In the early years of the twentieth century, Jewish immigrants from Ostrowiec, Poland, began establishing a new community in Toronto.…
From Ostrowiec to Toronto
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Jewish Toronto
Obit: Morley Torgov, lawyer and award-winning novelist (2026)
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Morley Lorne Torgov, the Toronto lawyer and twice Leacock-winning author whose warm, wry fiction drew heavily on his Jewish childhood…
IDF soldier protects students, ejects masked intruders at TMU event (2025)
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From the London Jewish Chronicle, November 2025 Twenty-nine-year old IDF soldier Jonathan Karten is being hailed as a hero by…
Henry Dworkin fatally struck by auto (1928)
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Toronto, January 1928 Mourned by Thousands of Hebrews Whom He Helped and Encouraged — Instituted Labor Lyceum and Gave Freely…
Hebrews give thanks for British Mandate (1920)
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From the Toronto Daily Star, May 10, 1920 Thirty-Five Thousand Held a Parade, Followed by Meeting in Massey Hall Thirty-five…
Review of Toronto synagogues (1960)
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by Mordecai Hirshenson from the “Canadian Panorama,” Canadian Jewish News, August 12, 1960 NEW SYNAGOGUE MERGER Another synagogue merger is…
Solving the Puzzle of a Changed Surname (2026)
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Genealogists sometimes encounter a maddening problem when a relative seems to vanish under the name you know. Sometimes it’s because…
The Kishinower Rabbi holds court in Toronto (1957)
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The heading, Have Yichus, Will Travel, might have appeared above the following notice which attracted the attention of the city’s…
At 103, Ben Sherman isn’t ready to retire (1974)
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A look back at the CJN from more than 50 years ago: From the Canadian Jewish News, March 6, 1974…
Shomrai Shabbos: Fire threatens Torah scroll (1901)
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From Globe, September 24, 1901 SACRED SCROLL THREATENED Excited Jews Besiege a Burning Synagogue The sacred scroll in the Austrian…
A robust, new history of Jews in Canada (2019)
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Seeking the Fabled City: the Canadian Jewish Experience, by Allan Levine (McClelland & Stewart) Proficient, prolific, and preternaturally talented, Winnipeg-based…
Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut: An Appreciation
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From the Canadian Jewish News, 2017 From the moment in 1961 that he stepped into the role, Rabbi W. Gunther…
Toronto’s May Day parades of yesteryear (1955)
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by Ben Lappin (from Commentary, 1955) Spadina Avenue, the main street of the needle trades in Toronto, looks very much…
Sad, extraordinary tale of a Jewish ‘miser’
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The extraordinary story of Eli Hyman first came to my attention with the following notice that appeared in the Toronto…
Recent & Popular
Canada’s new ‘citizenship-by-descent’ rules bring hope — and confusion
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Canada’s recent changes to citizenship-by-descent rules have opened the door to citizenship for many people who were previously excluded because…
Like ‘winning the lottery’: Holocaust survivor sees photo of family for first time
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From the Canadian Jewish News Some 70 years after he last saw his father, mother, brothers and sisters alive, a…
Ontario Archives swamped with certification requests
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There have been several moments in the history of American-Canadian relations when significant numbers of Americans have fled northward to…
Telushkin paints vivid portrait of I.B. Singer
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From Canadian Jewish News, 2011 Seven years after the death of Isaac Bashevis Singer and 20 years after he won…
Best translation guide for 19th-century Polish docs (Frazin)
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It has been about twenty years since I had my first “Eureka!” moment as a genealogist. Several smaller discoveries led…
Formerly in limbo, MHSO’s newspaper collection finds new home online
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The Multicultural History Society of Ontario has now partnered with Internet Archive Canada to keep its historic newspaper collection…
Edeet Ravel’s ‘Ten Thousand Lovers’ (2003)
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Montreal resident Edeet Ravel admits that she’s been fairly negligent until recently about getting her writing into print. A teacher…
‘Eitz Chaim Hee’ – Ugandan style
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Abayudaya congregants carry Torah scrolls, their prayer shawls bright against the embroidered velvet mantles of the sifrei Torah in procession…
Sholem Asch Reconsidered
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In 1930, when Yiddish writer and playwright Sholem Asch celebrated his 50th birthday, he seemed to be riding on top…
Elvis had strong Jewish connection (2002)
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Trying to put a yarmulke on the King of rock ‘n’ roll From the Forward, 2002 Evan Popoff, co-producer of…
Bone Button Borscht with Barbara Budd
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From the Canadian Jewish News, December 2004 What do you get when you put a popular shtetl folk tale into…
Vanishing paper trails: the demise of city directories & phone books
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December 10, 2025 Librarians are a cautious bunch. How else to explain why those at the main branch of the…
Toronto
Bone Button Borscht with Barbara Budd
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From the Canadian Jewish News, December 2004 What do you get when you put a popular shtetl folk tale into…
The Toronto Olympic Games of 1838
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See map caption below by William D. Reid When Lord Durham, the Governor-General, refused to honor the contemplated autumn meet…
A notable mansion gave Castlefield Avenue its name
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Castlefield was a grand residence north of Toronto built in 1835 by James Hervey Price (1797–1882), a prominent Canadian attorney…
Toronto’s colored population in 1908
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THIS appraisal of the lot of the colored population of Toronto in 1908 presents a fairly positive and upbeat portrait,…
Finest hardwood in Massey mansion — ‘nothing like it in the Dominion’
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From The Toronto Star Weekly, May 16, 1914 That well-known Toronto residence occupying the northeasterly corner of Jarvis street and…
Building at Yonge & Glengrove was innovative in 1931
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From the Toronto Telegram, Sept. 1 1931 As it looks today:
History
Interview: Rabbi Moses Avigdor Chaikin (1916)
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From The London Jewish Chronicle, August 11, 1916 ◊ BG Intro: Rabbi Moses Avigdor Chaikin (1852–1928) was a distinguished rabbinic…
Breaking News: Ottoman Empire releases Jewish hostages (1840)
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By “A. I.” David ◊ Note: This article is written in the style of a newspaper report that might have…
In Poland, a modern blood libel
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Tarnobrzeg, Poland, formerly known as Dzikow, cannot be accused of being a pretty town. With a population of 40,000, it…
A robust, new history of Jews in Canada (2019)
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Seeking the Fabled City: the Canadian Jewish Experience, by Allan Levine (McClelland & Stewart) Proficient, prolific, and preternaturally talented, Winnipeg-based…
Thousands of Canadians fought in American Civil War (1914)
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From the Toronto Sunday World, May 31, 1914 Saturday May 30, Decoration Day, has been looked upon as one of…
