Adapted from the Canadian Jewish News, April 21, 1961 Mrs. Bella Dwor, widow of Max Dwor, died in Port Colborne Ont at age 94, the CJN reported in April 1961. Pioneers of Port Colborne, the late Mrs. Dwor and her husband, who predeceased her in 1932, were among the founders of the Port Colborne community…
Category: Jewish Toronto
Jimmy Blugerman (1887-1991) was labour organizer extraordinaire
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Adapted from the Canadian Jewish News, June 10, 1977. Recently Jim “Yascha” Blugerman, who is nearly 90 years of age, was installed as the 58th president of Toronto Lodge, the oldest and largest B’nai Brith chapter in Canada. Yascha had only five rubles in his pocket when he came to Toronto in 1908. He also…
Immigrant Children Learn English Quickly (1910)
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From the Toronto Globe, November 3, 1910 There is no bilingual system in McCaul School, Toronto. Of the 682 children in the school 550 are Hebrews, and they are learning to talk and write English. A remarkable instance of how quickly they pick up and make use of the Anglo-Saxon language is seen in the…
Scores weep as Jews honour the late King (1936)
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From The Toronto Globe and Mail, January 27, 1936 Their emotions bared during the holy hour at the chanting of the mourning prayer “Ail Mole Rachomim” by the leader and his choir of 40 voices as he consigned the spirit and soul of his late Majesty King George V. to the keeping of the Almighty…
Obit: Louis Levinsky (1862-1932)
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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…
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…
New director for Ontario Jewish Archives
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It is perhaps fitting that Dara Solomon began her new job as director of the Ontario Jewish Archives at the beginning of May [2012], which has been designated Jewish Heritage Month in Ontario. Not only does the experienced museum curator bring a new face to the Archives, but she is also intent on setting up…
Toronto Jewish Film Festival turns 20
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From The Canadian Jewish News, April 2012 The 20th annual Toronto Jewish Film Festival opens Thursday May 3, 2012 at the Cineplex Odeon Varsity with the English-Canadian premiere of A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, a France-Canada co-production about a teenaged Israeli girl who receives an email response from a young Palestinian who calls himself…
The Doctor’s Office: A Secretary’s Memoir
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From The Canadian Jewish News, January 14, 1999 Ruth Mather, who for 44 years was secretary to Dr. Sidney Carlen, Toronto’s first Jewish cardiologist, has written a tribute to his pioneering and sensitive medical practice. It is an unvarnished and historically accurate account of the Jewish doctors who started their practices in Toronto in the…
Personal thoughts on a bygone era, by Ben Rose
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From the Canadian Jewish News, April 28, 2000 In 1937, the vice-principal of Central High School of Commerce came into our graduating accounting class as a visitor to announce that there was a job opening. “There is no reason for any Jewish student to apply for this job because the employer doesn’t want a Jew,”…
