Jacob Norman, the patriarch of the Goldblatt family, came to Canada at the turn of the century. He began his first business, dealing in scrap metal and glass in Hamilton, with a horse and buggy. Eventually, he founded International Iron and Metal. Goldblatt brought many of his relatives to Canada and assisted some of them…
Category: Jewish Toronto
Volunteer has devoted more than 60 years to Stashover
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Albert (Al) Wise, 90, has devoted most of his life to the landsleit of Stashov, the town in Poland where his family lived and where he was born in 1914. His father, Benjamin Weisberg, a tailor, came to Canada in 1920, and two years later, he brought his wife, Al, and Al’s brother and sister.…
Songwriter is remembered for I’ll Never Smile Again
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Many Canadians do not know that one of the world’s greatest pop songs of all time, I’ll Never Smile Again, was written by a Canadian, Ruth Lowe, more than 60 years ago. Although the song has been recorded by famous orchestras and well-known vocalists, it was not until recently (2004) that attention was once again…
Profile: centenarian Sam Cohen (2005)
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Retired regimental Sgt.-Maj. Sam Cohen, who celebrates his 100th birthday on August 12 (2005), defies all medical logic. “He eats all the wrong foods, such as pastrami with fat and fried foods, and he smokes more than a package of unfiltered Sweet Caporal cigarettes a day,” says his daughter Theresa Strom. “We have to order…
Fay and Harry Nesker celebrate 75th anniversary
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Torontonians Fay and Harry Nesker celebrated their wedding anniversary on May 28, 75 years after marrying in secret. Family and friends attended a reception at Cummer Lodge where Fay is a resident to rejoice in their marriage that took place on May 28, 1928. On that day, Fay Lefkovitz and Harry Nesker, who were then…
Sons of Jacob Benevolent Society still going strong after 87 years
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The history of the Sons of Jacob Benevolent Society, which recently entered its 87th year, mirrors the growth and development of the Toronto Jewish community. The society’s current president, Joe Goren, says the records show that the organization, founded in 1918, was formed “to do good works and [give] charitable donations.” Its first meeting was…
Fresh memories of Kensington Market
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I can still remember the wonderful things I smelled, when as a child, my mother took me shopping to Kensington Market on Thursdays. Kensington Market was the hub of activity, as storekeepers — mostly East European Jews — and bargain-seeking shoppers congregated. You could always smell bread baking in the myriad of bakery shops. At…
Bossin family celebrates 100 years in Canada
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More than 225 descendants of Leib Yehuda and Surah Leah Bossin will come together from across North America, Germany and Israel to celebrate the family’s 100th anniversary in Canada. Descendants ranging in age from eight months to 90 years old will gather on the weekend of August 20 (2004) at the Nottawasaga Inn in Alliston,…
Club Desmond members hold 50th anniversary reunion
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Friendship and keeping in touch with old friends are very important, says Ken Heller. “Looking back, my teenage years were a wonderful time of life with less stress and a place to go every week to have fun.” Several months ago, Heller, 66, began planning a 50th anniversary reunion with the former members of Club…
Tapper’s Biographical Dictionary of Canadian Jews
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Between 1897 and 1914 — the period between the rise of Zionism and the start of the Great War — a quality English-language fortnightly newspaper captured the flavour of Jewish life in Canada. Published in Montreal, The Canadian Jewish Times functioned as a community bulletin board for the several thousand Jews then resident in Canada…
