- Accession Number
- 1993-7-4
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1993-7-4
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 75 m of textual records
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of the records created and collected by Rabbi Nachum Shemen. Included are correspondence, newsclippings, writings, and organizational records.
- Among the organizational records are subject files including: Vegetarianism (1944); Warsawer-Lodzer mutual Benefit Association; Rabbi Berel Wein; Kurt Weinberg; Weizmann Institute of Science; Windsor; Anselm Wise obituary (1977); Attitudes Toward Women; World Jewish Congress; Rabbi Dr. W. W. Wurzburger; Yad Vashem; Yavneh - Nir-Etzion Projects; Yeshiva Gedorah Ateres Yaakov, Yeshiva of Staten Island; Yeshiva Torah Chaim; Yeshiva Tiferes Shmiel D'Aleksander; Yeshiva University; Yeshivas; Yiddish Cultural Council; Yizkor Fund; Yivo Institute; York University; Rabbi Aaron Zimmerman; Zionist Organization of Canada; Zionist Revisionist organization of Canada; Rabbi Zolty; Louis Zuker.
- Use Conditions
- Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.
- Subjects
- Rabbis
- Yeshivas
- Yiddish language
- Name Access
- Shemen, Nachman, Rabbi, 1912-1993
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2009-6-5
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2009-6-5
- Material Format
- graphic material
- sound recording
- moving images
- textual record
- object
- Physical Description
- 187 photographs : b&w and col. ; 24 x 20 cm or smaller
- 20 audiocassettes
- 10 videocassettes
- 1 folder of textual records
- 1 object
- Date
- [193-]-2006
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists predominantly of records collected by Bess Shockett in her work with UJA Federation's Committee for Yiddish and Friends of Yiddish. The accession also contains some personal family records. The photographs document programmes of the Committee for Yiddish in the late 1980s and 1990s, including an outdoor Yiddish concert, several International Conferences of Yiddish Clubs (1995, 1998, 1999), Sunday morning Yiddish classes, and a 1993 Hanukah concert. There are also three photographs of the New Fraternal Jewish Association and its celebration of J. B. Salsberg's eightieth birthday in 1980. The videocassettes contain recordings of other events including a storytelling workshop, Purim Mystery Night, a farewell for Miriam Waddington and several Sof Vokh (weekend retreat) programmes of 1993.
- The twenty cassette tapes feature panel discussions, lectures and interviews, including "Yiddish education," "Yiddish and the Media," "Yiddish and the Younger Generation," "Yiddish and the Performing Arts," and "Yiddish Language and Translation." There are several interviews with Yiddish poet Avrom Sutzkever, as well as two Toronto Yiddish concerts. Other tapes contain radio interviews with [Aaron?] Lansky; "Chava Rosenfarb--Book Fair", 1988; "Plenary reports and presentations"; and an episode of the program The Forward Hour on Peretz Miransky, an influential Polish writer in the inter-war years.
- Personal records in the accession consist of family snapshots dating from the 1930s and 1940s. These were taken in Israel and include images of farming, landscapes, travel, a canal, groups of people, city buildings, and processions. These photos all have Yiddish writing on the back. There is one formal portrait, ca. 1890s, of an elderly Jewish man. As well, there is a folder of original and photocopied poetry (in Yiddish) written by a Jack Shockett.
- Accession also includes a Yiddish typewriter, in case, that Bess used in the late 1960s/early 1970s when the Committee for Yiddish was under Congress.
- Custodial History
- Records were entrusted to the estate of Bess Shockett after her death, and given to her Committee for Yiddish colleague Ethel Cooper, who brought them to the archives.
- Administrative History
- Bess Shockett was born in the Ukraine in 1919. Her father, Solomon Maltin, was the mayor of the town and helped establish a number of Jewish community institutions. He and his wife had two sons along with Bess: Sam and Ben. In 1925, the family moved to Montreal. As an adolescent, Bess became very active in the Jewish community and joined the United Jewish People's Order. She helped organize a union for workers in the knitting industry and later did the same for fur workers. She also travelled to Winnipeg to organize a laundry workers union. She met her husband, Barry Shockett, in Toronto and they married in 1952 and had three children: Michael, Elka and Eric. Bess eventually became very active in the Toronto Jewish community, particularly in regards to supporting and launching several innovative Yiddish programs. She staffed the office of CJC's Committee for Yiddish in its early years, and was Director from 1974 to 1989. She helped found the Friends of Yiddish in 1985 and served as executive vice-president until her death on August 27, 2007.
- Descriptive Notes
- There is little written material; what there is (captions and poetry) is mostly in Yiddish; some captions are in English.
- Subjects
- Committees
- Yiddish language
- Name Access
- Committee for Yiddish (Toronto, Ont.)
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Name
- Ben Collis
- Material Format
- sound recording
- Interview Date
- 1 Jun. 1976
- Source
- Oral Histories
- Name
- Ben Collis
- Number
- OH 93
- Subject
- Musicians
- Cemeteries
- Synagogues
- Antisemitism
- Farmers
- Yiddish language
- Interview Date
- 1 Jun. 1976
- Quantity
- 2 audio cassettes (1 copy)
- 2 WAV files
- Interviewer
- Larry Troster and Elaine Kahn
- Total Running Time
- OH93_001:43.50 minutes
OH93_002:18.45 minutes
- Conservation
- Copied August 2003
- Digitized 2014
- Notes
- poor sound quality in some sections
- Use Restrictions
- Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
- Biography
- Ben Collis, the son of Russian immigrants, was born in 1911. He grew up in Oshawa, Ontario. In 1944, he moved to Peterborough, Ontario. Ben's interest in music led him to form his own dance band and play gigs throughout Ontario.
- Material Format
- sound recording
- Language
- English
- Geographic Access
- Oshawa (Ont.)
- Peterborough (Ont.)
- Original Format
- Audio cassette
- Copy Format
- Audio cassette
- Digital file
- Transcript
- G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 93 - Collis\OH93_001_Log.pdf
- G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 93 - Collis\OH93_002_Log.pdf
- Source
- Oral Histories
- Name
- Charna Galper
- Material Format
- moving images
- Interview Date
- 15 Aug. 2018
- Source
- Oral Histories
- Name
- Charna Galper
- Number
- OH 448
- Subject
- Immigrants--Canada
- Synagogues
- Camps
- Musicians
- Yiddish language
- Yiddish literature
- Interview Date
- 15 Aug. 2018
- Quantity
- 1 MP4 file
- Interviewer
- Naomi Raichyk
- Total Running Time
- 1:42 minutes
- Biography
- Charna Galper was born in 1921 in Bershet, Ukraine and immigrated with her family to Toronto in 1923. Charna grew up and lived in the Kensington Market area until 1955, when she moved north of the downtown core. Charna attended Landsdowne Public School and Harbord Collegiate, where she graduated as a legal secretary. She was a member of Hashomer Haztair and attended its summer camp at the Stroud, Ontario location. Charna married Abe Galper in 1947. Abe's career as a musician allowed them to travel to New York, Israel, and China. Charna has volunteered for Circle of Care and today spends her time pursuing her interest in Yiddish and attending programs at the Baycrest Centre.
- Material Format
- moving images
- Geographic Access
- Kensington Market (Toronto, Ont.)
- Transcript
- 0:40: Charna born in 1921 in Bershet, Urkaine, tells the story of how she her parents and siblings fled Ukraine for Canada. Sponsored by Joe and Philip Finkler her mother’s brothers, the family arrived in Toronto in 1923.
3:24: Charna describes the living conditions of the family’s first home at 237 Beverley St., Fitzroy Terrace in the Kensington area and Grange Ave.
4:55: Charna talks about her elder sister’s contracting diphtheria and the resulting quarantine her family had to endure
5:2: Charna talks her parents first home at 210 Robert St. and the family’s move to Albany Ave.
6:15: Charna describes in detail the family’s living conditions prior to their move to 210 Robert St.
7:15: Charna talks about some of the challenges her parents faced when they first came to Toronto. She describes the hardships her father endured working as a carpenter during the depression
9:40: Charna talks about Joe and Philip Finkler as instrumental in helping her parents buy the house on Robert St. in 1926, the year her brother Shloime was born
10:00: Charna recalls some memories of the Robert St neighborhood, a closely knit Jewish immigrant community with Yiddish spoken as the primary language and her experiences at the Landsdowne Public school
11:40: Charna recalls her grandmother as being a wonderful davener
13:00: Charna talks about the details of the Robert St. house mortgage
14:1: Charna talks about her first job working for Harry Grainer as a legal secretary and later with Lou Rasminsky, the first Jewish governor of the Bank of Canada.
15:33: Charna recalls the area around Rasminsky’s storefront at 418 Spadina Ave. Spadina was filled with many businesses, egg stores, Hyman’s bookstore and Goodmans on the corner of Oxford, “we all knew each other, it was a leibedik velt.
16:00: Charna talks in more detail about her job as a legal secretary for Lou Rasminsky
18.45: Charna describes her daily walk to Harbord Collegiate
19:30: Charna talks about not having enough money for carfare and riding the bus for free
20:33: Charna talks about her best friend Rose Ruskin
21:35: Charna talks about how as a child she was spoiled by her older sisters Nechama and Ethel
22:04: Charna talks about helping with the household chores
22:15: Charna describes family laundry day on Sunday. We had laundry tubs in the backyard, my sisters and I had scrubbing boards and my mother was good at wringing, it was a team effort
22:46: Charna talks about the Kosoys who owned a home laundry at Borden and Harbord St. They had what was called wet wash, they would bring the clean laundry back to us wet and we would hang it to dry.
23:27: Charna talks about getting their first refrigerator
23:41: Charna describes their first refrigerator
24:01: Charna describes their icebox and Katz the iceman who came once a week to deliver ice
24:44: Charna talks about buying groceries on credit
25:37: Charna talks about why her parents wanted her to go to school rather than working in a factory
25:50: Charna talks about helping with the shopping in Kensington market
26:05: Charna talks about going to Kensington market on Thursday morning to buy a big carp, bring it home, put it in the tub until Friday morning when her grandmother would kill it and turn it into gefilte fish
27:33: Charna describes her own gefilte fish recipe
28:35: Charna recalls going to the market on Friday to buy a live chicken for Shabbat and taking it to the Schoichet on Major St. to be killed and plucked
29:03: Charna describes how to hold a live chicken
29:23: Charna describes bargaining for goods in the market
30:41: Charna recalls the pickled crabapple treats from a delicatessen located at Dundas in Kensington Market
32:04: Charna recalls Tryman’s family run grocery store on Baldwin St., Little Eaton’s on Kensington that sold Eaton’s castoffs, Hyman’s bookstore on Spadina Ave that sold office supplies, religious books and had a registry for bar-mitzvahs and weddings.
34:45: Charna describes her brother Shloime’s bar-mitzvah held at their Robert St. home and catered by her grandmother
35:42: Charna recalls about the days when her grandmother was a caterer in Russia and also in Toronto
37:12: Charna describes her grandmother’s cooking
37:49: Charna talks about her grandmother as a very orthodox woman who wore both a sheitel and kerchief
38.22: Charna talks about the family’s traditional observance of Shabbos and Jewish holidays, the Russian Shul on Centre St, and her grandmother’s cooking for Rosh Hashanah
40:36: Charna talks about the Russian Shul’s move to Markham St. and describes its interior
42:39: Charna talks about Joe and Philip Finkler’s connection with the Kiever Shul
43:42: Charna talks about her grandmother’s passing in 1939
44:04: Charna talks about her sisters Elsie and Nechama
45:35: Charna talks about her surprise birthday party in celebration of her 95th year
46:08: Charna talks about her sister Nechama’s move to Palestine
46:34: Charna talks about her father in-law’s move to Palestine in 1930
47:30: Charna talks about her involvement with Hashomer Hatzair
49:24: Charna talks about Hashomer Hatzair’s summer camp locations in Keswick, Stroud, Parry Sound, and Lake Ooty in Perth, Ontario
50:25: Charna describes her camp experience at the Stroud location
52:05: Charna talks about accompanying her husband Abe, a clarinet teacher to camp Hashomer Hatzair in Perth, Ontario
52:59: Charna talks about her past and present affiliation with schlichim coming to Toronto
53:45: Charna talks about her affiliation with Pioneer Women, now known as Na’amat
54:32: Charna tells the story of how she met her husband Abe in 1947
57:18: Charna describes her first date with Abe
57:43: Charna talks about walking with Abe to the Tivoli theatre at Victoria and Shuter. “Who used cars, who used streetcars, we walked. On the way back I got the most terrible blisters, I was with new shoes, with high heels.”
58:26: Charna continues to describe her first date with Abe
59:01: Charna describes the inside of the Tivoli theatre
59:49: Charna talks about City Dairy where she and Abe went for ice cream on their first date. City Dairy was located at Spadina Crescent near College St.
1:00:36: Charna explains why she and Abe decided to get their marriage license in May 1948
1:02:08: Charna talks about the attraction she and Abe had for one another
1:02:42: Charna talks about her wedding held in the family’s backyard at Albany Ave. in August of 1948
1:04:47: Charna describes her wedding cake and how she preserved it in a tin box until her 25th wedding anniversary
1:06:04 Charna talks about her first apartment with Abe at College and Crawford
1:06:52: Charna talks the period following her marriage and her mother’s stroke
1:07:45: Charrna talks about her first pregnancy and birth of Batsheva in November 1949
1:07:54: Charna talks about moving into her parent’s home on Albany St.
1:09:25: Charna talks about thinking of buying their own home
1:10:16 Charna talks about why they waited a year before moving into their own home. She explains everything she needed was close by the house on Albany, including Starkman’s and Honest Ed’s.
1:11:28: Charna describes their first house as it looked when they moved in 1955
1:12:14: Charna talks about the shifting demographics of the neighborhood from primarily Gentile to Jewish
1:12:40: Charna talks about the neighborhood Daysbury public school her children attended
1:12:55: Charna talks about how life became easier for them when Abe’s work with the symphony increased from 26 weeks to 42 weeks a season
1:13:34: Charna talks about the death of her mother before the move to their own home and her father who moved in with them
1:13:50: Charna talks about Abe’s music students and his work with the Conservatory
1:14:26: Charna talks about her 2 youngest children attending the Bialik School
1:14:59: Charna gives the ages of her 5 children, Batsheva 69 years old, Chaya 68 years old, Devora 64 years old, Penina 56 years old, and Yanke 55 years old1:16:03
1:14:60: Break in interview as Charna speaks with her daughter Devora
1:17:40: Charna talks about Abe’s relationship with her parents
1:18:07: Charna talks about Abe’s career as a musician
1:19:02: Charna talks about Abe playing for the Israel Philharmonic in 1962 and their thoughts about making Aliyah
1:19:39: Charna talks about their return from Israel to Toronto, his work with the conservatory and some of his music students
1:20:36: Charna talks about Abe’s medical condition
1:20:51: Charna talks about how she and Abe worked as a team
1:21:11: Charna talks about accompanying Abe to New York when he played with the New York Philharmonic
1:22:08: Charna talks about Abe’s work following his heart attack
1:22:22: Charna talks about Abe giving a master class in Israel for Israeli clarinetists
1:24:00: Charna talks about Abe’s experience playing with the Palestine Symphony
1:26:25: Charna talks about how she came to know famous people such as Frank Shuster, John (Louie) Wayne, Sylvia and Ben Lennick, and pianist Leo Barkin
1:29:14: Charna talks about musicians from Israel who moved to Toronto
1:31:08: Break in conversation as Charna gets up from her chair
1:31:57: Charna talks about her children being what is most important to her
1:32:41: Charna talks about her son Jacob’s 25th wedding anniversary
1:33:15: Charna talks about her current interest in Yiddish, going to the Baycrest program and meeting interesting people
1:36:13: Charna talks accompanying Abe to China during a 3 week master class program
1:40:17: Charna talks about the evening’s upcoming anniversary party and invited guests
1:42:00: Charna talks about her service volunteering for Circle of Care and the Jewish elderly
1:42:33: Charna talks about learning to drive her first car, a blue and white chevy with wings
- Source
- Oral Histories
- Part Of
- Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care fonds
- Women's Auxiliary series
- Scrapbook file
- Level
- Item
- Fonds
- 14
- Series
- 4
- File
- 2
- Item
- 5
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- [ca. 1960]
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 11 x 9 cm
- Scope and Content
- Item is a photograph of residents listening to Mr. H. Levine (resident) reading from a Yiddish text. Mr. Levine read every Thursday.
- Subjects
- Yiddish language
- Repro Restriction
- Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Lipa Green fonds
- Personal series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 20
- Series
- 1
- File
- 12
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- [196-]
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of a Yiddish language and literature quiz, and the answers to the quiz in English.
- Subjects
- Yiddish language
- Yiddish literature
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Lipa Green fonds
- Organizations series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 20
- Series
- 3
- File
- 17
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1965-1967
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of two newsletters.
- Subjects
- Yiddish language
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Accession Number
- 2014-8-5
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2014-8-5
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder textual records
- Date
- 1937-1970
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of personal records of Bunny Bergstein. Included is his certificate of graduation from "shule", or Yiddish school, and documents related to the B'Nai Brith Lodge.
- Subjects
- Education
- Yiddish language
- Name Access
- Bergstein, Bunny
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2016-1-9
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2016-1-9
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- 11 photographs : b&w and col. ; 21 x 12 cm or smaller
- Date
- 1943-2016, predominant 1943-1966
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of personal records and photographs relating to Miriam Beckerman née Dashkin. Textual records include correspondence with Miriam's childhood friend Bea Madger, Bialik School reports belonging to her son Dan Beckerman (1962-1966), Dan Beckerman's YM & YWHA swim badge (1968), seven Jewish National Fund (JNF) certificates (1956-65); Toronto Happening Brochure listing Dan Beckerman's performance at the St. Lawrence Centre (1978); Newspaper clipping of death notice for Miriam's father David Dashkin (1976); Yiddish newspaper clipping of death notice for Miriam's grandmother Malka Yadashkin (Dashkin) Cohen; Yiddish correspondence; typed letter by Miriam Beckerman's mother Ethel Dashkin describing the Toronto Yiddish theatre scene; and photocopies of photographs documenting Miriam's trip to Palestine as part of the Habonim, a Jewish Labour Zionist youth movement (1945-47).
- Administrative History
- Miriam Beckerman (née Dashkin) is an award-winning Yiddish literature translator. She was raised in a Yiddish-speaking home, surrounded by Yiddish books and newspapers, and attended the Farband Folkshule in Toronto in the 1930s. An ardent Zionist in her teens, she trained at the Smithville Hachsharah farm to prepare for making aliyah. She later worked as a bilingual secretary (Yiddish and English) at the Ontario region, Canadian Jewish Congress.
- In 1946, she travelled to Israel where she met her husband, Moshe Beckerman, at a kibbutz. The couple and their children emigrated from Israel to Toronto in 1952. Beckerman continues to work as a Yiddish translator. She has a number of published translations, including her recent collaborative work "A Thousand Threads: A story through Yiddish letters."
- Beckerman received a 1998 prize from the Dora Teitelbaum Foundation Inc. in Choral Gables, Fla., for her accomplishments in translation. She said if it were not for translations, "many things would be lost to future generations. Moshe passed away in 1993.
- Subjects
- Yiddish language
- Name Access
- Beckerman, Miriam Dashkin
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2019-6-4
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2019-6-4
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Date
- 1926-1990
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of photographs of Esther and Jack Gelman, as well as of a sports team at the YMHA and the "Afro Communitee Negro Fliers" sports team. In addition, two copies of Yiddish dictionary books written by Jack Gelman and one copy of a book about Kensington Market by Jean Cochrane. Also included are two pieces of poetry by Jack Gelman, one about Toronto (1974) and one about Terry Fox (1981).
- Accession also consists of a number of original and photocopied newspaper clippings regarding the history of Kensington Market in Toronto (ca. 1988-2010). In addition, two booklets of self-guided tours and the history of Kensington Market are included in accession.
- Custodial History
- Donated by Esther Gelman. Clippings about the history of Kensington Market are from the collection of husband Jack Gelman.
- Administrative History
- Jack Gelman was born in Toronto, ON on October 28, 1929. Jack's parents emigrated to Canada from Eastern Europe in 1926. In the 1930s, the Gelman family lived at 105 Denison Street in Toronto, south of Dundas and near Spadina. His father, Philip Gelman, owned a horse and wagon that would stable at Sarah Kegerman's house, 26 Nassau St. Philip operated a vegetable stall at 206 Baldwin St. weekly from Thursday to Saturday. Jack attended Ryerson Public School in Alexander Park, and would often fight back at his peers that would beat and bully him for being Jewish.
- Esther Gelman (nee Davidson) was born August 18, 1934. In 1950 she worked at Homebread, and had her Sweet Sixteen party at Club Elgamour on Bloor Street. In 1951, after meeting at the YM-YWHA, Jack Gelman and Esther Davidson married.
- In 1953, Jack became a truck driver for Canadian Paper and Specialties. Esther and Jack's son Alan was born in 1953. The family lived above Jack's parents' shop on Baldwin Street. The couple had three other children: Sharon, Glenn (b. 1960), and Mandy. The children attended Camp Northland and Camp B'nai Brith.
- In 1959, the family moved from Baldwin Street to Bathurst Manor (235 Pannahill Road), as a group of Esther's friends had moved to the neighbourhood. Son Alan had his bar mitzvah at Beth Emeth Bais Yehudah in 1966.
- Use Conditions
- Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
- Subjects
- Yiddish language
- Kensington Market (Toronto, Ont.)--Tours
- Sports
- Places
- Bathurst Manor (Toronto, Ont.)
- Kensington Market (Toronto, Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2017-3-12
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2017-3-12
- Material Format
- multiple media
- Physical Description
- 2 folders of textual records
- 7 photographs : col
- 2 photographs : b&w
- Date
- 1949-2011
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of material documenting Miriam Beckerman's work as a translator. Included are correspondence, English translations with corresponding Yiddish texts, awards, and some promotional materials relating to published translations. Also included are several photographs of Miriam.
- Subjects
- Yiddish language
- Yiddish literature
- Name Access
- Beckerman, Miriam
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2019-7-8
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2019-7-8
- Material Format
- textual record
- sound recording
- graphic material
- Physical Description
- 15cm of textual records
- 11 audio cassettes
- 27 photographs : col ; 15 x 10 cm
- Date
- ca. 1986-2005
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of material documenting the Friends of Yiddish organization including audio recordings of guest lectures and study groups, photographs of Eda Schiff's retirement party and photogaphs of a special event honouring Bess Shockett. The event included performances by Cantor Louis Danto, folk singer Jenny Eisenstein, and Mitch Smolken.
- Accession also includes promotional material related to Der Yiddisher Mikado consisting of original poster and programs and photocopies of newspaper clippings, and photographs of the production. In addition there is a poster for the Klezmer Conservatory Band concert and assorted event flyers, programs and newspaper clippings concerning activities of Friends of Yiddish, specifically their Yiddish Mikado event.
- The accession also includes meeting minutes (2000-2004) and issues of the newsletter Dos Bletl (1986-2005), as well as separate copies of recipes created and assembled by "Kokhlefl" Etke Patt. All receipes were published in Dos Bletl. Each issue of Kokhlefl includes a recipe and local event listing section titled "Vos Tut Zikh In Shtot".
- Custodial History
- Materials from Friends of Yiddish. Donated by former persident Eda Schiff.
- Administrative History
- Friends of Yiddish is a Toronto-based organization founded in order to "promote the artistic and authentic expression of Mameloshn and Yiddish culture by offering and co-sponsoring concerts, lectures, films, Freylekhs, conversation groups, scholarships with community–wide frayndshaft". Friends of Yiddish was founded in 1984.
- Use Conditions
- Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
- Subjects
- Theatrical posters, Yiddish
- Theater, Yiddish
- Yiddish language
- Ashkenazic cooking
- Jews--Ontario--Toronto
- Klezmer music
- Name Access
- Friends of Yiddish
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Part Of
- Isaac Matenko fonds
- Level
- Fonds
- Fonds
- 89
- Material Format
- graphic material
- textual record
- Date
- 1911-1971, predominant 1911-1935
- Physical Description
- 6 cm of textual records
- 17 photographs
- Admin History/Bio
- Isaac Matenko (1874–1960) was a founder, teacher, and principal of the I. L. Peretz School. He worked tirelessly to preserve and promote secular Jewish culture and the Yiddish language in Toronto. He was also a prominent member of local Jewish organizations, such as the Socialist-Territorialist Club and the Yiddish Kultur Gesellshaft.
- Isaac was born on 1 February 1874 in the town of Makariv, located in the Kyiv Oblast (province) of Ukraine. He married Elke Yelia Moshkevitch (1878–19 November 1953) on 4 August 1900 in Yekaterinoslav (today Dnipro). They immigrated from czarist Russia to Toronto in 1906, passing first through New York with their two children, Percy (30 June 1901–May 1987) and Theodore (1903–1906, died of measles at Ellis Island), and Yelia’s three sisters, Dvora, Bracha, and Celia, and Isaac’s younger half-brother, Paul Frumhartz. They had two more children after arriving: Abraham (14 August 1908–October 24, 1989) and Shoshana (Sue) (1911–2001). Although he had been a teacher in Russia, Isaac worked as an operator in a cloak factory in Toronto, where he was instrumental in forming the union (likely the Cloakmakers’ Union of Toronto, which later affiliated with the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union).
- As a child, Isaac received a traditional Jewish education. This, combined with his self-taught secular education and the teachings of Yiddish nationalist Dr. Chaim Zhitlovski, informed his future career and philosophies. He was described as an idealist by his friends, whose dedication to Yiddish culture and language motivated him to bring this knowledge to a younger generation.
- On 11 July 1911, Isaac and his fellow Socialist-Territorialist members established the Toronto Yiddish National-Radical School. By 1916, it had been taken over by the Workmen’s Circle and renamed the I. L. Peretz School, after the well-known Yiddish author and playwright. The school began in a rented room at the Zionist Institute on Simcoe Street, moving to larger locations on Richmond Street West, then Beverley Street as it grew. Eventually, several more branches opened, such as the Maria Street school that Isaac was affiliated with. He taught at the school for free in the evenings after working during the day in a shop. His brother Paul was also a founding teacher at the school.
- Isaac was described by family, friends, and community members as a passionate teacher with an iron will. He was well-versed in Jewish knowledge, with a desire to pass it on to a younger generation and his fellow union members. He remained involved in the school and in teaching, even after retirement. He died on 2 June 1960 at the age of eighty-six.
- Custodial History
- These records were donated to the OJA by Sue Levy, daughter of Isaac Matenko.
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of records documenting Isaac Matenko's involvement with the Workmen's Circle and other Jewish organizations. Included are photographs, programmes, certificates, I. L. Peretz School jubilee books, a songbook, a yearbook, articles, and newsclippings.
- Fonds has been arranged into one series for the Workmen's Circle. There are also two files attached to the fonds-level. The records are described at the series and file-level, with some item-level descriptions.
- Name Access
- Arbeiter Ring
- Arbeiter Ring Schools
- Arbeter Ring
- Camp Yungvelt
- Frumhartz, Paul
- I.L. Peretz
- Matenko, Isaac, 1874-1960
- Matenko, Percy
- National Radical School
- Peretz Shule
- Workman's Circle
- Workmen's Circle
- Subjects
- Schools
- Teachers
- Yiddish language
- Related Material
- For additional Workmen's Circle records, see: accessions 1979-4-4, 1980-2-2, 1983-6-3, 1984-10-1, 1986-4-1, 1992-1-2, 1997-2-1, 1998-3-32, 2004-5-41, 2004-5-105, and fonds 30.
- For additional Camp Yungvelt records, see: accessions 1979-4-4, 1986-4-1, 1991-12-4, 1993-6-6, 1999-5-1, 2004-5-37, 2005-6-4, 2006-12-3, photographs # 2964, # 4014, # 6021, MG2N1K, Benjamin Brown fonds 49, and Dorothy Dworkin Fonds 10 (item 14).
- Creator
- Matenko, Isaac, 1874-1960
- Accession Number
- 1987-11-4
- 1991-4-2
- 2007-5-3
- 2007-6-28
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
