Читать книгу The Jews of Windsor, 1790-1990 - Jonathan V. Plaut - Страница 12

Windsor in the New Century

The first decade of the twentieth century saw active immigration to Canada, especially to the Prairie provinces, which needed more settlers to cultivate the vast agricultural lands. A similar growth also took place in Canadian cities, which were experiencing the twin dynamics of urbanization and industrialization. The establishment of Ford Motor Company of Canada in 1904 spawned a fourth Border City — Ford City — community, which grew rapidly to achieve town status and join the existing border municipalities. The automobile industry was sparked by the development of the internal combustion engine and moving assembly lines, which made mass production of low-priced automobiles possible. The application of these revolutionary manufacturing methods not only created thousands of jobs in the auto industry, but also stimulated the growth of numerous related businesses. Detroit had emerged as the world centre of this new economic bonanza and the Border Cities across the river were along for the ride.

Continuing to develop its position as a transportation centre and border gateway, Windsor’s ferry service expanded its operations beyond passengers and railway cars and added both grander, more luxurious pleasure vessels and new automobile ferries. The first railway tunnel under the Detroit River was opened in 1910, and it carried passengers as well as freight. Mass transportation — the ferries, railways and streetcars — were not yet ready to surrender to the automobile age. The Sandwich, Windsor, and Amherstburg street railway (SWA) that connected the Border Cities was purchased by the Detroit United Railways and expanded into a true interurban electric railway by 1907, extending from Tecumseh in the east to downriver Amherstburg. The following year, the Windsor, Essex, and Lakeshore Railway brought Essex, Kingsville, Leamington, and other county centres into the Border Cities’ sphere.

The industrial committee of City Council, supported by a progressive Board of Trade, actively sought industry and investment through bonuses and other incentives as well as through publicity and self-promotion. Municipally planned factory districts offered fully serviced properties in prime industrial areas. The Border Cities claimed to be the “Auto Capital of Canada,” if not the British Empire, and boasted of its title as the “Branch Plant Capital of Canada,” listing dozens of American firms that had taken advantage of favourable tariff regulations to expand their operations into Canada and the Empire.

Establishing a Permanent Community

At the same time that Windsor was growing and developing into a major industrial and economic centre, the fledgling Jewish community was also growing and developing — a process that was not always smooth.

Windsor’s founding Jewish community established their first synagogue in the 1890s, but the apparent cohesiveness of the little Jewish community assumed by outsiders, proved to be less harmonious in practice. Differences leading to arguments and lawsuits led to a proliferation of groupings and institutions; with others to follow.¹

Before 1895, Windsor’s Jewish pioneers had relied on Detroit for most goods and services. However, as their community began to grow they wanted their own rabbi, Hebrew teachers for their children, kosher meat, an appropriate burial ground but most especially, a place where they could gather and worship together. Since the desire for such a place was very strong, a handful of determined people got together to establish the town’s first synagogue.

Photo courtesy of Windsor’s Community Museum P6138

Firehouse with part of the 1893 synagogue shown on the side.

Between 1888 and 1890, that nucleus of Windsor’s Jewish community, which included the Meretskys, Bernsteins, Bensteins, and Kovinskys, opened their homes to provide the initial shelters for the observance of Sabbath services.² Two years later, a small house was found on Sandwich Street East (now Riverside Drive), where High Holidays services could be held.³ Since only the basement was available, the space was soon too small to accommodate the ever-increasing number of worshippers.

The First Synagogue

Windsor’s first synagogue was at 50 Pitt Street East.⁴ It was in a store rented for $5 a month, from either Herman Benstein,⁵ who then may have been the owner of the building, or from William Englander who, according to the Evening Record in 1895, was “said to own the synagogue.”⁶ Since it was next door to the fire hall, we might picture a group of pious gentlemen engaging in fervent prayer, oblivious to the clanging fire truck bells and other ambient street sounds piercing the atmosphere. The unavoidable co-existence with the noisy outside world must have added a light-hearted touch to an otherwise solemn situation.

Photo courtesy of Windsor’s Community Museum P6137

The beginnings of business in the Windsor area for the Meretsky family, with slight view of the synagogue in the 1890s.

To make services meaningful, the congregants acquired a Torah that was installed in a makeshift Ark on the upper floor of the building.⁷ The only available seats were a few ice cream parlour chairs, which Jacob Geller well remembered carrying up the very narrow staircase when he was a young child. To perform such religious functions as weddings, itinerant rabbis usually were brought over from Detroit. The first of these ceremonies is described in the following newspaper account, dated July 15, 1895:

A crowd of about 500 people were attracted into the little Hebrew church adjoining the fire department on Pitt Street last evening at 7 o’clock. It was the performing of the matrimonial functions that made Michael Brosen [sic, Rosen] of this city, and Lena Kalin [sic, Kahn, sister of Rachael Kahn Meretsky] of Bay City, Michigan, man and wife. A scene of this kind has not been witnessed in Windsor since three years, and as the little church boosts a flock of but twenty, Rabbi A.M. Ash-uskey [Ashinsky] of Detroit, united the contracting parties.⁸

A year later, the Pitt Street synagogue was already listed in the Windsor City Directory.⁹ However, anxious to observe other Jewish customs and practices such as having matzah for the Passover feast, the growing congregation wanted it to be more than a place of worship. In that connection, the Evening Record of March 21, 1899, carried an item that dealt with the fact that Windsor’s Jewish population had been

made to pay duty on a wagonload of unleavened bread by the local custom authorities. . . . They claim that according to the Canadian Customs Regulations Articles [needed] in public worship should be admitted free, and they intended to apply to the government for a refund of the amount paid.¹⁰

Regular Sabbath observances were soon extended to include one Friday night service at six o’clock as well as two on Saturday; one at eight in the morning and a second one at four in the afternoon. By then we know that festivals such as Purim, Succot, Simchat Torah, and Passover were judiciously celebrated at the small Pitt Street synagogue, and even regularly reported in the local press.¹¹ We can only rely on oral recollections and preserved memorabilia for other information about Jewish life during 1890s. Indicative of the congregation’s attempts to engage its own spiritual leader is the following item in the Evening Record of March 11, 1897: “Rabbi Weistfield is anxious to know if he can marry on this side, or he has been offered a job in his colony in the east end. Mr. Bartlet is looking up the law.”¹²

The following newspaper story confirms that a religious leader had indeed been found by the end of the year 1900:

Max Bernstein stepped down from the “pulpit” and explained the customs of the New Year. He said this was “Rosh Hashono.” It was the year 5661 and the colony here was celebrating the occasion. Rev. J. Hirsch of St. Louis, Missouri, had charge of the services, which began last night. He was assisted by Max Bernstein, president and A. Moretsky [sic, Meretsky], trustee. The congregation consisted of Jewish residents in the city numbering about sixty, including the women and “children of the ghetto.” They wore loose-flowing garments such as are pictured in biblical illustrations.¹³

Reverend Hirsch was listed in the Windsor City Directory by September 24, 1900, and he likely stayed with the congregation for a year or two. Although it is doubtful that he was an ordained rabbi, he probably served as both baal Koreh (reader of the Torah) and as shochet.

Other readers may have been brought in to perform such dual functions during the High Holidays. In 1902 for example, when the number of Jewish families on record was fifteen, the Belle River farmer, Isaac Labetsky, preached the sermons at the two Rosh Hashanah services.¹⁴ Despite the fact that he was living in Detroit by the spring of 1903, he must have regarded it as a great honour to be asked to lead the Purim services as well as to officiate as chazan at Yom Kippur in the fall. Confirmation that he regularly returned to Windsor to attend to these functions is provided by the 1904 newspaper article, which referred to him as “the Rabbi in charge of the High Holiday services.”¹⁵ Other records, however, show that weddings were almost exclusively held in Detroit, with the exception of the few ceremonies performed in Windsor by ordained rabbis brought in from Detroit.¹⁶

In 1903, Samuel Geller became president of the synagogue¹⁷ and a year later, during Aaron Meretsky’s presidency,¹⁸ Rabbi Morris Gitlin was brought over from Russian Poland, likely by the Meretsky family. Ordained in Pinsk, this stocky gentleman, no more than a few inches over five feet tall, became the synagogue’s spiritual leader.¹⁹ As well, he served as religious teacher and shochet.²⁰ Soon after taking office a conflict developed between him and his congregation. Despite the fact that its members all had the same Orthodox background, they were certainly not a homogeneous body. By then, some had become so assimilated that they saw Rabbi Gitlin’s very strict rules as a hindrance to their efforts to earn a livelihood. They advocated new approaches to the way services were conducted. In view of the fact that this very pious traditionalist was obviously unwilling to implement any changes, there is reason to believe that some of the more intractable members even decided to attend the Reform services that had become available in Detroit.²¹

The discord between rabbi and congregation ultimately provoked internal squabbles that often degenerated into such severe differences that the police had to be called to restore order. Occasionally, these disagreements led to court actions, which were frequently reported in great detail in the local newspaper. In 1903, for example, Samuel Geller charged Jacob and Peter Meretsky with “disturbing the peace at a meeting in the Jewish Synagogue.”²² Fines of $5 and $10, plus court costs, were levied against both Meretskys.²³ At another time, Joseph Kovinsky accused Aaron Meretsky of using insulting language in the synagogue. The case was delayed, apparently to give Aaron more time to prepare his defence. However, during the trial, he turned the tables on the plaintiff, accusing Joseph of eating pork. A week later, the latter was fined $5 plus $7.25 in court costs.²⁴

Another case, involving alleged infractions of dietary laws, led William Englander to bring charges against Barney Kaplan. Denouncing him for using insulting language in the synagogue, Kaplan countered by accusing Englander of eating pork.²⁵ Although Englander admitted his guilt, Kaplan’s boisterous courtroom behaviour earned him a fine of $2.²⁶ Englander was embarrassed to find congregation members present to hear his confession in court. He felt his dignity somewhat restored, however, when he heard that Joel Gelber and Simon Meretsky (the synagogue president and vice president, respectively) had been caught buying potatoes and poultry at the market on a Saturday morning.²⁷ In the old country such disagreements would normally be settled by a bet din (Jewish court) or within the Jewish community and would never be resolved by a civil authority. Taking their disagreements to a civil court seemed an acceptable practice and indicated conformity to their new surroundings.

Not Strictly Kosher?

Just as Windsor’s Jewish community had its ups and downs during the pre-1900 growth period, shochetim (Jewish butchers) also had a difficult time getting established. They had to find additional sources of income because many individuals either slaughtered animals in their own backyards, or they brought in kosher meat from Detroit.²⁸ The first was of course illegal and if discovered, resulted in fines.²⁹

William Englander may have been the first to offer kosher meat to Windsor’s Jewish residents at his butcher shop at the corner of Wyandotte and Windsor streets.³⁰ Subsequently, others acted as the shochet or set aside a portion of their shops for the sale of kosher meat. Since many of them also stocked non-kosher meat, disputes arose between the “real shochet” and the butcher storeowners. Not only were they accused of selling meat that was not really kosher, they were also berated by non-Jews who were astonished to be offered food that had been rejected by the Jews.³¹ These and other controversies may have persuaded some Jewish women to continue buying their meat in Detroit, even though it was then available in Windsor at lower prices.³² Nathan Cherniak was one of Windsor’s first residents to become a shochet and melamed (teacher).³³ Having left his hometown of Shiletz in the Russian Province of Mohilev, he had followed Esther Rogin, the woman he loved, who emigrated, with her family in 1902, to New York. When Cherniak saw an advertisement for a shochet and melamed in a town called Windsor in Canada, he applied for the job and got it. After his beloved had joined him there in 1903, the couple was married and eventually became the parents of four children, Harry, Rose, May, and Archie.

Cherniak saved his money to allow him to bring members of his and his wife’s families, over to Canada. This included his wife’s brother, Charles Rogin, as well as her sister, Sarah, who eventually married Henry Greenberg. Nathan’s brother, Samuel, was the first to arrive. They then sent for their four other brothers and Minnie (Minca), their sister. Brothers Samuel, Jacob, and David, eventually changed their names to Schwartz. Nathan, Meyer, and Isidore, however, continued to carry the Cherniak name. Minnie married Hillel Croll and they became the future parents of David, who one day would be Windsor’s mayor.

Nathan now had a large family that included the Orechkins, to whom he was related through his paternal grandmother.³⁴ A thoughtful, spirited individual with a fine sense of humour, he acted as shochet between 1903 and 1914. He lost the position due to a disagreement with members of the Jewish community.³⁵ Trying to find a new source of income, he peddled a little in the countryside, taught Hebrew in his spare time, and opened a small grocery store on Monmouth Road that was run by his wife. He later had a large shop at the corner of Marentette and Wyandotte Street East and eventually went into business with his brother, Samuel Schwartz. When that partnership did not work out, he joined Reuben Madoff at his store at the corner of Riverside Drive and Goyeau Street. That association did not last either and Nathan again went into business on his own, starting a men’s wear shop that grew into a small department store by the middle 1920s.³⁶

Isidore Katzman was another one of Windsor’s Jewish butchers. He and his wife had come from Mogolov in western Russia. Isidore had been born there in 1868 and Lottie, née Jaffe, was five years younger. They had seven children. Sophie was the eldest and became the wife of Mr. Rogin (likely a relative of Mrs. Nathan Cherniak); two of their sons died during childhood in Russia (Saul, at the age of 3 and Milton, at 11). Daughter Rose married a Mr. Berger, while Sally married a Mr. Matlen. The two remaining Katzman sons, were Abe and Harry, the latter of whom died in 1973. Isidore had come to America in 1904. A year later he opened a butcher shop in Detroit that he operated until 1912, when he decided to go into the wholesale meat business in Windsor. He bought Samuel Abrahamson’s Mercer Street store in 1921,³⁷ continuing as a shochet until his retirement in 1942.³⁸

The first permanent resident, Wm. Englander, standing (middle) before his store and the sign that reads, “W. Englander, Groceries & Meat, Butter, Eggs & Poultry” (1898).

Another butcher during the early days was Eric Valensky. Nicknamed “Orke”, he changed his first name to Aaron. He and his brothers, with the exception of one remaining in England, adopted “Williams” as their new family name. Born in 1860,³⁹ Orke married Aaron Meretsky’s sister, Gishe (Jessie), who was nine years his junior. Having emigrated to Canada with other Meretsky family members, the couple had seven children: two sons (Edsel and Ben) and five daughters (Alty, Dora, Libby, Edith, and Mary).⁴⁰

Orke Williams was a very religious man. Having been persuaded to become a butcher, he probably was the first to use a section of William Englander’s store for his ritual slaughtering and for the sale of kosher meat.⁴¹ Between 1902 and 1933, he lived at 66 Mercer Street⁴² (later renumbered 462)⁴³ and died on December 5, 1938. A man by the name of Lopatin became shochet in 1934. Cases revolving around improper slaughtering procedures were again brought before the courts and it would seem that the controversies persisted throughout the 1930s.

The Next Move — Shaarey Zedek

The little Pitt Street synagogue had a property exemption of $1,000 by 1904.⁴⁴ Aaron Meretsky had been re-elected president, William Englander became treasurer, and trustees were S. Geller and S. Cohen.⁴⁵ The synagogue had become too small to accommodate its burgeoning population and the decision was made to build a new one.⁴⁶ By 1905 Joel Gelber was president and his vice president and secretary was Simon Meretsky. In May of that year, Simon purchased an east end lot at the corner of Mercer and Brant streets, for $900 from a Mrs. James Park.⁴⁷ The Pitt Street building was sold to David Meretsky for $1,000⁴⁸ and a campaign was begun to raise the estimated $3,500 to $4,000 needed for the proposed cement-block structure that was to be built by Alderman Euclid Jacques.⁴⁹ Aaron Meretsky laid the cornerstone and by January 1906,⁵⁰ $750 had been collected with the expectation of another $250 later that year. Upon completion of the new synagogue, the builder was paid $3,480. Soon thereafter, a crack was discovered in one corner and the congregation threatened to sue the builder.⁵¹ Shaarey Zedek likely opened its doors in time for the High Holidays in 1906. Simon Meretsky, Aaron’s son, was elected president and Isaac Weingarden was elected secretary of the congregation, with Rabbi Morris Gitlin appointed as its spiritual leader.⁵² The battles among the membership did not stop. For instance, Barney Kaplan accused Simon Meretsky of using insulting language in the vestibule of the new house of worship. The case was settled out of court with Meretsky donating $5 to the synagogue and Kaplan paying all court expenses. Following a dispute in 1908, the position of president remained open until the election of an Essex farmer, A. Orechkin.⁵³ That caused dissension again, splitting the membership into two separate factions,⁵⁴ one led by Jacob Meretsky, who favoured retaining Morris Gitlin as its rabbi, and the other led by William Englander, who advocated the appointment of S. Schumann, a rabbi from Chicago. Rabbi Schumann refused to accept the position, however, because of threats made against his life.⁵⁵

In 1910, Isidore Orechkin succeeded A. Orechkin as president. Samuel Schwartz acted as vice president, Charles Kovinsky and Michael Noble were first and second trustees, respectively, Nathan Cherniak was secretary, and Samuel K. Baum was treasurer.⁵⁶ By 1911 Windsor’s estimated Jewish population had reached a total of three hundred. Isidore Orechkin had been re-elected president of Shaarey Zedek; E. Subulski, vice president; and Joel Gelber, treasurer, with J. Orechkin and Peter Meretsky serving as members of the board of directors.⁵⁷ Nathan Cohen, who had been elected secretary in 1908 was re-elected to that position.⁵⁸

Photo courtesy of the Windsor Star

Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, Brant Avenue.

Rabbi Morris Gitlin, at that time, expressed a desire to move to Detroit.⁵⁹ He claimed it would give him the opportunity to study with other rabbis in a more Orthodox environment.⁶⁰ However, it is more plausible that this very religious man decided to leave Shaarey Zedek because he had grown tired of the constant infighting that made solemn worship virtually impossible. He apparently remained in Detroit until his death in February 1931.

The tension among the membership only grew worse with the arrival of Rabbi Gitlin’s successor. Samuel Abrahamson was not an ordained rabbi.⁶¹ Some argued that he was no more than a shochet and soon raised the ire of everyone. Aaron Meretsky accused him of using insulting language and others strongly resented the fact that he dared to question the propriety of some of the ladies in the congregation.⁶² There also was trouble between Samuel Abrahamson and his brother Aaron, who accused Samuel of insulting Aaron’s wife, Hanna, implying that she had not been “pure” before Samuel had married them. Subsequently, Aaron swore an affidavit to negate his brother’s claims. The arguments between them deteriorated to such an extent that Aaron was fined $7.75 for disturbing the peace. As he apparently could not raise the money, he was given the option of spending twenty-one days in the Sandwich Jail.⁶³ It is not known whether the sentence was ever carried out.

In 1912 Aaron Meretsky became president of the congregation, with Nathan Kaplan serving as vice president,⁶⁴ and Michael Meretsky and Morris Katzman as first and second trustee, respectively. One of the new leader’s first acts was to dismiss Samuel Abrahamson, with whom he frequently had rows that were so severe that they required court settlement.⁶⁵ More trouble ensued when the deposed rabbi opened a store in town. Apart from defiantly serving customers on the Sabbath,⁶⁶ he was resentful of the power wielded by Aaron Meretsky. Samuel Abrahamson complained in the following letter published in the Evening Record of November 16, 1912:

The undersigned begs to say he was Rabbi in the Jewish colony for three years and had no trouble in court until Mr. Meretsky got the Aldermanic bee in his bonnet. He wanted me to use my influence with the Jewish people to help elect him. But because I was candid enough to remind him of his shortcomings from an educational standpoint and not to seek the office, trouble started right there. Since that time, Alderman Meretsky has tried to make me feel his majestic might. I stopped the church business and started a grocery and dry goods store, with which I have been able to make a living. I want to be left alone, but Alderman Meretsky has become so proud that he wants to see everybody bowing down before him or else running away.⁶⁷

Those who had attended Shaarey Zedek as youngsters attested to that confrontation and other unpleasant encounters. In view of the perpetual bickering and the explosive atmosphere that prevailed at the corner of Mercer and Brant streets, they still wonder today how religious services could have been conducted at all.

The same year, 1912, Aaron Meretsky invited Reverend Harris Wolenske, formerly from Great Britain and New Haven, Connecticut, to come to Windsor to perform the marriage of his daughter, Tibe, to Michael Burnstein. Subsequently, Wolenske became the rabbi of Shaarey Zedek,⁶⁸ as well as its religious teacher.⁶⁹ This scholarly gentleman was warmly received by the congregation and remained its spiritual leader until at least 1917.⁷⁰

Aaron Meretsky continued as president of Shaarey Zedek until 1914, when Joseph Loikrec took over, with Joseph Kovinsky and Nathan Cohen remaining as treasurer and secretary, respectively, until 1916.⁷¹ Also in that year, Cohen and Loikrec were presented with gold medals in appreciation of their services to the congregation.⁷²

The Beginning of a Jewish Cemetery

When a Jewish resident of Windsor died, funeral services were usually held at the home of the deceased. In the absence of a local cemetery, burial took place in Detroit. Janisse Brothers, a local Christian funeral home, made all of the arrangements. Following the establishment of Shaarey Zedek in 1906–7, however, religious Halachic practices — practices according to Halacha, the collective corpus of Jewish law, traditions, and customs — could be performed in the basement of the synagogue before transferral of the casket to Detroit for internment.⁷³ The general inadequacy of these procedures and more particularly, those encountered following the death of a child, aroused the concern of Jerry Glanz, a 26-year-old Russian immigrant.⁷⁴ In 1914, shortly after coming to Windsor, he decided to look after Jewish funeral arrangements. He remained the community undertaker until his death, when his son, David Glanz, took over the function.

Aaron Meretsky purchased land for a Jewish cemetery on Pillette Road, in 1917. Although acting as an agent for Shaarey Zedek, he held title to the land for a good number of years.⁷⁵ The first person to be buried there was a child by the name of Philip Jaffe, whose funeral took place on April 15, 1917.⁷⁶ Less than a week later, Joseph Kovinsky’s mother-in-law, Rachel Sobelsky, died. She was interred at the Pillette Road Cemetery on April 22, 1917.⁷⁷

By this time, Shaarey Zedek’s tax exemption as a church property was listed at $6,000.⁷⁸ The synagogue had no rabbi until 1922, when it called upon D. Golden. He came from Detroit with a seven-voice choir to conduct High Holiday services.⁷⁹ In 1928, Peter Meretsky became the synagogue president with Rabbi Ashinsky from Detroit carrying out the various religious functions. In 1932, Aaron Meretsky was again chosen as president of Shaarey Zedek, a post he held until the end of his life.

One Divided By Two — Tifereth Israel

During the early years of the twentieth century, another wave of new immigrants began to arrive in Windsor. While the Jewish pioneers welcomed those to whom they were related, they ultimately came into conflict with those who had no such ties. The rift that developed between these two Jewish factions was mainly due to disagreements regarding the leadership of Shaarey Zedek.⁸⁰ To the one clique belonged those families who by then had become more affluent merchants (the Meretskys, Kovinskys, Bernsteins, Bensteins, Gellers, etc.). They saw themselves as the backbone of the Jewish community. Despite the fact that they originally had come from the same part of the world and had the same Orthodox background, they wanted their religious services to follow less stringent patterns. The other group (led by such newcomers as the Orechkins and Katzmans) not only favoured preserving the traditions and day-to-day practices they had so recently left behind, they also resented the fact that the members of the more established families continued to retain all the important synagogue positions.⁸¹ Honours were only passed around to those considered of equal status. The clash between these two opposing factions came to a head in 1914, the year Aaron Meretsky was re-elected president. Since the members could not resolve their differences and no consensus was reached, the Orechkin-Katzman clan decided to break away from Shaarey Zedek and form their own congregation. The outcome was the creation of Tifereth Israel, the synagogue was also known as “the Katzman Shul.” Nathan Orechkin was elected as the first president, B. Pazner as treasurer, M. Katzman and S. Mossman as trustees, and Samuel Abrahamson as secretary. The latter may have attended services at Shaarey Zedek until 1914 and was listed as its rabbi during the next two years, even though, in the meantime, he had become an active member of the splinter group.

In 1919, the new Tifereth Israel⁸² moved into a small bungalow-style building at 48 Mercer Street, only a few doors from Shaarey Zedek.⁸³ The new quarters were listed with a church property tax exemption of $2,500.⁸⁴ The property had an outhouse in the backyard,⁸⁵ but the house had only one room on the ground floor, with neither basement nor attic.⁸⁶ It was difficult to convert this to a suitable Orthodox place of worship, where men and women could not sit together. After installing the Holy Ark, the room was partitioned so that the men would face the Ark for prayers. The women, who could only enter through the back door, were relegated to a space behind the Ark, where they watched the proceedings through a narrow opening no more than one foot wide.⁸⁷ The Orthodox services conducted by the butcher Orke Williams were typically lengthy and the children were permitted to leave the synagogue, rather than having to sit still until the bitter end. Some people clearly remembered playing football and other games on the street outside, or in nearby backyards, while their fathers continued to daven (worship) inside.⁸⁸ Tifereth Israel closed around 1925. The building remained vacant for many years until it was re-opened as a mikvah (ritual bathhouse).

While their influence and affluence was increasing, the difficulties between Jews continued throughout the decades of the twentieth century. But the beginning of a permanent settlement began with the establishment of the first seeds of religious life.

Photo courtesy of the Windsor Star

Tifereth Israel Synagogue.

The Path Toward Maturity

Statistics clearly indicate that Windsor’s total population had surpassed the 12,000-mark by the third quarter of 1901.⁸⁹ Accounts regarding the number of its Jewish inhabitants, however, are conflicting, varying somewhere between 132 and 200 in 1900, but reaching 300 in 1911⁹⁰ — a marked increase from the sixteen listed by the 1891 census.

Due to Essex County’s industrial and agricultural expansion during the first decade of the twentieth century, those Jews who had made Windsor their permanent home had also attained a marked degree of economic stability. Many former peddlers had become respected members of the community, some as well-to-do shopkeepers, while a large number had found prosperity in buying and selling junk. They included Aaron Meretsky,⁹¹ his brother, Jacob, and his son, Simon;⁹² Michael Rosen, who had moved from peddling to junk in 1906,⁹³ and the Kovinsky brothers — Joseph, Jacob, and Samuel⁹⁴ — who had gone into the business shortly after 1900. Max Bernstein, who had been a junk and scrap-iron dealer before the turn of the century, in 1904 became the manager of R. Bernstein and Sons — a firm named after his wife, Rebecca, and their son Albert.⁹⁵

William Englander was still operating his grocery business at 122 Windsor Avenue.⁹⁶ Former peddler, Herman Benstein, who had purchased Charles Hawkins’ grocery store at No. 54 Pitt Street, at the corner of McDougall in February 1902,⁹⁷ two years later acquired the two adjacent locations at Nos. 56 and 58 Pitt Street. He subsequently turned these acquisitions into a general department store.⁹⁸

Even before the turn of the century, other former peddlers, including Solomon Glazer⁹⁹ and Isaac and Benjamin Jacobson become second-hand dealers.¹⁰⁰ Isaac Weingarden, the first to open a business of this type in Sandwich, started another one, known as “The Model Store,” in 1905,¹⁰¹ while Schwartz and Cherniak operated a clothing business at 31 Sandwich Street West.¹⁰² Samuel K. Baum and his brother-in-law, Ben Brody had opened a home furnishing business in 1904.¹⁰³ Using such ingenious promotional methods as offering a fan to every lady who visited their shop,¹⁰⁴ they managed to improve their enterprise sufficiently to allow them to take over an entire building complex eight years later.¹⁰⁵ Jacob Meretsky’s son, David, also thrived. He publicized his shop by placing advertisements such as the following in the Evening Record: “Laurentian Stoves and Ranges are the best. Old Stoves Bought, Sold and in exchange — David Meretsky, 51 1/2 Pitt Street East. Opposite Market Square.”¹⁰⁶

By 1910, those Jews who had been junk or second-hand dealers ten years earlier, were also becoming specialized. Jacob Schwartz’s store on Goyeau Avenue started selling hay, straw, wood, and coal,¹⁰⁷ and Kovinsky & Company added coal and wood to its retail operation. Joseph Loikrec began to make boots and shoes on Mercer Street. Benstein and Sarasohn’s general store on Pitt Street East enlarged its premises and added boots, shoes, clothing, china, and dry goods to its grocery stocks.¹⁰⁸ Schwartz and Kaplan opened a shop at 82–84 Wyandotte Street West,¹⁰⁹ and Samuel Schwartz began operations on Glengarry Avenue.¹¹⁰ While Jacob and Simon Meretsky continued to sell junk,¹¹¹ David Meretsky went into the carpet and house furnishing business together with Joel Gelber, a newcomer.¹¹²

Since conditions in Eastern Europe had further deteriorated, a new group of Russian-Polish Jewish immigrants began to arrive in Windsor during the early years of the twentieth century. While their own, now better established brethren, reluctantly accepted them, they were spurned by the town’s Christian inhabitants who, already feeling uneasy about the ever-increasing presence of minorities from many different lands, were afraid they eventually might deprive them of their jobs. Anyway, knowing little about “Hebrew” habits and customs, they were partially amused by these Jewish newcomers’ strange dress and language but found their lifestyle totally bewildering.¹¹³ Since they did not know what to make of them, they, ultimately, lumped them together with the Blacks and Chinese, who earlier had settled in Windsor.¹¹⁴

The so-called “Jewish Colony” was located in an area bounded by Mercer, Pitt, and Assumption streets, close to the old Market Square in the eastern part of town, a few blocks from the Detroit River. Individuals familiar with that part of Windsor, remember it as a very rough neighbourhood, where everything was in constant turmoil, where life may have provided a degree of camaraderie, but was not without its tensions. Since the people were living in very crowded conditions, and everyone had to struggle hard to earn a meagre livelihood, tempers often flared and fights were the order of the day.¹¹⁵

It would be foolish to imply that the Jews among them were saints, even though the majority, ultimately, became good citizens. They not only argued among themselves, but also had squabbles with their Christian neighbours, who, at times, would take them to court, mostly for insignificant infractions.¹¹⁶ The Jews, in turn, would launch legal actions against them, frequently to claim damages, but often just to air their grievances against large firms who, they felt, had done them harm.¹¹⁷ As many of them spoke little or no English, they likely were glad to avail themselves of the services court interpreter William Englander had to offer.¹¹⁸

These court appearances were not restricted to new immigrants. Even the most established citizens would go before the judge, since the Jewish general thinking seemed to have been that legal action would redress all errors, and winning the case would further elevate his standing in the community. The court, therefore, became the battleground for all forms of retribution. Although these lawsuits mostly dealt with minor and inconsequential violations, and routinely could be resolved by a magistrate, they were taken very seriously by those who felt their honour had been scarred, if for no other reason than the blatant notoriety they seemed to evoke.¹¹⁹

However, because of their frequency, the local press usually made sport of these cases, considering them a form of entertainment. Yet, when reporting those involving Jews and Blacks, they would emphasize both the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s race and colour in the most derogatory terms while, at the same time, failing to mention these individuals’ names.¹²⁰ The importance of a given situation was, therefore, minimized, since a charge dealing with smuggling or petty theft, generally, was described as something that had been done “both to and by Jews.”

The most unfortunate cases were those pitting Jew against Jew. Usually involving suits for damages, thefts, false claims, breaches of contract, broken promise, domestic strife, and assault charges, they also included operating without a proper license, violating an existing by-law, underselling goods, or such lesser offences as mud slinging and using insulting language. Among those who, periodically, appeared in these court battles were such prominent Jewish citizens as Max Bernstein, Aaron, Kate, and Simon Meretsky, Jacob Goldberg, Louis Brown, Maurice Rosen, Herman and Dora Benstein, Nathan Cohen, Aaron Katzman, J. Croll, Benjamin Pazner, and others.¹²¹

In addition to violent arguments and fights, there were many other misfortunes that plagued the Jewish colony. Stores burned down or were broken into, people were injured in accidents, some got caught in elaborate and somewhat dubious money-making schemes, as found-ins during raids on gambling houses,¹²² or smuggling goods across the border from Detroit.¹²³ Yet, despite these recurring setbacks, many others persevered, continuing to work long hours to make an honest living.

Some measure of success regarding Jewish legal rights was attained in 1910. To assuage the Jewish custom of drinking wine at weddings, the attorney general ruled that, since it could be interpreted as an essential part of a religious ceremony, no special license was required for such feasts. And, when the minister of customs, the Right Honourable J. D. Redi, decided to lift the 25 percent duty on unleavened bread for the Passover festival, Jews felt that this respectful recognition of their religious practices would henceforth allow them to enjoy more cordial relations with other branches of government.¹²⁴

For the Jewish merchants, conditions had further improved by 1920. In the junk business, many, including Benstein & Meretsky, Michael Meretsky & Son, and Meretsky & Meretsky, had formed new partnerships,¹²⁵ while A. Gold, Joseph Kovinsky, and Louis Subelsky were operating individually in the same field. In men’s furnishings were H. Meretsky and M. Merson, and Cherniak & Company, who sold boots, shoes, and clothing on Sandwich Street.¹²⁶ Samuel Schwartz and Isaac Weingarden had moved to the same street and, after remodelling their store in 1912, made additional improvements four years later. J. Gelber’s furniture and Meretsky & Gitlin’s furniture, housewares, and carpet business also grew.¹²⁷ Others in that field were Jerry Glanz, who had become the owner of Windsor Home Furnishings; Hyman Greenberg, and Aaron Abrahamson, who had added dry goods to his stock. Joseph Orechkin, and Nathan and Max Kaplan were in dry goods,¹²⁸ while Max Rosenberg had opened a store on Mercer Street selling coal and wood.¹²⁹

Retail grocers were Samuel Abrahamson, Louis Brown, Peter Caplan, Abraham Center, Cheifetz & Company, Hillel Croll, Henry Greenberg, Meyer Katzman, Kaplan & Schwartz — who also carried dry goods — the Mossman Brothers (on Wyandotte Street East), Orechkin, Charles Rogin, Sam Samberg, D. and E. Schwartz, and Aaron Williams.¹³⁰ Herman Benstein, having added dry goods and clothing to his inventory,, erected a new building in 1917 at the corner of Pitt Street and McDougall Avenue. In Ford City, Abraham Adler had opened a bakery, while Barney Hurwitz¹³¹ had started a men’s wear store; butcher shops were operated by Isidore Katzman, Levine, and Enkin.¹³²

The following Jewish storeowners belonged to the Border Cities Retail Merchants Association that had been organized on April 25, 1919:

Joseph Loikrec

Charles Kaplan

Meyer Katzman

Dubensky Bros.

Hymen Shore

Solomon Samberg

B. Bernstein

Gelber Furniture*

M. Katzman

A. Katzman

Abraham Adler

N. D. Cohn

Baum & Brody

Meretsky & Gitlin

Cherniak & Co.

S. Schwartz

Chas. Rogin

A. Weingarden

Wm. Levine

Jacob Schwartz

E. Orechkin

E. Schwartz

O. Orechkin

Cheifetz & Co

H. Meretsky

S. Abrahamson

S. D. Sumner

M. Meretsky & Son

H. H. Samuels

*Joel Gelber became president of the Border Cities Retail Merchants Association in 1923.¹³³

Although most of these merchants had lived in the “Jewish Colony” at the turn of the century, by 1920, several had moved into other, predominantly Gentile neighbourhoods. Since many had purchased valuable properties or erected impressive buildings there, their assets now could be measured in ways other than the ever-increasing sizes of their stores.¹³⁴ By 1912, Nathan Cherniak and Herman Benstein had each erected two-storey frame homes, costing $2,000 and $2,900, respectively.¹³⁵ Although Simon Meretsky could not write his name and signed all documents with an “X,” he nevertheless had become most successful in real estate, owning land, buildings, and theatres — properties individually valued at between $20,000 and $25,000.¹³⁶ Others involved in similar acquisitions, as well as in construction projects, were Aaron Meretsky, Joseph Kovinsky, S. K. Baum, Charles Rogin, Louis Kaplan, Samuel Schwartz, and Joseph Loikrec.¹³⁷

In the socio-economic stratum, business and property ownership were only two facets of Jewish successes. Although none of the sons of the early pioneers had, as yet, entered the legal profession, by 1920, a few of them had become physicians. Max Bernstein’s son, Albert was the first Windsor Jew to attend the Detroit College of Medicine. Following his graduation in about 1906, he set up a medical practice in Detroit.¹³⁸ Dr. S. Gelber, son of Joel, after graduating in 1909, moved to Denver, Colorado;¹³⁹ Dr. David H. Weingarden, son of Isaac, joined the staff of Detroit’s Grace Hospital in 1914;¹⁴⁰ Abraham Kovinsky, son of Joseph, after graduating in 1915, set up his medical practice in Detroit,¹⁴¹ while Dr. Isidore Cherniak’s career as a physician began in 1917.¹⁴²

Louis Kaplan Feed Store and Coal Yard (n.d.).

The names of those Jews who reached financial and academic prominence have been preserved in the annals of the Windsor community. However, since we have no written records of the many who barely eked out a living, we know little about them and their stories are hardly ever told. Yet, we must not lose sight of the fact that, while labouring on hundreds of tasks, they too raised families to the best of their abilities. Their contributions, therefore, must be measured by their dedication, in general, to Judaism, and specifically to the growth and development of Windsor’s Jewish community.