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

Name

Ruth Gorbet

Number

OH 295

Subject

Owen Sound

fur business

Theatre

Rabbi Revson

Rabbi Huberman

Interview Date

13 Jun. 2007

Quantity

1 mini DV, 1 archival DVD and 1 reference DVD

Interviewer

Sharon Gubbay Helfer

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

Ruth Gorbet moved from Toronto to Owen Sound in 1952 after marrying Noman Gorbet. She was with Owen Sound Little Theatre (OSLT) when it was founded in 1961 and has worked tirelessly for the local theatre company ever since. It was that dedication to the arts in Owen Sound that earned Gorbet the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 Cultural Awards.

A founding member of OSLT, Ruth was in the first play put on by the organization in 1961, My Three Angels. She has been active with the theatre for more than fifty years as an actor, volunteer, and board member and serving as president many times. Ruth's latest involvement with the organization was earlier this month when she played a part in Calendar Girls. In the fall she joined the other female cast members and shed her clothes to create a calendar with proceeds from its sales going to the Grey Bruce Residential Hospice.

Little theatre isn't Ruth's only involvement in the community. She has also worked bingos, is past president of the Kinette Club, served on the hospital auxiliary, volunteers for the alzheimer's society and works for the hospice.

Material Format

moving images

Original Format

Mini DV

Copy Format

DVD

Source

Oral Histories

Name

Mike Rabovsky

Number

OH 296

Subject

Owen Sound

Family history

Cadesky family

Beth Ezekiel

furniture business

World War, 1939-1945

Rabbi Kirschenbaum

Bar mitzvah

Mr. Amsterdam

Antisemitism

Sauble Beach

Cemeteries

Interview Date

13 Jun. 2007

Quantity

2 mini DV's, 1 archival DVD and 1 reference DVD

Interviewer

Sharon Gubbay Helfer

Notes

Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project

Availability of other formats: Also available as an M4V Video File

Use Restrictions

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

Biography

Mike Rabovsky married Miriam Levinson, and their story is best told through this historical narrative:

Owen Sound's Beth Ezekiel Synagogue, a designated building under Ontario’s Heritage Act, remains the last example of the early small town synagogue that was once so common across Canada. The most compelling window in the synagogue is dedicated to the Rabovsky and Levison's families and tells the story of two immigrant families and the establishment of a Jewish community in Owen Sound.

The jagged shards of glass depict the Levison family's harrowing experience of Kristallnacht (night of broken glass), prelude to the Holocaust. Desperate to escape Germany, the family was just one boat ticket away from freedom. Moments before they were to leave, an elderly couple offered their tickets to the Levisons, effectively sealing their own fate as victims of the Final Solution, while giving the young family a chance to escape the coming storm. Waiting out the war in China, the family eventually made it to Canada where Manfred Levison immediately began to look for work as a Rabbi. At the same time, Isaac Ezekiel Cadesky, a refugee of the Russian pogroms and the man for whom our Synagogue is named, was looking for a Rabbi to serve Owen Sound's bourgeoning Jewish community. Manfred Levison took the job, and in time his daughter Miriam married Isaac's grandson Mike.

Miriam met Myer (Mike) Rabovsky. He was 29 and she was 19. Theirs was a happy marriage, lasting more than fifty years. Miriam and Mike had one daughter, Goldie (m. Bruce Ronald) and two grandchildren.

Material Format

moving images

Original Format

Mini DV

Copy Format

DVD

Source

Oral Histories

Name

Elinor Einhorn Grill

Number

OH 99

OH 100

Subject

family history

Jewish education

Refugees

Antisemitism

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

Farmers

Young Judaea

Camp Elohim

Queen's University Hillel

Rabbi Rosen

St. Catharines

Einhorn, Sol

Israel

Soviet Jewry

Interview Date

13 Jul. 1976

Quantity

2

Interviewer

Larry Troster

Total Running Time

2 hrs 25 minutes

Conservation

February 2009

Notes

Detailed transcription: file://s-oja01\data\Grants\Trillium2005\Oral%20Histories\interview%20summaries\St.%20Catharines%20OH%20099-100.doc Original tapes are damaged. Copies have been made, but the white noise interference is considerable.

Use Restrictions

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

Biography

Raised and educated in Oshawa, Elinor Grill was an active member of the Jewish community and a keen bridge player. She was married to Earl Grill, with whom she had three daughters.

Material Format

sound recording

Geographic Access

Oshawa (Ont.)

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Source

Oral Histories

Name

J. B. Salsberg

Number

OH 281

Interview Date

13 Mar. 1990

Quantity

1

Interviewer

Carol Rosenthal

Total Running Time

60 min. or less

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

Joseph Baruch Salsberg (1902–1998) was a labour leader, political activist, politician, newspaper columnist, and someone who dedicated his life to Yiddishkeit and the advancement of social justice. He was active in various Jewish organizations, including; the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto, and the New Fraternal Jewish Association. In 1938, he was elected alderman on Toronto’s City Council; in 1943, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He is well remembered by contemporaries, such as Sam Lipshitz, as a "champion of the people," committed to social justice, the plight of the working-class, and the preservation of Jewish culture.

Material Format

sound recording

Name Access

Salsberg, J. B.,1902-1998

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Source

Oral Histories

Name

Dr. Sydney Wax

Number

OH 406

Subject

Canada--Armed Forces

World War, 1939-1945

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)

Airframe Mechanic

Northern Ontario

Interview Date

13 May 2010

Quantity

1 reference DVD (WAV file) ; 1 archival DVD (WAV file)

Interviewer

Stephanie Markowitz

Total Running Time

35:59

Notes

Sydney was interviewed as part of The Memory Project in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute.

Biography

Sydney served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as an airframe mechanic. He was stationed in nothern Ontario at bases around Belleville and Trenton.

Material Format

moving images

Geographic Access

Belleville (Ont.)

Trenton (Ont.)

Original Format

DVD

Source

Oral Histories

Name

Adele and Alan Farber

Number

OH 428

Subject

Canada--Emigration and immigration

Jews--South Africa

South Africa--Emigration and immigration

Interview Date

13 Apr. 2016

Interviewer

Lisa Newman

Total Running Time

OH 428 part 1: 18 min.

OH 428 part 2: 19 min.

OH 428 part 3: 22 min.

OH 428 part 4: 3 min.

Biography

Adele and Alan met when she was fifteen and he was seventeen years old. They married a few years later, and lived in Johannesburg until Alan qualified as a chartered accountant. In 1975, they immigrated to Toronto.

Adele arrived in Canada with an honours degree in psychology. She initially completed a one-year program at a Canadian teaching college. After having three children, she went back to university, and obtained an honours degree in social work from York University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Toronto. She worked with teenagers for several years at an agency and in 2001 opened a private practice as a psychotherapist. Today she works part-time.

Alan requalified as a chartered accountant in Canada, and became a trustee in bankruptcy. In 1979, he founded a firm, which is currently called Farber Group. The firm provides business advisory services from eleven business units and operates in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta.

Adele and Alan are members of Kehillat Shaarei Torah and have engaged in philanthropy through the United Jewish Appeal, Canadian Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and other Jewish and community charitable organizations.

Their oldest son, Jonathan, lives in Israel while their two younger children, Steven and Sherri, live in Canada. They have seven grandchildren.

Material Format

moving images

Language

English

Name Access

Farber, Adele, 1952-

Farber, Alan, 1951-

Geographic Access

Israel

Johannesburg (South Africa)

Toronto (Ont.)

Original Format

Digital file

Copy Format

Digital file

Transcript

00:02 Adele was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1952. She has one brother, ten years her junior.

00:32 Adele explains why her family moved several times during her childhood: to London, England in 1962; to Herzliya Pituach, Israel in 1964; and back to Johannesburg in 1967.

02:55 Adele discusses her parents' family histories. Her paternal grandfather came from Lithuania at the turn of the century. Her paternal grandmother came from England. They married in South Africa. Her father was the youngest of five children. Adele's maternal grandparents came from Poland prior to the Second World War. Her mother was the middle of six children, all born in Poland.

05:26 Adele discusses her extended family, their cloneness, and regular family get-togethers.

07:17 Adele outlines her Jewish education.

08:13 Adele speaks Hebrew fluently and majored in Hebrew and psychology at university.

08:41 Adele has a son who lives in Israel.

09:07 Adele discusses how she met her husband, Alan. They married young: Adele was nineteen; Alan was twenty-one. They lived in Johannesburg for three years before moving to Canada.

11:10 Adele discusses the reasons they decided to leave South Africa.

14:40 Adele explains why they chose to immigrate to Canada.

16:36 Adele discusses the rocky start to their immigration due to her father's illness and death. They entered Canada in June 1975, returned to South Africa for six months, and returned to Canada at the end of 1975.

17:59 Adele's mother immigrated to Canada in 1980. Adele's brother moved to the United States.

18:12 Adele discusses return trips to South Africa.

Part 2:

00:00 Alan was born in 1951 in Johannesburg. Alan has two older sisters.

00:20 Alan briefly outlines his primary and secondary education.

00:54 Alan fondly reminisces about a friendship he has maintained since childhood.

02:43 Alan discusses growing up in Johannesburg: his neighbourhood, his friends, and his interest in sports.

03:44: Alan discusses his family's origins. Alan's father was born in South Africa. His paternal grandparents came from Lithuania. Alan's mother and maternal grandfather were born in South Africa. His maternal grandparents came from Latvia.

04:35 Alan describes his observance of Judaism while growing up.

06:15 Alan discusses his bar mitzvah. He had a private Hebrew teacher.

07:54 Alan explains that he and his family had limited involvement in Jewish community activity.

09:00 Alan explains how he became more involved in Jewish community organizations in Toronto. He describes his involvement.

11:38 Alan describes his professional training to become an accountant in South Africa, a chartered accountant in Canada, and a trustee in bankruptcy.

13:52 Alan discusses his career development in Canada. He describes his business, the Farber Financial Group.

17:09 Alan discusses the optiosn he considered before ultimately choosing Canada as an immigration destination.

Part 3:

00:03 Adele discusses her post-secondary education, including an honour's degree in psychology earned in South Africa, a teaching degree, a bachelor of social work, and a master's of social work earned in Canada. Adele discusses her various jobs and her private practice.

03:20 Adele discusses their young family: Jonathon (1978), Steven (1980), and Sherry (1983).

05:34 Alan warmly describes raising his children.

06:31 Adele discusses their family's Jewish life when they first arrived in Toronto: the neighbourhood, Shabbat observance, and synagogue attendance. Adele and Alan explain that, for financial reasons, they sent their children to public school, with the exception of Sherry who attended the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto (CHAT).

09:29 Alan and Adele discuss how they established social connections when they first arrived in Canada, welcomed by distant cousins and with other young Jewish couples who had recently immigrated from South Africa.

11:13 Adele and Alan discuss how they were received by Canadians.

12:26 Alan describes their efforts to help other immigrants including sponsoring a family from Vietnam in 1981, sponsoring a Russian Jew through Jewish Immigrant Aid Services (JIAS), and helping sponsor Syrian refugees through their synagogue.

14:29 Adele discusses the supports offered by South African Jews in Canada to South African immigrants, specifically through the Southern African Jewish Association of Canada (SAJAC).

15:57 Alan explains how he served as a contact person for other South African accountants when they arrived in Canada. Also, many of his business employees are from South Africa.

18:03 Alan and Adele belong to Kehillah Shaarei Torah.

18:48 Adele and Alan discuss their grown children. Their oldest son, Jonathon (Israel) is a rabbi in Bet Shemesh, Israel. Steven is a professor of urban geography at the University of Toronto. Sherry, who studied medicine at Ben-Gurion University, returned to Canada to practice medicine.

20:37 Alan shares his hopes for the future.

Part 4:

00:39 Adele expounds on her appreciation of living in Canada.

Source

Oral Histories

The Kensington of Johannesburg

Maybe Canada?

Immigrants Sponsoring Immigrants

Kiss the Ground