Involvement in Community and Political Life
There is hardly a board of directors, council or society in Belleville that has not been served by local Jewish volunteers. Ben Safe was the first Jewish alderman of Belleville in the 1950s. Selma Bochnek, a health advocate, was a member of the hospital board for many years. She was on the library board and served as a city councillor for several terms as well. Dr. S.C. Rose was the vice-president of the Belleville Children’s Aid Society. Jack Yanover was chairman of the Board of Governors of the Belleville General Hospital in the 1950s. Ruth Goldberg has been a long-time volunteer at the Trenton Memorial Hospital. Lee Jourard, a local radio personality who moved to Bellevile from Toronto in 1951 with his new bride Eleanor, originally from Montreal, was also involved in Cablevue as the director of community programming. Both Lee and Eleanor have been active in community theatre for many years. Lee has appeared in many plays including The Drunkard, A Man for All Seasons and The Lark March. In the 1980s, Lee ran a broadcasting mentorship programme with area volunteers.
Ted Schwab was an exemplar of public service throughout his life in Belleville. A past president of the Sons of Jacob Congregation and owner of a stationery business in Belleville, Schwab was highly involved in the community. He was a former commissioner with the Belleville Transit Authority. For Canada’s Centennial in 1967, Schwab was the chairman of the organizing committee for the Brotherhood Week festivities, which included open houses in 28 city congregations and concerts by a mass interfaith choir, as well as special performances by the Salvation Army Band and Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple choir. A long-standing devotee of the theatre, he produced musical revues with the Kiwanis Club in the 1940s, was a member of the Belleville Theatre Guild in the 1950s and the Pinnacle Playhouse. As a retiree, he moved to Palm Beach and continued to act into his 70s. Isidore Cooperman (1913-2000) moved to Belleville in 1971 with his wife Ida. He was very active in the community, serving as a treasurer of the Sons of Jacob Congregation and establishing the Quinte Credit Counselling Service. He was honoured for his volunteer service in 1991 and was involved in the Rotary Club, as were many of the Jewish professionals and business owners in the Belleville area.
