Community Activities and Relations
For less than one per cent of the total population of Belleville, the Jewish citizenry has clearly had a disproportionately large impact on the cultural landscape of the city. Philanthropic by nature, the Tobes, for example, were noted not only for their contributions to Jewish causes, but also to the cause of urban beautification, donating thousands of trees to local parks all over the city. All of the interviewees for oral histories collected by the Ontario Jewish Archives were involved in volunteer work in addition to their involvement with the Sons of Jacob Congregation and Jewish aid organizations. This volunteer spirit was true of virtually every family and individual uncovered in the course of researching the municipal history.
Many of the Jewish community’s business owners were also involved in service clubs such as the local Rotary and Lions clubs. Certainly the executive was instrumental in rallying the community around the Canadian Jewish Congress sponsored campaigns. The congregation sponsored a Hungarian family in 1957. The family moved to Deloro, near Madoc, and the congregation coordinated donations in the form of furnishings and basic necessities, to help them get established in Canada.
