Podcasts
Long Histories, Short Stories
Prologue
A new and exciting podcast from the Ontario Jewish Archives explores how significant moments in Ontario’s Jewish history have played out in the years since they occurred. Community leaders, historians, and commentators reflect on the past by examining records from the OJA’s rich collection and consider the impact the past has made on our present-day community and ponder how things could have been different. The pilot episode is a collaboration with the Canadian Jewish News and is funded by the J. B. and Dora Salsberg Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Toronto.
The Jewish Hour
Published posthumously in 2016, Michael Mandel’s book The Jewish Hour: The Golden Age of a Toronto Yiddish Radio Show and Newspaper, tells the story of the author’s quest to learn about his late father Max Mandel‘s career as a Yiddish singer and radio personality in mid-twentieth century Toronto. Through archival photos and recordings, as well as articles from the Toronto Yiddish newspaper, the Kanader Nayes (1936-1954), a vivid snapshot of Toronto’s Jewish community in the pivotal periods before, during and after WWII is rendered. This all-new video podcast brings to life the pages of Mandel’s lovingly researched story, with renowned actor Alon Nashman stepping into the author’s persona as narrator of the original text. Rare photos and musical selections illustrate this colourful tale, featuring a plethora of local performers, cantors, activists and impresarios of the era, including many renowned cultural and political figures. Presented by Ashkenaz in partnership with the Ontario Jewish Archives.
Films
Learn more about the Jewish history of Kensington Market in Toronto in this short film produced by the Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre.
Building History: The Story of Benjamin, is an 8-minute documentary created for the Ontario Jewish Archives Benjamin Brown: Architect exhibition in 2016. The film features contemporary and archival footage, as well as interviews with prominent local architects and architectural historians, such as architect Michael McClelland, architect Jack Diamond, architectural critic Alex Bozikovic, and architectural historian Marta O’Brien.
Find more content on
