From Beth Sholom Newsletter, 2008 Eva Rothblott [who died on December 7, 2012] was born on Baldwin Street in Toronto in 1918 — ninety years ago — and has been associated with Beth Sholom Congregation “from the very beginning,” she told me when I met with her recently at her retirement home on Sheppard Ave.…
Capernaum is rich in Christian history
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In the ancient fishing village of Capernaum, above the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, visitors may examine a partially reconstructed 2nd- or 3rd-century synagogue and glimpse portions of the underlying remains of an earlier synagogue in which Jesus is said to have preached. The town’s name derives from the Hebrew name K’far Nachum,…
Michael Chabon celebrates pop culture in Telegraph Avenue
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Not surprisingly, American author Michael Chabon originally developed the premise, story and characters for his latest novel, Telegraph Avenue, as the script for a 1999 television pilot that never got off the ground. Like many of his previous books, including his 2000 Pulitzer-prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Telegraph Avenue is brimming…
Great-granddaughter writes wonderful bio of Jacob Gordin
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◊ Finding the Jewish Shakespeare, The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin, by Beth Kaplan, has been newly released in paperback by Syracuse University Press, Spring 2012. One of the great moments in Yiddish theatre occurred the evening the curtain opened upon actor Jacob Adler in the role of “the Jewish King Lear,” as envisioned by…
Growth of a Kensington grocery store (1987)
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From The Canadian Jewish News, November 19, 1987 If you trace the path of the Toronto Jewish community for the past fifty years you will be taking a snapshot of Goodbaum’s grocery stores as they marched north, eventually under the name of Sunnybrook Foods. “We were at 180 Baldwin Street, 188 Baldwin Street, 374 College…
Conversation with Alex Serota (2009)
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From Beth Sholom Bulletin, Spring 2009 Alex Serota was a founding member of the Shaarei Tefillah Congregation on north Bathurst Street in the late 1950s, but left to join Beth Sholom about 1963 because of the latter’s “magnificent USY movement” that was so important for his two sons. I met recently with Alex and his…
A visit with Moishe and Gert Kerbel (2009)
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From the Beth Sholom Bulletin, Chanukah 2009 Moishe (Maurice) and Gert Kerbel joined Beth Sholom 40 years ago, a couple of years before their son Jeffrey was to be bar-mitzvahed, and have remained active members to this day. Moishe Kerbel was for many years ritual chairman of the shul. He handed out the “aliyot” and…
Profile: Frank Cadesky of Beth Sholom (2009)
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From the Beth Sholom Bulletin, Summer 2009 Frank Cadesky, a former president of the congregation from 1969 to 1971, has been a member of Beth Sholom since moving from Owen Sound to Toronto in 1950. The second youngest of 12 children, Cadesky felt right at home here, even though he had previously been involved with…
The Burke family at Beth Sholom (2011)
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From the Beth Sholom Bulletin, Fall 2011 A memorable high point in the lives of Louis and Gloria Burke and family, as well as for Beth Sholom Congregation as a whole, was the testimonial dinner with Israeli government minister Menachem Begin that was held on April 29, 1974 to launch the annual Israel Bonds drive.…
Profile: David Beck, late shammus at Beth Sholom (died 2010)
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From the Beth Sholom Bulletin, Spring 2011 David Beck was a Holocaust survivor who had seen the worst of humanity, so “he wanted to focus on bringing out the good things in life,” said his son Mendy Beck about the long-time former shammus of Beth Sholom, who died October 2010 at the age of 89.…
