Читать книгу The Jews of Windsor, 1790-1990 - Jonathan V. Plaut - Страница 13

Windsor in the Era of the Great War

The Border Cities entered the teens with great expectations. An announcement was made in 1913 that Ojibway had been selected as the site of the US Steel Corporation’s Canadian plant. The prospect of twinning autos with a similar steel industry made many in the area almost giddy. Through interests allied with the Canadian Bridge Company, the Essex Terminal Railway extended a line to the site and Ojibway was incorporated as a town, the next Border City. A real estate boom developed causing the price of the adjacent farmland to soar to $1,500 an acre. Ojibway lots were sold to purchasers all over the continent; speculation was rampant.

Skilled labourers, organized in artisan or craft unions, were merging into trades and labour councils and becoming a potential political power in the community. By 1918, they would produce a progressive platform, run a slate of candidates for City Council, and elect a third of the councillors. Industrial workers, perhaps basking in the promise of mass production and Henry Ford’s $4-a-day wages in Canada, would have to experience tougher times before taking similar action. Ford’s paternalism towards his workers was expressed through a Sociological Department whose investigators made regular home visits to ensure that they lived up to his conception of family values. His English Language School, supplied by the company and staffed by volunteers, provided many new immigrant workers with an opportunity to learn the national language and prepare for citizenship. The village, which had arisen around the Ford Works, achieved town status in 1915 and was seen as the coming community in the area.

Following the war, 1919 was the year of strikes in Canada — the Winnipeg General Strike being the most famous. In Windsor, the SWA (Sandwich, Windsor, and Amherstburg Railway) strike of that year was considered by the most conservative elements in the city as “Bolshevik inspired” and needing the full weight of heavily armed military forces to quell the impending threat to the established order. Gas and Water Socialism was at its height following the creation of Ontario Hydro in 1906 and in numerous instances of municipal ownership of energy sources, mass transportation, and other infrastructure and services. The citizens of the Border Cities voted for public ownership of the SWA, which was accomplished in 1920 under the prompting of Ontario Hydro’s “Power Knight,” Sir Adam Beck.

The Great War broke out in 1914 and Canada dutifully joined the British Imperial contingent. Windsor’s industries provided important war materials such as trucks and ambulances, shells, ammunition, and uniforms. The community came together in support of the war effort in a number of ways: Victory Loans, patriotic funds, and sewing and knitting woollens and warm clothing. Peace brought returning veterans to bask in the heartfelt gratitude of their communities through a series of civic receptions and church services. Canada’s new international status, marked by membership in the League of Nations and the International Labour Organization (ILO), had been earned by great sacrifices both at home and abroad.

Windsor’s Jews had not gone to war, but the community did their part in supporting the war effort. Of more importance, perhaps, were the consequences of peace. In 1917, the Balfour Declaration gave British support for a permanent home for refugee Jews in Palestine. Zionism had always been popular among a certain segment of the Jewish population and this issue brought deep feelings to the surface.¹

The Beginning of Diversity

The initial struggles of any pioneering group intent on survival are usually dramatic. Windsor’s budding Jewish community was no exception. Its members, no longer able to insulate themselves entirely from their surroundings, had learned to interact with their non-Jewish neighbours. Yet, mindful of their solid commitment to family members and to others in their extended community, they methodically laid the building blocks for a cohesive society.

Shaarey Zedek, their first synagogue,² had been the place where they had worshipped together, learned, debated, and often quarrelled. Although it had, initially, served as a unifying force, successive events proved that it was not an ivory tower in which everyone spoke with one voice. If conflicting opinions had brought about a parting of the ways — the emergence of Tifereth Israel as a separate religious entity³—that split, eventually, led to the development of numerous other Jewish organizations and facilities that allowed all those able to take advantage of them to freely express a variety of thoughts and viewpoints.

The Importance of Education

Since Jews have been reading and studying sacred texts for centuries, they always have been known as the “people of the book.” Regardless of how poor they were or how often the whims of rulers in the various European countries where they tried to settle forced them to move from place to place, Jewish parents always instilled in their children that knowledge was something they could take with them wherever they went. Education was a means for attaining security.

Although these children had attended parochial schools that taught Jewish subjects exclusively, when they came to North America they were compelled to enroll in secular institutions.⁴ In Windsor, seven public schools and one collegiate institute existed prior to 1901. School taxes were levied on all ratepayers, with the Protestants paying 60 percent and, in the absence of a Separate School Board before 1901, Catholics were assessed 25 percent, while the remaining 15 percent was borne by the various local industries.⁵ Also in 1901, night school classes were started at the Central School, founded in 1871. These classes were discontinued six months later as only 5 percent of all eligible students took advantage of them and attendance was both poor and irregular.⁶ The vacated Central School premises subsequently became Windsor’s new City Hall.⁷

In about 1905, several new public schools were built, including Dougall Avenue, King Edward, and St. Anne’s Separate School. The Jewish children attended Tuscarora, Park, Mercer, Assumption, Wyandotte, and Dougall,⁸ and despite the fact that a good number of them were recent immigrants who had just learned to speak English, their enrolment was considerably higher proportionately in comparison to that of the Gentile population. Many won prizes during oratorical, poetry, and essay competitions, as well as receiving awards at commencement exercises.⁹

Although a particularly memorable “success story” of a different kind has been told about the newly arrived Simon Meretsky who, despite his expulsion from school for using bad language, managed to become a wealthy man, most other pupils did very well scholastically.¹⁰ An indication of their intellectual prowess is the appearance of so many Jewish names on honour rolls,¹¹ together with the high marks the majority received in examinations — the results of which were regularly published in the local newspaper. That these students’ achievements evoked a certain amount of envy and anti-Semitism is borne out by the following bold and surprisingly enlightened editorial in the Evening Record of June 11, 1911:

President Taft has shown himself a man above racial prejudice by twice rebuking those who have displayed bigoted opposition to the presence of Jews. On one occasion he tendered some peppery expressions on rejection of a Jewish applicant by a New York Club. The president’s latest broadside was provoked by treatment of a Jew who sought a military commission and was unfavourably reported on by some numbskull clothed with authority.

There are peanut-minded gentiles who profess to be astonished at the progress the Jewish people are making and their remarkable faculty for amassing money.

It must be admitted the Jews have solved the problem of taking care of themselves. They are loyal to their race, they stand by each other, they support their widows and orphans, the hand of charity is never withheld, and yet they do not display in their philanthropy the same stupid race hatred that they encounter from the so-called Christians.

The Jewish boys and girls succeed wonderfully well in the Windsor public schools and in the Collegiate. They are taught and trained to acquire just a little better proficiency and just a little more knowledge than the other children in order that when they attain the profession they seek they will be sufficiently well equipped to overcome the handicap of an unjust and unfair racial opposition. They appreciate more than anyone else that nothing succeeds like success, and their success comes because it is deserved.¹²

Most of the written records about pre-1900 Jewish education have unfortunately been lost, so we have had to rely on the somewhat sketchy and often unreliable recollections of a few former students who told us that, since no formal Hebrew school existed in Windsor before 1906, pioneer parents too busy trying to earn a livelihood spent little time worrying about their children’s religious training. Apparently, the younger ones picked up what they could at home, while the older ones sporadically attended private lessons given by transient melameds from Detroit. Others were taught by resident shochetim or by members of the community deemed to be equally knowledgeable.¹³ Former students also recalled that regular classes were available long before permanent locations existed. Classes were held in a room behind Abrahamson’s butcher shop, across the street from Shaarey Zedek,¹⁴ or in the basement of the newly constructed Tifereth Israel synagogue at the corner of Mercer and Brant Streets. The teachers they remembered were Nathan Cherniak, Isaac Kaplan, Harris Wolenske¹⁵ — who held classes in his home on Sabbath afternoons — Morris Gitlin,¹⁶ a Mr. Cohen, and another man named Richardson, who used to teach in Ford City.¹⁷

Classes were comparatively unstructured and set up in such a way that one teacher could instruct every age group at the same time.¹⁸ The melameds taught all the students how to daven, made the boys learn their maftir (Torah reading), as well as preparing them for their bar mitzvah.¹⁹ Since the strap or cane was used frequently, some old-timers vividly could recall the “lickings” they got for failing to pay attention.

By 1914, Hebrew school enrolment had become large enough to warrant more classes. Strongly supported by Samuel Geller and Jerry Glanz, the quality of instruction also improved with each passing year. Since it was wartime, the Evening Record of November 12, 1915, made special mention of the prayers offered by sixty Jewish students for the welfare of the British armed forces.²⁰ Dated December 2, 1915, another item dealing with public examinations, pointed out that the Detroit rabbis who conducted them insisted that all the children translate Hebrew texts into English.²¹ Early in 1916, Joel Gelber, Reverend Abrahamson, and I. Rosenberg served as judges at graduation exercises, awarding prizes to Eva Croll, Harry Schwartz, Kate Mossman, Lily Waldman, Ida Snider, and David Orechkin²² — all pupils of teachers Samuel Landy and Max Rosenberg. In that same year, the students put on a Purim play with Leo Croll, Rose and Milton Meretsky, Ida Brown, Sadie and Ben Baum, and Edith Abramson in the cast.²³

Sports, Social, and Cultural Activities

Apart from excelling in educational endeavours, the younger Jewish set also got involved in countless sports activities. In 1912, Harry Cherniak won the twenty-five-yard dash and Tibe Orechkin came first in the needle-and-thread race.²⁴ In 1917, Samuel K. Baum was president of the local curling club and, following that year’s cross-country races, in which Leo Croll, Jacob Geller, David Greenberg, and William Weingarden participated, Leo Croll²⁵ was crowned champion athlete of Windsor, winning the juniors’ medal in 1918.²⁶ As rugby had been a very popular sport by 1916, Edsel Meretsky became a substitute player on the Collegiate Institute team, while I. Meretsky played backfield a year later.²⁷ Other Jewish boys, including Israel Modlinsky, David Croll, Erwin and I. Bert Meretsky, and David Greenberg joined the team in 1918;²⁸ those who distinguished themselves received a letter from the school praising their athletic abilities. During that year, David Croll and Israel Modlinsky were on the reserve basketball team;²⁹ Croll and David Greenberg also became active soccer players in 1919.³⁰

Many Jewish adults began to take time out from work to attend social events, such as their children’s piano recitals³¹ at the end of each school year, card parties, teas, and dances, as well as the occasional political meeting.³² While most of these functions were held in and around Windsor, families affluent enough to travel often ventured further afield. When they returned from their trips, any adventures they may have had were usually reported in the social column of the Border Cities Star.³³

Parents anxious for their children to marry used a variety of methods to find suitable partners for them. Although they mostly introduced them to each other at local gatherings, some sent their sons and daughters to the homes of friends or relatives in other Canadian or American cities, hoping they would meet their prospective spouses there. Peter Meretsky’s mother and father likely were among those who even condoned advertising for a potential mate, since a notice of that type appeared in the “personal” column of a 1901 newspaper.³⁴ If these and other matrimonial searches resulted in engagements and weddings, they usually were celebrated in style by the entire community.

War Relief and Charity

Between 1914 and 1918, the Windsor press made no specific mention of any Jews from the region having enlisted in the armed forces. This omission was likely due to the absence of records indicating deaths on the battlefield, although several oral histories have cited the names of Jewish soldiers who served in the Canadian or American armies.³⁵

Since aid and general relief were vital during World War I, the members of Windsor’s Jewish community directed their energies not only toward support of the war effort but also toward assisting Jewry in war-torn Europe.³⁶ Having collected money in 1905, when the catastrophic events in Russia threatened the safety of the families they had left behind, they again came to the rescue of stricken Jews in 1917³⁷ by starting the Relief Fund, of which Samuel K. Baum was a trustee.³⁸ The Jewish organizations that also got involved in philanthropic causes included the Ladies Aid Society, one of the earliest women’s groups. Associated with Shaarey Zedek, and started by Mrs. Michael Meretsky, Mrs. Ruben Jaffe, and Mrs. Rubin, Jerry Glanz’s mother-in-law, its members took care of local indigent Jewish families,³⁹ doing all they could to help them. While under the presidency of Mrs. Simon Meretsky, who held the post for almost a decade, the society also raised funds for the synagogue, as well as for Palestine.

Another organization that looked after Windsor’s poor and needy Jews was the Hebrew Women’s Club. Its membership, about eighty strong, also gave money to the Hebrew Fund, the Red Cross, and, later, to the Palestine Fund. Mrs. M. Meretsky was the club’s president in 1916; her slate of officers included Mrs. Nathan Cohen, vice president, Mrs. Rae Kaplan, secretary; and Mrs. Simon Meretsky, treasurer. She and Mrs. Baum took food and clothing to those who had fallen on hard times, while Mrs. Samuels and Mrs. Janosky visited the sick, frequently bringing them flowers.⁴⁰

In 1917, Windsor’s Young People’s Hebrew Association organized a tag day to aid Jewish war sufferers. Apart from the City Council, which contributed $300, some of the other donors were newsboys Archie Zeitlin, Leo Dropkin, and Morris Graber, as well as Abe and Sam Kovinsky. An editorial, published in the Border Cities Star solicited generous support for that particular fundraising drive:

Though it is not the custom of the Jewish people to go outside of their own race and ask aid for their suffering brethren, the need of relief for Jewish families in Europe suffering through the war has become so imperative that, in spite of the bountiful offerings that have been made since the outbreak of the war, they now find themselves unable to feed the hungry mouths of Europe who cry to their more fortunate brethren in America for bread and sustenance. The Jewish citizens of Windsor, under the auspices of the Young People’s Hebrew Association, have secured permission from the Council to hold a tag day on Monday. It is hoped there will be a generous response.⁴¹

Windsor Jews also were actively involved in the work of the Canadian Jewish Congress; as early as 1915, Shaarey Zedek had sent delegates to its conventions, and members again met in 1919 to elect those who would attend the upcoming Montreal meeting. Despite charges of irregularities involving ballots cast by students below the legal voting age of 18, the election was declared valid.⁴² Isidore Cherniak and Max Rappaport emerged as the delegates, having been chosen from a slate of seven candidates that included Miss B. Levin, Joseph Loikrec, Mr. Rosenberg, H. Zeitlin, and Simon Meretsky.⁴³

In April 1920, another drive was organized to raise funds to aid Jews in Central and Eastern Europe. Chaired by Joel Gelber, the local Jewish committee included Samuel Schwartz, Joseph Becker, Michael and Simon Meretsky, Herman Benstein, Joshua Gitlin, Joseph Kovinsky, M. Cherniak, N. Benelya, and Hadassah president, Miss B. Levin.⁴⁴ Prior to the selection of the teams who would canvass Jewish as well as Gentile citizens, local dignitaries — bank managers, ministers, Rotarians and members of the Chamber of Commerce — heard a stirring five-minute address by Herbert Jones, Toronto campaign director of the Canadian Jewish War Relief Fund.⁴⁵ The campaign ultimately raised more than $9,000. In November 1920, a meeting was held to discuss another drive to raise $10,000 for the support of Jewish orphans. Chaired by S. K. Baum, who also took on the role of treasurer, it was attended by M. Rappaport, J. Kovinsky, and Simon Meretsky, as well as by representatives from various local Jewish charities.⁴⁶ Tag days to collect money for starving Russian Jews were held again in 1921 and 1922.⁴⁷

Among the numerous other charitable organizations active in the Border Cities were the Jewish Benevolent Society, which provided financial assistance to indigents; Junior Hadassah; the Young People’s Group; Aleph Zadik Alpha; and the Naomi Girls, who looked after the needs of the community’s younger members. They all sponsored the ever-popular dances and plays, as well as other social, cultural, and religious functions.⁴⁸

The continuing desire of people to emigrate from Europe prompted a nucleus of Windsor Jews to engage in different kinds of philanthropic endeavours. They not only fixed papers for illegal aliens but, once permission had been obtained to remain in Canada,⁴⁹ they were provided with initial living allowances, an action that resulted in the creation of a loan society that became the more formalized Essex Co-operative Credit Society Limited on February 8, 1929. From then on, the Hebrew Ladies Free Loan Association’s fundraising activities came under the jurisdiction of the new institution that, setting the maximum amounts of loans and deposits at $1,000, eventually helped the many newcomer families who required financial assistance.⁵⁰

Resourceful Windsor Jews also participated in numerous underground operations. They smuggled immigrants across the Detroit River, frequently via Boblo Island, from where access to the United States was relatively easy.⁵¹ During the waiting period, they would provide these people with food and find temporary lodgings for them, sometimes in the basement of Shaarey Zedek or in the homes of local Jewish families. These covert actions went on for many years, their urgency increasing even further with the onset of World War II.⁵²

Making Political Waves

During the war years, several Jewish businessmen became interested in politics. The first to declare his candidacy as alderman in the 1915 municipal election was Samuel K. Baum.⁵³ Born in Austria in 1881, he had immigrated to New York in 1894. Only 13 years old at the time, he had made his living selling newspapers and shining shoes. He had then moved to Toronto and, in 1902, arrived in Windsor, where he peddled dry goods from door to door. He married Tilly Brody⁵⁴ and two years later went into the carpet and house furnishing business with his brother-in-law, Ben Brody.⁵⁵

Although Samuel K. Baum lost the 1915 election, he nonetheless found himself on Council, since he had been asked to fill the vacancy created by Alderman Frank H. Mann’s sudden death.⁵⁶ Appointed to the finance, public works, market and property, and religious committees,⁵⁷ Baum served on Council for the balance of the year, together with the indomitable Aaron Meretsky. Although he was subsequently defeated, he automatically assumed the seat left vacant by Alderman Frank Mitchell’s resignation in April 1915.⁵⁸ Throughout their joint term in office, the relationship between these two Jewish aldermen was decidedly rocky.⁵⁹ They clashed on numerous occasions, likely because Baum, who was in his thirties, appears to have been more progressive than the decidedly conservative and much older Meretsky, who was then in his early sixties. In 1916, after renewing their candidacies, they both competed vigorously, extolling their respective virtues and merits in a series of poignant campaign advertisements. Alas, Aaron Meretsky was the only councillor who was not re-elected.⁶⁰ And, although Baum did win his seat on Council and even became chairman of the light committee, as well as a member of the market and property, parks and street opening committees,⁶¹ his participation gradually waned. He withdrew from politics before the next election was called, having decided to pursue various business interests in Windsor and Detroit.⁶²

In 1917, David Meretsky, Jacob’s son, announced his candidacy for City Council.⁶³ His aggressive campaign, mounted just a few days before the election, apparently paid off, since he not only won a seat, but was immediately appointed to the coveted light, parks, and street opening, market and property, and patriotic committees.⁶⁴ However, unlike his uncle Aaron’s term in office, his was quite uneventful. His record showed that, apart from sponsoring one petition for a motor bus line,⁶⁵ he backed only one other motion proposed by Samuel K. Baum: to hold a tag day to aid Jewish war sufferers.⁶⁶

David Meretsky ran for re-election in 1918 and again a year later, but was defeated both times.⁶⁷ However, his cousin Simon, eldest son of Aaron and Katherine Meretsky,⁶⁸ gained a seat on Council in 1918, taking fourth place in the final tally.⁶⁹ As an alderman he was anything but dull. In fact, he caused a great deal of controversy during the years he was in office. Although illiterate, this very enterprising young man, who had shined shoes and worked as a peddler to earn his own money, became a committee representative for the Third Ward as early as April 1910. He also was instrumental in encouraging the city to contribute $20,000 toward the purchase of land and equipment to create a new factory district in the city.

Following his election, Simon Meretsky not only served on various committees, but actively supported such worthwhile projects as providing additional funding to the Children’s Aid Society,⁷⁰ as well as the improvement of the local transportation system. Having failed to get Council’s approval, especially for the latter, he did not hesitate to express his frustration in the following passionate letter:

Editor the Record:

I, Simon Meretsky, wish to state to the ratepayers of Windsor, in return or what they have done for me in the last election, that my whole object in running for alderman was because my whole heart is interested in this city’s welfare and the betterment of our citizens. My main aim was to get better street car service in this City. Citizens, you have voted for municipal ownership! The next largest vote was to do something immediately to get better car service at once. I want to tell you that a movement has been going on and we are trying to do something for you immediately, which is what you have asked me to do. An offer has been made to the Council by the Sandwich, Windsor and Amherstburg City Engineer’s office for the benefit and further development of our City’s interests, and I, for one, thought we were getting a square deal. . . .

Three months have elapsed since you elected your alderman and as yet nothing has been done. I will tell you why. Most of the aldermen have their own automobiles and do not need to use the street cars and they do not care how long it takes you to get any place or whether you have one car line or none. It would be satisfactory to some of them as long as their own comforts are looked after. I want to tell you that I have been trying to accomplish something for you. But no, someone in the present council is trying to feather a nest for himself and may come out for Mayor next year, and the only way to get elected is by knocking the Sandwich, Windsor and Amherstburg Railway. I, for one, think it is a shame for anyone to try to prevent the double tracking of London, Ouellette and Wyandotte Streets as the citizens want it, and it is offered to you. An offer was made to you two years ago to lay a track on Erie Street. The people in the east end of the City could have reaped the benefit of having a car line on that Street. Today we have paid approximately between $40,000 and $50,000 for the paving of that Street. “Well, we thought that Simon Meretsky would do something for us” — I have tried, and I want you to know that I have tried to do my best to protect the citizens’ interest.

[signed] Ald. Simon Meretsky,

Windsor, April 5, 1918⁷¹

Simon’s letters caused a great deal of consternation within Council ranks. Since its members viewed his actions as disloyal and contrary to established rules, they voted to reprimand him. Coming to his own defense, he addressed another letter to the editor of the Windsor Record. Published on April 16, 1918, it stated in part: “I have been elected by the people of Windsor to work for the interests of the people, and I can truthfully say that there have been plans lying in the City Engineer’s office re better street car service for the citizens of Windsor for the last 3 1/2 months. . . .”⁷²

Photo courtesy of the Windsor Star

Simon Meretsky.

By then the adverse publicity, spread by the councilmen who continued to criticize Simon Meretsky’s behaviour, had reached the taxpayers. Now wary of his motives, especially, in view of his substantial property holdings, they failed to re-elect him in 1919.⁷³

The Ford City Community

Following the Ford Motor Company’s introduction of a guaranteed minimum daily wage of $5, a large number of people settled in a new community that became known as Ford City. Jews also had moved there, but since it was too far for them to reach Windsor on foot to attend services at Shaarey Zedek and because they were forbidden to drive on the Sabbath, they began to think about forming their own congregation.⁷⁴ Believing that Ford City’s burgeoning car industry would ultimately make it the centre of economic activity, they were convinced their Mercer Street brethren would eventually join them there.⁷⁵

The moving spirit behind the new synagogue project was Barney Hurwitz. To provide a suitable place for religious services and a Hebrew school, he even vacated his living quarters behind his men’s wear store on Drouillard Road, moving his family to a flat on the upper floor of the same building. In 1917, he became the congregation’s first president; Sam Samberg was elected treasurer, and Harry Shore its secretary.⁷⁶ Religious classes, attended by the children of the approximately ten Jewish families, were first taught by Mr. Richardson and later by Mr. Perlmuter, with other teachers from Windsor occasionally helping out.⁷⁷ The school outgrew its existing quarters after about a year or so. Barney Hurwitz, an influential member of the local school board and a substantial taxpayer, was able to obtain a larger room at the Belle Isle Avenue School, which later became the Riverview Hospital on Riverside Drive until it was demolished in the late 1990s).⁷⁸

The congregation, although still without a rabbi, continued to hold religious services in the flat behind Hurwitz’s store. However, on March 23, 1925, Abraham Adler paid $900 to Nicholas Palahnuk for a parcel of land on Hickory and Charles streets, which he subsequently sold to Barney Hurwitz.⁷⁹ Abraham Mechanic was the builder of the new synagogue,⁸⁰ a brick structure estimated to cost $12,000⁸¹ that was finally completed for $18,000. In August 1925, the cornerstone was laid for the house of worship that was to bear the name Tifereth Israel, the same as the one that had operated on Mercer Street. Among those attending the ceremony were Judge Harry B. Golden, Rabbi Leo Franklin of Detroit, and a Mr. A. E. Brown.⁸² Mrs. Aaron Meretsky donated a Torah⁸³ and Barney Hurwitz was re-elected president.⁸⁴ He, Abram and Fanny Adler, Samuel Samberg, and Sam Katzman became the trustees of the Ford City Hebrew School.⁸⁵ Following an ownership transfer to themselves, this property was registered as a religious institution and/or school on March 31, 1926.⁸⁶

Although written records regarding Tifereth Israel’s activities are non-existent, some verbal accounts have provided useful information about the many weddings and bar mitzvah ceremonies that were celebrated there, as well as about the religious services that were by then held on a regular basis, led at times by rabbis from Detroit. Other officiants were Esser Kamenkowitz⁸⁷ and I. Perlmuter⁸⁸ who, together with Hyman Mosner, taught at the school, as well.⁸⁹

In 1927, Abraham Levine became the congregation’s president; Mr. Cantor, vice president; Abram Adler, treasurer; and Sam Katzman, secretary.⁹⁰ In the course of that year, Mrs. Jacob Meretsky donated another Torah,⁹¹ and a ladies auxiliary was founded, known as the Daughters of Israel, under the respective presidencies of Mrs. Goldman and Mrs. Tabachnick.⁹² The social teas and other functions arranged by Tifereth Israel’s members kept it financially sound, at least for a while.⁹³ However, overall attendance gradually declined when the Jewish population moved out of Ford City, which eventually changed its name to East Windsor. In 1934, Barney Hurwitz again became president. Although the synagogue continued to hold services and run its school, the founders’ aspirations to make it the centre of Jewish communal life really never materialized. The other religious institutions, which were more centralized, became the established Jewish institutions because of their proximity to the majority of the Jewish population. Tifereth Israel continued to survive for many years in spite of being away from the majority of the Jewish population.

The Birth of Zionist Fervour

The idea of establishing a Jewish national home in Palestine had occupied the minds of World Jewry long before 1897, the year when Theodor Herzl organized the First Zionist Congress held in Basle, Switzerland.⁹⁴ In Windsor, Zionism first found expression in 1904 when Max Bernstein, in his attempt to start a Zion lodge, assembled some twenty-five Jews at his home. Following a brief address by a speaker, they elected S. Shapiro as president, a Mr. Barnett as vice president, Nathan Cherniak as financial secretary, and Max Bernstein as treasurer; F. Fisher, Joseph and Julius Kovinsky, Sam Bernstein, and J. Sovolsky became members of the board of directors.⁹⁵ Although the lodge invited prominent speakers to lecture on Zionism, its activities were, on the whole, sporadic. The signing of the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917, however, provided new impetus for Zionist ideals, reaching full entrenchment in 1918, when three young Windsor Jews — Abner Weingarden, Harry Meretsky, and Monte Rosen⁹⁶ joined fifteen other recruits from Detroit, who were leaving to fight in Palestine. A town rally, sponsored by the B’nai Zion Society, was organized to give the population a chance to bid farewell to these local heroes.⁹⁷ The following story, prominently featured on the front page of the Windsor Record edition of May 15, 1918, vividly described the event:

Unique in the annals of Windsor’s war history was the departure Tuesday noon of the Jewish recruits who are now en route to Palestine. It has been some months since there was any kind of a military send-off and this was a distant event, especially in Hebrew circles. The enlisted men, who had signed up with the British recruiting mission in Detroit, numbered about 18 and included 3 Windsorites, A. Weingarden, son of I. Weingarden, and proprietor of the store at the corner of Ferry and Sandwich Sts.; Harry Meretsky, son of Mike Meretsky, and Monte Rosen. They appear about in the center of the picture, close to Sergt.-Major Russell, who was in the machine-gun section of the “fighting 18th,” and wounded. He was in charge of the party that proceeded from the ferry to C.P.R. Station, acting under orders from Captain Brooke Baxter, attached to the British recruiting mission.

On the left is the Piper Sergt. Dickie, of the Chicago depot, whose appearance reminded downtown Windsor of the days of the 241st kilted battalion. In the crowd that marched to the station were Mayor Tuson, Ald. Simon Meretsky, ex-alderman Baum, ex-alderman Aaron Meretsky and prominent Jewish residents, several of whom had their autos decorated with flags and bunting. One of the patriotic Hebrews carried a banner that read: “For Palestine; Land of our fathers; sons of Maccabees; join the Hosts of Israel.”

The spectacle of these descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob going off to war in the year 1918 after the birth of Christ to fight in Palestine for the recovery of the Holy Land left a profound impression in the minds of those who attended the send-off and gave the Jewish boys the parting word of encouragement, “Good-bye and good luck to you.” The send-off was arranged by the Windsor Society of B’nai Zion (sons of Zion). The flag of Zion and the Union Jack were presented to the boys with stirring words of appeal for their protection and support. The B’nai Zion Society is appealing urgently to the young Jewish men to rally to the support of the several Jewish battalions that are to aid the Imperial Army in regaining the Holy Land and securing a lasting and honourable peace for the birth place of our present civilization.⁹⁸

Photo courtesy of Michael Sumner

Windsor delegates attend the first Zionist Congress (n.d.). Pictured left to right are Aaron Meretsky, Jacob Schwartz, and Barney Hurwitz.

Photo courtesy of Michael Sumner

Windsor’s first Jewish Zionists leave for Palestine in 1918.

Influenced by the events of World War I and the resulting world situation, the Jews of Windsor continued to be inspired by the dream of regaining Palestine as a future home for World Jewry. Members of the local Hadassah group, which had likely been active since the beginning of World War I, not only held dances to collect funds for Jewish war relief but also knitted socks for the soldiers who had gone to Palestine.⁹⁹ The Zionist cause was further promoted by the Hebrew school students,¹⁰⁰ as well as by the members of the Young Judean Club, a group that, after choosing Mr. I. Rosenberg as its general organizer, elected Mrs. L. Rosa as its president, Miss Feldman as vice president, Miss I. Baum as secretary, and Mrs. May Cheifetz as treasurer.¹⁰¹

Many other Windsor Jews actively participated in Zionist activities. In February 1921, Oscar Lehrman and Samuel Schwartz were delegates to the seventeenth Zionist convention in Montreal;¹⁰² in May of that year, Aaron Meretsky, Jacob Schwartz, and Barney Hurwitz represented the Windsor community at a special three-day Zionist Congress meeting in Toronto.¹⁰³ Three weeks later, Barney Hurwitz was made chairman of a committee that would raise $10,000 for Palestine; vice chairman was Samuel Schwartz, S. K. Baum, treasurer, (also a delegate to the 1922 Zionist convention in Ottawa and elected officer of the Canadian Zionist Organization), and H. Kolkol, secretary. Others belonging to the group were Max Cheifetz, Oscar Lehrman, H. Bercuson, Aaron Meretsky, H. Zeitlin, J. Mossman, A. Abrahamson, J. Loikrec, and J. A. Glanz.¹⁰⁴ He and I. B. Levin, representing the Western Ontario Division of the national and executive committees of the World Zionist Congress attended its Montreal convention in January 1926.

During the 1920s, Windsor’s Jewish community heard many prominent speakers. They included Zionist world leader, Dr. D. Rubelsky, who, together with the noted Jewish writer and lecturer, Dr. Levin — considered one of the movement’s founders — asked that financial assistance be given to those engaged in the struggle for Palestine.¹⁰⁵ In May 1921, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the World Zionist Congress, and Albert Einstein were scheduled to speak in Detroit.¹⁰⁶ Even though Einstein’s appearance was cancelled at the last minute, some two hundred people from Windsor turned out to attend the function.¹⁰⁷ Keren Hayesod started the United Jewish Appeal in March 1926. At its inaugural meeting, Border Cities’ Zionists were asked to raise $7,000 to meet the demands for the settlement of a flood of new immigrants.¹⁰⁸ Samuel K. Baum and I. B. Levin were put in charge of the campaign, assisted by J. Gelber, secretary; J. A. Glanz, treasurer; and Hadassah’s Frances Geller, the group ultimately collected $6,500.^109,110

In October 1926, prominent members of Windsor’s Jewish community, anxious to improve their fundraising expertise, invited David A. Brown, chairman of the American United Jewish Appeal (UJA), to tell them about the national Palestine campaign he had organized in the United States eighteen months earlier. Following Brown’s talk, Jerry Glanz was elected chairman of the Windsor campaign, with Benjamin Brody serving as treasurer, and Jacob Geller as secretary.¹¹¹

They were soon recognized as competent and dedicated fundraisers; J. A. Glanz became a national director of the Zionist movement in 1927, and on the local level, I. B. Levin was elected chairman, with Joseph Loikrec, treasurer, and Jacob Geller, secretary.¹¹² In the years to come, these local drives were even better organized. By 1929, for instance, after David A. Croll was named to lead one of these drives, he appointed various support committees. J. Kovinsky, Simon Meretsky, J. Gelber, D. Caplan, J. A. Glanz, Maurice Nathanson, and Nathan Cherniak were on the finance committee; Louis Kaplan became chairman of the pledge committee, assisted by Jacob Geller, Samuel Harris, Joseph Becker, Robert Cohen, Bernard Kaplan, I. M. Cherniak, and Sydney Nathanson; Rabbi Lebendiger, who headed the programs committee, was supported by Samuel Mossman and J. Gitlin. Also involved in that particular relief effort were Hadassah members Mrs. David Meretsky, Miss Frances Geller, and Mrs. Isaac Cohen.¹¹³ The activities of these and other Zionist organizations further increased during the 1930s: they met regularly and not only sponsored lectures by speakers who could outline the situation in Palestine, but also invited others who, in light of Adolf Hitler’s 1933 ascent to power, could keep them informed of the problems facing European Jewry.¹¹⁴

The Talmud Torah

While Shaarey Zedek had been the focal point of Windsor’s Jewish elite since the early years of the twentieth century, by 1916, Agudah B’nai Zion — primarily a Zionist organization — had begun to arouse interest among certain local intellectuals.¹¹⁵ Although Orthodox in their religious persuasion, these people were less insistent on continuing the shtetl ideology that had hitherto so forcefully controlled their lives, and more inclined toward the formation of a congregation with a decidedly Zionist orientation. Despite the fact that the Ford City congregation, Shaarey Zedek, and Tifereth Israel all had facilities for training their young, they readily supported Agudah B’nai Zion when it proposed to build a new school. In 1918, after sufficient funds had been raised at dances, concerts, and other social functions, a property was purchased at the corner of Tuscarora and Aylmer avenues that would become the site of the new institution, to be named Talmud Torah. Estimated to cost about $20,000,¹¹⁶ it was to house a Zionist centre and a place of worship, as well as the school, whose plans, drawn up by architect J. C. Pennington,¹¹⁷ called for four classrooms with a large auditorium, estimated to cost $35,000.¹¹⁸

Agudah B’nai Zion contributed $1,500 toward the school project. Joseph Meretsky personally donated $500. During the 1918 Yom Kippur services, held at the I.O.O.F. Hall on Wyandotte Street in Walkerville, another $500 was raised, with an additional $300 donated for the relief of Jewish war sufferers.¹¹⁹ Louis Kaplan’s contribution of $800 earned him the honour of laying the cornerstone for the Talmud Torah building. The dedication ceremonies held on a Sunday afternoon in August 1919 were attended by Mayor Winter and other local dignitaries.¹²⁰ On December 1, 1919, a $15,000-mortgage was contracted between Agudah B’nai Zion and the mortgagee, Robert C. Struthers; Max Cheifetz, the society’s president, signed the deed.¹²¹ Present at the official opening, which took place on December 20, 1919, were members of Parliament; the mayors of the Border Cities, F. W. Jacobs, W. C. Kennedy, and J. C. Tolme; and Rev. Dr. Abramowitz of Montreal, as well as other prominent Windsor citizens.¹²²

Photo courtesy of the Windsor Star

Talmud Torah at Aylmer and Tuscarora Avenue.

The Talmud Torah had been established in part to satisfy the needs of those members of the community who had become fervent Zionists and in part for those Jewish immigrants who, feeling rejected by the elite pioneer families, wanted to have a gathering place where they could express their own, distinctive identities. Although the religious services were Orthodox, the teachers at the school, while following a curriculum that included Hebrew as well as other Jewish subjects, tried to incorporate newer ideas and use more modern methods of instruction than those espoused by the older synagogues.¹²³

Once the building had been completed, Talmud Torah got involved in numerous Zionist activities. In May 1920, it sponsored a thanksgiving service to celebrate the taking over of the Palestine Mandate by Great Britain.¹²⁴ Apart from hearing an address by a speaker from New York, invited guests witnessed a grand parade of one thousand participants, including Talmud Torah students, members of the Young Judea Social Group, the Junior Judean Club, Hadassah, the Jewish Ladies Aid Society, and various other Zionist organizations.¹²⁵

Indicative of the numerous monetary contributions Talmud Torah received are the many entries recorded in its Golden Book. One of the first to commemorate a special occasion with a donation was Jerry Glanz who, on his son Albert’s third birthday, gave $50 — half to go to Talmud Torah and the other half to be paid into the Jewish National Fund.¹²⁶ In November 1922, $1,400 was collected at the Glanz’s home to celebrate the birth of another son.¹²⁷ In fact, there was an opportunity to give money to the Talmud Torah at every social or religious function, such as at ritual circumcisions (Mandlebaums, Mossmans, David Kovins, Harold Taub), and bar mitzvah ceremonies, and many other occasions. Some school funds were raised at a banquet for the Defenders of the Blue and White, and at a Junior Hadassah meeting. It is likely that certain sums went toward the support of sports activities for Talmud Torah students, since their Defenders Baseball Club was regularly able to compete against other schools in the city, as well as hold annual awards banquets.¹²⁸

Photo courtesy of Sara Kirzner

Talmud Torah students.

The Zionist movement brought many prominent people to Talmud Torah. Guest speakers during the 1925 Passover services were Dr. Schwartz and Harry Brevis, both of Toronto, as well as Milton Sumner, a senior seminary student at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Seminary, whose topic was “Jewish Ideals.”¹²⁹ Philip Slomovitz, editor of the Jewish Herald, and H. Isaac, superintendent of the United Jewish Hebrew Schools of Detroit, spoke at a library night in November 1927.¹³⁰ A year later, Rabbi Leon Fram, assistant to Rabbi Leo Franklin of Temple Beth El in Detroit, spoke on the subject of “Jewish Education.”¹³¹ In 1929, when Tel Aviv’s mayor David Bloch came to Detroit, he also was invited to visit Windsor. Greeted by Alderman Joshua Gitlin, on behalf of Mayor Jackson,¹³² he addressed a Talmud Torah gathering to plead for support of the Histadrut; in response, the community raised over $500.¹³³

In addition to supporting these and other worthy causes, Talmud Torah had to cover its own operating expenses. To raise funds it held a banquet in 1928 and, after advising the guests that the school needed $6,000 to meet its financial obligations, its president, Dr. I. M. Cherniak, introduced as the speaker of the evening Rabbi Israel Schulman, who proceeded to address them in Hebrew.¹³⁴ Concerts, festivals, and picnics were occasions for similar campaigns, such as the $8,000 drive organized in 1930 by S. K. Baum and D. D. Caplan.¹³⁵

Although Talmud Torah records are incomplete, we do know that H. Zeitlin served as treasurer between 1922 and 1924, that Moss Mossman acted as secretary in 1924, and that Abraham Center became treasurer, with H. Subelsky as secretary, in 1925.¹³⁶ Jerry Glanz must have served on the 1933 Talmud Torah executive, since his name appeared as the recipient of moneys collected at various celebrations, held during that year.¹³⁷ Records about the Talmud Torah’s teaching staff are equally inadequate. However, those that do exist reveal that William Barnett had become the school’s principal by the mid-1920s. Former students Edsel Benstein, Harry and Oscar Schwartz, and Michael Sumner also remembered Rabbi Joseph Cross as their instructor during early morning classes.¹³⁸ Others teachers were S. M. Smullin, D. Lerman, and I. Singerman in 1930–31,¹³⁹ while B. Isaacs, who simultaneously, served as superintendent of the United Hebrew Schools of Detroit and Windsor, was principal of Talmud Torah during that term.

After Tifereth Israel on Mercer Street had closed its doors in 1925, some of its members returned to Shaarey Zedek, while others joined the Talmud Torah which, by then, had become known as Agudah B’nai Zion. The two-hundred-member congregation and its executive, composed of S. Mossman, M. Soble, O. Lehrman, P. Meretsky, and I. M. Cherniak, now decided it ought to have its own spiritual leader.¹⁴⁰ In 1928, therefore, the organization appointed Rabbi Israel Schulman, who had recently arrived from Palestine. However, since they were unable to pay him a large enough salary, he had to supplement his income by operating a small soap factory on Brant Street. Although Rabbi Schulman had initially only been hired for a two-year period, he continued to serve Agudah B’nai Zion for ten more years — until his death in 1940.¹⁴¹

Jewish Public Library and Peretz Shule

Between 1922 and 1923, the Windsor Arbeitering (Workmen’s Circle), in conjunction with Politzeon, an organization considered ultra-left wing, founded another new school. Named the Jewish Public Library, it was housed in a frame building at the northeast corner of University and Parent avenues. Since most of the parents of the children who made up its student body had come to Canada after the Russian Revolution, their political leanings were largely left wing — some even considered them anarchists.¹⁴² And, since these so-called “Yiddishists” were also non-religious, they were primarily interested in having only secular subjects taught at the school.¹⁴³ In 1930, a split occurred in their ranks, with the members of the one faction expressing a desire to separate.¹⁴⁴ They made an agreement with the other faction to receive payment for their share in the Parent Avenue property. Signed by Jewish Public Library president, Charles Rogin, as well as by M. Rappaport, H. Wayne, I. Alexis, W. Bekenstuz, and H. Beren,¹⁴⁵ it relieved them of all their financial responsibilities, allowing the Jewish Public Library to continue on its own, which it did until 1937.¹⁴⁶

In 1934, after excluding from its ranks the left-wing element, on whom it looked with disdain, the dissenting group founded the I. L. Peretz Shule. The school was named for Isaac Leib Peretz, a modernist Yiddish-language author and playwright who stood at the cultural centre of pre-World War I Yiddish Warsaw. An early devotee of Haskalah, the Jewish Enlightenment, Peretz tempered his secular views of education with his writings expressing Jewish ideals grounded in Jewish tradition and history. Peretz saw the world as composed of different nations each with its own character. His writings were said to arouse the Jewish will for self-emancipation and resistance, but unlike many of his fellow intellectuals, Peretz rejected the cultural universalism of Marxism.¹⁴⁷ Led by Max Madoff and others, the school was enthusiastically supported by parents who wanted a fine, secular type of education for their children.¹⁴⁸ Under the guidance of a Mr. Drachler, their first teacher, twenty-three students attended classes, first in the little house on Parent Avenue and, later, in a double house on Erie Street that had been purchased with the help of the Arbeitering. Mr. Bluestein taught there in 1939 and former students also remembered teachers Mrs. Malke Yuzpe and the short, red-haired Mr. Kligman, who stayed on as principal for many years.

Besides raising funds to celebrate a simcha, the school usually charged a fee of thirty-five cents to anyone wishing to attend their various meetings. Such prominent Detroit speakers as Dr. Hayim Zhitlovsky, Mr. Hershbain, Mr. Vineberg, Mr. David Einhorn, and other outstanding Peretz Shule members gave lectures.¹⁴⁹

Existing records indicate that the school operated a Mother’s Club. Two of its chairmen were Chaver Bogen and Chaver Cheifetz, while Messrs. Madoff, Byer, Gordner, Forman, and Parnes are listed among its slate of elected officers.

The Primrose Club and B’nai B’rith

The Primrose Club began operations on November 21, 1923. Founded to provide social and recreational facilities for Windsor’s Jewish business and professional men, its premises were located at 415 Ouellette Avenue. They housed a billiard room, a library, meeting and card rooms, lounges, and an entertainment hall.¹⁵⁰ Samuel K. Baum was the club’s first president, N. Rotenburg, the first vice president, and Maxwell Schott, the first secretary treasurer. In 1924, J. A. Glanz succeeded Baum; Robert G. Cohen took over from Rotenburg; Jack Gelber, David Caplan, and Saul Rotenberg were members of the entertainment committee, while Schott retained his post as secretary-treasurer.¹⁵¹

Yet, even before the Primrose Club was established, its members had been approached by visitors to the city, who were trying to arouse their interest in the work done by B’nai B’rith, a fraternal organization whose programs seemed more appealing to them than those offered by the Primrose Club. It was not surprising that B’nai B’rith soon became its logical successor. The Windsor Chapter received its charter on March 15, 1925, electing Jerry A. Glanz as its first president. Maxwell Schott, who held the post until 1928, was succeeded by Robert G. Cohen, who served during the 1929–30 term. In 1930–31, Dr. Louis Perlman took over, followed by Mr. M. Silver. Other presidents were M. Levine (1933–34), Ben Matthews (1934–36), Harry Cherniak (1936–37), Bernard D. Caplan (1937–38), and Milton Meretsky (1938–40).¹⁵²

Photo courtesy of the Windsor Star

Windsor’s chapter of B’nai Brith celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 1975. The oldest and longest members (from the left, Harry Meretsky, Robert Cohen, and Maxwell Schott), toast each other at the joint installation of officers. A ceremony and dinner was held at Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue to both mark the investment of the newly elected executive officers and honour those who had built the lodge a half century ago. Mr. Cohen and Mr. Schott were original members.

Around 1928, after B’nai B’rith had established a Ladies Auxiliary, Dr. M. Levine’s wife became its first president, Mrs. Hyams its vice president, Mrs. I. Cohen its financial secretary, Miss H. Hurwitz its recording secretary, and Mrs. M. Silver its treasurer. Continuing to further B’nai Brith’s humanitarian causes, the group ran numerous impressive programs.¹⁵³

Prominent Jewish Religious Leaders

Before dealing with the major shift in Windsor’s religious institutions during the mid-1920s, it might be appropriate to mention the significant roles played by two of Windsor’s spiritual leaders.

Esser Kamenkowitz served Windsor’s Jewish community as chazan (cantor) and shochet for more than a decade. Born in Lithuania,¹⁵⁴ the son of a wealthy banker, he was an educated man who had received a doctorate from the University of Vilna. When he came to the United States, he tried to make a living as a chazan and shochet in various cities. He then decided to settle in Windsor with his wife and seven children.

Well remembered for his beautiful voice, Esser Kamenkowitz was a man of medium height. He sported a moustache and sometimes a beard, and was a little on the stout side.¹⁵⁵ Serving Shaarey Zedek for many years, he then had disagreements with some of its directors, which induced him in 1924–25 to move to Ford City, where he ran a grocery and butcher store.¹⁵⁶ He occasionally led religious services at Tifereth Israel and performed wedding ceremonies and other rabbinical functions in the Windsor area, which brought him into conflict with Abraham Able, another itinerant teacher, rabbi, and shochet.¹⁵⁷

Abraham Able came from a long line of rabbis. Born in Dgisno, Poland in 1892,¹⁵⁸ he had arrived in the Border Cities in 1924, bringing with him his wife and children — one son and four daughters¹⁵⁹ — one of whom eventually married a son of Esser Kamenkowitz.¹⁶⁰ Since Able was closely associated with Talmud Torah, people remember him well as a man about five feet, five inches tall, with red hair, a red beard, a ruddy complexion, and a shrill voice.¹⁶¹ Although somewhat nervous and excitable, he was apparently quite a pleasant individual.

On December 1, 1926, Esser Kamenkowitz died suddenly. Interviews with his son — who incidentally had changed his name to Sockley Kamin and was the man who married one of Abraham Able’s daughters — revealed the near-starvation existence the family had had to endure after their father’s death, and how little financial help his mother received from the Jewish community.¹⁶²