman, Lillian Wise, Rose Hoffman, Archie Gordon, Nathan Langbord, and Jack Weinzweig.

Custodial History: The original records are in the possession of Dr. Sydney Wise. He loaned the records to the Archives for copying on 2006-12-20.

Use Conditions: 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.

Name Access: Camp Yungvelt

Source: Archival Accessions

Robert Burley [graphic material] – 2002-2004.

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

Mel Lastman - 1 Jun. 2006

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.

Michele Landsberg - Aug. 2006

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.

Joseph Marin [graphic material (electronic)] – [ca. 1940].

Part Of: Mimi Wise fonds

Level: Item

ID: Fonds 16; Item 4

Source: Archival Descriptions

Part Of: Mimi Wise fonds

Level: Item

Fonds: 16

Item: 4

Material Format: graphic material (electronic)

Date: [ca. 1940]

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w (jpg)

Admin History/Bio: Joseph Marin was a founder of the Beach Hebrew Institute and was involved in the Toronto Hebrew Free Loan and Farband.

Scope and Content: This item is an electronic copy photograph of a portrait of Joseph Marin.

Name Access: Beach Hebrew Institute (Toronto, Ont.); Farband; Toronto Hebrew Free Loan

Subjects: Portraits

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: 2006-9-7

Source: Archival Descriptions

View in hierarchy

Cantor Rubien Schwebel [graphic material] – [ca. 1955].

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

View in hierarchy

Beth Tikvah Synagogue High Holy Day services [textual record] – 1995.

Part Of: Morris Norman collection

Level: File

ID: Fonds 22; File 1

Source: Archival Descriptions

Part Of: Morris Norman collection

Level: File

Fonds: 22

File: 1

Material Format: textual record

Date: 1995

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Name Access: Beth Tikvah Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)

Subjects: High Holidays

Places: Toronto (Ont.)

Source: Archival Descriptions

View in hierarchy

Beth Tikvah Synagogue twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations [textual record] – 1991-1992.

Part Of: Morris Norman collection

Level: File

ID: Fonds 22; File 2

Source: Archival Descriptions

Part Of: Morris Norman collection

Level: File

Fonds: 22

File: 2

Material Format: textual record

Date: 1991-1992

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Name Access: Beth Tikvah Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)

Subjects: Anniversaries; Synagogues

Places: Toronto (Ont.)

Source: Archival Descriptions

View in hierarchy

Beth Tikvah Synagogue [textual record] – 2011-2012.

Accession Number: 2017-1-7

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2017-1-7

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Date: 2011-2012

Scope and Content: Accession consists of two editions of Hakol bulletin published by Beth Tikvah and dated September/October 2011 and November/December 2011. Contents of the bulletins are messages from the rabbi and president, Sisterhood and Men's Club, activities, programs, donations, bereavements, as well as paid advertisements. Inserted in the November/December edition is a letter from Maurice Kulik, president, addressed to the members, informing them of proposed amendments to their constitution for consideration at the AGM. Also included is a flyer promoting their Pre-Hanukkah Choral concert on December 11, 2011.