- Ottawa Jewish Archives
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- The background of the Ottawa Vaad Ha’Ir
The background of the Ottawa Vaad Ha’Ir
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- Ottawa Jewish Archives via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)
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- September 25, 2002 (indexed as 2002)
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- Subject: Background of the Vaad Ha' Ir Date: September 25, 2002 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: Tape 1 40:24 Tape 2 35:26 Tape 1 John Holzman to introduce Joseph Lieff Son of Bernard and Esther Lieff. Bernard taught at the Ottawa Talmud Torah for over 35 years. Lived on McGee Street, and then Daly Avenue Graduated from Lisgar Collegiate, and then from Osgoode Hall Law School. Married to Evelyn Sobcuff, has 4 married children: Elissa, Norman, Susan and Alan, and 8 grandchildren Joe is a lawyer and Deputy Judge for the judicial district of Carleton County, now the Ontario Court General Division from 1976 to recently. Active member of Adath Israel Congregation; president from 1975-77. Active member of the Ottawa Jewish Community Council; president from 1981-83 During his term of president, the Jewish community purchased the Broadview avenue campus. Speaking about the history of the Ottawa Vaad Ha’Ir In 1995 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Vaad, the Jewish bulletin published 13 consecutive articles, by Cynthia Angle about the Vaad. In these, Cynthia talks about Moses Bilsky, the first Jewish settler. Lawrence Freiman’s book “Don’t Fall off the rocking horse” about Moses Bilsky. Cynthia’s articles cover c. 1934 The Ottawa Talmud Torah, located on Gerard St. near Cumberland, part of it is now occupied by the Salvation army. Prior to the Talmud Torah, each of the downtown synagogues had its own little seder and its own rabbi. Each educated its own children. There were 3 separate operations, and a single school was needed. In the 1920s, they acquired title to the former George St. public school. It was an afternoon school from 4-7pm. As enrollment grew, it changed to 2 shifts: 4-6 and 6-8pm. In 1923, Joseph Lieff’s first day. He met Jay Zeliklovitz, Mr. Greenburg, and Mr. Goldsmith. He also met Eli Glominski? They were the rabbis from the 4 synagogues. Moses Loeb was the chairman of the Talmud Torah board 3 of Loeb’s 6 sons would be presidents of the board. The Talmud Torah building became a communal school full of activities, later becoming a community centre Dave Slover’s drama group was based out of there. The Young Judian Orchestra. The B’nai Brith Ottawa lodge. Many junior organizations: AZA, the Hyphers? The YPL. AZA sunday tea dances. They could use the gym space at Number 4 fire station on Cumberland, for a small fee Associated Synagogues; started in the summer in 1931 as 3 select committees of Rideau, Murray and James st. synagogues, whose sole purpose was to engage the rabbis? Nothing could be done without a meeting, and they kept minutes of everything August 24, 1932, a joint meeting of select committees was called, chaired by Solomon Copland who announced Rabbi A.H. Friedman had accepted the offer to act as their spiritual leader for an annual salary of $2500. Called for nominations for officers of the joint select committee; elected unanimously were Tom Sachs, H. Silver and S. Copland.from Rideau st. Shul. M. Lachavitch, Max Dresen, Oscar Pedagorsky from Murray St. Shul. Adolf Shareman, J. Fogle and Abe Bookman from James St. Shul Officers elected were: Alex Bechleman Chairmen, A. Sherman treasurer, Myer Cohen Secretary At another meeting they confirmed the name “Associated Synagogues of Ottawa.” November 2, 1932; confirmed the allotment of $525 to each congregation. King st. Shul was having financial difficulties. May 1932; meeting where the body adopted the recommendations they reduce the Rabbis and Cantor salaries, and stop the services of the choir. Rabbis Collins salary of $4000 was to be reduced to $2500. About a month later, Collins turned their offer down. Not to leave them in the lurch, he agreed to stay on for the coming high holy days, for which he received $340. The other 3 congratulations knew what was going on. December 1932- the Associated Synagogues had a meeting to explore getting together with King St. shul under one spiritual leader King st. Shul appointed a committee to meet with the association- while they were not committing themselves to any definite union, they nevertheless felt that unification under one spiritual leader could result in great benefits for the entire Jewish community. Special meeting of the association announced they had accepted King St. Shul’s offer of $750, as their share of the rabbi’s fees for september 1933-august 1934 Rideau was paying $950, Murray $560 and James $210 to make up the $2500 Rabbi salary Meeting august 1933; called for the purpose of providing relief for the Jews of Germany, and the question of forming a Vaad Ha’Ir was brought up. Moved by Casper Capland. Executives of the Associated Synagogues recommended to their congregations that members be appointed; 8 from King st. Shul, 7 from Rideau, 6 from Murray and 5 from James. To administer the various branches of jewish activities in the city; education, spiritual guidance with power to act for the congregation on the advancement of Judaism in the city. Number of meetings held; 2 years of meetings later; January 30, 1934 special meeting of the Vaad Hakashrut to vote on proposal, Casper Caplan who was acting chairman and president of King St, Shul presented the concept to the gathering Rideau and King had given their approval Murray had not yet voted James had rejected Feb 25, 1934- Murray street wrote they had embraced the idea March 18, 2934- James st agreed. Created a board and appointed a steering committee, adopting the name and setting out the purposes of the body of the membership. April 29, 1934- held their first meeting in the rooms at King Edward Synagogue. A.J Freiman president, Tom Sachs Vice President, V. Pearl Honorary Secretary, L.H. Goldman Secretary. A.J. Freiman had already been the president of the King St. shul for 25 years. President of the Zionist organization of Canada. Member of the actions committee of the world's Zionist organization. Set up a meeting at Freiman’s office with the presidents of the 4 synagogues- this is where they convinced A.J. Freiman to be president. Served for 10 years until June 4, 1944. June 4, 1944- on that day Congregation Adath Jeshurun was honouring the memory of Reverend Jacob Mirsky who had served the congregation for many years. Mr. Freiman delivered a eulogy before passing away. Tom Sachs became president and served for the next 4 years Following Sachs, the constitution was amended to limit the period of president to 2 years. 1973- during Norm Zagerman’s administration, the constitution was changed to allow the community to participate in the voting of officers. It now provides that you have to be adherent to the Jewish faith, residing in the community, who subscribes to the purposes of the council, 18 or older, and a contributor in good standing during the current year to the united Jewish appeal. 28 presidents since Tom Sachs. Gilbert Greenburg And Joseph Lieff were appointed to a committee to make the pitch to the Vaad for funds to cover annual expenses. Joseph joined the Vaad executive when Gilbert was the president. Gilbert wanted to modernize and advance the Vaad Gilbert was also involved in the Hillel Lodge, and set in motion the Broadview Campus Complex Gilbert passed away suddenly in 1980 at age 57. 1984 at Joseph’s final meeting as president where they signed the paperwork to purchase Joseph’s highschool, which would become the Broadview Campus Audio skips It was in 1946 during Tom Sachs’ tenure that Alex Bechelman approached Hy Hochberg about filling positions at the Vaad Ha’Ir at B’nai Brith In 1951, Hy’s responsibilities expanded to include the fundraising campaign for the 3 stage construction of the downtown Chapel St. Synagogue and JCC complex. From 1951-1959, Hy was the executive director of the Vaad synagogue and community centre From 1955-56 he was executive director of the Vaad From 1956-1985 he was the vice president of the Vaad Hy was a driving factor in convincing Canadian Jewish congress that the Ottawa area should be recognized as a separate entity, prior to that it was lumped in with Toronto. In 1985, Hy received the Gilbert Greenburg distinguished service award, posthumously. Tom Sachs had also won the Gilbert Greenburg award, in 1983. When the Vaad began, it consisted of 26 members, representing 4 synagogues, all of them orthodox. Today there are 120 members on the board of trustees, representing 45 agencies of associations, of which 20 are beneficiaries agents, all living in harmony. Sylvia Kurshman thanks Joseph Lieff for his presentation. Tape ends 40:24
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