- Accession Number
- 1988-4-8
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1988-4-8
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 scrapbook
- Date
- 1930-1955
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of a scrapbook created by Morris Lofsky. The scrapbook contains newspaper clippings of Zionist and labour materials. Of particular note is a stop-work broadside featuring information about the march and demonstration at Queen's Park from 1933 in protest of the pogroms of German Jews leading up to the Second World War. There are also several strike notices from the furrier, dressmakers, and other unions.
- Administrative History
- Morris Lofsky lived with his family in the downtown Kengsington market area of Toronto. He worked as a fur worker and was an active member of the Jewish community.
- 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
- Demonstrations
- Labor
- Zionism
- Places
- Queen's Park (Toronto, Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2003-5-5
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2003-5-5
- Material Format
- multiple media
- Date
- [192-?]-1975
- Scope and Content
- The records in this accession document the Raxlen family and the Raxlen Clinic and Doctor's Hospital that was set up by the Raxlen brothers. The records also include personal correspondence between Katie Cherney and her mother, family photographs, greeting cards, press clippings and a booklet of articles written by Rabbi Fine of Peterborough. This booklet includes translated documents that he produced as rabbi from 1926 to 1934. Finally, there are three historic postcards documenting Holy Blossom's building on Bond Street, Jarvis Collegiate, and the Doctor's Hospital
- Custodial History
- Records were collected by Karen Fejer, the daughter of Alexander Raxlen.
- Administrative History
- The Raxlen brothers were born in Toronto in Cabbagetown, where their father operated a grocery store. The four brothers were Saul, Benjamin, Alexander, and Sam. All of the brothers graduated in medicine during the 1930s, except for Sam, who became a dentist. Together, they opened up the Raxlen Clinic in 1937, which was located on Carleton Street.
- In 1953, the brothers opened their own private hospital, the Doctor's Hospital, which was located on Brunswick Avenue. The hospital started in a ninety-year-old building that was owned by a religious order. The brothers modernized and expanded it from a facility accomodating 59 patients to one that could hold up to 168 beds by 1955. It soon became the largest privately-held, non-profit hospital in North America. By the time the brothers sold it during the late 1970s, it had 554 full-time staff and five hundred hospital beds.
- The other family documented in this accession is the Cherney family from Peterborough. The patriarch and matriarch were Abraham and B. Cherney. They had two children, Katie ("Kaye") and Meyer. Abraham and B. divorced, and Abraham remarried and had three more kids: Harry, Helen, and Louis. The family remained in Peterbough, but the ex-wife moved to Toronto. Kaye married Dr. Alexander Raxlen, and they had three children. Karen Fejer, their daughter, is the donor.
- Use Conditions
- Correspondence is restricted. Researchers must contact donor for permission to access them. The rest of the collection is open.
- Descriptive Notes
- Restrictions on access, use, reproduction, and publication: Some of the photographs are the property of the City of Toronto Archives.
- Subjects
- Families
- Hospitals
- Rabbis
- Name Access
- Doctor's Hospital (Toronto, Ont.)
- Fine, Abraham
- Places
- Peterborough (Ont.)
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1976-10-3
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1976-10-3
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 26 cm of textual records and graphic material
- Date
- 1925-1960
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of: Toronto Jewish Medical Association minute book (1925–1936); minutes, clinical records, research papers and other records of the Mount Sinai Clinical Association (1932–1953); Mount Sinai Hospital medical staff minute book (1943–1953); a copy of Dr David Eisen's publication "Toronto's Jewish doctors" (1960); and a photograph of the installation of officers of the Mt. Sinai Hospital Clinical Society (1939).
- Use Conditions
- Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.
- Descriptive Notes
- Availability of other formats: Dr. Eisen's "Toronto's Jewish Doctors" publication has been digitized and is available as a PDF file. The photograph of the officers' installation has also been digitized and is available as a JPEG image.
- Subjects
- Hospitals
- Physicians
- Name Access
- Eisen, David
- Pollock, Ira
- Mount Sinai Hospital
- Toronto Jewish Medical Association
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Part Of
- Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care fonds
- Level
- Fonds
- Fonds
- 14
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- object
- Date
- 1917-2011
- Physical Description
- 2.82 m of textual records and other material
- Admin History/Bio
- As early as 1916 the Ezras Noshem Society (a mutual benefit society for Jewish women) started to raise funds to purchase and renovate what would become The Toronto Jewish Old Folks' Home (Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care’s forerunner) after its members recognized the need for a home in Toronto where the Jewish elderly could receive kosher meals and communicate with staff in their own language. Property at 31 Cecil Street was purchased in 1917 and sometime between September 1918 and January 1920 the Home officially opened there. The Home was run by a small staff and the women of Ezras Noshem who volunteered their time to make beds, cook kosher meals, do laundry and sponsor fundraising events. By 1938 the Home had expanded into its neighboring houses at 29, 33, and 35 Cecil Street and was caring for 115 residents. It provided residents with synagogue services, a hospital ward and social activities. At this time the Home also became a member of the United Jewish Welfare Fund.
- In 1946, the need for a larger and more modern building prompted a fundraising campaign, which was headed by Abe Posluns, to purchase and build a new facility. In December 1954, the new building opened at 3650 Bathurst Street and consisted of two new institutions: The Jewish Home for the Aged and Baycrest Hospital. This location continued to expand over the years, including a new building for residents in 1968, an apartment building for seniors called the Baycrest Terrace in 1976, and a community centre known as The Joseph E. and Minnie Wagman Centre in 1977. These additions enabled Baycrest to expand its programs to include a day care program, recreational programs, and a Sheltered Workshop which was run in cooperation with the Jewish Vocational Service and provided residents with employment. In 1986 a new Baycrest Hospital was erected, and in 1989, the Rotman Research Institute, which is also affiliated with the University of Toronto, opened to create a research facility where top researchers could study and find new treatment methods for the elderly.
- In recent years, Baycrest’s services and programs have continued to expand. In 2000, the Apotex Centre, the Jewish Home for the Aged and the Louis and Leah Posluns Centre for Stroke and Cognition opened to help residents with progressive dementia caused by vascular disorders. In 2001 a condominium building opened at 2 Neptune Drive for seniors, and in 2003 the Sam and Ida Ross Memory Clinic was established to provide out-patient services for seniors with memory disorders. Baycrest Centre also provides numerous cultural and religious programs for the inhabitants and the greater community, including a heritage museum, art exhibits and a Holocaust program.
- Custodial History
- Records were donated to the OJA in a series of accessions from a variety of sources, including the Baycrest Women's Auxiliary and the Multicultural Historical Society of Ontario.
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of records documenting the history, governance, and activities of the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care. Included are meeting notices, agendas and minutes, correspondence, reports, speeches, photographs, artifacts, constitutions, publications, press releases, financial records, event invitations, programs, a scrapbook, a poster, lists, theatrical scripts, newspaper clippings, brochures and booklets, flyers, a land deed, certificates, schedules, annual calendars, cards, questionnaires, and lists.
- Fonds is arranged into eleven series: 1. Board of Directors and Executive Committee; 2. Annual General Meetings and Annual Reports; 3. Committees and meetings; 4. Women's Auxiliary; 5. Men's Service Group; 6. Toronto Jewish Old Folks Home; 7. Programs and services; 8. Religious services; 9. Fundraising; 10. Publications and publicity; and, 11. Events. Records are described to the file level with some item level descriptions.
- Notes
- Physical description note: Includes 1102 photographs, 4 coins, 2 posters, 1 badge, 1 pin, 1 key chain, 1 postcard, and 1 pen.
- Associated material note: related material at Library and Archives Canada includes a small Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care fonds, and the Eric Exton fonds. For architectural records see the Irving D. Boigon fonds 243 at the City of Toronto Archives (Boigon was an architect who designed many of Baycrest's buildings between the 1970s and 1990s). Contact Baycrest Centre's Heritage Museum for committee records from the 1930s, and consult Baycrest's website to access electronic copies of current issues of Baycrest's publications.
- Name Access
- Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
- Baycrest Hospital
- Ezras Noshem Society (Toronto, Ont.)
- Jewish Home for the Aged (Toronto, Ont.)
- Jewish Old Folks Home (Toronto, Ont.)
- Subjects
- Hospitals
- Old age homes
- Related Material
- See Gordon Mendly Fonds 18, series 3-4; Jewish Vocational Services of Toronto fonds 75; United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds 67; accession # 2009-6-2; Dora Till Fonds 52; J. Irving Oelbaum Fonds 24; Jewish Community Centre of Toronto fonds 61, series 1-1; Gilbert Studios fonds 37; Ben Kayfetz fonds 62, series 3, file 3; JFWB fonds 87, series 6, files 5 and 6; JIAS fonds 9, series 7, file 1; Harold S. Kaplan fonds 27, series 1-4, and Morris Norman fonds 22.
- Creator
- Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, 1917-
- Accession Number
- 1982-11-1
- 1983-11-2
- 1988-2-7
- 1979-9-17
- 1979-9-23
- 1987-9-7
- 2004-5-50
- MG 2 O 1A
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Accession Number
- 2016-3-63
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2016-3-63
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- [192-?]-1953
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of material primarily documenting kosher meat scandals and strikes in Toronto in the 1920s and 1930s as well as the Kehilla (Toronto Rabbinical Board). There are complete pages of some documents and portions of others. The documents are flyers (public notices) in Yiddish (with some Hebrew in religious context and quotations) to do with a scandal or several scandals in which it became clear a number of butchers were operating outside Rabbinical Board supervision and therefore selling (assumed to be) treif meat to Toronto Jews. Secondary scandal with Rabbi Yehuda Leib Graubart, who allegedly split off from the Rabbinical Board with six butchers to do business outside the union, with wholesalers, and gaining more money than union butchers and the rabbis working with them. Another thread relates to a strike for cheaper meat, including meetings of women picketers, and then for better conditions for local butchers. The flyers mostly fall between 1920-1940. All are from Toronto. Lists of local butchers’ shops with addresses and names are included.
- Additional flyers cover Communist protests and protest meetings against German fascism and pogroms, specifically Hitler's government's prosecution of the Communist Party of Germany related to the Reichstag fire. Also included are a 1953 flyer for the tenth anniversary commemoration of the Latvian-Lithuanian Jews’ annihilation, and an open letter to Rabbi Abraham Aaron Price regarding his title.
- Custodial History
- There is no information on the acquisition of this material. However, retrieved from the original package in which the material was lodged was a note "Kashruth fliers from E. Miller" or Mitler.
- Descriptive Notes
- Language: Yiddish with some Hebrew (phrases and quotations).
- Subjects
- Demonstrations
- Kosher food
- Rabbis
- Places
- Augusta Avenue (Toronto. Ont.)
- College Street (Toronto, Ont.)
- Dundas Street West (Toronto, Ont.)
- Kensington Avenue (Toronto, Ont.)
- Queen Street West (Toronto, Ont.)
- Spadina Avenue (Toronto, Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2022-8-1
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2022-8-1
- Material Format
- graphic material
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- 9 photographs : b&w
- Date
- 1948-1970
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of material documenting Samuel Posluns. Included are nine black-and-white photographs, an El Al certificate certifying Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Posluns flew non-stop between the United States and Israel, one invitation to the bar mitzvah of Michael Wilfred Posluns, copies of an article by Bernard Shane about the Tailor Project that appeared in the Canadian Jewish Chronicle, and an issue of North York General Hospital News from 1970 that features Samuel Posluns.
- Administrative History
- Samuel Posluns (1910–1994) was born in Toronto to Abraham Isaac Poslaniec (1870–1922) and Sheindel Saltzman (1872–1960). He had three brothers and three sisters: Joseph, Louis, Abe, Gertrude Miriam, Anne, and Sarah. His father, Abraham, established the family-run clothing firm Superior Cloak Company in 1916. In 1934, it was bankrupted and closed after a lengthy strike. In 1936, Samuel opened his own business, Popular Cloak Company. In 1967, the Posluns family purchased Tip Top Tailors, in partnership with entrepreneur Jimmy Kay. A year later they incorporated their new venture under the name of Dylex as a holding company for the Tip Top chain of stores.
- During the Second World War, Samuel Posluns served as a member of the air force reserves. After the war, he was elected president of the United Jewish Welfare Fund in 1947. That same year, in collaboration with the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Jewish Labour Committee, Posluns helped lead the Tailor Project along with Max E. Enkin, which was aimed at helping Jewish displaced persons immigrate to Canada by securing them employment as tailors. A committed advocate for Jewish education, Posluns also served as the first president and founding chair of the Board of Jewish Education (BJE) in 1949. He remained honorary president for life and continued to attend meetings until health problems held back his participation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Posluns was also a founding board member of the North York General Hospital.
- Samuel Posluns died in Toronto in 1994.
- 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.
- Descriptive Notes
- Availability of other formats: Photographs and textual records have been scanned and are available in digital form.
- Subjects
- Bar mitzvah
- Clothing trade
- Hospitals
- Name Access
- Posluns, Samuel, 1910-1994
- Source
- Archival Accessions