It was a festive afternoon as 300 members, guests, politicians and representatives of other local yacht clubs came to Mugg’s Island for the official ribbon cutting of the Island Yacht Club’s new clubhouse. Father’s Day, June 18 (2006), marked the second anniversary of the late-afternoon fire on Father’s Day in 2004 that destroyed the club’s…
Category: Jewish Toronto
Upper Canada Lodge marks 60 years of chesed
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Since 1946, the members of B’nai Brith’s Upper Canada Lodge have performed numerous services for the Jewish and general communities. As the lodge celebrates its 60th year (in 2006), it can look back on its outstanding accomplishments and selfless dedication from its first president and founding father, former Toronto mayor Phil Givens (1946-47), to its…
Camp Arrowhead holds 50-year reunion
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Excitement is mounting as alumni, parents and campers prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Camp Arrowhead at a reunion on Sunday, August 13, 2006, from 2 to 10 p.m. The fun-filled day will include activities for the entire family, such as memorabilia exhibits, a corn roast, carnival games, sports, arts and crafts, a live…
Jew-baiting goes on in Victoria Street
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In this brief item, which appeared in the Toronto Star of October 28, 1910, a woman is brought into police court in connection with an episode in which she came to the defense of a Jewish mother and daughter who were being “stoned” on Victoria Street. Such incidents were certainly not unique in the Toronto…
Labor Zionist Alliance marks its 90th anniversary (1999)
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One of the groups that worked hard for the establishment of Israel, the Labor Zionist Alliance (LZA), is celebrating its 90th anniversary November 14, 1999, with a dinner at the Borochov Centre. The Montreal branch of the LZA celebrated its 90th anniversary two years ago. The proud history of the Toronto branch includes the founding…
Book examines city’s Jewish community
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Etan Diamond, an American academic, has written a full-length study of the Orthodox Jewish community of Toronto and its pioneering movement northward from the inner city into the suburbs in the postwar era. Published recently (2001) by the University of North Carolina Press, Diamond’s And I Will Dwell in Their Midst: Orthodox Jews in Suburbia…
Obit: Rabbi Reuben Slonim (d. 2000)
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Rabbi Slonim was an editor at the Telegram Rabbi Reuben Slonim died January 20, 2000, at his home, a victim of a stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. He was 85. He had been in ill health for the past year, according to his daughter, Rena Tsur. The funeral was held at Benjamin’s Park Memorial Chapel. The controversial rabbi…
Obit: Julius Hayman, Jewish Standard publisher (d. 2000)
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Julius Hayman, publisher and editor of the Jewish Standard for 63 years, died in his apartment on Bathurst Street, Sunday, March 5, 2000. He was 92 years old. “He died at his desk, working as usual,” said his son, Michael, who learned of his father’s death while he was on holiday in Cairo with his…
Purim at Holy Blossom, Bond Street, 1920
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These costumed young actors appeared in a Purim play at the old Holy Blossom Temple on Bond Street around 1920. Perhaps the play was about the Purim drama itself. Pictured from left are: Arthur Cohen, Abe Cohen, Sam Nelson, Harry Hertzman, Louis Goodman, Norman Cowan (?), Sam Coffler and Lionel Cohen. Well-known Toronto photographer William…
Reminiscences of a bygone era, by Ben Rose
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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,” he said. That wouldn’t happen today, thankfully, because…
