- Accession Number
- 1993-7-4
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1993-7-4
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 75 m of textual records
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of the records created and collected by Rabbi Nachum Shemen. Included are correspondence, newsclippings, writings, and organizational records.
- Among the organizational records are subject files including: Vegetarianism (1944); Warsawer-Lodzer mutual Benefit Association; Rabbi Berel Wein; Kurt Weinberg; Weizmann Institute of Science; Windsor; Anselm Wise obituary (1977); Attitudes Toward Women; World Jewish Congress; Rabbi Dr. W. W. Wurzburger; Yad Vashem; Yavneh - Nir-Etzion Projects; Yeshiva Gedorah Ateres Yaakov, Yeshiva of Staten Island; Yeshiva Torah Chaim; Yeshiva Tiferes Shmiel D'Aleksander; Yeshiva University; Yeshivas; Yiddish Cultural Council; Yizkor Fund; Yivo Institute; York University; Rabbi Aaron Zimmerman; Zionist Organization of Canada; Zionist Revisionist organization of Canada; Rabbi Zolty; Louis Zuker.
- Use Conditions
- Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.
- Subjects
- Rabbis
- Yeshivas
- Yiddish language
- Name Access
- Shemen, Nachman, Rabbi, 1912-1993
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1993-3-1
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1993-3-1
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- 1917-1919
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of original and copies of documents and newspaper clippings pertaining to Lawrence Kert's service as a pilot during the First World War. Included are his graduation certificate from the Royal Flying Corps, his flight log, documents, and press clippings concerning his capture by the Germans.
- Administrative History
- Lawrence Kert left the University of Toronto to enlist in the 228th Battalion in 1915, and was transferred to the Royal Air Force in 1917. He was listed as missing, but was actually a prisoner of war. He survived and returned to Canada.
- Subjects
- Canada--Armed Forces
- World War, 1914-1918
- Name Access
- Kert, Lawrence
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2009-6-5
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2009-6-5
- Material Format
- graphic material
- sound recording
- moving images
- textual record
- object
- Physical Description
- 187 photographs : b&w and col. ; 24 x 20 cm or smaller
- 20 audiocassettes
- 10 videocassettes
- 1 folder of textual records
- 1 object
- Date
- [193-]-2006
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists predominantly of records collected by Bess Shockett in her work with UJA Federation's Committee for Yiddish and Friends of Yiddish. The accession also contains some personal family records. The photographs document programmes of the Committee for Yiddish in the late 1980s and 1990s, including an outdoor Yiddish concert, several International Conferences of Yiddish Clubs (1995, 1998, 1999), Sunday morning Yiddish classes, and a 1993 Hanukah concert. There are also three photographs of the New Fraternal Jewish Association and its celebration of J. B. Salsberg's eightieth birthday in 1980. The videocassettes contain recordings of other events including a storytelling workshop, Purim Mystery Night, a farewell for Miriam Waddington and several Sof Vokh (weekend retreat) programmes of 1993.
- The twenty cassette tapes feature panel discussions, lectures and interviews, including "Yiddish education," "Yiddish and the Media," "Yiddish and the Younger Generation," "Yiddish and the Performing Arts," and "Yiddish Language and Translation." There are several interviews with Yiddish poet Avrom Sutzkever, as well as two Toronto Yiddish concerts. Other tapes contain radio interviews with [Aaron?] Lansky; "Chava Rosenfarb--Book Fair", 1988; "Plenary reports and presentations"; and an episode of the program The Forward Hour on Peretz Miransky, an influential Polish writer in the inter-war years.
- Personal records in the accession consist of family snapshots dating from the 1930s and 1940s. These were taken in Israel and include images of farming, landscapes, travel, a canal, groups of people, city buildings, and processions. These photos all have Yiddish writing on the back. There is one formal portrait, ca. 1890s, of an elderly Jewish man. As well, there is a folder of original and photocopied poetry (in Yiddish) written by a Jack Shockett.
- Accession also includes a Yiddish typewriter, in case, that Bess used in the late 1960s/early 1970s when the Committee for Yiddish was under Congress.
- Custodial History
- Records were entrusted to the estate of Bess Shockett after her death, and given to her Committee for Yiddish colleague Ethel Cooper, who brought them to the archives.
- Administrative History
- Bess Shockett was born in the Ukraine in 1919. Her father, Solomon Maltin, was the mayor of the town and helped establish a number of Jewish community institutions. He and his wife had two sons along with Bess: Sam and Ben. In 1925, the family moved to Montreal. As an adolescent, Bess became very active in the Jewish community and joined the United Jewish People's Order. She helped organize a union for workers in the knitting industry and later did the same for fur workers. She also travelled to Winnipeg to organize a laundry workers union. She met her husband, Barry Shockett, in Toronto and they married in 1952 and had three children: Michael, Elka and Eric. Bess eventually became very active in the Toronto Jewish community, particularly in regards to supporting and launching several innovative Yiddish programs. She staffed the office of CJC's Committee for Yiddish in its early years, and was Director from 1974 to 1989. She helped found the Friends of Yiddish in 1985 and served as executive vice-president until her death on August 27, 2007.
- Descriptive Notes
- There is little written material; what there is (captions and poetry) is mostly in Yiddish; some captions are in English.
- Subjects
- Committees
- Yiddish language
- Name Access
- Committee for Yiddish (Toronto, Ont.)
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Part Of
- Lipa Green fonds
- Personal series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 20
- Series
- 1
- File
- 12
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- [196-]
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of a Yiddish language and literature quiz, and the answers to the quiz in English.
- Subjects
- Yiddish language
- Yiddish literature
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Lipa Green fonds
- Organizations series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 20
- Series
- 3
- File
- 17
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1965-1967
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of two newsletters.
- Subjects
- Yiddish language
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Accession Number
- 2012-12-1
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2012-12-1
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 2 v : 36 x 29 x 5 cm and 36 x 29 x 1.5 cm
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of two volumes of the Canadian Jewish War Memorial Book of Remembrance. The first of these two volumes contains lists of Jewish soldiers who served in the Canadian military during the South African war, the First and Second World Wars and Korea. It also lists current day Jewish peacekeepers. There are photos and lists of Jewish chaplains who served in the military. For each war, it lists awards, casualties, soldiers' positions and identification numbers. The second volume contains lists of American soldiers who served in the Canadian military.
- Custodial History
- This book was presented by the Canadian Jewish War Memorial Association to the US Consulate who subsequently donated it to the Ontario Jewish Archives.
- Subjects
- Korean War, 1950-1953
- South African War, 1899-1902
- World War, 1914-1918
- World War, 1939-1945
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2014-8-5
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2014-8-5
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder textual records
- Date
- 1937-1970
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of personal records of Bunny Bergstein. Included is his certificate of graduation from "shule", or Yiddish school, and documents related to the B'Nai Brith Lodge.
- Subjects
- Education
- Yiddish language
- Name Access
- Bergstein, Bunny
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2015-1-1
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2015-1-1
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- 1917-1964
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of records documenting Samuel Berger and his family. Included is Sam's marriage certificate, wedding invitation, naturalization certificates, and pay book and discharge papers from the First World War. Also included is a copy of the birth certificate for Sam's wife, Rebecca (nee Rotenberg) and a newsclipping of the obituary for Rebecca's father, Lazar Rotenberg.
- Custodial History
- The records were in the possession of Goldie Berger, the daughter-in-law of Samuel Berger and wife of Leonard Berger.
- Administrative History
- Samuel Berger enlisted in the Canadian army in Oct. 1918. He was discharged in Dec. 1918. He married Rebecca Rotenberg in 1917.
- Subjects
- Canada--Armed Forces
- World War, 1914-1918
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2016-1-9
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2016-1-9
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- 11 photographs : b&w and col. ; 21 x 12 cm or smaller
- Date
- 1943-2016, predominant 1943-1966
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of personal records and photographs relating to Miriam Beckerman née Dashkin. Textual records include correspondence with Miriam's childhood friend Bea Madger, Bialik School reports belonging to her son Dan Beckerman (1962-1966), Dan Beckerman's YM & YWHA swim badge (1968), seven Jewish National Fund (JNF) certificates (1956-65); Toronto Happening Brochure listing Dan Beckerman's performance at the St. Lawrence Centre (1978); Newspaper clipping of death notice for Miriam's father David Dashkin (1976); Yiddish newspaper clipping of death notice for Miriam's grandmother Malka Yadashkin (Dashkin) Cohen; Yiddish correspondence; typed letter by Miriam Beckerman's mother Ethel Dashkin describing the Toronto Yiddish theatre scene; and photocopies of photographs documenting Miriam's trip to Palestine as part of the Habonim, a Jewish Labour Zionist youth movement (1945-47).
- Administrative History
- Miriam Beckerman (née Dashkin) is an award-winning Yiddish literature translator. She was raised in a Yiddish-speaking home, surrounded by Yiddish books and newspapers, and attended the Farband Folkshule in Toronto in the 1930s. An ardent Zionist in her teens, she trained at the Smithville Hachsharah farm to prepare for making aliyah. She later worked as a bilingual secretary (Yiddish and English) at the Ontario region, Canadian Jewish Congress.
- In 1946, she travelled to Israel where she met her husband, Moshe Beckerman, at a kibbutz. The couple and their children emigrated from Israel to Toronto in 1952. Beckerman continues to work as a Yiddish translator. She has a number of published translations, including her recent collaborative work "A Thousand Threads: A story through Yiddish letters."
- Beckerman received a 1998 prize from the Dora Teitelbaum Foundation Inc. in Choral Gables, Fla., for her accomplishments in translation. She said if it were not for translations, "many things would be lost to future generations. Moshe passed away in 1993.
- Subjects
- Yiddish language
- Name Access
- Beckerman, Miriam Dashkin
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2019-6-4
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2019-6-4
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Date
- 1926-1990
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of photographs of Esther and Jack Gelman, as well as of a sports team at the YMHA and the "Afro Communitee Negro Fliers" sports team. In addition, two copies of Yiddish dictionary books written by Jack Gelman and one copy of a book about Kensington Market by Jean Cochrane. Also included are two pieces of poetry by Jack Gelman, one about Toronto (1974) and one about Terry Fox (1981).
- Accession also consists of a number of original and photocopied newspaper clippings regarding the history of Kensington Market in Toronto (ca. 1988-2010). In addition, two booklets of self-guided tours and the history of Kensington Market are included in accession.
- Custodial History
- Donated by Esther Gelman. Clippings about the history of Kensington Market are from the collection of husband Jack Gelman.
- Administrative History
- Jack Gelman was born in Toronto, ON on October 28, 1929. Jack's parents emigrated to Canada from Eastern Europe in 1926. In the 1930s, the Gelman family lived at 105 Denison Street in Toronto, south of Dundas and near Spadina. His father, Philip Gelman, owned a horse and wagon that would stable at Sarah Kegerman's house, 26 Nassau St. Philip operated a vegetable stall at 206 Baldwin St. weekly from Thursday to Saturday. Jack attended Ryerson Public School in Alexander Park, and would often fight back at his peers that would beat and bully him for being Jewish.
- Esther Gelman (nee Davidson) was born August 18, 1934. In 1950 she worked at Homebread, and had her Sweet Sixteen party at Club Elgamour on Bloor Street. In 1951, after meeting at the YM-YWHA, Jack Gelman and Esther Davidson married.
- In 1953, Jack became a truck driver for Canadian Paper and Specialties. Esther and Jack's son Alan was born in 1953. The family lived above Jack's parents' shop on Baldwin Street. The couple had three other children: Sharon, Glenn (b. 1960), and Mandy. The children attended Camp Northland and Camp B'nai Brith.
- In 1959, the family moved from Baldwin Street to Bathurst Manor (235 Pannahill Road), as a group of Esther's friends had moved to the neighbourhood. Son Alan had his bar mitzvah at Beth Emeth Bais Yehudah in 1966.
- Use Conditions
- Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
- Subjects
- Yiddish language
- Kensington Market (Toronto, Ont.)--Tours
- Sports
- Places
- Bathurst Manor (Toronto, Ont.)
- Kensington Market (Toronto, Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2019-7-8
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2019-7-8
- Material Format
- textual record
- sound recording
- graphic material
- Physical Description
- 15cm of textual records
- 11 audio cassettes
- 27 photographs : col ; 15 x 10 cm
- Date
- ca. 1986-2005
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of material documenting the Friends of Yiddish organization including audio recordings of guest lectures and study groups, photographs of Eda Schiff's retirement party and photogaphs of a special event honouring Bess Shockett. The event included performances by Cantor Louis Danto, folk singer Jenny Eisenstein, and Mitch Smolken.
- Accession also includes promotional material related to Der Yiddisher Mikado consisting of original poster and programs and photocopies of newspaper clippings, and photographs of the production. In addition there is a poster for the Klezmer Conservatory Band concert and assorted event flyers, programs and newspaper clippings concerning activities of Friends of Yiddish, specifically their Yiddish Mikado event.
- The accession also includes meeting minutes (2000-2004) and issues of the newsletter Dos Bletl (1986-2005), as well as separate copies of recipes created and assembled by "Kokhlefl" Etke Patt. All receipes were published in Dos Bletl. Each issue of Kokhlefl includes a recipe and local event listing section titled "Vos Tut Zikh In Shtot".
- Custodial History
- Materials from Friends of Yiddish. Donated by former persident Eda Schiff.
- Administrative History
- Friends of Yiddish is a Toronto-based organization founded in order to "promote the artistic and authentic expression of Mameloshn and Yiddish culture by offering and co-sponsoring concerts, lectures, films, Freylekhs, conversation groups, scholarships with community–wide frayndshaft". Friends of Yiddish was founded in 1984.
- 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
- Theatrical posters, Yiddish
- Theater, Yiddish
- Yiddish language
- Ashkenazic cooking
- Jews--Ontario--Toronto
- Klezmer music
- Name Access
- Friends of Yiddish
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Part Of
- Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds
- Pamphlets series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 17
- Series
- 51
- File
- 7
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1938
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of a pamphlet issued by the Jewish War Veterans of the United States regarding Jews of many countries serving in the First World War.
- Subjects
- World War, 1914-1918
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Isaac Matenko fonds
- Level
- Fonds
- Fonds
- 89
- Material Format
- graphic material
- textual record
- Date
- 1911-1971, predominant 1911-1935
- Physical Description
- 6 cm of textual records
- 17 photographs
- Admin History/Bio
- Isaac Matenko (1874–1960) was a founder, teacher, and principal of the I. L. Peretz School. He worked tirelessly to preserve and promote secular Jewish culture and the Yiddish language in Toronto. He was also a prominent member of local Jewish organizations, such as the Socialist-Territorialist Club and the Yiddish Kultur Gesellshaft.
- Isaac was born on 1 February 1874 in the town of Makariv, located in the Kyiv Oblast (province) of Ukraine. He married Elke Yelia Moshkevitch (1878–19 November 1953) on 4 August 1900 in Yekaterinoslav (today Dnipro). They immigrated from czarist Russia to Toronto in 1906, passing first through New York with their two children, Percy (30 June 1901–May 1987) and Theodore (1903–1906, died of measles at Ellis Island), and Yelia’s three sisters, Dvora, Bracha, and Celia, and Isaac’s younger half-brother, Paul Frumhartz. They had two more children after arriving: Abraham (14 August 1908–October 24, 1989) and Shoshana (Sue) (1911–2001). Although he had been a teacher in Russia, Isaac worked as an operator in a cloak factory in Toronto, where he was instrumental in forming the union (likely the Cloakmakers’ Union of Toronto, which later affiliated with the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union).
- As a child, Isaac received a traditional Jewish education. This, combined with his self-taught secular education and the teachings of Yiddish nationalist Dr. Chaim Zhitlovski, informed his future career and philosophies. He was described as an idealist by his friends, whose dedication to Yiddish culture and language motivated him to bring this knowledge to a younger generation.
- On 11 July 1911, Isaac and his fellow Socialist-Territorialist members established the Toronto Yiddish National-Radical School. By 1916, it had been taken over by the Workmen’s Circle and renamed the I. L. Peretz School, after the well-known Yiddish author and playwright. The school began in a rented room at the Zionist Institute on Simcoe Street, moving to larger locations on Richmond Street West, then Beverley Street as it grew. Eventually, several more branches opened, such as the Maria Street school that Isaac was affiliated with. He taught at the school for free in the evenings after working during the day in a shop. His brother Paul was also a founding teacher at the school.
- Isaac was described by family, friends, and community members as a passionate teacher with an iron will. He was well-versed in Jewish knowledge, with a desire to pass it on to a younger generation and his fellow union members. He remained involved in the school and in teaching, even after retirement. He died on 2 June 1960 at the age of eighty-six.
- Custodial History
- These records were donated to the OJA by Sue Levy, daughter of Isaac Matenko.
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of records documenting Isaac Matenko's involvement with the Workmen's Circle and other Jewish organizations. Included are photographs, programmes, certificates, I. L. Peretz School jubilee books, a songbook, a yearbook, articles, and newsclippings.
- Fonds has been arranged into one series for the Workmen's Circle. There are also two files attached to the fonds-level. The records are described at the series and file-level, with some item-level descriptions.
- Name Access
- Arbeiter Ring
- Arbeiter Ring Schools
- Arbeter Ring
- Camp Yungvelt
- Frumhartz, Paul
- I.L. Peretz
- Matenko, Isaac, 1874-1960
- Matenko, Percy
- National Radical School
- Peretz Shule
- Workman's Circle
- Workmen's Circle
- Subjects
- Schools
- Teachers
- Yiddish language
- Related Material
- For additional Workmen's Circle records, see: accessions 1979-4-4, 1980-2-2, 1983-6-3, 1984-10-1, 1986-4-1, 1992-1-2, 1997-2-1, 1998-3-32, 2004-5-41, 2004-5-105, and fonds 30.
- For additional Camp Yungvelt records, see: accessions 1979-4-4, 1986-4-1, 1991-12-4, 1993-6-6, 1999-5-1, 2004-5-37, 2005-6-4, 2006-12-3, photographs # 2964, # 4014, # 6021, MG2N1K, Benjamin Brown fonds 49, and Dorothy Dworkin Fonds 10 (item 14).
- Creator
- Matenko, Isaac, 1874-1960
- Accession Number
- 1987-11-4
- 1991-4-2
- 2007-5-3
- 2007-6-28
- Source
- Archival Descriptions