Young Judaea
The original Judean club for youth in Belleville was organized by Annie Saxe in 1925. Over the years, its membership and organization fluctuated in numbers and activity. A more prominent Belleville Young Judean club was re-organized in 1942 by Shaindle Stipelman, under the direction of its parent body, the Zionist Organization of Canada. Adult leaders affiliated with the program at that time included Rabbi Kronick, J. Abramsky, I. Lindenberg, Mrs. Ernst and Ted Schwab. The co-presidents of the club in 1956 were Stephen Schwab and Brenda Black.
Due to strength of numbers in the 1950s the members were broken into three groups: junior, intermediate and senior. The group frequently co-ordinated activities and meetings with its affiliated chapter in Kingston. Young Jewish children were educated about Israel, attended conferences with other Jewish youth from across the province, put on plays and participated in special ceremonies, usually during the major Jewish holidays. Brenda was also a counsellor at the Young Judaea sponsored Camp Shalom, where she met her future husband Paul Goldstein. The summer camp allowed local youth to meet Jewish young people from small communities in other Ontario towns, an important social function, as Brenda recalled in an interview, because there were only a handful of Jewish youth her own age in Belleville.
