A Typical Celebration

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  Isadore Black’s grandparents, David and Fayge (Fanny) Florence, ca. 1939
  Ontario Jewish Archives, accession 1978-7/1

  As the Peterborough community grew and prospered, there were many occasions to celebrate, including weddings and bar mitzvahs. A number of these celebrations became the focus of small articles by Rabbi Fine. The bar mitzvah of Isadore Black offers a typical example of the flavour of these community occasions, as reported by Rabbi Fine.

  On Sunday, 11 March 1927, Fine wrote that “all the Jews of Peterborough were present” for Isadore Black’s bar mitzvah. In addition, guests came from Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and New York. At the same time, Isadore’s grandparents, David and Fanny Florence, began preparing their home to receive guests. All the friends arrived safely, despite “inclement weather” and on Saturday Isadore read nicely from the Torah and Haftorah. After this, “good food” was served.

  On Sunday, more guests arrived by train. The Black house was decorated with “flowers and flags” and the tables set with food. One of the Black’s sons, Moshe, was toastmaster. He read telegrams from “many different countries.” Greetings were then offered in Hebrew, Yiddish and English by different children and by the Young Judaea youth group, of which Isadore was a member.

  Isadore then spoke in Yiddish about the meaning of tefillin and about the responsibilities of becoming a man and “a member of the Jewish nation.” He thanked his parents for giving him a good Jewish education and those present for coming to celebrate with him. His father, Phillip (Pesak) Black spoke next, “with tears in his eyes” about the mission of the Jewish nation and the duties of the young generation. His speech was emotional, wrote Rabbi Fine, so much so that it “made all the people present break into tears.” Rabbi Fine also spoke, praising the bar mitzvah boy and his parents highly.

  A number of the guests also made speeches. This was followed by a little fundraising. It was a community practice to take up a collection on happy occasions so as to remember the less fortunate. One favoured charity was the “Old Folks Home” in Toronto, for which $60 was collected on this occasion. Another $20 was collected for a yeshiva in Jerusalem. The party then continued as Philip Black’s father, Rabbi Tzodok Black, entertained the guests with “many national and religious songs”. In the evening Annie Black, then President of Hadassah, held a party for the ladies. Isadore and all the children entertained by repeating their speeches. One of Mrs. Black’s sisters brought a bouquet of flowers and the ladies planted six trees in “Dr. Hertzel’s forest” in the name of the bar mitzvah boy.