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Raxlen family [multiple media] – [192-?]-1975.

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

Rabbi Mordechai Oppenheim [textual record, graphic material] – [ca. 1960]-1966.

Accession Number: 2002-10-7

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2002-10-7

Material Format: textual record; graphic material

Physical Description: 32 cm of textual records; 4 photographs

Date: [ca. 1960]-1966

Scope and Content: Accession consists of records created and collected by Rabbi Mordechai Oppenheim. There are several music books with Oppenheim's compositions, as well as loose sheet music and other composers song sheets. There is a concert program and correspondence from the Cantor's Assembly of America and the Jewish Ministers Cantors' Association.; Included is a record of Canto Eliazar Zaslavsky's Prayers and Songs.; Photographs depict Mordechai Oppenheim, as well as an unidentified individual and group portrait

Administrative History: Rabbi Mordechai Oppenheim was a cantor who lived in Toronto

Subjects: Cantors (Judaism); Rabbis

Source: Archival Accessions

Anshel Wise [textual record] – 1923-1971.

Accession Number: 1991-1-3

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1991-1-3

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 12 cm of mainly textual material

Date: 1923-1971

Scope and Content: Accession consists of materials created by Anshel Wise which document his family and travel business. It consists of genealogical information on his family, two ledgers from his business which document transactions and shipping dates, one scribbler which includes information on steamship sailings, one blank letterhead with his company's logo, and a photograph of his fiftieth wedding anniversary.

Administrative History: Anshel Wise emigrated from Poland in 1910 and established his home in Toronto. He opened up a cigar store on Dundas street, which later turned into a travel agency called A. Wise Travel Bureau.; During the course of his career, Anshel helped bring in hundreds of Jews from Europe, primarily Poland using the shipping lines. He spoke many languages and was able to assist the community by providing advice and services in this area. Later in his career after the establishment of the welfare state, he began helping residents of the St. John's Ward by providing advice, finding the required documents that they needed and helping them apply for retirement benefits.

Subjects: Business; Immigrants--Canada

Name Access: Wise, Anshel

Source: Archival Accessions

Rabbi William Rosenthal [textual record] – 1948–1966.

Accession Number: 1987-6-3

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1987-6-3

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: ca. 7 cm of textual records

Date: 1948–1966

Scope and Content: Accession consists of synagogue material, attendance records, and other information relating to the Jewish community of Sudbury, Ontario.

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: Communities; Rabbis; Synagogues

Name Access: Rosenthal, William, 1911-2008

Places: Sudbury (Ont.)

Source: Archival Accessions

Rabbi David Kirshenbaum [textual record, graphic material, object, text] – 1928-1981.

Accession Number: 1981-9-1

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1981-9-1

Material Format: textual record; graphic material; object; text

Physical Description: 1.5 m of textual records and graphic material; Text; Artifacts

Date: 1928-1981

Scope and Content: Accession consists of textual records and graphic material documenting the life and career of Rabbi David Kirshenbaum of London, Ontario. Included is material related to Congregation B’nai Moses Ben Judah and Congregation Or Shalom, communal records, minutes, articles, sermons, orations, correspondence, books, periodicals, notes, photographs, scrapbooks, personal and family records and awards. Also included are the following artifacts:; Shochet's knife and sharpening stone. -- [ca. 1925-1960]. -- 1 sharpening stone : stone, black ; 0.8 x 7.5 x 2 cm; 1 knife : metal, gold, black and silver ; 21 cm. This shochet’s chalef (ritual slaughtering knife) and sharpening stone belonged to Rabbi David Kirshenbaum (1903-1981), who served in London, Ontario from the mid 1920s until his retirement in the 1960s. This size of knife, used for poultry, was specially-designed to maximise cleanliness, speed, and efficiency, and minimise pain. During the height of the Jewish markets in the Kensington area, from the 1920s until the 1940s, buyers had the option of paying someone to pluck the chicken’s feathers, or they could bring the animal home and do it themselves.; Pen and pad given to the Zionist Organization of Canada, Central Division 27th Convention.; Ontario Zionist Region conference delegate badge. -- 1 badge : textile, blue and gold ; 10 cm in length. -- A light blue ribbon with a pin at the top saying "Rev Kirshenbaum, London".

Administrative History: Rabbi David Kirshenbaum (1902-1981) was born in Koriw, Poland and came to Canada in 1921. In 1926 he became rabbi of B’nai Moses Ben Judah Congregation in London, Ontario and remained in that position until his retirement in 1966. During his tenure in London he was active in many Jewish organizations including the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Jewish National Fund, the Israel Histadrut Campaign and the Jewish Community Council of London. He was a regular contributor to Yiddish and Anglo-Jewish publications. His articles appeared in the Hebrew Journal, Kanader Adler, Voice of Radom and The Jewish Standard. He was also the author of several books : Our Chassidic Treasuries, What is General Zionism?, Ships at Sea, A Journey to Israel, Mixed Marriages and the Jewish Future, Religion: Love or Hate? and Feast Days and Fast Days. He was also elected to the Board of the Victoria Hospital Trust and served on the University Assembly of the University of Western Ontario.; Rabbi David Kirshenbaum was married to Pearl Kirshenbaum.

MG_RG: MGC 6

Subjects: Rabbis

Name Access: Kirshenbaum, David, 1902-1981

Places: London (Ont.)

Source: Archival Accessions

Rabbi Nachman Shemen [textual record]

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

David Waserman [textual record] – 1928-1929.

Accession Number: 1981-4-5

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1981-4-5

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 2 folders of textual records

Date: 1928-1929

Scope and Content: Accession consists of David Waserman's Polish passport, Canadian immigration identification card stamped at Halifax upon his arrival on the Megantic, two copies of his birth certificate, a Polish police clearance document, and an army service book. There is also a Polish passport for Syma Nachsztern and her immigration identification card stamped upon arrival on the SS United States.

MG_RG: MG1

Subjects: Immigrants--Canada

Name Access: Waserman, David

Places: Canada; Poland

Source: Archival Accessions

Joseph Kalman Wainryb [graphic material, textual record] – 1921.

Accession Number: 1979-12-5

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1979-12-5

Material Format: graphic material; textual record

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records; 1 photograph : b&w ; 5 x 4 cm

Date: 1921

Scope and Content: Accession consists of documents and a passport photograph pertaining to the immigration of Joseph Kalman Wainryb (Wajnryb) age 17 from Warsaw, Poland to Toronto in 1921.These include his passport, legal and medical certificates, and ship's cabin and landing cards.

Subjects: Immigrants--Canada

Name Access: Wainryb, Joseph Kalman

Source: Archival Accessions

New Canadians from the Soviet Union Inc. [textual record] – 1977-1978.

Accession Number: 1979-9-28

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1979-9-28

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 5 cm of textual records

Date: 1977-1978

Scope and Content: Accession consists of material created by the New Canadians from the Soviet Union Inc. This includes a photocopy of the organization's by-laws and letters patent, newsclippings, event programs and invitations, meeting minutes, and correspondence and bulletins from various organizations concerned with Russian Jewry.

Descriptive Notes: Language: A majority of the records are in Russian.

MG_RG: MG2 B1z

Subjects: Immigrants--Canada; Jews--Soviet Union

Source: Archival Accessions

Jack Shindman [sound recording, textual record] – 1977.

Accession Number: 1983-1-10

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1983-1-10

Material Format: sound recording; textual record

Physical Description: 2 audio cassettes; 1 folder of textual records

Date: 1977

Scope and Content: Accession consists of an interview and corresponding transcript, with Jack Shindman, past-president of JIAS, on immigration and his family.

Subjects: Immigrants--Canada; Families; Nonprofit organizations

Name Access: Shindman, Jack; Drutz, Danny; Jewish Immigrant Aid Services (Toronto, Ont.)

Places: Rovno, Ukraine; Toronto, Ont.

Source: Archival Accessions

Rabbi Jacob Gordon [textual record] – 1911–1934.

Accession Number: 1977-11-2

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1977-11-2

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 3 cm of textual records

Date: 1911–1934

Scope and Content: Accession consists of photocopied material documenting Rabbi Jacob Gordon.

Descriptive Notes: Language: The bulk of the documents are in Hebrew or Yiddish.

MG_RG: MG 6 C

Subjects: Rabbis

Name Access: Gordon, Jacob, 1877-1934

Places: Toronto (Ont.)

Source: Archival Accessions

Jewish Immigrant Aid Services of Canada (Central Region) [textual record] – 2 May 1976.

Accession Number: 1979-9-5

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1979-9-5

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Date: 2 May 1976

Scope and Content: Accession consists of one booklet for the annual meeting of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Services of Canada, Central Region held at Temple Sinai with guest speaker Mr. Gaynor Jacobson, executive vice-president of HIAS.

Subjects: Immigrants--Canada

Name Access: Jewish Immigrant Aid Services (Toronto, Ont.); Jacobson, Gaynor; Temple Sinai Congregation of Toronto

Places: Toronto, Ont.

Source: Archival Accessions

Joe Krapivka [textual record] – 1911.

Accession Number: 1979-9-29

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1979-9-29

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Date: 1911

Scope and Content: Accession consists of one original and one photocopy of Joe Krapivka's naturalization certificate. According to the certificate, Joe immigrated from Russia and became a restaurant keeper in Toronto.

MG_RG: MG1 A1

Subjects: Immigrants--Canada; Restaurants

Name Access: Krapivka, Joe

Source: Archival Accessions

Rabbi Ernest Klein [textual record] – 1899-1982.

Accession Number: 1983-7-2

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1983-7-2

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 6 cm of textual records

Date: 1899-1982

Scope and Content: Accession consists of material documenting the life and career of Rabbi Ernest Klein. Records include personal as well as professional correspondence, certificates, newspaper clippings and book reviews, a marriage register, bar mitzvah invitations, and Klein's birth certificate.

Administrative History: Ernest Klein (1899-1983) was born in Szatmar, Hungary on 26 July 1899. He studied at the University of Vienna and served as a rabbi in several countries including Czechoslovakia, Romania, and France. The Second World War brought great hardship for Klein, who survived Auschwitz and Dachau (his wife and son were killed in Czechoslovakia just before the war). After the War, Klein came to Canada, where he became rabbi of Congregation Beth Yitshak in Toronto. A polyglot and a scholar, Klein wrote three etymological dictionaries, the most famous of which was his Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (1966-67). For his work, he received honourary degrees from McMaster University and the University of Guelph in 1977 and was awarded the Order of Canada in 1978. He passed away on 4 February 1983.

Use Conditions: Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.

Descriptive Notes: USE CONDITION NOTE: Accession contains medical records that are closed to researchers until January 2034.

MG_RG: MG 6 D

Subjects: Birth certificates; Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.); Invitation cards; Marriage records; Rabbis

Name Access: Klein, Ernest, 1899-1983

Source: Archival Accessions

Rabbi Gringorten [graphic material] – [between 1940 and 1947].

Accession Number: 2008-11-3

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2008-11-3

Material Format: graphic material

Physical Description: 2 photographs : b&w and sepia ; 21 x 26 cm

Date: [between 1940 and 1947]

Scope and Content: The accession consists of two photographs of Reverend Saul Wolf Gringorten and his wife Rachel.

Administrative History: Saul Wolf Gringorten and his wife Rachel Gringorten (née Melnick) were born in Poland in 1876 and 1881 respectively. They moved to Canada in 1910 with their eldest child. They subsequently had five more after their arrival.Their children included Morris, Jennie, Jacob, Esther, Louis, and Isaac.; Rabbi Gringorten served as spiritual leader, teacher, shochet, and mohel for the Brantford Jewish community after his arrival for thirteen years. He then moved to Toronto during the early 1920s and became the principal of a Jewish school. The family lived at 26 Cecil Street at that time and then moved to 393 Markham Street during the late 1920s or early 1930s. He became active in the Jewish community, serving as vice-president of the Sons of Jacob, a board member of the Folks Fareign, and the first trustee of the Old Folks Home.; Rabbi Gringorten and his wife moved to California during the 1940s in order to live in a climate that was better for their health. Rachel passed away in 1947, and the rabbi followed in 1959.

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: Immigrants--Canada; Portraits; Rabbis

Name Access: Gringorten, Saul, Rabbi, 1876-1959

Source: Archival Accessions

Rabbi William Rosenthal [graphic material] – [196-].

Accession Number: 2009-1-1

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2009-1-1

Material Format: graphic material

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 18 x 13 cm

Date: [196-]

Scope and Content: Accession consists of one portrait of Rabbi William Rosenthal of Sudbury, Ontario.

Custodial History: The photograph was in the custody of Lilian Rosenthal, the daughter of Rabbi Rosenthal, before it was donated to the Archives on January 8, 2009.

Subjects: Portraits; Rabbis

Name Access: Rosenthal, William

Places: Sudbury (Ont.)

Source: Archival Accessions

Jewish Immigrant Aid Services (JIAS) Canada [textual record] – 1980.

Accession Number: 2009-3-5

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2009-3-5

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Date: 1980

Scope and Content: Accession consists of a report prepared by JIAS Canada detailing the situation of recent immigrant arrivals to various small communities in Ontario. The communities discussed are Cambridge, Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Ottawa, St. Catharines and Windsor.

Custodial History: The custodial history for this item is unknown. The accession number has been assigned by the assistant archivist.

Subjects: Immigrants--Canada; Communities

Name Access: Jewish Immigrant Aid Services (Toronto, Ont.)

Places: Cambridge (Ont.); Hamilton (Ont.); Kitchener (Ont.); London (Ont.); Ottawa (Ont.); St. Catharines (Ont.); Windsor (Ont.)

Source: Archival Accessions

Eve Rosen Gordon (Kitchener, ON) [graphic material (electronic)] – 1926.

Accession Number: 2009-6-9

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2009-6-9

Material Format: graphic material (electronic)

Physical Description: 1 photograph (jpg)

Date: 1926

Scope and Content: Accession consists of one scanned family photograph of Eve's family shortly before their emigration from Russia to Canada.; Back row, left to right: Raizel Rosen, Yisroel Rosen. Front, left to right: Pesa Rosen holding Edith Rosen, Eve Rosen and Avraham Rosen.

Administrative History: Eve Rosen Gordon was born in Russia in 1923. When she was three years old, her parents and paternal grandparents came to Canada with Eve's sister and brother. Her uncle Aaron Rosen had been in Kitchener, Ontario since 1903. His business was scrap metal, and Eve's father joined him in the work to pay off their tickets from Russia. Following that, he peddled with a horse and buggy. In 1933 he launched his own business, clearing and filling the swampy land by hand to build a multi-generation business, Rosen and Sons, which eventually moved into industrial waste.

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: Families; Immigrants--Canada

Places: Kitchener (Ont.); Russia

Source: Archival Accessions

Rabbi Philip (Shragah Phyvle) Rosensweig (Kitchener, ON) [graphic material (electronic)] – 1953.

Accession Number: 2009-6-10

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2009-6-10

Material Format: graphic material (electronic)

Physical Description: 2 photographs (jpg)

Date: 1953

Scope and Content: Accession consists of two scanned photographs of Rabbi Rosensweig in 1953: his wedding picture with Gitel Flicht of Toronto, and his inauguration dinner at Beth Jacob Synagogue in Kitchener, with guest speaker Rabbi Avrum A. Price of Toronto.; Inauguration photo, identified left to right: Philip's parents, Meyer and Mary; sister-in-law Miriam and brother Rabbi Bernard Rosensweig; Gitel; Philip; Rabbi Avrum A. Price; synagogue president Nat Budd and his wife Helen.

Administrative History: Rabbi Philip (Shragah Phyvle) Rosensweig was born in Toronto to Meyer Rosensweig and Mary Rosensweig (née Naftolin), who had emigrated from Poland and Russia. As a young man, Philip studied at Yeshiva University in New York City, then the Jewish Theological Seminary in Toronto. There, he was privileged to study under Rabbi Avrum A. Price, one of the world’s leading talmudic scholars. Rabbi Rosensweig married Gitel Flicht of Toronto in 1953. Soon after, he was invited to serve as rabbi for Beth Jacob Synagogue in Kitchener. There, he and Gitel raised five children: Etta, Chavi, Naomi, Leah and Avrum. The rabbi was actively involved in congregation and community activities. He established the B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation at the Waterloo Lutheran University (Wilfred Laurier University); visited Jewish inmates at local prisons, counseling them and advocating on their behalf for kosher food; he gave tours of the synagogue to visitors, and frequently addressed high school and university students, service clubs, churches and community groups. As well, the rabbi served for decades as principal and teacher at the Talmud Torah. Rabbi Rosensweig died suddenly on 27 October 1989 of a heart attack. He was buried in the family plot at Beth Shemesh in Israel, a special cemetery for rabbis and their families.

Use Conditions: Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Descriptive Notes: Use Conditions: Donor must grant permission for any use/publication of the photographs.; Copyright: Inauguration photo is stamped "Kitchener-Waterloo Record photo." The archives of the Record are held by University of Waterloo Special Collections.

Subjects: Rabbis; Weddings

Source: Archival Accessions

Eve Rosen Gordon (Kitchener, ON) [graphic material (electronic)] – 1931.

Accession Number: 2009-8-5

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2009-8-5

Material Format: graphic material (electronic)

Physical Description: 1 photograph (jpg)

Date: 1931

Scope and Content: Accession consists of one scanned photograph of Beth Jacob Synagogue in Kitchener with Avraham Rosen on the steps.

Administrative History: Avraham Rosen was the patriarch of a Russian family that settled in Kitchener in the early twentieth century. His son Aaron Rosen came in 1903, raised a family, and established a successful rag and scrap metal business. Avraham and his wife Pesa came with their son Israel and his family in 1927. Avraham Rosen lived in Kitchener until his death in 1939. Israel's daughter Eve (the donor) still lives there.

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: Immigrants--Canada; Synagogues

Name Access: Beth Jacob Congregation (Kitchener, Ont.)

Places: Kitchener (Ont.)

Source: Archival Accessions

Gathering of rabbis (Brantford, ON) [graphic material] – [ca. 1965].

Level: Item

ID: Item 918

Source: Archival Descriptions

Level: Item

Item: 918

Material Format: graphic material

Date: [ca. 1965]

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 17 x 22 cm

Scope and Content: This item is an original print depicting a gathering of rabbis in Brantford, Ontario. Pictured from left to right are:; Rabbi Klein of Guelph, Rabbi Phillip Rosensweig of Kitchener, and Rabbi Pruzinsky of Brantford.

Notes: Acquired in 1976.; Photo by Robert Bierstock. Please credit accordingly.

Subjects: Rabbis

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: Brantford (Ont.)

Source: Archival Descriptions

Rabbi Stanley Weber (Brantford, ON) [graphic material] – [ca. 1965].

Part Of: Sadie Stren fonds; Photographs file

Level: Item

ID: Fonds 78; File 3; Item 29

Source: Archival Descriptions

Part Of: Sadie Stren fonds; Photographs file

Level: Item

Fonds: 78

File: 3

Item: 29

Material Format: graphic material

Date: [ca. 1965]

Physical Description: 2 photographs : b&w (1 negative) ; 18 x 13 cm and 12 x 10 cm

Scope and Content: This item is a copy print and corresponding negative of Rabbi Stanley Weber (centre) with an unidentified gentlemen and boy, standing at a podium.

Subjects: Rabbis

Repro Restriction: Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Accession Number: 1978-11-3

Source: Archival Descriptions

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Rivka Hurwich and Sam Hurwich - 2 Jul. 1974

Name: Rivka Hurwich and Sam Hurwich

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 2 Jul. 1974

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Rivka Hurwich and Sam Hurwich

Number: OH 22

Subject: Antisemitism; Hospitals; Rabbis; Schools; Teachers

Interview Date: 2 Jul. 1974

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Stephen Speisman

Total Running Time: Side One - 43 minutes; Side Two - 3 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003.; Digitized in 2014.

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Dr. Sam Hurwich was involved in a number of organizations, including the Canadian Jewish Congress, Jewish Immigrant Aid Services, and several Labour Zionist groups.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Hospital for Sick Children; Hurwich, Rivka; Hurwich, Sam

Geographic Access: Toronto (Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 22 - Hurwich\OH22_001_Log.docx; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 22 - Hurwich\OH22_002_Log.docx

Source: Oral Histories

Fred Schaeffer - 11 Jul. 1980

Name: Fred Schaeffer

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 11 Jul. 1980

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Fred Schaeffer

Number: OH 24

Subject: Communities; Immigrants--Canada; Rabbis; Synagogues

Interview Date: 11 Jul. 1980

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Stephen Speisman

Total Running Time: Side 1: 31 minutes; Side 2: 9 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Fred Schaeffer's wife, Beverley, grew up in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Beverley's grandfather, Hyman Kaplan, emigrated from Vilna, Lithuania in 1907, and after a few years in New York, moved to Toronto. Shortly afterwards, he became the first Jew to settle in Kirkland Lake in 1914.; In the 1920s, the Jewish community in Kirkland Lake built a permanent synagogue and acquired an aron kodesh of eastern European design, its lamps, railings, pews and reader’s desk, from the disbanded Ukrainishe Shul in Montreal. In the 1970s, the Kirkland Lake Synagogue disbanded and Fred and Beverly Schaeffer acquired the aron kodesh, all of its furnishings, the ner tamid, and the parochet. They generously donated these Jewish artifacts to Beth Tikvah Synagogue, Toronto, in 1988, in memory of Isadore Kaplan, father of Beverly Schaeffer and Erich Schaeffer, father of Fred Schaeffer.; Fred married Beverley in Toronto. Like many children from Kirkland Lake, Beverley had moved to the city to attend university. Fred and Beverley are keen collectors of Canadian art. He is a retired civil engineer and a former chair of the Canadian Art Historical Committee at the AGO.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Atkins (family); Bucavetsky (family); Cochrane (Ont.); Etkins (family); Mallins (family); Purkiss (family); Schaeffer, Fred

Geographic Access: Ansonville (Ont.); Engelhart (Ont.); Kirkland Lake (Ont.); Krugerdorf (Ont.); Ontario, Northern; Timmins (Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 24 - Schaeffer\OH24_001_Log.docx; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 24 - Schaeffer\OH24_002_Log.docx

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Fred Schaeffer and Stephen Speisman discuss some of the earliest synagogues established in Northern Ontario.

In this clip, Fred Schaeffer relates colourful anecdotes about the first Jewish settler in the Swastika-Kirkland area, Roza Brown.

Fanny Gertzbein - 2 Oct. 1984

Name: Fanny Gertzbein

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 2 Oct. 1984

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Fanny Gertzbein

Number: OH 33

Subject: Charities; Immigrants--Canada

Interview Date: 2 Oct. 1984

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Morris Silbert

Total Running Time: OH 033: 27:34 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003.

Notes: Language: Fanny often speaks Yiddish with Morris Silbert providing a translation.; Related group of records external to the unit being described: accession 2019-7/2 includes comments by Gella Rothstein on this oral history.

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Fanny Gurtzbein (née Goldhar) immigrated from Poland to Toronto in 1903. Fanny lived with her parents and siblings in Toronto's Ward district. Although raised in poverty, Barney, Fanny's brother, went on to become a successful furrier; Fanny's mother, Tzyerl Goldhar, became the organizer of the Mothers and Babes Summer Rest Home.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: Yiddish; English

Name Access: Goldhar, Myer; Goldhar, Tzeryl; Goldhar, Barney; Gurtzbein, Fanny

Geographic Access: St. John's Ward (Toronto, Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 33 - Gertzbein\OH33_001_Log.docx

Source: Oral Histories

Joe and Minna Loewith - 3 Jun. 1984

Name: Joe and Minna Loewith

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 3 Jun. 1984

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Joe and Minna Loewith

Number: OH 37; OH 38

Subject: Agriculture; Immigrants--Canada

Interview Date: 3 Jun. 1984

Quantity: 2

Interviewer: Morris Silbert

Total Running Time: OH 037_001: 31 minutes OH 037_002: 31 minutes OH 038_001 8 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Joe and Minna Loewith immigrated to Canada in November 1938 from the Sudetenland. After arriving in Canada, they settled on the Wren Farm outside of Hamilton, Ontario, along with their family and other members of the immigration group. They got married in 1942. Afterwards, they bought a farm from their brother-in-law and then lived with their three sons on the farm.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English

Name Access: Loewith, Joe; Loewith, Mina; Silbert, Morris

Geographic Access: Hamilton (Ont.); Sudetenland (Czech Republic); Burlington (Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 37, OH 38 - Loewith\OH37_001_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 37, OH 38 - Loewith\OH37_002_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 37, OH 38 - Loewith\OH38_001_Log.pdf

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Minna Loewith recalls the events beginning in the summer through the fall of 1938 that led her family to emigrate from Czechoslovakia to Canada.

In this clip, Minna shares some of her earliest recollections of when she and her family arrived in Canada in November 1938.

In this clip, Joe Loewith explains the conditions for Czech immigration to Canada set by the CPR and how they were met.

Dr. Mattie Rotenberg - 26 Feb. 1976

Name: Dr. Mattie Rotenberg

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 26 Feb. 1976

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Dr. Mattie Rotenberg

Number: OH 63

Subject: Antisemitism; Rabbis; Charities; Influenza; Balfour Declaration; Immigrants--Canada; Women's clothing; Women; Department stores

Interview Date: 26 Feb. 1976

Quantity: 2 cassettes (1 copy); 2 WAV files

Total Running Time: 62:52 sec.

Conservation: Copied to cassette in August 2003.; Copied to digital file in June 2014.; Side 2 of the original cassette is damaged. The tape continually speeds up and slows down.

Use Restrictions: Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Mattie Rotenberg was the daughter of Russian immigrants. She grew up in Toronto's Ward district and received her degree in mathematics and physics at the University of Toronto. In 1920, she became the first secretary of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society in Toronto.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Jewish Immigrant Aid Services of Toronto; Hillcrest Progressive School; Goel Tzedec Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.); University of Toronto; T. Eaton Co

Geographic Access: Toronto (Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: Introduction of Dr. Mattie Rotenberg to the audience 0:00-:49 Family History 0:50-4:00: Rotenberg, daughter of Russian immigrants, recounts the story of her parents’ immigration and arrival in Toronto during the early 1890s. 4:01-7:35: Rotenberg recalls her childhood memories of life growing up in Toronto’s Ward district during the era of “great” Jewish immigration. 7:40-11:10: Rotenberg recalls happy childhood memories living on Regent Street, then a primarily non-Jewish neighbourhood. 11:11-13:40: Rotenberg recalls the Great Fire of Toronto of 1904 that destroyed a large section of downtown Toronto. 13:45-15:19: Rotenberg recalls the open-air streetcar that ran along Toronto’s beltline, the City Dairy, and Riverdale Park. 15.20-18.02: Rotenberg recalls Rabbi Jacob Gordon of Goel Tzedec Synagogue and Rabbi Julius Price, the synagogue’s first English-speaking rabbi. 18:03-21:00: Rotenberg discusses her education at the Dufferin Elementary School and Jarvis Collegiate, her family’s first telephone, riding in a motor car, Massey Hall and Jarvis and Sherbourne Streets considered to be the choice residential district of the time. 21:01-22.00: Rotenberg recalls Dr. Sandler, Toronto’s first Jewish doctor to practice in Toronto’s non-Jewish community. 22:01-22:59: Rotenberg recalls the Queen Street shopping district, the Willinsky’s department store, and Hadassah’s first bazaar held at Toronto Armory. 23:00-23:47: Rotenberg recalls antisemitic incidents that occurred in Toronto during the late 1920s. 23:48-24.33: Rotenberg discusses the Orange Lodges’ influence on civic politics, prejudice towards the Jewish and Catholic communities, and the anti-French-language campaign Rotenberg discusses life in Toronto then and now 24.34-25.30: Rotenberg recalls the changes to Gerrard Sreet East, from a tree-lined street to concrete sidewalks. 25.31-26.48: Rotenberg recalls being the only Jewish student at Jarvis Collegiate. 26.49-27.20: Rotenberg discusses her Jewish education. 27.22-28.06: Rotenberg provides an anecdote about local Jewish news and gossip. 28.07-29.18: Rotenberg discusses the hardships of housekeeping. 29.20-30.25: Rotenberg discusses women’s fashion during the early 1900s. 30.26-31.05: Rotenberg discusses Eatons and Simpsons before the introduction of the cash register. 31:26-33.23: Rotenberg discusses life in Toronto during the early years of the First World War. Rotenberg recalls recruitment meetings held at the Armoury and the crowds that gathered to view war bulletins posted in the window the Telegram’s office on Bay Street. 33.24-36.28: In this portion of the interview, Rotenberg describes the University of Toronto as being an extremely “WASPish” place run by professors with chauvinistic attitudes 36.29-37.23: Rotenberg discusses the problem faced by Jewish women looking for a teaching position. 37:24-39:12: Rotenberg recalls Dr. (Canon) Cody, president of U of T, and his witch hunts for students believed to have Communist leanings. 39:13-40:05: Rotenberg recalls Toronto’s flu epidemic following the First World War. 40:06-41:07: Rotenberg recalls the announcement of the Balfour Declaration in 1918 and the city’s commemoration parade to honour the declaration. Side 2 0:00-:46 : Commemoration of the Balfour Declaration continued. 0:47-4.09: Rotenberg discusses her job as secretary to JIAS during the 1920s. She describes JIAS as an “embryo” started by a few dozen men working to provide aid for Jewish immigrants. *Speech garbled in some sections* 4:10-6:24: Rotenberg discusses the founding in 1929 of the Hillcrest Progressive Day School, whose main motive was to provide a comprehensive Jewish education. 6.25-6.36: Rotenberg discusses the making of liquid hydrogen at the University of Toronto’s physics building during the early 1920s. 6.36-10.00: Here the sound quality becomes poor and Rotenberg’s voice is garbled. 10:00- 21.45: Question period. Sound quality poor and garbled. END

Source: Oral Histories

Rabbi Reuben Slonim - 23 Jul. 1982

Name: Rabbi Reuben Slonim

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 23 Jul. 1982

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Rabbi Reuben Slonim

Number: OH 65; OH 66

Subject: Development of Toronto Jewish community from 1930s; Rabbis

Interview Date: 23 Jul. 1982

Quantity: 2

Interviewer: Jack Lipinsky

Total Running Time: OH65_001: 26.25 minutes; OH65_002: 15.07 minutes; OH66: 32.48 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Notes: Poor sound quality

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.; Conditional access. Researchers must receive permission from the interviewee or their heir prior to accessing the interview. Please contact the OJA for more information.

Biography: Reuben Slonim was born on in Winnipeg in 1914 and ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York in 1937. That year, he became Canada’s first Canadian-born rabbi when he was hired by the McCaul Street Synagogue in downtown Toronto. After it merged with Goel Tzedec to become the Beth Tzedec Congregation, Rabbi Slonim served at the new Beth Tzedec for one year. He then served for twenty-three years as rabbi of Beth Habonim on Glen Park Avenue.; Slonim also worked as a jounalist and associate editor of the Toronto Telegram and was known for his outspoken views on the Arab-Israeli conflict and Zionism.; He married Rita Short, and they had a daughter named Rena. Rabbi Reuben Slonim died on 20 January 2000 at the age of eight-five.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English

Name Access: McCaul Street Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.); Beth Tzedec Congregation (Toronto, Ont.)

Geographic Access: Winnipeg (Man.); New York (N.Y.).; Toronto (Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette

Source: Oral Histories

Sarah Green - 7 Jan. 1975

Name: Sarah Green

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 7 Jan. 1975

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Sarah Green

Number: OH 4

Subject: Families; Immigrants--Canada; Neighborhoods

Interview Date: 7 Jan. 1975

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Sophie Milgram

Total Running Time: 38 minutes 44 seconds

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Sarah Green (née Patlik) grew up living in Toronto's Junction neighbourhood. The family home and scrap yard business were both located on Maria Street, which served as the centre for Jewish life in the Junction during the early 1900s. Sarah Patlik was involved with numerous charitable organizations including the Ontario Hospital School of Orilla and the Rubinoff and Naftolin Mishpocha.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English

Name Access: Green, Sarah

Geographic Access: Kingston (Ont.); Maria Street (Toronto, Ont.); Portland Street (Toronto, Ont.); Stanley Street (Toronto, Ont.); West Toronto Junction (Toronto, Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 4 - Green\OH4_Log.docx

Source: Oral Histories

Toba Fluxgold - 1975

Name: Toba Fluxgold

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 1975

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Toba Fluxgold

Number: OH 8

Subject: Bakeries; Immigrants--Canada

Interview Date: 1975

Quantity: 1 cassette (1 copy) 2 WAV files

Interviewer: Sheldon Steinberg

Total Running Time: 1:02 min.

Conservation: Copied August 2003; Digitized December 2014

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.; Conditional access. Researchers must receive permission from the interviewee or their heir prior to accessing the interview. Please contact the OJA for more information.

Biography: Toba Fluxgold was born in Warsaw, Poland and immigrated to Toronto with her father, older brother, and sister. Toba's father ventured into the bakery business and, in the early 1920s, opened his own kosher bakery in Toronto. Following her father's death in 1929, Toba’s brother Morris expanded and modernized the bakery and later sold it to Carmel Bakery. After her marriage in 1925, Toba moved to Arthur, Ontario, and returned to Toronto after the birth of her first child.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English; Yiddish

Geographic Access: Arthur (Ont.); Elizabeth Street (Toronto, Ont.); St. John's Ward (Toronto, Ont.); Warsaw (Poland)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: Transcript exists for this oral history.

Source: Oral Histories

Belle James - 21 Apr. 1975

Name: Belle James

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 21 Apr. 1975

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Belle James

Number: OH 16

Subject: Families; Rabbis

Interview Date: 21 Apr. 1975

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Stephen Speisman

Total Running Time: Side One: 46 minutes; Side Two: 5 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Belle James (née Levy) was born in Toronto in 1908. Her father, Rabbi Meyer Levy, became chief rabbi of Toronto in 1905/6.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: James, Belle; Levy, Meyer; Weiss, Lottie

Geographic Access: Toronto, Ont.

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 16 - James\OH16_001_Log.docx; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 16 - James\OH16_002_Log.docx

Source: Oral Histories

John Furedi - 29 Jul. 1976

Name: John Furedi

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 29 Jul. 1976

Source: Oral Histories

Name: John Furedi

Number: OH 78; OH 79

Subject: Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Immigrants--Canada; Farmers; Communities; Synagogues

Interview Date: 29 Jul. 1976

Quantity: 4 cassettes (2 copies); 3 WAV files

Interviewer: Larry Troster

Total Running Time: OH78_001: 45.20 minutes OH78_002: 45.30 minutes

Conservation: Copied to cassette in August 2003; Copied to digital file in December 2013

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: John Furedi was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1925. During the Second World War, John was drafted into the Hungarian Labour Service System (Munkaszolgalat). After the Nazi occupation of Hungary in March 1944, John was deported to the Kistarcsa transit camp. Between 1945 and 1948, John travelled throughout Europe and returned to Budapest during the takeover of Hungary by the Communists. The revolution and anti-Jewish sentiment forced many Jews, including John and his wife Stephanie, to flee Hungary. In 1956, they immigrated to Canada and lived in Montreal for one year. In 1958, with the aid of a six-thousand-dollar loan provided by the Jewish Colonization Association, John became the first Jewish chicken farmer to settle in Beamsville, Ontario. John went on to become an active member of Beamsville's Jewish community and participated in the establishment of the community’s first congregation in 1966.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English

Name Access: Furedi, John; Jewish Colonization Association

Geographic Access: Beamsville (Ont.); Hungary

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 78 - Furedi\OH78_001_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 78 - Furedi\OH78_002_Log.pdf

Source: Oral Histories

Paul Abeles - 14 Jun. 1976

Name: Paul Abeles

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 14 Jun. 1976

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Paul Abeles

Number: OH 87

Subject: Farmers; Immigrants--Canada

Interview Date: 14 Jun. 1976

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Larry Troster

Total Running Time: 45.05 minutes

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Paul Abeles was born on 15 November 1906 in Czechoslovakia. He was a successful businessman and part of a group of four local businesspeople, with Leon Rotberg, Jack Rotberg, and Jack Brown, who bought and rented business properties in the city. The group were also referred to as the “Brantford Companies,” set up to own and manage warehouse properties in the City of Brantford.; Paul was active in the Brantford Jewish community and represented Brantford at the Second Regional Leadership Conference in London, Ontario on 27 March 1960, where over seventy-five representatives of regional Jewish communities gathered. At this conference, Paul was presented with an award of recognition for his volunteer endeavours.; Paul was one of thirty-nine families who immigrated to Canada in 1939 from Czechoslovakia and placed on farms. He was married to Rita Abeles (née (Glaser). He passed away in March 1989.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English

Geographic Access: Brantford (Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 87 - Abeles\OH87_Transcript.pdf

Source: Oral Histories

Tobie Taback - 23 Feb. 1983

Name: Tobie Taback

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 23 Feb. 1983

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Tobie Taback

Number: OH 136

Subject: Immigrants--Canada; Nonprofit organizations

Interview Date: 23 Feb. 1983

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Jack Lipinsky

Total Running Time: 34 minutes 58 secons

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: Tobie Taback was the long-time secretary for the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society in Toronto. She retired in 1982.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Jewish Immigrant Aid Society (Toronto, Ont.); Taback, Tobie; Lipinsky, Jack

Geographic Access: Toronto

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Tobie Taback discusses the helplessness faced by the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society in bringing immigrants out of Europe during the period of Canada's strict no immigration policy.

In this clip, Tobie Taback discusses the activities of Jewish Immigrant Aid Society (JIAS) employees during the years 1937–1939, the obstacles they faced vis-à-vis immigrant applications and the "parcels to Russia and Poland" aid program run by JIAS.

Jack Shindman

Name: Jack Shindman

Material Format: sound recording

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Jack Shindman

Number: OH 138; OH 139

Subject: Immigrants--Canada; Nonprofit organizations; High Holidays; Immigrants--Canada

Quantity: 4 audio cassettes (2 copies); 4 WAV files

Interviewer: Danny Drutz

AccessionNumber: 1983-1-10

Total Running Time: 1:30 minutes

Conservation: OH 139 Copied August 2003; OH 138 digitized in 2016

Notes: Related material note: Accession 1983-1-10 includes typed, unpublished manuscript of Jack Shindman's memoir.

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Jack Shindman was born in Rovno, Ukraine and immigrated to Toronto in 1923. Shindman worked in a junkyard and advanced to millinery work, becoming executive of his union. After purchasing property at 150 Avenue Road, he opened a laundry business on the ground floor and lived with his family on the top floor. Shindman formed the Obecz-Valin Farein of Toronto, an association for landsleit of his hometown and worked for HIAS/JIAS helping immigrants procure immigration documents.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Greene, Lorne, 1915-1987

Geographic Access: Rovno, Ukraine; Toronto, Ont.

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: OH138 Side One 00:00: Jack explains the complicated, drawn-out process of arranging immigration to Canada. 00:14: Jack explains that his future father-in-law had a brother, Abe, and his wife, Molly, who could help with immigration. 1:33: Jack explains how steamship tickets were procured from his future mother-in-law and her three daughters but not for him and his three sisters due to insufficient funds. 3:15: Jack explains that he continued to work with HIAS/JIAS to help immigrants procure documents before departure in Rovno. His older sister worked as a dressmaker. 4:38: Jack discusses the proposal and wedding to his wife Raizel. Jack describes how he took his mother-in-law and sisters-in-law to Warsaw before their departure to Canada. Jack returns to Rovno. 7:42: Jack discusses the agreement he made with his mother-in-law about joining them in Canada. The family in Canada sent a letter promising to send four tickets. 9:42: Jack discusses the circumstances surrounding the birth of their son. 10:11: Jack discusses various legal obstacles that prevented them from immigrating to Canada. 13:53: Jack explains how he and his family were able to secure a special permit procured by Mrs. Dworkin, a steamship agent. Jack, his wife, his son, and his three sisters arrived in Toronto in April 1923. OH138 Side Two 00:00: Jack explains that the Polish regulations limited the amount of time Russians were permitted to remain in Poland if they were waiting to travel abroad. He explains how he deceptively was able to obtain Polish passports for himself, his wife, and his sisters to enable them to remain in Poland for a longer time. 3:58: Jack discusses his efforts at finding work. 5:56: Jack relates an incident involving his youngest sister getting burned from boiling water while taking a bath. He discusses the exemplary care provided by a doctor, Dave (?)Perlman. 8:32: Jack discusses how he was able to find work at his uncle’s junk yard in the Junction. He worked with Joe Tenenbaum. 9:51: Jack describes a flat the family lived in on Stephanie Street. 11:01: Jack discusses his struggle trying to find a job. He explains how he was quickly able to advance while working in a millinery job. 14:58: Jack explains how he became an executive of his union. He was advised by Joe Salsberg to request higher wages. OH139 Side One 00:00: Jack explains that his sisters and sister-in-law got married. 1:37: Jack discusses Benny’s bar mitzvah. 2:28: Jack discusses forming the Obecz- Valin Farein, an association for lantsleit (people from his home town) to send parcels to help people back in Russia from 1934–1939. The organization existed until 1968. 4:54: Jack bought a building at 150 Avenue Road. The family lived upstairs with a laundry on the main floor. 5:53: Jack discusses the dissolution of the organization. 7:00: Jack explains how he purchased a building at 150 Avenue Road and the neighbouring building at 152 Avenue Road. 9:42: Jack discusses his son’s service in the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War. 13:19: Jack discusses his attempt to purchase a property on Davenport Road that could be used as a laundry business for his son. OH139 Side Two 00:48: Jack explains that Benny opted to go to university after the war rather than go into his father’s business. 1:57: Jack discusses building a house. 3:02: Jack discusses Jack’s girlfriend who later became his wife. He discusses the wedding at Shaarei Shomayim. 7:16: Jack explains how his son, Benny, and his daughter Adele’s husband, Don, started to work in Jack’s businesses in1952/53. Danny Drutz explains the careers of Don and Benny. 10:34:Danny Drutz discusses Edith’s education and completing a degree at Queen’s University and a course in Lorne Green’s school for acting. 11:10: Danny Drutz discusses Edith’s life course: her work, her engagement and marriage to (?) Lennie Hauser, and her move to London. 13:02: Danny Drutz discusses Lennie’s work with the Department of External Affairs of Canada in diplomatic service. 14:20: Danny Drutz discusses Edith’s work with Information Canada.

Source: Oral Histories

Rabbi Elimelech Ittamar - 11 May 1976

Name: Rabbi Elimelech Ittamar

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 11 May 1976

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Rabbi Elimelech Ittamar

Number: OH 141

Subject: Education; Immigrants--Canada; Rabbis; Synagogues; Zionists

Interview Date: 11 May 1976

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Doris Newman

Total Running Time: Side 1: 46 minutes Side 2: 19 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Rabbi Ittamar was born in Poland. He came to Toronto in 1923. He attended Landsdowne and Ryerson Public Schools in Toronto for one year and then continued his education at a theological seminary in New York, which later became Yeshiva University. Throughout his life, Rabbi Ittamar was an ardent Zionist. From 1930 until June 1932, Rabbi Ittamar served as rabbi of Beth Jacob and Adas Yisroel Synagogues in Hamilton. He then worked as principal of the Seattle Talmud Torah and attended graduate school at the University of Washington for three and a half years. He served for twenty years in Detroit as rabbi and president of Yeshiva. He made aliyah in 5715 (1955), when he was invited by Chief Rabbi Herzog to become secretary of the chief rabbinate. He was married (nee Unger) in 1936 and had two children, Tamar and Yehoshua.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Ittamar, Elimelech

Geographic Access: Toronto; Hamilton; Detroit

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 141, Rabbi Elmelech Ittamar\OH 141 notes.pdf

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Rabbi Ittamar shares some of his early memories as a boy in Toronto.

While attending Yeshiva in New York, Rabbi Ittamar headed the debating team. In this clip he describes his first English-speaking public presentation while representing the debating team in 1930 at the Jewish People’s Institute in Chicago.

Max Federman - 19 Mar. 1976

Name: Max Federman

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 19 Mar. 1976

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Max Federman

Number: OH 149; OH 150

Subject: Communism; Immigrants--Canada; Labor unions

Interview Date: 19 Mar. 1976

Quantity: 2

Interviewer: Ben Schneider

Total Running Time: OH149A: 30. minutes OH149B: 30. minutes OH150A: 1. minute

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Max Federman was born in Poland. In 1919, he moved to Germany where he attended school. He joined his father in Toronto in 1920. A union leader, labour Zionist, and ardent anti-Communist, Max became actively involved in the union movement and served as representative of the Local Fur Workers Union. He was involved in a twenty-year battle with the Communist leadership of the International Furrier Union until they disbanded and merged with the International Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union. Max was involved in Jewish community organizations including the Histadrut, Borochov School, and the United Jewish Welfare Fund.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Federman, Max; Goldman, Emma; Schneider, Ben

Geographic Access: Germany; Poland; Toronto (Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 149, 150, Max Federman\OH 149, 150 notes.pdf

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Max Federman describes the conflict between the Federation of Labour and Communist International Union from 1938–1956. He discusses the steps by which the International Fur and Leather Union disaffiliated with the International Union to join the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union in 1956.

In this clip, Max Federman discusses his early involvement with a trade union while living in Germany in 1919.

Dora Till - 4 May 1983

Name: Dora Till

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 4 May 1983

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Dora Till

Number: OH 151

Subject: Immigrants--Canada; Families; Labor; Labor unions; Women; Occupations

Interview Date: 4 May 1983

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Stephen Speisman

Total Running Time: 46 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Dora Till (née Tobias) was born in New York City in 1896. She came to Toronto in 1900. She married Morris Till in 1918. They had one daughter, Cecile. As a youth, Dora was involved with Herzl Girls and the Boot and Shoe Society. Dora was active in community service and contributed greatly to social service work. She was co-founder and first president for the Mothers' and Babes' Summer Rest Home, vice president of the Hebrew Maternity Aid Society, a board member for the Jewish Family and Child Services, an executive for the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, honorary vice president of United Jewish Welfare Fund, on the board of Canadian Jewish Congress and past president of the Naomi Chapter of Hadassah-WIZO.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Herzl Girls Boot and Shoe Society, 1920; Mothers and Babes Summer Rest Home; Baycrest Hospital; United Jewish Welfare Fund; Beth Tzedec Synagogue; Timothy Eaton Company; Till, Dora

Geographic Access: Toronto; Bronte

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Dora Till discusses some of the services provided by Hebrew Maternity Aid.

Dora Till was co-founder and first president for Mothers and Babes Summer Rest Home. In this clip, Dora describes the efforts to solicit and fundraise on behalf of the Mothers and Babes Summer Rest Home.

Kalmen Kaplansky - 20 Sep. 1985

Name: Kalmen Kaplansky

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 20 Sep. 1985

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Kalmen Kaplansky

Number: OH 109

Subject: Antisemitism; Human rights; Immigrants--Canada; Labor; Labor unions; Refugees--Canada

Interview Date: 20 Sep. 1985

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Phyllis Platnick

Total Running Time: 109A: 60 minutes 109B: 6 minutes

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Kalmen was born on 5 January 1912 in Poland. He worked in Montreal as a typesetter and linotype operator. He was active in the labour and human rights movements in Canada. Kalmen served as the director of the Jewish Labour Committee in 1945. In collaboration with the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Canadian government, and trade unions, the Jewish Labour Committee helped Jewish displaced persons immigrate to Canada by securing them employment. Kalman sat on the Refugee Status Advisory Committee for the federal government.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English

Name Access: Kaplansky, Kalmen; Platnick, Phyllis; Jewish Labour Committee

Geographic Access: Toronto

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 109 - Kaplansky\OH109_001_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 109 - Kaplansky\OH109_002_Log.pdf

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Kalmen Kaplansky discusses some of the obstacles to the relocation of displaced Jews to Canada after the Second World War. He describes a tripartite proposal involving consultation and cooperation among trade unions, management, and government, which enabled the immigration project.

In this clip, Kalmen Kaplansky explains that bribery, corruption, and perjury were a way of life after the Second World War. He relates anecdotes as an example.

Al Hershkovitz - 19 Nov. 1985

Name: Al Hershkovitz

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 19 Nov. 1985

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Al Hershkovitz

Number: OH 111

Subject: Immigrants--Canada; Labor; Labor unions; Refugees--Canada; Zionists

Interview Date: 19 Nov. 1985

Quantity: 1 cassette (1 copy); 1 WAV file

Interviewer: Phyllis Platnick

Total Running Time: 40.30 minutes

Conservation: November 2006; Digitized in 2014

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Al Hershkovitz was a fur union representative who helped organize the project that brought furriers from the displaced persons camps of Europe to Canada in the late 1940s. As a union representative, Al was granted temporary military rank in order to enter the displaced persons camps in Europe. He became part of the selection committee responsible for determining which displaced persons could come to Canada.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English

Name Access: Hershkovitz, Al; Federman, Max; Kerbel, Joe; Silver, Harris; Jewish Labor Committee; Canadian Jewish Congress; Jewish Immigrant Aid Society; International Fur and Leather Workers Union; American Federation of Labor

Geographic Access: Toronto (Ont.); Europe

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 111 - Hershkovitz\OH111_Log.wav

Source: Oral Histories

Max Enkin - 13 Apr. 1986

Name: Max Enkin

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 13 Apr. 1986

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Max Enkin

Number: OH 113; OH 114

Subject: Antisemitism; Immigrants--Canada; Labor unions; Nonprofit organizations; Occupations; Refugees--Canada

Interview Date: 13 Apr. 1986

Quantity: 2

Interviewer: Phyllis Platnick

Total Running Time: OH113: 19:40 minuets; OH114:

Conservation: Copied August 2003; Digitized 11/28/2011

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Max Enkin was founder and a leading member of the Jewish Vocational Service of Toronto. The original purpose of the organization was to help survivors of the Second World War find employment. In 1947, as associate administrator and representative for the men's clothing sector in Ontario, Max Enkin became involved in the Tailor Project. The project was designed to identify and select skilled tailors from the displaced persons camps of Europe and help to settle them in Canada.; Max Enkin was awarded the Order of the British Empire in recognition of services to the Wartime Prices and Trade Board.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Enkin, Max; Platnick, Phyllis

Geographic Access: Toronto

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 113, OH 114 - Enkin\OH113_001_Log.docx

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Max Enkin discusses the organizations, government departments, and union representatives involved in the development and implementation of the Tailor Project.

In this clip, Max Enkin discusses the Liberal government

Claire and Al Roebuck - 9 Feb. 1986

Name: Claire and Al Roebuck

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 9 Feb. 1986

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Claire and Al Roebuck

Number: OH 115

Subject: Tailors; Refugee camps; Immigrants--Canada

Interview Date: 9 Feb. 1986

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Phyllis Platnick

Total Running Time: 30.05 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Claire and Al Roebuck were involved in the Tailor Project to bring skilled trade workers from the displaced persons camps of Europe to Canada after the Second World War. Claire worked for the Canadian Overseas Garment Worker's Commission with Thomas Aplin.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English

Geographic Access: Toronto (Ont.); Europe

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette

Source: Oral Histories

Morris Silbert - 1986

Name: Morris Silbert

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 1986

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Morris Silbert

Number: OH 123; OH 124

Subject: Agriculture; Immigrants--Canada; Nonprofit organizations; Communities

Interview Date: 1986

Quantity: 2

Interviewer: Brooky Robins

Total Running Time: OH123_001: 30 minutes OH123_002: 31 minutes OH124_001: 46 minutes OH124_002: 44 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Morris Silbert was born in 1912 on a farm outside of Hamilton. His parents came from Lithuania. His father arrived in Canada in 1905, and his mother and three older siblings joined him in 1906. Morris spent his youth growing up on farms. At the age of sixteen in 1928, he and his family moved to Hamilton. In his youth, Morris was involved in several Jewish organizations, including Young Judaea, AZA, and Hashomer Hatzair. He was married in 1938. He served in the army in 1943 during the Second World War. Morris was the second vice president of the Council of Jewish Organizations. He also served on the executive board as chair of the nursery school board and participated in several committees.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English

Name Access: Silbert, Morris; Robins, Brooky

Geographic Access: Hamilton; Wentworth

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 123, OH 124 - Silbert\OH123_001_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 123, OH 124 - Silbert\OH123_002_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 123, OH 124 - Silbert\OH124_001_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 123, OH 124 - Silbert\OH124_002_Log.pdf

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Morris Silbert shares memories about Jewish peddlers who were welcomed on his family's farm in southern Ontario. He includes names of peddlers with descriptions of their wares and their carts.

In this clip, Morris Silbert shares memories about Jewish peddlers who were welcomed on his family

In this clip, Morris Silbert describes the restructuring of the Hamilton Jewish community as a result of the Depression in the 1930s. He explains how the Council of Jewish Organizations was formed to replace United Hebrew Association.

Dr. Esther Volpe and Ida Siegel - 4 Jan. 1971

Name: Dr. Esther Volpe and Ida Siegel

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 4 Jan. 1971

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Dr. Esther Volpe and Ida Siegel

Number: OH 161; OH 162

Subject: Immigrants--Canada; Families; Nonprofit organizations

Interview Date: 4 Jan. 1971

Quantity: 2

Interviewer: Eva Kayfetz and Stephen Spiesman

Total Running Time: OH161 Side 1: 47 minutes OH161 Side 2: 47 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Notes: Toronto Historical Society lecture

Use Restrictions: Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Esther Volpe (née Shulman) was born on 24 February circa 1898. As a child, she and her family briefly lived in Romington, Ontario and Havlock, Ontario. Her family later settled in Toronto. In her youth, she participated in the Herzl Girls' Club. She attended University of Toroonto in the Faculty of Arts. She married Dr. Aaron Volpe in 1921. Esther was involved in several Jewish organizations, including the old Mount Sinai Medical Auxillary, Council of Jewish Women, Hadassah, UJA Appeal, JIAS and BBYO and non-Jewish organizations, including Toronto Local Council of Women. She represented the Jewish community of Toronto on the Wartime Price and Trade Board and helped organize the Ontario Food Council.; Ida Siegel (née Lewis) (1885–1982) was born on 14 February 1885 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1894, Ida and her family moved to Toronto. On 14 February 1905, Ida married Isidore Hirsch Siegel. They had six children. An extremely active communal leader, Ida helped found Daughters of Zion in 1899, the Herzl Girls Club in 1904 and Hadassah in 1916. In the mid-1920s, Ida established the Mothers' and Babes' Rest Home,a camp for poor women with young children. She helped organize the first free Jewish dispensary in Toronto, which eventually developed into Mount Sinai Hospital. Ida was also very active in womens peace movements, the Toronto Board of Education and the Toronto Bureau (elected to board, 1930-36) of Jewish Education. In 1917, Ida helped to organize Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, which later became the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Volpe, Esther; Siegel, Ida; Kayfetz, Eva; Speisman, Stephen; Hadassah-WIZO; National Council of Jewish Women

Geographic Access: Toronto

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Source: Oral Histories

In 1947, Esther Volpe was elected president of the National Council of Jewish Women. In this clip, Esther discusses how, with the support of the United Welfare Fund, the Canadian Jewish Congress, and JIAS, she helped make arrangements for groups of Jewish refugees who settled in Toronto.

In this clip, Esther Volpe explains her involvement in the creation of the Good Age Club, the first recreational program for Jewish seniors.

In this clip, Ida Siegel relates anecdotes from her childhood growing up in downtown Toronto.

Blanche Haber - 18 Dec. 1987

Name: Blanche Haber

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 18 Dec. 1987

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Blanche Haber

Number: OH 189

Subject: Boardinghouses; Families; Immigrants--Canada; Occupations

Interview Date: 18 Dec. 1987

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Kaylee Gollom Miller

Total Running Time: Side 1 - 31 minutes Side 2 - 31 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Blanche Haber (née Heller) was born in a small town in Russia in 1893. She came to Toronto at age eight. Her father worked as a peddler. She married Isadore Haber in 1915. Three of her five children died from illness in their childhood. Before her marriage, Blanche worked as a seamstress. Isadore worked as a tailor, primarily for Eaton's. Like her mother, Blanche took boarders into her home at 112 Parliament Street once married.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Haber, Blanche, 1893-1994; Haber, Isadore, 1887-1982; Manischewitz (family)

Geographic Access: Halifax (N.S.); Parliament Street (Toronto, Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 189 Haber\OH 189 notes.pdf

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Blanche Haber describes taking boarders into her mother’s and her own home at 112 Parliament Street.

In this clip, Blanche Haber fondly remembers the warm relationship that developed between her family and the Manischewitz family. She explains that Joe Manischewitz boarded at her family’s home while his family built a matzah factory in Toronto.

Edith Shields - 21 Jan. 1988

Name: Edith Shields

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 21 Jan. 1988

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Edith Shields

Number: OH 192; OH 193

Subject: Printing plants; Rabbis; Synagogues

Interview Date: 21 Jan. 1988

Quantity: 4 cassettes (2 copies); 4 WAV files

Interviewer: Stephen Speisman

Total Running Time: OH192_001: 31.00 minutes OH192_002: 31.01 minutes OH193_001: 31.05 minutes OH193_002: 31.02 minutes

Conservation: Copied to cassestte tape in August 2003; Digitized July 2014

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Edtih Shields was born in Poland in 1906. She immigrated to Toronto in 1925. During the 1920s, her father, Rabbi Tzvi Silverstein, served as rabbi for both the Keltzer and Slipia Synagogues. Edith married Labish Shields, who was the owner of the Shield’s Printing Company and a construction company and also the financier of properties north of St. Clair Street.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English

Geographic Access: Palestine; Toronto (Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 192, OH 193 - Shields\OH192_001_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 192, OH 193 - Shields\OH192_002_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 192, OH 193 - Shields\OH193_001_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 192, OH 193 - Shields\OH193_002_Log.pdf

Source: Oral Histories

Dr. Sydney Wise - 29 Sep. 2003

Name: Dr. Sydney Wise

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 29 Sep. 2003

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Dr. Sydney Wise

Number: OH 278

Subject: Business; Immigrants--Canada; Physicians

Interview Date: 29 Sep. 2003

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Ellen Scheinberg

Total Running Time: Side 1: 46 min.; Side 2: 30 min.

Conservation: Digital copy made April 11, 2011.

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Dr. Sydney Wise was a Toronto physician and a long-time volunteer at the Ontario Jewish Archives. Sydney was married to Mimi Wise, who had been an active member of Hadassah-WIZO for most of her life. Sydney's father, Anshel Wise, opened a cigar store on Dundas Street, which later turned into a steamship agency called A. Wise Travel Bureau. The latter helped bring immigrants over from Europe.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Wise, Anshel; Wise, Sydney; Scheinberg, Ellen

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Digital file

Source: Oral Histories

In this portion of the interview, Syd describes his father Anshel Wise’s cigar store and travel business, which opened in the Ward in 1918. Anshel was one of the first steamship agents in Toronto.

In this portion of the interview, Sydney describes his entry into medical school at the University of Toronto. He outlines some of the challenges encountered by Jewish medical students in their search for internship positions.

Irving Milchberg - 26 Jul. 2007

Name: Irving Milchberg

Material Format: moving images

Interview Date: 26 Jul. 2007

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Irving Milchberg

Number: OH 333

Subject: Immigrants--Canada; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Holocaust survivors; Refugees--Canada

Interview Date: 26 Jul. 2007

Quantity: 1 mini DV ; 1 archival DVD ; 1 reference DVD

Interviewer: Sharon Gubbay Helfer

Total Running Time: 1 hr

Notes: Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project.

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: Irving Milchberg, the Holocaust survivor known from Joseph Ziemian's book "The Cigarette Sellers of Three Crosses Square," used to sell cigarettes to Nazis in Warsaw as an oprhan during the Second World War.; Milchberg, the leader of a group of orphaned Jewish children hiding their identities, used to gather at Three Crosses Square, the centre of the German occupation of Warsaw, to sell cigarettes. The group went wandering around under the very noses of policemen, gendarmes, Gestapo men, and ordinary spies.; Before joining the cigarette sellers, Milchberg twice escaped from the Nazis. The first time he scaled a fence and fled the Umschlagplatz, where Jews were put aboard trains to the Treblinka death camp. The second time, he managed to break the bars of the train taking him to Treblinka and scramble out. His father, mother, and three sisters were all murdered by the Nazis.; In 1945, Milchberg made his way to Czechoslovakia, then Austria, then to a camp for displaced people in occupied Germany, where he learned watchmaking, which became his lifelong occupation. In 1947, he moved to Canada, ending up in Niagara Falls, where he opened his own jewellery and watch business. In 1953, he met his wife, Renee, who had survived the war. They had two children and three grandchildren. Milchberg died in January 2014 at the age of eighty-six.

Material Format: moving images

Geographic Access: Niagara Falls, Ont.

Original Format: Mini DV

Copy Format: DVD

Source: Oral Histories

Nathan Rivelis - 3 Aug. 2010

Name: Nathan Rivelis

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 3 Aug. 2010

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Nathan Rivelis

Number: OH 405

Subject: Immigrants--Canada; Small business; Communities

Interview Date: 3 Aug. 2010

Quantity: 1 reference CD; 1 archival DVD

Interviewer: Rheta (nee Rivelis) Rosen

AccessionNumber: OH 405

Total Running Time: 1:11 minutes

Biography: Nathan Rivelis, father of Rheta Rosen (née Rivelis), was born in the early 1900s in the Ukraine. Nathan immigrated to Canada in 1919, making his home in Lachine and Saint-Jérôme, Quebec. In 1926, Nathan moved to North Bay, Ontario. There, he opened a small, family-run clothing store and grew it into Rivelis' Department Store, remaining in business until 1983.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Rivelis' Department Store (North Bay, Ont.)

Geographic Access: North Bay (Ont.); Québec (Province); Ukraine

Original Format: DVD

Transcript: 0.0-.39: Interviewer checking the tape recorder Family History .40-35.54: Nathan Rivelis was born in the early 1900s in Miskiva, (spelling) a town located between Odessa and Kiev in the Ukraine. Approximately 2,000 Jews lived in Miskiva alongside a small non-Jewish population. The market place was the primary source of income for the Jewish population. Nathan had five siblings: Tzipa, Moshe, Hannah, Eva, and Esther. When Nathan was ten years old, his father passed away, leaving his mother, Bluma Rivelis (née Dubin) to provide for the family on her own. With Nathan’s help, Bluma supported the family by running a grocery store and selling liquor. Nathan describes the difficult life and persecution of Miskiva’s Jewish peasantry from the early 1900s through the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Many Russian Jews fled Russia for America, and it was Abram, Nathan’s brother-in-law, who was the first family member to immigrate to Canada. With money received from Abram, Nathan secured passage to Canada for the rest of the family. Immigration to Canada 35.55-42.47: Nathan arrived in Canada in 1919, making his home in Lachine, Quebec. After six years working as a presser and in dry goods, Nathan opened a business in St. Jerome, Quebec. North Bay 42.48-48.50: In 1926, after vacationing with the Herman family and encouraged by a positive impression of North Bay, Nathan closed his dry goods business in St. Jerome and moved to North Bay. After a brief stint as a peddler, Rivelis purchased the dry goods business of E. I. Green. To help with the business, Rivelis moved his mother and sister Esther to North Bay. After his marriage in 1929, they returned to Montreal. Rivelis grew his small, family-run clothing store to a large department store and remained in business until 1983. Family history continued 48.51-57.21: In this portion of the interview, Nathan discusses his feelings of fear while living in Russia, always worrying what the next day would bring. When Nathan arrived in Canada, he felt free and happy. Nathan discusses his father’s family. Some family members immigrated to Milwaukee while some remained in Russia. 57.28-1.02.29: This is a personal conversation between Nathan and his daughter. They discuss Nathan’s mother, her difficult life in Russia, her life in Canada, and her death at the age of ninety-four.

Source: Oral Histories

Stephen Pincus - 26 Apr. 2015

Name: Stephen Pincus

Material Format: moving images

Interview Date: 26 Apr. 2015

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Stephen Pincus

Number: OH 415

Subject: Immigrants--Canada

Interview Date: 26 Apr. 2015

Interviewer: Jessica Parker

Total Running Time: 1 hr. 23 min.

Use Restrictions: Restriction noted by interviewee on video/oral history release form: The foregoing is subject to OJA obtaining my prior written consent prior to placing any of the interview on the internet (other than password protected communications); Researches should be directed to the access copy created by Stephen Pincus.

Biography: Although he grew up in South Africa, Stephen was born in England where his father was studying. When they returned to South Africa in 1963, they visited Israel on the way, and five-year-old Stephen fell in love with the exotic, young Jewish state.; As a teenager, Stephen was active in Habonim, South Africa’s largest Zionist youth movement and became head of that movement in the late 1970s, running the largest Jewish youth camp in the world. Stephen was also elected chair of South Africa’s Zionist Youth Council, the umbrella body for all-Jewish youth organizations in the country. He and his wife Michelle then moved to Israel with a Habonim group that established Kibbutz Tuval in the western Galilee.; In 1982 Stephen came to study in Toronto. He served as administrator of Bialik Hebrew Day School and as camp director of Camp Shalom, while completing MBA and LLB degrees, and was awarded the Gold Medal at Osgoode Hall Law School. Stephen and Michelle started a family and both their own parents immigrated to Toronto.; Stephen is a senior partner and executive committee member at Goodmans LLP, is widely regarded as one of Canada’s leading business lawyers, and has played a pioneering role in the development of the country’s capital markets. He is is the founding chair of the Canada Africa Chamber of Business, a director of Kew Media Group, a member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel, chair of the board of Makom, and founder of Kaleidoscope, a unique multi-dimensional Israel engagement program.; He and his wife Michelle; their two married children, Daniel and Lisa; granddaughter Olivia; and therapy dog Mannee all live in Toronto.

Material Format: moving images

Language: English

Name Access: Pincus, Stephen, 1958-

Geographic Access: England

Original Format: Digital file

Copy Format: Digital file

Transcript: 00:56 Stephen discusses his family background, including notable forebears, his grandparents' immigration in the early 1900s, and the largely Lithuanian composition of the South African Jewish community.; 03:04 Stephen discusses his South-African-born parents' backgrounds and how they met.; 05:14 Stephen mentions that he was born in England in 1958, while his family was abroad for his father's medical studies. He lived there until they returned to South Africa in 1964.; 06:25 Stephen remembers arriving in South Africa and all the family that had come to greet them who hadn't seen his parents for eight years. He mentions that all correspondence happened via mail.; 08:01 Stephen describes his family's relationship to Judaism: They were Orthodox in name, but took a pragmatic approach. Stephen went to public school and received a lot of his Jewish education from Habonim.; 09:27 Stephen describes his bar mitzvah celebrations. Stephen remembers preparing his speech. He enjoys public speaking and this was a starting point.; 10:49 Stephen talks about the Habonim youth movement. Stephen's involvement began in his early teens. He became the head of the movement in the late 1970s and ran the camp for a couple of years. Stephen is organizing a trip this summer to Israel for alumni of Habonim.; 14:50 Stephen explains that he has a foot in South Africa, Canada, and Israel.; 15:43 Stephen talks about the unique environment in South Africa that contributed to Zionism. He talks about the Soweto Uprising in 1976. Israel was a place where South African Jews could create something better. Stephen finds it ironic that some see in Israel a continuation of apartheid.; 19:53 Stephen talks about his parents' view of his involvement in Habonim. He relates a story where his father became upset when Stephen participated in a march protesting a United Nations resolution instead of studying for an exam.; 21:37 Stephen's father was risk-averse and practical. He wasn't keen on Stephen moving to Israel and would discourage his son indirectly. Stephen went to Israel anyway.; 22:20 Stephen's parents did not give voice to strong political views. Stephen remembers being at a poetry reading at a friend's parents' house when he was eight. It was his first mixed-race experience. Stephen and his friends were politically active in high school and as undergraduate students.; 24:27 Stephen explains how Zionism and Israel were his major focus while the South African situation was secondary. Stephen remembers visiting Soweto a number of times.; 26:00 Stephen discusses the paradox of under apartheid while opposing it. He sees this as a central issue that white South Africans of his generation faced. He discusses the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings of the 1990s.; 28:24 Stephen recounts how Israel fell into the arms of South Africa after being pushed away by various African states in the 1970s.; 29:03 Stephen describes his involvement in resuscitating Machon Le'Madrichei Chutz La'Aretz, a year-long leadership course for youth leaders in Israel. South African Jews would defer their army service to participate. In 1975, the South African government determined it would not let Jewish students defer for this purpose.; 31:16 Stephen discusses his decision to leave South Africa.; 32:51 Stephen discusses how not going on Machon is one of his regrets.; 33:28 Stephen discusses the places he considered immigrating to. He was focused on going to Israel and was part of a group that went to live on a kibbutz in the western Galilee.; 37:24 Stephen discusses previous trips to Israel. The first time he went to the country was when his family went from England to South Africa. This was before the Six-Day War and he remembers barbed wire in Jerusalem. Stephen thinks he probably fell in love with Israel at this time.; 38:32 Stephen explains the meaning of the words machon and garin.; 39:23 Stephen describes the kupah meshutefet ("common treasury box") economic system. The system didn't last very long.; 40:16 Stephen describes how his family and friends reacted to the news that he was making aliyah.; 41:09 Stephen discusses a car trip he and his wife took throughout South Africa. He relates how they were caught in a flood and ended up being taken in by a Black family. Stephen reflects on the irony of their situation.; 44:07 Stephen discusses he and his wife's arrival in Israel. Stephen was accepted by Hebrew University to study law. Ultimately, he and his wife chose to move to Toronto at the beginning of 1982.; 45:06 Stephen shares what he brought with him to Toronto from South Africa.; 47:20 Stephen discusses his initial trip to Canada in January 1982. He thinks that it was the coldest winter Toronto experienced until 2014. He discusses some of the hurdles he faced adjusting to the new climate.; 51:33 Stephen discusses settling in Canada and going to school.; 56:25 Stephen discusses opening an issue of the Canadian Jewish News and seeing that a summer camp was looking for a director. He was director for a couple of years and he and his wife would spend their summer at the camp.; 57:05 Stephen discusses how Habonim was different from Camp Shalom, the camp he worked at in Canada.; 58:24 Stephen discusses his transition from being involved in a Zionist and socialist youth movement to ending up in business and corporate law. He notes that he has shifted in a number of respects in terms of his perspective on economic values, social values, and religious values.; 1:02:55 Stephen discusses his experience integrating into Canadian society.; 1:05:20 Stephen contrasts his parents' experience coming later in life with his own experience. They had a wonderful time when they came because there was a large community of retired South African expatriates by then.; 1:09:54 Stephen discusses the role of the local Jewish community, and local South African Jewish community, played in his acclimatization.; 1:11:59 Stephen discusses how he came to work for Goodmans.; 1:14:17 Stephen discusses the differences he has noticed between Canadians and South Africans. He feels that South Africans as a group tend to be more direct than Canadians. In his opinion, South Africans lie somewhere between Israelis and Canadians in terms of directness.; 1:17:51 Stephen discusses his journey, coming from a secular Zionist background and starting a program of Jewish learning later in life.; 1:20:40 Stephen discusses his own approach to keeping Jewish traditions and customs. He is observant, but not dogmatic.; 1:26:11 Stephen discusses his two children. His son is a medical resident and his daughter is finishing up a law/business administration program.; 1:27:09 Stephen discusses synagogues he is involved with.; 1:29:10 Stephen discusses cultural differences he has experienced raising his children in Canada.; 1:33:04 Stephen explains the decisions he and his wife made regarding their children's education.; 1:35:15 Stephen describes his children's relationships with their grandparents.; 1:37:31 Stephen answers the question, "Do you feel Canadian?"; 1:41:55 Stephen discusses his involvement with the Canada-South Africa Chamber of Business.; 1:42:42 Stephen discusses the differences in being involved with the ex-South African community more broadly and the ex-South African Jewish community.; 1:44:58 Stephen discusses his children's connections to South Africa, which he says are quite limited.; 1:46:37 Stephen shares food words and expressions that he shared with his children and which they now use.; 1:47:55 Stephen offers a few final remarks about his decision to immigrate to Canada and the relationship between Canadian identity, Jewish/Israeli identity, and South African identity.

Source: Oral Histories

Israel, the Opportunity for New Beginnings

An Indoor Life