A Toronto academic who has been invited to speak at a conference on Pope Jean Paul II at the United Nations on March 27 says that he’s glad to pay homage to “somebody who was so favourably disposed towards Jews and Judaism.” David Novak, professor and former director of the University of Toronto’s Jewish studies…
Jewish Mothers & Babes Home to be restored
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The future of Glendella House, an historic cottage in Bronte, Ont. that once served as a summer rest home for Jewish mothers and children from Toronto, is under discussion as the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) decides whether to allow a developer to move the 161-year-old heritage structure to accommodate two proposed high-rise towers. Built in…
Masterpiece of scholarship on surnames (2009)
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When the first edition of Alexander Beider’s Dictionary of Jewish Surnames From the Russian Empire came out in 1993, it was hailed in genealogical circles as one of the most important books ever printed about Jewish surnames. His subsequent compilations of Jewish surnames from Poland, Galicia and other regions have only solidified his reputation as…
Obit: media mogul Izzy Asper (1932-2003)
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Israel “Izzy” Asper, the Winnipeg-based media mogul who turned a single television station into an international communications empire worth more than a billion dollars, died in Winnipeg on October 7, 2003 at the age of 71. The founder and chairman of the CanWest Global media empire, which operated a third national TV network and published…
McCaul Synagogue Golden Anniversary (1938) — Section B
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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…
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…
War of 1812 replayed at Backhouse Conservation Area
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Painted a bright red, the 201-year-old John C. Backhouse Mill seems as conspicuous against its background of grass and trees as the British Redcoats must have been when engaged in combat with the Americans during the War of 1812. A historic property that was restored to pristine condition two years ago for its 200th anniversary,…
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…
Obit: A. Douglas Tushingham, ROM archaeologist (1914-2002)
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A. Douglas Tushingham, the Royal Ontario Museum’s chief archaeologist for 27 years, participated in many major international digs, including several in Jerusalem and Jericho with the eminent British archaeologist Dame Kathleen Kenyon, yet his greatest moment of glory may have come as a result of a spectacular project that had nothing to do with archaeology:…
