2025 Acquisition Highlights

June 2025

In June, Mandy Smith donated her father's collection of Gelman family photographs to the Ontario Jewish Archives. The collection consists of 144 black-and-white and colour photographs that trace three generations of Jewish life in Toronto from 1926 to 2000. Beginning with a portrait of matriarch Molly (Mulka) Gelman taken in 1926, the photographs follow the Gelmans from their first rented rooms on Denison Street and Baldwin Village through the postwar boom in Bathurst Manor. Candid scenes—Jack leading Cub Scouts, Esther cheering at a Blue Jays game, cousins posing at Camp Northland—sit beside rare sports views such as a 1947 team shot of the Afro Communities Negro Fliers basketball squad featuring brothers Jack and Sam Gelman. Because most faces are identified, the accession offers a rich visual record for neighbourhood historians and a treasure trove for genealogists researching extended kin networks in the city’s downtown Jewish enclave.

Born in Toronto in 1929, Jack Gelman grew up above his father Philip’s vegetable stall at 206 Baldwin Street, learning early to “fight back” against the anti-Jewish bullying common in the 1930s schoolyard. His future wife Esther Davidson (b. 1934) met Jack at the YM-YWHA and married him in 1951; within a decade, the young family moved north to Bathurst Manor, joining the wave of Jewish suburban migration then reshaping the city. While Jack drove a delivery truck for Canadian Paper and Specialties, he also ran a thriving Cub Scout pack, modelling the volunteer spirit that would shape their children Alan, Sharon, Glenn and Mandy.

The photos capture these transitions in remarkable detail: wagon deliveries and market stalls in Kensington, post-war Scouts parades outside Beth Emeth, school portraits pinned lovingly into scrapbooks, and layered collage pages tracing each sibling’s milestones from the 1930s through the 1990s. Together the images map how one immigrant family navigated poverty, prejudice, prosperity and pride—turning Toronto’s streets, camps, shuls and ballparks into stages for a distinctly Canadian Jewish story.

May 2025

This month, we are pleased to highlight the donation of materials from the Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue. The accession consists of a photocopy of the synagogue’s 50th Anniversary Golden Jubilee publication from 2005 plus a concert program from 2018 supporting Reclamation, a cultural initiative.

Beth Emeth began as modest home gatherings before its synagogue building was constructed in 1959. Just a few years later, in 1963, it merged with Bais Yehuda to form the Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue, expanding its facilities to include a sanctuary, chapel, and additional classrooms. These materials provide insight into the synagogue’s rich communal history and its evolving role in Toronto’s Jewish life.

This accession preserves key moments in the synagogue’s history and continues to build our understanding of the dynamic institutions that shape Jewish communal identity in Canada.

April 2025

The Ontario Jewish Archives is delighted to announce the acquisition of a significant collection of 135 videos from the Danforth Jewish Circle (DJC). This is the first time the OJA has acquired YouTube videos, marking a new chapter in our efforts to preserve contemporary digital media.

The videos, spanning from 2020 to 2025, provide a rich visual record of the DJC's vibrant community life. They include High Holiday services, bnei mitzvah ceremonies, community messages, musical and cultural presentations, and an engaging speaker series covering a wide range of topics from climate change to economic justice.

This collection not only documents the diverse activities and events of the DJC but also reflects the community's commitment to social justice and cultural enrichment. We are proud to preserve and share these valuable insights into the dynamic life of the Danforth Jewish Circle.

March 2025

The OJA is excited to highlight a recent acquisition that offers a vibrant glimpse into Jewish summer camp life in Ontario.

Accession 2025-3-9 consists of over four hundred colour photographic slides taken at Camp Shalom between 1988 and 1994. Donated by Monique Madan to Canadian Young Judaea and delivered to the OJA by executive director Risa Epstein, these images capture the joy and camaraderie of campers and staff during the camp’s late-twentieth-century heyday.

Founded in 1948 by the Zionist Organization of Canada, Camp Shalom welcomed youth aged nine to thirteen at its site in Gravenhurst, Ontario. The camp was part of a broader network of Zionist camps, with administration provided by the National Camps Association and operations run by Canadian Young Judaea. Today, Camp Shalom continues to thrive under the joint operation of the Toronto Zionist Council and Canadian Young Judaea.

This collection offers a rich visual record of Jewish identity-building, outdoor adventure, and youth culture. Select slides have been digitized and will soon be available for viewing online.

February 2025

This month, we are pleased to highlight a recent donation that sheds light on the Masonic traditions of Palestine Lodge No. 559, AF & AM, in Ontario. The collection documents the involvement of Earl Brightman and his father-in-law, Auby Morris, in Freemasonry in the twentieth century. Among the items are Masonic certificates, a Masonic edition of the Holy Bible, by-laws, and instructional booklets that provide insight into the rituals and teachings of the lodge.

Notably, the donation includes three Masonic aprons and a Royal Arch Masonic sash, tangible symbols of membership and rank within the organization. These artifacts not only reflect the personal journeys of Earl and Auby within the fraternity but also offer a glimpse into the broader traditions of Freemasonry in Canada. The accession is also significant in the context of Ontario’s Jewish history, as Jewish participation in Freemasonry provided a unique space for social connection, professional networking, and community engagement at a time when Jews often faced social barriers in other institutions.