It has been 25 years since Canada’s leading publishing house McClelland and Stewart brought out A Basket of Apples and Other Stories by Shirley Faessler, a book that quickly won critical acclaim for its lively and colourful re-creation of the world of the Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants in the Kensington Market neighbourhood of Toronto in the…
From the Canadian Jewish News, April 5, 2014 Snowball, Dragonfly, Jew, by Stuart Ross (ECW Press) I hadn’t heard of Stuart Ross before reading Snowball, Dragonfly, Jew. I was therefore surprised to find that we are “landsleit” — both from Bathurst Manor — and that he is quite prolific, with more than a dozen books…
TORONTO SAGES is a booklet compiled and published in 2004 by Mayer S. Abramowitz, a grandson of Toronto cantor Nosson Stolnitz. Its full title is “Chachmei Yisrael of Toronto — Toronto’s Sages.” The booklet presents information about 35 Toronto rabbis from their tombstones, translated into English; some Yiddish and English obituaries are also included. The contents…
Suffering was Terrible — Little Children Lay Naked on the Bare Earth — Their Parents Half-Clad, Lay Beside Them — No Breeze in Narrow Alleys From The Toronto Star, July 4, 1911 If you really want to appreciate what a heat wave means, go through “The Ward.” You will see sights there that you have…
From the Canadian Jewish News, April 1, 1977 Sarah Gitel Salsberg, long a colourful, vivacious figure in the Toronto Jewish community, died this past weekend after a brief illness. She was 94 years of age. Born in Lagow, Poland, Salsberg came to Canada 64 years ago, about 1903. The mother of CJN columnist J. B.,…
A look back at the CJN from 40 years ago: From the Canadian Jewish News, March 6, 1974 Spry Ben Sherman has no thought of retiring, and plans to work a full day in the hardware store he founded 55 years ago, the Canadian Jewish News reported in March 1974. Sherman’s family wasn’t even planning…
From Beth Sholom Bulletin, Fall 2012 In 1933, Toronto residents Philip and Sally Latchman were surprised by the birth of triplets — three identical boys, Donald, Marvin and Victor — a blessed event that prompted Buckingham Palace to send them a ceremonial payment of several British pounds sterling. “When we were born the King of…
From the Canadian Jewish Chronicle, November 11, 1938 Rebbetzin Lifsha Gordon, wife of the late Rabbi Jacob Gordon, died, after a brief illness on Monday, October 31st. The funeral service was held at the University Avenue Synagogue, where Rabbi Samuel Levine of Hamilton, Rabbi A. N. Mandelbaum of the Beth Medrash Hagodol of Alany Park,…
From the Globe and Mail, April 18, 1908 Objecting to a Reference to Kosher Meat, Shier Herman Pulled Rabbi Levi from the Altar and a Disturbance Followed Because he objected to the rabbi’s doctrine, Shier Herman of Teraulay street caught Rabbi Levi by his robe yesterday morning at the Tower of Justice Synagogue [possibly Shaarei…
From Canadian Jewish News, July 2013 Toronto psychologist Dr. Edna Magder was just a baby when the Nazis deported her grandmother from Vienna, but she knows it wasn’t the first time the Nazis had come to her grandmother’s door. A group of drunken Nazi soldiers had previously visited her grandmother — Theresia Hanni Brodi —…
