CITY JEWRY MOURNS AT RITES OF LEADER Louis Levinsky, Prominent Philanthropist, Dies in His 71st Year. From the Toronto Star, January 4, 1932 Death came yesterday morning at his home, 35 Palmerston Blvd., to Louis Levinsky, philanthropist and early leader of Toronto Jewish organizations. Having come to Toronto more than 50 years ago, when the…
Behind the Scenes in Toronto Police Court (1910)
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Thousands of cases never see cruel light of publicity All the Officials Seek to Settle People’s Trouble Out of Court If Possible — Sifting Out False from True Evidence a Big Task for the Crown Attorney — Jacob Cohen, J.P. Has Troubles of His Own Settling Those of His Countrymen From the Toronto Star Weekly,…
Furor over United Church pastor-editor (1969)
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Can’t See the Forrest for the Trees Editor’s note: In July 2012 the United Church of Canada is considering a boycott of Israeli goods, a proposal that nine Canadian senators have condemned. This is only further evidence that, when it comes to relations with Israel and the Jews, the Church has had a long and…
Kashrut battle: Toronto makes peace (1932)
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From the Canadian Jewish Chronicle, November 4, 1932 A truce was declared some time ago between the Toronto Vaad Ha’eer and the Kehillah, this truce now culminating in a peace between the rival organizations. As to the origin of the feud, it will always remain one of those indefinable mysteries. Why two organizations, ostensibly interested…
Toronto by night: a bakery and a hospital (1884)
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Toilers of the Night, Part II The People Who Don’t Go to Bed Until Sunrise From The Toronto World, May 9, 1884 Interior, Toronto General Hospital, 1913. CTA F1231-it207b The majority of men working in city bake-houses are not, strictly speaking, employed all night. About 3 a.m., or a little later, as the printers begin…
Obit: David Gold, joined Jewish Brigade (d. 1984)
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Fought with Jewish Brigade during WWI David Gold, one of few surviving fighters in the Jewish Brigade which fought in Palestine in World War One, died in Toronto in March 1984 at the age of 91, the Canadian Jewish News reported in its issue of April 12, 1984. Gold was born in Jassy, Romania and…
Memorial to Rabbi Israel Hurwitz of Toronto (d. 1979)
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Rabbi Israel Levi Hurwitz was born in Grodno province of Lithuania in 1893, the son of Simon Aaron and Chaya Hurwitz. He was educated in the Novogrodok and other yeshivot. He was active in Vilna as an orator and became a “shaliach” to Canada for a yeshivah in Hebron, Eretz Israel. In 1933, according to…
Profile: Wilferd Gordon (1909-1994)
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As the son of the revered Toronto Rabbi Jacob Gordon and his wife Lifsha Gordon, Wilferd Gordon came to be respected and admired in his own right for his own profound learning, and he, too, came to exercise great influence in the Toronto Jewish community during its formative years. Wilferd, or Bill, Gordon grew up…
J. B. Salsberg on Rabbi Yehuda Leib Graubart
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Class of Talmud Torah with R. Yakov Kamenetsky, and Rabbi Y.L. Graubart (inset photo). ca 1950s The death of Rabbi David Graubart of Chicago in 1984 prompted J. B. Salsberg to write a poignant two-part reminiscence in the Canadian Jewish News of May 10 and 17, 1984. The Graubart dynasty was world-famous and centred in…
10,000 Criminals in Toronto’s Police Records (1914)
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Fingerprints Practically Infallible — Inspector Duncan an Expert at Identification — A Card With a Peculiar History — How Prisoners Behave Before the Camera By Leo Devaney From The Toronto Star Weekly, January 17, 1914 Probably the most important and yet the least known department of Toronto’s police system is the identification bureau, where the…
