From the Globe, February 4, 1907 Impressive Dedication Ceremonies Yesterday — Scrolls Removed in State to Their Resting Place in the Ark in Magnificent Meeting Place on University Avenue – Many Gentiles Join Their Hebrew Brethren in Scene of Rejoicing. The opening services at the magnificent new Jewish synagogue on University avenue near Queen street were…
Barnett Danson Left Estate of $22,450 From The Toronto Star, March 20, 1919 Barnett Danson, a merchant, who died November 6 last, left an estate of $22,450, which has been probated on application of Isaac, Joseph and Leopold Danson. Realty totals $22,250 and includes 179 Jameson ave., $4,000; 992 and 994 Queen street west, $4,000;…
Adapted from Canadian Jewish News, March 31, 1978 As a delicatessen delivery boy, Samuel Aaron Harris was standing on the bridge spanning the railway tracks at the foot of York Street, watching the flames consume the city of his birth. It was a spectacular sight for the sixteen-year-old boy. The blaze on April 19, 1904…
From the Canadian Jewish News, August 22, 1985 The 50th wedding anniversary of Belle and Harry Greenwald of Linus Road, Willowdale, was celebrated at a luncheon in their honour hosted by their daughter and son-in-law, Carolyn and Joe Feldman, at the Adath Shalom Synagogue. Harry Greenwald was born in Stacha, Poland in 1911. His parents…
Above: Harry & Esther Harris & Children, Toronto ca 1920. Back row from left: Harold, Meyer, Rachel, D. Lou, Millie, Joe, Ann. Middle: Kay, Jean, Fred. Front: Gertie, Harry & Esther, Leola. D. Lou Harris (top centre in striped tie) became an influential Jewish communal figure. From Canadian Jewish News, Dec. 31, 1971 Fanny Green…
From the Canadian Jewish News, May 4, 2006 Born in the East End of London, leading British cameraman Joe Rosenthal came to Canada about 1900 at the behest of the Canadian Pacific Railway to make Living Canada, a series of documentary films intended to stimulate immigration. The series was a popular success in Britain, and…
In Imposing Their Will: An Organizational History of Jewish Toronto, 1933-1948 (McGill-Queens), Toronto writer Jack Lipinsky presents an original and illuminating study of Toronto’s Jewish community and convincingly demonstrates that the community underwent a crucial maturation in the 15-year period under discussion. Similarly, in The Defining Decade: Identity, Politics, and The Canadian Jewish Community in…
From the Canadian Jewish Review, November 24, 1967 Although Toronto Jewry is either 118 years old (if one estimates its age from the date of the Pape Avenue burial ground) or 111 years old (estimating from the first permanently organized congregation), its relative newness can be gauged by two facts: until only a few years…
Note: This very early article may be the first significant piece written about the Jewish community of Toronto and any of its synagogues. It appeared only six years after the synagogue was built in 1875 on Richmond and Victoria streets. Like many stories of its kind from that era, it treated the Jews in a…
Rabbi William Rosenthal, a beloved teacher and dedicated volunteer who co-owned Miriam’s Fine Judaica for 41 years, died on April 11 (2008). He was 97. Born in Miskolc, Hungary in 1911, he and his brother operated a lumber business. He had attended yeshiva and at age 34, he became engaged to Miriam Schwarcz who lived…
