Toronto, January 1928 Mourned by Thousands of Hebrews Whom He Helped and Encouraged — Instituted Labor Lyceum and Gave Freely to Charity What manner of man was this, that mourners, estimated to number from ten to fifteen thousand, thronged about the place where the funeral service was held on a Sunday afternoon? What had there…
From the Toronto Daily Star, May 10, 1920 Thirty-Five Thousand Held a Parade, Followed by Meeting in Massey Hall Thirty-five thousand of the Hebrews of Toronto formed in procession Sunday afternoon as part of the demonstration that was to testify to their loyalty to the British Empire and their thankfulness to Britain for accepting the…
by Mordecai Hirshenson from the “Canadian Panorama,” Canadian Jewish News, August 12, 1960 NEW SYNAGOGUE MERGER Another synagogue merger is taking place in Toronto — the city’s second in a period of only months. The Shaw Street — or more formally the B’nai Israel — is fusing its identity and membership with an uptown congregation,…
Genealogists sometimes encounter a maddening problem when a relative seems to vanish under the name you know. Sometimes it’s because the surname has been legally changed, or an alias used for employment, business, military service or just convenience. In many cases the person who changes their name still keeps at least a few anchors: an…
From Globe, September 24, 1901 SACRED SCROLL THREATENED Excited Jews Besiege a Burning Synagogue The sacred scroll in the Austrian Jewish Synagogue in Chestnut street, containing the laws as set down by Moses, was threatened with destruction at 1.30 o’clock this morning. Fire broke out in the rear of the edifice and when the Jews…
A major court decision rendered on November 20, 2025, promises to dramatically reshape how Canadian citizenship is passed down through generations. In December 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released a landmark decision, Bjorkquist v. Canada (2023 ONSC 7152), striking down Canada’s ‘first-generation limit.’ Since 2009, this rule had blocked many Canadians born abroad…
From The London Jewish Chronicle, August 11, 1916 ◊ BG Intro: Rabbi Moses Avigdor Chaikin (1852–1928) was a distinguished rabbinic scholar, teacher, and communal leader whose life reflected the intellectual vitality and migratory experience of Eastern European Jewry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Shklow, in the Russian Empire, and raised…
Jewish Life in the South African Country Communities. Large format, five volume set. Researched by the South African Friends of Beth Hatefutsoth. Through some diligent genealogical detective work about a dozen years ago, I located a distant cousin in Johannesburg, descended from my grandfather’s uncle who had gone to South Africa in the WWI era.…
Seeking the Fabled City: the Canadian Jewish Experience, by Allan Levine (McClelland & Stewart) Proficient, prolific, and preternaturally talented, Winnipeg-based historian Allan Levine has produced a robust new history of the Jewish experience in Canada that seems both compelling and fresh. Seeking the Fabled City — the title comes from a line by the late…
From the Toronto Sunday World, May 31, 1914 Saturday May 30, Decoration Day, has been looked upon as one of the most American of all American holiday, for it is on Decoration Day that the grand army of the republic past and present is honoured by the entire nation. Recently, however, attention has been called…
