File consists of brochures containing printed copies of Joseph and Jaime Haim Levy-Bencheton’s artworks; the artworks are accompanied by explanatory text. Also included is a booklet containing the list of Sephardic religious congregations to whom the works of art have been presented as personal donations. The Levy-Benchetons are an old family that originated in Spain and settled in North Africa. Shalom Levy-Bencheton was the father of Jaime Haim and Joseph. The brochures were a donation made by Jaime Haim Levy-Bencheton in 2001 to the Hawaii Jewish Congregation.
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Abraham Sprachman (1896–1971) was as Toronto-based architect who, in partnership with Harold Kaplan in the firm Kaplan & Sprachman, was well-known for the design of art deco and art moderne movie theatres during the 1930s and 1940s and for designing buildings for Jewish communities across Canada from the 1930s to 1960s.
Abraham married his cousin Mina Sprachman in 1921. They had two children, Mandel and Sheila. Mandel followed in his father's footsteps and became a nationally-recognized and acclaimed architect. Both specialized in theatre design and renovations. Mandel became an architect best known for his restoration of the Elgin Wintergarden.
Material Format
sound recording
Name Access
Kaplan & Sprachman
Kaplan, Harold
Sprachman, Abraham, 1896-1971
Speisman, Stephen
Sprachman, Mina
Original Format
Audio cassette
Copy Format
Audio cassette
Digital file
Source
Oral Histories
In this clip, Mina Sprachman discusses her husband's architectural firm of Kaplan and Sprachman, its Jewish clientele, and the firm's commissions to design and renovate theatres, hospitals, and synagogues across Canada.
Accession consists of a notice in Yiddish from Rabbi Meir Levy announcing to the Jewish community that shochtim Yichiel Wagman and Soloway, Hymie Weisfeld, Lazar Salkovitch, and Moishe Gross are valid, certified kosher butchers. These shochtim, it states, are well known in Toronto, learned in Torah, and they have been certified under the strictest rules of kashrut.
Benjamin Brown (ca. 1888-1974) was the first practicing Jewish architect in Toronto. Born in what is now Lithuania, he arrived in Toronto at an early age and soon after, quit school to take a job in a garment manufacturing factory to help out his impoverished family. Not finding this career to his liking, Brown enrolled in the Ontario School of Art and Design with the intention of becoming an artist. When this profession proved financially unfeasible, Brown decided to pursue a career in architecture. After completing his high school equivalency, he enrolled in the University of Toronto architectural program, graduating in 1913. Soon after, Brown opened up a practice with fellow architect Robert McConnell, which lasted until the early 1920s. After the partnership ended, Brown set up an independent practice, which he maintained until his retirement in 1955.
Scope and Content
The fonds documents Brown’s design work and renovations of existing buildings through his original drawings, renderings, and building blueprints. The fonds consists of approximately 1500 drawings that are organized into about 150 projects. These projects include single-family residences, apartment buildings, commercial and industrial buildings, as well as synagogue and other community buildings. Many of Brown's buildings were designed in the Art Deco style, with some containing Georgian, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, Tudor and Romanesque elements.
Brown's most important commissions include the Beth Jacob Synagogue located on Henry Street, which was one the largest synagogues in Toronto, and the Balfour Building, an office tower built in the Art Deco style. The designs of Mendel Granatstein’s mansion, which contained a retractable roof for Sukkoth, and a colour sketch of the Primrose Club, which is currently the University of Toronto Faculty Club, may also be of interest to researchers. The fonds also includes some of Brown's files containing articles and illustrations from architecture and design journals of the early twentieth century, which he used as a resource to assist him with his work.
Fonds includes six photographs, one of the Balfour Building, one of Cumberland Hall, and four of Brown as a young man.
Notes
Architectural plans of a lead mine in Burnt River Ontario have been sent to the Kawartha Lakes Archives.
File consists of a copy of letter from Marsel Konforti (professional engineer) to MacKenzie Waters (architect) regarding an antisemitic comments made by Mr. Waters.
Accession consists of two electronic copies of original photographs. The first depicts Abe Blankenstein with his wife Freda on the driveway of their home on St. German Avenue west of Bathurst. The second is Abe Blankenstein with his business partner, Joe Fialkov. Both photographs feature Falco Electric trucks.
Accession consists of sound recordings created by Kay Radio. Included is a recording of the North Y groundbreaking ceremonies at 4600 Bathurst Street in the winter of 1958. Some of the individuals identified speaking are: Rabbi Feinberg, Ellis I. Shapiro, Sam Granatstein, Kelso Roberts (Attorney General of Ontario), Fred Gardiner, Vernon Singer, and Mayor Nathan Phillips.
Also included is a recording of the groundbreaking ceremonies for the Nothern Completion Program at the North Y on April 20, 1975. Finally, accession includes one photograph of the Leonard Kay and other men standing outside Kay Radio and one family photograph taken at a wedding reception.
Custodial History
The donor is the son of Leonard Kay. He found the reels in his parents home in Toronto after they passed away. He had them shipped to his home in Florida and digitized them.
Administrative History
Leonard Kay was born in Winnipeg in 1908. Leonard opened Kay Radio near Bloor and Bathurst Street around 1938. The store later moved to 3419 Bathurst Street in the mid to late 1950s. The business installed sound systems, sound trucks, recorded weddings, bar mitzvahs and other events, repaired TVs and installed TV attenae on apartment buildings. Kay Radio installed the sound systems in many of the synagogues around Toronto. Around 1985, Leonard's son, Michael, took over the business. Leonard passed away in 1991.
Accession consists of S. Levy's licence to operate radio receiving equipment in Toronto (1928-1929); gasoline handling licence granted to I. Levy of Levy's Hardware, Toronto (1934); and Isaac Levy's certificate of membership at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto (1936).
Accession consists of a photograph of a group of people in front of the Ontario Legislative Building at Queens Park in the 1930s, a photograph of J. Irving Oelbaum, national vice president of Canadian Jewish Congress, presenting a Scroll of Honour to Mr. and Mrs. J. Donnenfeld (1961), and a United Zionists of Toronto certificate awarded to Paul Levi in 1908.
Accession consists of home movies documenting the Levy family of Hamilton, Ontario. Included is footage of birthday parties, children playing at their home and in parks, swimming, sailing, a football game at Ivor Wynne Stadium, a trip to Algonquin Park, family picnics, and trips to Quebec and New York.
Administrative History
Nancy Levy was born in 1951 to Corinne (née Cohn) and Edgar Levy. (Corinne and Edgar's name was originally Moshe Noss. He was born in the Ukraine and orphaned at an early age. Around 1921 he immigrated to Canada through the help of a Mr. Grafstein. Once in Canada, Edgar and his brothers were adopted into different families. The Levy family adopted Edgar and he took their name.
Edgar married Corrine Cohn in 1946. Edgar had a business in Hamilton called Piston Service, which was a wholesaler for car parts. Corrine drove a truck for this business and eventually became the bookkeeper for another firm. After marriage, they lived in Hamilton at 18 West Third.
Nancy had two younger siblings: Ann (1956–) and Lois (1958–2018). She married Wayne Greenberg in 1979 and they divorced around 1985. She studied medical lab technology at a community college and worked at various hospitals and businesses, including Henderson Hospital in Hamilton and Baycrest.
Accession consists of material documenting the maternal (Cohn) and paternal (Levy) branches of the donor's family. Included are cards, certificates, death certificates, degrees, diplomas, family trees, letters, an oral history transcript, passports, photographs, reference materials, telegrams, and other records.
Individuals documented in the records include: Al Berns, Etta Cohn, Judah Cohn, Natalie Cohn, Stanley Cohn, Sylvia Cohn, Al Cole, Myer Drazin, Manny Godfrey, Bert Gold, Dan Gold, Jonah Gold, Yenta Kohl, Ann Levy, Corinne Levy, Edgar Levy, Lois Levy, Nancy Levy, Joan Lipton, Joy Matsuzaki, Raymond Mock,Edythe Noss, Harvey Noss, Mark Noss, Walter Lyons, Judy Rubin, Richard Seymour, and Elaine Zimmerman.
Caption (030): Edgar Levy shortly after arrival in Canada, [ca. 1921]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2019-12-3.
Administrative History
The Noss family traces its origins to Russia/Ukraine. The patriarch, Avraham Noss, died after contracting typhus after being badly beaten in a pogrom. His wife, Toiba, died of either cholera, typhus, or influenza (accounts vary). They left behind four children: Raisa, Meyer, Joseph, and Moshe. The extended family took care of the four orphans but did not have enough food to feed them, so the three youngest were put in a Jewish orphanage. The eldest, Raisa, was too old but came every day to visit her brothers. One day, she arrived only to be told, "The missionaries took them away." The entire orphanage was brought to Canada. A Mr. Hershman from Toronto was involved as was a congregation of Christadelphians from Hamilton including a Mr. Farrar who owned a good-quality clothing store.
Raisa remained in Russia, where she received an education from the Communist Party and became an engineer. Meyer kept in touch with his sister for as long as possible, but the two eventually lost touch.
The Drazin family took in Meyer, the eldest brother, although the family never adopted him. Despite this, he changed his name to Drazin. Joseph ("Joe") was adopted but was returned to Children's Aid, where he went from foster home to foster home. He eventually took back the Noss family name. As for Moshe, he was adopted by Moses Levy and Marietta Steinert. Moshe's new parents changed his name to Edgar Steinert Levy. Edgar Levy is thus the same individual as Moshe Noss. Marietta was well-known in the Hamilton community, and a chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women was named after her.
Use Conditions
Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Descriptive Notes
Accompanying material: After donating the records in her possession, the donor emailed the archivist a document titled "Noss Family Story," which the archivist used to compose the biographical sketch. The document has been saved with other supporting documentation.
This file consists of two photographs of Mort Levy. One features Mort Levy standing with Mr. A. Lipson on a dirt road and the other is Mort Levy sitting on the front steps of a cabin at Camp Frailoch, surrounded by campers. The cabin was probably the original Willison farmhouse, which was later bought by the YMCA in the 1940s and was destroyed by fire in the 1950s.There is also a letter from the Globe and Mail addressed to Mort Levy regarding the presentation of an engraving to Bobbie Rosenfeld and a membership certificate for the North Toronto YM-YWHA, signed by Sam Granatstein and Alex Fisher.
Repro Restriction
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Mrs. Dora Levy was the daughter of Abraham and Rebecca Cass and the sister of Sarah (Cass) Levine. She was born in Russia in 1870 and immigrated to Canada in 1889. She married Charles Levy (b. 1869) on 10 February 1892 in Toronto.
Shortly thereafter, they moved to Allerston, Ontario, where he opened up a store. The couple had four children: Tobias (b. 1892), Louis (b. 1894), Benjamin (b. 1897) and Esther (b. 1899). Tobias, who was also referred to as Theodore or Ted, married Rhoda Davis on 12 June 1919. His sister, Esther, married Joseph Kert on 6 November 1921.
Scope and Content
Series consists of photographs of members of the Levy family.
Accession consists of material documenting the family of Nancy Levy. Included are a biography of the orphan Meir Noss, which was translated from the Yiddish in 1921, and a copy of an undated clipping about the donor's mother, who was the only attendant at her friend Jean Kamarner's wedding. The first item describes events in Z'vil, Ukraine that took place in 1919/1920.
Accession consists of material documenting Nancy Levy, primarily education records, such as citizenship awards and scholarship awards issued by the Board of Education for the City of Hamilton, Ontario. It also consists of certificates and patches issued by the Canadian Red Cross Society and the Royal Life Saving Society of Canada while at Camp Kadimah and Hamilton's Recreation Centre as well a photograph of a Temple Anshe Sholom confirmation class taken in 1967. Identified in the photograph are: (back row) Michael Epstein, Paul Simon, Leslie Mitchinick, Rabbi Baskin, Michael Isaac, Robert Mitchnick, Harold Barnett, Brian Singer, (front row) Cheryl Hebscher, Sharon Leutcher, Robin Raphael, Gerrie Perrell, Nancy Levy, Jacqueline Houston, Elaine Hotz, Ethel Landrecht, and Debbie Minden.
Administrative History
Nancy Levy was born in 1951 to Corinne (née Cohn) and Edgar Levy. (Corinne and Edgar's name was originally Moshe Noss. He was born in the Ukraine and orphaned at an early age. Around 1921 he immigrated to Canada through the help of a Mr. Grafstein. Once in Canada, Edgar and his brothers were adopted into different families. The Levy family adopted Edgar and he took their name.
Edgar married Corrine Cohn in 1946. Edgar had a business in Hamilton called Piston Service, which was a wholesaler for car parts. Corrine drove a truck for this business and eventually became the bookkeeper for another firm. After marriage, they lived in Hamilton at 18 West Third.
Nancy had two younger siblings: Ann (1956–) and Lois (1958–2018). She married Wayne Greenberg in 1979 and they divorced around 1985. She studied medical lab technology at a community college and worked at various hospitals and businesses, including Henderson Hospital in Hamilton and Baycrest.
Use Conditions
Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Descriptive Notes
Availability of other formats: Digitized material.
6 photographs : b&w and col. ; 9 x 13 cm or smaller
1 photograph (electronic) : b&w
Date
[193-]-[197-]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of six photographs and one scanned photograph of architect Benjamin Brown with various members of his extended family. The scanned photograph pictures Meyer Brown, Benjamin's father, with his brother.
Administrative History
Benjamin Brown was one of the first Jewish architects in Toronto. Alice Waldman is the daughter of Brown's sister, Sophie Blackstone.
Use Conditions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Accession consists of two scanned photographs of work scene in front of the Myer Salit Scrap Metal yard, Niagara Falls.
Custodial History
The records were transferred to the OJA as part of the Ontario Small Jewish Communities initiative.
Administrative History
The donor, Larry Cohen, was born 1931. His grandfather, Myer Salit, was born in Brest Litovski, Poland. At the age of twenty-three he booked passage to America on the S.S. Norge. On June 28, 1904 the ship struck a reef off the coast of Scotland and sank. Mr. Salit survived, along with approximately 160 other passengers, and made his way to New York and then St. Catharines, where his brother-in-law, Harry Rubin, was a scrap metal dealer. In 1905 he moved to Niagara Falls and set up his own scrap metal business. He was the first Jewish resident of that community.
Over time, the business prospered and grew. After the Second World War, his son-in-law Irvin Feldman and grandson Larry Cohen joined the business. The company began to diversify, selling new and used steel products to local industry. Myer Salit passed away in 1958 and left the business in the hands of Irvin and Larry. By the 1960s, the company branched out and became a reinforcing steel (rebar) fabricator and changed its name to Salit Steel.
During the 1980s the family sold off the scrap metal division of the company. Mr. Feldman retired and the responsibility for managing the firm was shared by Larry Cohen and Steven Cohen, Myer's great-grandson. The company has continued to expand and diversify and currently serves the needs of Southern Ontario.
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.
Descriptive Notes
Related Material Note: See AC 302 for an oral history for Larry Cohen.
1 folder of textual records and graphic material : b&w and sepia (tiff and jpg) ; 780 MB
Date
1915-[ca. 1955]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of electronic copies of original records documenting the Zack and Levy families from Hamilton and Toronto. Records included family photographs, a border crossing identification card, a military identity document and a war service badge certificate, Irving Levy's intern registration card for Barnert Memorial Hospital, a graduation diploma and a sworn declaration regarding Irving Levy's name.
Administrative History
Isaac (d. 1955) Zack and Rose (d. ca 1965) Chertkoff were both born in Russia and came separately to Canada in the early 1900s. They married in Toronto in 1907 and then moved to Hamilton. Together, they had five children: Hy (b. ca. 1909); Betty (Joseph) (b. ca. 1911); Sadie (Levy) (1913-2013); Mannie (b. ca. 1915); and Gordie (b. ca. 1922). Isaac and Rose ran "Zack's Furniture" store on York Street in Hamilton. They were ardent Labour Socialists.
Nathan (d. 1965) Levy and Annie (d. 1975) Persofsky both came spearately to Toronto with their families. They married in Toronto sometime before 1908 and had seven children: Frances (Hendricks) (b. ca. 1908); Morris; Mary (Rubin); Irving (1916-ca. 1998); Godie (Nass); Larry (b. ca. 1924); and Jackie. Nathan was a barber.
Nathan's son Irving studied medicine at the University of Toronto. Following graduation in 1941, Irving went to the United States and interned for one year at the Barnert Memorial Hospital in Patterson, New Jersey. Following his internship, Irving returned to Canada and married Sadie Zack sometime after February 1943. The two had met at a National Council of Jewish Women's party in Hamilton. Irving enlisted in the Royal Canadan Army Medical Corps in February of 1943 and served on active duty until 1946. He attained the rank of Captain and served in Italy as a physician. Upon returning to Canada, Irving opened his own medical practice in Hamilton. Together, Irving and Sadie had three children: Marsha (Slavens) (b. 1947); Richard (b. 1949); and Ira (b. 1952). Irving and Sadie were active memebers of the Hamilton Jewish community, Sadie being a long-time member of the National Council of Jewish Women and the Temple Ahshe Shalom Sisterhood and Irving a member of B'nai Brith. Irving died ca. 1998 and Sadie died in 2013 in Hamilton.
ca. 100 photographs : b&w and col. ; 61 x 27 or smaller
3 cm of textual records
Date
[ca. 1900]-1994, predominent 1920-1960
Scope and Content
Accession consists of a scrapbook compiled by Edward J. Levy documenting the personal lives and musical careers of Sidney Levy and Philip and Elie Spivak. The scrapbook primarily consists of photographs of the Spivak and Levy families but also includes the musical score for Dirge for Orchestra composed by Oskar Morawetz in memory of Elie Spivak, naturalization papers for Philip Spivak and Bella Spivak, bulletins of the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, photographs of other musicians including Zara Nelsova, newsclippings, Ed Levy's bar mitzvah certificate, postcards and invitations. There is also an oversized photograph of the 19th Season of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, featuring Elie Spivak, Philip Spivak and Sidney Levy.
Administrative History
Sidney (Solomon) Levy (1898-1971) was born in London, England in 1898, the son of Elizabeth (nee Goldstein) Levy. He was the oldest brother to six younger sisters. Sidney was a violist who first played in movie houses in East London, where he met Phillip and Elie Spivak. During the 1920s, he played on touring ocean liners. He immigrated to Toronto in 1929 where he again played movie theatres and then built a career with the CBC radio orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He also played the O'Keefe Centre's opening night performance of Camelot.
Elie (2 Feb. 1902-23 July 1960) and Phillip (1906-ca. 1962) Spivak were born in Uman, Ukraine, the sons of Reverend Joseph (d. 1965) and Bella (nee Finkler) (d. 1962) Spivak. They were two of five children: Elie, Clara (1904-1984), Philip, Siam (d. ca. 1964, New York) and Thelma (m. Heller) (1917-2008).Their paternal grandfather, Yankel Spivak, was a famous chazzan. Their maternal grandfather, Ezra Finkler, was a successful wheat merchant in Ukraine, who was killed during the pogroms. Joseph and Bella Spivak, who were living with their children on the Finkler's large estate at the time, managed to escape through Poland and Germany, eventually arriving in Paris in 1910. At this time, Elie entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of seven and studied violin with Henri Berthelier from 1910-1915. Around 1915, the Spivak family immigrated to England, where Clara later met Sidney Levy through her brothers, who at the time was a theatre musician. Elie continued his studies at the Royal College of Manchester with Adolphe Brodsky in 1916. In 1923, he founded the Elie Spivak String Quartet in Manchester, the first ensemble to give chamber music concerts over the new BBC network.
The Spivak family left London for Canada in the late 1920s. Elie was the first of the siblings to immigrate and after resideing for one year in New York City, he moved to Toronto in 1926. Philip and Clara followed in 1929, as did Sidney Levy. Joseph and Bella Spivak, along with their children Siam and Thelma, ended up settling in New York City. Sidney married Clara Spivak in a ceremony in New York in the year they immigrated. They had one son, Edward (b. 1934). Clara was active in the TSO's Women's Committee.
In Toronto, Elie Spivak was first violin (1929-1942) of the Conservatory String Quartet and concertmaster (1931-1948) of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. In 1945, he gave the North American premiere of the Khachaturian Violin Concerto with the Boston Pops Orchestra. He was the first Canadian musician invited to Israel, touring the country for five months in 1950 as guest of the Jerusalem String Quartet. He led the Spivak String Quartet (1951-1956) and was heard frequently over CBC radio. He examined for the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) in Toronto and adjudicated for Kiwanis Festivals and the Canadian National Exhibition. He taught violin at the RCM from 1922 until his death. He also taught in the University Settlement Music School. Elie was a member of Goel Tzedec Synagogue and was married to Hilda (nee Narrol) Spivak. He had two sons, David and Michael.
Philip Spivak played the cello and was first stand with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He also played in a chamber orchestra. He married the famous cellist Zara Nelsova, later divorced and remarried Iris Cooper. Philip was a member of Holy Blossom Temple.
Item is a portrait of Ted and Louis Levy taken in Toronto. The oldest brother, Ted, was approximately three years old when the photograph was taken and the younger one, Louis, was about one years old.
Notes
Mounted on card
Photographer: A. R. Ward, 311 Yonge Street, Toronto
There is a corresponding 4 x 5 negative for this photograph
Name Access
Levy, Louis
Levy, Ted
Subjects
Children
Portraits
Repro Restriction
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Accession consists of material documenting the life of Ubby Dashkin of Lipson & Dashkin Architects. Included are: Dashkin's birth certficate (1929), an artifact given in appreciation to Dashkin for supporting the Canadian Centre for Nuclear Physics Weitzman [sic] Institute of Science, Israel (1977).
Administrative History
Ubby Dashkin (1929-1981) was born Aaron Abi Dashkin on 4 April 1929 in Toronto to and David and Ethel Dashkin. As an adult, he was part of Lipson & Dashkin Architects. He passed away on 17 July 1981 and is buried in Dawes Road Cemetery in Scarborough, Ontario.
Ubby was the younger brother of Yiddish literature translator Miriam Beckerman (1927- ).