THIS Golden Anniversary book was published in 1938 to mark the first 50 years of the Beth Hamidrash Hagadol Chevra Tehillim of Toronto, which was founded in 1887 and moved into the McCaul Street Synagogue about 1905. In the early 1950s it merged with the Goel Tzedec Congregation on University Avenue to become the present Beth…
Tag: JEWISH TORONTO
Jewish “Antiques Roadshow” attracts many heirlooms
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A dapper gentleman of 38, Jonathan Greenstein is proprietor of J. Greenstein & Co. of Brooklyn, which he describes as “the only auction house completely devoted to Jewish ritual objects in America.” Recently (2006), Greenstein came to Toronto to participate in a Jewish equivalent of the popular “Antiques Roadshow” television program. He was the main…
Sammy Lichtman profiled in Toronto Star, 1913
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The following is a newspaper profile of newspaper vendor Sammy Lichtman that appeared in the Toronto Star on July 31, 1913 under the heading “Sammy Lichtman is Afraid to Go Home to Austria.” Lichtman, who was then 25 years old, went on to become a major newspaper distributor who built up a chain of newspaper stores.…
History scrapbook: Beth Jacob Congregation
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Toronto’s Beth Jacob Congregation was founded in 1899 by a group of Polish-born Jews desiring to retain traditional Polish practices and melodies in their religious worship. The first president of the congregation was Samson Garfinkle and the early congregation included: M. Granatstein; Louis Rotenberg; Shimon Garfinkle; C. Garfunkel; S. Lederman; G. Pesachovitch; Harry Rotenberg; M. Rotenberg; J. Sugar; I. Wagman; Z. Wagman. Their first place of…
Holy Blossom invites homeless Out of the Cold
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HOLY BLOSSOM’s Out of the Cold program, which has been operating at the mid-Toronto synagogue since the mid-1990s, continues to be one of the most excellent programs of its kind in the city. This is an article I wrote a few years ago for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. It was published in numerous cities across…
90-year-old stays active teaching dance
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Irving Naftolin teaches dancing. Naftolin, who will be 90 years old in October, is spry, articulate and has a clear memory of events past and present. He is enthusiastic about sharing his thoughts on staying youthful, his love of dancing and the tremendous benefits he gets from dancing and teaching others to dance. He believes…
She started nursery at Brunswick Talmud Torah
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July 28, 26 Tammuz (2003) was the first yahrzeit of Sarah (Steinhauer) Rumack, who in 1941 started the first Beth Hayeled (nursery) at the Brunswick Talmud Torah, a program that grew into Toronto’s first Jewish day school. “I don’t know of any teacher who didn’t have the highest regard for Sarah — as a teacher,…
Profile: Toronto poet-essayist Kenneth Sherman
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Toronto native Ken Sherman loved fishing as a boy at Jackson’s Point, where his family had a summer cottage. But these days, whenever he tosses out a line, it’s usually a line of poetry. At 50, Sherman is celebrating the publication of his 10th book — The Well: New and Selected Poems (Wolsak and Wynn,…
Max Gold celebrates his 100th birthday
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Max Gold celebrated his 100th birthday on June 11 (2005). At the recent Sons of Jacob Shalom Lodge’s general meeting, Gold was honoured. His family and friends celebrated his 100-year milestone with an open house at the home of his daughter, Gloria de Hond, in Thornhill. Gold’s father, Shia Shalom (Zushie) Gold, was one of…
Former Vanek family resort to become a park
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Members of the Vanek family of Toronto are upset because the town of Richmond Hill has erected an “eyesore” on property that had been designated as a park in honor of their mother, the late Jessie Vanek. Three acres in size, the land sits along Bayview Avenue, on the eastern edge of the small, springfed…
