Creating the Chupah: The Zionist Movement and the Drive for Jewish Communal Unity in Canada, 1898-1921 9781618110305

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CREATING THE CHUPAH The Zionist Movement and the Drive for Jewish Communal Unity in Canada, 1898-1921

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JEWISH IDENTITIES IN POST MODERN SOCIETY Series Editor: Roberta Rosenberg Farber – Yeshiva University Editorial Board: Sara Abosch – University of Memphis Geoffrey Alderman – University of Buckingham Yoram Bilu – Hebrew University Steven M. Cohen – Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion Bryan Daves – Yeshiva University Sergio Della Pergola – Hebrew University Simcha Fishbane – Touro College Deborah Dash Moore – University of Michigan Uzi Rebhun – Hebrew University Reeva Simon –Yeshiva University Chaim I. Waxman – Rutgers University

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CREATING THE CHUPAH The Zionist Movement and the Drive for Jewish Communal Unity in Canada, 1898-1921

Henry Felix Srebrnik

Boston 2011 —3—

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-1-936235-71-1 Copyright © 2011 Academic Studies Press All rights reserved Book design by Adell Medovoy

Published by Academic Studies Press in 2011 28 Montfern Avenue Brighton, MA 02135, USA [email protected] www.academicstudiespress.com

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Here and on the cover: Canadian Jewish Congress Plenary Assembly, Montreal, 1919, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal

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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

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Preface 11 Chapter One Introduction: Preliminary Remarks about Canada’s Jewish Community 15 Chapter Two A General Outline of Canadian Jewry to 1921 27 Chapter Three The Infrastructure of Canadian Jewry: The Establishment of Schools, Newspapers, and Agricultural Settlements Chapter Four General Zionism in Canada before the First World War

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Chapter Five Labour Zionism in Canada, 1905-1914: The Poale Zion 107 Chapter Six The First World War: Divisions within Canadian Jewry, 1914-1917 131 Chapter Seven The Coalescing of the Two Streams and the Formation of the Jewish Legion, 1917-1919 173 Chapter Eight The Canadian Jewish Congress of 1919 209 Chapter Nine Conclusion: The Consolidation of Zionist Leadership and the End of Immigration, 1919-1921 227 Bibliography 251 Index



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List of Illustrations

Reuben Brainin, courtesy Jewish Public Library Archives, Montreal … 69 Keneder Adler presses, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal … 70 Clarence de Sola, president of the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada, 1899-1919, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal … 105 H. M. Caiserman, general secretary of the Canadian Jewish Congress, 1919-1950, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal … 130 World War I recruitment poster, in English, courtesy Library of Congress, Washington DC … 170 World War I recruitment poster, in Yiddish, courtesy Library of Congress, Washington DC … 170 Archibald J. Freiman, national president of the Zionist Organization of Canada, 1921-1944, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal … 171 Lyon Cohen, president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, 1919, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal … 172 Bernard (Dov) Joseph in the Jewish Legion, 1918, courtesy Jewish Public Library Archives, Montreal … 206 Leon Cheifetz in the Jewish Legion, 1918, courtesy Jewish Public Library Archives, Montreal … 207 —9—

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Lillian Freiman, president of Hadassah-WIZO, 1919-1940, courtesy of Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal … 208 Keneder Adler publisher Hirsch Wolofsky in Bedouin garb in Palestine, 1921, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal … 226

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Preface

This book assesses the role of Canadian Zionist organizations, both general and Labour groups, in the drive for communal unity within Canadian Jewry in the first two decades of the twentieth century. These efforts culminated in the formation of a unified Canadian Jewish Congress in 1919, and a revitalized and reorganized Canadian Zionist Organization by 1921. General Zionism, as represented by the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada, was older and dominated by the better-off and more acculturated Jews. Poale Zion, on the other hand, revolved around questions relating to the national and social demands of Jewish workers; it was representative of the newer, more radical influx of East European Jews. The two strands of Zionism, often in conflict, reflected larger “uptown-downtown” disputes and the intense struggle for influence carried on by the newer immigrants. The book also describes Zionist activities within the larger spectrum of Canadian Jewish life during those years, including the formation of the Jewish Legion in 1917-1918 and the creation of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society in 1920. Much of the story takes place in Montreal, then the “capital” of Canadian Jewry, but the Jewish communities of Toronto and Winnipeg also played a significant role in these events. Much of this book was originally written while I was a graduate student at Brandeis University in the early 1970s; it began as a paper written for the late Professor Benjamin Halpern. The manuscript was later evaluated by the late Bernard Figler, the author of several books about Canadian Zionist figures such as H.M. Caiserman, Louis Fitch, Archie and Lillian Freiman, and S.W. Jacobs. In a letter Figler wrote to me on December 18, 1973, he said that the manuscript was “well documented and treating exhaustively various aspects in the growth and development of the Zionist movement as well as the Congress movement in the period of 1898-1921.” He called it “a useful work on the history of this period” and suggested that it “should be of interest to students of Canadian Jewish history, teachers, Zionists and communal leaders.” Despite such encouragement, I went on to research other topics, es— 11 —

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pecially the role of Communism in Jewish life, so this manuscript had been gathering dust ever since. Given how dated the original work is, when I returned to it I was surprised to discover how little has been written about Canadian Zionism since the 1970s. Only one full-length study has been published in English in recent years: David Azrieli’s Rekindling the Torch: The Story of Canadian Zionism (Toronto: Key Porter, 2008). Azrieli’s book, a non-scholarly general history, covers this early period in its first three chapters. Other works on Canadian Jewry also deal to some extent with the work of Canadian Zionists, including Allan Levine’s Coming of Age: A History of the Jewish People of Manitoba (Winnipeg: Heartland Associates, 2009); Gerald Tulchinsky’s Canada’s Jews: A People’s History (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008); Irving Abella’s A Coat of Many Colours: Two Centuries of Jewish Life in Canada (Toronto: Key Porter, 1990); Lewis Levendel’s A Century of the Canadian Jewish Press: 1880s-1980s (Ottawa: Borealis Press, 1989); and Michael Brown’s Jew or Juif?: Jews, French Canadians, and Anglo-Canadians, 1759-1914 (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1987). As well, Montreal journalist Israel Medres’ Montreal fun nekhtn, published in Montreal in Yiddish in 1947 by the Keneder Adler Drukeray print shop, was translated by his granddaughter Vivian Felsen and published in 2000 by Véhicule Press of Montreal as Montreal of Yesterday: Jewish Life in Montreal, 1900-1920. (I had used the original Yiddish book.) And a manuscript written in the late 1940s by Shmuel Mayer Shapiro, the Toronto publisher of that city’s last Yiddish newspaper, only recently came to light and was published as The Rise of the Toronto Jewish Community (Toronto: Now and Then Books, 2010). A few articles in anthologies and journals have also appeared—but very little else. After reading these and other articles and books, I came to the conclusion that an updated version of my work remains worthy of a wider audience. While these authors made use of many of the sources that I had consulted, my book covers the period 1898-1921 in much greater detail than they do. This book is based not on archival research, but mainly on primary published sources, many in Yiddish, that were mostly written in the first half of the twentieth century. It should prove especially useful as a text in university-level courses on Canadian or North American Jewish history and politics. — 12 —

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This is not a polemical or parti pris book. It is simply a history of the people and organizations active during the earliest decades of Zionism in Canada. Translations from the Yiddish, unless otherwise indicated, are my own. A note regarding orthography: For the transliteration of article and book titles and names into the Roman alphabet, I have used a modified version of the standard YIVO-based system, except in the case of figures whose names, rendered into Roman characters, often appeared in English-language publications; there I have kept to the familiar spelling, for example, Chaim Weizmann, not Khayim Vaytsman. I have also used the conventional spelling of place names, even when transliterating from the Yiddish – so, for example, Winnipeg, not Vinipeg. Susan Gallant typed the manuscript and I thank her. I also wish to acknowledge the aid of librarians at the Brandeis, Concordia, and McGill University libraries, the Jewish Public Library of Montreal, the New York Public Library, and the national archives of the Canadian Jewish Congress in Montreal. Of course I am responsible for any errors and omissions. This book is dedicated to Schooner (1993-2010), one of nature’s most magnificent creations.

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1. Introduction: Preliminary Remarks about Canada's Jewish Community

Scope of the Study This study assesses the role of Canadian Zionist organizations in the drive for communal unity in the Canadian Jewish community in the first two decades of the twentieth century, and describes Zionist activity within the larger framework of Canadian Jewish life, since, as the pioneer Canadian Jewish historian and sociologist Louis Rosenberg observed, “the Canadian Jewish Community has always been overwhelmingly Zionist in its sympathies, and there is much truth in the statement that there is not, and has never been, any significant number of antiZionists among Canadian Jewry. Those who are not active Zionists are at least Zionist sympathizers and contributors.”1 Historians Bernard Figler and David Rome, too, noted that “Canadian Jewry was remarkably homogeneous” and that Zionism, in particular, “was an aim that bound all; decades ago, an official report to a World Zionist congress noted that there were no anti-Zionists in Canada.”2 So in Canada, unlike in the much more economically varied and ideologically diversified Jewish community of the United States, the splits that did occur in the community were not, to any great extent, those of Zionists versus anti-Zionists but rather “uptown-downtown” class divisions, and Zionism was to be found on both sides of the barriers. The ideological and organizational divisions within Canadian Zionism reflected these differences, especially in the rather tense decade preceding the First World War. General Zionism, as represented by the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada, was older, dominated by the Jews associated with Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue in Montreal, and by similar groups of English Jews in Toronto, Winnipeg, and elsewhere. Poale Zion, on the other hand, was “Yiddishist” and revolved around questions relating to the national and social demands of Jewish workers; it was representative of the newer, more radical influx of Eastern European Jews. The two strands of Zionism, often in conflict, reflected the larger “uptown-downtown” disputes and — 15 —

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the intense struggle for influence and even hegemony carried on by the newer arrivals, which would result in substantial victories during World War I and thereafter. This book thus emphasizes the work undertaken by the various Zionist groups in dealing with the issues of political import to Jews in Canada in that period; rather than one particular ideology representative of one segment of Jewry, as was the case in many other countries, Zionism will be seen to have encompassed basically the largest segment of Jewish political thought in Canada, so that the divisions in Canadian Jewry were reflected in divisions within Zionism.3 As the various socio-economic groups and sections of Canadian Jewry converged, under the pressures of World War I, the Russian revolutions of 1917, the aspirations for a Jewish state in Palestine following the Balfour Declaration, and the post-war demand for Jewish national and cultural rights in the successor states of eastern Europe, so too did the various Zionist movements coalesce. Finally, the Zionist groups led the way in the calling for a Canadian Jewish Congress, to deal with matters both Canadian—the question of Jewish immigration to Canada—and foreign—Jewish demands at the Versailles peace conference. The study briefly sketches the place of the Jew on the Canadian scene at the turn of the twentieth century, in order to provide perspective to the more detailed historical events discussed in the body of the book. It describes the waves of Jewish immigration to Canada and the rise of various communal organizations, especially in Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg, as well as the establishment of agricultural settlements. It then details the historical role of Zionism within the community. Early attempts at forming Zionist and Hibat Zion groups are noted, followed by a general history of both the Zionist Federation and Poale Zion from their inception to 1914. The impact of the First World War will form the large bulk of the work. The response of Canadian Jewry in general, and the various Zionist groupings in particular, to the challenge of relief work for overseas Jews in the war zones, and the rising sense of Jewish nationhood and demands for Jewish rights at home, in Europe, and in Palestine, will be analyzed. Concurrent with this growth of Jewish identity, the war years paradoxically also saw an accentuation of class divisions within the Jewish communities: tensions mounted as the eastern European Jews, led by — 16 —

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men of the calibre of the renowned Hebraist Reuben Brainin, tried to gain at least a share of power in the Jewish organizations. Demands for a democratization of Jewish life, and the creation of “mass” organizations such as the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance to help carry these through followed. The resultant friction was only overcome when the need for unity became overwhelmingly apparent, if Jews were to gain anything for their brethren overseas and for Zionism in Palestine following the upheavals and boundary adjustments after the war. It became easier to bridge the ideological and class gaps following the first Russian Revolution of February 1917, which by installing the Kerensky government and emancipating the Jews from the hated tsarist regime, made it easier for the immigrant masses to sympathize with the Allied war cause. For the more established general Zionists, support for Great Britain was both an emotional matter of patriotic duty and a political expediency based on the hope that the United Kingdom would somehow help the Jews acquire Palestine. The main body of Jews that succeeded in uniting the Jewish community and its Zionist organizations was the second-generation group of Lithuanian Jewish leaders whose families—with such names as Jacobs, Freiman, and Cohen—had come to Canada before the mass migrations of the 1880s. They correspond, in their time of arrival and relative affluence, to the German Jewish group in the United States. However, being Orthodox, not Reform, in religion, and strongly Zionist, they were able to avoid the struggles over Zionism and its relation to the Jewish community that went on south of the border at that time. By 1917 they had managed to effectively neutralize the old “Sephardic” group in Montreal,4 and soon thereafter this “leadership-from-the-periphery”5 under the wealthy merchant Clarence I. de Sola, was eliminated altogether, with the election of the A. J. Freiman group as leaders of the Canadian Zionist organization and the Hadassah women’s groups in 1919, and the formation of the Canadian Jewish Congress. The election of S. W. Jacobs to the Canadian parliament in 1917 also represented a major move in the coalescence of the “two communities,” which became more or less final after 1921; new immigration from Europe virtually ceased in any case, and thus old rifts could be ironed out in a now stable situation. The study also examines the rather neglected Canadian chapter in the formation of the Jewish Legion in 1918. The book concludes in 1921 with the temporary demise of the Cana— 17 —

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dian Jewish Congress, the Zionist organization firmly under the control of the new Freiman leadership, allied with the forces of the Chaim Weizmann group on the World Zionist Organization level, and the end of Jewish immigration to Canada despite strenuous and vocal Jewish opposition. By this time it was obvious that immigrant-native rivalry would diminish over time, as the children and grandchildren of the immigrants and those of the older established Jews would merge and form one compact group. Given the corporate, inward nature of Canadian Jewry and its self-segregation from other groups, the organic amalgamation of the community was inevitable. Canada, Jews, and Zionism Canadian Jewry today comprises a thriving community of some 360,000 people, concentrated predominantly in the municipal centres of Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver, along with smaller communities in Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, and Ottawa. It is the fourth-largest Jewish community in the world, after Israel, the United States, and France. There remain aspects of Canadian Jewry that make it different from the larger, contiguous Jewish centre in the United States and not merely an extension of it. Canadian Jewry is a blend of ideas and institutions imported from Eastern Europe, America and even Britain, yet it is in the final analysis, Canadian. Almost all writers agree that, despite the similarity between Canadian and American Jews at initial glance, deeper differences—reflections of the varied cultures and societies that are Canada and the United States—do persist.6 As Harold Troper recently asserted, “Canadian Jews are not, and never were, a northern franchise of the American Jewish experience”; the Canadian Jewish self-definition is grounded in Canadian experience.7 “Historically and sociologically, Canadian Jewry is not a daughter community of the Jewish communities in Great Britain or the United States, but a sister community, younger and smaller, sharing a common origin, religious faith and cultural heritage, and facing the same problems of group survival.”8 It is true enough that there is no denying the tremendous impact the much larger American community has had on Canadian Jews. They too, like American Jews, live in a (basically) English-speaking country with a representative form of government; they are now mainly native-born — 18 —

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descendants of eastern European immigrants, who have risen rather rapidly in economic, cultural, political, and social spheres. As in the United States, Canadian Jewry is a voluntary community, its organizations, administration, and financing unfettered by government regulations. And yet there are significant differences rooted in the political, economic, and social differences that separate Canada from the United States, especially the dual nature of the Canadian state, with two national groupings, French and Anglo-Saxon, united under the 1867 British North America Act in a federation called the Dominion of Canada, and living uneasily side-by-side both within Quebec and in the larger Confederation ever since. The British North America Act of 1867, now the basis for the Canadian constitution promulgated in 1982, guaranteed French Canadians in Quebec their language, civil law code, and an established Roman Catholic Church; in the rest of Canada the United Empire Loyalist tradition of faithfulness to the British Empire and distrust of the Lockean liberalism and the revolutionary traditions of the American republic to the south also created an atmosphere of Tory traditionalism. In both areas of the country, then, no well-defined conception of “Canadianism” or a “Canadian way-of-life” arose. This was especially true in Quebec, which had a completely developed culture of its own. Canada thus became a pluralistic cultural mosaic of nationalities, rather than a “melting pot,” as was attempted in the United States, where a well-defined concept of American nationality awaited each arrival. Canada’s development, indeed its very constitutional set-up, made for different social movements and political groupings, and the idea took root that one could have multiple national affiliations without fear of the spectre of “double loyalty.” The Canadian state was a British monarchy and, in that sense, still a Christian state with no official separation of Church and State and with few demands raised for this from any quarter. It was also a non-national state, or at best a compact between two nations; in that sense, it resembled the Hapsburg Empire of Austria-Hungary, also created in 1867. This encouraged a type of corporatism among new arrivals, including Jews, since Canada was a land with two official languages and two major ethnic groups living together as one nation in which Canadian patriotism and citizenship were not deemed to “involve surrender of the cultural, religious, and — 19 —

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language traditions.”9 Indeed, for much of Canadian history, given the tensions between British and French Canadians, there was never any all-encompassing notion of Canadian nationality, hence no equivalent to the American “melting pot” creed—nor, for that matter, even cultural pluralism. In effect, no one was a “Canadian.”10 So Jews were not asked to assimilate “and disappear into the homogeneity of another culture, Francophone or Anglophone, Catholic, Protestant or atheist.”11 Needless to say, under such circumstances, “in Jewish Canada assimilation never assumed a mass character,”12 and because of these ideological traditions, as well as the actual absence of German Jews, neither did the Reform nor even (until more recently) the Conservative movements in Judaism gain many adherents: The built-in ethnic awareness that Canadian Jews possess has helped to foster their religious attachments as well. Many Jews who arrived since 1900 were more conscious of their ethnic ties to the Jewish people than of their Jewish religious obligations. Nevertheless, they preferred to regard themselves as Orthodox, not because they were loyal to the religious tradition, but because they believed that religious reforms were the way to cultural and ethnic assimilation.13 Canadian Jewish communal life was corporate, anchored in folkspirit and the national psyche. Canadian Jews were not synagogue or congregation-centred, but rather community oriented. Jews were a minority group in a bi-cultural country whose political-institutional structure was British in form, and where “the British conception vis-à-vis the Jews, of host country and minority culture, was more likely to develop” and the Jewish entity encouraged to develop a group life: In Canada, the Jewish community is regarded and regards itself as a cultural minority within the Canadian nationality, like the Anglo-Saxon, the French, the Scots, etc. The Jews of the United States...are viewed and function as one of the major religious groups. There the common comparison of Jews is with Protestants and Catholics.14 — 20 —

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Canada was a place where ethnicity was legitimated as the primary basis for political interaction. In Canada, “the ethnicity of Canadian Jews—their Jewishness—has helped to preserve their faith—their Judaism—and not vice-versa, as has been attempted in the United States.” Little wonder, then, that the Canadian Jew seemed “more consciously Jewish and less apologetic for his Jewishness than some of his American relatives.”15 Michael Brown has remarked that almost from the very establishment of the World Zionist Organization by Theodor Herzl in Basle, Switzerland in 1897, “Canadian Jews flocked to the movement. Especially notable was the involvement of wealthy Canadian Jews, who took their social and political cues from British Jews of similar station.”16 As the pre-eminent modern historian of Canadian Jewry, Gerald Tulchinsky, has noted, “Zionism strengthened their identity as Jewish Canadians and provided an important vehicle for political expression and ethnic pride.”17 Being largely of Eastern European origin…Canadian Jewry provided fertile soil for Zionism from the beginning. Adherents of the classic Reform ideology, represented in the United States by mid-19th century Jewish immigrants from Germany, were not present in sufficient numbers to put up opposition, tacit or organized, to the Zionist movement.18 Most other authorities agree with the assessment. Thus, Stuart Rosenberg noted that “in Canada, the Zionist movement was never seriously challenged, either by socialist secularism or by assimilationminded religious reform. The largest numbers of Canadian Jews were… emphatically Zionist in their folk aspirations.”19 Almost none would publicly give expression to anti-Zionist sentiments. “Such a thing as fear of being associated with the Jewish national movement can hardly be said to exist in Canada.”20 As Leon Cheifetz, then secretary of the Montreal Poale Zion, pointed out some eighty years ago: “Canadian Jews always played an important role in the Jewish national movement and their warm reception towards the work of construction in Erets Israel has often been used as an example for other countries.”21 So in Canada, where there was “no competing nationalism and no — 21 —

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opposing Reform ideology,” Zionism met with almost no opposition; it was indeed, except for B’nai Brith, the only national Jewish organization before the coming of the Canadian Jewish Congress, and the only cross-Canada movement in Canadian Jewish life.22 B’nai Brith, founded in the United States in 1843, had come to Canada in 1875, its first lodge established in Toronto; six years later a Montreal lodge was formed, and in 1886 one in Victoria, British Columbia. However, the organization was not very successful at first, its Toronto and Montreal chapters surrendering their charters in 1894 and 1903, respectively. It did gain renewed support a few years later, and between 1909 and 1914 chapters were founded in Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina, Montreal, Toronto, Victoria, and Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. B’nai Brith lodges offered members mutual aid and a secular framework for socializing and, to some extent, defence against anti-Semitic treatment. They also involved themselves in building Jewish institutions such as old people’s homes and orphanages.23 Perhaps because he feared “competition” from what he considered to be an organization connected to Reform Judaism, Clarence de Sola viewed B’nai Brith “with anything but favour.”24 “From the first, Canadian Zionism was not only geographically allencompassing” -- by 1907 there were chapters in 42 cities and towns throughout the country -- “but it also succeeded in attracting almost all religious elements in the community.” Few Reform or Orthodox Jews opposed it.25 Zionists were involved in almost all Jewish activities and institutions – they were the Jewish community, not merely a section of it. From the Zionist organizations came forth almost all the leaders of Canadian Jewry (and also those Jews who would become prominent in the larger Canadian political system as a whole). Little wonder, then, that by the 1920s, “prestige and social status” could be achieved “with high office in the [Zionist] organization.”26As the Canadian Jewish Year Book of 1939, referring to the early Zionist conventions, points out, “these conventions showed that all Jews participating at present in the Jewish communal life of the Dominion have been delegates to these conventions.” Zionism was thus the school for Canadian Jewish leadership.27 It should also be noted that Canadian Zionists were in the main, especially after the demise of the de Sola leadership, “practical” rather than “political” Zionists, concerned with all facets of the Jewish national rebirth in Palestine, and not merely with legal title to the country. They — 22 —

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were among the earliest and most consistently enthusiastic supporters of the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet), founded in 1901, and later, the Palestine Foundation Fund (Keren Hayesod), created in 1920 (and now called the United Israel Fund). Canadian Jewry saw Zionism as a total weltanschauung, concerned with all aspects of Jewish life and concerns, be they political, economic, cultural, spiritual, or national. Zionism was to be concerned with Jewry, in toto. This can be contrasted to the course taken by American Zionism, especially by men such as Louis D. Brandeis, where orthodox Zionism became transformed into a de-nationalized “Palestinianism,” in which the function of American Zionists was to help in the building of the Jewish yishuv in Palestine with economic and technical aid, and little else. For some American Jews, Zionism was seen not as a political and cultural ideology for Jewish national survival, but was rather a humanitarian gesture to co-religionists abroad. In Canada, this was never the case.28 Given the multi-national fabric of Canadian society, allowing Jews full play for their cultural-ethnic loyalties above and beyond Judaism itself, and the lack of rival vested organizational interests, it was almost inevitable that a structure would be built that would concentrate on the status, welfare and socio-cultural interests of Canadian Jewry as a corporate unit. Founded in 1919 and reactivated in 1934 to meet the new threats of Nazism in Germany and a rising tide of anti-Semitism throughout Canada and a western world mired in depression, the Canadian Jewish Congress bound Canadian Jewry together for many decades. The late A. J. Arnold noted in the 1960s that the Congress was “the voice of Canadian Jewry at home and abroad, and the conscience of the Canadian Jewish community.” 29 This is no longer the case, however. In recent years it has been overshadowed by the growth, in particular, of the Jewish federations in the major Canadian cities and by pro-Israel advocacy groups.

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Endnotes 1

Louis Rosenberg, “Some Aspects of the Historical Development of the Canadian Jewish Community,” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 50, 2 (1960): 138. 2  Bernard Figler and David Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman: A Biography,” in Bernard Figler and David Rome, The H.M. Caiserman Book (Montreal: Northern Printing & Lithographing, 1962), 265. 3 For the intense ideological struggles then ongoing throughout the Jewish communities of the world, as recalled by some of the participants themselves, see Basil J. Vlavianos and Feliks Gross, eds., Struggle for Tomorrow: Modern Political Ideologies of the Jewish People (New York: Arts Inc., 1954). 4 The term Sephardic is in quotation marks as we now know that these immigrants were not actual Iberian Jews, but the sons of Ashkenazi Jews who originally came from Germany or the Netherlands, but had lived in New York where they had attended services at the Sephardic Shearith Israel Congregation. They adopted this ritual when they came to Quebec. 5 This term was coined by Kurt Lewin and refers to individuals in a minority group who achieve some prominence in the larger society, and by virtue of that status (and the prestige attached to it by members of the minority) attain positions as leaders of the minority community. See 195-197 in his essay “SelfHatred Among Jews” in Gertrud Lewin, ed., Resolving Social Conflicts: Selected Papers on Group Dynamics (New York: Harper and Row, 1948). 6 For example, when Eastern European Jews started arriving in the United States, the American movement to settle the west was almost complete; in Canada, where the pace of economic development was much slower, the frontier was barely opened by the 1880s, and “in Canada the influx of Russian, Polish, and Romanian Jewish immigrants came just when that pioneer era was beginning and took an active part in it.” Louis Rosenberg, “Some Aspects of the Historical Development of the Canadian Jewish Community,” 135. 7  Harold Troper, The Defining Decade: Identity, Politics, and the Canadian Jewish Community in the 1960s (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010), 22. 8  Louis Rosenberg, “Some Aspects of the Historical Development of the Canadian Jewish Community,” 142 9 Louis Rosenberg, “Some Aspects of the Historical Development of the Canadian Jewish Community,” 139. 10 Michael Brown, “Divergent Paths: Early Zionism in Canada and the United States,” Jewish Social Studies 44, 2 (1982): 162-163. 11 Jacques Langlais and David Rome, Jews & French Quebecers: Two Hundred Years of Shared History (translated from the French by Barbara Young) (Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1991), 30. 12 Abraham Rhinewine, Der yid in kanada, Vol. I: Fun der frantsoyzisher periode biz der moderner tsayt (Toronto: Farlag Kanada, 1925), 189. — 24 —

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13 Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. I: A History (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 1970), 13. 14 Moshe Davis, “Centres of Jewry in the Western Hemisphere: A Comparative Approach,” Jewish Journal of Sociology 5 (1963): 5 (emphasis in original). 15 Louis Rosenberg, “The Jews of Canada,” Jewish Review 2, 2-3 (1944): 128. 16 Wealthy American Jews of the period, he writes, tended to be aloof from Zionism. Michael Brown, Jew or Juif?: Jews, French Canadians, and Anglo-Canadians, 1759-1914 (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1987) 20. 17 Gerald Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews: A People’s Journey (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008), 9. 18 Bernard Figler, “Zionism in Canada,” in Raphael Patai, ed., Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel, Vol. I (New York: Herzl Press, 1971), 174-175. 19 Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 1971), 16. 20 G.A. Stoler, “The Growth of Canadian Zionism: Its Origin and Development,” in Meyer E. Weisgal, ed., Theodor Herzl: A Memorial (New York: New Palestine Publishers (ZOA), 1929), 228. 21 So strong was Zionist sentiment, wrote Cheifetz, that “even among the Jewish colonists in Western Canada there has always been a strong longing for the old Jewish homeland; and this at a time when they were working hard to lay a foundation on foreign mother-earth.” Leon Cheifetz, “Di yidishe natsyonale baveygung in kanada,” in Benjamin G. Sack, ed., Jewish Daily Eagle / Keneder Adler: Centennial Jubilee Edition Commemorating the Centenary of Jewish Emancipation in Canada (Montreal: Keneder Adler, July 8, 1932), 75 [Yiddish section]. 22 Gerald Tulchinsky, “The Canadian Jewish Experience: A Distinct Personality Emerges,” in Ruth Klein and Frank Dimant, eds., From Immigration to Integration: The Canadian Jewish Experience. A Millennium Edition (Toronto: Institute for International Affairs, B’nai Brith Canada, 2001), 27. 23 Allan Levine, Coming of Age: A History of the Jewish People of Manitoba (Winnipeg: Heartland Associates, 2009), 118, 127, 168-169; Stephen A. Speisman, The Jews of Toronto: A History to 1937 (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1979), 57, 266; Brown, Jew or Juif?, 109, 214. B’nai Brith chapters were found in many small towns in Canada later on. See Gerald L. Gold, “A Tale of Two Communities: The Growth and Decline of Small-Town Jewish Communities in Northern Ontario and Southwestern Louisiana,” in Moses Rischin, ed., The Jews of North America (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987), 233. See also the articles in Abel Selick et al, eds., History of B’nai B’rith in Eastern Canada (Toronto: B’nai B’rith, 1964). 24 Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews, 67. 25 Brown, “Divergent Paths,” 155. 26 Judith Seidel, “The Development and Social Adjustment of the Jewish Community in Montreal,” unpublished M.A. thesis, McGill University, 1939, 191. 27 “The Zionist Organization of Canada,” in Vladimir Grossman, ed., Canadian — 25 —

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Jewish Year Book Vol. I: 1939-1940 (5700) (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Year Book Reg’d, 1939), 293. 28 Canadian Zionists were not, however, totally set apart or cut off from the mainstream of Zionist events in the United States. “From the outset…the Zionist movement in Canada benefitted from the proximity of the large and influential Zionist community in the United States.” Important visitors from Palestine and from the World Zionist movement would stop in Canada on their way to or from the United States. Figler, “Zionism in Canada,” 175. 29 Abraham J. Arnold, “Canadian Jewish Congress: The Voice and Conscience of Canadian Jewry,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory (Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963), 199, 210.

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2. A General Outline of Candian Jewry to 1921

Jewish Immigration to Canada: An Overview In this outline of Canadian Jewish history I only briefly touch on the Jewish community before the arrival of the Eastern Europeans, and focus on Canadian Jewry during the era of mass immigration, since “the period from1882 to 1919 may be described as one in which the seed of Jewish community life was planted.”1After all, “the first hundred years of Canadian Jewish history is the history of individuals. Only in the second hundred years is it possible to speak of a community in the authentic sense.”2 It has been relatively easy to document the growth of Jewish communities and centres in Canada, as all Canadian censuses since 1851, taken in the first year of every new decade, have asked for the respondent’s religion, and from 1901on also their ethnic origin, defined as something of “combined biological, cultural, and geographical significance.” Mother tongue was also requested in this decennial gathering of information.3 The problems of the integration of these groups of Jews into Canadian life will form the bulk of the study at hand. Suffice it to say here that “every group of Jews not only looked with distrust at the second, but also thought them to be an inferior element; it took generations to erase the various separate landsmanshaften, communities with their own synagogues, rabbis, Talmud Torahs, loan-societies, charitable organizations, etc.”4 The rate of Jewish entrance to Canada, at first a slow one, increased rapidly after 1880, as illustrated in these tables:

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Year

Jewish Population

Percentage of Total Canadian Population

1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921

107 154 451 1186 1333 2443 6501 16,401 75,681 126,196

0.01 0.01 0.02 0.04 0.03 0.06 0.13 0.31 1.05 1.44

Table 1 – Jewish Population in Canada

1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921

103 641 636 1245 2540 5337

0.24 1.06 1.62

341 572 549 989 2703 7607

0.46 1.52 2.03

31 791 1514

Percentage of Population

Manitoba

Percentage of Population

Quebec

Percentage of Population

Ontario

Year

Source: Louis Rosenberg, Canada’s Jews: A Social and Economic Study of the Jews in Canada, 10.

0.58 2.32 2.73

Table 2 – Jewish Population in Specific Canadian Provinces Source: Louis Rosenberg, Canada’s Jews: A Social and Economic Study of the Jews in Canada, 20, 41.

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Although not all that much encouragement was given to Jewish immigration, it was basically unhindered in the period before the First World War. Of course, there was a possibility of arbitrariness, since regulation of immigration was based on Cabinet directives, rather than legislative actions of the Canadian Parliament. It was only after World War I that legislation was passed wholesale prohibiting immigration in general, save for certain groups; until then, the spirit of the laws had been to permit entrance to Canada, except for various qualifications. The “Sephardic” Jews Though there are reports of Jews having lived in New France before its conquest by the British during the Seven Years’ War, to all intents and purposes Jews arrived in Canada along with the English. These Jews followed the Sephardic rites of worship, and have often been mistakenly thought of as Spanish or Portuguese Jews. In fact, some were German Jews who had sojourned in England or in the American colonies of Britain before coming to Quebec. These early Jews, like the Sephardim in the thirteen colonies to the south—with whom they had frequent economic and social contact— were not really immigrants, but rather colonists coming to a new land. They were well-versed in all aspects of intercontinental trade and their services were highly regarded. Considering themselves to be aristocrats, both socially and economically, and “defenders of the British tradition,”5 they spurned contact with Jews of different origins; on the other hand, they communicated freely with the upper class non-Jewish community, and were socially accepted by their neighbours. “Because they were English-speaking, having come from Britain or the American Colonies, they were indistinguishable (in the secular sense) from the general English community.”6 Indeed, intermarriage was common: Between the years 1759 and 1831 there were one hundred and seven Jewish families in Canada; their names are well known. Where are they today? Eliminating those families which had no progeny, one could still trace the patterns of about fifty of the above families. With the...exception of two branches of one famous family, the remainder are no longer Jews! The enfolding generations find them among the leading families of — 29 —

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English and French Canada.7 The Jewish population of Canada was, at this time, growing very slowly, the country not experiencing the same type of development then ongoing in the United States. Consequently, the German Jewish migration of the mid-nineteenth century missed Canada almost entirely, and Canada received almost no middle stratum of German Jews in the years 1820-1860. As for those few who did come, “since many of them had come by way of the United States, they, too, were absorbed by English Montreal.”8 This pattern held even truer for Toronto. Widely dispersed, small in numbers, upper class in association, and without the influence of even German Jews to reinforce their Judaism, these Jews became easily assimilated, save for a remnant which provided, as shall be seen, much of the initial ideology and leadership of general Zionism in Canada in the period before World War I. From the Early Settlers to 1880 Groups of Jews from eastern and central Europe, mostly English, German and Lithuanian, trickled into Canada in the years preceding the beginnings of mass immigration, and it was the descendents of these Jews who were eventually to bridge the gap between the old, established Jews and the folksmenshen, and would thus supplant the “Sephardic” group as leaders of Canadian Jewry. In Montreal, Ashkenazi Jews had by 1846 become strong enough to form their own congregation, Shaar Hashomayim. From 1850 through 1870, groups of Lithuanian Jews settled in and around Lancaster, Ontario. These families—with names such as Kellert, Vineberg, Friedman, Levinson and Jacobs—would all move to Montreal later, and would become prominent in industry, especially the men’s clothing trade. William Jacobs, father of the future member of parliament S. W. Jacobs, settled in Lancaster in 1864. When Lazarus Cohen, father of Lyon Cohen, future president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, called on Noah Friedman upon arriving in Canada in 1869, the latter set him up in storekeeping in Maberly, Ontario, and later in the lumber business at Sharbot Lake, Ontario. Lazarus Cohen moved on to Montreal, and in 1890, with his son, set up a coal merchandising company called L. Cohen and Son, which grew rapidly, and was valued at $300,000 - $500,000 by 1920.9 — 30 —

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Lazarus Cohen and his brother, Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Cohen, both born in Budvitz, Poland, and educated at the Volozyn and Vilna Yeshivas in Lithuania, would become important figures in the Montreal Jewish community, at the Shaar Hashomayim synagogue (Lazarus was its president), the Baron de Hirsch Institute, and various Zionist groups. Lazarus was an early follower of Hibat Zion, while Zvi, as head of the Montreal Council of Orthodox Rabbis, was called the “chief rabbi” of Montreal; he also became chairman of Canadian Mizrachi, the religious Zionist movement. Their story is typical and illustrative of the general economic and social advances experienced by this group of Jews in Montreal toward the end of the nineteenth century. Another early pioneer from nearby Lancaster was Moses Bilsky, father of Lillian Freiman, future leader of Canadian Hadassah and wife of A. J. Freiman, president of the Zionist Organization of Canada after 1921. Born in Lithuania, Bilsky came to Canada in 1845, and settled in Ottawa (then Bytown) in 1858. He became a prominent early Zionist.10 The first mention of Jews in Toronto (then called York) was in 1817, and in 1845 the Toronto Hebrew congregation the Sons of Israel was founded; it would eventually become the Holy Blossom Temple, built in 1856. These early Toronto Jews were mainly English and, to a lesser extent, German, from the Rhineland and Bavaria. They were “English” in language, dress, and concepts of government and law – in a word, culture. They were Jews by religion only, as were the early “Sephardic” Jews of Montreal. They came to Canada with no loss of British political allegiance, of course, and so maintained close ties, commercial and otherwise, with English Jewry. In the very homogenous Anglo-Saxon Toronto of the nineteenth century, “the fact that the Anglo-Jews were familiar with British traditions made them the natural leaders of the growing Jewish community.”11 They were followed by Jews from Lithuania and Galicia. Some of these prominent early families included the Samuels, Nordheimers, Benjamins, Simpsons, Josephs, Lumleys, and Ashers. Lewis Samuel, a founder of Holy Blossom and its president for twenty years, came to the United States from Yorkshire, England, in 1844, and finally settled in Toronto in July 1855. His brother Mark soon arrived, and the two founded M. & L. Samuel, commission and wholesale merchants in metal and hardware. By 1874 the firm was capitalized at $78,000 and profit that year was $23,300, a substantial sum for those days. Alfred and Frank Benjamin, two English brothers, would soon join — 31 —

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the firm. Abraham and Samuel Nordheimer, piano-makers, were two other early Toronto pioneers. Born in Bavaria, they lived for a time in New York, before arriving in Toronto as early as 1844. Finally, mention should be made of Edmund Scheuer, the “father of Canadian Reform Judaism,” who arrived in Toronto in 1866 and supplied much of the drive that made Holy Blossom a Reform temple; and Moses Gelber, born in Galicia in 1876, who became prominent in Zionist activities.12 Winnipeg’s early Jewish settlers were mostly from Alsace-Lorraine, and were Germanic Jews; most were at first peddlers. Others, like Joseph Wolf, who was police magistrate of Winnipeg for twelve years, were from London. By 1881, there were thirty-three Jewish families in Manitoba, twenty-one of them in Winnipeg, for a total of one hundred Jews altogether.13 In the far west, Jews settled in British Columbia as early as 1858, in Victoria; in Vancouver, the Oppenheimer family was one of the most prominent, David Oppenheimer being elected mayor of the city from 1888 to 1892.14 However, there were few Jews on the west coast during this period and they played no appreciable role in Canadian Jewish life. When the mass immigration to Canada began in the 1880’s, there were only about 2,400 Jews in the whole of the Dominion, and only Montreal, Toronto, and Hamilton had more than a hundred Jews each. There were only five congregations in all of Canada -- two in Montreal, and one each in Toronto, Hamilton, and Victoria. “The members of this small Jewish community little expected that their modest ranks would be swelled almost overnight as a result of a catastrophe, which would soon befall their brethren in another part of the world.”15 In 1881, the tsar of Russia, Alexander II, was assassinated, and pogroms broke out throughout the empire. The Jewish communities of North America would soon become completely transformed, both in size and in spirit The East Europeans When the pogroms broke out in Russia, thousands of Jews flocked to Brody and other towns on the border with the Hapsburg Empire, seeking to flee to America. In London, the Mansion House (later Russo-Jewish) Committee was set up in February 1882, under the chairmanship of Sir Julian Goldsmid, and involving men such as the early proto-Zionist Lawrence Oliphant. During this period, Sir Alexander T. Galt was High Commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdom and, knowing Canada’s — 32 —

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need for people to fill her empty spaces out west, was involved in having several thousand Jews brought to Canada on an organized basis. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, he called them “a superior class of people,” maintaining that “a large proportion” would have “sufficient means to establish themselves in Canada.”16 Jews thus began to arrive by the thousands, encouraged by a government that, if nothing else, at least did not place obstacles in their path, and was even helpful at times. Especially supportive of Jewish immigration to Canada was Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Liberal prime minister from 1896 to 1911. In London at Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, 1897, he said that Canada would welcome Jewish settlement on the land, and his Minister of the Interior, Sir Clifford Sifton from Manitoba, who wanted to settle the empty west, set up government offices in Europe to attract immigrants. Sifton owned the Manitoba (now Winnipeg) Free Press, and he and his right-hand man, John W. Dafoe, the editor, consistently favoured Jewish settlement in Manitoba. When a protest meeting against Russian pogroms was held in Ottawa in December 1905, Laurier delivered a speech asking the Canadian people to subscribe liberally to a relief fund for the victims. He also added, “We cannot bring all the Jews of that country to Canada, but we can extend a hearty welcome to those who choose to come to these shores.”17 In the Laurier era, Jews thus came to Canada almost without hindrance.18 After the defeat of the Liberal government by the Conservatives under Sir Robert L. Borden in 1911, regulations against Jews did tighten somewhat. Nonetheless, as late as 1916, in a letter to Abraham Rhinewine, Borden noted that his government was “thoroughly appreciative of the excellent qualities of the Jewish Immigration to this country and they hope that it may be continued as these citizens have done excellent work in the development and up-building of their adopted country.”19 And, indeed, the Jews did pour into the country: from 1881 to 1911, the Jewish population of Canada increased twenty-five times; from 1881 to 1921 it shot up to fifty times from what it had been. Canada’s Jews were no longer “an Anglicized, comfortable, integrated community.”20 These immigrants were a people in ferment, and they changed the face of Jewish Canada. Their “sheer number, energy, and spiritual heritage made all that was before then a hardy, venerable, but minor relic — 33 —

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of a distant and heroic age. Among them were Bundists, anarchists, socialists, territorialists, Zionists, Hebraists and Yiddishists, all trying to prove the superiority of their ideology. The stability and serenity of the old-timers gave way to the chaotic, noisy, seething, creative, folksy, Yiddish world of the newcomers.”21 These Jews flocked into the urban centres of Canada, and in these cities the Jewish proportion of the total population rose steeply: Greater Montreal

Greater Toronto

Greater Winnipeg

Year

Number of Jews

% of Total Population

Number of Jews

% of Total

Number of Jews

% of Total

1891 1901 1911 1921

2473 6941 28,807 45,802

0.95 1.98 5.33 6.13

1425 3090 18,300 34,770

0.61 1.46 4.75 5.69

645 1156 9023 14,837

2.52 2.60 6.28 6.59

Table 3: Jewish Population in Urban Canadian Centres 1891-1921 Source: Louis Rosenberg, Canada’s Jews: A Social and Economic Study of the Jews in Canada, 308.

Settlement of various types of eastern European Jews was not uniform throughout Canada. Thus, whereas Montreal’s settlement was composed of Lithuanian and Romanian Jews, with some Belorussians and Ukrainians, Toronto’s settlers were mostly from Poland, while Winnipeg’s Jews came from Belarus and the Ukraine. There were few Galicians coming into Canada at all. The history of the Winnipeg Jewish community, unlike those of Montreal and Toronto, really only begins with the period of mass migration. Encouraged by the pro-immigration sentiment of the Manitoba government, Jews began arriving in Winnipeg in large numbers. Their arrival was welcomed by the pro-Jewish Manitoba Free Press, which encouraged their arrival with editorials such as the following, in the December 26, 1881, issue: “The centre of ill will toward the Jewish race has shifted from intellectual Germany to semi-barbarous Russia,” which “presents to the civilized world the hideous spectacle of a land in which a peaceable, intel— 34 —

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ligent, and industrious element of the population is systematically subjected to brutal and bloody outrages, cynically tolerated, if not directly connived at, by the imperial authorities, civil and military.”22 On May 26, 1882, twenty-four Russian Jews arrived, and a further two hundred and forty-seven came on June 1. Of the 1156 Jews in Winnipeg in 1901, 1023 lived in the immigrant’s first area of settlement, the “North End.”23 Elsewhere in Canada, initial settlement in various communities had to await the arrival of eastern European Jews. The figures for various smaller communities illustrate this point: Year

1881 1891 1901 1911 1921

Vancouver

Ottawa

London, Ontario

0 85 205 982 1370

20 46 398 1776 2799

47 144 206 571 703

Table 4: Jewish Population in Smaller Canadian Centres 1881-1921 Source: Max Bookman, “Jewish Canada by Numbers,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory (Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963), 168, 171.

Thus, by the end of mass immigration, Canada had a Jewish population overwhelmingly eastern European in its origin and cultural background. “Montreal and Winnipeg, and to a lesser extent Toronto, became known throughout the Jewish world as flourishing centres of Yiddish culture.24 Yiddish papers served as outlets for writers who gained international stature.”25 While older papers such as the English-language Jewish Times was the voice of well-established Jews and read by middle class Zionists and Hebraists, “it could not act as the voice for the masses of Yiddish-speaking newcomers.”26 That task would be undertaken by papers such as the Montreal-based Keneder Adler.

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Development of Communal Structures The coming of the east Europeans, with their differing views on ideological, religious, social, and economic issues, led to a proliferation of competing institutions and organizations in Canadian Jewish life, and the conflicts between these groups make up much of the substance of Jewish history in the pre-1921 period. “With their language, their Jewish nationalism, their attire and their left-wing politics, these new arrivals did not identify with the members of the established Jewish community.” The Jewish community was fragmented and “the divisions went even beyond the downtown–uptown barriers as Jews were also divided by assimilationist versus nationalist beliefs, religious convictions, and political ideologies.”27 During this period, there were sharp divisions within the class structure of the Jewish community. Except for a small “upper-crust” of old settlers and newly wealthy immigrants, as late as 1934 the famed sociologist Arthur Ruppin could note that “most of the East European Jews are still petty traders, commission agents, or are in the fur and clothing traders, and in a few handicrafts.”28 While the new immigrants did not face the opposition of German Yahudim, as in the United States, “the Jewish plutocracy in Canada – especially in Montreal – was no less opposed to the new Jews” than were the German Jews in the U.S. “Moreover, the old established leaders, the ‘Uptown Jews,’ wanted to preserve their hegemony over Jewish life and fought with all their efforts every attempt at self-expression among the immigrant masses.”29 It would be a mistake to think that the small communities of earlier settlers were swept away without a struggle; on the contrary, for a long time they remained an important factor in shaping Canadian Jewry, and some of their institutions survive to this day. This small community had rooted itself externally in the total life of the country and internally in its community organizations, to serve its specific Jewish needs. Thus, for example, as early as 1863, a Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Society was founded in Montreal to assist “needy or unfortunate co-religionists” while in 1881 branches of the Anglo-Jewish Association were organized in Montreal and Toronto, to help receive immigrants sent to Canada by the Mansion House Committee in London and to collect money for Jewish schools in the Middle East.30 What follows is a closer look at the major centres. — 36 —

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Montreal As the oldest and largest Jewish community in the country, Montreal “was also the wealthiest, and, quite naturally, the seat of power.” As the “capital” of Canadian Jewry, it would supply much of the leadership of the community for the greater part of the twentieth century.31 In Montreal, the earliest communal life centered about the Shearith Israel congregation, organized in 1768. In 1777 a synagogue was built and a year later a hazan, Jacob Raphael Cohen, was engaged; however, the latter soon left for New York. From 1810 to 1832 the congregation floundered, and was only reorganized in 1832, with a grant from Moses Montefiore of England. The congregation at that time still maintained contact with the Portuguese Jews of London, and questions of ecclesiastical law were often referred to Dr. Raphael Meldola, chief Sephardic rabbi of England. In 1835 a new synagogue was built on Chenneville Street, and by January 1847 a new rabbi, Reverend Abraham de Sola, was brought over from England and infused new life into the community. Abraham de Sola was born in London in 1825, descendent of an ancient Spanish Jewish family, and his father had been rabbi of the Portuguese congregation in London while his maternal grandfather, Dr. Raphael Meldola, had been chief Sephardic rabbi of England. In Canada, he married Esther Joseph, daughter of Henry Joseph of Berthier, in 1852. De Sola established a Sunday school at the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue (the first in Canada), and in 1847 also founded the Hebrew Philanthropic Society, of which he became secretary-treasurer. As a man of standing in the larger community, de Sola helped build up McGill University, and became a professor of Hebrew and Oriental literature there. He was also a noted natural scientist, and a president of the Natural History Society of Canada. Indeed, in 1858 McGill conferred a Doctorate of Laws degree on him. “A profound oriental scholar, and eloquent preacher, a distinguished theologian and a voluminous author, he ranked among the foremost Jewish savants of his day and acquired a reputation that was well-nigh world-wide.”32 In 1872, he was invited by Ulysses S. Grant, president of the United States, to open the new session of the U.S. Congress with a prayer—even though he was a British subject. As this was considered to be significant in easing tensions between the U.S. and Britain, whose relations had — 37 —

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been strained following the American Civil War, de Sola was thanked by Sir Edward Thornton, the British ambassador in Washington, and by William Gladstone, prime minister of the United Kingdom. De Sola was an opponent of Reform Judaism, which he saw as a force for assimilation, and was associated with such American Sephardic rabbis as Morris J. Raphael of New York and Isaac Leeser of Philadelphia. Along with Leeser, he was considered by many as being the most powerful and ablest upholder of traditional Judaism in America. He wrote in Leeser’s journal, Occident, and was offered his pulpit in Philadelphia when the latter died in 1868, but declined. When Abraham de Sola died in 1882, his successor was his son Meldola, who had been born in Montreal in 1853. Active in Orthodox rabbinical circles, he too was a foe of Reform Judaism. “Indeed, during the period of his ministry, there was no more fearless and outspoken defender of orthodoxy, and none more vigorous and relentless in his opposition to the Reform Movement than Meldola de Sola.” He died in 1918.33 In the meantime, the Shearith Israel synagogue was sold in 1887 and the congregation moved uptown to Stanley Street, into a new structure designed by Clarence Isaac de Sola, also a son of Abraham de Sola, who was born in Montreal in 1858. Clarence de Sola, who would become the first president of the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada, came from “a long line of distinguished statesmen and scholars” who had resided in Spain for centuries.34 He was still “brought up in an atmosphere and period when Canadian Jewish history was the story of a handful of individual families.”35 De Sola was a trustee of the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue after 1891, and a parnas and president after 1906. He was considered a scholar, and it was known that he had a great library, inherited from his family. He was also a very devout Jew, and was “always an Israelite of the strictest sect, closely observing and always strongly advocating traditional Judaism.”36 De Sola was involved in all facets of charitable, religious and educational activities, as well as a large number of business enterprises. As such, and given an attractive personality, his yikhus [social standing] and his important status in the non-Jewish community was “respected by the Jews in Montreal.” When he died in May, 1920, he was a man very much integrated into the ways of the nineteenth-century upper class Montreal society, able to socialize — 38 —

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“with members of the Anglo-Saxon elite,” and yet very Judaic in feelings and outlook.37 In the mid-1850s, newer groups of Germanic and Lithuanian Jews were arriving in Montreal, and inevitable frictions developed between them and the older, “Sephardic” elements. By the end of 1859 they had built their own synagogue, the Shaar Hashomayim. It was the first Ashkenazi synagogue in British North America. The “Sephardic” Jews did not look with favour on these new developments; to them these new immigrants were an alien spirit, and many were openly hostile to the new congregation. “The aspiration of those first [Lithuanian] settlers to country-wide leadership was at the time still held in check by the earlier more assimilated Jewish residents.”38 But the older “Establishment” at Shearith Israel slowly and inexorably lost its power to the Jews of the new congregation, so that by the early twentieth century, Montreal’s “Family Compact” was firmly centered in Shaar Hashomayim, under the leadership of men such as the Cohens—Lazarus, Lyon and Horace—who would be presidents of the synagogue for many decades. Lyon Cohen (1868-1937) and Samuel William Jacobs (1871-1938) were typical of the second generation of “Litvaks” who united Canadian Jewry while at the same time dispossessing the old leadership at Shearith Israel. Cohen, as mentioned previously, was a partner in L. Cohen & Son, coal merchants, and after 1906, president of the Freedman Co., clothing manufacturers. S.W. Jacobs was a lawyer. The two men were lifelong friends. They co-founded the English-language Jewish Times in 1897; both were elected president of the Baron de Hirsch Institute (Cohen in 1908, Jacobs in 1912); both were members of the Jewish Colonization Association’s Canadian committee after 1906 (Cohen as chairman); both were involved in the Zionist movement to some extent (Cohen was an honorary vice-president, while Jacobs was a delegate to World Zionist congresses in 1911 and 1913); in relation to Shaar Hashomayim, Jacobs was elected honorary solicitor in 1901, Cohen president in 1904; and both men were at one time president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Cohen in 1919, and Jacobs in the 19341938 period. And, finally, as to their politics, like most Montreal Jews of their socio-economic standing, they belonged to the Liberal Party of Sir Wilfrid — 39 —

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Laurier and were members of Montreal’s Reform Club. Cohen was “a dignified person, an articulate speaker, and ... a fighter for principle. He was a liberal and proud Canadian, and was respected in the Dominion.”39 S.W. Jacobs “had a progressive view of life” and was very much involved in politics, being a Liberal member of Parliament from 1917 to 1938.40 As such, he became one of the most influential Jews in Canada.41 The Reform movement in Judaism made no appreciable headway in Montreal, despite the founding of Temple Emanu-El by upper-class, “uptown” assimilated Jews, in 1882. Among its leading members were Sir Mortimer B. Davis, president of the Imperial Tobacco Co. of Canada, and B.A. Boas (its first president), prominent in the field of women’s clothing. Its first rabbi was Samuel Marks. Temple Emanu-El was allied with American Reform, and in July 1897 the Central Conference of American Rabbis held its annual meeting there, while in 1907 Dr. David Phillipson of Cincinnati, the most prominent Reform rabbi of that era, officiated at the 25th anniversary of the congregation. In 1910, a structure was erected in the wealthy suburb of Westmount. But Reform Judaism would, if anything, decline even further with the influx of the new immigrant masses from eastern Europe.42 Masses of east European Jews were now arriving, and the population of Jewish Montreal jumped from 2,473 in 1891 to 28,807 by 1911 and 45,802 in 1921. As in most other North American cities at this time, the east Europeans tended to become geographically differentiated and gravitated towards rather specialized pursuits, oftentimes controlling entire little industries, both as owners and as labour force. They settled into semi-dilapidated neighbourhoods—the so-called “ghettos.” These Jews had a history of living as a compact religio-ethnic group among other peoples in eastern Europe, so being foreigners on North American soil as yet another minority group was not that traumatic or new to them. The ghetto became the real social world, its members the peer group, the “significant others.” Here the immigrants found an historical continuity to their lives; they had status, a well-defined role, and a structural location within their social milieu. There thus at first yawned an immense class, economic, social and cultural gap between the ghetto dwellers and those Canadians, whether Jews or non-Jews, in the larger world. What is called the first area of settlement for the arriving Jewish immigrants was a rather narrow longitudinal strip of land in north-central — 40 —

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Montreal, above the downtown area -- the two wards of St. Louis and Ste. Jean Baptiste. By 1921, fully 87.4 percent of all Montreal Jews lived in this area.43 Of course, the older generation of Jews—especially the Lithuanian group—attempted to somehow control and make order of these masses of new immigrants. In this endeavour they got help from an unexpected source: Baron Maurice de Hirsch of Paris. In 1890, the Baron’s agents in the United States established, under the laws of New York State, the Baron de Hirsch Fund, with capitalization of $2,400,000.44 In Montreal, officers of the Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Society learned of the Fund, and felt they should “perhaps lay claim to a portion,” since the Society was “carrying on the objects of the donor.” Harris Vineberg, the society’s president, wrote a letter to Baron de Hirsch, on May 20, 1890, asking for help. The Baron replied: I have received your communication of May 20 ... as I appreciate the usefulness of your action and the objects which you pursue. I am ready to contribute a sum of $20,000 which I enclose in a cheque. I shall be glad to hear from time to time about the progress of your work.45 The Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Society bought a building for $8,000, named it the Baron de Hirsch Institute, and opened a Jewish school as well. In 1900 the name of the Society itself was changed to the Baron de Hirsch Institute. The Institute, which housed a library, became a meeting place for new arrivals. Immigrants would go to night school there to learn English, and to meet those involved in Zionist or radical groups. But as more and more immigrants arrived, their influence became more pronounced; they resented the small elite at the Baron de Hirsch Institute -- they did not want to be treated “as objects of philanthropy” and they were striving for self-help and individual expression in their communal work.46 The character of the community was to change decidedly under the impact of these new democratizing forces. Thus, the years following 1905 saw feverish activity by the new immigrants. Organizations—fraternal, political, cultural and religious— sprang up, at first with little cohesion, co-operation or planning.47 New synagogues also arose. Russian Jews established the B’nai Jacob syna— 41 —

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gogue, in the old Shaar Hashomayim building, while Romanian Jews bought the old Spanish and Portuguese synagogue for their Beth David congregation. The Chevra Shass was founded by newcomers from Lithuania.These new synagogues, and the scores of tiny shuls and shtiblech that sprang up, almost spontaneously, were European transplants in every detail—even the use of Yiddish as opposed to English for ordinary conversation was deemed a requirement for traditional orthodoxy! Many of them were landsmanshaft associations.48 Every boatload of immigrants to Montreal brought young Jews, Talmudic students from yeshivas or gymnasium students, bound to the culture and traditions of the “old life”—they were followers of the haskalah, or Hibat Zion; they read Herzl, Nordau, Zangwill, Sokolow, Ahad Ha’am. Yet, in the new world, they experienced sudden loss of economic and social status. “The newcomer was often referred to as a ‘greenhorn,’” and some members of the community, in their dealings with the immigrant as an employee, “were not devoid of the tendency to exploit his labour, express a superior paternalistic air towards him, and maintain a segregated social status.”49 In the years of economic crises, especially after 1907, “when workers had to struggle with need and poverty, class divisions were very sharp.”50 The “uptowners” did their utmost to “Anglicize” the immigrants, and, especially, to de-radicalize those elements fresh from oppression in Russia, and burning with the sense of the necessity of absolute social justice. The Jewish Times, in its issue of May 4, 1906, protested against the Mayday parade held that year: For the first time in the history of the country there was a Mayday parade in Montreal, in this form of a procession in the city streets...the participants in the parade carried red flags and sang revolutionary songs. With few exceptions, all were newly arrived Russian and Romanian Jews.51 But the “uptowners” found it more difficult than ever to control the immigrants: Satisfied was the one word that did not apply to them. At the most, they were satisfied to be in Canada, and even — 42 —

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here, it was their business, as they saw it, to change it: to develop it capitalistically, to revolutionize it socialistically, or to make of it Jewishly a new Jerusalem from Lithuania.52 New leaders arose from this community. There were men such as Reuben Brainin, who arrived in Montreal in 1912 as editor of the Keneder Adler and became a leader of the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance; Yehuda Kaufman (Yehuda Ibn Samuel after he went to Palestine), who combined in himself “the romanticism of Hebraism and the ethic of socialism”;53 and H. M. Caiserman, a Romanian Jew who came to Canada in August 1910, and went on to become prominent in Poale Zion and who later became a founder and the first general secretary of the Canadian Jewish Congress. In August 1913, with the support of Brainin and Caiserman, the Jewish Immigration League of Canada was founded, “to help immigrants, to meet them at the port of landing, to find employment for them, etc.,” so that “Jewish immigrants will not be helpless anymore.”54 Obviously, the east Europeans were less than satisfied with the work done by the Baron de Hirsch Institute in the face of tightening immigration restrictions. The new organization soon changed its name to the Hebrew Immigration Aid Association, and raised $1,500. Nonetheless, it became defunct at the end of 1914, with the cessation of immigration to Canada due to the war.55 By the end of the world war, Montreal Jewry had become a fairly typical North American Jewish community. It was ethnically of Russian-Polish origin, basing its religious life upon the traditions of eastern Europe. As David Rome wrote, the newcomers were rooted in the civilization of the old Russian Pale of Settlement, their literary lions were the men of the Hebrew and Yiddish haskalah, their social ideals were based upon the politics of pre-1914 Europe, and their Zionism was “all [Chaim] Weizmann and [David] Ben Gurion.”56 Toronto In Toronto, too, the new immigration swamped the original community centered around Holy Blossom Temple; nonetheless, the people in that congregation remained for many decades the leading figures in Toronto Jewry. — 43 —

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Under Edmund Scheuer, Holy Blossom began its slow movement towards Reform Judaism—but it did not officially join the Americanbased Union of American Hebrew Congregations until 1920. Given the more conservative, Anglophile atmosphere of English Toronto, Holy Blossom’s Reform Judaism was a very “British” version, and not until 1920 were rabbis at the synagogue American-trained, at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. Prior to that, all of its ministers came from England. Thus, Dr. Barnett Elzas, rabbi from 1890 to 1893, was a graduate of Jews’ College, London; his successor, Abraham Lazarus, was a native of Liverpool. As for Solomon Jacobs, rabbi of Holy Blossom from 1900 until his death in 1920, he was born in Sheffield, England, in 1861. He moved in the top circles of Toronto Jewry and was part of the general social scene in that city, then known as Tory Toronto. As “the British Jew in Toronto,”57 he was of course, pro-allied when the British Empire went to war in 1914. (He had also been rabbi at the United Congregation of Kingston, Jamaica, from 1886 to 1899). In 1897, while still under the presidency of Alfred Benjamin, the congregation moved uptown, to a new synagogue on Bond Street, built at a cost of $40,000. In the 1880’s, in Toronto as in other cities, waves of east European Jews began to settle in closely-knit ghettos. They were clustered in the city’s downtown St. John’s Ward neighbourhood, known as “The Ward,” a densely populated slum. As they established themselves they began to move west to the Kensington area, just north of a growing garment district along Spadina Avenue. Whereas the older Jewish community was “geographically Canadian, culturally British and Jewish by religion only,” the new Jews were culturally very Jewish. “These immigrants looked inward, with little reference to the community in which they found themselves, while their brethren who welcomed them looked outward at ‘their’ city.” Until their arrival, there had been little employer-employee consciousness “because the whole community up to that time was more or less a stable group made up of the same class in the same area; a merchant class with status both in their own minds, and in the view of their neighbours.”58 The huge Jewish immigration from eastern Europe thus seemed to many of the older Jewish residents to threaten their stability and prosperity “and the close relations they had established with non-Jews.” The new immigrants were seen to “differ markedly from the well-accul— 44 —

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turated German and English Jews of the earlier migrations. ... It is easy to understand why the new immigration was viewed with misgivings by the older immigrants and seen as a possible threat to their established position qua Jews in the larger community.”59 Thus, in 1897, Alfred Benjamin told the new arrivals, whom he called “these unfortunate brethren,” to Anglicize themselves, and praised their children for learning English, “notwithstanding the drawback of their foreign origin.” Rabbi Abraham Lazarus of Holy Blossom urged them to “abandon Oriental customs belonging to religion only by the accident of Eastern birth.”60 Nonetheless, because of the close relationships established between the older Jewish community and Toronto’s English population, “There never arose in Toronto the sharp distinctions of certain Jewish communities...between German and Russo-Polish Jews.” Without minimizing the element of class distinction “that nevertheless did exist, Toronto, it must be stated, was singularly free of the almost tribal ‘cold enmity’ between East European and German Jews.”61 That city’s upper class Jews would prove more somewhat receptive to the idea of a Canadian Jewish Congress than did the old-line aristocrats of Montreal. The Russian Jews in Toronto set up the usual new paraphernalia of communal organizations, including the Goel Tzedec synagogue. This congregation, actually founded in 1862, was in effect an alliance of new immigrants and a core group of “Canadianized” Jews from Holy Blossom, who were disenchanted with the tendencies towards Reform in that congregation.62 After 1904, their rabbi was Jacob Gordon, who was born in Danilovitz, Russia, in 1877; he was also rabbi of a number of other, smaller shuls. “A fervent Zionist and staunchly Orthodox, he naturally opposed the Reform movement.”63 Gordon became a Toronto leader of the religious stream of Zionism, the Mizrachi movement, and a leading figure at the Canadian Jewish Congress in 1919. The new east European Jews, who began to merge with the older inhabitants in positions of leadership in the community, saw themselves as Canadians and North Americans, not as British subjects, and they increasingly linked Toronto’s Jewish community to others in North America, rather than to British Jewry. Prominent among such men were Archibald B. Bennett, a successful industrialist and a prominent figure in the founding of the Canadian Jewish Congress; and Abraham Rhinewine, after 1912 an editor of the Toronto Yidisher Zhurnal.

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Winnipeg In Winnipeg, the early Alsatian Jews found themselves divided over matters of religion, especially before the arrival of the east Europeans, and in 1884 they set up two synagogues -- Beth El (Reform) and Sons of Israel (Orthodox). The two however merged in 1887 as Beth El of Israel, and they built the Shaarey Zedek synagogue. But two groups split off from the congregation. In 1893 a faction that wanted to use the Sephardic ritual formed the Rosh Pina Congregation, while in 1903, a group of Reformers split off from Shaarey Zedek to form the Holy Blossom Congregation (the name was changed to Shaar Shomayim in 1905). Finally, in September 1913, under the leadership of Reverend Herbert J. Samuel of Swansea, Wales, Shaarey Zedek and Shaar Shomayim merged, as the Shaarey Zedek congregation. By this point, of course, there were many other shuls and synagogues in the city, mostly new east European formations. Moses Finkelstein, born in Russia in 1873 and arriving in Winnipeg as a child nine years later, can in many ways be considered the “Lyon Cohen” of Winnipeg. A president of Shaarey Zedek, and an important General Zionist, Finkelstein was prominent in most communal activities in the city. Feeling Jews should have representation on the city council, Finkelstein ran and was elected an alderman in the North End of Winnipeg, the immigrant area, in 1904. In 1914, he was due to run for the Liberal Party, provincially, but withdrew because of illness.64 S. Hart Green, born in Saint John, New Brunswick, in 1885 and a man who knew no Yiddish, came to Winnipeg in 1907. A lawyer by profession, like S.W. Jacobs, he was elected to the Manitoba Legislature in 1910, for North Winnipeg, and sat until 1914 when he retired. He, too, belonged to the Shaarey Zedek synagogue. Finally, mention should be made of Mordechai Weidman, an ardent Zionist who was instrumental in organizing the Shaarey Zedek congregation. In the meantime, the new arrivals began pouring into the city after 1882, and their lot was initially not an easy one. As one new arrival wrote to Hamelitz, the Russian Hebrew publication, in June 1882: I know not in what to dip my pen, in the inkstand before me, or in the flood of tears running from my eyes, of the unfortunates who have come here with me, in order to — 46 —

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describe their lamentable conditions. One hears nothing but weeping and wailing over the prospect of wasting one’s youth...in this desolation known as Winnipeg.... We were exiled to a wilderness.65 The older settlers had organized the Montefiore Hebrew Benevolent Society, but the new Jews, most of them traditional in matters of religion and ritual, “looked with suspicion at the Deutsche Yahudim, the German Jews, of the society,” and established their own charity group in 1884.66 In 1886 the two groups did unite, under the name Hebrew Benevolent Society, and in 1903 this united group, along with the Zionists and other organizations, set up the Kishinev Relief Fund, and raised $2,000 for the victims of the notorious pogrom in that city. (Many of the escapees of the pogrom would come to Winnipeg.) In 1911, the United Hebrew Charities superseded the Society—but not for long. Again class divisions arose. By 1911 the Jewish community was quite clearly divided, both socially and geographically, into North Enders and South Enders. The bulk of the South End group consisted of the pioneer families who had settled in Winnipeg before 1900. They were well established financially, and struck roots, and had naturally assumed leadership in all community undertakings. But by 1911 the North End was beginning to come into its own and some of its more independent spirits urged that North Enders should take the reins of leadership into their own hands...the dissidents took the offensive and asked why community leadership should be vested in South Enders exclusively.67 And so the North End Relief Society was founded. It remained separate from the older group until October 1914, when the exigencies and pressures of war relief forced the two to unite again as the United Hebrew Relief of Winnipeg, with S. Hart Green as president. Some of the new communal leaders included J.A. Cherniak, a former Socialist-Territorialist who became a Labour Zionist after the failure of — 47 —

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the Uganda project in Africa. A strong spearhead for a Canadian Jewish Congress, he was Winnipeg’s “H.M. Caiserman.”68 Harry E. Wilder, a Romanian-born Jew from Ulni who came to Winnipeg in 1903 at the age of 22, was another prominent east European Jewish leader. By 1918 he was chairman of the executive of the Winnipeg Zionist Council and by 1922 a vice-president of the national organization. Mention must also be made of Morris A. Gray, born in Goroditz, tsarist Russia; he came to Winnipeg in 1908, and, as a Labour Zionist, was prominent in the drive for a Canadian Jewish Congress, and elected as a Winnipeg delegate in 1919.69 And finally, there was Rabbi Israel Isaac Kahanovitch, born in Grodno, tsarist Russia, in 1872 and educated at the yeshivas at Grodno and Slobodka. He came to Winnipeg in 1907. Also a prominent Zionist, Kahanovitch was important in the drive for unity that led to the 1919 Congress.70 Ottawa In Ottawa, the first synagogue, Adath Jeshurun, was founded in 1892, and Orthodoxy, here as elsewhere, was solidly entrenched. The story of that community is really that of the Freimans—Archibald Jacob and Lillian, the daughter of Moses Bilsky. A.J. Freiman was born in Virbalis, Lithuania, in 1880 and came to Canada in 1893. He moved to Ottawa in 1899, and opened a store which by 1918 would be the biggest in the city, and which “contributed extensively to the improved environment of Ottawa, supporting the community in ever so many welfare and social affairs.”71 Besides Zionism, the Freimans were involved in Jewish and Ottawa charities, B’nai Brith, the Montefiore Club, and the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society, and Archie Freiman was even a director the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. He was a president of Adath Jeshurun after 1903. From 1921 until his death in 1944, he was the leading Zionist in Canada, “an energetic person of strong character, a capable organizer, and a leader in his community.”72 His wife Lillian, born in Mattawa, Ontario in 1885, was head of Canadian Hadassah from its inception until her death in Ottawa in 1940. She, too, was a fervent Zionist, and in 1903 had already attended the third Canadian Zionist convention, as a delegate of the Ottawa Daughters of Zion. By 1910 she was the president of the Herzl Ladies Society. — 48 —

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Elsewhere in Canada the story was much the same—community organizations arose, especially due to the necessities and responsibilities imposed upon the Jewish population of Canada towards fellow Jews in Europe during the First World War. In the fires of battle, the community would be forged into a united whole.

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Endnotes 1 

Louis Rosenberg, “Some Aspects of the Historical Development of the Canadian Jewish Community,”137. 2  Wilfrid Shuchat, “After Two Hundred Years,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory (Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963), 256. 3  Louis Rosenberg, Canada’s Jews: A Social and Economic Study of the Jews in Canada (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1939), 8. The two figures do not coincide, as some Jews listed themselves as, for example, Polish or Russian by ethnic origin, while Jewish by religion. In other cases – say with atheists or secularists – they may have defined themselves as Jews by ethnicity but not by religion. These discrepancies were relatively unimportant; in all cases where population statistics are given for Jews, I use the higher of the two figures. 4  Rhinewine, Der yid in kanada, 50. 5  Tulchinsky, “The Canadian Jewish Experience,” 25. 6  John Irwin Cooper, Montreal, a Brief History (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1969), 94. 7  Shuchat, “After Two Hundred Years,” 256. 8  Cooper, Montreal, 94. 9  See Allan Raymond, “Lazarus, Lyon Cohen were Potent Father-Son Team,” Your Community 19, 3 (1966): 1. Lazarus Cohen’s great grandson is the famous poet and singer Leonard Cohen. 10 Irving Abella, A Coat of Many Colours: Two Centuries of Jewish Life in Canada, 2nd ed. (Toronto: Key Porter, 1999), 113-115. 11 Dennis H. Wrong, “Ontario’s Jews in the Larger Community,” in Albert Rose, ed., A People and its Faith: Essays on Jews and Reform Judaism in a Changing Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1959) 47. 12 Sigmund Samuel, In Return: The Autobiography of Sigmund Samuel (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963), 24; Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. I: A History, 97; Shmuel Mayer Shapiro, The Rise of the Toronto Jewish Community (Toronto: Now and Then Books, 2010), 68-74. 13 Arthur A. Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba: A Social History (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1961), 24. 14 For the very early history of Jews in British Columbia, see David Rome, The First Two Years: A Record of the Jewish Pioneers on Canada’s Pacific Coast, 18581860 (Montreal: H. M. Caiserman Publishing, 1942). 15 Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 24. 16 Letter of February 3, 1882, quoted in Benjamin G. Sack, History of the Jews in Canada: From the Earliest Beginnings to the Present Day (translated from the Yiddish by Ralph Novek) (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1945), 273-274. 17 Quoted in Hirsh Wolofsky, “Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Canada’s Immigration Policy,” in Vladimir Grossman, ed., Canadian Jewish Year Book, Vol. III: 1941— 50 —

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1942(5702) (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Publication Society, 1941), 93. Laurier also noted that the growth of the clothing industry was especially due to the Jews. 18 When Laurier died on February 17, 1919, A. J. Freiman paid tribute to him by noting that Jews loved him because “we had something in common, in so far as he had to emerge for a minority, surmount numerous obstacles, difficulties and prejudices.” Quoted in Bernard Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman: Biographies (Montreal: Northern Printing & Lithographing, 1961), 207. 19 Quoted in Rhinewine, Der yid in kanada, 187. 20 Abella, A Coat of Many Colours, 103. 21 David Rome, “Montreal, the Capital City of Jewish Canada,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory (Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963), 300. 22 Quoted in Arthur A. Chiel, “Manitoba Jewish History – Early Times,” in Paul Yuzyk, ed., Papers Read before the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba, Series 3, 10, Winnipeg, 1955, 28. 23 Harvey H. Herstein, “The Growth of the Winnipeg Jewish Community and the Evolution of its Educational Institutions,” in C. J. Jaenen, ed., Transactions of the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba, Series 3, 22 (1965-1966), 2830. These Jews became peddlers, tailors, shopkeepers, and furriers. See also Roz Usiskin, “Continuity and Change: The Jewish Experience in Winnipeg’s North End, 1900-1914,” Canadian Jewish Historical Society Journal 4, 1 (1980). 24 See Rebecca Margolis, Jewish Roots, Canadian Soil: Yiddish Culture in Montreal, 1905-1945 (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2011). 25 Lewis Levendel, A Century of the Canadian Jewish Press: 1880s-1980s (Ottawa: Borealis Press, 1989), xv. 26 Levendel, A Century of the Canadian Jewish Press, 44. 27 Max Beer, “The Montreal Jewish Community and the Holocaust,” Current Psychology 26, 3-4 (2007): 192-193. 28 Arthur Ruppin, The Jews in the Modern World (London: Macmillan, 1934), 127. 29 Simon Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 1904-1920 (Montreal: Actions Committee of the Labour Zionist Movement in Canada, 1956), 19. 30 Simon Belkin, Through Narrow Gates: A Review of Jewish Immigration, Colonization, and Immigrant Aid Work in Canada (1840-1940) (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress and the Jewish Colonization Association, 1966), 25. 31 Brown, Jew or Juif?, 4. 32 Clarence de Sola, History of the Corporation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews “Shearith Israel” of Montreal (Montreal: Corporation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews, 1918), 39. 33 de Sola, History of the Corporation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews “Shearith Israel”, 49. 34 N. Taylor Phillips, “Necrology” of Clarence I de Sola, Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, 28 (1922), 269. 35 Eli Gottesman, Who’s Who in Canadian Jewry (Montreal: Central Rabbinical — 51 —

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Seminary of Canada, 1965), 16. 36 Phillips, “Necrology,” 271. 37 Israel Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn (Montreal: Keneder Adler Drukeray, 1947), 101-102; Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews, 73. 38 Simon Belkin, “When Brainin was a Montrealer: A Tribute to His Memory,” in Vladimir Grossman, ed., Canadian Jewish Year Book, Vol. II: 1940-1941 (5701) (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Year Book Reg’d, 1940), 135. 39 Hannaniah M. Caiserman, Two Canadian Personalities: Lyon Cohen, A.J. Freiman (Montreal: privately published, 1948), 8. 40 Hannaniah M. Caiserman, “Builders of Canadian Jewry,” in Vladimir Grossman, ed., Canadian Jewish Year Book, Vol. 1: 1939-1940 (5700) (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Year Book Reg’d, 1939), 133. 41 When Jacobs died in 1938, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, president of the American Jewish Congress, wrote, “How great we feel is the loss to all the interests of the Dominion, and above all, to all Jewish interests. What a precious being he was—wise, strong, courageous, and blessed with that priceless gift of humour!” Quoted in Bernard Figler, Sam Jacobs: Member of Parliament (Ottawa: privately published, 1970), 271. 42 Rabbi Harry J. Stern, long-time spiritual leader of Temple Emanu-El, arrived in Montreal in 1927, and many years later stated that “On my arrival in Montreal, when I assumed leadership of the historic Reform Synagogue of Canada, I found a ... challenge facing me. [It] had to do with advancing better understanding between the Jewish section of the east-end of the city, and that of the west-end. There was a real divide between these two parts of our metropolis.” Harry J. Stern, “Adventures in Christian-Jewish Fellowship,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory, 287. 43 Louis Rosenberg, Changes in the Geographical Distribution of the Jewish Population of Metropolitan Montreal in the Decennial Periods from 1901-1961: A Preliminary Study. Bureau of Social and Economic Research Press, Series A, No. 7. (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1966), 5. 44 For full details on the Fund, see Samuel Joseph, History of the Baron de Hirsch Fund: The Americanization of the Jewish Immigrant (Philadelphia: Jewish Publications Society of America, 1935). 45 Belkin, Through Narrow Gates, 37-38. 46 Belkin, Through Narrow Gates, 87. 47 For example, in 1907 the first chapter of the Workmen’s Circle (Arbeiter Ring) was established in Montreal. 48 In 1930 there were 17 such shuls in the old area of settlement, plus another 14 congregations with no permanent buildings—they would rent halls for important holidays. As well, most got along without rabbis—a baal tefillah could lead the prayers. “For decades each of these synagogues was small, barely maintaining its operating cost...A large part of Canadian Jewish living took the form of these synagogue-chapels.” David Rome, “Montreal, the Capital City of Jewish Canada,” 300. — 52 —

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49 Joseph Kage, With Faith and Thanksgiving: The Story of Two Hundred Years of Jewish Immigration and Immigrant Aid Effort in Canada (1760-1960) (Montreal: Eagle Publishing Co., 1962), 179-180. 50 Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 41, 65. 51 Belkin, Di poale tsiyon bavegung in kanada, 100-101. 52 Rome, “Montreal, the Capital City of Jewish Canada,” 300. 53 Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 145. 54 Belkin, Through Narrow Gates, 90. 55 The organization can, in a sense, be considered a forerunner of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society, formed in 1920. 56 Rome, “Montreal, the Capital City of Jewish Canada,” 300. 57 Heinz Warschauer, The Story of Holy Blossom Temple (Toronto: privately published, 1956), 254 (emphasis in original). The first American-trained rabbi was Barnett R. Brickner, who arrived in 1920. 58 Sidney S. Schipper, “The Contribution of Holy Blossom to its Community,” in Albert Rose, ed., A People and its Faith, 33. 59 Wrong, “Ontario’s Jews in the Larger Community,” 48. 60 Wrong, “Ontario’s Jews in the Larger Community,” 48. 61 Ben Kayfetz, “The Evolution of the Jewish Community in Toronto,” in Albert Rose, ed., A People and its Faith, 18. Kayfetz was an executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress from 1947 to 1985. 62 Goel Tzedec, later called Beth Tzedec, is now a Conservative synagogue. 63 Shmuel Mayer Shapiro, The Rise of the Toronto Jewish Community, 90. 64 Levine, Coming of Age, 121-122. 65 Chiel, “Manitoba Jewish History—Early Times,” 29. 66 Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 130. 67 Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 135. 68 Levine, Coming of Age, 149-150. The Socialist-Territorialists were willing to gain a Jewish homeland in any suitable location, not necessarily in the land of Israel. 69 Levine, Coming of Age, 188. Gray was an alderman in the city council from 1930 to 1942, and in 1941 was elected a member of the Manitoba legislative assembly. 70 Levine, Coming of Age, 182. 71 Robert Haig, Ottawa: City of the Big Ears (Ottawa: Haig and Haig Publishing, 1970), 149. 72 Hannaniah M. Caiserman, Two Canadian Personalities, 12.

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3. The Infrastructure of Canadian Jewry: The Establishment of Schools, Newspapers and Agricultural Settlements

Jewish Education Canadian Jewry was noted for its strong system of independent, secular, non-congregational Jewish schools, especially in the cities of Montreal and Winnipeg, and the rise of these schools in the early part of the twentieth century was tied to the growth of Jewish nationalism, including the development of Poale Zion as a major force. In Montreal, the confessional nature of the public schools was an added factor: Montreal’s French Catholic-English Protestant polarity may be the key to its Jewish development. It has given the impetus perhaps to a day-school system that encompasses fully half of all Jewish children who get any Jewish education [and] to large institutions like a Jewish Public Library.1 Montreal already had some Jewish schools, but these tended to be pedagogically inferior cheders or Sunday schools at the older congregations. Although Rabbi Mordechai Aaron Ashinsky had already opened the city’s first Talmud Torah in 1896, nonetheless the need was felt in the city for a modern school embodying those progressive ideas of the Jewish national renaissance then sweeping the western world. The opportunity presented itself in 1910. That October, as a symbol of fraternity with those Canadian Jews who were Zionists and labourites, the national convention of the Poale Zion of the United States and Canada was held in Montreal. A resolution was passed at this convention calling for a secular Jewish school system for North America, for the dual purpose of saving “the Jewish child for the Jewish people” and to “prepare the younger generation for the struggle for socialism.”2 The question of whether Hebrew or Yiddish should be given priority soon split the movement, with the Nachman Syrkin Zionist wing following the former, while Chaim Zhitlovsky and those with territorialist sym— 55 —

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pathies advocated the latter. Eventually, two competing school systems were set up across the country, reflecting the emphasis on one language or the other. In the meantime, the Keneder Adler’s issue of November 14, 1910, noted that “the local Poale Zionists are going to start a school, which will be the first Jewish radical school in Montreal,”3 and by January of 1911, the Jewish National Radical School, the second Poale Zion school in North America, was in operation. The school was not officially tied to the Poale Zion party, and by September 1914, they had lost control of the school (by now called the Jewish Peretz School) to the Jewish Labour Bundist genosen [comrades]. In August 1915, the Poale Zionists founded the Jewish People’s School, the Folks Shule; though most Poale Zionists went over to the new school, a number of sympathizers stayed with the older group.4 In Toronto, the Poale Zion, Socialist-Territorialists and Arbeiter Ring, led by Isaac Matenko and Paul Frumhartz, together organized a National Radical School in August 1911. The name here too was shortly changed to Peretz School. It was Yiddishist, and the general Zionists in Toronto were unhappy “that it was teaching jargon.”5 The school initially had to make use of the Zionist Hall, since the founders were rebuffed when they sought to use the city schools at night. By 1914, though, a permanent building had been erected. The aims of the National Radical Schools were to give students a Jewish and radical upbringing; to bring them closer to their parents and the Jewish people; and to sow in them a deep love for the Jewish people, for their hopes and ideals, and for all of humanity. The schools’ language was Yiddish, and Hebrew was optional; in Toronto as elsewhere, this led to a kulturkampf between Poale Zion on the one hand and the SocialistTerritorialists and Bundists on the other, since the latter groups had decided Yiddish was the language of the Jewish people. The Arbeiter Ring (Workmen’s Circle) continued to run the schools, though Poale Zionists worked with them. Soon there were three Peretz Schools in Toronto.6 In Winnipeg, the same patterns were more or less repeated. There, the early Jewish school system was inaugurated by the general Zionists. In December 1900, Hiram Weidman, a Shaarey Zedek congregation leader, called for the formation of a real Talmud Torah, and Reverend Nachman Heller of New York arrived in January 1901 to assume direction. The Shaarey Zedek and the Zionist Society jointly built a structure, — 56 —

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named the King Edward School. Sir Daniel H. MacMillan, LieutenantGovernor of Manitoba, opened it on July 1, 1902: It was with great pleasure that I received this invitation...I was gratified because many of the members of the Congregation Shaarey Zedek and the local Zionist Society are my personal friends...They have won success, or have laid the foundation for success.7 In July 1903, Heller left, and soon thereafter disputes arose between the Zionists and the more traditional members of Shaarey Zedek over the curriculum and the methods of teaching: From the outset some of the Zionist members were not satisfied with either the orthodox curriculum or methods of instruction. The school taught sufficient fluency in Hebrew for the mechanical reading of the Prayer Book and the Bible...The Zionists wanted to restore Hebrew as living, spoken language...and to stress Zionism as a way of life.8 To the Zionists, therefore, the school was a glorified cheder, and they withdrew from the school in 1906, opening the new B’nai Zion Synagogue and Hebrew School. The new institution proved popular, as “its Zionist orientation appealed to many of the parents, recent immigrants, who had a tradition of Zionism behind them.”9 By 1913 the school—now called the Winnipeg Hebrew Free School—had a big new building. The curriculum was in Hebrew only, with no Yiddish taught. As a compromise between Zionism and traditional Judaism, the school’s ideology was Mizrachi religious Zionism, and indeed it was incorporated into the Winnipeg Talmud Torah system under Rabbi Israel Kahanovitch.10 In the meantime, following the abortive Russian Revolution of 1905, new waves of immigration to Winnipeg brought Yiddishists, socialists and radicals of many hues. These groups, including Bundists and Socialist-Territorialists, were loyal to the Jewish people but identified with socialism. This also applied to the Labour Zionists, who believed in the “redemption of Zion through the ideals of collective ownership, self-labour and non-exploitation of man by man.”11 As such, all these — 57 —

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groups opposed traditional Judaism and the Talmud Torah system. Thus in 1912 the Yidisher Yugend Farayn was founded; a coalition of Labour Zionists, Socialist-Territorialists and a few anarchists, they decided at a meeting on January 2 to establish a Yiddish-language school for progressive-minded Jews. The new school, affiliated with the Arbeiter Ring, was named the National Radical School and opened in May 1914. By 1916, splits between Bundists and socialist Zionists had developed at the institute, now called the I.L. Peretz School. The Bundists felt the school, with its slogan “The Jewish Child for the Jewish People,”12 had become too nationalistic, even chauvinistic. They left and formed a new school, the Arbeiter Ring School, in 1920. The Peretz School, which taught both Hebrew and Yiddish, was retained by the Poale Zion and the Socialist-Territorialists , who eventually merged.13 Jewish Journalism The first Jewish paper in Montreal was the Yiddish-language Di Tsayt, published in 1867 by the famous lexicographer Alexander Harkavy. Its motto was “Education and Colonization,”14 and it was a short-lived attempt. Ten years later, H.W. Jacobs and Lyon Cohen started what proved to be a more successful venture into journalism. On December 10, 1897, the English-language bi-weekly Jewish Times made its first appearance in Montreal. This was the period of the Dreyfus case in France, and the case’s anti-Semitic reverberations reached even Canada, where Cohen and Jacobs, indignant over these developments, were anxious to combat anti-Semitic tirades. The Times was also seen as a medium for the dissemination of Jewish news and interchange of ideas in a Jewish population nearing 7,000 souls. “The Jewish Times was born at a critical hour when it had become vitally urgent that the Jews possess an organ of their own to uphold their prestige and defend their interests.”15 In 1908 the Jewish Times amalgamated with the Canadian Jewish Tribune, as the Canadian Jewish Times, and in April 1912, Hirsch Wolofsky, already publisher of the Keneder Adler, bought the paper and the name was changed to the Canadian Jewish Chronicle. Wolofsky, one of the great names in Canadian Jewish journalism, had been born in Poland in 1876 and educated in yeshivas, but was influenced by the haskalah and Zionism. He came to Montreal in 1900 during the great immigration era, and noted that, surprisingly, the community had no local Yiddish papers, instead relying on such New — 58 —

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York publications as the Forverts. In 1907, Wolofsky saw his opportunity. It appeared that the government was about to tax all foreign newspapers coming into the country, including the New York Yiddish journals. He therefore called a meeting, at which $5,000 was raised among five contributors. They bought the first Yiddish linotype machine in Canada, and the first issue of the Keneder Adler appeared on August 13, 1907. “That first issue was snatched up, as at a fire-sale. Its reception was enthusiastic; a new spirit entered the community.”16 Nonetheless, by the third issue, the other four members had given up, and only Wolofsky remained. The paper, of course, became a successful daily, and by 1912 all the money had been repaid. Wolofsky was himself an ardent general Zionist, and the newspaper was pro-Zionist from the day of its inception, devoting much space to such American Zionists as Jacob de Haas, Louis Lipsky, and Louis Brandeis; as well, events in Palestine were given prominent coverage. Thus, the 1908 Young Turk uprising in the Ottoman Empire raised great hopes in the newspaper, the optimistic writers seeing them as “cousins” who might grant the Zionists a charter for Palestine. The Keneder Adler was a lively and powerful organ, a force to be reckoned with in Jewish Montreal, an opinion-maker that could weld the community behind certain issues and turn them from others. As was the case with other Yiddish papers of the time, its goal was “not only to circulate news, but also to disseminate ideology” and to offer “a model of an ideal Jew for the modern world.”17 This became even more true of the Keneder Adler when Reuben Brainin arrived in 1912 to edit the paper, and was accorded acclaim from all sections of the community, making the paper the vehicle for new ideas, hopes, and communal activities. Reuben Brainin was one of the greatest figures in the history of Zionism and the Jewish national movement. Indeed, his stay in Montreal was a mere passing incidence in his long and fruitful career, which spanned two continents and at least five nations. Nonetheless, it was an important phase in his life, and, even more so in the history of the drive for a Canadian Jewish Congress and the democratization of Jewish communal institutions in the Dominion. Brainin spent four years in Montreal, 1912-1916, editing the Keneder Adler. He became the major spokesperson for the Congress idea, and the conduit from the immigrants to the “uptown” community. He left Montreal for New York in 1916 and would in later life become a spokes— 59 —

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person for American Jewish Communist “front” organizations, but he first came into contact with the Jewish working class while editing the Keneder Adler. Reuben Brainin was born in March of 1862 in Liadi, a Russian village, to a traditionally religious Jewish family.18 As he grew older, he came under the ideological influence of the Russian radical literary greats of the 1870s and 1880s, such as Turgenev, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. At the same time, the early Hebrew writers, such as Abraham Mapu, also began to find a response in him, and in 1879 he left his native village and settled in Smolensk. He became a Hebraist and contributed many articles to Hazefirah, the Warsaw-based journal. In 1891 he settled in Vienna and studied at the university there. Five years later he moved to Berlin, where he also attended university, and he was a delegate to the first World Zionist Congress, in Basle, in 1897. The first decade of the twentieth century was a hard one for Brainin: he had financial and spiritual problems and suffered setbacks. He was also, as an ardent general Zionist and Hebraist, worried about the growing influence of Yiddish in Jewish life, a language which he considered a jargon, a language without a literature, suited only for coarse people. Thus, he called the 1908 Czernowitz conference on language, which declared Yiddish to be a national language of the Jewish people and the equal of Hebrew, “a spiritual disaster for our people,” a moral failure and a bitter historical irony. He likened the “jargonists” to idolaters worshiping the golden calf, and said the Yiddishists, in dooming Hebrew, were responsible for “a spiritual catastrophe.”19 How ironic that 30 years later this same man was to be considered one of the foremost radical Yiddishists in the Jewish world—a transformation that began in Montreal. Montreal was a rather provincial city in 1912, and Brainin felt confined there. He was at first skeptical of the possibilities and also homesick for Europe. As well, he complained that the Keneder Adler, as a local newspaper, did not reach the European or even the American intelligentsia. Nonetheless, he went to work with a will. By 1914, he could note in his diary entry for February 11 that “for the last two years, in which I have been living with my family in Canada, I have done more work than in a comparable ten years in Europe.”20 As Benjamin Sack noted, Brainin’s years in Montreal were “his best, and most creative. His rich, creative personality, his great literary prestige, his strong cultural and communal bent, his wide and quick knowledge”21—all of these stood — 60 —

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him in good stead. With his great influence, and as editor of the Keneder Adler, he was finally brought into contact with the Jewish masses, with the working class of the Jewish people. “And coming into contact with the Jewish masses, I began to love them with my whole soul.”22 He found his way to their collective hearts as well. “It was at this time ... that he lost his contempt for Yiddish and for the groups for whom this language was the center of their nationalistic thinking. That was the time of Brainin’s battle against the rich who disappointed him. For Brainin this was his great school in Yiddish journalism and in Jewish nationalism.”23 Brainin’s efforts at democratizing the Jewish community through the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance and dislodging the rich from positions of power would get him discharged as editor of the Keneder Adler in 1915, and he began his own paper, Der Veg, which lasted less than a year.24 In Toronto, the counterpart to Reuben Brainin was Abraham Rhinewine, after 1912 city editor, and after 1915 editor of Der Yidisher Zhurnal [Toronto Daily Hebrew Journal], founded in November 1912. There had been some prior attempts to found Jewish newspapers, including the English and Yiddish language Toronto Jewish Weekly in 1906, and the Toronto Yidisher Prese in 1907, but both soon died. There were also socialist papers such as the monthly Di Naye Tsayt; these, too, were unsuccessful. On the other hand, Der Yidisher Zhurnal, which became a daily in 1913, thrived under Rhinewine and played a big role in mobilizing the support of Toronto Jewry almost unanimously behind the drive for a Canadian Jewish Congress during the First World War. Rhinewine himself was born in Poland in 1887 and had been a student at the famed Kovno Yeshiva. He nonetheless became a Socialist-Territorialist (which he remained for much of his early career in Toronto), and had to flee the Russian Empire after the 1905 revolution in order to avoid arrest. After a stay in London, England, he came to Toronto in 1907, and joined the fledgling Yidisher Zhurnal five years later. His city editor, Shmuel Mayer Shapiro, who had been secretary of the United Garment Workers Union, eventually took over the paper and remained its editor until 1957. The newspaper ceased publication in 1962.25 — 61 —

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In Winnipeg, the first decade of the twentieth century also saw the beginnings of a Jewish press. In 1910, during the elections for the Manitoba legislature, two politically orientated newspapers were founded. The Bundists, with Charles Salzman as an editor, created the pro-Socialist Party Winnipeg Courier, while Liberal Party supporters of candidate S. Hart Green began Di Fraye Shtime [The Free Voice]. Both newspapers disappeared after the election, which was won by Green. In the autumn of 1910, though, Aaron Osovsky, a labour Zionist, reorganized the backers of Di Fraye Shtime, hired a full-time editor, Baruch Goldstein of Montreal, and Der Kanader Yid [The Canadian Israelite] appeared. In 1914, under a new publisher, Frank Simkin, it became a daily, and in 1917 it changed its name to Dos Yidishe Vort [Israelite Daily Press]. The newspaper had great influence on Manitoba Jewry, and it consistently supported the immigrant “North Enders” against the Yahudim of the South End—the “North Enders” would not follow the richer Jews “like sheep,” Goldstein thundered.26 However, it tended to remain neutral in the debates between the Hebraists and the Yiddishists—thus it supported both the Talmud Torah system and the I.L. Peretz School. There were other ephemeral attempts at Yiddish-language newspapers in Winnipeg, including Dos Folk (1912), the Kanader Yidishe Velt (1915) and Di Yidishe Shtime (1921).27 Jewish Agricultural Settlements In 1872 the Canadian government adopted the American system of homesteading, and the western prairies were laid out into square mile sections. Each applicant for a homestead got one-quarter of a section—160 acres. To receive final claim to the land, the settler had to reside there at least six months a year, for three consecutive years, erect a house and barn, and break up at least 35 acres of virgin land, planting crops on at least 20 acres. This system was in effect until 1919, when the last of the free lands were parceled out. Settlers began to pour into the prairies soon thereafter, and this process was accelerated with the coming to power of the Liberal Party. The Laurier Liberal ministry from 1896 to 1911 is best remembered for its contribution to the opening up of the Canadian West. This desire to settle the west led the Liberal government to welcome settlers of all sorts, including groups such as the Mennonites, Doukhobors, and, of course, the Jews. Indeed, in 1897, Laurier announced that if Jews would — 62 —

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settle in large numbers in parts of Manitoba, “the Dominion will grant the Jews a measure of self-government as will enable them to make their own by-laws, substituting Saturday for Sunday.”28 There were indeed Jews willing to take advantage of the immigration opportunities given them in those last two decades of the nineteenth century.29 While most were merely escaping tsarist oppression, some were members of the Am Olam movement, which was an early territorialist organization wishing to settle Jews as farmers on North American soil.30 In the summer of 1882, Sir Alexander T. Galt, Canadian High Commissioner to Great Britain, met with the leaders of the Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Society, in Montreal, to discuss plans for agricultural colonies of Jews in the west. The Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Society had heard of Am Olam, and knew that many of the refugees streaming west had been influenced by it and wished to become farmers. They and the Canadian branch of the Montefiore Agricultural Aid Association had acquired land grants for colonization purposes, but the scheme had never got off the ground—the group had been unable to raise enough money. Galt was eager to have Jews settle in the west, and was especially anxious to obtain the aid of the Russo-Jewish (Mansion House) Committee, in London. On July 7, 1882, he wrote to Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s prime minister, asking the latter to “find the means of giving a district for settlement for these people. It cannot fail to have a good effect.”31 He suggested giving the Jews some spare townships reserved for the Mennonites, in Manitoba. Macdonald, never as eager for immigrants as Laurier would be later, and always a bit wary of Jews in any case, turned down Galt’s request. Nonetheless, in 1882, Galt and the Mansion House Committee did arrange for the first Jewish homesteading experiment, near Moosomin, Saskatchewan. W.A. Thompson, Galt’s agent in Canada, obtained land for 27 families, and in 1884 they began to build “New Jerusalem.” They were given a total of 8,968 acres, and $400 per family. Altogether, the Mansion House Committee lent them $15,000. Nevertheless, after two very hard winters, the colony began to decline, although it survived until 1889, when it was destroyed by fire. In 1888, meanwhile, John Heppner and Abraham Kleiman led a number of homesteaders to a second colony, near Winnipeg, named Wapella. — 63 —

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The Jews in eastern Canada now began to organize the movement of Jews into the western provinces, and in 1891 the Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Society in Montreal, with money newly received from the Baron de Hirsch Fund, set up its Colonization Committee, with David A. Ansell, an expert at colonization work, as chairman. When Hugh Sutherland, secretary to Sir Charles Tupper, then the High Commissioner of Canada in Great Britain, heard of the new organization, he proposed a scheme for large-scale Jewish settlement of land in the west. Sutherland hoped to have the Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Society convince Baron de Hirsch to abandon his Argentina projects altogether and divert his money entirely to Manitoba. But “neither in England nor in Canada did the Jews grasp the full significance of the prospects opened before them,”32 and Harris Vineberg of the Society wrote back to Sutherland that the group’s finances would not enable them to undertake land settlement projects of that magnitude. Thus, they missed an opportunity that would not reappear. On September 10, 1891, Baron de Hirsch founded the Jewish Colonization Association, which was incorporated in England and was to function on a world-wide basis to aid Jewish colonization. In a statement of purpose the Association pledged “to assist and promote the emigration of poor and needy Jews from any parts of Europe and Asia ... To this effect the Association will establish agricultural colonies in diverse regions of North and South America as also in other territories.”33 The Jewish Colonization Association infused new life into colonization efforts in the west, and most of the Jewish farm settlements in Canada became closely bound up with the Association, and were dependent on aid from it.34 On April 27, 1892, 27 families left Montreal for Winnipeg, where they were joined by 22 other families, and this group was granted a total of 12,488 acres in Saskatchewan, where they founded the Hirsch colony. In 1901, the Lipton settlement near Qu’Appelle, also in Saskatchewan, was founded by the Canadian government itself for a group of 49 Jewish families from Romania, but it too received aid from the Jewish Colonization Association. As well, 1903 saw the formation of the Bender colony in Manitoba. Two groups of Lithuanian Jews, escapees from the South African Transvaal during the Boer War, founded the Edenbridge, Saskatchewan, colony, in 1906, and by 1920 this settlement had 7,500 acres under — 64 —

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cultivation.35 A group of young men trained in agriculture at the Jewish Colonization Association’s Agricultural School at Slobodka Lesna, in Galicia, founded Sonnenfeld, Saskatchewan, in 1905,36 and in that same year, Rumsey colony, Alberta, was established. From the late 1880s until the late 1930s, there were ten major Jewish colonies in the Canadian prairies: Bender, Edenbridge, Moosomin, Wapella, Hirsch, Lipton, Sonnenfeld, Rumsey, Alsask, and Montefiore. The various Jewish farm settlements slowly grew, and some even prospered, in the decade preceding the First World War, but that conflict spelled the ruination of many farming communities. Farmers were forced to concentrate on raising wheat and cattle for the duration of the conflict; after the war, prices of these commodities dropped sharply, and many farmers went bankrupt or were forced to accept emergency loans from the Jewish Colonization Association. As well, children drifted to the cities or went overseas during the war, and few returned to the farm settlements later. The 1921 Canadian census showed the following total overall statistics for the Jewish colonies of Hirsch, Lipton, Sonnenfeld and Edenbridge, Saskatchewan; and Rumsey, Alberta: • a total of 818 people, of whom 201 were farmers • 60,957 acres, of which 30,423 were under cultivation • production that year totaled 212,000 bushels of wheat, 110,000 bushels of oats, and some flax, barley, and rye. There were also 460 people (113 of them farmers) living on smaller settlements in the west under the supervision of the Jewish Colonization Association. Overall, Canada’s entire Jewish farming population for that year totaled 2,568 people, out of a Jewish population of 126,196.37 The entire attempt at rural settlement of Jews in western Canada was less than a complete success. Thus, in 1921, when Edouard Oungre, the Assistant Director of the Jewish Colonization Association, visited Canada to take stock of the Jewish farm settlements in the country, he was told by the Department of Immigration that many of the agriculturalists had been unable to overcome adversity.38 Canadian Jews remained primarily an urban people. — 65 —

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Endnotes 1  Kayfetz, “The Evolution of the Jewish Community in Toronto,” 27. The Jewish Public Library of Montreal had its nucleus in the Poale Zion’s library at the Baron de Hirsch Institute. In 1912 a conference of Jewish labour organizations founded the present library, with Reuben Brainin and Yehuda Kaufman as president and treasurer, respectively. 2  Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 18. 3  Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 198. 4  The two school systems finally united in 1971. 5  Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 238. 6  In 1925, the Poale Zion created the People’s School (Folks Shule), and in 1932 the Left Poale Zionist formed the Borochov School. In 1926, meanwhile, the Arbeiter Ring’s left wing split off and organized the Communist-dominated Morris Winchevsky School. Toronto thus had acquired by 1932 four secular Yiddishist or partly-Yiddish school systems. 7  Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 97. 8  Herstein, “The Growth of the Winnipeg Jewish Community and the Evolution of its Educational Institutions,” 40. 9  Herstein, “The Growth of the Winnipeg Jewish Community and the Evolution of its Educational Institutions,” 40. 10 Levine, Coming of Age, 141. 11 Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 103. 12 Quoted in Herstein, “The Growth of the Winnipeg Jewish Community and the Evolution of its Educational Institutions,” 61. 13 In 1926, at the time of the split in the Arbeiter Ring, the pro-Communist left gained control of the Arbeiter Ring School, renaming it the Sholem Aleichem School (this latter school finally closed its doors in 1963). Many Arbeiter Ring School people returned to the Labour Zionist-oriented Peretz School. But in 1929 some Labour Zionists left the Peretz School and founded the Folk-Shule. Levine, Coming of Age, 152-155. 14 Sack, History of the Jews in Canada, 205. 15 Sack, History of the Jews in Canada, 218. 16 Hirsch Wolofsky, “The Founding of the Jewish Daily Eagle,” in the Golden Jubilee Edition of the Jewish Daily Eagle (Keneder Adler) (Montreal: Keneder Adler, November 22, 1957), 10. 17 Rebecca Margolis, “The Yiddish Press in Montreal, 1900-1945,” Canadian Jewish Studies 16-17 (2008-2009): 6. See also Pierre Anctil, ed., Through the Eyes of the Eagle: The Early Montreal Yiddish Press (1907-1916) (Translated from the Yiddish by David Rome), Véhicule Press, 2001. Hirsch Wolofsky published his autobiography, Mayn lebns-rayze (Montreal: Keneder Adler Drukeray, 1946). 18 For full details on Brainin’s life in Europe, see Reuben Brainin, Fun mayn lebns— 66 —

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bukh (New York: Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF), 1946). 19 Quoted in Nachman Meisel, “Reuben brainin un dr. khaim zhitlovsky,” in Nachman Meisel, ed., Tsum hundertstn geborintog fun reuben brainin (New York: Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF), 1962), 145. 20 Quoted in Meisel, “Reuben brainin un dr. khaim zhitlovsky,” 17. 21 Benjamin Sack, “Reuben brainin amol in Montreal,” Keneder Adler, April 4, 1962, 4. 22 Reuben Brainin, “A bisl zikhroynes,” in Benjamin G. Sack, ed., Jewish Daily Eagle/Keneder Adler: Centennial Jubilee Edition Commemorating the Century of Jewish Emancipation in Canada, 60 [Yiddish section]. 23 Bernard Figler and David Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 85. 24 For more on Brainin’s career in Canada, see David Rome, Naomi Caruso and Janice Rosen, eds., The Canadian Story of Reuben Brainin, New Series, 48, Parts 1 and 2 (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1993 and 1996), and Naomi Caruso, Reuven Brainin: The Fall of an Icon. New Series, Part 49 (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 2007). 25 Ben Kayfetz, “Recollections and Experiences with the Jewish Press in Toronto,” Polyphony 6, 1 (1984): 228-231; Shmuel Mayer Shapiro, The Rise of the Toronto Jewish Community, 43-54. 26 Levine, Coming of Age, 148. 27 For more on Jewish journalism in Canada, see also David Rome, Men of the Yiddish Press, New Series, No. 42 (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1989). 28 Shulamis Yellin, The Jew in Canada: 1760-1960 (Montreal: National Bicentenary Committee, Canadian Jewish Congress, 1961), 17. 29 On Jewish settlement in western Canada, in general, see Abraham J. Arnold, “The Jewish Contribution to the Opening and Development of the West,” in Frank Hall, ed., Papers Read Before the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba, Series 3, 25 (1968-1969); and Harry E. Wilder, “An Outline of the History of the Jews in Canada,” in The 100th Anniversary Souvenir of Jewish Emancipation in Canada and the 50th Anniversary of the Jews in the West, 1832-1932 (Winnipeg: Israelite Daily Press, 1932). 30 For the history of this group see Abraham Menes, “The Am Oylom Movement,” YIVO Annual of Jewish Social Science 4, 1949. Plans were being developed in all parts of the Jewish world at this time to turn Jews into farmers. 31 Belkin, Through Narrow Gates, 55. 32 Sack, History of the Jews in Canada, 209. 33 Belkin, Through Narrow Gates, 69. The Association was anti-Zionist, and indeed it and the Anglo-Jewish Association opposed any offers of Jewish autonomy to the Zionist movement. See further Walter Laqueur, “Zionism and its Liberal Critics,” in the Journal of Contemporary History 6, 4 (1971). 34 For more details, see Louis Rosenberg, “Jewish Agriculture in Canada,” YIVO Annual of Jewish Social Science 5 (1950). 35 Legend has it that the name is derived from Yiden Bridge (Jews’ Bridge). Some of the difficulties experienced by the early settlers in Edenbridge, as described — 67 —

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by the participants themselves, can be found in Michael Usiskin, Oksn un motorn: Zikhroynes fun a yidishn farmer-pioner (di geshikhte fun edenbridge) (Toronto: Farlag Vochenblatt, 1945). 36 It was named after Dr. Sigismund Sonnenfeld, overall Director of the Jewish Colonization Association. See also Anna Feldman, “Sonnenfeld: Elements of Survival and Success of a Jewish Farming Community on the Prairies, 19051939,” Canadian Jewish Historical Society Journal 6, 1 (1982). 37 Belkin, Through Narrow Gates, 85. 38 Nonetheless, as late as 1938 Jewish agricultural settlements in Canada were advocated as a solution for refugees escaping Nazism by Vladimir Grossman in The Soil’s Calling (Montreal: Eagle Publishing Co.,1938).

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Reuben Brainin, courtesy Jewish Public Library Archives, Montreal

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Keneder Adler presses, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal

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4. General Zionism in Canada before the First World War

Early Attempts at Zionism in Canada Zionism as a movement of Jewish national revival swept over the Jewish world in the last decades of the nineteenth century, a reaction to the anti-Semitism and racism of the late Victorian era in Europe, especially in France, Germany and Russia, and as part of a new awakening and revival of Jewish consciousness. Other manifestations of this ferment included the growth of both Hebrew and Yiddish literature and culture; and the advancement of ideals of Jewish self-government, either as cultural-national autonomy in eastern Europe (the program of the Jewish Labour Bund and of such theoreticians as the historian Simon Dubnov) or as territorial sovereignty somewhere in the vast reaches of Asia, Africa or Latin America (the proposals of the Zionists and the various territorialist groups). Under Zionism, these territorial schemes, save for the abortive Uganda plan, eventually became centered around Palestine. I have already described the cultural self-awareness of the intensely “Jewish” group of settlers in Canada, as well as their sense of marginality. There was also, for some, the severe disappointment of a person who expected to come to a “golden land” and was met instead with sweatshops, long hours, low pay, and ghetto conditions of life. Some Canadian Jews, even in the early period, began to consider Zionism as an alternative. Hovevei Zion Alexander Harkavy, born in Novogrudok, Russia, in 1863, arrived in Montreal in 1886, as a teacher for the Shaar Hashomayim congregation. By this time many educated Jews, who back in Europe were Yeshiva bochers “oif kest” (supported by in-laws or the community while studying Talmud and Torah), had arrived in Montreal. Here they took work, often labour they found demeaning and which entailed a subjective loss of status, and some became maskilim, followers of the Enlightenment, reading Mapu and Smolenskin, Lilienblum and Ahad Ha’am, and periodicals such as Hamelitz and Hazefirah. They also formed reading circles and frequented bookstores like the Ezra, on Main Street, run by Harry — 71 —

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Hershman. Thus, when Harkavy arrived, a circle of Hebrew-oriented intellectuals could gather around him. “The ebullient Harkavy came as a fresh, invigorating breeze into the sedate Montreal atmosphere. Forceful, radiating richness and breadth of mind, the youthful pedagogue quickly exerted a powerful influence on the local community.”1 Harkavy had tried his hand at journalism, issuing Di Tsayt in 1887. That same year, on January 16, he and Joseph Bernstein, a Hebrew journalist and contributor to Hamelitz, founded a Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) Society, one of many experiments in early Zionism then ongoing throughout the Jewish world. Harkavy became chairman and Bernstein secretary, and among the other 30 members were found such names as Dr. David A. Hart (of old “Sephardic” stock), Lazarus Cohen, Jacob Cohen (a wholesaler of clothing), Reverend Elias Friedlander, and David A. Ansell, of the Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Society, a man interested in colonization schemes of all sorts. A committee of seven was elected to draft the by-laws (in Hebrew and English), and a library of Hebrew books was established. A letter about the Society was sent to the tenth issue of Hamagid, another European Hebraist journal, and the group tried to unite with a Warsaw Hovevei Zion group, Mazkereth Moishe, which was under the leadership of Sh. F. Rabinovitch, its secretary. The plan failed, and in fact the Montreal group itself “found it necessary to disband for lack of community support.”2 Harkavy by this time had little affection for some of the Montreal Jewish leadership, as evidenced in his contributions to Hazefirah, and he soon thereafter left for New York, where he went on to acquire fame as a Yiddish lexicographer. Shavei Zion and the 1893 Palestine Project Despite the demise of Harkavy’s society, Zionist sentiment still remained strong beneath the surface among Canadian Jews, especially in Montreal. (Indeed, in 1899, Ahad Ha’am’s Russian-based secret Zionist order, B’nai Moshe, had one member in all of North America: Lazarus Cohen of Montreal.) It is not surprising, then, that Montreal Jews soon formed yet another, more ambitious group a few years later. In New York City, on January 5, 1891, a Zionist group named Shavei Zion was established, the aim of the members being “to settle at their own cost as colonists in the Holy Land within three to five years.” The key figure in the project was Dr. Moses Mintz, a one-time editor and — 72 —

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publisher of the New York Yidishe Folkstsaytung. To achieve their aim, they announced in the New York Yidishe Gazetn of January 1, 1892, that “The representatives of the organization have succeeded in acquiring a tract of land of 6,000 acres for $24,000. The land, which is very fertile, is located in one of the healthiest spots in the country.”3 Inspired by this development, Chaim Bernstein, a Jew born in Russia in 1841, formed a Shavei Zion Branch No. 2 in Montreal in 1892, devoted to furthering the idea of colonizing Palestine. Bernstein was president, Samuel Wolsey secretary, and Lazarus Cohen the treasurer, and the 50 members were mostly Lithuanian Jews who had come to Canada in the 1870s. The leaders of the Montreal Shavei Zion No. 2 came to a conference in New York, and Lazarus Cohen met Mintz there. The Montreal group, too, wanted to buy land in Palestine, and it was arranged that the two men, each representing their branch of the movement, visit Palestine to investigate the possibilities of settling there, and also to arrange for the Montreal group to buy land in a suitable area. The two men set out for Palestine, first stopping in at a meeting of the Paris-based Palestine Committee (Comitée Palestinienne de Paris) to speak to Baron Edmund de Rothschild about the project. They continued on to Palestine, and “their report was a favourable one and the society immediately started saving a fund for the settling of Canadian Jewish families in Israel.”4 Lyon Cohen described this “first direct contact by Canadian Jews with the Homeland,” undertaken by his father: In a letter written to me by my father while on the trip, he summed up his impressions of Palestine by saying that he was pleasantly surprised with conditions in the Holy Land. He felt that the land was very suitable for plantations and that the future was very promising. On his return, he stated that the country is only awaiting its long-banished children to again become a land flowing with milk and honey.5 At first Cohen tried to buy land east of the Jordan River, but later on decided on land near Metula, in northern Galilee. On their way back to North America Cohen and Mintz stopped in Paris again, where they — 73 —

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were received by Zadok Kahn, Chief Rabbi of France, and J.H. Dreyfus, Chief Rabbi of Paris. They agreed to terms for purchase of the land; the money payments were made out to Zadok Kahn, but actually went to the Palestine Committee. In 1893 the Montreal Shavei Zion No. 2 sent the first payment of 12,500 francs to Paris, as down payment on 1,000 acres of land, and in 1894 a further 7,500 francs were remitted. In March and May of 1895, the final payments were made. Altogether, 31,360 francs were paid for the land, another 3,297 for plants.6 The Palestine Committee in Paris now convinced the Montreal society that they could start settling the land, and the members in Montreal, quite optimistic about the project, agreed. Two Montreal families went to Palestine to farm the 1,000 acres already bought. But “the Turkish government was not cordially disposed towards this experiment,”7 and when the colonists were harassed by nearby Arabs, the settlers were refused protection by the Ottoman regime. One family came back almost immediately, the other 18 months later. The Palestine Committee was prepared for initial failures, and told the Shavei Zion No. 2 to move forward more slowly. But the Montreal group was now too disillusioned, and Chaim Bernstein asked for the return of the money. All the entreaties and pleadings of the Committee were to no avail, and so in November, 1897, it decided to stop its dealings with the Montreal group. In 1898, all the invested money, plus accrued interest of 771.50 francs, was returned to the Shavei Zion No. 2.8 Thus, “the first colonization experiment of Canadian Zionists, despite all the good efforts, ended in failure,”9 and “their unhappy experiences led to the disbanding of Canada’s second Zionist group.”10 Elsewhere in Europe and North America, Hibat Zion societies also were failing. The Jewish world awaited a different, more organized and more influential Zionist leadership and organizational structure—and this was not long in coming. In 1897, the same year in which the Montreal Shevei Zion No. 2 disbanded, Theodor Herzl convened the first world Zionist Congress, in Basle, Switzerland, and the modern era of Zionist history began in earnest. Canadian Jewry and Its Attitudes Toward the New Movement Canadian Jewry, as noted earlier, proved a fertile ground for Herzlian Zionism after 1898, due to its east European traditions, lack of Reform — 74 —

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Judaism, and fewer opportunities for assimilation, than was the case with the Jewish community in the United States. As Benjamin Sack noted, “in the short time which...elapsed since the founding of the first Zionist society in Montreal, the movement...swept the country and [became] firmly entrenched both as an organization and as a potent factor in Canadian Jewish life. Around it was grouped every element that found comfort and inspiration in the ideal of a Jewish renaissance in Palestine.”11 Some opposition did manifest itself in the ranks of Jewish socialist and anarchist groups; more importantly, Jewish workers were often just simply indifferent. It would take years of agitation by the small but highly influential Poale Zion to make inroads and gains for Zionism among the ranks of the Jewish proletariat in Canada. Reform Judaism being small in numbers of adherents, and the older “Sephardic” Jews being strongly anti-assimilationist, there was little opposition from the upper classes. Nonetheless, one important incident does stand out. From July 6 to July 11, 1897, the Central Conference of American Rabbis held its annual convention at Temple Emanu-El, Montreal, greeted by such luminaries as Sir Joseph A. Chapleau, LieutenantGovernor of Quebec, R. Wilson Smith, Mayor of Montreal, Joseph I. Tarte, representing the federal Cabinet, and Dr. James Guerin, for the provincial government. Among the Reform dignitaries were Rabbi Isaac Meyer Wise, Dr. David Phillipson and Dr. Kaufman Kohler, probably the most well known of the American Reform clergy at the time. Wise’s speech at the convention was an open declaration of war on the forthcoming world Zionist convention at Basle. He called Herzl a “politician” and his program a “thoughtless utopia” and “a momentary inebriation of morbid minds.” The whole movement was summed up as “an unpleasant episode in our history.”12 However, Reform Judaism remained of small consequence as an opponent to Zionism: “If the convention was meant to be a demonstration of the Reform movement’s strength it failed completely to add to its following in Canada.”13 And Reform Judaism in Canada reconciled itself to Zionism in Canada much more quickly than was the case in the United States.14 So, even though “in those days Jews gave little money for Eretz Israel... the romance of the Zionist dream influenced their lives.” People began to sing Zionist songs, in Hebrew and Yiddish, and Zionist ideology slowly permeated organized Jewish life. Idealized images of Eretz Israel—the — 75 —

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tombs of the Patriarchs, Rachel’s Tomb, the Western Wall—brought forth old feelings towards the former Jewish homeland. Also, beginning in 1897, “there was great respect for the Zionist congresses,” with the delegates seen as cultured representatives of important European cities—Paris, Berlin, Vienna, London, Budapest, and Frankfurt. Important men such as Israel Zangwill, Shmarya Levin and David Wolffsohn were involved. Most important of all were Herzl and Max Nordau. Herzl was looked at as “The greatest Jew of the modern era. His picture was in almost every Jewish house. After Herzl, Dr. Max Nordau was counted the greatest Jew of those days ... The names of Dr. Herzl and Nordau symbolized the beginning of a new epoch in Jewish history.”15 Under such conditions, Zionists would soon begin to grow and flourish, until, by the time the Canadian Jewish Congress was convened in 1919, it could legitimately claim to represent almost all facets of Jewish life and concerns in Canada, and indeed could be called the organizational structure of the community. The Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada, 1899-1914 In 1898 the first modern Zionist society in Canada, Agudath Zion, was founded in Montreal, and soon other groups began operation. On November 7, 1899, an all-Canadian Federation of Zionist Societies was founded, with headquarters in Montreal. Unlike Zionists in Australia and New Zealand, who were affiliated with the English Zionist Federation in Great Britain, Canadian Zionists, like those of South Africa, had their own Federation from the start. They were thus able to formulate their own independent policies, especially vis-à-vis the United States Zionist groups to the south. In the United States, the Federation of American Zionists had been founded a year earlier. It was weak and loosely organized, and indeed the constituent societies, most of them landsmanshaften whose attachment to Zionism was one of their many activities, were in no way controlled by the central body. The leadership was at first composed of a small group of Reform Jews such as Richard Gottheil; after 1904, under the direction of Harry Friedenwald, the organization was run by the German Jews of the Conservative movement. These men, mostly from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, included such people as Judah L. Magnes, Israel Friedlander, and Solomon Schechter.16 After 1911, a newer group of German Jews, the most prominent of — 76 —

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whom was to be Louis D. Brandeis, took over the reins of the movement. However, Zionism in America still met with much opposition, especially from the powerful Jewish labour groups and the Reform movement in Judaism, and as late as 1914 the Federation of American Zionists “was weak, in financial distress and with no influence in the Jewish community. A spirit of gloom and defeat engulfed the few dedicated leaders. There seemed to be no future for Zionism in America.”17 Of course, all this was to change under the profound impact of the 1914-1918 world war, the Russian revolutions, and the Balfour Declaration, which enabled the British Empire to win control of the Palestine Mandate and thus inaugurate the second era in modern Zionist history. In Canada, however, the movement was off to a promising start. By October 1899, there were Zionist societies in Montreal, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City, and Kingston, Ontario. The new Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada met in Montreal on November 7. By this time, there was 522 Zionists organized into branches in Canada, divided by city as follows: Montreal—300; Winnipeg—70; Toronto—50; Ottawa—50; Quebec City—37; and Kingston, Ontario—15.18 The Agudath Zion of Montreal was represented by its council while other societies sent representatives. Elections were held, and Clarence de Sola of Montreal was elected president; Jacob Cohen of Montreal and Leon Abramovitch of Winnipeg, vice-presidents; Chaim Bernstein of Montreal, treasurer; Leon Goldman of Montreal, recording secretary; and Joseph S. Leo of Montreal, corresponding secretary. Obviously, the Zionists of Montreal, better organized and representatives of Canada’s largest, oldest and most influential Jewish community dominated the federal body, and most of the well-known early Canadian Zionists were Montrealers.19 The Federation was more than simply a Zionist organization. It was Canada’s first national Jewish society, and its annual conventions served as opportunities for Jews from across the country to meet and discuss common problems and to learn about each other’s existence. Most important of all the early Zionists was, of course, Clarence de Sola, the son of Rabbi Abraham de Sola of the Shearith Israel Synagogue of Montreal. “Jewish settlers, as soon as they came to Montreal, wanted to know who the Zionist leaders were. The first important Zionist of whom they heard was Clarence de Sola.”20 De Sola was, to a large extent, — 77 —

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responsible for the persistence and ability to overcome adversities so characteristic of the early days of the Federation. He “introduced into the organization a strong sense of discipline,” and this remained one of the strong points of the Canadian organization.21 His brother, Rabbi Meldola de Sola of the Shearith Israel synagogue, summed up the ideology and world view of the early “Sephardic” group of leaders of Canadian Zionism when he declared, in 1908, that “Palestine is my fatherland, England my motherland, is a perfect definition of our position as British Jews.”22 Israel Rubenstein, a member of the National Council and also a treasurer of Agudath Zion of Montreal, was also an officer of the Shearith Israel congregation for 30 years, including service as a parnas of the synagogue.23 Two other trustees of the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue who were involved in the Zionist organization were Lyon E. Heillig and Joseph S. Leo, the latter being “one of the best known and most efficient leaders in the Zionist Movement.”24 Some of the important east European Jews involved in the early days of the movement included Rabbi Herman Abramowitz, Abraham A. Levin and Leon Goldman. Levin, born in Vilna, arrived in Montreal in 1892 and became a member of the Shaar Hashomayim synagogue. He rose in business ranks and became president of the Dominion Cord and Tassel Co. He also rose among the Zionists, being elected a vicepresident of the Federation in 1908 and treasurer a year later, and representing the organization at the World Zionist Congress at Basle, August, 1911. Leon Goldman, born in Moscow in 1864, lived in Paris and New York before settling in Montreal in 1892. In 1909, he became chairman of the Administrative Bureau of the Federation, and ten years later he became the Executive Director of the Canadian organization. Representative of the rising young men in Canadian general Zionism in the first two decades or the century—men, indeed, who would eventually topple the established leadership of the movement—was Louis Fitch (originally Feiczwicz), a Romanian Jew born in Suceava, in the Hapsburg Empire, in 1889, who arrived in Canada as an child of two years old. While at McGill University, Fitch married fellow student Minnie Bernstein, daughter of Chaim Bernstein, a founder of the Shavei Zion No. 2 in 1892 and treasurer of the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada for ten years after 1899. Minnie, who had edited the Jewish Times while — 78 —

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at university and later a Hadassah periodical, was the person who first got Fitch interested in Zionism. He was also worried about the Russian pogroms, plus local anti-Semitic articles in the French-language press in Montreal. For all these reasons, he and other students at McGill formed a Hebrew Students Association (later called the Maccabean Literary Circle). Fitch was a vice-president and later a president of the group. Other students involved—later to become prominent in Zionist circles in Canada—were Michael Garber, Archie Bennett, Lazarus Phillips, and N.S. Fineberg, the president. By 1909 Fitch represented the Circle at a Canadian Zionist convention and Phillips delivered an address in perfect Hebrew at the same meeting. In 1911, at the age of 22, Fitch went abroad for a year’s study at the University of Paris, and the Federation of Zionist Societies appointed him as one of its delegates to the tenth World Zionist Congress meeting in Basle that July. There, he met leading personalities of world Zionism. He must have done yeoman service, since the Canadian organization, in a letter signed by Clarence de Sola, Leon Goldman, Nathan Gordon and Joseph S. Leo, noted that “Mr. Fitch very worthily represented the new generation of Canadian Zionists who are graduating from our universities. We learn that he did his full share of duty at Basle and we know from the record that he has already made for himself, that we may expect much from him in coming years.” On his return to Canada, Fitch joined the law firm of S.W. Jacobs. He later became closely associated with H.M. Caiserman on behalf of Jewish schools, for Zionism and for a Canadian Jewish Congress.25 Canadian Zionism grew slowly, but from the start it had an organizational continuity and bureaucratic apparatus. Save for the years 1902 and 1904, every year after 1900 saw an annual convention of the organization. Zionist conventions attracted eminent non-Jews as speakers and guests—professors, mayors, premiers, and provincial and federal ministers. Indeed, “each of Canada’s Prime Ministers, since 1892, expressed his sympathy for the Zionist cause.”26As well, beginning with the fourth World Zionist Congress held in London, August 13-15, 1900, attended by Clarence de Sola, Canadian Zionists were represented at all World Zionist assemblies. Oscar Marmorek, a leading Zionist from France, read a report to the World Zionist Congress in London, noting that “in Canada there was scarcely a town with a Hebrew congregation where a Zionist society did not exist;”27 and, while this was undoubt— 79 —

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edly an exaggeration, the first Canadian convention, held in Montreal, December 23, 1900, and chaired by de Sola, could note considerable progress. While total receipts of that year (outside of shares sold in the Jewish Colonial Trust) amounted to only $263.46,28 the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada could now claim a total of 828 members, divided as follows: Montreal—450; Winnipeg—100; Toronto—80; Saint John, New Brunswick—50; Ottawa—50; Quebec City—37; Kingston, Ontario—26; London, Ontario—25; Hamilton—10.29 The local societies were given two main functions: to carry on educational propaganda, and to sell shares in the Jewish Colonial Trust. The second Canadian convention, held in Montreal in 1901, saw the beginnings of cultural work and some women’s activities. Many more delegates participated, but the only change of note was the replacement of Leon Goldman by Moses Albert as recording secretary of the Federation, the former temporarily leaving Canada. As well, David Levy and A.J. Freiman were elected as delegates to the forthcoming fifth World Zionist Congress. The years 1903-1905 saw the bitter debate throughout the World Zionist movement between the “practical,” pro-Palestinian, generally east European Zionists and the more Westernized “political” Zionists, who tended towards territorialism. These differing tendencies came to a head with the proposal, backed even by Theodor Herzl before his death in 1904, to start Jewish colonization in east Africa—the so-called Uganda proposal. It was opposed by such Russian Jews as Menachem Mendel Ussishkin, men who ideas were rooted in Hovevei Zionism, and who instead favoured smaller-scale, more cultural and more Judaic projects (such as the Keren Kayemet, or Jewish National Fund), focusing specifically on Eretz Israel.30 To them, the Jewish problem was not merely a problem of avoiding anti-Semitism through the acquisition of a separate and remote territory where Jews could have at least a measure of sovereignty; rather, like Ahad Ha’am, they saw the Jewish “question” as a spiritual-cultural one, and requiring, as the ultimate solution, reunion with the Palestine homeland itself. Matters came to head at the sixth World Zionist Congress in Basle, August 22-28, 1903, when Herzl, despairing over heightened anti-Semitism in tsarist Russia (it was the year of the Kishinev pogrom), formally proposed the plan. The Canadian organization was heavily “practical” in its orientation; indeed, at its third convention, February 1, 1903, work — 80 —

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for the Jewish National Fund had already begun.31 On November 8, 1903, in Montreal, de Sola spoke in favour of a territorial solution in Uganda. But his own brother, Meldola de Sola, and Herman Abramowitz forced through a different resolution. It thanked Great Britain for its generous offer to set up a Jewish colony in east Africa, and noted that the Sixth World Zionist Congress had decided to send a commission to Uganda to investigate the feasibility of the project. If the report proved favourable, Canadian Zionists would agree to the Uganda proposal—but only as a temporary measure to help oppressed Jews. The Basle Program of 1897 was strongly reaffirmed; the Uganda plan, it was felt, should not put an end to the desire to settle Eretz Israel. Though the Canadian Zionists expressed full confidence in Herzl’s ability to solve the national problem of the Jewish people, in effect the territorialist solution was rejected. Even Israel Zangwill had few adherents in Canada. Thus, at the seventh World Zionist Congress, held at Basle in 1905, Canadian Zionists voted with the majority against the Uganda plan. At the Canadian Zionist convention of that year, “resolutions were passed regretting the friction created with the recent Congress regarding Uganda.”32 In any case, at the 1906 convention, held at Temple Hall in Toronto, de Sola noted that he, his wife Belle (president of the Montreal women’s group, B’noth Zion), and David Levy, the three Canadian delegates at Basle in 1905, had voted for Ussishkin’s plans for colonization work in Palestine through the Jewish National Fund, and that in any case “all isms had received their death blow” at the Congress.33 De Sola also told the convention that Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II had cancelled all restrictions against the settlement of Jews in Palestine, thus facilitating Zionist work there (although no official charter was yet been given to the Zionist organization). More than 2,000 people were now members of the Federation. By 1907, at the sixth convention, held in Ottawa, 33 Zionist societies from 19 Canadian communities were represented. De Sola spoke of the progress being made in Zionist activities all over Canada and in the world, and reviewed the advances made in the first decade of the movement, including the beginnings of Jewish colonization in Palestine. The convention resolved that the world Zionist movement continue its policy of encouraging “immigration of desirable elements” to Palestine, and the encouragement of industry.34 Canadian Zionists were represented — 81 —

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by ten delegates to the World Congress that year. At the 1907 convention of the Federation, held in Ottawa, two federal government ministers, A.B. Aylesworth and William Patterson, assured the delegates that Zionism had the support of the Canadian government. They both stated that the Canadian government fully supported the work of the Zionist movement. Aylesworth “emphasized the fact that the Canadian government fully approved the work done by the Zionists, and appreciated the importance of their aim to obtain a National home for the Jewish people.” In a letter of greeting to Clarence de Sola, Ontario Lieutenant Governor Sir William Mortimer Clark wrote: “I trust that nothing will be permitted to divert your people from their efforts at bringing about their repatriation and the preservation of their nationality.”35 The seventh convention was held in Montreal on September 5, 1908. Much excitement was generated in Zionist circles in that year over events in the Ottoman Empire which, through the initiatives of the Young Turk movement, seemed on the verge of internal modernization and democratization, with all the implications this might connote for Jewish settlement in Palestine. David Wolffsohn, World Zionist president, had himself been accorded friendly interviews with Turkish leaders, and “Zionists everywhere assured that the Revolution marked a new era for the Jews in Palestine ... an era of freedom and equality of opportunity.”36 It was hoped the yishuv would be granted nationality status and political freedom; indeed, the World Zionist Organization a year later even urged Jews in Palestine to become citizens of and give support to the Ottoman Empire. Thus, the 1908 Canadian convention was considered to be of historical importance: the Young Turk revolution had brought progressive and civilized leadership to the fore in Turkey, and Herzl’s dream could now be realized, declared the Keneder Adler. A letter from WZO president David Wolffsohn was received, expressing hope that the new Turkish regime would prove more friendly to Zionism. Little wonder, then, that as the newspaper put it, “all cities and towns in Canada are represented at the convention.”37 Clarence de Sola, noting the “historic moment,” called for more intensive effort in the Canadian federation—the time was ripe for tangible results, to begin the building in earnest of the homeland in Eretz Israel.38 This required more money, and when Sol Haskell, in presenting — 82 —

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the auditor’s report, noted the lack of income in the organization, the convention passed a resolution taxing all Federation members $1.00 to help carry out work in Palestine. When the convention was asked, as well, to raise $50 on the spot, in order to present a Golden Book of tribute to de Sola, a total of $125 was raised—a significant sum for those days. The election of officers resulted in a much enlarged National Council, and at a meeting of the latter, held on September 29, 1908, a Press Bureau was organized, composed of Nathan Gordon, Leon Goldman (now returned to Canada), and Henry Levy. The purpose was to be the gathering and disseminating of news of interest to Zionists. Abraham Levin, just returned from a trip to Europe, reported to the Federation that he had spoken with many leaders of the world organization and was impressed with the fact that a company was being organized, with capital of $10 million, for the development of light, heat and power in Palestine in general, and a water supply system for Jerusalem especially. On November 20, the Zionist convention met in Montreal, with 1,500 delegates representing 37 branches. It was known as the tenth convention, not the eighth, in view of the fact that it was the tenth anniversary of the Federation in Canada, and that there had in any case been two annual meetings as well as seven conventions prior to this one. De Sola tried to resign, feeling the work had become too burdensome for one man; he was dissuaded from doing so when a Bureau Committee of six members, under the leadership of Leon Goldman, chosen from the National Council, agreed to take some of the organizational work upon themselves, each man to look after one district branch of the work. De Sola mentioned the need for further valiant efforts on the part of Canadian Zionists on behalf of the new colony they were to establish in Palestine. By 1910, there were 49 branches of the Federation in Canada, and charters were granted that spring to new societies in Sherbrooke, Quebec; Ottawa; and Toronto. M.H. Stein, a member of the National Council, reported in March that at this meeting with David Wolffsohn, president of the World Zionist Organization, the latter had expressed admiration at the advances in Zionism made in Canada. The Bureau Committee, on June 12, began distribution of a monthly leaflet dealing with Zionist work. They also noted that both the Canadian — 83 —

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Jewish Times and the Keneder Adler devoted much space and sympathy to the movement. The eleventh Canadian convention was held in Toronto in late December, and Zionist societies and clubs from across Canada participated. De Sola noted that, due to the reorganization that had resulted in the formation of the Bureau Committee, receipts in the organization had increased by thirty per cent. Said de Sola, “In spite of the sneers of those who did not accept Zionism, and notwithstanding the clamours for failure, the Canadian Zionist Federation has succeeded in making progress on a large scale.”39 Canadian Zionists were host to a number of personalities in 1911,including Israel Friedlander of the Federation of American Zionists and Bella Pevsner, touring on behalf of the Bezalel School in Palestine. As well, de Sola went to New York to speak with Judah Magnes, Richard Gottheil, Friedlander, and other leaders of American Zionism; these meetings concerned questions of Canadian-American joint cooperation at forthcoming world Zionist congresses, and questions of progress in colonization work in Palestine. The National Council met on June 5, and the Canadian Federation elected nine delegates, including S.W. Jacobs and Louis Fitch, to the tenth World Zionist Congress, at Basle, Switzerland. In 1912, in recognition of the large amounts Canada was contributing to the Jewish National Fund, the Canadian Federation was granted two places on the Actions Committee of the world organization, and Chaim Bernstein and de Sola became the Canadian members. The twelfth convention, held in Ottawa that summer, saw de Sola laud the activities of the Bureau Committee, which had systematized and nationalized the activities of the affiliated branches of the Federation, the result being a more than a 100 percent increase in receipts over the previous year. The convention was addressed by Reuben Brainin, who was elected vice-president of the Federation. A.J. Freiman of Ottawa, who was to later become “the dominant leader in Canadian Jewish life between the period of the two Great Wars [and] a recognized spokesman for his people at the seat of government,” was also elected a vice-president.40 There were also greetings from Nachum Sokolow, who visited Canada for the first time that year, and Otto Warburg, the president of the world organization. The convention was also addressed by the acting Prime Minister of Canada, George Perley, as Sir Robert Borden was out — 84 —

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of the country. As a representative of the Canadian government, Perley expressed his confidence in the final attainment of the Zionist goal, and said the possibilities in Palestine, based on his own personal observations, seemed great ones. “He assured them that he was voicing the sentiments of his colleagues in the Canadian Government who wished the Zionists success.”41 The year 1913 saw increased Zionist activity. The National Council on January 7 invited Reuben Brainin and Dr. John Shayne of Toronto to undertake a propaganda tour throughout Canada, and Nachum Sokolow was again invited to the country. Sokolow told them, at a special conference on May 18, that the Zionist movement and the Turkish government remained on good terms, despite the then-ongoing Turkish-Italian war. The Federation grew, applications for new charters being constantly received; 15 more societies were added to the growing number. Leon Goldman reported that receipts in the two-year period just ended had increased 210 percent over the previous two-year period. The eleventh World Zionist Congress was held in Vienna in September 1913, and Canada sent a large delegation of 14 members, including Reuben Brainin and S.W. Jacobs. The thirteenth convention of the Federation, the Bar Mitzvah convention, was held in Montreal, December 25-28. The question of development in Palestine came up, and Rabbi Meldola de Sola called for “A Sanhedrin [to] be created as soon as possible in Palestine.”42 There was also friction over the Haifa Technicum, founded the previous year.43 In 1913 the German Jewish executives on the Curatorium (Board of Directors), representing the Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden, wanted to make German the language of instruction at the school, and Hebrew secondary. Such German-American Jews as Jacob H. Schiff, a big donor to the institute, agreed. But the Zionists protested, and the three Zionist members of the Curatorium (including Shmarya Levin and Ahad Ha’am) resigned. The teachers and students also went on strike. At the Canadian convention, Reuben Brainin and Louis Fitch presented a resolution of protest against the endeavour made by the German Hilfsverein to foster the German language in the school. Only Hebrew, they declared, could unify the Jewish people. Indeed, in February 1914, at a meeting of the Curatorium held in Berlin, American members swung the decision in favour of the Zionists, and Hebrew was declared the official, primary language at the school. — 85 —

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While men such as Schiff protested this move, other German-American Jews, such as Louis Marshall of the American Jewish Committee, supported them. The thirteenth convention also noted that the situation in Europe, in terms of growing anti-Semitism, was very grave—Russia was engaged in staging the Mendel Beilis ritual murder trial and there were reports of anti-Semitic activity throughout the empire, especially in Poland. Mention was also made of the Balkan Wars, which involved the Ottoman Empire, and which could conceivably have an effect on the settlement of Jews in Palestine. The last year of peace saw the organization continue to grow; at a National Council meeting held on May 12, 1914, charters were granted to 11 new societies, and Dr. John Shayne was sent on a tour of western Canada, to visit Jewish communities and raise money for the Jewish National Fund. However, World War I broke out in August of that year, and the whole situation of world Zionism changed, becoming enmeshed with the larger issues brought to the fore by the war and its effects. On September 10, Reuben Brainin was sent to New York to participate in a conference of Zionists called to deal with the situation created by the European war. The conference, in which all American Zionist groups participated, had been called on August 30 by Shmarya Levin, then in the United States, in his capacity as an executive on the Inner Action Committee of the World Zionist Organization. The American conference created the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs, and on November 10 Sokolow of the world organization officially informed the Canadian Federation that the new Committee in New York would continue the American work of the European head office, interrupted because of the war. The war soon began to have an adverse effect on the Federation; its old-line leaders were very pro-British, and their duties as Canadians to the Empire seemed to supersede their duties as Jews to the Palestinian yishuv. Since Britain was at war with Turkey, collections for Palestine could be misconstrued as aid to the enemy, they felt, and might possibly be in contravention of wartime laws. The National Council, after meeting with government officials, decided to continue only to propagandize for Zionism, but to desist, for the duration of hostilities, from appealing for funds for Palestine. The year’s receipts were reduced to less — 86 —

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than one half of those of 1913. “The war conditions nearly destroyed the Canadian Organization; public meetings were entirely avoided,” as the Zionists feared that the authorities would be apprehensive of their propaganda.44 The Federation would only begin to recover under the internal Jewish pressures emanating from such sources as the soon-to-be-established Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance, and such beneficent external factors as the promulgation of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, which finally lifted Zionism into the realm of reality. Local Zionist Activity, 1899-1914 Montreal David Rome has noted that Montreal Jewry, living a rather marginal existence in Quebec, had always had the Zionist movement as its major focus. The Herlzian vision swept the city ever since the first World Zionist Congress of 1897. “The Zionist organizations in all their variety have been dominant and far-reaching in their effect, so that Montreal Jewry has been most deeply influenced in its spiritual and national contours by the dream of Israel restored.”45 The Dreyfus case in France only heightened the pro-Zionist consciousness among Montreal Jews, and “the Zionist appeal resounded and was heard with deep emotion.”46 On January 16, 1898, Chaim Bernstein, Rabbi Mordechai Aaron Ashinsky, and a few others formed an Organization Committee for the purpose of forming a Zionist society and drafting its constitution. A mass meeting was called for January 23 at the B’nai Jacob Synagogue. Despite a terrible snowstorm and cold spell, hundreds came and the hall was filled to overflowing. Three rabbis, Mordechai Aaron Ashinsky, Meldola de Sola, and Zvi Hirsch Cohen, addressed the gathering. Rabbi Ashinsky spoke for two hours, analyzing the age-old plight of the Jews—the sufferings, pogroms, and persecutions—and concluded that Zionism was the only movement that would restore them to Palestine. Meldola de Sola concentrated on the opposition among upper-class Reform Jews. He “destroyed the arguments of the assimilationists and proved that it was possible for Jews to be loyal citizens of their native land and ardent Zionists at the same time.”47 — 87 —

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All the major Montreal synagogues—Shearith Israel (“Sephardic”); Shaar Hashomayim (Lithuanian); B’nai Jacob (Russian); Hevra Shass (east European); Beth David (Romanian); and Anshei Sfard (AustroHungarian)—were represented, and a Provisional Committee, consisting of Ashinsky, Clarence de Sola, Bernstein, David Sperber and Moses Shapiro, was set up, for purposes of further organizational work. On February 13, an organizational meeting, again representing the Montreal synagogues, was held at the Baron de Hirsch Institute, and plans were made to hold the first general meeting of the new organization one month from that date. On March 13 the Agudath Zion of Montreal, a men’s Zionist society, was created, the first Herzlian Zionist organization in the Dominion. Its initial membership was 201 people. Elections were held, and Dr. David A. Hart, born in Three Rivers, Quebec in 1844 and “a descendant of the Alsatian pioneers” such as Aaron Hart, was chosen president.48 Israel Rubenstein became the treasurer, Clarence I. de Sola became corresponding secretary, Leon Goldman recording secretary and David Sperber assumed the title of Hebrew secretary. A Council was also elected, comprising Jacob Cohen, Harris Vineberg, Joseph S. Leo, and Moses Shapiro. As well, a Propaganda Committee was created, and it included Rabbi Ashinsky, Clarence de Sola and Lazarus Cohen, as well as five other leaders of the society. The constitution adopted by Agudath Zion was based on the Basle Programme of 1897, which called for Jews to acquire a publicly secured, legally assured home in Palestine, and to obtain the sanction of governments in the attempt to carry out this work. The Montreal group also hoped for the creation of a centralized Jewish community in Canada, which could strengthen Jewish national consciousness and sentiment. Theodor Herzl sent Clarence de Sola a letter expressing his satisfaction “with the initial success of the Montreal Zionists.”49 He referred to the forthcoming Second World Congress, to be held in Basle that August, and asked the group to send a delegate. The letter was written in English, as Herzl explained, to show that Jews of all countries could understand one another. The Montreal society did not send a delegate, but was represented by Jacob de Haas of Boston, later to become known as the man who, while with the Boston Jewish Advocate, converted Louis D. Brandeis to Zionism. Agudath Zion relied on the five major Montreal synagogues in its — 88 —

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membership campaigns, and by 1899 the society had 340 members and had sold 1,000 shares for the Jewish Colonial Trust. The first annual meeting, held on April 2, 1899, showed a total collection for Zionist funds of $200.50 It was firmly under the control of men such as de Sola and Hart, and so “uptowners” set the tone, to the detriment of the interests of the newer arrivals, the folksmenshen. Meetings were held in English (except at the infrequent propaganda meetings, at which some Yiddish would be heard), so the immigrants could not participate. Sporadic attempts were made at involving the newer, poorer, and more radical Jewish immigrants, but in general, the staid old-line Jews left these people to be organized by either socialism or the Poale Zion. One such effort was made in 1902. A mass meeting was held at Empire Hall in Montreal on November 23, to organize a new Zionist group, to be established in part by the Hebrew Manufacturers and Working Men’s Union. Abraham Goldberg, a noted American Zionist, spoke of the necessity of Zionism, mentioning that freedom in Canada for Jews might be temporary, as it had proved to be elsewhere in the past, and that Palestine was therefore an imperative. Clarence de Sola, in an attempt to bridge the obvious class differences among Montreal Jews at that time, said that “the aims of Zionism proved that the Hebrew manufacturing classes and working men of Montreal had a soul for other and higher things besides the earning of their daily livelihood.”51 But such efforts were rare. Irving Abella has observed that de Sola’s major failure was with the immigrant community. “He did not pretend to understand them, and, in any case, they had so little money that he did not see them as important contributors to the Zionist cause.”52 He stated in no uncertain terms that he would “brook no opposition” from recent newcomers who dared to attack “the leading Jews in Canada,” those who provided most of the funds gathered by the Federation.53 He was “an anglophile who made much of his British connections.”54 General Zionism continued to gain adherents among the more middle and upper class English-speaking west end Jews of Montreal, however, and by 1903 there were four such societies in the city belonging to the Federation of Canadian Zionists—Agudath Zion, B’nai Zion, Daughters of Zion and a Zion Athletic Club. Montreal Zionists more or less dominated the Federation, in terms of executive positions and the number of delegates sent to world congresses and national conventions. — 89 —

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In 1907, at the sixth Zionist convention, four Montreal societies were represented, and Montreal Zionists were still first in terms of positions filled on a national level: For example, the National Council elected at the 1908 convention contained 14 Montrealers out of a total of 25 members. The president, Clarence de Sola; one of the vice-presidents, Abraham Levin; the treasurer, Chaim Bernstein; and all three secretaries— Joseph S. Leo, J.S. Budyk, and S. Haskell—were all from Montreal. As well, many of the Montreal synagogue groups were, in effect, Zionist societies. Thus, Rabbi Herman Abramowitz of Shaar Hashomayim reported to the National Council in February 13, 1911, that the Young People’s Society of his synagogue had invited Israel Friedlander to lecture in Montreal. As well, groups such as the Jewish Youth of Montreal and the Talmud Torah Society of Montreal were represented at national Zionist conventions. In 1913, at the eleventh World Zionist Congress, held in Vienna in September, the last before the First World War, Montreal Zionists still filled seven of the fourteen positions in the Canadian delegation. The thirteenth Canadian convention, held in Montreal on December 25-28, 1913, still saw Montreal Zionists predominate. Of the 33-person National Council, 13 were Montrealers; the next largest contingent, from Toronto, comprised eight people. Most of the important positions were retained by Montrealers: Clarence de Sola was president; Leon Goldman, Chaim Bernstein, Reuben Brainin and M. Markus, vice-presidents; Abraham Levin, treasurer; and Joseph S. Leo, recording secretary. One could say that, in the decade and a half before the advent of the first world war, Zionism, while aspiring to be a national movement, nonetheless was most definitely based in Montreal, then site of the oldest, largest, and most influential Jewish community in Canada. Toronto In Toronto, the first Zionist society, Agudath Zion, appeared in 1898, founded by Samuel Lewis and his son Abe. In October 1899, Alfred D. Benjamin became president of the society, now numbering 50, and was elected to the first National Council of the new Canadian Federation that same year. Federation records show that Toronto’s organized Zionist community numbered 80 people one year later, and by the 1903 national convention, when B’nai Zion had been formed, Toronto societies were — 90 —

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represented by three delegates. Toronto now had a few active societies, including the Yiddish-language B’nai Zion branch. The fifth Canadian convention was held at Temple Hall, Toronto, July 1-2, 1906. Toronto was by now represented by five societies (of which two were women’s groups). Local Toronto dignitaries, including J.J. Foy, attorney general of Ontario, Toronto’s mayor Emerson Coatsworth, and Professor Ramsay Wright of the University of Toronto expressed encouragement and approval of the Zionist movement. At the 1907 convention, held in Ottawa, Toronto had six societies represented, and Clarence de Sola even cited the city as “leading in Zionist activities in Canada.”55 Indeed, a few days earlier, on June 25, the Toronto Zionist Council, a coordinating group, was formed. “The leaders of the Toronto Zionist Council at all times took their place among the leaders of Toronto Jewry,”56 and the first president was Barnett Stone, a member of the National Council of the Federation. Alexander Cash, a vice-president of the Federation, Abraham P. Lewis and Joseph Levinsky, all prominent members of the Toronto Jewish community, were also important men on the Council. In March of 1908, the Council opened a building called the Zionist Institute, and Stone and Cash also helped form a Zionist chapter in nearby Brantford, Ontario.57 Another Zionist group, the Nordau Zionist Society, was formed in 1910, bringing to six the number of Toronto Zionist groups represented at the eleventh national convention, held in that city December 23 to 26. City officials welcomed the convention and offered the delegates the freedom of the city, saying they approved highly of the Zionist ideal. Yet another society, Agudath Zion of Toronto, was granted a chapter by the national organization on February 1, 1912. There had been some delay in this procedure, as apparently the Toronto Zionist Council had held up proceedings for a time, owing to a lack of consent on their part. In October of that year, a charter was also granted to the B’nai Zion juniors branch, with Alex Shayne, president. His father, Dr. John Shayne, was head of the senior B’nai Zion group. Four new Zionist chapters were created in Toronto in 1913, and of the 14 delegates sent to the World Zionist Congress that year, three— Barnett Stone, Alexander Cash and John Shayne—were from Toronto. Barnett Stone was at this time becoming increasingly important on the national level; it was he who was a prime mover of the resolution taken at the 1913 convention that a Sanhedrin be created in Palestine. John — 91 —

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Shayne, speaking for the Toronto B’nai Zion at the convention of 1913, pointed out that “one of their activities was the combating of missionaries’ destructive influence.”58 Moses Gelber claimed Toronto was in need of able speakers to forward the Zionist ideal. At the last pre-war elections held, Toronto Zionists were represented by one of the vice-presidents, Alexander Cash, the corresponding secretary, Rabbi Nathan Gordon, and a total of eight members (out of 33) on the National Council. In May, 1914, the Young Men’s Zionist Club joined the growing number of Toronto Zionist societies, and on October 29 of that year, the Toronto Palestine Land Co. was formed, to help buy and reclaim land in Palestine. Toronto Zionism had thus made great strides in the 15 years before the world war, and was almost in a position to vie with the older community, Montreal, as the most influential centre in the Dominion. Winnipeg Zionism was particularly strong in western Canada, because it “combated the sense of isolation” felt by many Jews on the Canadian prairies and it became a common denominator with which most could identify. There were few other Jewish organizations, especially in the smaller communities. As well, Zionists were involved in setting up Jewish schools and educational programs.59 Winnipeg was “enthusiastically devoted to the cause” of Zionism,60 and this community’s Jewish population was so very ethnically conscious that they “never developed a group of anti-Zionists.”61 In Winnipeg, Hiram and Mordecai Weidman, Moses Vineberg and Isaac Rosen formed a Zionist group in 1898; a year later, it joined the Federation of Zionist Societies. Leaders included lawyer Max James (M. J.) Finkelstein (the cousin of Moses) and Hiram Weidman. The Young Zionist Athletic Club was formed in 1903.62 In Federation elections held that fall, Winnipeg Zionists were chosen to two positions: Leon Aronovitch became one of the vice-presidents, and one of the men chosen to serve on the National Council was Moses Vineberg. The society, now called Ohavei Zion, by this time had increased its membership to 100. After 1903, a Yiddish-speaking B’nai Zion branch was also established in the city. The year 1903 was one of intense debate throughout the Jewish world on the feasibility and desirability of the Uganda project, which — 92 —

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had been brought before the sixth World Zionist Congress that year. On October 12, Asher Pierce, the Winnipeg representative on the National Council, spoke at a turbulent meeting at King Edward Hall and invited Manitoba Zionists to consider the plan. He told the crowd that the east Africa scheme would only be for temporary relief, and could never substitute for the “first and most important object of our movement, which is a homeland for Jews in Palestine.”63 Should the British offer be accepted, even temporarily, or should the movement limit its goals exclusively to Palestine? Opinion in Winnipeg was mixed, and there was lengthy discussion. In the end, though, a resolution was adopted favouring the east Africa scheme. The resolution read: That it is the opinion of this meeting that, after the report of a commission to consider the offer by Britain, should it be satisfactory for settlement of Jews for colonizing, that we are in accord with the majority vote at the last Basle Congress to colonize and place our persecuted brethren there, under conditions proposed by the British Government.64 Zionism in Winnipeg (where class differences were particularly sharp) was thus bringing together Jews of many and diverse backgrounds, and this did not go unnoticed. The pro-Zionist Manitoba Free Press, in an editorial of December 24, 1904, entitled “The Zionist Movement,” noted how the Jews were assembled almost as a Parliament. “If the Zionist movement has done nothing else, it has at any rate once more brought together the splintered fragments of the ancient race and has revived in them a feeling of solidarity.”65 In 1905, Winnipeg Zionists occupied four places on the National Council, and Asher Pierce was elected as a Canadian delegate to the next world Zionist congress. By 1907 Winnipeg had four Zionist societies, and Hiram Weidman was serving as a vice-president of the national organization. A National Council meeting of April 6, 1910 noted renewed Zionist activity in Winnipeg, where Rabbi Israel Kahanovitch of Beth Jacob congregation was engaged in much work for the movement. By 1911, Manitoba Zionism could boast of several hundred members, and at the twelfth Canadian convention a year later, Reuben Serebrin and Aaron — 93 —

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Osovsky, along with Rabbi Kahanovitch, became members of the National Council. By 1913, there were a number of Zionist groups in Winnipeg, and the need for a coordinating body was felt. A loose-knit and rather ineffective Zionist Council was thus established, which met sporadically. In the last pre-war elections held in 1913, two Winnipegers—S. Sacks and M.J. Finkelstein—represented the Manitoba Zionists on the National Council. A year later, just before the start of the war, a charter was granted to a new group in the city, the Young Zionists of Winnipeg. Other Canadian Communities Even smaller Canadian centers felt the stir and growth of the new movement, and by 1914 most cities and towns with any significant Jewish population could be counted on to support at least one Zionist chapter. Chapters in Hamilton and Ottawa were among the charter members of the Federation. At the first Federation meeting, held in Montreal on November 7, 1899, Hamilton, Kingston and London, Ontario, were all represented. By 1900, centers such as Ottawa, Kingston, Saint John and Hamilton all had functioning Zionist societies. Even such a center of radical Russian Jewry as London had a Zionist group of 25. Jews from Maritime communities in Nova Scotia such as Glace Bay, Sydney and Yarmouth were in attendance at the third Zionist convention in 1903; as well, an Ottawa delegation of ten people was already present. In 1904, the Ahavas Zion at Brandon, Ontario, was organized, and in 1905 societies were founded in Wapella, Saskatchewan; Windsor, Ontario; and St. Catharines, Ontario. As well, Kingston and Saint John now had two groups each. Ottawa by now had three societies, and A.J. Freiman, who was president of the Herzl Club and chairman of the Ottawa Zionist Society, noted that membership in these groups was growing. Freiman since the 1901 Zionist Federation convention had been a member of the National Council. Ottawa Zionism also received a boost in 1905 when a mass meeting to protest the Russian pogroms was addressed by Prime Minister Laurier. He spoke of the sorrows of the Russian Jews and gave his support to Zionism, expressing hope in the realization of its ideals. In western Canada, Brandon had a Zionist group by 1905 and by 1907 so did Lipton and Wapella in Saskatchewan. Nor were urban areas neglected. Vancouver reported a new society, and Edmonton and — 94 —

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Calgary both were sites for new Zionist groups. At the seventh national convention in 1908, M.B. Stein was commended for his excellent work on behalf of Zionism on the prairies. In 1909, smaller Zionist centers elected three men to the 33-member National Council; as well, I.D. Holofcener of Ottawa and Joseph Abramson of Kingston were among the vice-presidents chosen. Sherbrooke, Quebec, saw the formation of a group in 1910, and the pupils of the Ottawa Hebrew school formed a Young Men’s Zionist Society a year later. In 1914 Zionist societies were established in Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan; and in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. In December of that year, Vancouver also saw the creation of a new Zionist organization, and one of its leaders was Judge Samuel Shultz, prominent in local British Columbia politics.66 In London, the Young People’s Zion Society, which had been present at the 1910 convention, disbanded, and London had no representation at the convention of 1912. On May 19, 1913, though, Morris Fishbein, a Ukrainian-born Jew, who came to Canada in 1893, founded the Lovers of Zion Society, assisted by M.L. Gershon and Isidore Goldstick. At the last pre-war elections, held at the thirteenth convention, in Montreal, in December, 1913, the smaller centers were represented by A.J. Freiman of Ottawa (a vice-president) and seven of the 33 members of the National Council.67 The last year of peace saw Zionism make continued advances in western Canada, with the establishment of three new societies in Vancouver, two in Edmonton, and one each in Calgary and Estevan, Saskatchewan. In 1914, the Calgary Zionists raised $500 to support Canadians who had made aliyah, and the 10th anniversary of Herzl’s death was commemorated at the House of Jacob synagogue.68 New groups were also formed in London and Hamilton. In 1916, groups were formed in Yorkton, Kamsack and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Smaller Jewish communities, isolated in the midst of vast surrounding non-Jewish neighbours, self-contained, and often far from centers of large Jewish population, found in Zionism a means of perpetuating Jewish consciousness and transmitting it to their children. Zionist Fund Raising and Projects for Palestine Even in its infancy, when the mass of Canadian Jewry was new to the country, very poor, and intent on upward social mobility, and when — 95 —

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Zionism still seemed the rather preposterous dream of the few, the Canadian Federation made great strides in the raising of funds, both for itself and for use in Palestine. Collections were, admittedly, still nickels and dimes at first—not until 1906 was even $1,000 raised in any one single year—yet within a decade of its foundation, Canadian Zionism was already a pace setter in reclaiming the land in Palestine, and one of the mainstays of the Jewish National Fund. In the first few years of activity, the Federation’s efforts were concentrated on selling shares of the Jewish Colonial Trust, Herzl’s joint-stock company and bank that would buy back Palestine—1,000 shares were sold in 1899 alone. But this purely capitalist method of operation was to eventually be totally superseded by the more socialistic and communal methods of land purchase pioneered by the Keren Kayemet. Outside of shares sold and money raised for Palestine, initial campaigns for funds were meager. Only after 1909 did receipts begin to show a steady but noticeable rise; of course, the years following the Balfour Declaration saw the intake of funds increase astronomically—of the grand total of $821,738 raised by the Federation from its foundation to the change in leadership in 1921, only $119,451 was raised up to but excluding the year 1918, whereas a full $702,287 was accumulated in the four years after the date.69 The following table represents the actual receipts of monies by the Federation in the years 1899 to 1921: Year/Years

Funds Raised

1899-1900 1901-1903 1904-1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913

$263.46 1,360.00 881.00 1,315.25 2,886.93 3,580.88 3,828.00 4,610.87 5,716.40 12,797.50 15,141.77 — 96 —

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1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 Total

7,811.36 12,179.06 17,800.89 29,278.01 84,308.05 213,999.80 195,467.61 208,511.69 $821,738.53

Source: Leon Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” in Arthur Daniel Hart, ed., The Jew in Canada: A Complete Record of Canadian Jewry from the Days of the French Regime to the Present Time, 313.

The Canadian Federation early on began concerted efforts to obtain money for land reclamation and general economic development in Palestine itself. As well, actual relief work in Canada was sometimes emphasized—thus, in 1906, while raising only $1,315.25 in internal receipts for use by the organization itself, the Federation managed to collect $4,255.36 for relief activities.70 At first, as noted, emphasis was put on the Jewish Colonial Trust. The Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet), proposed at the first World Zionist Congress in 1897 by Zvi Hermann Shapiro, was finally established in Vienna at the Fifth World Congress, and by 1903 it had already made its first land purchases in Galilee and Judea. In 1907 it was established as an English society, with directors appointed by the Actions Committee of the World Zionist Organization. The seventh Zionist Congress, held in Basle, 1905, passed a resolution asking every federation to establish a National Fund Bureau and to set aside for the Jewish National Fund at least five percent of its income. The Canadian Federation, which had begun to collect money for the Fund in 1903, was the first Zionist Federation to do so; and when Johann Kremenetzki, world director of the Keren Kayemet, urged the appointment of a Canadian Committee, the Canadian organization in January 1907 set up the National Fund Committee. In 1908 Max Goldman of Montreal was appointed the first chairman of the National Fund, — 97 —

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with instructions to centralize all its activities in Canada. In 1908, the Federation, in order to raise more money for Zionist work in Palestine, decided to tax all members $1.00, and receipts began to slowly climb upwards. The creation of the Bureau Committee a year later gave added impetus to the collection of funds, and at the convention that year, Clarence de Sola felt confident enough to ask Canadian Zionists to raise money for and create a colony in Palestine. One half year earlier, on May 23, 1909, de Sola had first approached the National Council with the idea, and Leon Goldman, Chaim Bernstein and A.J. Freiman had been appointed to study the proposal. At that time, its main goal was to support Jews settled in, or planning to immigrate to, Palestine. The Freiman committee reported favourably to the tenth convention concerning the Palestine colony, and de Sola presented his resolution: “The time has arrived for carrying out vigorous practical measures for Jewish colonization of Palestine ... [the] Canadian Zionist Federation undertakes to create a special land Fund for the purchase of land and pledges itself to collect ten thousand dollars ... the purchase of land to be made through the National Fund Head Office.”71 Although many were certain the idea was unfeasible, in view of the sum expected, after lengthy debates a motion to raise $10,000 within two years (1910-1912) for the purchase was passed unanimously. In 1910, the Canadian organization occupied seventh place in the list of Zionist federations in the world in generosity of donations to the World Zionist Organization. By May 11, 1911, Abraham Levin, treasurer of the Canadian Federation (and the man most responsible for the success of the Palestine colony project), noted that the first $1,000 for the Land Fund purchase had already been remitted. On March 19, 1912, David Wolffsohn of the world body wrote, expressing gratitude for the large subscriptions to the National Fund being raised in Canada. The world organization also noted that receipts from Canada during the previous twelve-month period were the highest per capita contributions in the world. By 1912, the Canadian Federation had achieved its “impossible” objective of $10,000 for the land purchase (the last $6,000 obtained at the twelfth convention in June); many other federations now began to emulate the land purchase plan of the Canadian Zionists. Canada led the whole Diaspora in its contributions to the Jewish National Fund that year. — 98 —

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The year 1913 saw further increases in Zionist fund raising. On July 8, Leon Goldman reported that receipts for the past two years were up a full 210 percent over the two-year period previous to them, and the thirteenth convention, held on December 25-28 in Montreal, made mention of the tremendous increase in receipts since the formation of the Bureau Committee. The Federation was informed at the convention that the National Council had, on December 22, completed negotiations with the headquarters of the Keren Kayemet to buy 800 dunams of land near Hebron. The colony, called Kastania, was ready for settlement and the land was to be given to a group of Jews from Russia in hereditary tenure, collectively, in the name of the Canadian Federation. As for supplies and continuing support for the colonists, should the Canadian organization be unable to fulfill this task, the Ezra Association of Berlin was ready to step into the breach. The convention also took exception to the attempts that had been made to create private groups for purchasing land in Palestine. It was argued that, for the welfare of the Jewish people as a whole, land there should be acquired by the Canadian Federation and given to the Keren Kayemet, to help the development of the country on a national scale. The time for private enterprises had not yet arrived. In spring 1914, on his tour of western Canada, John Shayne raised considerable amounts of money for the Keren Kayemet. But the outbreak of war, as noted earlier, caused the Federation, fearful of being accused of aid to Ottoman Turkey as an enemy state, to restrict the collection of funds for its Palestinian enterprises. The National Council decided to desist from appealing for funds to be sent overseas, and the year’s receipts were reduced to less than half of those of 1913. Canadian general Zionism, caught between the hammer of patriotism towards Canada and the British Empire and the anvil of a Palestinian yishuv daily more desperate in its needs, but whose members were officially inhabitants of enemy territory, was indeed in a quandary. Mizrachi Groups to 1914 In 1902, in Vilna, Rabbi Isaac Jacob Reines of Lida formed the religious Zionist synthesis called Mizrachi, whose motto became “The Land of Israel for the People of Israel, in accordance with the Torah of Israel.” Its platform, adopted at Pressburg (now Bratislava) in 1904, said that — 99 —

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Mizrachi is an organization of Orthodox Jews who adhere to the Basle Program and who strive to perpetuate and develop the Jewish national life in the spirit of tradition. Thus, Mizrachi felt itself to be “maximum” Zionism—Jewish nationalism in all its aspects, including the spiritual heritage. The leader of the movement soon became Rabbi Meir Berlin [later Bar-Ilan].72 In Canada before the war, despite its educational, social, and religious contributions to Zionist and Jewish cultural life, Mizrachi, perhaps because of the class nature of the community of that era (and the concomitant ideological tendency towards the left), never made much headway. As Cheifetz noted in the 1930s, “the Mizrachi organization has ... played an important role but has not developed deep roots.”73 In Canada, the first Mizrachi group was formed in Toronto in 1907 by Rabbis Jacob Gordon and Joseph Weinreb, Principal Ben-Zion Nathanson of the Talmud Torah, and Paul Levi. In 1911 Rabbi Gordon, now the recording secretary of the Canadian Federation of Zionists and a member of the National Council, was instrumental in forming a Canada-wide organization. A Hamilton chapter was formed that same year. On November 21, 1912, Rabbi Israel M. Kahanovitch and Eli Cherniak helped form a Winnipeg chapter which became closely associated with the local Talmud Torah, as well as raising funds for religious schools and institutions in Palestine. In 1914 Rabbi Berlin came to Canada and toured the country. He visited Winnipeg in February, exhorting the local Mizrachi to engage in more vigorous activity “on behalf of the people of Israel according to the Torah of Israel.”74 Mizrachi, now a national body of sorts, at this point officially became an affiliate of its larger sister organization in the United States. General Zionism, and its religious offshoot, Mizrachi, had thus made respectable headway in the Dominion in the years prior to the First World War. Its main challenge, however, came not from assimilationism or various shades of Jewish socialism but rather from another form of the ideology—one which was, it must be admitted, more in tune with the class character of the vast majority of Canadian Jews of the period—labour Zionism, as presented by the Poale Zion.

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Endnotes 1  Sack, History of the Jews in Canada, 204. 2  Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 16. 3 Quoted in Shlomo Noble, “Pre-Herzlism Zionism in America as Reflected in the Yiddish Press,” in Isidore S. Meyer, ed., Early History of Zionism in America: Papers Presented at the Conference on the Early History of Zionism in America (New York: American Jewish Historical Society and Theodor Herzl Foundation, 1958), 47-48. 4  Cheifetz, “Di yidishe natsyonale baveygung in kanada,” 75 [Yiddish section]. 5 Lyon Cohen, “Recollections and Reminiscences 1881-1897,” in Benjamin G. Sack, ed., Jewish Daily Eagle / Keneder Adler: Centennial Jubilee Edition Commemorating the Centenary of Jewish Emancipation in Canada, 49 [English section]. 6  Rhinewine, Der yid in kanada, Vol. I, 195; “The Zionist Organization of Canada,” 292. 7  Cheifetz, “Di yidishe natsyonale baveygung in kanada,” 75 [Yiddish section]. 8  “The Zionist Organization of Canada,” 292. 9  Cheifetz, “Di yidishe natsyonale baveygung in kanada,” 75 [Yiddish section]. 10 Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 17. 11 Sack, History of the Jews in Canada, 241-242. 12 Quoted in Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. I: A History, 131. Reform Judaism was based at the time ideologically on the Pittsburgh Platform of 1885, which stated that “we consider ourselves no longer a nation but a religious community. And [we] therefore expect neither a return to Palestine...nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning the Jewish state.” Quoted in Walter Laqueur, “Zionism and its Liberal Critics, 1896-1948,” 179. 13 Sack, History of the Jews in Canada, 220. 14 Thus, Harry Stern, longtime rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, writing about the 1897 events, noted that while Wise and the Central Conference of American Rabbis “unanimously rejected the concept of a Jewish state in no uncertain terms,” he, though “a spiritual disciple of Isaac M. Wise, feel it today my holy duty to give emphasis to the peoplehood of Israel as well as the doctrine of Israel’s universal mission to the world.” Harry Joshua Stern, The Jewish Spirit Triumphant: A Collection of Addresses (New York: Bloch Publishing Co., 1955), 212. 15 Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 101. 16 For the role of the Conservative movement and its leadership of the Zionist Federation in the United States, see further Herbert Parzen, “Conservative Judaism and Zionism, 1896-1922,” Jewish Social Studies 23, 4, (1961); and Marshall Sklare, Conservative Judaism: An American Religious Movement (New York: Schocken Books, 1972). — 101 —

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17 Yonathan Shapiro, Leadership of the American Zionist Organization 1897-1930 (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1971), 52 18 Rhinewine, Der Yid in Kanada, Vol. I, 199-200. Membership fees were known as “shekels.” 19 Clarence de Sola remained president of the Federation until 1919. Following the revolt against de Sola’s leadership, Archibald J. Freiman became chairman of a provisional Executive Committee for the following two years and was elected president of the Federation in 1921. He held this position until 1944, the year of his death. De Sola became honourary president from 1919 until his death on May 10, 1920. Sir Mortimer B. Davis replaced him as honourary president in 1921. 20 Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 101. 21 Stoler, “The Growth of Canadian Zionism,” 226. 22 Quoted in Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 17. 23 His brother was Louis Rubenstein, an alderman on the Montreal city council. 24 De Sola, History of the Corporation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews “Shearith Israel” of Montreal, 56. 25 Bernard Figler, Biography of Louis Fitch, Q.C. (Ottawa: privately printed, 1968), 12. 26 Bernard Figler, “History of the Zionist Ideal in Canada,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory (Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963), 91. 27 Quoted in Nahum Sokolow, History of Zionism, 1600-1918, Vol. II (New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1969), xiv. Sokolow himself noted that the movement “immediately met with great success” (354). 28 Cheifetz, “Di yidishe natsyonale baveygung in kanada,” 76 [Yiddish section]. 29 Leon Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” in Arthur Daniel Hart, ed., The Jew in Canada: A Complete Record of Canadian Jewry from the Days of the French Regime to the Present Time (Toronto: Jewish Publications Ltd., 1926), 292. 30 The split between “political” and “practical” Zionists was not entirely an EastWest one. Thus, Israel Zangwill, after the collapse of the Uganda project in 1905, formed the Jewish Territorial Association. The “political” Zionists were by 1908 completely defeated in the world body, which was by then under the control of the “practical” Zionists. 31 The third convention saw such centers as Vancouver and Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, represented for the first time. Montreal had five Zionist societies by this time, and its delegates included men such as Lyon Cohen and Peter Bercovitch. 32 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 293. For more on the controversy surrounding the Uganda Plan, see Robert G. Weisbord, African Zion: The Attempt to Establish a Jewish Colony in the East Africa Protectorate 1903-1905 (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America 1968). 33 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 293. In that year the Poale Zion was represented at the Federation’s convention for the first time. — 102 —

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34 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 294. 35 Quoted in Brown, Jew or Juif?, 20-21; Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 294. 36 Herbert Parzen, “The Federation of American Zionists (1897-1914),” in Isidore S. Meyer, ed., Early History of Zionism in America: Papers Presented at the Conference on the Early History of Zionism in America (New York: American Jewish Historical Society and Theodor Herzl Foundation, 1958), 26. 37 Quoted in Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 109. 38 Quoted in Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 109. 39 Figler, “History of the Zionist Ideal in Canada,” 89. 40 Gottesman, Who’s Who in Canadian Jewry, 16. “Never a partisan Zionist himself, A.J. Freiman ... while condemning extremism, sought to establish cordial relations with the other Zionist Parties.” Figler, “History of the Zionist Ideal in Canada,” 95. Thus, in 1941 he finally formed a United Zionist Council, which included the Zionist Organization of Canada, Mizrachi and the Labour Zionists. 41 Figler, “History of the Zionist Ideal in Canada,” 91. 42 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 299. 43 It is now the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology. 44 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 300. 45 Rome, “Montreal, the Capital City of Jewish Canada,” 305. 46 Sack, History of the Jews in Canada, 219. 47 Sack, History of the Jews in Canada, 219. 48 Stolar, “The Growth of Canadian Zionism,” 226. 49 Quoted in Sack, History of the Jews in Canada, 219. De Sola had met Herzl in Vienna and was “devoted” to him. Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews, 169. 50 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 292. 51 Quoted in the Jewish Times, December 5, 1902, p. 1. 52 Abella, A Coat of Many Colours, 151. 53 Quoted in Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews, 171. 54 Brown, “Divergent Paths,” 159. Brown writes that Herzl and other Zionist leaders looked upon Canadian Zionism as a branch of the British movement. 55 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 294. 56 Ben G. Kayfetz, “A History of Toronto Jewry,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory, 314. 57 Shmuel Mayer Shapiro, The Rise of the Toronto Jewish Community, 103. 58 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 299. 59 Joseph B. Glass, “Isolation and Alienation: Factors in the Growth of Zionism in the Canadian Prairies, 1917-1939,” Canadian Jewish Studies 9 (2001): 86-87. So for example, Alberta Jews “adopted Herzl and his Zionist movement with great enthusiasm.” “Herzl Bust—Albertans Honor Zionist Hero,” Discovery 16, 2 (2006): 3. 60 Wilder, “An Outline of the History of the Jews in Canada,” 33 [English section]. 61 Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 166. — 103 —

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62 Levine, Coming of Age, 182-183. 63 Quoted in Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 156. 64 Quoted in Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 156. 65 Quoted in Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 156-157. 66 In July 1917, in Winnipeg, Shultz became the first Jew from British Columbia to attend a Zionist convention in person; he was elected a member of the National Council. 67 Three were from Ottawa, and one each from Glace Bay, Quebec City, Hamilton, and Calgary. 68 Agi Romer Segal, “Theodor Herzl Remembered,” Discovery 14, 3 (2004): 8. 69 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 313. 70 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 293. The annual campaigns for funds were held under the sole auspices of the Federation for many years, and all the Zionist parties joined forces in these overall campaigns. After 1924, Labour Zionists began their own campaigns for the Histadrut labour unions in Palestine, and the right-wing Revisionists also began to collect money separately. 71 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 296. 72 See Dov Schwartz, Religious-Zionism: History and Ideology (translated from the Hebrew by Batya Stein), (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2009.) 73 Cheifetz, “Di yidishe natsyonale baveygung in kanada,” 78. 74 Quoted in Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 159.

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Clarence de Sola, president of the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada, 1899-1919, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal

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5. Labour Zionism in Canada, 1905-1914: The Poale Zion

The North American Setting Among the great masses of Jews in the Russian Pale of Settlement, a population becoming rapidly urbanized and proletarianized by the late nineteenth century, socialism and Zionism were at first considered to be mutually exclusive alternatives. Organizationally, both movements strove to attract large numbers of Jews; the world Zionist movement and the largest socialist group aimed specifically at recruitment of Jews—the Jewish Labour Bund—were both founded in 1897. Within a few short years, though, groups of Jewish workers began to attempt a synthesis of Zionism and the ideology of their class (as they perceived it), socialism. Chief among the ideologists of this proletarian Zionism were Ber Borochov and Nachman Syrkin. Borochov, using data supplied by the 1897 Russian census, demonstrated that Jews had a working class concentrated primarily in light “sweatshop” industries such as consumer goods; professionals and the petty-bourgeoisie predominated while both truly big capitalists or industrial workers in primary industries were noticeably lacking. Jewish society was an inverted pyramid, he concluded, and in fact pauperization often replaced proletarianization of petty-bourgeois elements, since non-Jewish competition prevented Jews from entering the ranks of the working class. Jews, virtually lacking a proletariat, could thus not really (as Jews) participate in the general struggle for socialism. Borochov’s Marxian approach led him to propose the territorial concentration of the Jewish proletariat in one country, where it would be able to develop its power unhampered by nationalistic competition and discrimination. That territory would provide a strategic base where the class struggle between the Jewish bourgeoisie and working class could be played out to the full, since the narrow economic base of Diaspora Jewry would now be normalized. The class consciousness of the Jewish workers would give rise to a Jewish national consciousness, and the working class would cooperate with the other classes in order to gain, as its national base, — 107 —

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Palestine. There was no basic contradiction between proletarian consciousness and a sense of nationhood in the case of the Jewish worker, said Borochov, since without a state he is helpless.1 Less Marxist in his approach than Borochov was Nachman Syrkin, and he would have more influence in the North American segments of the movement. Syrkin was less materialistic, and more spiritual, than the former—the Prophets were more the source of his socialism than was Karl Marx. Syrkin was also less concerned with the class struggle among Jews—in his view, all classes of Jews shared a common need for Palestine. Syrkin was thus less uncomfortable with nationalistic appeals. “The nationalism of oppressed classes, especially of oppressed nations, has a content different from the nationalism of the ruling classes, especially of the ruling nations.”2 Groups of followers of Borochov, Syrkin, A.D. Gordon, and other labour Zionists began to form small groups after 1901, and by 1907, at the Hague, Netherlands, a World Union of Poale Zion parties had been established. Poale Zion found itself forced to defend itself both from general Zionists (and religious Jews in general) on its right, and from socialist and anarchist groups of all hues, both Jewish and general, on its left. In North America as in elsewhere, left-wing Zionists faced a long and lonely road, with opposition from many quarters. “Under constant attack from the socialist left and the Zionist right, and forever in need of justifying its very existence, Poale Zionism spent more time and energies in theoretical discussions than any other movement in American Jewish life.”3 And this produced groups highly infused with theoretical sophistication and intellectual leadership—as Seidel could observe in 1938, “these organizations seem to attract a different type of member from that of the Zionist organizations. Their program is more intensely intellectual, less like a purely social group than the latter.”4 Poale Zion often met with ridicule and misunderstanding among Jewish radicals antagonistic to Zionism. The ideological conflict was exacerbated by the underlying economic divisions and social differentiation among Jews in North America. Where Jewish workers faced Jewish capitalists across entire little industries, Zionism was often seen as being anti-labour, and it was viewed as mutually exclusive of socialism. At the turn of the century anarchists, socialists and labour Zionists often competed for influence among Jewish immigrant workers in the sweatshops among the large cities in eastern Canada and the United — 108 —

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States. All these groups were quite certain revolution was inevitable, and they were already engaged in struggles relating to the organization of a socialist society after the overthrow and transformation of the present structures. The Jewish socialists, often former European Bundists, were well-organized around the newly-formed Socialist Party in the United States. The anarchists, who often came to North America after a few years’ stay in London, and therefore no longer “greenhorns,” were also well-versed in British radical literature; their newspaper, the Freye Arbayter Shtimeh, produced in New York, was quite influential, and the movement was strongly entrenched in such clothing industries as vest-making. At first, with Poale Zion almost insignificant, most of the theoretical conflicts involved these two stronger groups. The main issue was the question of the inherent coercive nature of the state per se; to anarchists, the state was the main enemy, and had to be eliminated and replaced by a freer community with as few rules as possible. Socialists saw the bourgeoisie as the rulers who had to be overthrown; a socialist state, under the rule of the working class, was a necessary step in the long march towards a classless society. Both groups, however, agreed on their opposition to nationalism (especially the Jewish variety), and were united in their opposition to labour Zionism. As with all forms of Zionism, it too was, for them, a movement founded on anti-socialist principles. Among the Jewish workers in the needle traders, the socialist and anarchist trade union leaders fought with all their might against Zionist sentiment. They maintained that Zionist theoreticians, with their Eretz Israel propaganda, wanted to steer workers away from the hope of a socialist revolution. “The Poale Zionists had to fight hard to be recognized as ‘radicals’ and ‘socialists.’ They too spoke of ‘socialist revolution,’ of ‘class struggle,’ of ‘Marxism,’ and of the ‘world proletariat,’ but anti-Zionists did not want to recognize their radicalism”5—to them, all Zionists were bourgeois. The labour Zionists spent endless hours studying socialist theoreticians such as Moses Hess, in order to find in them indications that some forms of nationalism were indeed progressive. Poale Zion believed in a socialist state, but felt that the Jewish question would not be automatically solved in such a state merely because all people would be equal. The Jewish problem was also one of ethnic and national oppression, with roots in linguistic and other questions; — 109 —

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it could not be solved merely by Jewish workers, along with those of other nationalities, overthrowing the capitalist system. The fullest national and class consciousness of the Jewish proletariat could only come to the fore in its own land. “Poale Zion fought hard to defend Palestine as a ... land for colonization and Zionism as a movement not in opposition to socialism.”6 In the United States, in March 1903 the first Poale Zion group, consisting of five members, met in New York. Its platform was a synthesis of socialism and Zionism: “The national struggle and the class struggle, far from being mutually exclusive, are two branches of the same trunk. They strive to accomplish the same ends—to free mankind.”7 By 1905, 23 delegates representing four Poale Zion branches met in Philadelphia on April 29-May 1, to launch a national party. Soon splits developed between territorialists and “Palestinians”—this was the period of the debates over the Uganda proposal—and, as the territorialists were a majority, the “Palestinians,” at a new convention held in Baltimore that December seceded and set up what became the Poale Zion, forerunner of most forms of labour Zionism in the United States and elsewhere. Originally an autonomous section of the Federation of American Zionists, the Poale Zion became an independent party in 1908. “The Poale Zionists worked very hard to convince the workers not to be afraid of Zionism.”8 As “practical” Zionists, they were involved with the Jewish National Fund, the early kibbutzim in Palestine, and the chalutz (pioneering) movement. In North America they fought assimilation and territorialism. During World War I, they made heroic efforts in raising money for war relief, and were also prime moving forces behind the formation of the American and Canadian Jewish Congresses and the Jewish Legion. “Always they were among the first to call and awake the masses for the ideal of Eretz Israel.”9 Despite all these efforts, only the immense tragedies that befell the Jewish people during the course of the First World War and the pogroms that followed in its wake enabled the preparatory ideological and organizational work of the Poale Zion to be translated into a movement which finally captured large masses of Jewish workers, and which eventually surpassed orthodox socialism in its influence on the Jewish proletariat.

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Poale Zion in Canada In the aftermath of the 1903 Kishinev pogrom and the Russian Revolution of 1905, groups of Jewish immigrants imbued with socialist and Zionist ideals began to arrive in Canada. Too nationalistic for orthodox socialism but too left-wing to be interested in the de Sola brand of dyed-in-the-wool general Zionism, these people wanted to be in the vanguard of those trying to reshape Jewish life. Though always small in numbers, their work and influence was out of all proportion to their size. “The ideological parent of the Labour Zionist movement in the country,” the Poale Zion, was born in 1905.10 A year later, the first Poale Zion groups, from Montreal and Toronto, were represented at the fifth convention of the Federation of Canadian Zionists, held in Toronto, and two members were elected to the Federation’s National Council. By 1909 the Poale Zion had helped set up the first Canadian branch of the Jewish National Workers Alliance (Yidisher Natsyonaler Arbayter Farband). Based mainly in the working class neighbourhoods of Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Hamilton, Poale Zion “showed that it was possible to be both a socialist and a Zionist.”11 Still, Poale Zion was at first weak and fought against tremendous odds. Rent with internal rivalries and splits over the issues of territorialism, with groups of members often moving over to the rival Socialist-Territorialists, it also faced opposition from general Zionism. The Federation of Canadian Zionists, angered by Poale Zion’s anti-religious attitudes, was reluctant to recognize it as a legitimate Zionist organization. Poale Zion stopped sending delegates to the conventions of the Federation after the tenth convention of 1909, due to growing divergences over ideology. The movement carried on propaganda campaigns on “the Jewish street” to win over newcomers who embraced the objectives of social reform. Poale Zion helped lay the groundwork for the Jewish Public Library in Montreal, helped found the People’s Schools and Peretz Schools, organized trade unions, prepared the ground for the Canadian Jewish Congress, fought for the creation of the Jewish Legion, and, of course, raised money for Palestine. As it began to grow stronger after 1910, it also began to involve itself in municipal, provincial and even federal elections, seeing them as occasions for spreading nationalJewish and socialist propaganda. — 111 —

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Poale Zion was not just a political party; it was also a fraternal unit of great cohesion: the association was stronger than just the platform for which it stood. In Canada, “the Poale Zion was probably the richest in colour and in intellect, and among the most cohesive and far reaching in friendship, [of the Zionist parties].”12 One of the foremost workers on behalf of the Poale Zion (even though he did not officially join the party until 1919) was H. M. Caiserman (1884-1950), who was to become a main driving force behind, and later a leader of, the Canadian Jewish Congress. Born in Piatra-Niamtz, Romania, in 1884, Caiserman was at first not really a Zionist, but more of a syndicalist who was active in labour organizations and Yiddishist movements. In Bucharest his profound sympathies for workers led him to embrace Marxism, and he began to publish in the Romanian radical press, being even briefly arrested for his activities. However, by May 1902 he had become interested in emigrating to Palestine and had corresponded with Herzl: “Zionism appealed to me. I was thirteen when Dr. Theodor Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress in Basle. It was a clarion call which resounded in every Jewish heart in Rumania.”13 Caiserman organized a group of 20 young men into a Zionist society called Ahavath Zion. It met regularly and read the weekly Mevaseret Tsion and Zionist materials from Vienna. Caiserman even spoke to a gathering of 800 people at a local synagogue on “The Importance of Davenen in Zionist Education.” Caiserman, though selfconscious and full of apprehension lest he fail in his first public efforts, nonetheless worked hard. “The correspondence with the great leader gave me a great sense of pride. I felt I must serve Zionism; I must do something for the cause.”14 At this point, Caiserman was a general Zionist. Zionism, he felt, had given the Jews back concepts that they had lost for thousands of years. Herzl did not create the Zionist idea—it was already implicit in Jewish prophecy, in Jewish thoughts and dreams. It was part of the Jewish soul. Herzl, though, was a true leader and organizer, a man of genius. Under him, Caiserman said, Zionism would go from strength to strength and in time reach the heart of every Jew. It was the call of liberty. On August 10, 1902, Caiserman received a reply from Herzl. In it he suggested to the group that they write to the Jewish Colonization Association. He continued: — 112 —

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While you will probably fail to realize your immediate needs, I can tell you of my continued endeavours to obtain for our Jews an assured homeland. I understand that your group is presently interested in immediate help, and I regret that I cannot furnish it. Sincerely yours, Herzl.15 The failure of this project seemed to turn Caiserman away from Zionism, and again towards socialism—even when he became reconciled to Zionism, in late 1915 or thereabouts, it would be to the left-wing, labour-oriented Poale Zion variety. In 1908, all of Caiserman’s family members left Romania for Canada, and two years later, in August 1910, he left the turmoil of Bucharest to join them in Montreal. He came to Canada a convinced socialist. Moishe Dickstein, later an associate of Caiserman’s in Poale Zion, recalled that “of nationalism and even Zionism he would not hear; they were reactionary in his eyes...I still remember the onslaughts Caiserman led against the ‘Chauvinistic Poale Zion who want to betray the working masses.’”16 Caiserman began to change his views, though slowly at first. One of the people who influenced him in this direction was Sarah Wittal, a young American socialist teaching English to the newly arrived immigrants and the woman he married. Sarah later became a leader in the Poale Zion movement and a founder of the Pioneer Women’s Organization of Canada, and was also involved in the Peretz School movement and the Canadian Jewish Congress. As Caiserman became more involved in labour union work with Poale Zionists, his originally antipathetic views underwent yet further change. Men such as Yehuda Kaufman, then a student of Semitics at McGill University, but already an associate of Reuben Brainin; Alter Esner; and Leon Meltzer (who would become Caiserman’s campaign manager in his abortive 1916 municipal election campaign), all helped convince him to become a Labour Zionist. Caiserman took up Poale Zionism with a vengeance, once convinced of the justness of its cause. From the day of his association with the Poale Zion — 113 —

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we observe that practically each one of his many areas of interest was designed to bring into reality the ideaprogram of the party. His entire communal and social life was in effect one vast Mitzvah out of the Shulchan Aruch code of labour Zionist Judaism.17 Caiserman quickly became a leading participant in all of the party’s programs. He was a spokesman, a journalist, a friend. “Indeed, it is as difficult to write the story of his life ... without recording the annals of the Labour Zionist movement in Canada as it is impossible to tell of Labour Zionism in Canada without identifying it with Caiserman.”18 Isidore M. Bobrove, who was a founder of the Canadian Jewish Congress and later the national president of the Labour Zionist movement in Canada, notes that Caiserman joined Poale Zion at about the same time that Bobrove joined the youth movement. Caiserman was soon much in demand as a speaker on such topics as socialism, nationalism, and politics in general: Caiserman was one of our aggressive and popular debaters. He met the arguments of the Bundists, the assimilationists, the indifferent, the cynics ... On one memorable occasion he shared the platform with Baruch Zuckerman and with Nachman Syrkin at the Monument National in a memorable statement of the Labour Zionist position.19 Caiserman himself reflected in later years on his role in Canadian Zionism: Zionism has always been my deepest interest in Jewish public life and will probably remain such to the end of my days...Zionism is a positive fructifying ideal which has fanned the only spark of hope in Jewry today and has touched with creative magic every phase of Jewish life.20 But as a true Poale Zionist, Caiserman never saw Zionism as mere “Palestinianism,” or concern with settlement in the middle east, to the — 114 —

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exclusion of concern with the wider aspects of Jewish national concerns wherever Jews lived: I have always regretted that there were Jews who conceived Zionism differently, as a negation of all other Jewish interests and activities. Hatred of the Diaspora had often led to a negative approach to Jewish institutions in the Diaspora. An unnatural dichotomy was set up”21 Little wonder, then, that Caiserman, the Zionist, was also Caiserman, the foremost Jewish communal worker in Canada. There were other dedicated Poale Zionists in this early era, men such as Moishe Dickstein, born in Warsaw in 1890, who arrived in Canada in 1912. Dickstein had worked as a reporter in his native Warsaw, and had the seething vitality of a Polish Jew and the militancy of a former Bundist become Zionist. Dickstein was a founder of the Jewish People’s Schools and the Canadian Jewish Congress, and became a dynamic leader in the Labour Zionist movement after World War I.22 Other men of note included Alexander Chaskin, Leon Chazanovitch, Leon Meltzer, and Leon Cheifetz, who served in the Jewish Legion and eventually settled in Palestine. In ideology Poale Zion was closely tied to the ideas of Chaim Zhitlovsky, Nachman Syrkin, and the original socialist Zionist, Moses Hess (whose Rome and Jerusalem Syrkin had translated into Yiddish). “Dr. Syrkin used to come to Montreal often ... The Poale Zion used to bring him to hold speeches regarding Zionism, nationalism and internationalism.”23 Syrkin used to quote profusely from Jewish and from general history, in order to illustrate his points of view. Prophets such as Amos and Isaiah, even the Chasidim—all became “early” socialists, forerunners of Marx and Lasalle. Zhitlovsky also came to Canada frequently, and considered Winnipeg among his strongest centers of support. He attracted large crowds, and inspired Poale Zionists in many cities to found radical-nationalist schools. While Syrkin was a Zionist first and a radical second, in Zhitlovsky the order was reversed—nonetheless, in this period both men brought Zionist ideals to the Jewish masses.

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Local Poale Zion Activity to 1914 Montreal Many radicals began appearing in Montreal following the 1905 Russian Revolution, and meetings were soon being held in the Labour Temple or Prince Arthur Hall. In early 1905, the first Poale Zion branch in Canada was founded, in Montreal, with four members, soon to be joined by Louis Zucker. Few in numbers at first, the group was nonetheless active in labour organizations, Yiddish literature groups, and adult education. They were involved in constant debate and competition with other Jewish groups, and, led by mean of learning and magnetism, managed to hold their own. They also had the benefit of early, though sporadic, contacts with Poale Zion in the United States and even England. On August 27, a debate within the American Poale Zion between “Palestinians” and territorialists began, and this spread to branches everywhere, as a split seemed imminent. The Montreal group held a stormy meeting on November 18. A large part of the membership, and many leaders, such as Zucker, were territorialists. On December 9, a final split occurred, and a new Socialist-Territorialist group was formed on January 3, 1906. Of the 37 members of the old Poale Zion, 28 men went over to the new group. The rump Poale Zion, with Jacob Morris as secretary, was left with nine people. Soon afterwards, though, the Yiddish-speaking general Zionist Durshay Zion group split, with the left wing, led by Mendel L. Sack, brother of the historian Benjamin Sack, joining the Poale Zion. The reorganized group was represented at the fifth convention of the Federation of Canadian Zionists held in Toronto in 1906, and by 1907 they had 75 members. Despite the fact that Syrkin and Zhitlovsky themselves were at the moment Socialist-Territorialists, the Poale Zion kept up its propaganda—for example, on October 29, 1907, Sack engaged in a public debate with the territorialists. Zionist personages such as Baruch Zuckerman and Bella Pevsner, of New York, were frequent visitors to Montreal during this period. The years after 1905 thus became a period of consolidation, of building and entrenchment. Poale Zion became an organic centre for the community interests of many Montreal Jews, and it represented their concerns, from mundane local issues such as food prices, through — 116 —

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national problems of immigration and assimilation, to such international issues as pogroms in Russia. In 1908, in the United States, Meyer Brown had called for a fraternal organization to oppose the Workmen’s Circle, and the Jewish National Workers Alliance (Yidisher Natsyonaler Arbayter Farband) was born. The first Montreal branch was organized a year later, and in 1912 another branch was organized in Mile End, a northern section of the city, with Caiserman serving as frequent lecturer. In the spring of 1909 Zhitlovsky, in his journal Dos Naye Lebn [New Life] called for a union of Socialist-Territorialists and the Poale Zion. In Montreal the territorialists started negotiations with Poale Zion, and the two groups united on a platform of national work in the Diaspora and Jewish colonization in Palestine. The Montreal union came about four months earlier than the big national union, which took place at the Chicago convention that year. Indeed, in October 1910, the Montreal group was host to the fifth North American Poale Zion convention— the first one held outside the United States. All in all, Poale Zion, deeply rooted among the newly arrived and very nationally conscious eastern European immigrants, was making great strides in the decade preceding the First World War. Toronto In Toronto, as in Montreal, many early Poale Zionists were recruited from the Yiddish-speaking general Zionist branches. On August 6, 1905, a Poale Zion branch, with about 25 to 30 members, was founded, with A.S. Silverman as secretary. Silverman had come to Toronto in 1904, but had had contact with the Yiddish radical and literary figure Kalmen Marmor24 and other members of Poale Zion, in Leeds, England, before his arrival. He worked hard to make converts, in factories and elsewhere: “When we saw a worker who adhered to socialist or anarchist ideology we immediately began debates to make him see his errors and our truths.”25 The party began to grow, and in Toronto “Palestinians” outnumbered territorialists. On October 15, 1905, the Poale Zion voted in favour of Palestine over Uganda, but decided not to evict those territorialists who did not oppose a Palestine solution. The territorialists, though a small minority, nonetheless did split off, and formed their own society soon thereafter. In 1906, the Poale Zion was represented at the fifth — 117 —

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convention of the Federation of Canadian Zionists by S.S. Shapiro. There were at this time about sixty members in the group. A Farband branch was formed in September 1910. From 12 members at the start, it grew to 108 in 1916, and by 1917, a second branch—Ber Borochov No. 124—was formed. The two combined groups had a membership of 365 by 1918. Poale Zion itself fared worse for a time, though. The Socialist-Territorialists, small at first, became very aggressive, and raided Poale Zion for members, creating confusion. By 1912, when A.S. Silverman announced he was leaving Toronto, labour Zionism there seemed on the verge of collapse. The groups “were chiefly concerned with spreading among the Jewish workers of Toronto the ideologies they had brought from the old country….Mentally they still lived in the Czarist Empire, shouting revolutionary slogans that were more suited to conditions in backward Russia than to conditions here,” complained Shmuel Mayer Shapiro of Der Yidisher Zhurnal.26 However, once the period of territorialist- “Palestinian” infighting came to an end, a period of development and growth began. Fishel Wallerstein, who came to Toronto from Hamilton in 1911, became a secretary and revived the party in Toronto. Thus, in 1913, when Rudolph Rocker, the famous gentile anarchist who became a Yiddishist, visited Toronto, he said of Poale Zion: The group wasn’t large, but it had a number of very good and intelligent young people, who were active culturally; they had a school for Jewish children, which was supported by other Socialist groups. The Poale Zionists in Toronto at that time stood much more for libertarian Socialist ideas than the Social Democrats of the Marxist school, and their relations with our comrades was therefore very friendly. The teachers invited me to address the older children at the school. We had some very fruitful discussions, especially, with the Poale Zionists on the national question. I found that I had to deal with intelligent people, and it was worthwhile. I’m afraid I can’t say the same about my Social Democratic antagonists in Toronto.27 Winnipeg — 118 —

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Winnipeg, too, at the turn of the century, counted among its Jewish population Social Democrats, anarchists, and labour Zionists, and in July 1906, Aaron Osovsky organized the first Poale Zion group. A Socialist-Territorialist group was also founded, and soon had 35 members. The Poale Zion group met in the B’nai Zion synagogue. Besides Osovsky, other early leaders included Shlomo Zivkin, Meier Bereskin, and Peter Zvankin. Osovsky, a dynamic person, became secretary. A.M. Levadie describes the founding of Poale Zion in Winnipeg: In the B’nai Zion synagogue I met Aaron Osovsky and Meier Bereskin. My brother Zalman Zaslovsky introduced me to them and other B’nai Zion people. It was Osovsky’s thoughts and energy that led to the split in the B’nai Zion and the formation of the first Poale Zion society in Western Canada.28 Under Osovsky’s leadership, a library was opened in 1907, and socialist Zionists like Bella Pevsner came to Winnipeg to speak. Osovsky was also a member of the National Council of the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada at this time. In Winnipeg as elsewhere, though, territorialists fought “Palestinians” within the party, and both segments were weakened by the mutual animosity. The Poale Zion had only 20 members by 1909, while the territorialist group fell apart completely in that year. In 1909, the party suffered a major blow. Osovsky came out in favour of the pro-immigration Liberal Party of Wilfrid Laurier and in opposition to the Canadian Socialist Party. He resigned from Poale Zion, and A.M. Levadie replaced him as secretary. Poale Zion, much weakened by this affair, collapsed altogether in Winnipeg in October 1910.29 Many labour Zionists such as Levadie left Winnipeg and the party was defunct until 1914, when Levadie, back in Winnipeg, and Shlomo Ben Abraham, who had come to the city in 1908, revived the Poale Zion. Nonetheless, even during this nadir of party activity, labour Zionists were involved in the Yidisher Yugend Farayn, which founded the I.L. Peretz School in Winnipeg. Also, in 1911, Jacob Levadie formed Farband branch No. 17 in the city.30

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Other Canadian Communities Poale Zion, basically representative of the masses of newly-arrived immigrants, working-class Jews who congregated in such large urban centers as Montreal and Toronto, had little support in smaller cities— there, Jews were more isolated, less ideologically rigorous in their Zionism, and also, given their small numbers, less willing to split off from or duplicate general Zionist efforts. Most, as small storekeepers, were in any case not all that attracted to a Zionism geared to and directed towards urban Jewish workers. One exception was Hamilton, Ontario, which though smaller in size was heavily industrialized. Formed on December 12, 1906, with an initial membership of 20, “the Hamilton branch was one of the best branches at the beginning of the movement.”31 On March 31, 1907, the Poale Zion in Hamilton called a mass meeting to dramatize the plight of Romanian Jewry, and in July of that year Bella Pevsner spoke there. By the end of 1909 a Farband branch, with Charles Kessler as secretary, had been organized, and it had about 25 members within two years. As the Keneder Adler of Montreal noted on February 23, 1910, “the Hamilton Poale Zion are quite active. They sell shekels for the National Fund, often organize literary meetings, etc.” The group grew bigger after 1911, led by Fishel Wallerstein, Abraham Wallerstein and Gershon Abrams, and by 1913 there were 46 members.32 Elsewhere, in scattered areas across Canada, small Poale Zion groups sprang up rather haphazardly and spontaneously. It often depended on chance circumstances, perhaps the result of a group of fellow radical Jews acquainted with each other back in the “old country”—such a group was formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 1911. Under the influence of Ben Zuckerman, the secretary, they also formed a Farband branch. Indeed, the Saskatoon representative to the Canadian Jewish Congress in 1919 was a member of Poale Zion. Relations with Other Groups and Parties to 1914 Canadian-American Contact within Poale Zion before the First World War In 1905, the North American Poale Zion was born at the Baltimore convention, following the territorialist split and defection over the Uganda issue, with some forming the Socialist-Territorialist Party and others — 120 —

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joining Israel Zangwill’s Jewish Territorial Organization. The Canadian movement also reflected this split—it was, in any case, organizationally not separate from the American mother party. The Canadian branches of the Poale Zion stayed loyal to the North American party and usually carried out the resolutions of the central committee of the party after Poale Zion conventions. The Canadian groups were, if anything, somewhat more radical. Thus, at the second convention, in Boston (attended by delegates from Montreal, Toronto and Hamilton), the Montreal group, in an attempt to radicalize the conference, called for more trade union work and less emphasis on the Jewish Colonial Trust. The Montreal branch also got the official name of the party changed from The Socialist Organization Poale Zion to Socialist Workers Party Poale Zion. As well, three Canadians were elected to the central committee of the party at this time. At the Chicago unity convention of 1909, which saw the territorialists return to the fold, the Canadian branches too gave full support to this reunion. Indeed, so tied to the U.S. party were the Canadian branches that, at the sixth Poale Zion convention in Detroit, October 1911, when the Montreal group asked for a separate organizing committee for the Canadian branches, the plan fell through on account of lack of response from the other Canadian groups. In August 1908, the Poale Zion had sharply attacked the Socialist Party of Canada, then the dominant left-wing party in Canada, for its negative stand on immigration, and feelings against the party ran high among Poale Zionists. But the American Poale Zion supported the American Socialist Party, and at the fifth North American convention, held in Montreal in 1910, Baruch Zuckerman introduced a resolution for Poale Zionists in the two countries to work with their respective Socialist parties. The Canadian Poale Zionists stated that it would be impossible to support the Canadian socialists, who were anti-Semitic as well as nativist. They asked that the resolution not be binding on the Canadian branches. A stalemate ensued. Conventions of the North American Poale Zion in 1911 and 1913 again called on the Canadian branches to support the Socialist Party of Canada; though it was a bitter pill to swallow, they relented and finally agreed. But the reconciliation was temporary: by 1916, the party had again broken with the socialists, and would run its own candidate, H.M. Caiserman, in the municipal elections in Montreal that year. In — 121 —

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1917, Poale Zion did want to become a section of the Canadian Social Democratic Party, but that party was banned for the duration of the war. They finally gave support to the newly-formed Dominion Labour Party after the war. Relations with the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada to 1916 In Canada on the whole, while the differences between labour Zionism, general Zionism, and religious Zionism were deep, the rifts were not as fundamental as they were elsewhere. Nonetheless, in the early part of the century, the Jewish community was the focus of class struggles, and “the Zionist work was sharply divided.” While the general Zionists carried on activities such as the raising of funds for the Keren Kayemet and the selling of shares in the Jewish Colonial Trust, headquartered in London, Poale Zion carried on educational work for a socialistic Zionism. “The Poale Zion was more concerned with propaganda and agitation. Thus, their work was more effective among recently arrived Jews. Of the general Zionists the most was heard when a Zionist convention was approaching.”33 When Poale Zion first organized, Clarence de Sola wanted them to join the regular Zionist organization— their method of raiding Yiddish branches of the Federation caused animosity and sharp exchanges of letters. On January 16, 1906, the Canadian Federation wrote to its American counterpart, asking what their policy was towards the status of Poale Zion. The advice offered from New York was to be friendly towards the new group. So on February 15, de Sola wrote to the Poale Zion that the Federation “from today on recognizes you as members of the movement.”34 At the fifth Federation convention, held in Toronto in 1906, the Poale Zion sent delegations from Montreal and Toronto. The Poale Zion wanted to obtain formal recognition as fellow Zionists. The Federation would only agree to this recognition if the Poale Zionists would also join the general Zionist organization. This was refused. By 1907, therefore, Poale Zion’s members on the Federation’s National Council, elected the year before, had withdrawn, and neither the Montreal nor Toronto branches of Poale Zion came to the Federation’s convention that year. Winnipeg, though, represented by Aaron Osovsky, did remain on the National Council after the others quit. The general Zionists in any case began to look more and more — 122 —

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askance at Poale Zion, which in 1908 became part of the new World Union of Poale Zion parties. One of the main issues revolved around fund-raising. Poale Zion’s collections for the Palestine Workers Fund, the Keren Kayemet, and other groups was sent directly to Poale Zion headquarters in New York. The Federation wanted Zionist collections in Canada to at least pass through its own hands. After the tenth Federation convention of 1909, Poale Zion stopped sending its delegates to national conventions of the general Zionists. The Federation was chided for losing much immigrant support due to its conflict with Poale Zion. Thus the Keneder Adler, commenting on the seventh convention, of 1908, had noted that the broad masses of immigrant Jews were absent. “The editorial writer came up with a suggestion to the Zionist leaders, to begin to think about getting the broad Jewish masses interested in the problems of Eretz Israel and the Zionist movement in general.”35 The final break between Poale Zion and the Federation occurred during the Poale Zion convention held in Montreal in October 1910. When the convention first met, Clarence de Sola sent his greetings. But then he found out they were to hold sittings on the Sabbath, and he sent a letter demanding this stop, or else he would withdraw his greetings. Poale Zion replied that “between religion and Zionism there are no ties, and Poale Zion will therefore hold meetings on the Sabbath. This is done not to offend the religious feelings of the pious Jews, but in accordance with [our] own principles.”36 The general Zionist executive protested vigorously at this, and the Poale Zion convention “was declared to be undeserving of continued recognition by the Zionist Federation.”37 The break was now complete, and from 1911 on, there was increasing bitterness between the two groups, especially over collections for the Jewish National Fund. Many of the later struggles over the Canadian Jewish Congress had their roots in these earlier disputes. Poale Zion Within the Trade Unions to 1914 Though their legitimacy as a workers group was frequently challenged, and strike aid offers sometimes rejected by the trade union leaders, Poale Zion in its trade union activity in Canada did not meet with as much opposition from Jewish socialists as did its U.S. counterpart—in Canada, the socialist genosen were not as strongly entrenched. — 123 —

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Poale Zion was involved in many a trade union. For example, after much struggle, including a 1916 strike, the bakers of Montreal got the right to organize a union, and such Poale Zionists as H.M. Caiserman and Louis Zucker were involved. But the main emphasis of Poale Zion work involved the needle trades, the men’s and women’s garment industry. As early as 1890, there had been a Jewish tailors’ union in Montreal, affiliated with the American-based Knights of Labor. The sweatshop system, with its attendant terrible working conditions, also forced workers, in 1895, to form locals of the United Garment Workers of America. In 1904 and 1905, these early unions fell apart, and the Montreal Trades and Labour Council began to sponsor larger union activity. As well, the radical syndicalist International Workers of the World began to organize Montreal tailors. In the women’s clothing industry, Louis Zucker, who later joined the Poale Zion, was chairman of an IWW local for a year. The IWW was able to take advantage of crisis in the industry; 1907, for example, was a depression year, and unemployment was rampant. Poale Zion began organizing unions to counter IWW’s strength. A local of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) among the cloakmakers was launched in Montreal in 1907, led by Israel Cheifetz and Louis Zucker; and, in the men’s clothing industry, the United Garment Workers Union was organized with men such as Israel Cheifetz and Jacob Sklaver in the leadership. These Poale Zionists defeated IWW influence in the men’s clothing unions. A big cloakmakers strike in New York in 1910 brought forth a Poale Zion-sponsored conference of workers’ organizations in Montreal to provide financial aid, and the Montreal union itself had a general strike in 1912. In the men’s clothing industry, the years before the First World War were turbulent indeed, as the United Garment Workers organized and led large strikes. Foremost among the leadership of the various unions was H.M. Caiserman. It is significant that the future administrative and organizational hand of the representative institution of Canadian Jewry [the Canadian Jewish Congress] was closely identified from his first days in the country with the active leadership of a single class and a single inter— 124 —

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est in the community. Yet this never detracted ... from the full confidence which he came to win and retain from all sections of the community.38 In 1910, the same year in which Caiserman arrived in Montreal, a general strike of tailors had ended in failure. A typical immigrant, he went to work as a ladies’clothing tailor in a sweat shop. There he fell in with the radical intelligentsia, and a number of them decided to organize a union and to hold weekly meetings. Caiserman throughout 1911 conducted a course in the history of political economy, and his cloakmakers local joined the ILGWU-led cloakmakers’ union. Caiserman was a dedicated worker for the cause; in 1911, he also organized a cutters’ local and a bakers’ union. A labour organizer of the period remembered Caiserman’s influence in Montreal unions: I recall 40 years ago when H.M. Caiserman arrived from the old country. He had hardly rested from his trip when he inquired if there was a labour movement in Montreal. He found that there was a weak tailor organization and ... he came and offered to help build up the union. Caiserman revealed himself an inspired leader. He showed us the way and he led us.39 By 1912, the men’s tailors’ union, the United Garment Workers, had 4,000 members, and felt strong enough to confront the owners over working conditions. Following a strike against the Kellert firm in June 7, 1912, the union called a general strike against the entire men’s clothing industry. The union demanded a reduction of the work week from 59 to 49 hours and the end of piece work and sub-contracting. The employers, in an attempt to break the union, countered with a lock-out and refused the demands. The Poale Zion was quite active in the union, and this was especially true of men like Zucker, Israel Cheifetz, and Noah Cheifetz. They called a conference of workers’ organizations to aid the striking tailors, and brought Morris Winchevsky, the radical labour leader and “sweatshop poet,” to Montreal, to lecture. His talk (in which he said there was no contradiction between Zionism and socialism) netted $7,000.40 The American Poale Zion also sent help. After nine weeks, the union won its — 125 —

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demands, and marked its victory with a big parade through downtown Montreal. Opinions as to the justice of the strike had been mixed. Even Reuben Brainin had been uncertain in his support. In an article in his Keneder Adler, he said he regretted all the hatred brought out by class war: There where hatred is spread...there cannot grow gentle ideals or nicer feelings. An atmosphere steeped in hate...must cripple the person. He must become blind and deaf in order to see and hear his own interests. I love the Jewish masses like my blood and flesh, but I do not hate the other classes of Jewry. I see above all brothers, Jews and men. Among Jewish capitalists are to be found intelligent, moral, good-hearted, nice and fine people.41 But Caiserman had remained firm in his support. As Joseph Schlossberg, later on to become general secretary of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, wrote to Caiserman, “You are one of the very small number of faithful friends who stood by us despite all opposition and general antagonists. You were with us not only during the period of crisis, but also during the general strike which was both brief and successful.”42 In 1913, 350 members of the United Garment Workers went on strike against the Vineberg firm, and Poale Zion invited Nachman Syrkin to speak in Montreal to help raise funds for the strikers. And when Jewish tailors in New York went on strike in February of that year, Caiserman and the Poale Zion addressed the Montreal union for aid on their behalf. Until its demise in 1915, when it was superseded by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, the United Garment Workers did its utmost to help alleviate some of the worst injustices in the men’s clothing industry of the period. In Toronto, too, under men such as Yudel Gertel, Poale Zion became involved in trade union activity. In 1906, an ILGWU local was formed, and six years later, under its leadership, 2,000 cloakmakers struck against the T. Eaton Company. More strikes were called in 1914 and 1915, but the owners branded the union “unpatriotic”—World War I had begun. Soldiers attacked the strikers, and the union temporar— 126 —

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ily fell apart. As for the men’s clothing industry, the United Garment Workers in Toronto also had a 10-week general strike, in February 1912. Here, too, Poale Zionists were heavily involved, including men like S.S. Shapiro and Joe Birnbaum. In Winnipeg, Poale Zionism was at first less successful in its union activity. Five times during the course of World War I, for instance, workers in the women’s clothing industry tried to form an ILGWU local, and each time the attempt failed. Not until 1919 was the ILGWU able to strike roots in the city. Despite its small size and numbers, and the opposition it sometimes encountered from the more established anti-Zionist Jewish socialists, Bundists or others, Poale Zion even in this early period, with men of the caliber of H.M. Caiserman, was able to play a significant role in the growing, and militant, Jewish trade union movement across Canada.

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Endnotes 1 

Borochov never adequately explained why Palestine, specifically, should be the national territory, nor does it have to be, logically, on the basis of his arguments. And indeed, territorialism was to be a source of constant splits and disputes within the Poale Zion parties before 1914. See Raphael Mahler et al, eds., Borochov for our Day:The Socialist-Zionist View of the Jewish People (New York: Progressive Zionist League-Hashomer Hatzair, 1958). 2  Quoted in Arieh Tartakower, “The Essence of Labor Zionism,” in Basil J. Vlavianos and Feliks Gross, eds., Struggle for Tomorrow: Modern Political Ideologies of the Jewish People (New York: Arts Inc., 1954), 56-57. 3  C. Bezalel Sherman, “The Beginnings of Labor Zionism in the United States,” in Isidore S. Meyer, ed., Early History of Zionism in America: Papers Presented at the Conference on the Early History of Zionism in America, (New York: American Jewish Historical Society and Theodor Herzl Foundation, 1958), 281. 4  Seidel, “The Development and Social Adjustment of the Jewish Community in Montreal,” 171. 5  Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 105. 6  Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 42. 7  Quoted in Sherman, “The Beginnings of Labor Zionism in the United States,” 279. 8  Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 105. 9  Cheifetz, Leon. “Di yidishe natsyonale baveygung in kanada,” 78. 10 Figler, “Zionism in Canada,” 175. 11 Abella, A Coat of Many Colours, 155. 12 Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 66. 13 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 22. 14 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 25. 15 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 25. 16 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 135. 17 Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 74-75. 18 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 67. 19 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 76-77. See also Isidore M. Bobrove, “Di tsyonistishe arbayter baveygung in di letste fuftsig yor,” in the Golden Jubilee Edition of the Jewish Daily Eagle (Keneder Adler) (Montreal: Keneder Adler, November 22, 1957). 20 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 75. 21 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 75. 22 See his book From Palestine to Israel (translated from the Yiddish by A.M. Klein) (Montreal: Eagle Publishing Co., 1951). 23 Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 106. 24 Marmor in later years became a mainstay of the Jewish Communist movement in the United States, involved in such groups and journals as the Inter— 128 —

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national Workers Order, the Yidishe Kultur Farband, and the Morgen Frayhayt newspaper. 25 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 37. 26 Shmuel Mayer Shapiro, The Rise of the Toronto Jewish Community, 57-58. 27 Quoted in Keyfetz, “A History of Toronto Jewry,” 315. 28 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 44. 29 So poor was the Winnipeg branch of Poale Zion that Levadie, the secretary, travelled as the group’s only delegate to the fifth Poale Zion convention in Montreal, 1910, on a Canadian Pacific Railway cattle car. He was given free passage on the condition that he fed the cattle! 30 In April, 1918, branch No. 20 was formed; Poale Zion was by then on the upsurge and many former Bundists and territorialists joined. 31 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 51. 32 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 50-51. Many of the writers for the Adler had labour Zionist affiliations. Margolis, “The Yiddish Press in Montreal,” 9. 33  Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 108. 34 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 57. 35 Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 110. 36 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 59. 37 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 296. 38 Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 36-37. 39 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 40. 40 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 93. 41 Quoted in Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 139. 42 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 41.

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H. M. Caiserman, general secretary of the Canadian Jewish Congress, 1919-1950, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal

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6. The First World War: Divisions within Canadian Jewry, 1914-1917

The Congress Idea in Canada In August 1914, the British Empire, including the Dominion of Canada, went to war against a coalition of Central Powers, primarily Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. Britain and Canada were allied to a group of Entente powers that included France and tsarist Russia. Enthusiasm for war ran high in Canada; the decade of intense military preparations had now finally culminated in open conflict, and to many the war had, initially, a cathartic effect. As well, Anglo-Canadians, who often considered themselves Englishmen abroad, saw the struggle as a way of finally eliminating all rivals to Britain’s role as the preeminent world power, and of instituting a Pax Britannica the world over. While most Canadians were pro-war, two groups, significantly, stood out as being, at most, lukewarm. French Canadians, while willing enough to defend the Canadian homeland, did not see the absolute necessity of going overseas to fight in what was viewed as a British imperial adventure. Nationalist ferment, under men such as Henri Bourassa, grew in Quebec, and opposition to Sir Robert Borden’s government mounted. As the war progressed, Canada’s volunteer armies proved increasingly hard to keep at full strength, and in English Canada the demand for conscription grew. Borden finally imposed a military draft in 1917, causing an intense and deep political crisis in Quebec. Less dramatic or far-reaching in its consequences was the attitude of Canada’s Jewish community. While the older, Anglicized elements, including the leadership of the Federation of Zionist Societies in Canada, was enthusiastically pro-war, the masses of newer immigrants did not feel this intense loyalty to Britain, and had in any case left the Old World to escape its problems and disputes. Canada and Britain were at war with Germany, which was seen as a friend of Jews in general and of Zionism in particular; with Austria-Hungary, which had been the home of Herzl; and with the Ottoman Empire, the very land where the Palestine experi— 131 —

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ment was being fostered. As well, Canada and Britain were allied with the scourge of world Jewry, its most hated enemy, the tsarist empire. The initial years of the war therefore saw divisions within the Jewish community as to the role Jews ought to play in this conflict. Whereas some Jews wished to participate wholeheartedly, as Canadians, a group that included the old-line leadership of general Zionism, others saw in the war a chance for great advances in Jewish national aims, both in Palestine and in eastern Europe. These latter groups would eventually rally most Jews behind the “Congress idea”—the notion that Jews everywhere should mobilize and meet, as legislative bodies, to ensure their just share in the peace talks which would follow the war. Though the Congress idea was oriented towards the international aspects of the Jewish situation, especially in eastern Europe and Palestine, the idea that it be a democratically elected, mass organization also made it appealing to the newer immigrants in Canada; they viewed it as one way of gaining some share of power in the Canadian Jewish “polity.” As the war dragged on, and Jews in the battle zones of eastern Europe and Palestine became increasingly desperate, the clamour for a world Jewish congress increased. The “Congress movement” was an expression of the Jewish conscience that welled up in the years 1914 to 1919 and sought to come to grips with the manifold problems of world Jewry in the war years: the need for organizations and coordination, the collection and distribution of funds to war-stricken European Jews, the need to speak with a united voice for minority rights in East Europe and the wish to confirm and back up the newly won right to a Jewish homeland in Palestine.1 The war and its sudden opportunities for changes in Jewish fortunes brought forth a torrent of activity everywhere. Rights for Jews became an issue; even the Hague conference of socialists from neutral countries, meeting July 31 - August 2, 1916, declared in favour of autonomy for Jews in eastern Europe. Support for a Canadian Jewish Congress was not a locally isolated movement. “Its origin was to be found in the sudden arrival and simultaneous organization of the Jewish masses in every part of the world, on practically the same lines.”2 — 132 —

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While there were many disputes among the labour Zionists, Bundists, and Diaspora nationalists such as the historian Simon Dubnow as to how best to achieve Jewish national and minority rights,3 the basic demands of all the various Jewish groups “all bear witness that the motives and ideals that prompted them to their simultaneous organization oriented from the very same desire and understanding” of the Jewish problem.4 Particularly active in the Congress movement were the Poale Zion parties, with Nachman Syrkin, especially, involved in this work.5 There was much opposition to overcome, especially in the United States where they were opposed by the powerful American Jewish Committee. In Canada, opposition initially came from general Zionists. As early as 1908, Canadian Poale Zion, in the Montreal Keneder Adler, had called for a congress of Jews, following Nachman Syrkin’s appeal for a Jewish Parliament “to organize the Galut,” and a lecture on “The World Jewish Parliament” was held in the city.6 A year later, calls for a Board of Deputies of Canadian Jews, based on the British model, were heard, but the old-line leadership of the Baron de Hirsch Institute wanted to have as little as possible to do with the new organizations of the immigrants, except in a philanthropical capacity. Reuben Brainin had come to Montreal as editor of the Keneder Adler in 1912. “Brainin was the father of the Canadian Jewish Congress [and] in general the father of the Congress idea among Jews” in Canada.7 As early as June 6, 1912, he brought up the question of a “world congress of all the parties in Jewry.”8 In the United States, the establishment of an American Jewish Congress was first formally proposed in 1914 by Bernard Richards, Baruch Zuckerman and Nachman Syrkin in New York. “It was received with enthusiasm by Jews in Canada who were readers of the Yiddish papers from New York.”9 Brainin, taking his cue from this, advocated a Canadian Jewish Congress. He began to champion the cause of democracy in Jewish public life and urged the Jews of Canada to organize along Jewish national lines. Within a year he was asked to become president of Canada’s first Jewish mass organization, the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance (CJPA), and he would head the CJPA, which had branches in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, London, and Hamilton, for about 20 months. “The period during which Brainin lived in Montreal has left a unique imprint upon Jewish communal life not only in Montreal but in the whole of Canada.” He was “an active influence, an inspiration to — 133 —

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public-minded Jews in Canada.”10 Brainin, who “loved the progressive, fighting youth,”11 tried to build as wide a base of support for a Congress as possible. “I was always hungry and thirsty for living, thinking people, no matter what party or circle they belonged to,” he wrote later.12 The Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance, led by Brainin, Yehuda Kaufman, Caiserman and other Poale Zionists and radicals, was at first strongly opposed by the Federation of Canadian Zionists, which organized a Canadian Jewish Conference, composed of the general Zionists, much of the Montreal Jewish press, and influential Orthodox and even some assimilated Reform Jews. In 1915 both groups would attempt, but fail, to organize Canadian Jewry along the lines they deemed correct. Neither would be able to erect a viable nationally representative Jewish group. Though many people were aware that both factions “believed wholeheartedly in the necessity of an organized and responsible Jewish representation, to deal in the name of Canadian Jewry with the extraordinary problems which had arisen from the War, and were affecting Jewish life everywhere,”13 nonetheless, they had very different methods of approach and operation. While the Poale Zion-led CJPA demanded a Canadian Jewish Congress that was democratically elected, with a broad national platform, the Canadian Jewish Conference preferred a conference of more conservatively minded notables, a conference in the “usual” manner, with a platform limited to the emancipation of Jews in eastern Europe. The result would be a few years of bitterness, mistrust and strife, which were only overcome following the eventful years of 1917 and 1918, and the rise in leadership of a middle group, both in terms of class and ideology, willing to bring all segments of Canadian Jewry together. The Federation of Zionist Societies in Canada, 1914-1917 As the war began, the Canadian Zionist Federation remained, as before, under the leadership and control of the small old-line leadership centered on Montreal. The organization supported the war with enthusiasm, and even cut off aid to the Palestinian yishuv, lest this be construed as aid to the Turkish enemy. In effect, World War I initially paralyzed Zionist activity in Canada; collections on behalf of the Keren Kayemet collapsed, since to collect money for an Ottoman territory was deemed not “patriotic.”14 So while the Canadian Zionists had their hands tied, the Federation of American Zionists, operating in an America not at — 134 —

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war, had more freedom of action, and made the most of it, with results that were also to affect Canada. For in the United States, general Zionists were not opposed to the idea of a Congress. The outbreak of the war in many ways had caught the World Zionist Organization unawares, but the world body soon adjusted and adapted to the exigencies imposed by the war. For one thing, its headquarters was moved to neutral Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1915. As well, the actual center of operations for the movement was switched to the United States, and this was partly a result of the coincidence of Shmarya Levin being in the United States when the war broke out. Levin, who was born in Svislotsk, Russia, in 1867 and died in Haifa in 1935, was one of the great Zionist personalities of the first half of the twentieth century.15 While working for his doctorate until 1894 at the University of Königsberg, he became a follower of the cultural Zionist Ahad Ha’am. Levin as a Zionist theorist “was not a creative innovator but a capable eclectic.” He reconciled the pre-Herzlian cultural Zionism of Ahad Ha’am and Leo Pinsker with the political Zionism of Herzl, and taught the masses that Zionism was supposed to cure not just the physical ills of the Jewish people but also rejuvenate the Jewish spirit—“he demanded a spiritual preparation for Zion.” 16 A member of the Russian Duma of 1905, his experiences there soured him on Russian politics, and he decided to devote his energies exclusively to Jewish politics. A “brilliant orator and a gifted writer... endowed with an extraordinary incisive mind and a phenomenal power of expression, [he] exuded charm and ... was generally beloved.”17 His gift of oratory and brilliant speeches stood him in good stead on both sides of the Atlantic. “Many American Zionist conventions were made memorable by his closing addresses.”18 Levin came to the United States three times between 1906 and 1914 and was without doubt a great teacher of American Zionists, one of the chief factors in preparing them for the historic role the First World War was suddenly to thrust upon them. He was in New York in the spring and summer of 1914, obtaining funds for Hebrew schools in Palestine. He left for Europe in August, on the Kronprincessin Cecelie, but war in Europe was declared while the ship was in mid-ocean, and she returned to New York. The World Zionist Organization’s executive arm, the Inner Actions Committee, was located in Berlin, and was cut off from Zionists in allied — 135 —

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and neutral countries. But Levin was a member of the body, and he was in America. He thus took the initiative in organizing an extraordinary conference on August 30, 1914, of all American Zionist groups, including the Federation of American Zionists, Poale Zion, and Mizrachi, and, in his capacity as a member of the World Zionist executive, created the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs, which could now legitimately assume the duties of the Inner Actions Committee in the United States. While Louis Lipsky remained head of the American Zionist Federation, Louis Brandeis became chairman of the new body, which was legally and administratively separate from the Federation, derived its powers from the Inner Actions Committee, and was not bound by any constitutional framework. The world-wide activities of the Zionist executive were taken over by the Provisional Executive Committee. While Lipsky’s Federation of American Zionists had been “small and weak, in great financial distress, and low in morale,”19 the new Brandeisled Provisional Executive Committee strengthened American Zionism overnight; he was able to bring back into Zionist affairs such people as Richard Gottheil, Stephen S. Wise, Israel Friedenwald, Jacob de Haas, Judah Magnes, and Henrietta Szold, and new men of the caliber of Julian Mack and Felix Frankfurter. Brandeis’ chairmanship of the Committee, from August 31, 1914, until he became a Supreme Court Justice two years later, was an important milestone in Zionist history. Levin had been responsible for much of this transformation. The Committee, besides being responsible for the revival of American Zionism, also played an important role in converting the world movement to a pro-Allied position during the war. The Federation of American Zionists was pro-German in its membership, and was almost apologetic in its declaration of neutrality at its Boston convention in June 1915. Indeed, through to March 1917 and the U.S. entry into the world war, the only Jewish organization in the country with a pro-Allied orientation was the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist affairs. In Canada, general Zionism was also temporarily moribund; here, however, the Federation was overwhelmingly pro-British, on the organization and policy level; the problem was to convince the violently anti-Russian masses of immigrant Jews to share these views. Thus the National Council of the Federation, on April 27, 1915, announced it was finding dissemination of Zionist propaganda difficult, owing to the war, and the raising of funds practically impossible, be— 136 —

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cause of the numerous campaigns being carried on for relief purposes. The main efforts of the organization that year were would be devoted to its Canadian Jewish Conference of November, an effort at circumventing demands made by the CJPA for a Canadian Jewish Congress. The National Council felt that the time for convening a Congress was still premature, and thus called on all Jewish groups to boycott the CJPA-held conference aimed at laying the groundwork for one; it was unwise, even dangerous, to call for a Congress at this point. However, the Federation itself called a conference to be held the day before its 14th national convention, which was due to meet in Montreal on November 15, 1915. The national convention, held the day following the conference, saw Clarence de Sola deplore the calamity of the war and the devastation caused to Jews in particular. Jews were confronting each other on the field of battle and their homes and villages in the war zones were being destroyed. Only Zionism, he asserted, could create a means of salvation for these people. Among the guest speakers were Louis Brandeis and Shmarya Levin, and both men lauded Canadian Zionists for their persistence in advancing Zionist interests despite all obstacles. The convention called on all Jewish fraternal groups and societies to join the Federation. As well, all resolutions passed by the Canadian Jewish Conference were accepted. The treasurer, Abraham Levin, reported a remarkable increase in receipts, notwithstanding the war conditions, following the approval for transfer of funds to Palestinian Jewry. A resolution by Louis Fitch, to raise $20,000 more for the new Emergency Fund for the Jews in Palestine, was approved. Reporting for the Propaganda Committee, Fitch noted the work done across Canada by men such as Dr. John Shayne and Barnett Stone. In Winnipeg, for example, M.J. Finkelstein reported that the city had become “Zionistic in almost every phase of the life.”20 Election results saw Clarence de Sola re-elected as president; the five vice-presidents were Leon Goldman and M. Markus of Montreal; A.J. Freiman of Ottawa; David Sweet of Hamilton; and Barnett Stone from Toronto. Abraham Levin once again re-occupied the treasurer’s chair, and the three secretaries elected were Rabbi Nathan Gordon of Toronto and Joseph S. Leo and B.M. Weiner of Montreal. By now the National Council numbered 45 people, including permanent and elected members. — 137 —

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In 1916 propaganda work continued: Dr. Stephen S. Wise, the American Reform rabbi and Zionist, addressed a large meeting at Montreal, and P.M. Raskin of the Federation was touring the country to propagate the tenets of general Zionism. Clarence de Sola and Louis Fitch also decided to start a Roll of Honour for Canadian Zionists enrolled in the army for overseas service. New societies in places such as Yorkton and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, were the work of energetic organizers such as M.B. Stein. As well, established centers like Windsor and Toronto were also granted charters for new Zionist societies. Men like M.J. Finkelstein in Winnipeg, David Sweet in Hamilton, and Victor Cohen in Brandon, Ontario, influenced the growth of already existing societies in those cities. While the Canadian Federation temporarily neglected the work of the Jewish National Fund (it turned down a request from its head office to organize a tour to raise money for Keren Kayemet), collections for the Emergency Fund went on apace. Leon Goldman told the National Council on September 6, 1916, that arrangements were being made with the American Federation to have the distinguished Zionist Dr. Benzion Mossinson do a tour of Canada for the Emergency Fund; in early 1917, on a 50-day tour covering eleven cities, he raised $8,000 for the Palestine yishuv. In order to keep up with development in the much larger Zionist community to the south, the Canadian Federation in 1916 sent seven delegates, including de Sola, Freiman, Stone and M.B. Stein, to the Philadelphia convention of the American Zionist Federation. By early 1917, therefore, general Zionism in Canada, despite the almost daily clashes with Poale Zion and the CJPA, was beginning to make some appreciable headway as a mass movement in the Dominion. The stage was set for the momentous events of the year 1917, which finally propelled Zionism, and the Federation, into unquestioning preeminence on the Canadian Jewish scene. Poale Zion in Canada, 1914-1917 General Events within the Party While Poale Zion’s main tasks in this period revolved around the formation of the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance, and the overcoming of — 138 —

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general Zionist opposition to a Canadian Jewish Congress, other work— in relief organizations, trade unions, and hechalutz (pioneering)—was not neglected. The party also got more involved in Canadian electoral affairs, as witnessed by the Caiserman election campaign in Montreal in 1916. The party, in its drive to organize the Jewish masses around the Congress idea, also sponsored tours of prominent Zionists, such as Ber Borochov, David Ben-Gurion, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Chaim Zhitlovsky, Alexander Chaskin and Yehuda Kaufman, across Canada. They spoke, and created interest in the Congress idea, in places such as Toronto, Winnipeg and Hamilton. In Hamilton, “the lectures of Mr. Borochov were a fortunate success,”21 while in Winnipeg in 1917 Zhitlovsky advocated that all Jewish socialist groups be united under the banner of labour Zionism. “So strong was his impress that he was able to bring a substantial membership into Labour Zionism and it became a leading force in the local Zionist world.”22 In Toronto, Poale Zion experienced tremendous development and growth, and many prominent men, such as Abraham Rhinewine, got involved in the movement. The party (and the Farband) was involved in work for relief organizations and for the CJPA, and finally broke through Jewish socialist resistance during this period. By 1916 there were 80 members (and a woman’s group) and in January, 1917, an eight-member English-speaking group of Poale Zionists, all of whom had formerly belonged to the Canadian Zionist Federation, was formed. In Winnipeg, where the Poale Zion was revived in 1914 with A.M. Levadie as secretary, labour Zionism grew, especially after a 1915 call by Ben-Zvi for Winnipeg Jews to join the Poale Zion. From a membership of 11 men on April 4, it was up to 40 by December of that year. Meyer Averbach replaced Levadie as secretary and held the position until 1919. The branch joined the re-organized Winnipeg Zionist Council in 1915, but quit a year later. The movement, which had until the time been “99 percent bourgeois Zionists and 1 percent socialists,”23 now became more radicalized and, while in conflict with the Federation of Canadian Zionists over the Jewish Congress, became more involved with the Peretz schools, unions, and other matters they shared in common with other Jewish leftists. Branch 20 of the Farband was also created in that year. In the smaller centers, Poale Zion did not fare as well, and an attempt to form an Ottawa branch in 1915 soon failed—there were simply too — 139 —

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few Jewish workers in the city. Before 1920, Poale Zion had no roots in Ottawa to speak of. Out west, in Edmonton, Shmuel Fogelman began working for the Palestine Workers Fund in 1916, and this became the nucleus of a Poale Zion branch organized by Elkhanan Hansen two years later. On April 28 and 29, 1917, the national Poale Zion called a conference of all the Canadian branches in Toronto, and by now the groups felt strong enough to call for Canadian autonomy within the overall North American framework. This had become necessary due to the fact that the Poale Zion branches in a Canada at war since 1914 had had to face problems quite different from those of the American party, in a country still neutral as late as March 1917. A Canadian District Committee, headquartered in Toronto, was formed, and S.S. Shapiro, Yudel Gertel and Max Manson (the secretary, and thus, in effect, the Canadian leader of Poale Zion) were elected. The conference also demanded that the Canadian Zionist Federation reactivate collections for the Keren Kayemet, or else Poale Zion would do so independently. It again called for a Canadian Jewish Congress. The tentative date was July 1, 1917. The Caiserman Campaign of 1916 As Poale Zion grew, it became more confident in its own power and less willing to put up with what it considered to be anti-nationalist programs among the socialist genosen and Bundists. In 1916 municipal elections were held in Montreal, and in the St. Louis ward New York-born Abraham Blumenthal, who had first won election in 1911 with Poale Zion support, was again running for the office. This time, however, Poale Zion decided not only to withdraw support from the “bourgeois” Blumenthal, a member of the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue, but also to not join forces with the choice of the genosen, the Socialist Party’s Joseph Schubert. The Socialist Party, in nominating Schubert, had expected Poale Zion support, since the party did usually support socialist candidates. However, the Socialist Party was anti-Zionist, and Poale Zion wished to prove that it was possible to formulate a municipal program involving a Jewish national platform. The party was becoming increasingly nationalist in its orientation, and the 1916 campaign foreshadowed the impending coalescence of differing Zionist forces within the Jewish community during World War I. — 140 —

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With the consent of the Poale Zion central committee in New York City, the Montreal Poale Zion on March 2, 1916, nominated H. M. Caiserman to oppose Blumenthal, Schubert and two other candidates for the St. Louis seat. Caiserman was the first candidate for election ever nominated by Poale Zion anywhere in North America. Caiserman, called the “national socialist labour candidate,” faced an uphill battle—the influential Keneder Adler supported the incumbent Blumenthal, fearing the loss of Montreal’s only “Jewish” seat. Among labour circles, organizations such as the United Jewish Trade Unions tried, but failed, to restore unity on the Jewish left. The Poale Zion campaign, based on the reform slogan “A vote for Caiserman is a vote for an honest, clean and enlightened municipal administration,” went into high gear.24 Louis Zucker became the campaign chairman and Noah Cheifetz his secretary, and Leon Meltzer, Yehuda Kaufman and Moishe Dickstein also played prominent roles in the election. Members of the party, and the Jewish National Workers Alliance, also worked hard, and Caiserman even got support from Professor Harold J. Laski, later to become a world-famous scholar, then a lecturer in economics at McGill University. Caiserman’s propaganda, in Yiddish, stressed the basic principles of Poale Zion. It noted that the group had four aims: • as a part of the proletariat, it “strives for the abolition of the capitalist economic system, and the establishment of a socialist society.” • it “strives to gather the Jewish people in Palestine and to create therein an autonomous Jewish State.” • it “undertakes nationalist work in the Galut in order to raise the economic, national, cultural and political status of the Jewish People in the Diaspora.” • finally, it “strives to unite the entire Jewish proletariat into one international Jewish Socialist Labour Party on the basis of these principles.”25 Nor, or course, were local issues neglected. Another pamphlet noted that “The national interests of the Jews in our city ... have been ignored, — 141 —

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and Yiddish is denied the most elementary recognition in the public documents of our city: Yiddish is treated as a step-child in the schools and in the courts; Jews do not have the most elementary right of observing their national day of rest.”26 For reasons such as this, and the fact that St. Louis Ward, peopled almost entirely by workers, needed a labour representative on city council, “we, the Jewish Socialist Party Poale Zion, have decided to put forward our candidate, H.M. Caiserman.”27 Caiserman’s platform had 40 planks in it, and they can be grouped into four basic categories: 1. Building and Culture A municipal library “as good as the British Museum”; free school books; a national and cultural museum; a zoological and botanical garden; an art gallery; free science and literature courses; free tuition in high school; free admission to all branches of technology and industry; no religious instruction in the schools. 2. Labour Demands An eight-hour work day; factory inspection; a labour bureau to combat unemployment; union labour only for municipal projects; workers’ housing; consumers cooperatives; abolition of child labour; pensions for old municipal employees. 3. Jewish National Demands Equality of rights and status for all national groups in Montreal; equality of Yiddish with French and English in all official city literature; one hour daily Yiddish instruction in public schools and two hours daily in high schools for Jewish children; the right for observant Jewish storekeepers to close on the Sabbath and stay open on Sundays. 4. Other Demands Municipal takeover of street railways, light and electricity companies; reduction in taxes; improved inspection of food and sanitation conditions in the city; free medi— 142 —

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cal treatment; better parks and wider streets. The party worked hard. As Noah Cheifetz wrote on March 28 to the Poale Zion central committee in New York, “We have mass meetings nightly [and] also ‘open air’ meetings every evening. Also we ourselves have to distribute 7,000 circulars to the voters, because we have to save $70 on postage ... without money, without help, our hands are as though tied.”28 Despite these heroic efforts, Blumenthal was re-elected on April 5 by a massive majority, polling 2,035 votes, and was followed by Schubert with 185 votes and two other candidates. Caiserman ran dead last with 75 votes! It had been, in any case, a hard-fought election, filled with the then-usual chicanery and irregularity. As Isidore M. Bobrove noted, “To this day we do not really know how many votes Caiserman received, what with the loose polls, the telegraphing and the irregular counting of ballots that was then so common. But we did not really care. It was the campaign and the educational effect that counted as a final result and end.”29 The moral victory was the important one, as Caiserman wrote in the Farband’s New York periodical Yidisher Kemfer of April 28, 1916: “We have triumphed! There will ever remain in the memory of our members and of the entire Jewish community of Montreal the dignified tone of our platform, the pure idealism of our campaign and its great educational significance.”30 This was nonetheless Caiserman’s only venture into civic politics. The party grew more nationalistic following the Caiserman campaign, and by Mayday of the following year, it held a separate parade apart from other Jewish socialist organizations, since the labour Zionists were also asking for “Jewish national rights and for a secure home for the Jewish people in Erets Israel.”31 Zionism and Relief Work During World War I The First World War was especially fearsome to the vast bulk of the Jewish population of Europe, living as they were along the eastern battle zones separating Germany from the Russian Empire. And not only the war but also the anti-Semitic and xenophobic Russian regime caused untold death and material damage. As soon as the initial shock of the declaration of war passed, and reports of the immensity of the tragedy in eastern Europe started to reach the outside world, the Jewish communities of North America — 143 —

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began to mobilize their resources to help their brethren abroad. This was especially true of the newly-arrived immigrants, for whom it was most often not just an act of philanthropy or general concern for Jewry per se, but a family question of immediate concern, involving brothers, sisters, fathers or mothers still on the other side of the ocean. Almost as soon as the war broke out, many Jews in Canada saw the making of a great tragedy in eastern Europe. As Reuben Brainin wrote in his diary on August 16, 1914: “Here we are calm, living without fear or panic. We have food to eat and live well—and our brothers over there are on the battle-fronts, and those who have remained in their houses are afraid, and many are starving.”32 Just three weeks after the outbreak of the war, Brainin was already calling for relief of Jews in the war zones, and in October, 1914, he called the war “the third catastrophe in Jewish history.”33 Poale Zion began to campaign in favour of a relief committee, and at a conference held that month, Caiserman called for efforts to bring in more immigrants to Canada. It was decided to organize the “downtown” Jews, and to worry about the “uptowners” later. As Brainin said, “It is better for me to collect one dollar apiece from a thousand Jews, than one thousand dollars from one Jew,”34 so the concept of collection boxes and massive street campaigns came to Montreal. The war threatened fellow Jews in Europe—ethnic and familial brethren; they spoke the same language, shared the same culture and folklore. This was a self-evident bond. Who would help them? The “uptown” Jews wanted no separate relief work by Jews—they felt that all Canadians should support the government’s “Patriotic Fund.” The moneyed Jews would not hear of separate relief organizations at first. Actually, the “uptowners” feared that the Jewish masses were in the main opposed to the Entente allies, due to their hatred of tsarist Russia, and any separate groups they would form would demonstrate this, possibly to the detriment of all Jews in the Dominion. In effect, they underestimated what proved to be ample Canadian patriotism on the part of the new arrivals (even the Jewish socialists in Canada were less opposed to the war than their American counterparts). It was only later that younger elements among the “uptowners,” the “bridging” group consisting of men such as Lyon Cohen and S.W. Jacobs, would work out a compromise for joint drives for the needy overseas. The” uptowners” could not understand the deep feelings of the — 144 —

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Yiddish-speaking immigrant Jews towards their overseas brethren; they did not see this work as being something apart from simple charity. The newcomers, to them, were “Troublemakers and red socialists who endangered the progress of their own Canadianization and who seemed to want to perpetuate on Canadian soil the European ghetto, with its old quarrels and ideologies. They were dragging these ideas into the shop with their strikes and their socialism; they were upsetting everybody with all this talk about Palestine; ... and now they were mixing the war problems with charity.”35 The immigrants, though, organized by now through the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance, on February 21, 1915, created the first People’s Relief Committee, and on July 18 issued a new call to help Jews in the war zones. Soon thereafter a Sholem Aleichem People’s Fund was functioning. They noted that Canada’s Jews, as Dominion citizens and British subjects, had the right to ask the Allied powers to help the Jews; after all, were not 100,000 Jews serving in the armies of Britain, Canada, France, Russia and Italy? They also suggested that, as soon as the war was over, “a general Jewish Congress should meet, in which we [Canadian Jews] should be represented as a landsmanshaft.”36 The seeds of the Congress idea were sprouting in the struggle over war relief. There were also regional committees. In Winnipeg, general Zionists such as Rabbi Israel Kahanovitch, M. J. Finkelstein and Rabbi Herbert J. Samuel were willing to work with socialists and Labour Zionists, and in August 1915, they convened a meeting of 2,000 western Canadian Jews, which created the Western Canada Relief Alliance.37 And at the end of 1914, a Toronto conference on Jewish war victims created a relief organization there as well. Finally in the years 1918 to 1922, following the proclamation of the Balfour Declaration, the Canadian Zionist Federation inaugurated the Palestine Restoration Fund Campaign and collected over $275,000.38 It was only in 1919, after the world war was over, the Canadian Jewish Congress was becoming a reality, and the immensity of the needs in eastern Europe was becoming even more apparent, that the bickering and competition over relief finally ended. On February 16, 1919, at a meeting chaired by Lyon Cohen, the People’s Relief Committee amalgamated with other groups to form the Associated War Relief Societies of Canada. Lyon Cohen was elected president, with Sir Mortimer Davis and Mark Workman as honourary — 145 —

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presidents. Among the vice-presidents were A.J. Freiman of the Canadian Zionist Federation, Marcus Hyman and Nathan Sloves; also involved were such men as Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Cohen and Maxwell Goldstein of Montreal; Rabbi Jacob Gordon and Edmund Scheuer of Toronto; and J.A. Cherniak of Winnipeg. Within the next few years the new organization, on a Canada-wide basis, raised $2.5 million in cash and supplies.39 Montreal In Montreal, as in elsewhere in Canada, the outbreak of war spurred on the desire for an organized and united Jewish community, though it originally created the opposite effect. At first a joint “uptown-downtown” campaign for relief was organized at a mass conference of 200 delegates, representing 70 synagogues and other organizations, in November, 1914, with a board comprising 15 “uptowners” and six “downtowners” (including Brainin and Caiserman). The Poale Zionists had purposely selected people like Caiserman: besides being a good organizer and a persuasive speaker and writer, he was accepted by most groups in the Jewish community. Nonetheless, of $24,000 raised, only $6,000 was allocated to overseas relief; the “uptowners” wanted to deal primarily with local needs, and to skirt the potentially explosive political issue involved in massive campaigns for overseas relief at a time when Canada and the Empire needed every cent available. The Jewish masses felt cheated and were bitter, particularly because they knew that in Toronto equivalent organizations had been collecting for and sending all their money to Europe. So on February 21, 1915, on the initiative of Yehoash Branch No. 8, Jewish National Workers Alliance (Farband), a conference was convened to organize the People’s Relief Committee in Montreal and war relief began in earnest. This was opposed by the “uptowners” and even by the Keneder Adler (which Brainin had now left). Nonetheless, $1,500 was sent to People’s Relief in New York, for immediate transmission to Europe.40 Further massive campaigns followed. The Orthodox Yiddish-speaking Jews in Montreal organized their own Central Relief Committee in the fall of 1915, and its composition included such Mizrachi and general Zionists as Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Cohen and Louis Fitch. The “uptowners,” of course, organized the Canadian Jewish Committee in 1915; as well, twelve organizations, including the Baron de Hirsch Institute, became members of the Federation of Jewish — 146 —

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Philanthropies in 1916, with men like Maxwell Goldstein, the president, Lyon Cohen, Mortimer Davis, S.W. Jacobs and Clarence de Sola among its leadership. Only in February 1919 was the Associated War Relief Societies of Canada formed, amalgamating the efforts of the previously antagonistic groups.41 Toronto On November 22, 1914, Toronto Poale Zion became the first Jewish organization in the country to call a conference on the question of war relief. Under the chairmanship of Max Manson, 22 organizations were represented. This Toronto Conference on War Victims became a permanent ongoing committee in 1915, sponsoring mass meetings to raise money exclusively for European war relief, such as a March 1915 rally featuring the New York labour leader Joseph Barondess.42 Winnipeg In Winnipeg, Harry E. Wilder of Der Kanader Yid had organized a mass meeting for European war relief as early as October 25, 1914.43 By 1915 there were several groups of committees organizing drives, with the usual duplication of efforts, mutual recriminations, and so forth. As elsewhere, class tensions between the recent immigrants and the more established Jews came to the fore. “The South-Enders, on the whole, were unresponsive to the call for help, and this further widened the gap between the two communities.”44 In August 1915, the Young Macabbeans, a general Zionist youth group, organized the first relief alliance, representing 35 organizations, and on August 24 of that month 41 Winnipeg Jewish societies convened to establish a coordinating body, the Western Canada Relief Alliance. Under the leadership of Rabbi Herbert J. Samuel of Shaarey Zedek congregation, it also included the labour Zionists Marcus Hyman and M.A. Gray, and the Bundist Charles Salzman. Dos Yidishe Vort, in an editorial on October 12, called on the Jews from the south side to “open your hearts and your pocketbooks for your unfortunate brothers and sisters if you do not want your names to remain blackened with shame.” The upper classes finally began to respond. “Communal workers realized that in order to act as a community, differences had to be resolved and compromises made.”45 The Western Canada Relief Alliance got to work in earnest, collect— 147 —

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ing $47,000 from 1915 to 1917 alone. Even the Winnipeg City Council donated $2,500—the first Canadian city to do so.46 As an umbrella organization, the Alliance collected money from almost all Jewish communities in Western Canada. While the bulk of contributions and interest lay in relief for eastern Europe, Palestine was not completely neglected. On April 4, 1915, A.M. Levadie wrote to Poale Zion’s central committee in New York that Winnipeg labour Zionists were continuing to gather money for the Palestine Workers Fund, and in 1916 a total of $500 was collected.47 Class Divisions and the Challenge for Power by the East European Immigrants In the decades preceding the war, both in Canada and in the United States, “the East Europeans, disgorged by the shiploads ... were trotted off, like herds of cattle, from the piers to jobs in Yahudim-operated garment sweatshops.”48 Even when they began to make their initial economic gains, this did not compensate for their loss of status relative to their positions in the Old World. “Students of American Jewry agree that World War I marked the turning point in the life of the Eastern European community” in North America—the cataclysm abroad, as a byproduct, produced a ferment at home enabling the newer Jews to “march” on the citadels of power.49 First, as noted, the immigrants set out to create their own relief agencies. Under the Zionist banner, they advanced to their second objective, which was to wrest political power from the more established Jews. “Many of the concepts in this second assault came from the small but dynamic Socialist (Labor) Zionists.”50 Labour disputes involving Jews reached a crescendo in numbers and intensity during the war, and the class conflict between “uptown” and “downtown” divided the intelligentsia as well—when I.L. Peretz died in April 1915, two memorial services for him were held in Montreal, one at the Baron de Hirsch Institute, the other at Prince Arthur Hall, a labour center. Political organization among the masses often followed in the wake of industrial strife. In 1915, in Montreal, the United Garment Workers Union, representative of the men’s clothing tailors, began to split and fall apart, as Poale Zion and other groups worked to organize the tailors into locals of the new Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. Yehuda Kaufman spoke at a public demonstration for the new union in 1915, — 148 —

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and H.M. Caiserman began to edit a newspaper, Unzer Vort, for them. The new union finally took over all the United Garment Workers’ locals, and by the end of 1916, 3,000 men’s tailors belonged to the new union. At the beginning of 1917, the garment owners in Montreal decided to break the union, and instituted a lock-out. A general strike of all men’s tailors followed, and Poale Zion was active in supporting them. Besides help from such local labour Zionists as Zucker, Caiserman, and Moishe Dickstein, they got financial help from the American branches of the party.51 Though the owners talked of foreign agitators—Joseph Schlossberg, general-secretary of ACWA, had come up from New York to help organize the strike—the strikers, after two months, won a closed shop and a 49-hour week. The cloakmakers of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, also suffering the effects of the war, called a general strike as well in 1917. Again, Poale Zion was active, and again, the issue was a reduced work week and higher wages. As well, there were more attempts at Jewish political control of Jewish areas of settlement. In Montreal, Abraham Blumenthal was already an alderman, and Louis Rubenstein was elected alderman in the St. Lawrence Ward during the war as well. Louis M. Singer, in Toronto, was elected an alderman for four terms, from 1914 to 1918. Samuel Shultz, a native of Victoria, British Columbia, was already an alderman for North Vancouver in 1909-1910 and became a judge of the county court in 1914. On the provincial level, Marcus Sperber, a Jew, was defeated in his attempt to win a seat in the Quebec Legislature in 1912, but four years later, Peter Bercovitch was successful in the Saint-Louis riding. Montreal Jews, under the Liberal Party banner, now had a Jewish representative on the ever-important Quebec provincial level. All these manifestations of a rising desire for political influence, and even power, came to a head in the period 1917-1919, and the major credit for this belongs to the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance, the chief political arm of the newlyorganized immigrant communities in Canada. The Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance In the United States, at the inaugural meeting of the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs held on August 30, 1914, the Poale Zion delegation had called for an American Jewish Congress. One of the delegates there was Reuben Brainin, who was to become head of — 149 —

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the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance, the main organization behind the drive for a Canadian Jewish Congress less than a year later. By 1917 the idea had gained support among most sectors of the American Jewish community, and on June 10, 1917, 335,000 Jews across the United States elected delegates to the American Jewish Congress, which met in Philadelphia, December 15-18, 1918, approved the Balfour Declaration, and elected a delegation to represent American Jewry at the upcoming peace conference.52 In Canada, events paralleled, though often lagged behind, those in the United States, for in the Dominion the Congress idea, instead of having the support of general Zionists, found the Federation of Canadian Zionists under Clarence de Sola at first ranged against it. The burden, until the fateful year 1917, thus fell onto the shoulders of Poale Zion-led Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance. On February 21, 1915, in Montreal, Yehoash Branch 8 of the Farband convened a conference of thirteen organizations, under Louis Zucker, to discuss Yehuda Kaufman’s proposal “for the establishment of a Canadian body which shall defend all Jewish interests—economic and political—which have arisen as a result of the present circumstances.”53 On March 7, Poale Zion and progressive nationalist delegates formally organized the CJPA and called for a “Canadian Jewish Congress democratically elected with a wide open national platform.”54 A second conference was held on March 17, with 25 organizations represented. Reuben Brainin was chairman, Zucker vice-chairman and Kaufman secretary. Brainin sent out a letter “to all Jewish organizations in Canada,” on the letterhead of the newly-formed Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance, on March 23, 1915: The Jewish Congress has become the slogan of the Jewish society—a Congress to be convened by the people itself, where those chosen will express the powerful, iron will of the people to struggle for its freedom. At this Congress there shall be heard the cry of a people long robbed of its human rights. At this Congress the nation will declare openly to the entire world that, in spite of all persecutions and humiliations of centuries and of millennia, it has not ceased to exist as a people and still believes in its right to such an existence. — 150 —

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At this Congress we shall clearly and specifically state what we wish and what we expect from the Great Powers at the moment when the fate of nations is being determined for centuries to come. Thus, Brainin concluded, it was imperative for the Canadian Jewish community to unite in “the present moment so historic for the Jewish people.”55 A third conference of 70 groups, under the CJPA banner, met in Montreal on March 28, and the predominantly labour-dominated body, in an attempt at broadening its base and compromising with bourgeois Jews, tried to woo Lyon Cohen onto the organizing committee. Yehuda Kaufman noted that Jews needed an organization above class and party, to be established from existing religious, political, economic, cultural and relief groups. “The entire history of our people bears witness to the constant bankruptcy of shtadlanus [behind the scenes advocacy] politics. The true solution of the Jewish question can only be solved through the will of the people.”56 For Jews to take care of their interests, mass organizations, democratically elected, were necessary. In May of 1915, Brainin, speaking in Ottawa, assured the local Jewish community that the new Alliance was not opposed to Zionism. A.J. Freiman, who chaired the meeting (and who a few years later was to be one of the main participants in the overthrow of the anti-Congress leadership in the Canadian Zionist Federation), seemed, for one, convinced: “I am not here as vice-president of the Zionist Federation but as a Jew who is always willing to lend a hand to a movement that would further Jewish interests; nevertheless, if the Canadian Jewish Alliance will be in opposition to or antagonistic to Zionism, I will immediately withdraw.”57 Freiman’s speech reassured the crowd; the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance, despite upper-class opposition, was gaining support. On June 20, the CJPA called another conference in Montreal, at which time Brainin spoke about the condition of the Jews in war-torn eastern Europe: the Russian government, under the pretext that Jews were engaged in espionage work for Germany, had decided to deport the entire Jewish population in the Baltic states eastwards. Kaufman proposed that the CJPA call for mass protests, with petitions to be sent “through the Canadian government to the English government, to ask of the latter to deal with her Russian allies, with all her political influ— 151 —

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ence to stop ... the suffering of our brothers in Russia.” This resolution caused an open split between “downtown” and “uptown.” Opponents of the CJPA said it did not represent all Canadian Jews, that its leadership “was not responsible enough and was too radical,” and was not taking into account the opinions of established Jews.58 Hirsch Wolofsky, publisher of the Keneder Adler, and Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Cohen, prominent immigrants but general Zionists, specifically came to the conference to oppose the resolution regarding Russia. Wolofsky noted that prominent richer Jews opposed the resolution, Russia being a British ally; Cohen insisted it was ill-timed, this being no time to interfere in the Russians’ internal affairs. Both were ignored and the resolution passed. In November 1915, the CJPA finally convened a conference in Montreal which created the CJPA’s Congress Committee, authorized to help convene a general Jewish Congress. That same month the Jewish notables and the Zionist Federation convened their own Canadian Jewish Conference. The CJPA protested against the claim that the Zionist conference represented all Canadian Jews, saying general Zionists were dominant, and refused an offer of the Bessarabian Society of Montreal to mediate, demanding that the Zionist-sponsored conference had to be called off entirely. Their conference, asserted Yehuda Kaufman, would be a national catastrophe: The Conference will represent the smallest part of Canadian Jewry; it will be a slap in the face of all American Jewry. For a year’s time the Jewish question had been discussed; now this “conference” comes along and in one day, with a few speeches, will solve it. The organizers of the conference are far from all the troubles of the Jewish people... They are organizers of the English jingoistic press, which wants to silence the question of Russian anti-Semitism, they are people who have not lived as Jewish democrats ... The resolutions of the “conference” will naturally be old, dead, outworn phrases.59 Montreal Poale Zion, in a statement written by Kaufman and Noah Cheifetz, added that “the conference is against all the living interests of our people, against all our bloody and painful living problems,”60 and — 152 —

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called on all other Poale Zion branches to protest. Nonetheless, the CJPA did send two delegates to the Federation-sponsored Canadian Jewish Conference, asking that all Jewish organizations be included, and that the two executive committees work in harmony and at some future date call a Canadian Jewish Congress. On February 4-7, 1916, a major all-Canadian conference was held under CJPA auspices in Toronto, with 27 delegates representing 200 groups from eight cities. Poale Zion representatives included Yehuda Kaufman, Moishe Dickstein, Noah Cheifetz and Zelig Wolofsky, from Montreal; Maurice Goldstick, Abraham Rhinewine and Isaac Matenko from Toronto; and Ben Sheps from Winnipeg. It was agreed that Canadian Jewry required an overall political body to express its interests; and the following resolutions were adopted: A Congress of all Canadian Jews should be called, to discuss: 1) How, together with Jews of all the world, to assure Jewish representation at the peace conference; 2) What demands should be made at this people’s tribunal; 3) How, with Jews of the entire British Empire, to approach the English government to assist us in our demands at the peace conference; 4) What political and economic help to give to our war-suffering brethren; 5) How much support in the above matters can we hope for from our Canadian government, and how to approach it for help; 6) The Congress Committee, to be elected at a referendum should cooperate with other [Zionist] federations ... in the possibility that a union will not take place, the Congress Committee should call a congress on its own initiative.61 A CJPA Congress Committee was created, consisting of 30 members, 11 of them Poale Zionists, with Brainin as chairman, Zucker and Goldstick as vice-presidents, and Kaufman as secretary—in effect, it was Poale Zionist controlled. The Congress Committee and the CJPA as — 153 —

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a whole went to work, on a Canada-wide basis, for a Canadian Jewish Congress, the target date now set for June, 1916. General Zionist opposition to the proposed Congress kept delaying matters, however, despite all the pro-Congress propaganda of the CJPA. Throughout 1916, upper-class opposition stalled the work of the CJPA, and both Brainin, the chairman, and Kaufman, the secretary, left Montreal that year. Brainin was replaced by Peter Bercovitch, but since the latter rarely came to meetings, Poale Zion’s Louis Zucker was in effect chairman. Brainin’s farewell speech on October 6, 1916, before he left for New York, was a memorable one: The People’s Alliance was of our creation and was maintained in spite of the opposition of the enemies of the people, of those who could not see that in Canada too a new democratic and national spirit animated the hearts and minds of the educated elements of the Jewish masses ... of those whose souls were not consumed by assimilation. For the twenty months since the Canadian Jewish Alliance came into being, I stood with you side by side in the fight for Canadian Jewish unity, for the revival of a Jewish spirit in Canada, for the organization of a Jewish Congress on a democratic basis, for an intensive activity among the masses of our people in this country [to help the Jews in Europe]. The political activity of the People’s Alliance must, for the time being, be directed towards the calling of a democratic Jewish Congress in Canada with an open and free platform. A Congress of Canadian Jews is most important for the freedom of the Jewish people ... for the unification and upliftment of Canadian Jewry ... The day when this Congress will open will be the greatest and most important day in the history of the young Jewish settlement in this country. We have set ourselves a goal, a sacred and great task: we wish to be united, to raise, to revive the national democratic spirit of the Jewish people in this country.62 The Congress Committee of the CJPA kept trying to come to terms with the Federation of Canadian Zionists and with the upper-class Ca— 154 —

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nadian Jewish Committee, but to little avail. As late as August 9, 1917, a Montreal conference of the CJPA’s Congress Committee called for a Canadian Jewish Congress to be held in Montreal, and again the Zionists were invited to participate. The latter, however, backed out of any alliance with the Congress Committee, claiming that a CJPA conference in July had passed undemocratic resolutions. In reality, the Zionist Federation at this point feared a Canadian Jewish Congress with the ability to produce any resolutions, as these might be harmful to Canadian (and worldwide) Zionism.63 As well, the ever-“patriotic” Federation opposed the idea of non-Canadian citizens—at this point a large proportion of the newly-arrived immigrants—voting for a Canadian Jewish Congress. The CJPA was a movement that extended outside of Montreal, and indeed met with somewhat less opposition in places like Toronto, where Abraham Rhinewine’s Yidisher Zhurnal, unlike the Keneder Adler in Montreal, supported the Alliance. While 1916 proved to be a disappointing year for the Congress devotees in Montreal, in Toronto, where the upper-class Jews exercised less power, the CJPA gained significant ground, and Brainin himself noted that in Toronto “the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance found the greatest support.”64 In Toronto, a Conference for Jewish War Sufferers had been formed at the outbreak of the war, and, led by Maurice Goldstick, it responded positively to Brainin’s call for a national congress.65 In June of 1915, Goldstick, leading an alliance of Poale Zionists, Socialist-Territorialists and Arbeiter Ring members, organized a Toronto branch of the CJPA, and in October Brainin addressed mass meetings there to protest the forthcoming Zionist-sponsored Canadian Jewish Conference. The Toronto CJPA then selected a committee to negotiate with the Federation of Canadian Zionists, so that a real all-Canadian Jewish conference might be held under joint auspices; when this failed, the Toronto CJPA refused to attend the November Zionist conference. On May 20, 1916, Pinchas Rutenberg [later Pinchas Ben Ami] and Baruch Zuckerman came up from New York to address a mass meeting of Toronto Jews enthused with the Congress idea. They also met with opponents of the proposed Congress, hoping to make peace. The meeting resolved that the CJPA and the Zionist Federation’s Canadian Jewish Committee unite in calling for a Congress by September 1. As well, a peace committee of ten people was formed, including Rhinewine and Goldstick for the CJPA and Barnett Stone for the Zionist Federa— 155 —

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tion. But the Montreal leadership of the Federation was opposed to any initiative, and the committee fell apart. Nevertheless, the Montreal, Toronto and Western Canada Congress Committees throughout 1916 made futile attempts to enlist the Zionist Federation in its goals, as it became increasingly obvious that without their support, the Congress was an elusive will-o’-the-wisp that kept fading and receding. On May 20, 1917, the Toronto CJPA’s Congress Committee held a conference of 150 delegates, representing 54 organizations, and resolved that it was “working for a Jewish democratic Congress, for national and constructive work.”66 On July 15-17, yet another pre-conference for a Congress was held in Toronto. This time the Toronto Zionist federations participated . Even Brainin and Kaufman, who had left Canada the year before, came as Montreal delegates, thus emphasizing its importance. The conference decided that a Canadian Jewish Congress should meet in Ottawa, two months after such time as the American Jewish Congress had been convened. All Canadian Jews 20 years of age or older should be allowed to vote, and all national organizations should be allowed to send delegates. (These last two points emphasized the desire for democratization in the affairs of the Jewish community.) The central committee—to consist of six people from Toronto, four from Montreal, two from Winnipeg, one from Hamilton, and one other representing smaller communities—should sit in Toronto, not Montreal, as there, it was felt, the CJPA-general Zionist split was not as deep, and consequently there had not been as much ill-will generated. The Zionist Federation called the resolutions undemocratic, and the Toronto Congress Committee— now called the Dominion Congress Committee—was forced to answer these charges. Elsewhere in Ontario, in the smaller communities, most Jewish groups supported the CJPA. Thus, in Hamilton in 1915, Jewish organizations were almost all allied with the CJPA, and opposed the Zionist-sponsored Canadian Jewish Conference in Montreal. In Winnipeg, the September 6, 1915, issue of Dos Yidishe Vort printed a call for “a congress to assure full national, civil and political rights for Jews of all countries ... and for an assured home in Erets Israel.”67 Soon thereafter a committee was formed under Rabbi Herbert J. Samuel of Shaarey Zedek congregation, and including Marcus Hyman, Ben Sheps and J.A. Cherniak. Even though the committee cut across class lines, it refused to participate in the Canadian Jewish Conference, saying it — 156 —

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would involve itself only with the CJPA. Winnipeg Jewry strongly supported the Congress idea, which it saw as giving expression to the will of the Jewish masses through their own democratically elected representatives, since “Such a body could serve as a forum for Jewish thinking and a spokesman on Jewish rights.” There was the future of Europe’s Jews to be considered. “What rights would be guaranteed to them in the new national states that would be created in the war’s aftermath? What of the Jewish future in Palestine?”68 Thus, when representatives of 46 organizations met in December 1915 to create a Congress Committee, M.J. Finkelstein, whose father was Joseph Finkelstein, an important member of Shaarey Zedek, and who himself was a founder of Der Kanader Yid in 1910 and a staunch general Zionist and head of the Winnipeg Zionist Council, while protesting the meeting, did say he was in favour of a Canadian Jewish Congress. He was, in fact, the first important personage in the Federation of Canadian Zionists to make this statement of support, at a time when the Federation was doing all it could to thwart the formation of a Congress, and this gives us some idea of the depth and range of pro-Congress feeling in Winnipeg. Indeed, “Finkelstein was the pivotal figure in the decision to organize an independent regional conference for western Canada,” and in early 1916 a committee including Aaron Osovsky, A.I. Cherniak, Marcus Hyman and Ben Sheps was set up to prepare such a gathering. Finkelstein was strongly supported by local Labour Zionist leaders “whose organization as a whole espoused the idea of a congress.”69 In January of 1916, Chaim Zhitlovsky visited Winnipeg on one of his many trips to that city, and gave rise to yet further pro-Congress feelings. David Ben-Gurion was in the city not long thereafter as well, to publicize the idea. The Western Canadian Congress Conference finally met in Winnipeg on August 27-29, 1916. A total of 205 delegates represented 52 Winnipeg-based groups, while another 36 had come from eighteen other cities. Included among those present were 40 Poale Zionists and other radicals, including Ben Sheps, J.A. Cherniak, M.A. Gray and Marcus Hyman. Invited as guests were Reuben Brainin and Nachman Syrkin, and the latter’s resolution called for free immigration, colonization and autonomy for the Jews of Palestine to be included in Jewish demands at a postwar peace conference. As well, resolutions supporting relief work, Jewish immigration to Canada, and a Canadian Jewish Congress to be — 157 —

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held as soon as possible, were passed. An executive, with Ben Sheps as secretary, was created to fight for this last demand. The Conference continued to function, one of its chief roles being constant attempts to negotiate “peace” between the CJPA and the general Zionists. In Winnipeg, devotees of the Congress idea were relatively more powerful than almost anywhere else in Canada, and it was more than merely symbolic when the Zionist Federation of Canada decided to hold its 1917 convention in that city; it was a signal of the changing attitudes of general Zionists in Canada towards the idea of an overall Canadian Jewish Congress. Opposition to the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance The Upper-Class Counterattack When the war began, the upper class Anglicized Jews of Canada fully supported the aims of the British Empire and at first seemed somewhat unaware of the rising tide of dissatisfaction among the immigrant masses. The “uptown” Jews saw their role as one of propagandizing the war effort. Thus, Rabbi Solomon Jacobs of Holy Blossom in Toronto, spiritual leader of a temple in that most Anglo-Saxon of all North American cities, threw his substantial prestige behind Canada’s war efforts, emphasizing the importance to Canada of the British connection and the need for an Allied victory. S.W. Jacobs and others travelled through Canada in 1915, drumming up sympathy for the British. On July 15, Jacobs told a gathering at Temple Emanuel, in Victoria, British Columbia, that Egypt was now being annexed to the British Empire, and Palestine, too, would have to come under British rule. “The Jewish problem would thereby be solved, and millions of Jews in East Europe would once more find a haven of safety in the land of their fathers.”70 However, the rise of the CJPA and demands for a Canadian Jewish Congress created a situation of confrontation between the upper class Jews and the masses, and these leaders turned on men like Reuben Brainin, who ran afoul of them in his attempts to democratize Jewish communal life in Montreal and Canada, and was consequently subjected to considerable trouble, personal suffering and even privation. As editor of the Keneder Adler after 1912, Brainin had ample opportunity to criticize Montreal’s upper class Jewish leadership, centred — 158 —

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around the Baron de Hirsch Institute, and the latter decided “to make certain that the condition of Reuben Brainin as editor of the Keneder Adler should become intolerable.” In this they had the cooperation of the paper’s publisher, Hirsch Wolofsky, who opposed the Congress idea and did not become reconciled to it until after the Balfour Declaration in 1917, and who was in any case afraid of and in league with the men at the Baron de Hirsch Institute. The Keneder Adler thus felt it was defending its own existence by fighting Brainin. “It went so far, that they even censored the articles of this great writer. The result was that the entire editorial staff, including Reuben Brainin, one morning went out on a protest strike. It was a true strike—with pickets, placards and ... scabs.”71 Brainin lost the strike and soon founded his own paper, Der Veg. The People’s Press Organization of Montreal sent Brainin a letter of support, published in the first issue of Der Veg, October 15, 1915: We came to life though our deep faith in the truth which you never ceased to propagate; that a living people must have the opportunity of creating its own pattern of life [and] must fight off self-appointed leaders: must have as spokesmen only the gifted sons of the people ... You were alone in your fight. Your enemies have embittered your life. Those whom you championed also stood aside ... We know you will never relinquish the people.72 Der Veg, critical of the Canadian Zionist Federation for its opposition to the Jewish masses, workers and radicals, died not long afterwards, and Brainin himself left for New York in October of 1916.73 The upper class opposition to the CJPA crystallized in 1915 in the convening of a Canadian Jewish Conference. The Canadian Jewish Conference of 1915 As already noted, the idea of a Canadian Jewish Congress was not universally approved of. In Montreal ... unanimity was not so pronounced. There the Zionist Federation of Canada, which had for almost — 159 —

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two decades considered itself the exclusive spokesman for Canadian Jewry, saw in the pleas for a Jewish congress a threat to its role as national leader and policymaker, and effectively blocked for the time being the development and growth of the congress idea.74 In mid-November, 1915, the Federation of Canadian Zionists was due to hold its 14th national convention, and it was anxious to head off the proposed all-Canadian conference sponsored by the CJPA. The general Zionists felt that the CJPA was bad both for Canadian Zionism in particular, and for Canadian Jewish interests in general. It called the CJPA leaders “hot-heads, strangers to Canada.”75 At the Federation’s National Council meeting of September 12, 1915, the general Zionists denounced the proposed CJPA conference as being inopportune, and called on all its affiliates to abstain from attending. However, the Federation itself (after discussing an invitation received from the United States to participate in a proposed Jewish Congress there) decided to call for a conference of its own, to be held in close proximity to its own convention of mid-November. Louis Fitch, whom the CJPA had thought of as a friend, and A.J. Freiman issued the call, Freiman moving that “the Federation of Zionist Societies should call a conference of Canadian Jewry to decide what stand to take with regard to the proposed Jewish Congress to be held in the United States.”76 Accordingly, invitations were sent out to all Jewish organizations in Canada with a membership of 25 and over to participate in the forthcoming meeting. The Federation wished to bring across the idea that Canadian Jews were loyal to Canada and Britain and supported their war effort. The Federation wanted the exclusive right to appoint any possible Jewish representatives to a peace conference. In order to make it look like an all-Canadian Jewish conference, of Zionists and non-Zionists alike, the Federation invited the “uptowners,” the influential Orthodox, and Reformed Jews. Those allied with the CJPA, of course, refused to come. The Canadian Jewish Conference opened on November 14, 1915, a day before the Zionist Federation’s own convention, and needless to say all the members of the latter organization were delegates to both. Altogether, some 250 representatives were present, including “establishment” leaders such as Clarence de Sola, Lyon Cohen, Michael Hirsch, Maxwell Goldstein and Nathan Gordon. An executive was chosen, with — 160 —

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Clarence de Sola as chairman. Two rabbis, Herman Abramowitz and Meldola de Sola, offered opening prayers, the former for the speedy redemption of the world’s suffering Jews, the latter for the victory of the British and their allies. Montreal aldermen L.H. Boyd and Louis Rubenstein welcomed the delegates in the name of the city. Among the guests to the conference were Louis D. Brandeis, Jacob de Haas, Shmarya Levin and Abraham Goldberg, all prominent American Zionists; Rabbi Mordechai Aaron Ashinsky of Pittsburg, who had served Montreal’s Congregation B’nai Jacob between 1896 and 1902; and the then-Solicitor General and future prime minister of Canada, Arthur Meighen, a member of Sir Robert Borden’s wartime cabinet. The resolutions at the conference expressed five main themes: 1) Loyalty to the British Empire 2) The hope that Britain and her allies would win the war 3) Jews in every country should have equal rights and justice 4) At the peace conference, all disabilities against Jews in the belligerent countries should be removed 5) At the peace conference, steps should be taken to ensure the absolute right of Palestinian Jews to develop that territory without hindrance and all Jews in Palestine should be granted full citizenship. By tying in British victory in the war to hopes for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, Canadian Zionism was thus in effect linking itself to the fortunes of the British Empire. Canadian Zionists did receive, even at this early date, some encouragement from the Canadian (and therefore, by implication, the British) government that the Empire did not look askance at their aims. Arthur Meighen brought the conference the good wishes of the Canadian government, expressed his sympathies with the Zionist movement, and wished it success. Clarence de Sola, in his opening address, explained the need for an organization to watch for justice to be rendered the Jews at any future peace conference. “One of the essential conditions of peace will be the safe-guarding of the interests of all the smaller races of the world,” he declared. “Surely then, a people who has suffered so much in the past as the Hebrews, will have a special claim to be head at the peace con— 161 —

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gress.” He confidently assumed that Britain, fighting for the principles of justice and right, would help Jews of all countries attain equal rights. Nonetheless Jews should organize now, to have a voice at the peace talks, he added. “Moreover, we know full well that the voice of Canadian Jewry will have to be united to the voice of the Jews of other lands in order to be heard.”77 The conference was concerned with the emancipation of Jews as citizens, in the western European tradition, rather than national rights for Jews as a people, and wanted Jews everywhere to have the rights that Canadian Jews already possessed. Lyon Cohen and S.W. Jacobs expressed this in their resolution: Resolved that this conference, recognizing the benefits of the full rights of citizenship enjoyed by our brethren together with all the peoples under the flag of the British Empire, voices the prayer that the time may not be far distant when our co-religionists in every land, wherever they may be, shall be accorded those same rights of equality and justice which are the prerogative of all mankind.78 And, in the same vein, M.J. Finkelstein moved the following: Resolved that inasmuch as the Jews of certain countries affected by the present war are deprived of the political, religious and civil rights accorded to other citizens, that this Conference desires that when terms of peace are being drawn up, provision be made for the complete removal of all disabilities burdening Jews and other people at present suffering from a denial of such rights.79 The conference did however acknowledge its Zionist character, insofar as Palestinian colonization was given special emphasis in a resolution by Louis Fitch: Insomuch as it is important that the work of the Jewish colonies in Palestine should be encouraged and developed at the conclusion of the present war, this — 162 —

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Conference desires that steps be taken to have the peace Conference ensure the rights of Jews now residing in the Holy Land, or settling there subsequent to develop that land without hindrance, and that all inhabitants of the land be accorded equal rights and full citizenship.80 The two main Zionist spokesmen from the United States, Brandeis and Levin, called on the conference to try to unite with other organizations to help convene a Canadian Jewish Congress. Levin, speaking in Hebrew, explained the need of a united Jewry to be represented at the peace conference—the Jewish “chair” should not remain vacant. Brandeis called for a united effort in support of the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs, the emergency organization created in 1914, and called on Canada’s Jews to help in the raising of a $200,000 emergency fund for relief work in Palestine. The conference terminated the next day, and its resolutions were all approved by the 14th Zionist Federation convention, which started on that same November 15, with very much the same group of delegates. The Conference created the Canadian Jewish Committee, including among its leadership men like de Sola, Lyon Cohen, Jacobs, Fitch and Joseph S. Leo, but this was a largely paper organization involved mainly in the overseeing of relief operations. In the following year and a half, until the Balfour Declaration had cleared the international landscape somewhat, the Zionist Federation fought a holding action against the proponents of a Canadian Jewish Congress, delaying them as long as possible, lest they pass resolutions unfavourable to British imperial interests. Thus, when the CJPA’s Congress Committee in Montreal sent a memorandum to the Federation, then meeting in convention in Winnipeg, July 1-3, 1917, asking them to come to the forthcoming CJPA-sponsored Toronto conference on July 15, the Federation replied that they would do so only if no resolutions were passed that were adverse to Canadian Zionism. In answer to a request from Winnipeg’s Poale Zion that the convention discuss the Congress idea, and agree to unite with the CJPA in calling a Congress, the Federation passed a resolution that said that it would meet with all those interested in the Congress question, and would, when necessary, call a Congress, “if a good guarantee can be given, that the Zionists will control the Congress and no improper resolutions will be allowed, and — 163 —

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that all should be in accordance with the Basle Program.”81 This intransigent attitude, in effect, blocked the door to all non-Zionist groups, in the CJPA and elsewhere. As late as October 15, 1917, the Canadian Zionist Federation in a manifesto signed by de Sola and Fitch, said that “Canadian Zionists will not make any commitments until after the American Jewish Congress. Zionist societies are forbidden to take part in conferences.” The manifesto told local branches “not to play into the hands of irresponsible persons” or allow these agitators “to mix into Zionist affairs that will ruin our work of two years.”82 Not only Caiserman, but even younger general Zionists like Michael Garber of Montreal and Archie Bennett of Toronto were angry at this stand, and many now began to actively oppose de Sola and the old group of leaders.83 Nonetheless, as late as December 27, 1918, writing in the Canadian Jewish Chronicle, Leon Goldman, chairman of the Zionist Federation’s Bureau Committee, still opposed a Congress: The Zionist movement was organized simply for the purpose of securing for the Jewish people a publicly recognized and legally secured home in Palestine. It was not organized for the purpose of meddling in local politics or local affairs ... The proposed Congress can only rightly occupy itself with those affairs which do not come within the Zionists’ programme.84 Criticizing Hirsch Wolofsky’s Keneder Adler for what he called an “utterly unwarranted and unjustifiable attack on the Zionist Federation” which “greatly belies your pretension that you are for peace and harmony”—Wolofsky was by now advocating a reconciliation between the CJPA and the Federation—Goldman noted that the Zionists were carrying on delicate negotiations with European governments, and a Canadian Jewish Congress might pass “unwise resolutions” before a peace treaty was signed. Also, he went on to say, “it would be a piece of pretty cool presumption for any party of men to come at this late date to us Zionists and tell us that we are to stand aside and allow them to do our work, or that would presume to tell us that we are to hand the reins over to them just when, after twenty-one years of hard work, we are finally accomplishing our task of regaining Palestine.” Zionists, he — 164 —

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added, “have accomplished that work without the help of the men who are now beginning to agitate for a Congress and it would certainly be a rather rich joke for us to hand over negotiations just as they are reaching their final stage of successful attainment.”85 Old feelings and prejudices were obviously hard to overcome in some people. Nonetheless, the momentous events of the years 1917 and 1918—the two revolutions in Russia; the Balfour Declaration, with its implicit promise of British guarantee for Zionist aims; and the final victory of Britain and her allies in World War I, which saw old-established empires in central and eastern Europe crumble and the whole region thrown into a state of political and territorial flux—would force new existential realities upon both the general Zionists and the CJPA, with the result that their differences were, if not entirely overcome, at least submerged. Soon the drive for a unified Canadian Jewish representation in any post-war settlements, both in Canada and abroad, would begin in earnest.

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Endnotes 1  Kayfetz, “The Evolution of the Jewish Community in Toronto,” 27-28. 2  Caiserman, “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,” 465. 3  For further details on some of the ideological battles involved, see Oscar I. Janowsky, The Jews and Minority Rights (1898-1919) (New York: Columbia University Press, 1933). 4 Caiserman, “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,” 465. 5  For more on the life of this labour Zionist, see Marie Syrkin, Nachman Syrkin, Socialist Zionist: A Biographical Memoir and Selected Essays (New York: Herzl Press, 1961). Selections from the writings of both Syrkin and Ber Borochov can be found in Arthur Herzberg, ed., The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader (New York: Atheneum, 1970). 6  Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 162. 7  Benjamin G. Sack, “Reuben brainin amol in montreal,” Keneder Adler, April 6, 1962, 4. 8  Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 163. 9 Louis Rosenberg, “The Canadian Jewish Congress 1919-1969: 50 Years of Organized Jewish Community Life,” in Jewish Historical Society of Western Canada, A Selection of Papers Presented in 1968-69, Winnipeg, June 1970, 4. Rosenberg also felt that “in Canada the movement to establish a permanent Jewish Congress met with greater success than in the United States” (4). 10 Belkin, “When Brainin was a Montrealer,” 134. 11 Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 138. 12 Meisel, Tsum hundertstn geborintog fun reuben brainin, 45-46. 13 Quoted in Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 38. 14 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 68. 15 See his two-volume autobiography: Childhood in Exile (translated from the Hebrew by Maurice Samuel) (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1929); and Youth in Revolt (translated from the Hebrew by Maurice Samuel) (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1930). 16 Abraham Goldberg, Pioneers and Builders: Biographical Studies and Essays (New York: Abraham Goldberg Publication Committee, 1943), 263-264. 17 Goldberg, Pioneers and Builders, 262. 18 Louis Lipsky, A Gallery of Zionist Profiles (New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1956), 82. 19 Yonathan Shapiro, Leadership of the American Zionist Organization 1897-1930, 53. 20 Quoted in Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 160. 21 Keneder Adler, February 21, 1915; quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 51. 22 Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 159. — 166 —

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23 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 48. 24 Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 60. 25 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 60-61. 26 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 61. 27 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 61. 28 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 104-106 (emphasis in original). 29 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 77. 30 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 63. 31 Keneder Adler, May 2, 1917; quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 101. 32 Quoted in Meisel, Tsum hundertstn geborintog fun reuben brainin, 17. 33 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 131. 34 Quoted in I. L. Becker, “Reuben brainin in montreal,” in Nachman Meisel, ed., Tsum hundertstn geborintog fun reuben brainin (New York: Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF), 1962), 105. 35 Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 91. 36 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 167. 37 Levine, Coming of Age, 188. 38 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 303. 39 Rosenberg, Louis, “Some Aspects of the Historical Development of the Canadian Jewish Community,” 138. 40 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 132. The fact that the People’s Relief Committee was tied in with, and sending money to Europe through, New York-based Yiddish groups (in a then-neutral country), rather than through Canadian and British channels, infuriated the patriotic Anglophiles uptown no end. 41 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 134. 42 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 135. 43 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 136. 44 Herstein, “The Growth of the Winnipeg Jewish Community and the Evolution of its Educational Institutions,” 33. 45 Quoted in Herstein, “The Growth of the Winnipeg Jewish Community and the Evolution of its Educational Institutions,” 33. 46 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 137. 47 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 48. 48 Judd L. Teller, Strangers and Natives: The Evolution of the American Jew from 1921 to the Present (New York: Delacorte Press, 1968), 4-5. 49 Yonathan Shapiro, Leadership of the American Zionist Organization 1897-1930, 248. 50 Teller, Strangers and Natives, 11. 51 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 96. 52 Much has been written on this topic. See Naomi W. Cohen, The Americanization of Zionism, 1897-1948 (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 2003). — 167 —

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53 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 99. For more on Kaufman, see Ira Robinson, “The Canadian Years of Yehuda Kaufman (Even Shmuel): Educator, Journalist and Intellectual,” Canadian Jewish Studies 15 (2007). 54 Quoted in Kage, With Faith and Thanksgiving, 55. 55 Quoted in David Rome, Early Documents on the Canadian Jewish Congress 19141921, 6-7. 56 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 165. 57 Quoted in Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman, 204. 58 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 167. 59 In Der Veg, November 12, 1915; quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 171. 60 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 169. 61 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 173. 62 Belkin, “When Brainin was a Montrealer,”137-138. 63 At this point, Clarence de Sola had already spoken to Arthur Balfour, the British foreign minister, in Ottawa, and was aware of upcoming British plans in support of Zionist proposals for Palestine. 64 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 171. 65 Speisman, The Jews of Toronto, 269-270. 66 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 180. 67 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 170. 68 Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 141. 69 Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 142. 70 Quoted in Figler, Sam Jacobs, 34. 71 Becker, “Reuben Brainin in Montreal,” 105. 72 Belkin, “When Brainin was a Montrealer,” 137. 73 In New York, Brainin moved progressively more leftwards. By 1921, he wrote, after a visit to the headquarters of the American Zionist organization, that “there is no Jewish spirit in the Zionist organization.”Quoted in Meisel, “Reuben brainin un dr. chaim zhitlovsky,” 147-148. And even though he visited Palestine in 1925, he was by the 1930s closely associated with various Communist-dominated groups, such as the ICOR (Organization for Jewish Colonization in the Soviet Union). He became a firm advocate of the project to create a Jewish Autonomous Region in the Soviet Far East, convinced that this, not Palestine, would be the Jewish country. He also noted, in 1937, that anti-Semitism was a direct product of the capitalist system, which was also responsible for creating the Hitlers and Mussolinis of a dying way of life, and that therefore only the USSR could protect Jews. He now wrote regularly in such journals as ICOR’s Yiddish and English language magazine Neileben-New Life, devoted to Birobidzhan in particular and the Soviet experiment in general. Nonetheless, when he died in New York, and was brought to Montreal for burial in November 1939, “to his funeral there came tens of thousands of people, to pay last respects to their beloved spiritual leader.” Becker, “Reuben — 168 —

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brainin in montreal,” 106. For more on this period of Brainin’s life, see Henry Srebrnik, Dreams of Nationhood: American Jewish Communists and the Soviet Birobidzhan Project, 1924-1951 (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2010); and Henry Srebrnik, Jerusalem on the Amur Jerusalem on the Amur: Birobidzhan and the Canadian Jewish Communist Movement, 1924-1951. (Montreal: McGillQueen’s University Press, 2008). 74 Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 141. 75 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 168. 76 Quoted in Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman, 205. 77 Quoted in Caiserman, “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,” 466-467. 78 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 300. 79 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 300. 80 Quoted in Figler, Biography of Louis Fitch, Q.C., 14-15. 81 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 180. 82 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 182; Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 102. 83 Shmuel Mayer Shapiro noted that throughout his career Bennett, later an official with the Canadian Jewish Congress, “held steadily to one objective—the democratization of Jewish life.” The Rise of the Toronto Jewish Community, 47 84 Quoted in Kage, With Faith and Thanksgiving, 55. 85 Quoted in Caiserman, “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,” 468-469.

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Archibald J. Freiman, national president of the Zionist Organization of Canada, 1921-1944, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal

Opposite page, from the top: World War I recruitment poster, in Yiddish, courtesy Library of Congress, Washington DC World War I recruitment poster, in English, courtesy Library of Congress, Washington DC

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Lyon Cohen, president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, 1919, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal.

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7. The Coalescing of the Two Streams and the Formation of the Jewish Legion, 1917-1919

The Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada: Conflict and the Congress Question, 1917-1919 The period of class warfare, as represented by the CJPA-Zionist Federation confrontation, reached its peak in the years 1915 to 1917; the events of 1917 thrust new responsibilities on both groups, and by 1919, when the 26th convention of the Zionist Federation in Toronto overthrew the “Sephardic” leadership, with Clarence de Sola remaining honorary president, but A.J. Freiman taking over the actual reins of power, a compromise over a wide range of issues was finally reached, and a Canadian Jewish Congress convened. The general Zionists were finally convinced that it was possible to have specific Jewish representation, without endangering Jewish citizenship and interests. “It took a considerable time until ... these leaders took note of the importance of a Canadian Jewish Congress,”1 but they finally realized that any anti-Zionist elements, such as they were, would be easier to deal with within a Congress structure than outside of it. As for the leftists and socialists, by 1919, as news of Polish and Ukrainian pogroms arrived, they began to see that there was a separate Jewish question that went beyond just being a working class problem. Before the Balfour Declaration In the United States, the idea of a Jewish Congress was used by the general Zionists “as a vehicle for increasing the popularity and appeal of Zionism in order to raise the enrolment of the organization.”2 A war that had begun as a struggle for hegemony in the Jewish community paradoxically ended in a type of unity, directed by the Zionists, through the American Jewish Congress. As the July 1916 issue of the Maccabean, organ of the Federation of American Zionists, put it, “Without the Congress movement ... Zionism in this great crisis was doomed to continue its existence as a minority party in a nationality which had not the strength to organize itself.”3 — 173 —

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Louis D. Brandeis and Stephen S. Wise, the Reform rabbi, became leaders of the American Zionist movement and the drive for a Jewish Congress in the United States. The east European Jews could now bypass the Yahudim, as both these men could deal directly with President Woodrow Wilson in the White House, thus allowing American Zionists to circumvent the less enthusiastic State Department. Wise had a longestablished friendship with President Woodrow Wilson, while Brandeis had long been a supporter of and worker for Wilson. While not appointed to a cabinet position after Wilson’s victory in 1912, possibly due to the anti-Semitism of “certain powerful groups in the country [that] raised objections,”4 he was appointed to the United States Supreme Court by Wilson in June of 1916. While officially resigning from all leadership positions in Zionist organizations—Wise succeeded him as head of the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs—Brandeis still informally retained his control, and indeed, insofar as the drive for a Jewish Congress in the United States was concerned, it could be said that “the real battle against the millionaires [of the non-Zionist American Jewish Committee] started ... when Brandeis led the fight as head of the Zionist Organization in the United States.”5 Thus by May 6, 1917, according to Jacob de Haas, President Wilson told Brandeis “that he was entirely sympathetic to the aims of the Zionist movement, and that he believed the Zionist formula [for a Jewish home in Palestine under a British protectorate] would meet the situation .”6 In Canada, the war was also having an effect on general Zionism, as both membership and receipts increased, and the possibility of overall Zionist leadership of Canadian Jewry grew. Signs of a change in Zionist attitudes towards a Congress came as early as September, 1916, when Louis Fitch—one of the younger general Zionists, but one entirely at home among the Yiddish intelligentsia—wrote about the necessity for Jewish representation at any future peace conference: The Jew alone is adrift and will continue to be so as long as he does not conform to the general rules of the world, good or bad, and establish for himself a center in a land of his own. To say that we are not a people is piffle... We have separate problems ... Water is water and Jews are Jews. — 174 —

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For many years Jews have been striving, aiming, hoping. But we aimed, strove and hoped separately... There was nothing in common. While one was freeing that world, another was the object of its fanaticism... There was no unity because there was no community. There was no nation because there was no concentration. Empires came and passed. Freedoms were created or inherited. Republics succeeded them, but the Jewish people changed nothing but the course of its wandering. The result was inevitable. The Jew of today has no place in the world of policies. When peace is made, the Jewish nation alone will be unrepresented... The Jew’s grievances will go unheard. His dead are Russian, German, Polish, his brains Hun and Gallic. He has no case. He has no status. Fitch went on to contrast this to the builders of Palestine, who have developed “a language—not a Jargon ... The new Hebrew literature is no longer a mournful dirge. It is the spring song of a new life. The filth of Palestine has given way to vineyards ... the deserted land to blooming farms.”7 At the National Council meeting held on January 8, 1917, it was noted that, while war conditions did not permit general activity for Palestine to be carried out fully, and the movement remained circumscribed, nevertheless demand for propaganda was greater than ever before, and Clarence de Sola noted that this fact, plus the $20,000 in receipts collected in the previous year, “showed the strong hold Zionism was getting on Canadian Jewry.”8 The Balfour Visit and the Fifteenth Zionist Convention, 1917 Arthur Balfour, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, came to North America shortly after the United States’ entry into World War I, to coordinate policy among the newly-allied nations. Among his activities were those designed to use the good offices of Zionism to weld a closer relationship between Britain and the United States, using Palestine as leverage and as a bargaining point. Thus, Balfour and Brandeis met twice, at the White House on April 22 and at the British Embassy in Washington on May 10. Balfour realized that Brandeis and the Ameri— 175 —

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can Zionist leadership was close to President Wilson, and in return for their aid, he offered them possibilities of a Jewish homeland in Palestine until then only dreamt of; as Brandeis wrote to de Haas, Balfour “was entirely in accord with our views.”9 Following his Washington trip, Balfour came to Ottawa, where he met with Canadian officials, and on May 29 with Clarence de Sola. The confidential meeting lasted over two hours, de Sola pleading for the recognition of Palestine as a Jewish homeland. Later, de Sola “at least enjoyed the labors in which he took as large a part, and was happy in the thought that [he] had exerted an influence in the promulgation of the famous Palestine Declaration.”10 In a letter of May 29 to the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs in New York, de Sola wrote that “there was scarcely a point of interest in connection with the Zionist Movement that was not thoroughly discussed, and the future of Palestine and of the Hebrews, as a nation, were, of course, among the important points taken up.”11 On June 3, a special meeting of the National Council of the Canadian Zionist Federation heard de Sola’s account of the meeting with Balfour, noting that Balfour “expressed his deep sympathy with the Zionist Ideal” and viewed with favour a Jewish homeland under a British protectorate in Palestine.12 The fifteenth Federation convention, with 306 delegates representing 77 Zionist societies in Canada, met in Winnipeg on July 1-3, 1917, with M.J. Finkelstein as chairman of the convention, and Nachman Syrkin and Benzion Mossinson among the guests of honour. Messages from, among others, Louis Brandeis, Stephen Wise, Shmarya Levin and Rabbi Meir Berlin, all admonished Canadian Jews to redouble their activities on behalf of European Jewry. As well, Prime Minister Robert Borden sent a message of encouragement. Clarence de Sola’s keynote address emphasized the important changes then ongoing in the world, mention being made of the significance to Zionism of the February revolution in Russia. He warned Jews, however, not to heed the clamour of anti-Zionists who thought that Russia would now become a haven of refuge for the Jews; Russian Jews, he felt, would still continue to aim for a Palestinian homeland. The convention resolved to express “its heartfelt sympathy with the downfall of the autocratic government in Russia, and wished the greatest success and stability to the new democratic Government of Russia — 176 —

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which grants equal rights and opportunities to all nationalities within her boundaries.”13 Louis Fitch, in a stirring address, refuted the claims of the assimilationists that Jews were not a nation: Assimilation has gathered all its forces. It is fighting its last fight and with the help of God, Judaism will answer it with such a united front, with such a concentration of national strength that its last bulwark will crumble ... never to rise again. We want Palestine because we wish to liberate the Jewish soul ... the Jewish culture, which other cultures, like a step-mother, have stifled in us ... because we want to liberate our Jewish language, which the other languages have torn out from our lips and relegated to past traditions. We want Palestine because all this is possible only by the banks of the Jordan, not on the banks of the Red River, because this is possible on the hills of Galilee, not on the pinnacles of the Alps; because it is possible in Jerusalem, in Jaffa, in Hebron, in Haifa, not in New York, Berlin, Warsaw or Winnipeg. Jewish men and women! For 2,000 years you have waited for Palestine, Palestine now awaits you!14 The Convention thereupon resolved to “affirm their ardent wish that when the peace conference meets at the termination of the present war the entente powers grant the demands of the Jewish people for a publicly recognized and legally assured home in Palestine and that this convention expressed the hope that the British government will assume a protectorate over Palestine so as to assure the inhabitants of the land of Israel a strong, just and liberal government.”15 In order to obtain strong representation at any future peace talks, Isidore Goldstick of Toronto moved that the convention “declare itself in accord with the Congress Movement in Canada and that in principle this Convention sympathizes with the idea of holding a General Canadian Jewish Congress.” Of course, he added, “we should guard carefully against our participating in any action which might prejudice or endanger the political or other interests in Zionism.”16 — 177 —

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A few weeks later, the Federation’s National Council denounced the big CJPA conference in Toronto. In a letter of July 31, 1917, to the Toronto Congress Committee, they noted that the CJPA conference did not allow the National Council of the Federation to decide on the advisability of a Congress, but instead passed resolutions not in conformity with the views of general Zionists, resolutions which might harm the political interests of the movement. The CJPA conference had not protected Zionist interests, and should not have been called before an American Jewish Congress had been convened. Hence, the National Council advised Barnett Stone and other Toronto Zionists to withdraw from any participation in the Congress Committee. On October 5, 1917, de Sola and Fitch issued the Manifesto forbidding general Zionists to participate in any CJPA-led organized bodies or conferences. Thus, while the fifteenth convention did begin the slow process of softening the hard-line approach of the Federation towards the CJPA and the Congress idea, sustained opposition from within the Federation to this policy was only galvanized following the dramatic announcement of the Balfour Declaration in November. The 1917 convention also called for increased propaganda, in English and Yiddish, and on August 28 the National Council announced that a nation-wide lecture tour by Shmarya Levin would soon be coming. The convention also resolved to participate yet more strongly in war relief activities, and also called on the creation of special committees in each city “whose sole aim and duty shall be work for the National Fund,”17 as Menachem Mendel Ussishkin of the Keren Kayemet had convinced the Federation to help in reforestation work in Palestine.18 The election results of 1917 demonstrated that the executive was still dominated by the old guard. The president remained Clarence I. de Sola; Leon Goldman, A.J. Freiman, Barnett Stone, David Sweet, and M.J. Finkelstein were elected as vice-presidents; Abraham Levin was the treasurer, Louis Fitch the corresponding secretary , and Joseph S. Leo the recording secretary. From the Balfour Declaration to the Sixteenth Zionist Convention of 1919 On November 2, 1917, Lord Balfour issued the now-famous and controversial declaration giving British approval to Zionist hopes for a Jewish — 178 —

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national home in Palestine.19 The Declaration intoxicated Zionists, who at once termed it a Jewish Magna Carta; it “transformed the Zionist Organization of Canada into a popular mass movement.”20 Optimism was the mood of the day, and Louis Fitch, then president of the Montreal Zionist Council, called it “the last day of the Goluth.”21 On December 16, 1917, Clarence de Sola attended a special conference in Baltimore called by the American Zionists, which passed a resolution of gratitude for the Balfour Declaration, and decided to raise $1,000,000 for the Palestine Restoration Fund. Although only $100,000 of this was to come from Canada, pledges of over $400,000 were eventually obtained, this being the main work done by the Canadian Federation in 1918.22 The Balfour Declaration, the draft of which was submitted by President Wilson to Brandeis for approval, according to Stephen Wise strengthened the Brandeis faction in American Zionism. In an open letter to Wise, dated August 31, 1918, Wilson officially endorsed the declaration. Brandeis’ own prestige had increased immeasurably—and he now decided to close those floodgates of full-fledged Jewish nationalism. He decided to reorganize American Zionists in such a way that the task of rebuilding Palestine, through the fund-raising of the Palestine Restoration Campaign and economic assistance, would be the main goal of Zionism, with most of the educational-cultural activities to be eliminated. In effect, Brandeis, Julian Mack, Felix Frankfurter, Jacob de Haas, Henrietta Szold and others in the German-Jewish leadership wanted to turn American Zionism into a joint philanthropy venture with the American Jewish Committee, hoping to lessen the nationalistic sentiments among the immigrant Jews by diverting their attention towards “Palestinianism”—a social Zionism emphasizing the social and cooperative principles involved in building the new Palestine. Thus, in July 1918, the Pittsburgh Program was hammered out at the convention of general Zionists in the United States.23 The old Federation of American Zionists, with its independent societies, was replaced by the Zionist Organization of America, more centralized and powerful, with a national office controlling the branches, now divided solely on the basis of geography (and not, for example, language). The east Europeans were clearly not happy with this watered-down Zionism, membership in the organization fell steadily, and in 1921 a full-scale revolt broke out, leading to the resignation of the Brandeis— 179 —

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Mack group from all official positions in the movement, and the advent of the east Europeans in positions of leadership.24 The Compromise of 1919 and the Rise of the Lithuanian Group In Canada, events following the Balfour Declaration proceeded differently than in the United States, where the Brandeis leadership of the Zionist movement was (for the time being) strengthened. In Canada, the Federation was still carrying on its campaign against the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance, the Poale Zion, and other groups, and a Canadian Jewish Congress simply could not materialize under these conditions. A revolt led by the younger second generation group of Lithuanian Jews (centred to some extent around Shaar Hashomayim congregation in Montreal) began to brew. On February 28, 1918, de Sola sent out a circular letter giving notice that he did not wish to stand for re-election at the next convention of the Federation. He said that the support he had received during his twenty years in office “was much diminished and that the harmony which has reigned before was [now] lacking.”25 As the year progressed, this rising tide of discontent grew, as did the desire by many general Zionists to hold a Jewish Congress, especially after the one in the United States had been successfully convened in December, and the de Sola group was seen increasingly as an out-ofdate and unimaginative road-block towards unity of the Canadian Jewish community in its desire to be represented at the now-important peace talks. Events came to a head at the 16th Federation convention, held in Toronto January 5-7, 1919. Among the Montreal Zionists a strong opposition to Clarence de Sola grew up after the Balfour Declaration. De Sola felt that the Balfour Declaration had solved the problems of political Zionism and from now on everything could be left to England. The opponents, who called him a “liquidationist,” maintained “that the political work should just be starting.”26 The newer leaders in the Federation—A.J. Freiman of Ottawa, M.J. Finkelstein of Winnipeg, and Louis Fitch, Michael Garber, Bernard (Dov) Joseph, and Lazarus Phillips of Montreal—had been gaining power in the Federation. Chafing under a regime that had held office since 1899, they demanded to make the organization more democratic, — 180 —

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more of a people’s movement, more closely linked with the masses of newly arrived Jews. At this turning point de Sola resigned the presidency. As Michael Garber noted later, “The ‘revolution’ of the 1919 Convention of the Zionist organization of Canada was the inevitable result of the Balfour Declaration. Nor was it a palace revolution. A large number of keen young delegates stormed at the gates of the Club which the Organization had theretofore resembled.” Leading these forces was Freiman, and de Sola’s retirement “was forced by the crying need for dynamic leadership, which Archie Freiman was prepared to give.”27 A.J. Freiman and his wife Lillian were tied in with political and philanthropic activities, and personally gave large sums of money to Zionist campaigns. “Under his leadership, Canadian Jews began to do important things for Erets Israel”28—$160,000 in cash was raised in the Helping Hand Campaign inaugurated on February 11, 1919, and another $40,000 worth of food and clothing came in.29 Freiman did not view Zionism as merely a response to anti-Semitism and pogroms. A general Zionist and an admirer of Chaim Weizmann, he saw Zionism as being based on the national striving of Jewry to have a homeland, a national center. Like Ahad Ha’am, he conceived of Zionism spiritually. At the 1919 convention, he noted that: Zionism is no more a dream: we need men of action and decision at this moment. Let us proclaim from Jerusalem the Brotherhood of men. Now must we all be Zionists and stand before the world unashamed, with strong hope in our ideals and unbroken faith in our principles.30 “Canadian Jewry was fortunate enough to find an outstanding leader when the time for his appearance was at hand in the magnetic personality of Archibald J. Freiman,” wrote one admirer.31 “The Freimans’ deep attachment to the Jewish people, to the Jewish communities in Canada and Palestine, to the building of a Jewish homeland, and to their belief in a better future was inspirational.”32 The revolt, and de Sola’s resignation, forced a reorganization of the Federation, and a resolution to create a Provisional Committee for this task was passed. M.J. Finkelstein, the chairman, Barnett Stone, Abraham Levin, Leon Goldman, Louis Fitch, Michael Garber, Archie Bennett, — 181 —

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Nathan Gordon, and Louis Singer were among the members. The Committee decided that drastic changes in the Federation being necessary, a Provisional Executive Committee be elected and a new convention be called as soon as possible. Freiman, Levin, Goldman, Gordon, Fitch, Garber, Finkelstein, Stone, and Joseph Fineberg were among those elected to the Provisional Executive Committee, which was given executive power until the next convention. Clarence de Sola now became merely honourary president of the organization. Even before the demise of the old leadership, general Zionism in Canada had been growing: Abraham Levin reported collections of nearly $104,000 in the previous year, and progress was being made in over 60 Canadian cities.33 At the convention itself, at which William Hearst, premier of the province of Ontario, was a guest, the delegates endorsed the Balfour Declaration, and resolved That the Zionists of Canada in Convention assembled call upon His Majesty’s Government to place before the Peace Conference the aspirations and historic claims of the Jewish people with regard to Palestine to the end that, in accordance with the British Government’s declaration of November 2nd, 1917, endorsed by the Allied Governments, there shall be established such political, administrative and economic conditions in Palestine as will assure, under the trusteeship of Great Britain, the development of Palestine into a Jewish commonwealth, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.34 An official call from the CJPA-oriented Western Canada Congress Committee to work in partnership for a Jewish Congress was read to the convention, and Isidore Goldstick then presented the Congress resolution: Resolved by the Canadian Zionist Organization in Convention assembled ... that we favour the calling of — 182 —

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a Canadian Jewish Congress composed of democratically elected representatives of Canadian Jewry, that in our judgment the Canadian Jewish Congress when organized be associated with the proposed international Jewish Congress according to the standing invitation of the American Jewish Congress and that we instruct our incoming administration to co-operate with the Congress Committee of Canada with a view of the early realization of the Congress Project.35 The two sides, after all the years of bitterness, acrimony and mutual recrimination, had finally come together, driven by a cause that overrode their narrower interests, and by men willing to unite for the sake of the larger issues at stake. On January 19, 1919, the first meeting of the Provisional Executive Committee took place, and Leon Goldman was appointed Acting Executive Secretary; he became the paid, permanent national executive director on July 1, withdrawing from private business to assume his full-time duties. The Committee selected a smaller executive, composed of A.J. Freiman, the chairman, Abraham Levin, Louis Fitch and Michael Garber. As well, Barnett Stone was elected chairman of the Central Division and M.J. Finkelstein was elected chairman of the Western Division of the Federation. On January 12, 1920, Louis M. Singer replaced Stone as chairman of the Central Division. The newly reorganized Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada received its new charter from the Canadian government on April 30. On February 4, the Provisional Committee sent a telegram to Balfour in London, telling him that “the overwhelming majority of the Jews of Canada by resolutions passed at numerous meetings ask that the Peace Conference adopt measures which will secure the Jews the full opportunity to reconstitute Palestine as the National Home of the Jewish people.”36 Two weeks later, a manifesto was issued calling for an all-Canadian Jewish Congress to take place in Montreal. Poale Zion, 1917-1919 The labour Zionists had devoted most of their energies to the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance and the fight for a Congress, and tended to fall behind in the intra-Zionist struggle for membership and influence in — 183 —

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this period. Nonetheless, the party did grow. In Winnipeg, in December 1917, under the influence of Chaim Zhitlovsky’s call for a “Yiddishistic Zionism,”37 many Socialist-Territorialists and diaspora nationalists, personalities such as J.A. Cherniak, Ben Sheps, M.A. Gray, Meyer Averbach, and Marcus Hyman, officially joined the Poale Zion. In Toronto, in 1918, the Socialist-Territorialists, for a second time, rejoined Poale Zion. In Montreal, H.M. Caiserman organized a branch of the party dedicated to educational work, including among its members Israel Rabinovitch of the Keneder Adler, Louis Benjamin, and the poet Jacob Isaac Segal. As well, men like Leon Cheifetz and Isidore M. Bobrove, later to become leaders of the Labour Zionist Movement in Canada, joined the party in this period. Relations with the general Zionists improved considerably after 1919, with the Freiman triumvirate leading the Federation. Nonetheless, the socialist aspect of labour Zionism was not forgotten. In 1919, Toronto Poale Zion warned workers not to lose their ideals and join the Federation of Canadian Zionists, but to instead join Poale Zion “in the fight for a socialistic Erets Israel.”38 As well, on August 6, 1918, Poale Zion recognized the newly-founded Dominion Labour Party, created the year before at the 33rd Canadian Trades and Labour Congress, and called for harmony on the left, for “the importance of the unity of the workers and producers in their political struggle.”39 This was in reference to the activities of the Jewish socialists, who for months fought against the admission of Poale Zion to the new party, accusing them of nationalism. (The genosen pointed out, for instance, that before the Balfour Declaration the Poale Zion had supported the Bolsheviks in Russia, but afterwards were in favour of a Jewish Legion to help conquer Palestine for Britain.) In Montreal, in 1918, the local labour Zionists joined the Quebec section of the Dominion Labour Party; and in Winnipeg, soon after the general strike of 1919, Poale Zion joined the Independent Labour Party, later called the Workers Party of Manitoba.40 The CJPA also continued its relentless drive for a Canadian Jewish Congress; however, breaking up the barriers between “uptown” and “downtown” was no simple matter. These class divisions were finally overcome only through the combined effects of Zionism, a rising Canadian anti-Jewish nativism, and the fact that the immigrant group “manifested a capacity for integrating themselves into the economic and — 184 —

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political structure of the country” and became “more firmly woven into the Canadian national texture.”41 As they became economically stronger and socially more significant, the basis of an organic fusion between the “two Jewries” became possible. In Montreal, on February 10, 1918, a demonstration of gratitude for the Balfour Declaration was held at the Monument National Theatre, chaired by H.M. Caiserman. Representatives of the Workers’ Circle, the bakers’, carpenters’, cloakmakers’, pressers’, and tailors’ unions were all present, as well as the Maccabean Students’ Circle, Altneuland Zionist group and of course Poale Zion. Guest speakers included Baruch Zuckerman and Nachman Syrkin. Over $1,000 was collected for the Palestine Workers Fund, and the genosen began to see their hold on Jewish workers weaken. Additionally, on April 21, 1918, a Jewish Labour Congress for Palestine was held in Montreal. Among the 20 organizations that came were delegates from bakers’, tailors’, cap-makers’, and carpenters’ unions representing 4,000 workers. The conference, with Noah Cheifetz and Simon Belkin among its executive, called for unity among Jewish socialist workers, on a socialist-Zionist platform. It sent greetings to the British Labour Party, the American Federation of Labor and the International Socialist Conference in London, all of which had recognized the claims of the Jewish people to a homeland in Palestine. A similar conference of 19 organizations, representing 3,000 workers, also with Syrkin and Zuckerman as guests, met in Toronto on May 5.42 Among other signs of new-found unity in Montreal was the re-election of the upper-class Jew Peter Bercovitch, the Liberal Party member for St. Louis riding, the immigrant area in Montreal, to the Quebec legislature in 1918. Bercovitch had first been elected in the riding in 1916, but as an independent Liberal—both he and Louis Fitch had been refused the official nomination by Quebec Premier Alexandre Taschereau. In 1919 Bercovitch, facing no opposition, was re-elected by acclamation, and indeed in the provincial campaign of 1923 he was the only Liberal Party representative elected from the entire island of Montreal. In London, Ontario, Isidore Goldstick, born in 1891 in Windau in the tsarist empire, and Max Lerner, a London alderman since 1915, helped inaugurate a period of greatly increased Zionist activity, especially after they helped launch the Palestine Restoration Fund campaign on January 16, 1919, at Goldstick’s home. — 185 —

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In western Canada, Jews were electrified by the Balfour Declaration. A mass meeting held on January 3, 1918, drew 6,000 Jews, who heard Benzion Mossinson announce that the declaration was “the turning point in Jewish history.” Sir James Aikins, Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, said that only in their own land could “the Jewish people rise to their full development—a country in which they can exercise their religion unopposed.” If the Jews wanted a homeland, “let them arise and go.” The meeting ended “amid a scene of the wildest enthusiasm,” with a resolution of gratitude to the British government 43 And on June 10, 1918, another mass meeting of 5,000-6,000 Jews chaired by M.J. Finkelstein met and passed a resolution regarding the Declaration: Resolved, this large and representative meeting of the Jews of Winnipeg desire to convey His Majesty’s government their deep sense of gratitude for and appreciation of the declaration that His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. Be it further resolved that we give expression to our feelings of devoted loyalty to our Sovereign and Empire and pray that the armies and navies of Britain and her allies be completely victorious in the present war. Sir James Aikins again spoke: “I have never known a Canadian Jew who was not loyal to Canada and Great Britain. There is no inconsistency between loyalty to your faith and your hopes.”44 In Winnipeg, as elsewhere, Jews were now being elected to office across class lines. A.A. Heaps, with Poale Zion help, was elected an alderman in 1917 on the Social Democratic Party ticket; he later became a member of the federal parliament. The Jacobs Election of 1917 Most significant of all events pointing to a coalescence of the “two Jewries” after the promulgation of the Balfour Declaration was the election of S.W. Jacobs to the federal Canadian parliament, from the Montreal immigrant district of Sir Georges Etienne Cartier, in December of 1917. Stuart Rosenberg felt that the Jacobs election shed light on the in— 186 —

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ner tensions of the Jewish community of the time. “It points up the inherent difficulties in trying to bridge the gaps between many Jewish ‘communities,’ to make them into one: the working-class Jews and the ‘Jewish owners’; the ‘newcomers’ and the established settlers; the ‘acculturated’ and the folksmenschen.”45 In 1915, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, opposition leader and head of the Liberal Party, had asked Peter Bercovitch to be a candidate in any future election in the Cartier riding, which had become a “Jewish seat” following redistribution in 1911. When the latter refused (he ran provincially a year later), Laurier asked for the name of another suitable Liberal. Bercovitch suggested Jacobs. This was a period of growing affinity between Canadian Jewry and the Liberal party, based largely on the latter’s proimmigrant policy and support of Zionism abroad following the 1917 Balfour Declaration. But Jacobs faced opposition, not only from the immigrants on the left, but from the old-line “Sephardim” and Reformed Jews on the right: It may be interesting to note ... that Jacobs’ candidacy in the general election was not viewed with favour by Sir Mortimer B. Davis, Mark Workman and other assimilated Jews. They did not want Jews to make themselves conspicuous and frowned upon Jewish participation in politics. It is also quite possible that they were somewhat disturbed by the rising influence of European Jews and wanted to hold them back a little.46 Jacobs, and associates such as Bercovitch, Lyon Cohen and Louis Fitch (who helped Jacobs organize his 1917 campaign), thus had to carry out an internal revolt against the “uptown” Yahudim; in effect, Jacobs became a candidate against the wishes of the Jewish aristocracy. The 1917 election signaled a deep change in the communal life of Montreal Jewry, as the influence of the older, established Jews began to decline, and people like Clarence de Sola began to be pushed aside in favour of the children of the Lithuanian immigrants of the 1880’s, who realized that they had to take the feelings of the masses into account, if only as a means of establishing a better communal position for themselves: Jacobs, Lyon Cohen and other Canadians whose parents — 187 —

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arrived from Lithuania in the 1880’s, or even earlier, began to consider favourably the rising tide of Jewish democratic forces on the East Side of Montreal and elsewhere in Canada. These bolder Jewish leaders were impressed by the strength of the movement for a Canadian Jewish Congress, democratically elected, and also began to feel the need of giving greater opportunities for participation to the newcomers in directing Jewish communal affairs.47 The campaign of 1917 “brought into clear focus the practical need for all would-be Jewish leaders to identify personally with the newlyarrived, proletarian-oriented, nationalist-minded Jewish immigrants. It helped to find the elusive bridge to unite the ‘Uptown’ and ‘Downtown’ Jews.”48 In April 1917, with the famous “conscription crisis” almost splitting Canada, Sir Robert Borden’s Conservative-Unionist government called an election over the issue. Jacobs was nominated to run in Cartier riding. He was an upper class Jew, Canadian-born, speaking only English and French, but not a word of Yiddish, and not even particularly imbued with Hebraic culture, but one who “could mix as an equal with the great of the land.”And yet the Yiddish-speaking, ghetto Jews began to trust “the proud Jew from Westmount,” precisely because of his, and the Liberal Party’s, stand on open and unrestricted immigration.49 In July 1917, Laurier told Reuben Brainin that the doors of Canada would be open for Jewish immigrants if he were once again prime minister, as he “always was and still is a friend of the Jewish people.” The Jewish voters in Cartier riding were convinced that, “while the Liberal Party might not favour the creation of a Jewish territory in the country, it was officially in favour of a continued open door policy.”50 Immigration was a key issue, and on this Jacobs and the other younger leaders had an unblemished record, fighting a rearguard action in the nativist 1920s. Jacobs, after his election, was, as he himself said, “interested in the immigration problem of this country almost to the exclusion of everything else.”51 Support for Zionism, too, has historically been linked with the Liberal Party in Canada, and this stems partly from the events of the war and the 1917 election. Jacobs was not only an acknowledged leader of — 188 —

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the Canadian Jewish community but also respected in Zionist ranks. Though sympathetic towards Zionism, he was not involved in the ideological rifts between general Zionists, Poale Zion and Mizrachi, and thus could serve as a rallying point in that respect. In the general election held that year, Borden’s government won, but in the Cartier riding, on December 17, 1917, the Liberal Jacobs, with 6,130 votes, handily defeated two opponents, Michael Buhay (a union candidate) with 608 votes, and Joseph Bernier, an independent Liberal who picked up 512 votes.52 For Jacobs, this was the first of six successful elections in Cartier riding; each time he won so handily that his opponents lost their deposits. Following the election, the Keneder Adler penned “A Few Words to the Elected”: Montreal Jewry has fulfilled their duty. They have elected a Jewish representative to the highest parliament in the land. Remember that you were not elected by the wealthy “Uptown” Jews but the common masses of the “Downtown” and with the help and influence of their Yiddish paper. Remember that the support of this paper was given to you ... with the sole aim that we should have a representative and spokesman in the parliament at Ottawa. Remember, Mr. Jacobs, that Jews are now living through the dawn of their deliverance. In all parliaments of the world will be discussed the question of a Jewish state in Palestine and therefore we expect of you that on this question you should rise to the greatest heights of Jewish duty and act in such a manner as if this were your sole interest in life. You must be our champion as well as our defender. It is up to you therefore to meet this test with distinction, to fulfill your sacred duty in the best manner possible.53 Following his victory, Jacobs did declare at a Zionist mass meeting presided over by Clarence de Sola on January 10, 1918, in Montreal — 189 —

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that, should the Zionist program be discussed in the Dominion Parliament, it would have his “whole-hearted support.”54 Immigration and the Palestine question—the two great questions that would be debated by the Canadian Jewish Congress—were thus both foreshadowed in the 1917 election campaign. Jacobs’ victory demonstrated the need for unified Jewish political action to achieve communal goals, and served as a spur for further organization for a Congress. The Formation of the Jewish Legion, 1918: The Canadian Role Another important factor in the sequence of events leading to the unification of the Jewish community at the 1919 Canadian Jewish Congress was the formation of the Jewish Legion’s Canadian section in 1918. The Jewish Legion was the name for five battalions of Jewish volunteers established by the British Army as the 38th to 42nd Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers during the First World War. In 1915, Vladimir Jabotinsky and the Zion Mule Corps had already fought the Turks at Gallipoli, and as the war dragged on, and Zionist ambitions for Palestine grew, world-wide agitation in favour of an at least semi-independent Jewish army doing its military share in liberating Palestine grew. At the beginning of the war, the British government opposed the participation of such a group, but by August 1917, it approved the formation of the Jewish Legion, stipulating that it was to be used only on the Palestine front. With Hebrew as the language of command, and a menorah with the Hebrew word “kadimah” [forward] as its insignia, it did give the symbolic appearance of an independent Jewish military presence fighting with the Allied Powers to conquer Palestine.55 About 5000 volunteers came from North America, and some 400 Canadian Jews served in the Jewish Legion.56 Yet “in the annals of twentieth-century Jewish military history, Canada’s connection with the Jewish Legion of 1918 is one of the least known chapters.”57 “In the early years of the war, the question of a Jewish Legion ... did not seem to concern Canadian Jewry at all.”58 They were more worried, especially in Montreal, about their rather delicate position in between anti-conscription Quebec and the vehemently pro-British feelings in English Canada. Nonetheless, as the war dragged on, sentiment for such a force mounted and became enmeshed with the whole national renaissance among Jews taking place during the war, and especially following the Balfour Declaration of 1917. — 190 —

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Canadian Jews first began to hear of the idea of a Jewish Legion in early 1916, and saw it as a way to silence anti-Semitic accusations that Jews were cowards. Captain Isidore Freedman of Montreal, a Jewish officer in the Canadian Army, called for a Jewish company to be created, and on July 18, 1916, he raised an Infantry Reinforcement Draft Company. It left for Britain in March, 1917, but was there absorbed by the non-Jewish 23rd Reserve Battalion. Nonetheless, after the Balfour Declaration, the Zionist desire to help liberate Palestine grew, especially with the British army already in Gaza and prepared to march on Jerusalem. Editorialized the Keneder Adler: The great time has come! After thousands of years of oppression and persecution, we have been recognized as a nation, as a people equal to all others. This great time entails great responsibilities. We must unite our bond to England with our blood.59 In the United States, Poale Zionists were behind the creation of a Jewish Legion fairly early. In September 1917, Reuben Brainin (now in New York) was already helping to set up a recruiting office in New York, and on March 5, 1918, the American Jewish Committee for a Palestinian Jewish Legion, in an appeal signed by Brainin, Nachman Syrkin, Chaim Zhitlovsky and David Ben-Gurion, called on Jews to enlist. Brainin’s own two sons, Joseph and Moses, joined the Legion, and as they left Boston en route to England, he told them that “it is better to die in the Land of Israel then to return into Exile.”60 In Canada, too, Poale Zion was the ideological, organizational and manpower backbone of the Jewish Legion. In Montreal, Poale Zionists like Yitzhak Ben-Zvi were active in helping organize the Legion and rallies were held, with speakers such as Louis Fitch and Marcus M. Sperber—these two were among the younger, more nationalistic general Zionists, and supported the idea. The propaganda campaign went into full gear: The Jewish Legion is the beginning of the fulfillment of redemption—a concrete expression of our people’s striving for a new life which will strengthen our political weight won on the battlefields of other nations.61 — 191 —

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By March and April 1918, small groups in Montreal and Toronto had turned to the American Jewish Committee for a Palestinian Jewish Legion for further aid. Activists for the Legion went to New York, to the British and Canadian Recruiting Mission there, and asked them to send a delegation to Montreal, to help recruit for the army. An official committee, under the auspices of the Federation of Canadian Zionists, was established in March 1918, and H.M. Caiserman was involved in it. Caiserman himself volunteered for the Legion, but was rejected on military grounds. Reuben Brainin helped set up the actual recruiting bureau, which was run by Bernard (Dov) Joseph, who himself fought in the Legion and would return to settle in Palestine after the war. Stated Caiserman rhapsodically: There flutters in the air a great white-blue flag, the old flag of the new Jewish people. Bow your heads. The Jewish Legion is passing by on its way to liberate and to unite the old Jewish land with the old-new Jewish people. With our blood we must sanctify our bond with England and with other nations which have accorded us recognition.62 And many of those who passed through Canada became future leaders of Israel. David Ben-Gurion, given a festive reception in Montreal by his Poale Zion comrades while passing through there with the Legion, arrived at the Legionnaire’s camp in Windsor, Nova Scotia, on June 1, 1918. “We reached Windsor at ten. At the railway station a number of Legion members were waiting for us, wearing their uniforms.” He wrote to his wife Paula that “Ben-Zvi is a real soldier already. His face is tanned from the sun, and I can hardly recognize him.” He described the reception given the Legionnaires in Windsor: “When our whole crowd goes into the YMCA you would think it was a Jewish wedding. The boys dance and make merry, sing Jewish songs and behave as if they were in the old country and not in Canada... It is as if it is the non-Jews who are in the Galut here.”63 Ben-Gurion grew quite close to some of the Canadian Poale Zionists—indeed, one of the executors of his literary estate mentioned in a last will and testament he drew up at Windsor on July 4, 1918, was Yehuda Kaufman. — 192 —

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There was some opposition at first to the idea of a Jewish Legion. “The Jewish leaders, the ‘Uptown Yahudim,’ were opposed to a separate Jewish military formation. First, they were always against separation—against ‘segregation.’ Second, they were afraid there would not be enough Jewish volunteers.”64 More serious was the cool attitude adopted at first by the Canadian government to what was an Imperial, not Canadian, venture, coming at a time when Canada herself was dependent entirely on volunteers to staff her army. In the summer of 1917, however, Canada introduced conscription, thus easing the pressure for soldiers, and a clause in the bill allowed for volunteers to choose their division or section of the Imperial armies—so it remained possible for non-draftees to join the Jewish Legion. In March 1918, the Canadian government finally allowed recruiting committees to be set up in Canadian cities, under the direction of the British and Canadian recruiting mission in New York. A letter from Colonel C.S. MacInnes of the Department of the Militia and Defence noted that the committees existed only for the recruiting of Jews who were not subject to conscription in Canada. Those to be so recruited would be for the Jewish units of the British Army for service in Palestine. “Expense to be born by the British, and not by the Canadian government, inasmuch as the recruits are for the British army.”65 But S.W. Jacobs led a delegation to General Sydney Chilton Mewburn, Minister of the Militia and Defence, asking that Jews drafted into the armed forces also be permitted to join the Jewish Legion for service in Palestine. The government finally acceded to the request, allowing conscripts to transfer to the Legion upon arrival in Britain. About 150 to 200 conscripted Canadian Jews joined the Legion in this way.66 Canadian Jews now wanted to go even further and create a separate Canadian Jewish Legion. On April 5, 1918, Clarence I. de Sola wrote to Mewburn, noting that Britain now had a separate Jewish unit for service in Palestine, and “the idea of creating a Jewish Regiment, to help Britain conquer Palestine, has also appealed to a number of Jewish young men in the United States...The idea has now spread to Canada and there are many Canadian Jews of military age who would like to serve in a similar regiment, and I have been receiving communications from numbers of Jews, from all parts of Canada, asking me what can be done to organize them into a military unit.”67 In effect, asked de Sola, could the Canadian — 193 —

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government create its own Jewish Legion? The answer, which came on April 15, was no. “Canada has as much as she can do to maintain her forces on the Western Front, and ... it would be unwise to attempt to raise a Jewish Battalion for service in Palestine.”68 Mewburn told de Sola that Jews not subject to the draft could get in touch with the British and Canadian recruiting office in New York or local committees. Draftees could transfer in Britain. On May 6, 1918, to clear away any confusion, Joseph Brainin, then recruiting for the Legion in Halifax, wrote to Borden requesting that he support the Legion publicly. Borden in a reply declared his “sympathy with the purpose for which the Legion is to fight.”69 He congratulated Joseph Brainin for having “secured an opportunity for military service on behalf of Palestine. Should an appropriate occasion afford itself I should be glad to make a statement concerning the Jewish Legion .”70 This was intended to soften the erroneous impression that Canada opposed the Jewish Legion per se, whereas all she was against was a specifically Canadian Jewish unit. Nevertheless, Borden never did make a public statement of support, and possibly a growing sense of Canadian national consciousness during the war made it less diplomatic to support purely Imperial British ventures, under which category came the Legion. Still, as late as May 6, 1918, Rabbi Herbert J. Samuel of Shaarey Zedek synagogue in Winnipeg wrote a confidential letter to Prime Minister Borden, in which he asked the government to oppose the idea of allowing Jewish conscripts drafted for the Canadian Army to transfer to the Jewish Legion (which was, after all, a British unit). If Jews were allowed to transfer, it would “set the government’s seal on the idea that they had no duty to perform for Canada.”71 Despite such cautions, in Winnipeg, where between 61 and 63 Jews eventually joined the Legion, the Zionist Council gave approval to recruit a unit from the city on April 1, 1918.72 On April 8, a mass meeting and parade was called, and it was pointed out that Canadian authorities were allowing Zionists to recruit from all men not yet in uniform. “The Zionist sentiment was so high, the feeling of gratitude to Great Britain so genuine, that when the news reached here of a Jewish Legion being organized ... the younger Zionists, almost as one unit, volunteered for service.”73 They “proudly marched down Selkirk Avenue to encourage more of their friends to enlist.”74 — 194 —

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In Montreal, a total of 57 Jews, including Leon Cheifetz, Moses Caiserman, Mordechai Epstein and Ben Sokolov, joined up and left Montreal for Windsor, Nova Scotia, on May 23. In Toronto, where 75 Jews had entered service with the Legion, 10,000 people saw them off at the station.75 Canadian Major General François-Louis Lessard sent them a letter of encouragement: Impress upon the Jewish young men of Canada that this is their opportunity to serve in this hour of need the cause of Great Britain and her allies and at the same time help in the establishment of the Jewish Homeland in Palestine which has the support of His Majesty’s Government. As a Canadian, I should be delighted to see the record of the Jewish Legion in the United States equaled in the Dominion of Canada.76 The Canadian recruits joined the American volunteers at the Windsor camp on May 23, 1918, and the Legionnaires sailed for Plymouth, England, en route to the Middle East, on July 10, entering Jerusalem (which had been conquered by General Edmund Allenby the previous December 11, 1917), on September 18, 1918. By July 1918, there were already insufficient recruits to maintain all the various recruiting offices in Canada. On July 18, Captain P.F. Sise of the British and Canadian Recruiting Mission in New York wrote to the Ministry of the Militia and Defence in Ottawa, that “in view of the very small number of recruits which appear to be obtainable in Canada for the Jewish Unit of the British Army for service in Palestine, it has been decided to disband the Jewish Recruiting Committee organized at Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg”77 In September 1918, the New York office itself closed. Altogether, a total of at least 5,000 Canadian Jews fought for Britain and Canada in World War I, 4,700 in the regular Canadian army, and perhaps as many as 400 in the Legion—a high figure for a community which numbered just over 120,000 people in 1919.78 The saga of the Jewish Legion in Canada, important and impressive in its own right, was also another step in the road leading to unity in the Jewish community.

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Zionist Work Among Women to 1919 Not neglected by Zionists in their general drive for unity among Canadian Jewry and the fostering of Jewish national consciousness were the women of the community, and by 1919 women’s groups had a national organization within the Federation of Zionist Societies in Canada, in the form of Hadassah. Ordinary Zionist societies were considered to be all-male preserves at the turn of the century, and women’s groups—more concerned with charity and fund raising—soon sprang into separate existence. Delegates from these groups could, and did, attend general Zionist conventions as representatives, and were elected to various offices and to executive councils. A B’noth Zion (Daughters of Zion) society had been organized by Ida Lewis (later Ida Siegel) in Toronto in 1900, and on March 29, 1901, the Young Ladies Progressive Zionist Society, in Montreal, was granted a chapter by the new Federation. In addition to this, following the second convention of the Federation in December, 1901, Belle de Sola organized another branch of B’noth Zion, in Montreal, and for four years thereafter was its head. Even at this early date, women were already represented on the National Council, Esther Feldstein being elected at the December convention. In 1902, branches of B’noth Zion were founded at Ottawa and at London, Ontario, and in 1903, at the third national convention, the former chapter was represented by five women, including Lillian Bilsky and Sarah Morris.79 As well, Belle de Sola represented the Montreal B’noth Zion. In the elections of that year, Ida Lewis of Toronto became a vicepresident of the Federation, and Annie Samuel of Montreal took a seat on the National Council. At the fourth convention, held in Montreal in 1905, the Montreal B’noth Zion held a public reception, under the auspices of Belle de Sola and others in the group. She also accompanied her husband as a delegate to the seventh World Zionist Congress of 1905. The fifth Federation convention, held in Toronto in 1906, saw five women’s groups represented, including two from Toronto (the B’noth Zion and the Herzl Girls Society, newly formed under Betty Goldstick), and one each from Montreal, Ottawa and London. Ida Lewis was again elected a vice-president, and six other women were placed on the National Council. At the 1908 convention, Siegal retained her position, — 196 —

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and six women—three each from Montreal and Toronto—were elected to the National Council. A new Zionist group, the Young Ladies Zionist Society of Ottawa, was formed and granted a charter on December 29 of that year. In 1910 some of the Ottawa women were reorganized under the name Herzl Ladies Society, and Lillian Freiman became president of this group. As well, Anna Selick (later Anna Raginsky), who had arrived in Toronto from New Brunswick in 1910, became president of the new B’noth Zion Kadimah chapter in that city; a year later she was also elected a vice-president of the Toronto Zionist Council. At the eleventh Federation convention that year, seven women’s chapters were represented, including three from Toronto and two each from Montreal and Ottawa, and five women were elected to the National Council. Two new women’s Zionist groups were organized in Montreal in 1911. In October, the Jewish Women’s League for Cultural Work in Palestine was organized; and in December, application for a charter was received from Rosa Klein, secretary for the new Young Ladies’ Zionist and Literary Society. On October, 1911, Bella Pevsner, a lecturer at the Bezalel School in Jerusalem, arrived in Canada to tour on behalf of funds. An unexpected by-product of her visit to Winnipeg in 1912 was the formation of a B’noth Zion Society there. At the 12th convention in Ottawa in 1912, seven women’s groups from Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa were represented, and reports were presented by various representatives. However, only four women were elected to the National Council. On January 7, 1913, B’noth Zion of Quebec City was organized and later that year the B’noth Zion Juniors, Queen Esther Cadets and the Nordau Girls Group of Toronto were granted charters. At the 13th convention, held in Montreal in December of 1913, Anna Selick reported for the women’s Zionist societies in Toronto; she was that year elected to the National Council as well. On May 12, 1914, the National Council granted charters to a combined men’s and women’s Zionist group in Estevan, Saskatchewan, and to B’noth Zion branches in Vancouver, Hamilton and London, Ontario, the last headed by Miss Dora Fishbein. A Herzl Girls group was also established in Edmonton, and a de Sola Girls Society in Toronto. At the 14th convention, held in Montreal in November 1915, Belle de Sola, Min— 197 —

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nie Fitch (the wife of Louis Fitch) and Anna Selick were among the five women elected to the National Council. Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, became the locale of another B’noth Zion society in that year, as did Brandon, Manitoba, a year later. In 1918, the Montreal B’noth Zion also formed a Palestinian Sewing Circle. In 1917, there were early and sporadic attempts at forming Poale Zion women’s groups—one was set up by Rachael Rosenblatt—but these did not last long. Only in 1927, under the influence of such women as Sarah Caiserman (wife of H.M. Caiserman) was the labour Zionist Pioneer Women’s Organization founded. The years of the war required a much greater organizational effort in terms of fund raising for relief and charity needs overseas. A national coordinating group was needed to take care of this upsurge of activities. In the United States, Henrietta Szold had organized a national women’s Zionist group, Hadassah, in 1912,80 and at the 14th Canadian Zionist convention, held in Montreal in 1915, Anna Selick called for the organization of Hadassah chapters in Canada. In 1916, Henrietta Szold, president of Hadassah in the U.S., visited Toronto and encouraged Anna Selick to create a Canadian counterpart. In January 1917, ten women in Toronto, led by Selick, organized the first Canadian Hadassah chapter, to raise funds for Jewish soldiers, and in March they received a visit from Henrietta Szold. On April 2, 1917, Selick sent $500 to the National Council of the Zionist Federation, and they agreed to give her more assistance to continue her propaganda.81 At the fifteenth Zionist convention, held in Winnipeg in July 1917, Hadassah began to partake in the sudden growth then being experienced by Zionism across Canada. Selick prompted a resolution to create Hadassah groups across Canada: Whereas the Hadassah Organization has originated in Toronto, Canada and whereas the Toronto Chapter has been assisting other cities in Canada for the same purpose, be it resolved: That the headquarters of the Hadassah Organization be in Toronto for the coming year under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Zionist Federation ... and be it further resolved: That the above group of Zionist women in Toronto and other cities in Canada if admitted in the Hadassah fellowship as above — 198 —

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described shall remit all monies to the Canadian Zionist Federation.82 By the end of 1917, a second Ontario chapter of Hadassah was created in Hamilton, and the organization began to expand rapidly. Indeed, Hadassah, which soon began to shoulder the burden of Zionist fund raising, was one factor which made possible the extraordinary growth of the Zionist movement right after the world war. “If Zionism in Canada ever had a vanguard, it was the women of Hadassah, especially in Western Canada.”83 As G.A. Stolar noted, “nowhere else in the world have the women played such an important role in building up the Zionist Organization and in assisting it to fulfill its manifold duties to Palestine.” Whereas in many other countries women Zionists limited their activities to the upkeep of women’s institutions in Palestine or propagating Zionism to women, “Canadian Hadassah has imposed upon itself no such limitations. There is no field of Zionist activity in Canada in which Canadian Hadassah has not played a weighty and, in some cases, even a preponderant role.” 84 On January 20, 1918, 20 women in London, Ontario, under the direction of Anna Selick, started a third Ontario chapter, and under the leadership of Anna Goldstick (wife of Isidore Goldstick), the membership soon increased to 125. By May 1918, when an Ontario provincial conference was convened, there were chapters in five Ontario cities— Toronto, Hamilton, London, Brantford and Windsor—and another Toronto chapter, the Brandeis Girls, was organized soon thereafter. The sixteenth Canadian Zionist Federation convention was held in Toronto on January 5-7, 1919, and Selick reported on the progress made by the various chapters and made a strong appeal for assistance to be given in the development of the organization. The convention formally established Canadian Hadassah as an all-Canadian organization. “The modern Deborah of Canadian Jewish history, Mrs. A.J. Freiman” was appointed chairman, and became “the first lady of Canada’s Jewry.”85 She took over the executive work of Hadassah from the Zionist Federation, and appealed for women to join the movement: Sisters of Israel, this is the message I bring you from the Women’s Zionist Organization. Jewish Women of Canada, can you be silent? Can you resist the call to — 199 —

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work? Yours now is the glorious privilege to act! Hadassah welcomes you gladly as a worker in the ranks! Will you join? Will you help? Resolve to join Hadassah for real constructive work. If there is not a chapter in your city ... we will form one.86 Freiman, who during World War I had already raised $15,000 for Polish and Russian Jews,87 in February, 1919, began the Helping Hand Fund for Destitute Jewry in Palestine, which helped launch Hadassah as a country-wide movement. She traveled all over the country to raise money and supplies, and, as H.M. Caiserman said, “she revolutionized the measure of contribution in Canada for Palestine.”88 On April 6, the Zionist Executive Committee learned “with the highest satisfaction” that the campaign had collected about $160,000 in cash, and another $40,000 worth of clothing and foodstuffs, sums which seemed incredible when compared with the level of donations given to the Zionist groups in the previous twenty years.89 The money was sent to Chaim Weizmann in London, and the goods forwarded to Palestine via the Red Cross. As the poet A.M. Klein, then the editor of the Canadian Jewish Chronicle, said of Lillian Freiman in 1940, “Under her guidance ... Zionism was elevated from the sporadic efforts which characterized it in the early decades, to the measure and might of a great national movement.”90 The organization grew throughout 1919, new chapters being formed in cities such as Saint John, New Brunswick; Glace Bay, Nova Scotia; and Timmins, Ontario. Also, new branches in Vancouver and Quebec City were named Lillian Freiman chapters. As well, a youth army called Junior Hadassah was founded. Henrietta Szold visited Montreal on December 18-22 to help organize Hadassah chapters. A new five-unit chapter replaced the old B’noth Zion, and Minnie Fitch became citywide coordinator. Winnipeg’s first Hadassah chapter was formed in May 1920 at the home of Goldie Finesilver. One of the founders, Rose Ripstein, would soon marry M. J. Finkelstein. Sylvia Wilder, wife of Harry E. Wilder, the “mother of Hadassah” in Winnipeg, helped form five more chapters by 1925, with a total of more than 1,000 members.91 The Calgary Chapter was formed in 1921 by Marcia Goldberg and Rose Rabinovitz.92 Canadian Hadassah did not join Henrietta Szold’s organization, — 200 —

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though. Anna Selick and Lillian Freiman attended the 1919 Chicago convention of American Hadassah, “because I wanted to know,” Freiman explained, “just what the American Jewish women were preparing to do in these momentous times—how they were preparing to help in the reorganization of world Jewry,” and whether “the women of Canada could cooperate with them.”93 The two women introduced the concept of Youth Aliyah when they submitted a resolution calling for the settlement of 5,000 Jewish war orphans from Poland in Palestine: Resolved that we, the Hadassah of the United States and Canada, undertake to obtain the cooperation of all the Zionist women in the world to adopt these children by giving them homes in our beloved Palestine where they may be brought up as future Hebrew citizens.94 The motion was, however, not adopted but merely referred to the executive, and possibly as a result, Canadian Hadassah a year later allied instead with the British-based Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO) formed in that year. It also later became part of the Canadian Council of Jewish Women and, of course, the Canadian Jewish Congress. Lillian Freiman would remain president of Hadassah from 1921 to 1940. Pioneer Women and Mizrachi Women were to follow.95 The events of 1917-1919 had set the stage for the final chapter in the drive for communal unity in the Dominion—the calling of a Canadian Jewish Congress in 1919.

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Endnotes 1  Cheifetz, “Di yidishe natsyonale baveygung in kanada,” 76. 2  Yonathan Shapiro, Leadership of the American Zionist Organization 1897-1930, 80. 3  Quoted in Yonathan Shapiro, Leadership of the American Zionist Organization 1897-1930, 87. 4  Yonathan Shapiro, Leadership of the American Zionist Organization 1897-1930, 63. 5  Yonathan Shapiro, Leadership of the American Zionist Organization 1897-1930, 76. 6  Quoted in Herbert Parzen, “Brandeis and the Balfour Declaration,” in Raphael Patai, ed., Herzl Year Book: Essays in Zionist History and Thought, Vol. V: Studies in the History of Zionism in America: 1894-1919 (New York: Herzl Press, 1963), 321. 7  Louis Fitch, “The New Aspect,” Canadian Jewish Chronicle 3, 20, September 27, 1916, 6. 8  Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 301. Indeed, at the Council meeting of April 15, Abraham Levin suggested that the Bureau Committee be reorganized under a salaried Executive Director, so quickly was the Federation growing. 9  Quoted in Herbert Parzen, “Brandeis and the Balfour Declaration,” 322. 10 Philips, “Necrology,” 270-271. 11 Quoted in Leonard Stein, The Balfour Declaration (London: Vallentine, Mitchell, 1961), 428-429, n. 28 12 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 302. 13 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 302. 14 Quoted in Figler, Biography of Louis Fitch, Q.C., 17-18. 15 Quoted in The Israelite Press: Centennial Supplement, 1867-1967 (Winnipeg: Israelite Press, 1967), 11. 16 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 302. 17 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 303. 18 The Israelite Press: Centennial Supplement: 1867-1967, 3. 19 An immense amount has been published about the Balfour Declaration. One recent book is Jonathan Schneer, The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2010). See also Jon Kimche, The Unromantics: The Great Powers and the Balfour Declaration (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1968). 20 “The Zionist Organization of Canada,” 291. 21 Quoted in Figler, Biography of Louis Fitch, Q.C., 19. 22 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 303. 23 The full text can be found in Yonathan Shapiro, Leadership of the American Zionist Organization 1897-1930, 126. — 202 —

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24 Membership figures in the organization went from 22,000 in 1917 to 149,235 the year after the Balfour Declaration, down to 21,000 in 1920, and up again somewhat, to 30,597, in 1921. Samuel Halperin, The Political World of American Zionism (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1961), Appendix V, 327. Poale Zion membership in the United States stood at about 7,000 at this time. 25 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 303. 26 Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn,155. 27 Quoted in Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman, 193. The Lithuanian-born Garber, eventually a prominent corporation lawyer and alderman in Westmount from 1955 to 1959, became national president of the Canadian Jewish Congress in 1962. 28 Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 156. 29 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 304. 30 Quoted in Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman, 206. 31 Zvi Cohen, Canadian Jewry: Prominent Jews of Canada: A History of Canadian Jewry Especially of the Present through Reviews and Biographical Sketches (Toronto: Canadian Jewish Historical Publishing Co., 1933), 38. 32 Azrieli, Rekindling the Torch, 53. 33 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 304. 34 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 304. 35 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 304. 36 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 304. 37 Zhitlovsky called Winnipeg his “fortress city.” Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 48. 38 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 60. 39 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 109. 40 M.A. Gray was later elected to the Manitoba legislature as a labour candidate. 41 Abraham Rhinewine, Looking Back a Century: On the Centennial of Jewish Political Equality in Canada (Toronto: Kraft Press, 1932), 115-116. 42 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 157. 43 Quoted in Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 160. 44 Quoted in The Israelite Press: Centennial Supplement, 1867-1967, 8. 45 Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 39. 46 Belkin, Through Narrow Gates, 93. 47 Belkin, Through Narrow Gates, 93. 48 Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 40. 49 Figler, Sam Jacobs, 63. 50 Belkin, Through Narrow Gates, 92-93. 51 Letter to Sir Henry Thornton, president of Canadian National Railways, February 14, 1930; quoted in Figler, Sam Jacobs, 172. 52 Figler, Sam Jacobs, 61. Michael Buhay in the 1930s became a Communist Party standard bearer in this same area. — 203 —

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53 Quoted in Figler, Sam Jacobs, 61. At this point, the Keneder Adler was in the process of mending its fences with the CJPA and immigrant organizations in general. 54 Quoted in Figler, Sam Jacobs, 64. 55 For a full history, see Martin Watts, The Jewish Legion and the First World War (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004). 56 Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews, 174. The Jewish Public Library in Montreal houses in its archives a picture album collected by Leon Cheifetz to commemorate some of the Canadian volunteers of the Jewish Legion. See further on this in Leon Cheifetz, “40 yor yidishe legyon,” in the Golden Jubilee Edition of the Jewish Daily Eagle (Keneder Adler) (Montreal: Keneder Adler, November 22, 1957). 57 Zachariah Kay, “A Note on Canada and the Formation of the Jewish Legion,” in Jewish Social Studies 29, 3 (1967): 171. 58 Elias Gilner, War and Hope: A History of the Jewish Legion (New York: Herzl Press, 1969), 183. 59 Quoted in Medres, Montreal fun nekhtn, 148. 60 Quoted in Gilner, War and Hope, 176. 61 Quoted in Gilner, War and Hope, 186. 62 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 71. 63 David Ben-Gurion, “Letters to Paula,” Midstream 17, 8 (1971): 59-62. 64 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 147. 65 Quoted in Kay, “A Note on Canada and the Formation of the Jewish Legion,” 173. 66 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 148. 67 Quoted in Gilner, War and Hope, 185. 68 Quoted in Kay, “A Note on Canada and the Formation of the Jewish Legion,” 174. 69 Quoted in Gilner, War and Hope, 186. 70 Quoted in Kay, A Note on Canada and the Formation of the Jewish Legion,” 175. 71 Quoted in Kay, “A Note on Canada and the Formation of the Jewish Legion,” 175. 72 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 149. 73 Wilder, “An Outline of the History of the Jews in Canada,” 33-34. 74 Levine, Coming of Age, 183. 75 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 149. Born in Belarus and brought to Canada at the age of nine, Cheifetz joined Poale Zion at the age of 15 and a year later became member of Hechalutz organized by Yitzhak Ben-Zvi and David Ben-Gurion. While still under 18, he was among the first to join the Jewish Legion group in Montreal. On demobilization, he returned to Canada in 1921 and resumed activities in Labor Zionist movement; Histadrut campaign; Jewish National Fund; and Canadian Jewish Congress. Mordechai Epstein, born in 1894, immigrated to Montreal in 1913 and was active in Poale Zion. He joined the Jewish Legion in 1918 and served until 1920 when returned to Canada. He — 204 —

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moved to Palestine in 1924. 76 Quoted in Jacob A. Rubin, Partners in State-Building: American Jewry and Israel (New York: Diplomatic Press Inc., 1969), 257-258. 77 Quoted in Kay, “A Note on Canada and the Formation of the Jewish Legion,” 177. 78 Kay, “A Note on Canada and the Formation of the Jewish Legion,” 177. Returning Jewish Legionnaires were helped home by the Disraeli Chapter of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire, in Ottawa, headed by Lillian Freiman. 79 Lillian Bilsky (who married A.J. Freiman on August 18 of that year), was then 17 years old. She never missed a single convention after that. 80 See further Marvin Lowenthal, Henrietta Szold: Life and Letters (New York: Viking Press, 1942); and Rose Zeitlin, Henrietta Szold: Record of a Life (New York: Dial Press, 1952). 81 Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 301. 82 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 302. 83 Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews, 333. 84 Stolar, “The Growth of Canadian Zionism,” 227. 85 Zvi Cohen, Canadian Jewry, 40. 86 Quoted in Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman, 40. 87 Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 22. 88 Quoted in Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman, 40. 89 Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 304. 90 Quoted in Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman, 163. 91 Levine, Coming of Age, 185-187. 92 Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta, Land of Promise: The Jewish Experience in Southern Alberta (Calgary: Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta, 1996), 17. 93 Quoted in Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman, 37-38. 94 Quoted in Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman, 39. 95 Azrieli, Rekindling the Torch, 50.

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Bernard (Dov) Joseph in the Jewish Legion, 1918, courtesy Jewish Public Library Archives, Montreal..

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Leon Cheifetz in the Jewish Legion, 1918, courtesy Jewish Public Library Archives, Montreal.

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Lillian Freiman, president of Hadassah-WIZO, 1919-1940, courtesy of Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal.

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8. The Canadian Jewish Congress of 1919

The Final Steps: The Election of 1919 The people supporting the process leading towards a unified Jewish community in Canada triumphed in the spring of 1919 when, after many years of debate and fruitless disruptions, most segments of the community agreed to the convening of a Canadian Jewish Congress, and were offered a platform for expression of their opinions. “Canadian Jewry as such had come into being.”1 In the United States, as noted, the east European intellectuals had led the struggle against the anti-Congress and anti-Zionist American Jewish Committee—even German-Jewish Zionists wavered in their attacks on that organization. “For years the uptown German Jews had effectively blocked their way to leadership in the Jewish community. The Congress issue was an outlet for resentment for Eastern Europeans [and] gave them a good chance to win their rightful place in American Jewry.”2 The American Jewish Congress idea “enunciated the goals which the masses here were determined to reach: an autonomous Jewish homeland in Palestine and minority rights for the oppressed Jews in the East European states created or strengthened by the Versailles Treaty of 1919. The power of an aroused American Jewish public opinion was so irresistible that the natives and their leaders thought it wise to subscribe to that program.”3 The Congress movement, led by Poale Zion and the allies, on the one hand, and the Brandeis Zionist group on the other, had gained support rapidly. A preliminary conference was held in Philadelphia on March 26-28, 1916. Elections involving a total of 335,000 voters were held on June 10, 1917, and the machinery was set up that eventually culminated in the Congress of December 1918.4 In Canada, when word arrived that an American Jewish Congress would be meeting in Philadelphia, work began for a Canadian Congress. On November 12, 1918, the Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance reorganized the Montreal Congress Committee, with Peter Bercovitch as — 209 —

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chairman and Joe Cohen as secretary. The sessions of the American Jewish Congress in Philadelphia were attended by a group of five Canadian observers, appointed at a meeting held a week earlier in Toronto. Among the delegates were Isidore Bobrove of Toronto and J.A. Cherniak of Winnipeg. From Montreal, Bercovitch and Hirsch Wolofsky were selected, the CJPA allowing Wolofsky to go in order to make peace with the Keneder Adler, even though the Poale Zion protested about the fact that he had been picked. The delegates returned with the conviction that the time was ripe for a Canadian Congress, and at a public meeting held in the Montreal Labour Temple on December 25, H.M. Caiserman and S.D. Cohen were named joint secretaries of a preparatory conference to be held on January 9, 1919, following the Zionist Federation convention. In the preceding years, as already noted, richer Jews had felt that a Canadian Jewish Congress would be interpreted by non-Jews as the building of a state within a state; general Zionists had felt that a Congress might cause antagonisms and show the world that Jews were not united in their desire for a homeland in Palestine; and general socialists felt a Congress would deal with only Zionist and Jewish communal problems, to the exclusion of those wider questions which, in the final analysis, were the only ones through which the Jewish question would be solved. But now objections to the Congress faded and lingering doubts were swept away. Hirsch Wolofsky himself now began to support the idea of a Congress. His Canadian Jewish Chronicle of November 15, 1918, editorialized: We are glad to note that Canadian Jews are about to fall into line with progressive Jews of other countries in the matter of organizing a Jewish Congress to deal with the many Jewish questions that have arisen during the War, as well as those that are bound to arise on the establishment of peace.5 And again on November 22: Whatever may be the manner of having the Jewish case presented to the “Peace Tribunal,” the issue we cannot — 210 —

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doubt; hence the necessity and value of summoning at the earliest possible moment Jewish Congresses wherever feasible and in Canada, where the question of immigration will demand our earnest attention, only a Congress will meet the requirements of this situation.6 On December 25, 1918, the Toronto Congress Committee asked all democratically elected committees in the three major Canadian cities to prepare for a Jewish Congress, adding, “the time for toying with the Jewish Congress has already passed ... All must come.”7 H.M. Caiserman repeated this demand on January 9, 1919: I would like to see the Zionist Organization of Canada, the Jewish press, labour unions, synagogues, loan syndicates and other economic and cultural organizations drawn into the movement, because without their aid and participation no Canadian Jewish Congress is possible. It was the express wish of the meeting [of December 25, 1918] that a Congress of Canadian Jewry be held within three months.8 As Archie Bennett noted, “Caiserman attached himself to this idea, and became its apostle ... Henceforth the two—Congress and Caiserman—became an identity.”9 The Montreal Poale Zion now disbanded the old CJPA Congress Committee, which had done its work and was no longer needed. On January 19 to 26, 1919, they organized a new conference at the Baron de Hirsch Institute and the 125 organizations attending again called for a Congress. A 40-person committee was selected, 12 of its members coming from the Poale Zionist organized Socialist-National workers’ bloc, including Caiserman, who became general secretary of the group; Simon Belkin, chairman of the national voting committee; Frank White, secretary for the voting committee; and Louis Zucker, who served on the finance, arrangements and propaganda committees. It was not easy to iron out differences with regard to a workers’ bloc platform. One big debate concerned the resolution on Palestine—Poale Zion wanted the wording to call for an independent state, whereas the genosen preferred the less nationalist term free republic. The Poale Zion — 211 —

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position won 33-8, with four abstentions, and the workers’ bloc was finally established, comprising a total of thirty cultural, educational and progressive organizations. They decided they would not vote against any resolutions at the Congress which would be presented by the bloc.10 The entire committee next traveled to Toronto, where it met representatives of all the various Congress committees. On February 2, 1919, a nine-man national executive was chosen to prepare a manifesto and arrange for speakers. Lyon Cohen was chosen president, having been one of the first “uptowners” to be pro-Congress. It was hoped that Cohen’s prestige would help unite Canadian Jews and assure the participation of the “uptowners.” Also chosen among the nine were two Poale Zionists, Simon Belkin and H.M. Caiserman, and the latter was elected as general secretary. Caiserman, in effect, was given the real task of bringing together Canadian Jewry: Having assumed such responsibilities, I realized that success or failure depended on my ability to reconcile three important groups of Canadian Jewry—namely, the Labour Movement, the Zionist Organization, and the wealthier class, of which a great majority, like the organized Labour Movement, were antagonistic to any Jewish national program. The enthusiastic response of the Poale Zion organization and the extraordinary amount of energy and agitation which they put forth were responsible for the enlisting of the entire Canadian Jewish labour movement.11 Final preparations for the Congress now got under way across Canada. It was decided that every Canadian Jew (male or female) 18 years or older, upon paying a tax of 10 cents, would be eligible to vote for the Congress. There would be a direct and secret ballot, conducted on a partisan and ideological basis, on March 2, 1919, and the Congress would meet March 16, in Montreal. All told, there would be 209 delegates to the Congress, 15 of them to be chosen by national groups—five each from Mizrachi, the Zionist Federation, and the Socialist-National (Labour and Poale Zion) Workers’ Bloc. The others would represent geographical locations as follows:

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Quebec

Montreal Rest of Province

72 delegates 14 delegates

Total

86 delegates

Toronto Hamilton Ottawa Rest of Province

40 delegates 5 delegates 4 delegates 16 delegates

Total

65 delegates

Winnipeg Rest of the region

20 delegates 23 delegates

Total

43 delegates

Ontario

Western Canada

The three main blocs—Mizrachi, the general Zionists, and the Poale Zion-led workers’ bloc—now began to conduct their election campaigns. The platform of the workers’ bloc asserted that the solution of the problems of the Jewish people, both in Palestine and in the galut, depended on the success of international socialism. The full national, political and industrial freedom of the Jewish people, along with other people, could only be achieved under socialism, which would recognize the rights of all nations, big or small, to self-determination. At the present time when the Jews of the whole world are organizing for political, national and cultural interests ... when the future of Palestine is being decided; when the question of national rights for the Jew in every — 213 —

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country is so timely and necessary, when the questions of rebuilding the destroyed Jewish homes and helping immigrants are on the agenda of our lives—we thus acknowledge the necessity for organizing the Jews of every country and we are going to the Canadian Jewish Congress, which will decide the policy of Canadian Jewry, as a part of world Jewry’s demands to the world.12 The workers’ bloc demanded 1.) an independent, neutral and internationally guaranteed national home in Palestine, with governmental institutions in harmony with socialist ideals 2.) national rights for the Jews as a minority nationality in all countries, including establishment of progressive Jewish kehillas, autonomy of the Yiddish language, and schools and cultural autonomy 3.) national rights for the Jews of Canada 4.) constructive relief work for war sufferers overseas 5.) help for incoming Jewish immigrants by existing Jewish organizations, including those of the workers, this aid to be seen in a national, not charity, context 6.) the calling of a World Jewish Congress “Our program is constructive, Jewish, progressive, national,” stated the bloc.”13 On March 2-3, 1919, 24,866 Jews across the country voted for delegates to the Canadian Jewish Congress, a high percentage of the adult Jews in the country. In Montreal, 7,182 went to the polls, along with another 2,000 in the rest of Quebec; Toronto saw 6,741 Jews vote, with 3,000 more casting ballots elsewhere in Ontario; and in Winnipeg 3,481 people elected the delegates, while in the rest of western Canada, 2,462 voted.14 Of the 72 delegates elected in Montreal, a total of 32—sixteen Poale Zionists, nine Bundists and seven trade unionists—were from the workers’ bloc. Among the labour Zionists were H.M. Caiserman, Yehuda Kaufman, Israel Rabinovitch, Noah Cheifetz, Louis Zucker, Simon Belkin, Frank White and Moishe Dickstein. — 214 —

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In Toronto, the election for delegates to the Canadian Jewish Congress was, with the exception of Holy Blossom Temple, “greeted with great enthusiasm.” Toronto Jews “flocked to the polls” to elect representatives—over six thousand voted. More than 100 candidates contested the 40 seats available; the overwhelming number of successful candidates were Yiddish-speaking, east European immigrants.15 Of the forty delegates, 18 were from the workers’ bloc, including 12 Poale Zionists, among whom were numbered Max Manson, Maurice Goldstick, and Abraham Rhinewine. Goldstick, later a president of the Toronto Zionist Council, and Archie Bennett led the Toronto delegation to the Congress. In Winnipeg, “feverish excitement and vigorous interest characterized the pre-election campaign.”16 Here there was no united labour bloc, as Poale Zion was angry with the Jewish socialists for having argued against labour Zionist membership in the Dominion Labour Party. In turn, Poale Zion argued against Bundist participation in the Jewish Congress. Out of the twenty delegates chosen in Winnipeg, seven— J.A. Cherniak, Morris A. Gray, Marcus Hyman, Ben Sheps, Sam Green, Aaron Osovsky and Meyer Averbach—were Poale Zionists. Also chosen were such general Zionists as Rabbi Herbert J. Samuel of Congregation Shaarey Zedek, Rabbi Israel Kahanovitch of Beth Jacob congregation, Harry E. Wilder, Hiram Weidman, and M.J. Finkelstein, as well as Shloime Almazov, a fervent socialist. In smaller towns, there was also much enthusiasm. For example, the election in London, Ontario, was a keen one. “No Jewish election in London before or after that year, was ever contested more determinedly than the election of delegates to the first plenary session of the Canadian Jewish Congress ... It was an election complete with campaign propaganda and cars taxiing tardy voters to the polls.”17 The delegates elected there were Morris Fishbein, an immigrant from the Ukraine who arrived in Canada in 1893, and Isidore Goldstick, both Zionists. Of the 209 delegates chosen (of which 15 were allotments in the three blocs), the workers’ bloc had a total of 65. Indeed, of the 132 delegates from the three major cities, 35 were Poale Zion members.18 Poale Zion also demanded, after the elections, that Reuben Brainin, Chaim Zhitlovsky, and Yehuda Kaufman (the last already a Montreal delegate) be invited as special guests to the Congress. As it grew near, the New York Poale Zion organ Yidisher Kemfer, in its issue of March 14, 1919, encouraged the Jewish masses to be strong and not afraid: — 215 —

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Do not allow the Yahudim, the aristocrats ... the Zionist ‘karpen-kep’ [“big shots”] to run affairs ... Your most important demand as Jews of the Dominion of Canada is national rights. You can get them, you must get them ... When electing your executive, do not chase after famous names ... choose fine but honest and realistic folksmenshen.19 The Convening of the Canadian Jewish Congress General Setting On March 16, 1919, the 209 delegates and assorted guests such as Shmarya Levin, Chaim Zhitlovsky and Reuben Brainin met in Montreal to convene the long-awaited Canadian Jewish Congress, the final step in the formation of a united Jewish community in the Dominion. It was truly representative of Canadian Jewry: there were delegates from the Federation, Poale Zion, Mizrachi, the Arbeiter Ring, unions, landsmanshaften, and charitable organizations. Poale Zionists such as Louis Zucker and Simon Belkin in Montreal, Abraham Rhinewine in Toronto, and Marcus Hyman and Ben Sheps in Winnipeg had long striven to make it a reality. “The Canadian Jewish community can therefore be said to have come of age in 1919.”20 The three-day-long Congress opened at the Monument National Theatre, with ten rabbis sitting at a podium bedecked with Zionist flags. Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Cohen and Herman Abramowitz opened the Congress with short speeches (the Yiddish language predominated at the Congress), following which Lyon Cohen gave the keynote address: It is a marvelous fact that the Congress idea was born simultaneously both here and in the United States. The awakened consciousness of our people everywhere, has been insistent in its demands. Spontaneously from various parts of the country, the idea emerged and all classes of Jewry were obliged to answer the call to discuss our common problems... Some misgivings have, nonetheless, been voiced re— 216 —

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garding the movement, the fear having been expressed in some parts that a Canadian Jewish Congress would create an erroneous impression as regards the loyalty of the Jew. I believe that our loyalty to Canada and Great Britain, to King and Country, cannot be questioned.21 Cohen went on to talk of conditions in eastern Europe, noting that “hundreds of thousands, I fear millions, of our brethren in the waraffected countries are now suffering hunger, yes, even dying of starvation.”22 He called on the delegates not to “remain indifferent to the blood of their fellow men.” National rights for Jews in eastern Europe was an imperative: The political, religious and civil emancipation of Jews in those countries where such rights are denied them, claims our whole hearted support. It is our duty to express our unalterable faith in the righteousness of their cause.23 On the question of Palestine, “a preponderating majority of our people believe that the time has now arrived to realize our two-thousand-year-old yearning to regain our national homeland Palestine,” and Canadian Jews were no less inspired by these feelings: One of the most important aims of this Congress is, therefore, to raise our voice for Palestine. While its future is no longer in doubt, since we have the endorsement of the British Government, we Canadian Jews must endorse and give expression to our support of this highest Jewish national aspiration.24 Cohen, most prominent of the group of Lithuanian Jews who had worked out the compromise which allowed a Jewish Congress to be convened, was thus a fitting choice to open proceedings. Like Louis Marshall in the United States, Lyon Cohen worked eagerly to end the disagreement which for almost two years, had divided Canadian Jewry ... It was — 217 —

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Lyon Cohen who stepped in at a psychological moment and obtained a compromise, thus giving to the Congress its undisputed leader and making possible the resolutions adopted by the Congress.25 At the conferences in Montreal which preceded and laid the groundwork for the historic 1919 Congress, Cohen had revealed a personality which could enlist the upper class Jews and thus lead the entire movement. “His adherence to the Congress influenced the majority of the wealthy community to also join the Congress.” Cohen had accepted the invitation to join the forces of those fighting for a Congress, and later accepted its presidency, since, while not hitherto connected with any movement which considered Jewish national rights to be a fundamental principle, “he did not fail to realize that a Canadian Jewish Congress [would be] a unifying factor for Canadian Jewry.”26 At the second session of the Congress, held on the morning of March 17, an executive was chosen to guide the Congress for the duration of its sittings. Cohen was unanimously elected permanent chair. The vice-chairs were Louis Fitch and Peter Bercovitch, Montreal; Maurice Goldstick, Toronto; and M.J. Finkelstein, Winnipeg. Also selected were members of the various committees. The executive was thus representative both of geographical areas— Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and smaller centers all had representation—and ideology: there were general Zionists such as Louis Fitch, A.J. Freiman, and M.J. Finkelstein; Poale Zionists like Marcus Hyman, Abraham Rhinewine and Ben Sheps; upper class Jews such as Peter Bercovitch; and social democrats like Joseph Schubert. Also notable was the fact that those most identified with intransigency on both sides of the general Zionist-CJPA split, men such as Clarence de Sola and Reuben Brainin, while participants and guests as the Congress, were not elected to any positions. Resolutions The Congress, attempting to mobilize Canadian Jewry, occupied itself with a wide array of topics. A resolution introduced by Hirsch Wolofsky and accepted by the delegates mandated the Congress to call for a World Jewish Congress and to join its Committee of Jewish Delegations at the forthcoming Versailles peace conference, in order to work for the — 218 —

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endorsement of the Balfour Declaration and the appointment of Britain as the Mandatory power for Palestine; and to have national minority rights inserted in the treaties dealing with the new successor states in eastern Europe. The Congress also protested the pogroms in the former Russian Pale of Settlement, reaffirmed its loyalty to Canada and the British Empire, and called on the Canadian government to preserve its open door policy on immigration and allow for a wide range of Jewish autonomy in the Dominion. The mood of the Congress in regards to Palestine was one of optimism. De Sola told the delegates that he had heard from London that Britain was prepared to help build a Jewish homeland, and the question was as good as solved. Chaim Zhitlovsky was so certain Palestine was to become a Jewish territory that his only concern was that Yiddish should have equal status with Hebrew there. The socialists and labour Zionists introduced a motion (which was passed) calling for a socialist state in Palestine, to be run on principles of social justice and for the workers. There should be state control of the land, resources, public utilities and railways. Hugh Guthrie, Solicitor General of Canada and official government representative of Prime Minister Borden, spoke: Now the Hebrew people are binding themselves in a mighty effort which has good prospects of success. Great Britain has intimated that ... she would gladly consent to become the guardian in Palestine at least during the reconstruction period, on behalf of the Jewish people now scattered the world over. It is true there is a disposition in some quarters to give this guardianship to the United States, but I know that the Jewish people, the Americans included, prefer Great Britain.27 After a considerable debate lasting twelve hours, Louis Fitch introduced the main resolution on Palestine on March 18: Resolved that the Canadian Jewish Congress instruct its delegation in Europe to cooperate with representatives of other Jewish Congresses and specifically with the World Zionist Organization to the end that the Peace — 219 —

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Conference may recognize the aspiration and historic claims of the Jewish people in regard to Palestine, and declare, that in accordance with the British Government’s declaration, dated November 2nd, 1917, endorsed by the allied Governments and the United States of America, that there shall be established such political, administrative and economic conditions in Palestine as will assure under the trusteeship of Great Britain, acting on behalf of such a League of Nations as may be formed, the development of Palestine through a Jewish Commonwealth; it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which shall prejudice the civil, national and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.28 Shloime Almazov, a militant trade unionist from Winnipeg, opposed the resolution and the euphoria surrounding it. “I do not believe that the Imperialistic ambitions of Great Britain or of France can help the Jewish people,” he declared. A 10-minute general uproar ensued, following which the vote was taken. The Congress passed the resolution without a single dissenting vote, but with abstentions from two genosen, Almazov and Joseph Schubert of Montreal. Shouted Caiserman following the vote, “Long live Palestine—May from Palestine come that which shall make the whole world happier.”29 The “national question” also involved national minority rights for Jews in general, but especially for the compact masses living in eastern Europe. The Congress asked for the removal of all ethnic discrimination in the new states being formed by the League of Nations, and the specific incorporation of minority rights in the form of treaties with the countries to be created.30 The Congress declared that “the Jewish people are a national entity living in several countries of Central and Eastern Europe” and asked the Peace Conference to admit the “Jewish nation ... as a partner in the League of Nations.”31 The Canadian Jewish Congress resolutions in regards to national rights were stronger than those passed by the American Jewish Congress, and reflected the greater degree of control by labour and general Zionists. The Canadian Congress made it clear that it felt Jews were a — 220 —

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national entity. Archie Bennett read the main paper on the subject, and called national rights the highest form of personal freedom and democracy. Simon Belkin wanted Jews recognized as a national minority with national rights within the country—if Canada was a state with two recognized national groups, then why not have more? Indeed, Belkin even wanted to introduce resolutions making Yiddish an official language of the Dominion, and giving Jews the right to self-taxation— very full expressions of cultural-national autonomy, indeed—but Zhitlovsky and Kaufman felt this was premature; perhaps a permanent Congress would take care of this at some later date. With the end of World War I, it was anticipated that Canada would see a renewed spurt of immigration from a war-torn Europe. But it was also feared, and correctly so, that the rising tide of isolationism and fear of radicalism in the country would give rise to nativist and even antiSemitic restrictions on entry to Canada. S.W. Jacobs, who ran on a platform of open immigration in both the national elections to the Canadian parliament in 1917 and for the Canadian Jewish Congress in 1919, was insistent that the Congress come out strongly in favour of an open door policy, and proposed the following: Resolved that the First Canadian Jewish Congress deems it in the best interests of the country, that Canada should continue to maintain its old traditional policy of open door for all immigrants, and ... keep an open eye on the contemplated limitations on immigration.32 The Congress called for an organization to facilitate immigration and to assist new arrivals to Canada. This bureau, which became the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society (now Jewish Immigrant Aid Services), was in many ways the most important and lasting contribution of the 1919 Congress. Election of a Permanent Executive and the End of the Congress The ninth and last session of the three-day conference saw the election of a National Congress Executive, once again stressing ideological and regional diversity. It was entrusted with the task of choosing permanent officers. H.M. Caiserman was elected permanent general secretary. Said Lyon Cohen, in support of the motion, “I heartily approve of it. With— 221 —

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out Caiserman there would have been no Canadian Jewish Congress.” Indeed, the delegates from western Canada inscribed his name in the Golden Book of the Jewish National Fund in Jerusalem: “Heinrich [sic] M. Caiserman, in recognition of splendid services rendered in organizing the first Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, March, 1919.”33 Others chosen were as follows: President Lyon Cohen Montreal Vice-President Louis Fitch Toronto Vice-President Maurice Goldstick Winnipeg Vice-President M.J. Finkelstein Toronto Secretary A.B. Bennett Winnipeg Secretary Ben Sheps Montreal Secretary (also the General Secretary) H.M. Caiserman As A.J. Arnold noted of the Congress, “From the very outset it represented a unique merger of diverse elements in Jewish life who recognized the importance of working together for the common good of the community.”34 So among the executives chosen were such labour Zionists as Louis Zucker, Simon Belkin, M.A. Gray and Abraham Rhinewine; such upper class Jews as Lyon Cohen; and general Zionists like M.J. Finkelstein, Louis Fitch and Michael Gelber. Even three social democrats were elected to the executive. The Federation of Canadian Zionists finally acknowledged the importance of the Congress once it had proven to be a success, and it attempted to settle its differences with its ideological and class competitors, and even take some of the credit for the calling of the 1919 sessions. The Federation, after the Congress had ended, published a pamphlet, The Zionist Character of the First Canadian Jewish Congress, which noted that: The anxiety of faithful Zionists had been due, in part, because of the leftist Zionist element which often fails to take into account the limits which time and political circumstances impose ... The Zionist majority led the Congress along the path of the golden mean which leads to the goal that is sacred for all of us. Credit for this is also due to the National Socialist bloc which felt its great — 222 —

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responsibility to the entire Jewish nation.35 Reuben Brainin gave one of the closing speeches, and this was indeed his moment of glory. “Brainin lived to see the triumph of his ideas and he was indeed a happy man when he was invited as the honoured guest of the first Assembly of Canadian Jewry. His erstwhile enemies were now his well-wishers.”36 Brainin told the delegates that the Congress’ deliberations had been more earnest, and therefore more far-reaching, than those of the American Jewish Congress. “The Congress lifted itself to the highest Jewish and human level.” This theme was repeated by Chaim Zhitlovsky, who called it “the paramount Jewish national Congress in the world.” Yehuda Kaufman ended the sessions by noting that the Canadian Jewish Congress had risen to the highest possible moral levels, and felt that “the Jews of the whole world will have things to learn from us.”37 As the sessions finally closed, the delegates sang the “Di Shvue,” the Bundist hymn; “Hatikvah,” the Zionist song and future Israeli anthem; and “God Save the King,” anthem of the British Empire. “Caiserman’s most encompassing project and the one to which he devoted his entire career was the emergence of a single unified organization to represent Canadian Jewry at all levels of social and political involvement,”38 and this had now apparently been achieved. The immigrants had finally succeeded in setting up a national democratically elected body. “The East European Era had arrived.”39

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Endnotes 1  Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 110. 2  Yonathan Shapiro, Leadership of the American Zionist Organization 1897-1930, 88-89. 3  Jacob Rader Marcus, “The Periodization of American Jewish History,” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 47, 3 (1954): 131. 4  Ismar Elbogen, A Century of Jewish Life (translated from the German by Moses Hadas) (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1944), 505. 5  Quoted in Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 41. 6  Quoted in Caiserman, “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,”468. 7  In Der yidisher zhurnal, December 24, 1918; quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 184. 8  Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 104. 9  Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 103. 10 Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada,186, 190. 11 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 104-105. 12 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 190. 13 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 191. 14 Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 41. 15 Speisman, The Jews of Toronto, 271, 275, n. 16. 16 Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 143. 17 Isidore Goldstick, “The Jews of London, Ontario: The First One Hundred Years,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory (Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963), 328-329. 18 The five general Zionist delegates nominated as a bloc were Clarence I de Sola, Abraham Levin, Leon Goldman, Michael Garber and Joseph Fineberg. 19 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 193. 20 Rosenberg, Louis, “Some Aspects of the Historical Development of the Canadian Jewish Community,” 139. 21 Quoted in Caiserman, “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,” 470. 22 Quoted in Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 41. 23 Quoted in Caiserman, “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,” 471. 24 Quoted in Stuart E. Rosenberg, The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 42. 25 Caiserman, “Builders of Canadian Jewry,” 135. 26 Caiserman, “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,” 470. 27 Quoted in Caiserman, “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,” 474. 28 Quoted in Martin Wolff, “The Jews of Canada,” in Harry Schneiderman, ed., — 224 —

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American Jewish Year Book 5686 (1925-1926) (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1925), 213. 29 Quoted in The Israelite Press: Centennial Supplement, 1867-1967 (Winnipeg: Israelite Press, 1967), 3. Almazov was chastised for his speech by Zhitlovsky. Levine, Coming of Age, 190. In the 1920s Almazov, by then in New York, became associated with Communist-oriented Jewish groups and papers. He wrote for the Communist Morgen Frayhayt and became national secretary of the ICOR (Organization for Jewish Colonization in the Soviet Union), which supported the establishment of a Jewish socialist republic in the Birobidzhan region of the Soviet Union. For more on Almazov, see Srebrnik, Dreams of Nationhood; and Srebrnik, Jerusalem on the Amur. 30 For the whole question of self-determination and national rights in the 1919 peace treaties, see Alfred Cobban, The Nation State and National Self-Determination (London: Collins, 1969). 31 Quoted in Janowsky, The Jews and Minority Rights (1898-1919), 280-281. 32 Quoted in Caiserman, “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,” 474. 33 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 107-108. 34 Arnold, “Canadian Jewish Congress,” 199. 35 Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 109-110. 36 Belkin, “When Brainin was a Montrealer,” 138. 37 Quoted in Belkin, Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 196. 38 Pierre Anctil, “H.M. Caiserman: Yiddish as a Passion,” in Ira Robinson et al, eds., An Everyday Miracle: Yiddish Culture in Montreal (Montreal: Véhicule Press, 1990), 75. Caiserman would remain the secretary general of the post1933 Canadian Jewish Congress until his death in 1950. 39 Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews, 184.

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Keneder Adler publisher Hirsch Wolofsky in Bedouin garb in Palestine, 1921, courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal.

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Conclusion: The Consolidation of Zionist Leadership and the End of Immigration, 1919-1921

The two years following the triumphal 1919 Canadian Jewish Congress, which made explicit the pre-eminent place of Zionist ideology in the Canadian Jewish community, saw a further consolidation of Zionist hegemony among Canada’s Jews. Based on its own internal dynamic as a Canadian movement, plus the added prestige accrued as part of the worldwide organization which had just succeeded in obtaining recognition of Palestine as a future Jewish homeland, the Zionist movement finally came into its own as the undisputed leader of Canadian Jewry. Perhaps almost symbolically, Clarence I. de Sola, leader of Canadian Zionism for 20 years, died on May 10, 1920. His death was very much regretted, “the shock was deeply felt and the loss was mourned by all Zionists.”1 Nonetheless, with him passed an earlier and now bygone era of Canadian Zionism. Versailles and San Remo: Disposition of the Palestine Mandate The Versailles Peace Conference opened on January 12, 1919, convened by the Supreme Council of the victorious allied powers. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had sailed for Paris on December 4, 1918. The American Jewish Congress, meeting in Philadelphia later that December, and pledging the cooperation of American Jewry in the struggle for a national home in Palestine, forwarded its resolutions to Wilson and also elected an eight-member delegation to represent United States Jews at the conference. Julian W. Mack of the Zionist Organization of America was chairman, and the delegation also included Stephen S. Wise, Nachman Syrkin, and Louis Marshall of the American Jewish Committee. The U.S. delegation was received by President Wilson on March 2, 1919, and presented a formal memorandum asking that the Peace Conference recognize the aspirations and historic claims of the Jewish people in regard to Palestine and entrust to Great Britain the Mandate under a League of Nations. Wilson expressed his approval for the plan. The various Jewish delegations, acting in concert, spoke before the — 227 —

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Supreme Council of the Allies. It was agreed that the World Zionist Organization speak about the Palestine question. On February 27, the Zionist delegation, led by Nachum Sokolow, asked that any forthcoming treaties recognize the historic rights of the Jews to Palestine, which should become a National Home for the Jews under a British Mandate, and ultimately a Jewish Commonwealth. On May 10, 1919, the Jewish delegations presented their first memorandum relative to the protection of the national, religious, ethnic, and linguistic minorities in Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and other countries of Eastern or Central Europe. The document called for full equality of cultural, social and political rights, up to and including national autonomy, for Jewish populations in those countries where they resided as separate, compact, distinct and visible entities. As well, delegates from Canada and eastern Europe wanted admission of the Jewish people to the League of Nations. The U.S. delegation opposed this, though, seeing it as a death-blow to Jewish citizenship in the western countries, and it never made much headway. On June 28, 1919, the Versailles Treaty ending the war with Germany was signed, and a number of treaties with other states followed. Included in many of the treaties establishing new states in eastern Europe were guarantees of minority rights. The Jewish delegation appeared to have won significant concessions for the Jews in central and eastern Europe. In September, 1919, Wilson returned from the peace conference, but failed to get the Versailles Treaty ratified by the United States Senate. He collapsed physically and died a year later, and Zionist hopes were indeed much reduced from 1920 onwards. On the question of Palestine itself, the San Remo Conference, meeting in that Italian city on April 20, 1920, assigned the Mandate to the United Kingdom, incorporating the text of the Balfour Declaration into its preamble. By 1919, world Zionist activities had become centered in London, since Britain was now the state most concerned with Palestine. Following the San Remo conference, Zionist leaders under Menachem Mendel Ussishkin, taking the Balfour Declaration at face value, arrived in Palestine prepared to govern. Of course, in reality the British military government remained in control. Nonetheless, in 1921 this Zionist commission became a permanent body, the Palestine Zionist Executive, with a defined status in the country and — 228 —

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direct access to the British authorities in Jerusalem. Arthur Meighen, who had become Canada’s prime minister in 1920, had expressed his government’s support of the Balfour Declaration, and in April 1920 the Dominion government, after a meeting with officials from the Canadian Zionist Federation and the Canadian Jewish Congress, including S.W. Jacobs and Lyon Cohen, intervened officially with London to advocate a British mandate for the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine. In October 1920, a delegation of Canadian Jews representing the Zionist organization and the Canadian Jewish Congress, and consisting of S.W. Jacobs, Lyon Cohen, Rabbi Herman Abramowitz, D.S. Friedman, A.J. Freiman, Louis M. Singer, Barnett Stone, and David Sweet, travelled to Ottawa and presented a cable to Sir George Foster, Canadian Minister of Trade and Commerce, for transmission to London. The telegram, signed by Leon Goldman, executive secretary of the Federation, and addressed to British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, concerned the boundaries of the new Mandate: Canadian Zionist Federation respectfully urges that in fixing northern Palestine boundaries Litany watershed, Yarmuk and tributaries, valley Lake Tiberias, Jordan sources and plains east Lake Tiberias be included in Palestine. No economic, agricultural nor industrial development possible otherwise and Jewish Homeland without these practically meaningless. Canadian Jewry confident Great Britain will not sanction arrangements imperiling and nullifying San Remo decision embodying Balfour Declaration.2 In Canada, the San Remo declaration was the cause of much rejoicing, and the Zionist cause was strengthened; in the 1919-1921 period, the number of registered Zionists increased four-fold.3 On April 24, 1920, Dr. A.O. Freedman was appointed by the Canadian Zionist Organization to organize celebrations throughout Canada. As A.J. Freiman declared, No longer are we a race without a country, no longer can we be regarded as wanderers on the face of the earth. We — 229 —

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are now a nation with a national home; that goal towards which our hearts have always yearned has been reached, and we Jews of this generation ought to count ourselves doubly blessed that we have lived to see this great day. May God be thanked, and may the Jewish people be found ready to … rebuild Palestine to its old glory, as it is only to the extent that we take advantage of the opportunity, that Palestine will be ours.4 Mass meetings, complete with prayers recited for the welfare of King George V and the British Empire, were held across the country. Halifax was the scene of one on April 29, and in Montreal, May 4 was proclaimed a holiday. Zionist and British flags flew on houses, and Montreal Zionists celebrated with a victory parade of 500 cars, followed by a rally of 20,000 people massed in the Mount Royal Arena. Among the speakers were Lyon Cohen, president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Louis Fitch, for the Zionist Federation, and H.M. Caiserman and Simon Belkin, for Poale Zion. Cohen voiced the gratitude of Canadian Jewry to the U.K., while Caiserman reiterated that “Palestine, the land of the Jewish people, must belong to the Jewish people.”5 Fitch also gave an impassioned speech: We never gave up our land. We held it with our souls, with our minds. The body only was separated—and the body is now re-united. The proof as to whether we are worthy of the San Remo decision will lie in the fact of making Palestine the Jewish homeland by the settlement of the Jewish people in it. We must ... work for the Keren Hayesod so that our land may be built up within the next five years.6 On May 14, Hamilton was the scene of celebrations, and on May 19 there was jubilation in Ottawa. In Winnipeg, Jewish stores were closed on May 19 and 10,000 people on foot and 3,000 more in cars participated in a massive parade, which would end at the Manitoba Free Press building, led by an honour guard of veteran Zionists like Aaron Osovsky, Herbert J. Samuel and H.E. Wilder. The entire front page of the Free Press that day was covered with a Mogen David. — 230 —

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On May 20, the Free Press, in an editorial, joined in the celebrations: The intense national feeling of the Jew and his love for the country from which he has been so long an exile, could to some extent be judged by the impressive demonstration made by the Jewish people of Winnipeg yesterday to celebrate the liberation of Palestine. The Jews saw the flag of their nation floating beside the flag of the Empire, and the prolonged cheers with which the event was greeted indicated the depth of satisfaction which the liberation of their famous country has brought to their hearts. Winnipeg congratulates its Jewish citizens on the great event they celebrated yesterday. The night has been long, but it was their good fortune to see the new day dawn.7 But the anticipation and celebrations were a bit premature. The League of Nations formally awarded the Mandate to Britain on July 24, 1922, and it went into effect on September 29, 1923, following the Treaty of Lausanne signed with Kemal Ataturk’s new Turkish Republic. But as early as 1921, Britain was beginning to backtrack. Winston Churchill, the British Colonial Secretary, on June 3, 1922, tabled a White Paper which cut the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency out of any official role in governing Palestine. It also reduced Britain’s promises to the Jews. Palestine was now no longer to be the Jewish National Home; rather, a Jewish home would be founded in Palestine. The White Paper also limited immigration into Palestine based on the economic capacity of the country to absorb newcomers. Finally, all of Palestine east of the Jordan River, now to be called Trans-Jordan, was politically separated from the Mandate and closed to all Zionist ventures. Fund Raising and the Keren Hayesod The end of World War I and the formal pledge of a Jewish homeland in Palestine by the British led to overly-optimistic feelings regarding the imminence of a Jewish state in the country. All factions of the Zionist movement agreed that contributions to the building of a Jewish presence there, especially involving money, now had to be increased — 231 —

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significantly. Though all groups felt North American Jewry had to help build Palestine, opinions varied as to the proper means and methods needed to achieve this. The resultant dispute, between those who felt Palestine should be built up through conventional, capitalistic economic means (the Brandeis group), and those who thought the country needed massive infusions of capital sent on a semi-charity and communal basis, through the newly created Palestine Foundation Fund Keren Hayesod (the Weizmann group), led to conflicts finally resolved in 1921 with a “Weizmannite” leadership firmly in control of both the American and Canadian Zionist organizations. Following the sixteenth Canadian Zionist Federation convention of 1919, A.J. Freiman, who, in the words of H. M. Caiserman, “applied his abilities in organization and ... put to use his connections across the country for the furtherance of the interests of the Jewish people,” and his wife Lillian, who “brought it all into focus during her tour of Canada” for the Palestine Helping Hand Campaign, emerged as leaders of the Zionist community.8 Both were very concerned with the important role North America Zionism had to play in terms of raising money for Palestinian projects. This was especially true of Hadassah. Both saw in the Palestine Foundation Fund (Keren Hayesod) and the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet) the means by which to raise money for Jewish settlement there. Freiman had promised that as leader he would “create a standard of Zionist endeavour that shall be an example to other countries,”9 and would make all efforts to collect money for Palestine and also encourage private enterprise there. On May 4, 1920, Louis Fitch, at the Montreal rally celebrating the San Remo decision, had called for support of the new Keren Hayesod, and when it was launched, Canadian Zionists were the first ones to officially incorporate the new Fund in their program of work. On May 26, 1920, the Canadian Federation received notice of a Zionist Conference being held in London in July to clarify the post-war strategy of world Zionism. A Canadian delegation consisting of A.J. Freiman, Abraham Levin, Michael Garber, A.O. Freedman, M.B. Stein and Max Manson traveled to England to attend. At this gathering of the leaders of world Zionism the pressing needs of Palestine were discussed. Louis Brandeis proposed that Palestine become self-sufficient and selfsupporting, and that the question be treated as an economic one. He felt — 232 —

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that the San Remo Conference had closed the era of political Zionism. “The work of the great Herzl was completed at San Remo.”10 But the Chaim Weizmann faction, supported by the Canadians, defeated these notions. Instead, the Keren Hayesod was launched, and Jews of means were urged to contribute to the extent of 10 percent of their income, with North Americans and South Africans especially called on to give, since the Jews of Europe had suffered almost total ruin. As well, the Keren Kayemet, under Menachem Mendel Ussishkin, would be the instrument of land reclamation and reforestation in Palestine. Canadian Zionists began to work energetically for this revivified Zionism. As Louis Fitch told the Canadian Club of Ottawa in 1920, “What human force is there which can prevent us in the attainment of our achievement, to take our place as a nation among the family of nations?”11 Added H.M. Caiserman a year later, “The Jewish masses have found the road that leads to a new Jewish awakening ... from every corner of the world long lines of our young idealists are forging ahead steadfastly, purposefully to lay the true foundations of the Jewish home in Palestine.”12 And indeed, at about this time, Jews in Canada began to join the Canadian organization in bigger numbers and give greater amounts for Palestine. Leon Goldman noted at the 17th Zionist Convention in Montreal, January 30 - February 1, 1921, that there were now 8,585 registered Zionists in over 300 cities and towns in Canada. Abraham Levin, the treasurer, in his report drew a contrast between his first year in office twelve years earlier, when he presented a report of receipts amounting to over $6,000, to the present year, 1921, when he showed that $458,000 had been collected in the previous two years.13 Indeed, $10,000 had been raised for the proposed Hebrew University alone!14 At the end of 1920, Shmarya Levin had come to Canada and spoke on behalf of Keren Hayesod. On January 3, 1921, he was invited to a meeting of the Federation’s National Council, at which he advocated that an appeal be launched at the forthcoming convention for the Foundation Fund. This was agreed to, and at the convention, Major James de Rothschild, son of the illustrious Baron Edmond de Rothschild, spoke of the value of Keren Hayesod, and lauded the energy of Weizmann. And Levin himself “delivered a most powerful and stirring address on behalf of the Keren Hayesod, which left the audience very much impressed.”15 The Montreal convention accepted the principle of Keren Hayesod, — 233 —

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and in a resolution presented by Archie Bennett, called on Canadian Zionists to raise one million dollars for the Fund: Whereas it is recognized that in order to make the commencement of normal social and economic life in Palestine possible, it is necessary to do a vast amount of preparatory work of a foundational nature, and Whereas it is recognized that the foundations of the Jewish national life in Palestine must be laid unmistakably in accordance with the spirit of Jewish genius, so that the restored Palestine shall be the true realization of the great ideals which have always animated Jewish hopes, and have constituted the living nerve in the Jewish national movement, and Whereas it is recognized that the basic work in the upbuilding of Palestine can be assured of its desired Jewish character only if it is given form and shape by that agency which stands at the head of and represents the best Jewish national endeavours, namely, the General Zionist Organization, and Whereas it is recognized that in order that the foundational work in all its diversified phases shall be properly coordinated and efficiently regulated, it is necessary that all the funds requisite therefore shall be raised and administered by the agency which is in charge of the work, and Whereas at the World Conference of the Zionist Representatives at London, held last July, the place for such foundational work in Palestine and for the raising and allocation of the funds requisite therefore, were carefully considered, prepared and adopted under the title of Keren Hayesod scheme, and Whereas it is recognized that in this great moment in Jewish history, loyalty to the leaders and obedience to the decisions of the World Zionist assemblies are essential to the effective coping with the great problems and responsibilities confronting the Zionist Movement, therefore, be it resolved — 234 —

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That the Zionist Organization of Canada in the 17th convention assembled, accepts, unreservedly and adopts the scheme of the Keren Hayesod as prepared by the General Zionist Organization in accordance with the decision of the London Conference held on July 6th, 1920, and That the Zionist Organization of Canada in Convention assembled forthwith at this Convention sound a call to the Jews of Canada to rally to the glorious cause of laying the foundation of a true Jewish Homeland in Palestine, and That the Zionist Organization of Canada instruct its incoming Executive to set to work at once to carry out the plans of the Keren Hayesod in their application to Canada, and towards its activities during its terms of office by the principle that the work of making the Keren Hayesod a success is at present the paramount task, in Zionism and That the Zionist Organization of Canada regards the raising of a sum of not less than one million dollars during the fiscal year ... as the objective for Canada.16 The resolution was received by the audience rising and singing “Hatikvah,” and Levin “was visibly moved by the unanimity with which the Keren Hayesod was accepted.”17 Hadassah too began work for the Keren Hayesod. At its convention, held on February 2, 1921, in Montreal, the principal resolution passed (at the urging of Shmarya Levin) was to participate in all Zionistic work, collect $50,000 for the Keren Hayesod, and raise $88,000 for an agricultural and domestic science school for girls in Palestine.18 Chaim Weizmann and Benzion Mossinson arrived in Canada on May 2, visiting Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg and Regina, in a tour for Keren Hayesod. On May 6, a mass meeting of 5,000 Jews turned out in Montreal to see them. Among the official reception committee was Médéric Martin, mayor of the city, Lyon Cohen and rabbis Herman Abramowitz and J.L. Zlotkin. S.W. Jacobs praised Weizmann: “He has been at the proper place, at the proper time, not only for Zion, but also for the British Empire. You — 235 —

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all know what he has done, the greatest thing—annexed Palestine to the British Empire, to make it a part of the Empire as is Canada and the other Dominions. We who have never suffered as did those in other lands are asked now to give our aid.”19 The Zionist Executive borrowed $25,000 from the bank and made an advance remittance to Keren Hayesod, in view of the pressing need for funds to carry on the work in Palestine. For this, their loyalty was highly complimented by Weizmann.20 The 12th World Zionist Organization Congress, meeting in Carlsbad, Czechoslovakia, September 1-4, 1921, heard Chaim Weizmann appeal for the Keren Hayesod: “The Zionist Congress addresses itself to the whole Jewish people with the demand that it lay the foundations for the upbuilding of the Jewish National Home in Eretz Israel, through the Palestine Foundation Fund (Keren Hayesod), and so establish the Keren Hayesod as a general Jewish fund.”21 The six Canadian delegates—Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Levin, Leon Goldman, H.M. Caiserman, Hirsch Wolofsky and A.O. Freedman22—needed no prodding. In Canada, Weizmann and Keren Hayesod were already firmly established in both the Zionist leadership and the rank-and-file. The Conventions of 1921: Solidification of the New Leadership The 17th convention of the Federation of Zionist Societies in Canada was held in Montreal from January 30 to February 1, 1921, Rabbi Herman Abramowitz presiding at the opening. He spoke to an enthusiastic and large audience, touching upon the San Remo Conference and the new Palestine Mandate; the appointment of Sir Herbert Samuel, a Jew, as first High Commissioner in Palestine; and the debt owed to people such as Weizmann, Sokolow and Lord Rothschild for the progress made thus far. He also paid tribute to the memory of the departed former president, Clarence de Sola. The convention had to choose a president and leadership to remove the air of uncertainty of the previous two years and to carry out the tasks awaiting the organization in the post-Balfour Declaration era. Lyon Cohen, already experienced as a master reconciler of factions at the 1919 Canadian Jewish Congress, was chosen as chair, with A.J. Freiman and Rabbi Barnett R. Brickner of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto chosen as vice-chairs. Among the guests were Shmarya Levin, James de Rothschild, Dr. Baer Epstein of the Jewish National Fund, and Judge Julian W. Mack, then still president of the Zionist Organization of America. — 236 —

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Mack expressed the greetings of the Zionists of the United States and of their leader, Louis Brandeis. He spoke of the services rendered by the Jews of both countries in Palestine, and hoped this would continue. The convention, in a resolution presented by Nathan Gordon and Louis Fitch and passed unanimously, went on record expressing its indebtedness to Britain for the Balfour Declaration, and the new Mandate, and pledging its loyalty to the leaders of the World Zionist Organization in building up Palestine as the Jewish National Home. A slate loyal to Weizmann was then chosen, and a new constitution put into effect. Sir Mortimer Davis became honourary president, and Lyon Cohen, honourary vice-president. Actual power, however, resided in the office of president, to which A.J. Freiman was elected. As well, Abraham Levin was chosen treasurer, and Louis Fitch, Michael Gelber and Aaron Osovsky, vice-presidents, respectively, of the Eastern, Central and Western Divisions. An Executive Committee of the three divisions was also selected. On May 16, 1921, as part of the constitutional changes, the name of the organization became the Zionist Organization of Canada, Inc. The Weizmannite practical Zionists were now firmly in control.23 On February 2, 1921, the first convention of Hadassah met in Montreal, with Shmarya Levin and Herman Abramowitz as guest speakers. The women’s organization now had 30 chapters, and Toronto even had a Central Hadassah Council for coordination. Lillian Freiman, chairing the meetings, told the 94 delegates of the progress that had been made: “Hadassah, up to only two short years ago, was an exotic flower in this country known only to the rarified atmosphere of Toronto where a group of ardent women ... strove to keep it alive and thriving. Today Hadassah is known throughout the length and breadth of the land.”24 Elections were held, and Freiman was elected national president, an office she held until her death in the fall of 1940. While in Canada the pro-Weizmann and pro-Keren Hayesod factions took total control of the Zionist institutions without much struggle, the story in the United States was different. There, meeting in Cleveland in June, the Zionist Organization of America was shaken to its very roots by the conflict between the upper-class German Jewish leadership, as represented by Mack and Brandeis, and the Weizmannite east European immigrants mobilized behind Louis Lipsky and the intellectuals of New York’s Lower East Side. Unlike in Canada, with its more homogeneous Jewish population, American Jewry’s German-east European splits — 237 —

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again came to the fore, as the two groups, differing in cultural background, degree of acculturation, and position in the wider American social structure, fought for control of the organization. Louis Brandeis’ isolation from the rest of the world Zionist leaders had begun at the 1920 London Conference which launched Keren Hayesod. Weizmann contended that Zionism demanded the primacy of ideology over pragmatism, but Brandeis objected to the new Fund, which was to him the height of financial irresponsibility, since it accepted both donations and investments without discrimination. Also, as a collective effort of the whole Jewish people, it relied on appeals to the masses and nationalistic agitations, something the German Jewish leadership feared would turn anti-Zionist Reform Jews and American anti-Semites against the movement. Brandeis, instead, saw the Zionist Organization of America as an organization that would help small businessmen go to Palestine and build the economy of the country independently; even non-Zionists could be involved. To Brandeis, the building of Palestine was a purely technical affair; the political phase of Zionism had been completed. He saw the future as one in which the economic and scientific expert would direct the course of Zionist policy. At the Cleveland convention, the two groups finally clashed head on. Those delegates supporting the Brandeis leadership were almost all American-born (for example, all the Reform rabbis who attended voted for him), and he got especially good support from outlying communities. Arrayed against him were the Lipsky-led immigrants, mainly from New York City, strengthened immeasurably by the appearance of Weizmann, Levin, Ussishkin and Mossinson at the convention. This latter group of delegates, all pro-Keren Hayesod, acknowledged their loyalty and allegiance to the world Zionist body, seeing it as the supreme authority in all Zionist affairs. On June 7, 1921, the Brandeis administration was defeated 153-71 in a non-confidence vote, and the 35 members of the group resigned from all official positions in the Zionist Organization of America (including Brandeis’ resignation as honourary president). The Lipsky-led “Weizmannites” were now in control of American Zionism.25 While there were various attempts made to reconcile the warring factions—for example, in November 1921, A.J. Freiman, Louis Fitch and Abraham Levin of the Canadian Zionist Organization traveled to New — 238 —

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York for this purpose—for many years the Brandeis-Mack group would have nothing to do with the Zionist Organization of America.26 United States Jewry, always less homogeneous and more diversified than its Canadian counterpart, saw these rifts reflected within the structure of Zionism as well. The End of Massive Jewish Immigration The year 1921 saw a Canadian Jewish community more united than ever before. But this Jewry also became more homogenous after 1921 due to events outside its own control—the almost total elimination of Jewish immigration to Canada. The world war had caused great dislocations in Canada and a slump followed. As well, the country, fearful of the real and imagined dangers of a radical and socialist revolution, blamed these tendencies on “foreigners,” and accused them of trying to “import” the Bolshevik Revolution to Canada. In the years 1920-1921, a great number of anti-immigration articles and books—often explicitly racist—began to be published in the country, and restrictive laws limiting the entry of newcomers began to be passed. Jews were caught in the crossfire. The Canada of 1919 was a frightened country. Although it had been victorious in war, things seemed in many ways worse than before. The national debt had risen tremendously and the government had assumed control of a number of bankrupt railways, including the Grand Trunk, and began to operate them as the Canadian National Railways. Demobilization caused a housing shortage and fear of unemployment. The collapse in farm prices led to rural depression. Finally, there was a fear of radicals and foreigners, especially following the 1919 general strike in Winnipeg (and of course Poale Zion and all the Jewish unions had been involved in that). In 1919, an Immigration Act was introduced into Parliament by the Conservative government, with new provisions to control, select and if necessary reduce or suspend immigration of “undesirable” elements. The Ministry of Immigration was given vast discretion, and empowered to issue regulations and delegate authority to subordinates. As well, Privy Council orders (Orders-in-Council) could now regulate immigration flow. Section 38 of the Act was the most explicitly racist, making it possible to exclude a whole nationality or ethnic group. Even before the Act was passed, two orders-in-council began restrict— 239 —

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ing the flow of immigrants. PC 1203 prohibited aliens from former enemy countries (so this affected Jews from Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey), and PC 1204 prohibited Doukhobors, Hutterites and Mennonites, “deemed undesirable owing to their peculiar customs, habits, modes of living and methods of holding property, and because of their probable inability to become readily assimilated or to assume the duties and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship within a reasonable time after their entry.”27 On November 10, 1919, the Immigration Act passed, although at this point the Canadian Jewish Congress managed to exempt Jews coming from former enemy countries. An especially heavy blow to Jewish refugees was PC 2930 of November 29, 1920, which raised the amount of money immigrants were required to have upon arrival in a Canadian port—landing money—to $250. There was much trouble at the ports of Vancouver, Halifax, Saint John and Quebec City, as the Immigration Department authorities, rigorously applying the new rules, detained 1,788 immigrants between July 1920 and July 1921 alone.28 PC 2668 of July 1921 made the question of landing money even more important as a prerequisite for admission, and PC 2669 of July 6, 1921, clearly defined the requirements of a passport, also introducing the rule that immigrants had to obtain visas from British Consular officials abroad. (There were no Canadian legations abroad until 1926.) In 1922, PC 717 more or less shut off most immigration from Europe, except from Britain, save for farmers and domestics. This was formalized by another Order-in-Council of January 31, 1923. Four categories were set up, by order of preference: 1.) British—unlimited immigration rights. 2.) Preferred Groups—for example, Dutch, Belgian, German, Scandinavian, and Swiss 3.) Non-Preferred Groups—most East Europeans 4.) “Special Permit” Groups—Greeks, Armenians, Italians, Arabs, and Jews from all non-preferred as well as from “Special Permit” countries. Hence, in this most racial of all Canadian immigration laws, formal differences between Jews of various countries, and between Jews and non-Jews of the same country, were set up. Jews from Britain or from — 240 —

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preferred areas were classified as citizens of those countries, and given the same treatment as the non-Jews. However, Jews from both nonpreferred areas and from “Special Permit” lands came under the “Special Permit” provisions, and thus Jews from non-preferred areas were treated differently than the non-Jewish populations of those countries, and had yet more difficulty in securing entry to Canada. Following the new restrictions, entry of Jews into the country was reduced to a trickle, a situation unchanged until the post-World War II period. The Jewish Reaction and the Formation of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society Canadian Jews were incensed by this cut-off of immigration, especially at a time when east European Jewry was suffering from the combined effects of post-war poverty and Simon Petluria’s pogroms in the Ukraine. The Canadian Jewish Congress tried various tactics—including mass meetings, correspondence with the members of Parliament, press propaganda, and educating public opinion—to keep “open doors” immigration to the country. In October 1919, S.W. Jacobs submitted a memorandum to the Borden government, on behalf of the Canadian Jewish Congress, describing “the unparalleled catastrophe which has overtaken our co-religionists in Eastern Europe and the effect of these calamities upon certain sections of the Jewish Community of Canada.” The letter, also signed by Lyon Cohen, president of the Congress, and H.M. Caiserman, the general secretary, requested that the Canadian government appoint a government commission to enable it to travel to and investigate conditions in the Ukraine.29 On November 24, 1919, a “Mourning and Protest Demonstration” of 30,000 Jews marched through the streets of Montreal to protest the pogroms in Poland and the Ukraine.30 Jacobs, then the only Jewish member of Parliament, and a fervent proponent of open and free immigration, severely criticized the Conservative government in the House of Commons on March 3, 1921: “We have on the statute books Orders-in-Council respecting immigration which are the most extraordinary and grotesque that it is possible to imagine sane people to enact.” He pointed out the absurdities of laws such as PC 2930, the regulation requiring all immigrants to have $250 landing money. Jacobs noted that a man who had the money on arrival could spend it and then — 241 —

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become a public charge; yet one who did not possess it could not land, even if he had millionaire relatives willing to post bonds guaranteeing his solvency. These laws, he argued, were like something “from a libretto of Gilbert and Sullivan, or from Alice in Wonderland,” and this “in a country of 7,000,000 and capable of maintaining within its borders at least 100,000,000.” The government’s policy was “trifling, trivial, pettyfogging ... We have an idea that because a man does not come from England, or Scotland, or Ireland, he is thereby not fit for a good Anglo-Saxon to associate with.”31 A federal election was held on December 6, 1921, and the Liberals, under William Lyon Mackenzie King, swept into power. In the Cartier riding, where the immigration issue was of main concern, Jacobs’ “open doors” slogan swept him back into office, defeating his closest opponent, J.O. Cartier, an independent, 7,790 votes to 3,519. (Other candidates were the socialist Michael Buhay, who got 1,522 votes, H.A. Cholette, the Conservative, with 854, and L.O. Maille, Independent, 109).32 The new government proved a distinct disappointment to Jewish desires for an easing of immigration restrictions. Many people had hoped that Jacobs with his great prestige would be appointed a cabinet minister, and the Montreal Daily Star also expressed this opinion, noting Quebec’s distinction of being “the cradle of Jewish political emancipation in the British Empire.”33 But Jacobs was a Jew in a French Catholic province and was bypassed. Laws restricting immigration were being passed with ever-increasing frequency. By 1923, Jacobs was so disillusioned that in a speech to Parliament on May 15, he even went so far as to say he would join the Conservative Party or even the Labour group, if they would ease immigration restrictions. All this was to no avail.34 Most important of all the agencies created by Canada’s Jews in their unequal struggle to keep open Canada’s portals was the Jewish Immigration Aid Society (now Jewish Immigrant Aid Services), and the support it received from all quarters showed that the community was united in its stand on the issue and that the pre-war splits and divisions had healed. On June 23, 1920, at the Zionist headquarters in Montreal, Lyon Cohen and H.M. Caiserman, leaders of the Canadian Jewish Congress, called a meeting which included representatives of the Canadian Committee of the Jewish Colonization Association, Hebrew Ladies’ Immigrant Protective Association, Associated War Relief Societies, and — 242 —

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Romanian and Ukrainian Farbands. A second meeting, with the Polish Farband also participating, was held one week later. It was resolved to organize a Jewish Immigrant Aid Society (JIAS), with headquarters in Montreal and branches throughout the country, especially at ports of entry. Louis Fitch was selected president, H.M. Caiserman, general secretary, and Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Cohen, treasurer. S.W. Jacobs and Lyon Cohen were named honourary presidents, and all delegations to Ottawa by JIAS would be headed by these two. The new organization received subsidies from the Jewish Colonization Association, and began functioning in July 1920. On August 16 S.B. Haltrecht, a young university graduate, was given full charge of actual administration; other workers for JIAS included Maurice Goldstick and Archie Bennett in Toronto, and Ben Sheps and M.A. Gray in Winnipeg. JIAS and the Canadian Committee of the Jewish Colonization Association worked to help immigrants enter the country, often trying to bend the ever-tightening web of rules and regulations. By November 14, 1920, $15,000 had been contributed to JIAS ($11,000 from Montreal alone), and at the end of 1920 a Legal Bureau was established in Ottawa to look after appeals cases.35 JIAS continued to grow and became strongly entrenched, especially among the recent arrivals; thus, in Winnipeg, with its many immigrants, $10,000 was raised for the Society in 1922 alone.36 It did much to alleviate suffering during these years of hardship for Jews in the Dominion. As for the Canadian Jewish Congress itself, most delegates felt that it had only been convened for the Peace Conference and Mandate Conference, and interest fell off after 1920. Despite the resolutions of permanency made in March 1919, it fell into inactivity after 1920. Calls for another session met with little response, the community having lost interest. Most Jews in the country, still unused to democratic methods or too preoccupied with adjusting to their new environment, and still involved with smaller, more organic groups like landsmanschaften, failed to give the Congress continued support. As H.M. Caiserman, who himself temporarily left for Palestine in 1921, stated, “The Congress could not exist longer than two years because its delegates did not continue to represent their communities.”37 And so monetary support fell off. “The Jewish people in Canada did not supply us with the necessary finances, therefore, the second year’s activities of the Congress Executive was not spectacular.” Its most lasting and significant achievement before it — 243 —

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withered away, in retrospect, was the formation and support of JIAS. 38 Only with the rise of new threats of fascism and anti-Semitism at home and abroad after 1933 was the Congress once again reconstituted, following demands for concerted action from Jewish groups in Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg, again with men such as Caiserman, S.W. Jacobs and Lyon Cohen in the leadership; but the more unified, more experienced, and more settled community this second time no longer missed its opportunities, and the Congress became a permanent institution, an “umbrella” or “chupah,” comprising a large number of affiliated Jewish organizations, and a pinnacle in Canadian Jewish political development. From 1939 to 1962 its national president and most powerful figure was Samuel Bronfman.39 In the 1930s, the Canadian Jewish Congress was concerned mainly with thwarting anti-Semitism, monitoring the rise of various antiSemitic and pro-fascist movements, and attempting, unsuccessfully, to facilitate the entry into Canada of Jewish refugees escaping Europe. Following World War II, the Congress dealt with the tragedy of the Holocaust, and was focused on lifting the barriers to immigration by the European survivors.40 It also welcomed, and provided support for, the new state of Israel. The “golden age” of Congress was probably between the 1950s and 1970s, when it championed human rights and social justice, and was instrumental in lobbying governments to abolish discriminatory laws in employment, housing, and other impediments to the full participation of Jews in Canadian life. The Joint Public Relations Committee (later the Joint Community Relations Committee) established by Congress and B’nai Brith, formalized in 1947, was particularly successful in this regard. Parliament unanimously approved a Bill of Rights in 1960, the culmination of a long campaign by B’nai Brith, Congress and others. Congress also monitored and fought, after much prodding by Holocaust survivors, the resurgence of neo-Nazism in the mid-1960s, and it later applied pressure on the Canadian government to prosecute war criminals living in the country.41 Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Congress joined B’nai Brith and the newly-formed Canadian Zionist Federation, successor to the Zionist Organization of Canada, in creating the Canada-Israel Committee. Congress also became active in efforts to help Soviet Jewry. In Quebec, it also had to respond to a rising tide of Québécois nationalism, which many Montreal Jews feared.42 At the time, as Gerald Tulchinsky has — 244 —

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remarked, it “effectively embraced Jewish organizations of nearly all political and social stripes in the country and was recognized as the voice of the entire community.” It was “a forum for debate and a school for training new leaders.” So it was able, even in the anti-establishment era of the 1960s and beyond, to attract younger Jews to its ranks.43 By the 1960s, though, Jewish federations were becoming established in the major Jewish centres; they not only provided services and raised funds for domestic and Israel programs, but also assumed direction for community planning. In effect, as Harold Waller has observed, they became de facto voluntary governing bodies for the Jewish communities. They solidified their position in the 1970s, as all funding decisions regarding community money came under their control—including the operating budget of Congress. Some Congress branches were merged with local federations, as was the case in Winnipeg in 1974 and in Toronto in 1976. The Quebec Jewish Congress, the provincial division of Congress, is funded by Montreal’s Federation CJA. The federations became the crucial link between Canadian Jews and their governments on matters relating to their communities. Since Congress had always viewed itself as the focus for community policy-making, its dominant role began to diminish.44 In 1998 UIA Federations Canada was formed through a merger of the Council of Jewish Federations and the United Israel Appeal, to coordinate policy and oversee the allocation of finances on a national level, further reducing the role of Congress. “There is little doubt,” wrote Waller in 2001, “that the federations will continue to dominate community life.”45 Yet, notes Morton Weinfeld, “For all its weaknesses,” the Canadian Jewish Congress, with its nationwide reach, triennial plenary assemblies, and contested elections, “is seen as a model for other Canadian minority groups.”46 Still, by the turn of the twenty-first century, the Canadian Jewish Congress was definitely no longer “the only game in town.” It co-existed, sometimes uneasily, with a number of municipal Federations and other Jewish organizations. The Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA), founded in 2004, had become the principal advocacy, oversight and co-coordinating body for the Congress, the Canada-Israel Committee, the Quebec-Israel Committee, National Jewish Campus Life, and the University Outreach Committee, and was mandated “to direct a broad range of non-partisan advocacy initiatives on behalf of — 245 —

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the Canadian Jewish community and Israel.” It operated under the financial aegis of UIA Federations Canada. In 2011 the CIJA formally incorporated these groups to create one advocacy organization.47 As for Canadian Zionism, it was by 1921 a more unified movement, with splits between labour and general sectors of less significance than during the First World War, and it was ready to face the greatly augmented tasks of its second era, between 1921 and the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. The first 22 years of its existence had prepared Zionists well for their roles of leadership in Canadian Jewry in the following decades. After 1948, though, the Zionist movement lost its primacy in the community, “although its tenets still command the loyalty of most Jews.”48 Following the 1967 Six-Day War, the Canadian Zionist Federation was established to represent all Canadian Zionist organizations across Canada; it acted as an umbrella organization for some 15 Zionist groups.49 But the Zionist movement plays a much smaller part in today’s Canadian Jewish community. For many, Zionism “had become so integral to Jewish identity” that Zionist organizations seemed irrelevant. The Canada-Israel Committee became the major advocacy group for the Jewish state. As well, the federations became the main conduits for fundraising on behalf of Israel, through the United Israel Appeal.50 This study has described the paramount role played by the Zionist movement of Canada in the creation of what had become by 1921 a distinctive and specifically Canadian Jewish community. Though “uptown-downtown” and other splits did occur and recur from time to time, divisions reflected within Zionist ranks as well, the influence of this ideology eventually blended together the different strands of Jewry into a collage and a unified whole. As well, the Zionist movements themselves reflected, and adopted to, changing times; keeping abreast with as well as influencing events in the Jewish community, they eventually—through media such as the Canadian Jewish Congress and Jewish Immigrant Aid Society, for instance—came to represent and symbolize Canadian Jewry, both to itself and in its dealings with the larger world at home and abroad. Zionism kept pace with acculturation and the painful changes that accompanied the transition from a number of immigrant communities to an ethnic group rooted in the fabric of Canadian and North American life.

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Endnotes 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 305. Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 305. Stolar, “The Growth of Canadian Zionism,” 227. Quoted in Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman, 208-209. Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 93. Quoted in Figler, Biography of Louis Fitch, Q.C., 20. Quoted in Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 163-164. Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 95. Quoted in Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman, 211. Quoted in Ben Halpern, The Idea of the Jewish State (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1961), 184. Quoted in Figler, Biography of Louis Fitch, Q.C., 20. Quoted in Figler and Rome, “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman,” 74. Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 306. Cheifetz, “Di yidishe natsyonale baveygung in kanada,” 77. Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 306. Quoted in Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 306-307. Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 307. Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 307. Quoted in Figler, Sam Jacobs, 117. Goldman, “History of Zionism in Canada,” 307. Quoted in Halpern, The Idea of the Jewish State, 189. The Levins, Caiserman and Wolofsky were at the time all on their way to Palestine on visits, and thus were named delegates to the Congress. Conventions of the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada: 1st December 23, 1900 2nd December 18, 1901 3rd February 1, 1903 4th June 4-5, 1905 5th July 1-2, 1906 6th June 30, 1907 7th September 5-7, 1908 10th November 20-22, 1909 11th December 23-26, 1910 12th June 29-July 1, 1912 13th December 25-28, 1913 14th November 15, 1915 15th July 1-3, 1917 16th January 5-7, 1919 17th January 30-February 1, 1921

Montreal Montreal Montreal Montreal Toronto Ottawa Montreal Montreal Toronto Ottawa Montreal Montreal Montreal Montreal Montreal

Source: Bernard Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman: Biographies , 220-331. — 247 —

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24 Quoted in Figler, Lillian and Archie Freiman, 77. 25 Yonathan Shapiro, Leadership of the American Zionist Organization, 1807-1930, 175. For more background, see also Melvin I. Urofsky, American Zionism from Herzl to the Holocaust (Garden City, NY: Anchor Press, 1975). 26 The defeated Brandeis group set up the Palestine Development Council, to deal exclusively with economic projects in Palestine. It soon merged with the Palestine Committee of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and was renamed the Palestine Economic Corporation. Brandeis thus in effect reconciled himself with his old foes in the American Jewish Committee. The creation of the enlarged Jewish Agency after 1929, which allowed for nonZionist participation, enabled these groups to eventually work together again. 27 Quoted in Belkin, Through Narrow Gates, 102. 28 Belkin, Through Narrow Gates, 108. 29 Quoted in Figler, Sam Jacobs, 116. 30 Caiserman, “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,” 478. 31 Quoted in Belkin, Through Narrow Gates, 102-104. 32 Figler, Sam Jacobs, 118. 33 Quoted in Figler, Sam Jacobs, 118. 34 In the Canadian election held on September 14, 1926, the Keneder Adler supported Louis Wolfe, the Conservative, against Jacobs, as a result of Liberal policies on immigration. Wolfe was still defeated, though, 5,048 votes to 2,312, with Buhay, the Socialist, gaining 672. Figler, Sam Jacobs, 162. 35 Haltrecht, S.B., “History of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society of Canada,” in Arthur Daniel Hart, ed., The Jew in Canada: A Complete Record of Canadian Jewry from the Days of the French Regime to the Present Time (Toronto: Jewish Publications Ltd., 1926), 490. 36 Chiel, The Jews in Manitoba, 104. The Manitoba representatives on JIAS “worked tirelessly” to assist immigrants. Levine, Coming of Age, 190. 37 Quoted in Rosenberg, Stuart E., The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom, 42. 38 Quoted in Caiserman, “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,” 479. In Toronto a rudimentary organization was maintained for a few years. Speisman, The Jews of Toronto, 272. As late as 1922 Congress itself was still working on issues of immigration. See the letter of February 25, 1922 from acting secretary Otto Klineberg to various Congress members, in David Rome, Our Archival Record of 1933, Hitler’s Year. New Series, No. 5. Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1976, 27. 39 Abella, A Coat of Many Colours, 188-190, 202-204; Speisman, The Jews of Toronto, 331. 40 It had little success in lobbying government officials at first. Franklin Bialystok, Delayed Impact: The Holocaust and the Canadian Jewish Community (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2000), 26-27, 38-41; Speisman, The Jews of Toronto, 339; Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews, 301-327, 401-407. 41 Troper, The Defining Decade, 94-121; Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews, 407-414, — 248 —

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460-467, 473-474; Bialystok, Delayed Impact, 75, 95-98, 122-149. Bialystok also describes the growing importance of Holocaust commemoration by the Congress after the 1960s. See also James W. St. G. Walker, “The ‘Jewish Phase’ in the Movement for Racial Equality in Canada,” Canadian Ethnic Studies 34, 1 (2002). 42 Levine, Coming of Age, 363-364; Troper, The Defining Decade, 176-180, 265283; Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews, 430-432, 443-448. See also Harold M. Waller, “The Impact of the Six-Day War on the Organizational Life of Canadian Jewry,” in Eli Lederhendler, ed., The Six-Day War and World Jewry (Bethesda, MD: University Press of Maryland, 2000). 43 Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews, 426; Brown, Jew or Juif?, 259. 44 See the commemorative volume Pathways to the Present: Canadian Jewry and the Canadian Jewish Congress (Toronto: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1986), issued for the 21st plenary. 45 Harold M. Waller, “A Community Transformed: The National Picture,” in Ruth Klein and Frank Dimant, eds., From Immigration to Integration, 150-151, 153160, 163-164. 46 Morton Weinfeld, Like Everyone Else…But Different: The Paradoxical Success of Canadian Jews (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2001), 174. 47 Azrieli, Rekindling the Torch, 211-212; Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf, “CIC Exec Named to Lead New Agency,” Canadian Jewish News, Toronto, Dec. 23, 2010, 1, 21; Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf, “New Era in Community Advocacy to Begin,” Canadian Jewish News, Toronto, June 30, 2011, 1, 7. The Congress had hoped that the new unified public affairs organization be called “Canadian Jewish Congress,” since it had by far the greatest name recognition within Canada’s Jewish community, and more importantly, with government and the media, but this was not to be. As a result of a reorganization in 2007, the Canadian Jewish Congress is itself now composed of individual members rather than affiliate organizations. 48 Abella, A Coat of Many Colours, 230. 49 For brief descriptions of the constituent organizations, see Azrieli, Rekindling the Torch, 196-210. 50 Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews, 367, 440.

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Selected Bibliography

Abella, Irving. A Coat of Many Colours: Two Centuries of Jewish Life in Canada, 2nd ed. Toronto: Key Porter, 1999. Abella, Irving and Harold Troper. None is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe 1933-1948. Toronto: Lester and Orpen Dennys, 1982. Anctil, Pierre. “H.M. Caiserman: Yiddish as a Passion,” in Ira Robinson et al, eds. An Everyday Miracle: Yiddish Culture in Montreal. Montreal: Véhicule Press, 1990. ---, ed. Through the Eyes of the Eagle: The Early Montreal Yiddish Press (19071916) (translated from the Yiddish by David Rome). Montreal: Véhicule Press, 2001. Arnold, Abraham J. “Canadian Jewish Congress: The Voice and Conscience of Canadian Jewry,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory. Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963. ---. “The Jewish Contribution to the Opening and Development of the West,” in Frank Hall, ed., Papers Read Before the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba Series 3, 25 (1968-1969). Azrieli, David J. Rekindling the Torch: The Story of Canadian Zionism. Toronto: Key Porter, 2008. Becker, I. L. “Reuben brainin in montreal,” in Nachman Meisel, ed., Tsum hundertstn geborintog fun reuben brainin. New York: Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF), 1962. Beer, Max. “The Montreal Jewish Community and the Holocaust,” Current Psychology 26, 3-4 (2008). Belkin, Simon. Di poale tsyion bavegung in kanada, 1904-1920. Montreal: Actions Committee of the Labour Zionist Movement in Canada, 1956. ---. Through Narrow Gates: A Review of Jewish Immigration, Colonization, and Immigrant Aid Work in Canada (1840-1940). Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress and the Jewish Colonization Association, 1966. ---. “When Brainin was a Montrealer: A Tribute to His Memory,” in Vladimir Grossman, ed., Canadian Jewish Year Book, Vol. II: 1940-1941 (5701). Montreal: Canadian Jewish Year Book Reg’d, 1940. Ben-Gurion, David. “Letters to Paula,” Midstream 17, 8 (1971). Bialystok, Franklin. Delayed Impact: The Holocaust and the Canadian Jewish Community. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2000. Bobrove, Isidore W. “Di tsyonistishe arbayter baveygung in di letste fuftsig yor,” in the Golden Jubilee Edition of the Jewish Daily Eagle (Keneder Adler). Montreal: Keneder Adler, November 22, 1957. — 251 —

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Bookman, Max. “Jewish Canada by Numbers,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory. Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963. Brainin, Reuben. “A bisl zikhroynes,” in Benjamin G. Sack, ed., Jewish Daily Eagle / Keneder Adler: Centennial Jubilee Edition Commemorating the Centenary of Jewish Emancipation in Canada. Montreal: Keneder Adler, July 8, 1932. ---. Fun mayn lebns-bukh. New York: Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF), 1946. Brown, Michael. “Divergent Paths: Early Zionism in Canada and the United States,” Jewish Social Studies 44, 2 (1982). ---. Jew or Juif?: Jews, French Canadians, and Anglo-Canadians, 1759-1914. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1987. Caiserman, Hannaniah Meir. “Builders of Canadian Jewry,” in Grossman, Vladimir, ed., Canadian Jewish Year Book, Vol. 1: 1939-1940 (5700). Montreal: Canadian Jewish Year Book Reg’d, 1939. ---. “The History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress,” in Arthur Daniel Hart, ed., The Jew in Canada: A Complete Record of Canadian Jewry from the Days of the French Regime to the Present Time. Toronto: Jewish Publications Ltd., 1926. ---. Two Canadian Personalities: Lyon Cohen, A.J. Freiman. Montreal: privately published, 1948. Canadian Jewish Congress. Pathways to the Present: Canadian Jewry and the Canadian Jewish Congress. Toronto: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1986. Caruso, Naomi. Reuven Brainin: The Fall of an Icon. New Series, Part 49. Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 2007. Cheifetz, Leon. “Di yidishe natsyonale baveygung in kanada,” in Benjamin G. Sack, ed., Jewish Daily Eagle / Keneder Adler: Centennial Jubilee Edition Commemorating the Centenary of Jewish Emancipation in Canada. Montreal: Keneder Adler, July 8, 1932. ---.“40 yor yidishe legyon,” in the Golden Jubilee Edition of the Jewish Daily Eagle (Keneder Adler). Montreal: Keneder Adler, November 22, 1957. Chiel, Arthur A. The Jews in Manitoba: A Social History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1961. ---. “Manitoba Jewish History – Early Times,” in Paul Yuzyk, ed., Papers Read before the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba, Series 3, 10, Winnipeg, 1955. Cobban, Alfred. The Nation State and National Self-Determination. London: Collins, 1969. Cohen, Lyon. “Recollections and Reminiscences 1881-1897,” in Benjamin G. Sack, ed., Jewish Daily Eagle / Keneder Adler: Centennial Jubilee Edition Commemorating the Centenary of Jewish Emancipation in Canada. Montreal: Keneder Adler, July 8, 1932. Cohen, Naomi W. The Americanization of Zionism, 1897-1948. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 2003. Cohen, Zvi. Canadian Jewry: Prominent Jews of Canada: A History of Canadian Jewry Especially of the Present through Reviews and Biographical Sketches. Toronto: — 252 —

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Canadian Jewish Historical Publishing Co., 1933. Cooper, John Irwin. Montreal, a Brief History. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1969. Davis, Moshe. “Centres of Jewry in the Western Hemisphere: A Comparative Approach,” Jewish Journal of Sociology 5 (1963). de Sola, Clarence. History of the Corporation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews “Shearith Israel” of Montreal. Montreal: Corporation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews, 1918. Dickstein, Moishe. From Palestine to Israel (translated from the Yiddish by A.M. Klein). Montreal: Eagle Publishing Co., 1951. Elbogen, Ismar. A Century of Jewish Life (translated from the German by Moses Hadas). Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1944. Feldman, Anna. “Sonnenfeld: Elements of Survival and Success of a Jewish Farming Community on the Prairies, 1905-1939,” Canadian Jewish Historical Society Journal 6, 1 (1982). Figler, Bernard. Biography of Louis Fitch, Q.C. Ottawa: privately published, 1968. ---. “History of the Zionist Ideal in Canada,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory. Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963. ---. Lillian and Archie Freiman: Biographies. Montreal: Northern Printing & Lithographing, 1961. ---. Sam Jacobs: Member of Parliament. Ottawa: privately published, 1970. ---. “Zionism in Canada,” in Raphael Patai, ed., Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel, Vol. I. New York: Herzl Press, 1971. Figler, Bernard and David Rome. “Hannaniah Meir Caiserman: A Biography,” in Bernard Figler and David Rome, The H.M. Caiserman Book. Montreal: Northern Printing & Lithographing, 1962. Fitch, Louis. “The New Aspect,” Canadian Jewish Chronicle 3, 20, September 27, 1916. Gilner, Elias. War and Hope: A History of the Jewish Legion. New York: Herzl Press, 1969. Glass, Joseph B. “Isolation and Alienation: Factors in the Growth of Zionism in the Canadian Prairies, 1917-1939,” Canadian Jewish Studies 9 (2001). Gold, Gerald L. “A Tale of Two Communities: The Growth and Decline of SmallTown Jewish Communities in Northern Ontario and Southwestern Louisiana,” in Moses Rischin, ed., The Jews of North America. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987. Goldberg, Abraham. Pioneers and Builders: Biographical Studies and Essays. New York: Abraham Goldberg Publication Committee, 1943. Goldman, Leon. “History of Zionism in Canada,” in Arthur Daniel Hart, ed., The — 253 —

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Jew in Canada: A Complete Record of Canadian Jewry from the Days of the French Regime to the Present Time. Toronto: Jewish Publications Ltd., 1926. Goldstick, Isidore. “The Jews of London, Ontario: The First One Hundred Years,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory. Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963. Gottesman, Eli. Who’s Who in Canadian Jewry. Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1965. Grossman, Vladimir. The Soil’s Calling. Montreal: Eagle Publishing Co., 1938. Haig, Robert. Ottawa: City of the Big Ears. Ottawa: Haig and Haig Publishing, 1970. Halperin, Samuel. The Political World of American Zionism. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1961. Halpern, Ben. The Idea of the Jewish State. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1961. Haltrecht, S.B. “History of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society of Canada,” in Arthur Daniel Hart, ed., The Jew in Canada: A Complete Record of Canadian Jewry from the Days of the French Regime to the Present Time. Toronto: Jewish Publications Ltd., 1926. Herstein, Harvey H. “The Growth of the Winnipeg Jewish Community and the Evolution of its Educational Institutions,” in C. J. Jaenen, ed., Transactions of the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba Series 3, 22 (1965-1966). Herzberg, Arthur, ed. The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader. New York: Atheneum, 1970. “Herzl Bust -- Albertans Honor Zionist Hero,” Discovery 16, 2 (2006). No author listed. The Israelite Press: Centennial Supplement, 1867-1967. Winnipeg: Israelite Press, 1967. No author listed. Janowsky, Oscar I. The Jews and Minority Rights (1898-1919). New York: Columbia University Press, 1933. Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta. Land of Promise: The Jewish Experience in Southern Alberta. Calgary: Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta, 1996. Joseph, Samuel. History of the Baron de Hirsch Fund: The Americanization of the Jewish Immigrant. Philadelphia: Jewish Publications Society of America, 1935. Kage, Joseph. With Faith and Thanksgiving: The Story of Two Hundred Years of Jewish Immigration and Immigrant Aid Effort in Canada (1760-1960). Montreal: Eagle Publishing Co., 1962. Kay, Zachariah. “A Note on Canada and the Formation of the Jewish Legion,” in Jewish Social Studies 29, 3 (1967). Kayfetz, Ben. “The Evolution of the Jewish Community in Toronto,” in Albert Rose, ed., A People and its Faith: Essays on Jews and Reform Judaism in a Changing Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1959. ---. “A History of Toronto Jewry,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference — 254 —

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Book and Directory. Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963. ---. “Recollections and Experiences with the Jewish Press in Toronto,” Polyphony 6, 1 (1984). Kelley, Ninette and Michael Trebilcock. The Making of the Mosaic: A History of Canadian Immigration Policy, 2nd ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010. Kimche, Jon. The Unromantics: The Great Powers and the Balfour Declaration. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1968. Langlais, Jacques and David Rome. Jews & French Quebecers: Two Hundred Years of Shared History (translated from the French by Barbara Young). Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1991. Laqueur, Walter. “Zionism and its Liberal Critics,” Journal of Contemporary History 6, 4 (1971). Levendel, Lewis. A Century of the Canadian Jewish Press: 1880s-1980s. Ottawa: Borealis Press, 1989. Levin, Shmarya. Childhood in Exile (translated from the Hebrew by Maurice Samuel). Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York, 1929. ---. Youth in Revolt (translated from the Hebrew by Maurice Samuel). Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York, 1930. Levine, Allan. Coming of Age: A History of the Jewish People of Manitoba. Winnipeg: Heartland Associates, 2009. Lewin, Kurt. “The Problem of Minority Leadership” in Gertrud Lewin, ed., Resolving Social Conflicts: Selected Papers on Group Dynamics. New York: Harper and Row, 1948. Lipsky, Louis. A Gallery of Zionist Profiles. New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1956. Lowenthal, Marvin. Henrietta Szold: Life and Letters. New York: Viking Press, 1942. Mahler, Raphael, et al, eds. Borochov for our Day: the Socialist-Zionist View of the Jewish People. New York: Progressive Zionist League-Hashomer Hatzair, 1958. Marcus, Jacob Rader. “The Periodization of American Jewish History,” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 47, 3 (1954). Margolis, Rebecca. Jewish Roots, Canadian Soil: Yiddish Culture in Montreal, 19051945. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2011. ---. “The Yiddish Press in Montreal, 1900-1945,” Canadian Jewish Studies 16-17 (2008-2009). Medres, Israel. Montreal fun nekhtn. Montreal: Keneder Adler Drukeray, 1947. Meisel, Nachman. “Reuben brainin un dr. khaim zhitlovsky,” in Nachman Meisel, ed., Tsum hundertstn geborintog fun reuben brainin. New York: Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF), 1962. Menes, Abraham. “The Am Oylom Movement,” YIVO Annual of Jewish Social Science 4, 1949.

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Noble, Shlomo. “Pre-Herzlism Zionism in America as Reflected in the Yiddish Press,” in Isidore S. Meyer, ed., Early History of Zionism in America: Papers Presented at the Conference on the Early History of Zionism in America. New York: American Jewish Historical Society and Theodor Herzl Foundation, 1958. Parzen, Herbert. “Brandeis and the Balfour Declaration,” in Raphael Patai, ed., Herzl Year Book: Essays in Zionist History and Thought, Vol. V: Studies in the History of Zionism in America: 1894-1919. Herzl Press, New York, 1963. ---. “Conservative Judaism and Zionism, 1896-1922,” Jewish Social Studies 23, 4 (1961). ---. “The Federation of American Zionists (1897-1914),” in Isidore S. Meyer, ed., Early History of Zionism in America: Papers Presented at the Conference on the Early History of Zionism in America. New York: American Jewish Historical Society and Theodor Herzl Foundation, 1958. Phillips, N. Taylor. “Necrology” of Clarence I de Sola, Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 28 (1922). Raymond, Allan. “Lazarus, Lyon Cohen were Potent Father-Son Team,” Your Community 19, 3 (1966). “Reports from the Societies,” Menorah Journal 3, 1 (1917). Rhinewine, Abraham. Der yid in kanada, Vol. I: Fun der frantsoyzisher periode biz der moderner tsayt. Toronto: Farlag Kanada, 1925. ---. Der yid in kanada, Vol. II: Matereyalen tsu der geshikhte fun di kanader yidn. Toronto: Farlag Kanada, 1927. ---. Looking Back a Century: On the Centennial of Jewish Political Equality in Canada. Toronto: Kraft Press, 1932. Robinson, Ira. “The Canadian Years of Yehuda Kaufman (Even Shmuel): Educator, Journalist and Intellectual,” Canadian Jewish Studies 15 (2007). Rome, David. Early Documents on the Canadian Jewish Congress 1914-1921. New Series, Part 1. Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1974. ---. The First Two Years: A Record of the Jewish Pioneers on Canada’s Pacific Coast, 1858-1860. Montreal: H. M. Caiserman Publishing, 1942. ---. Men of the Yiddish Press. New Series, No. 42. Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1989. ---. “Montreal, the Capital City of Jewish Canada,” in Eli Gottesman, ed., Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory. Montreal: Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963. ---. Our Archival Record of 1933, Hitler’s Year. New Series, No. 5. Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1976. Rome, David, Naomi Caruso and Janice Rosen, eds. The Canadian Story of Reuben Brainin, New Series, 48, Parts 1 and 2. Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1993 and 1996. Rosenberg, Louis. Canada’s Jews: A Social and Economic Study of the Jews in Canada. Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1939. — 256 —

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---. “The Canadian Jewish Congress 1919-1969: 50 Years of Organized Jewish Community Life,” in Jewish Historical Society of Western Canada, A Selection of Papers Presented in 1968-69. Winnipeg: June 1970. ---. Changes in the Geographical Distribution of the Jewish Population of Metropolitan Montreal in the Decennial Periods from 1901-1961: A Preliminary Study. Bureau of Social and Economic Research Press, Series A, No. 7. (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1966). ---. “Jewish Agriculture in Canada,” YIVO Annual of Jewish Social Science 5 (1950). ---. “The Jews of Canada,” Jewish Review 2, 2-3 (1944). ---. “Some Aspects of the Historical Development of the Canadian Jewish Community,” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 50, 2 (1960). Rosenberg, Stuart E. The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol I: A History. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 1970. ---. The Jewish Community in Canada, Vol. II: In the Midst of Freedom. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 1971. Rubin, Jacob A. Partners in State-Building: American Jewry and Israel. New York: Diplomatic Press Inc., 1969. Ruppin, Arthur. The Jews in the Modern World. London: Macmillan, 1934. Sack, Benjamin G. History of the Jews in Canada: From the Earliest Beginnings to the Present Day (translated from the Yiddish by Ralph Novek). Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1945. ---. “Reuben brainin amol in montreal.” Keneder Adler, April 6, 1962. Samuel, Sigmund. In Return: The Autobiography of Sigmund Samuel. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963. Schipper, Sidney S. “The Contribution of Holy Blossom to its Community,” in Albert Rose, ed., A People and its Faith: Essays on Jews and Reform Judaism in a Changing Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1959. Schneer, Jonathan. The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2010. Schwartz, Dov. Religious-Zionism: History and Ideology (translated from the Hebrew by Batya Stein). Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2009. Segal, Agi Romer. “Theodor Herzl Remembered,” Discovery 14, 3 (2004). Seidel, Judith. “The Development and Social Adjustment of the Jewish Community in Montreal,” unpublished M.A. thesis, McGill University, Montreal, 1939. Selick, Abel, et al, eds. History of B’nai B’rith in Eastern Canada. Toronto: B’nai B’rith, 1964. Shapiro, Shmuel Mayer. The Rise of the Toronto Jewish Community. Toronto: Now and Then Books, 2010. Shapiro, Yonathan. Leadership of the American Zionist Organization 1897-1930. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1971. Sherman, C. Bezalel. “The Beginnings of Labor Zionism in the United States,” in Isidore S. Meyer, ed., Early History of Zionism in America: Papers Presented at the Conference on the Early History of Zionism in America. New York: American — 257 —

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Index

Abdul Hamid II, Ottoman sultan 81 Abraham, Shlomo Ben 119 Abramovitch, Leon 77 Abramowitz, Herman 78, 81, 90, 161, 216, 229, 235–237 Abrams, Gershon 120 Abramson, Joseph 95 Agudath Zion, Montreal 77, 78, 88, 89 Agudath Zion, Toronto 90, 91 Ahad Ha’am (Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg) 42, 71, 72, 80, 85, 135, 181 Aikins, Sir James, 186 Albert, Moses 80 Alexander II, tsar of Russia 32 Almazov, Shloime 215, 220 Ansell, David A. 64, 72 Arbeiter Ring (Workmen’s Circle) 56, 58, 66n13, 66n6, 216 Arnold, A. J. 23, 222 Aronovitch, Leon 92 Ashinsky, Mordechai Aaron 55, 87, 88, 161 Ataturk, Mustafa Kemal 231 Averbach, Meyer 139, 184, 215 Aylesworth, A. B. 82 B’nai Brith 22, 48, 244 B’noth Zion, 196–198, 200 Balfour Declaration 16, 77, 87, 96, 145, 150, 159, 163, 165, 173, 178–182, 184, 185–187, 190, 191, 202n19, 203n24, 219, 228, 229, 236, 237 Balfour, Arthur 168n63, 175, 176 Baron de Hirsch Institute, Montreal 31, 39, 41, 43, 66n1, 88, 146, 148, 159, 211 Barondess, Joseph 147

Beilis, Mendel 86 Belkin, Simon 185, 211, 212, 214, 216, 221, 222, 230 Ben-Gurion, David 43, 139, 157, 191, 192, 204n75 Ben-Gurion, Paula 192 Benjamin, Alfred D. 31, 44, 45, 90 Benjamin, Frank 31 Benjamin, Louis 184 Bennett, Archibald B. 45, 79, 164, 181, 211, 215, 221, 222, 234, 243 Ben-Zvi, Yitzhak 139, 191, 192, 204n75 Bercovitch, Peter 102n31, 149, 154, 185, 187, 209, 210, 218 Bereskin, Meier 119 Berlin, Meir 100, 176 Bernier, Joseph 189 Bernstein, Chaim 73, 74, 77, 78, 84, 87, 88, 90, 98 Bernstein, Joseph 72 Bernstein, Minnie 78 Bilsky, Moses 31, 48 Birnbaum, Joe 127 Blumenthal, Abraham 140, 141, 143, 149 Boas, B. A. 40 Bobrove, Isidore M. 114, 143, 184, 191, 210 Borden, Sir Robert L. 33, 84, 131, 161, 176, 188, 189, 219, 241 Borochov, Ber 107, 108, 128n1, 139 Bourassa, Henri 131 Boyd, L. H. 161 Brainin, Joseph 191, 194 Brainin, Moses 191 Brainin, Reuben 17, 43, 59–61, 66n1, 66n18, 84–86, 90, 113, 126, 133, — 261 —

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134, 144, 146, 149–151, 153– 159, 188, 191, 192, 215, 216, 218, 223 Brandeis, Louis D. 59, 23, 77, 88, 136, 137, 161, 163, 174, 176, 179, 180, 232, 237–239 Brickner, Barnett R. 236 Bronfman, Samuel 244 Brown, Meyer 117 Brown, Michael 21 Budyk, J. S. 90 Buhay, Michael 189, 242 Caiserman, H. M. 11, 43, 79, 112– 114, 121, 124–127, 234, 139– 144, 146, 149, 164, 184, 185, 192, 198, 200, 210–212, 214, 220–222, 230, 232, 233, 236, 241–244, 247n22; 1916 Montreal municipal election campaign 113, 121, 139–143 Caiserman, Moses 195 Caiserman, Sarah Wittal 198 Canada-Israel Committee 244–246 Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) 245, 246 Canadian Jewish Chronicle, 58, 164, 200, 210 Canadian Jewish Conference, 134, 137, 153, 155, 156, 159, 160 Canadian Jewish Congress — passim. Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance (CJPA) 17, 43, 133, 134, 137– 139, 149–160, 163–165, 173, 178, 182, 184, 204n53, 210, 211, 218 Canadian Jewish Times 58 Canadian Jewish Tribune 58 Canadian Zionist Federation 84, 98, 134, 139, 140, 145, 146, 151, 159, 164, 176, 198, 199, 229, 232, 244, 246 Cartier (Sir Georges Etienne) Riding 186, 187, 188, 242 Cartier, J. O. 242

Cash, Alexander 91, 92 Chapleau, Joseph A. 75 Chaskin, Alexander 115, 139 Chazanovitch, Leon 115 Cheifetz, Israel 124, 125 Cheifetz, Leon 21, 25n21, 100, 115, 184, 195, 204n56, 204n75 Cheifetz, Noah 125, 141, 143, 152, 153, 185, 214 Cherniak, A. I. 157 Cherniak, Eli 100 Cherniak, J. A. 47, 146, 156, 157, 184, 210, 215 Cholette, H. A. 242 Churchill, Winston 231 CJPA — see Canadian Jewish People’s Alliance. Clark, Sir William Mortimer 82 Coatsworth, Emerson 91 Cohen, Jacob Raphael 37, 72, 77, 88 Cohen, Joe 210 Cohen, Lazarus 30, 31, 72, 73, 88 Cohen, Lyon 30, 39, 58, 73, 102n31, 144, 145, 147, 160, 162, 163, 187, 212, 216–218, 221, 222, 229, 230, 235–237, 241–244 Cohen, S. D. 210 Cohen, Victor 138 Cohen, Zvi Hirsch 31, 87, 146, 152, 216, 243 Courier 62 Dafoe, John W. 33 Daily Star 242 Daughters of Zion — see B’noth Zion. Davis, Sir Mortimer B. 40, 145, 147, 187, 102n19, 237 De Haas, Jacob 59, 88, 136, 161, 174, 176, 179 De Hirsch, Baron Maurice 41, 64 De Sola, Abraham 37, 38, 77 De Sola, Belle 196, 197 De Sola, Clarence Isaac 17, 22, 38, 77, 79–84, 88–91, 98, 102n19, 122, 123, 137, 138, 147, 150, 160,

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161, 163, 164, 168n63, 173, 175, 176, 178, 181, 182, 187, 189, 193, 218, 219, 227, 236 De Sola, Meldola Raphael 38, 78, 81, 85, 87, 161 Der Kanader Yid [The Canadian Israelite] 62, 147, 157 Der Veg 61, 159 Der Yidisher Zhurnal [Toronto Daily Hebrew Journal] 45, 61, 118, 155 Deutsche Yahudim 47 Di Fraye Shtime [The Free Voice] 62 Di Naye Tsayt 61 Di Tsayt 58, 72 Di Yidishe Shtime 62 Dickstein, Moishe 113, 115, 141, 149, 153, 214 Dominion Labour Party 122, 184, 215 Dos Folk 62 Dos Naye Lebn [New Life], 117 Dos Yidishe Vort [Israelite Daily Press] 62, 147, 156 Dostoevsky, F. M. 60 Dreyfus, A. 58, 87 Dreyfus, J. H. 74 Dubnov, Simon 71, 133 Elzas, Barnett 44 Epstein, Baer 236 Epstein, Mordechai 195, 204n75 Eretz Israel 21, 75, 80–82, 109, 110, 123, 143, 184, 236 Esner, Alter 113 Federation CJA 245 Federation of American Zionists 76, 77, 84, 110, 134, 136, 173, 179, 256 Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada 11, 15, 38, 119, 122, 173, 183; in Montreal 76, 77, 80; in Ottawa 80; in Toronto 80; in Winnipeg 80; in other centres 80 Feldstein, Esther 196 Felsen, Vivian 12

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Figler, Bernard 11, 15 Fineberg, Joseph 182 Fineberg, N. S. 79 Finesilver, Goldie 200 Finkelstein, Joseph 157 Finkelstein, Max James (M. J.) 92, 94, 137, 138, 145, 157, 162, 176, 178, 180–183, 186, 200, 215, 218, 222 Finkelstein, Moses 46 Fishbein, Dora 197 Fishbein, Morris 95, 215 Fitch, Louis 11, 78, 79, 84, 85, 137, 138, 146, 160, 162, 163, 177– 183, 185, 187, 191, 198, 218, 219, 222, 230, 232, 233, 237, 238, 243 Fitch, Minnie 197–198, 197, 200 Fogelman, Shmuel 140 Foster, Sir George 229 Foy, J. J. 91 Frankfurter, Felix 136, 179 Freedman, A. O. 229, 232, 236 Freedman, Isidore 191 Freiman Archibald Jacob 11, 17, 18, 31, 48, 51n18, 80, 84, 94, 95, 98, 102n19, 103n40, 137, 138, 146, 151, 160, 173, 178, 180–184, 205n79, 218, 229, 232, 236–238 Freiman (bilsky), Lillian 11, 31, 48, 181, 196–197 , 199–201, 205nn78-79, 237 Freye Arbayter Shtimeh 109 Friedenwald, Harry 76 Friedenwald, Israel 136 Friedlander, Elias 72 Friedlander, Israel 76, 84, 90 Friedman, D. S. 229 Friedman, Noah 30 Frumhartz, Paul 56 Galt, Sir Alexander T. 32, 63 Garber, Michael 79, 164, 180–183, 232, 222, 237 Gelber, Moses 32, 92 George V, King of England, 230 Gershon, M. L. 95 — 263 —

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Gertel, Yudel 126, 140 Gilbert, W. 242 Gladstone, William 38 Goel Tzedec Synagogue, Toronto 45 Goldberg, Abraham 89, 161 Goldberg, Marcia 200 Goldman, Leon 77–80, 83, 85, 88, 90, 98, 99, 137, 138, 164, 178, 181, 182, 233, 236 Goldman, Max 97 Goldsmid, Julian 32 Goldstein, Baruch 62 Goldstein, Maxwell 146, 147, 160 Goldstick, Anna 199 Goldstick, Betty 196 Goldstick, Isidore 95, 153, 185, 199, 215 Goldstick, Maurice 153, 155, 215, 218, 222, 243 Gordon, A. D. 108 Gordon, Jacob 45, 100, 146 Gordon, Nathan 79, 83, 92, 137, 160, 182, 237 Gottheil, Richard 76, 85, 136 Grant, Ulysses S. 37 Gray, Morris A. 48, 147, 157, 184, 203n40, 215, 222, 243 Green, S. Hart 46, 47, 62 Green, Sam 215 Guerin, James 75 Guthrie, Hugh 219 Hadassah 17, 31, 48, 79, 196, 198– 201, 232, 235, 237 Halpern, Benjamin 11 Haltrecht, S. B. 243 Hamagid 72 Hamelitz 46, 71, 72 Hansen, Elkhanan 140 Harkavy, Alexander 58, 71, 72 Hart, Aaron 88, 89 Hart, David A. 72, 88 Haskell, Sol 82, 90 Hazefirah 60, 71, 72 Heaps, A. A. 186

Hearst, William 182 Heillig, Lyon E. 78 Heller, Nachman 56 Heppner, John 63 Hershman, Harry 71–72 Herzl Girls Society, 196 Herzl, Theodor 21, 42, 74–76, 80–82, 88, 95, 96, 112, 131, 135, 233 Hess, Moses 115 Hevra Shass, 42, 88 Hibat Zion groups 16, 31, 42, 74 Hirsch, Michael 160 Holofcener, I. D. 95 Holy Blossom Temple, Toronto 31, 43, 215, 236 Hovevei Zion 71, 72, 80 Hyman, Marcus 146, 147, 156, 157, 184, 215, 216, 218 Immigration restrictions 43, 242 International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU), 124, 149 International Workers of the World 124 Jabotinsky, Vladimir 190 Jacobs, H. W. 58 Jacobs, Samuel William 11, 17, 30, 39, 40, 46, 79, 84, 85, 144, 147, 158, 162, 163, 186–189, 193, 221, 229, 235, 241–244, 248n34 ; election of 1917 17, 40, 186–190 Jacobs, Solomon 44, 158 Jacobs, William 30 Jewish Advocate 88 Jewish Colonial Trust 80, 89, 96,97, 121, 122 Jewish Colonization Association 39, 64, 65, 68n36, 242, 243 Jewish Immigrant Aid Society (JIAS) 11, 48, 53n55, 221, 241–244, 246, 248n36 Jewish Labour Bund 71, 107 Jewish Legion 18, 110, 111, 115, 173–201, 204n56, 204n75, 205n78,

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Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet) 23, 80, 81, 84, 96–99, 110, 122, 123, 134, 138, 140, 178, 204n75, 222, 230, 232, 233, 236 Jewish Times 35, 39, 42, 58, 78, 84 Joseph, Bernard (Dov) 180, 192 Joseph, Esther 37 Joseph, Henry 37 Kahanovitch, Israel Isaac 48, 57 Kahanovitch, Israel M. 93, 94, 100, 145, 215 Kahn, Zadok 74 Kanader Yidishe Velt 62 Kaufman, Yehuda 43, 66n1, 113, 134, 139, 141, 148, 150–154, 156, 192, 214, 215, 221, 223 Keneder Adler [Jewish Daily Eagle] Keren Hayesod — see Palestine Foundation Fund. Keren Kayemet — see Jewish National Fund. Kerensky, A. F. 17 Kessler, Charles 120 King, William Lyon Mackenzie 242 Kleiman, Abraham 63 Klein, A. M. 200 Klein, Rosa 197 Klineberg, Otto 248n38 Kohler, Kaufman 75 Kremenetzki, Johann 97 Lasalle, Ferdinand 115 Laski, Harold J. 141 Laurier, Sir Wilfrid 33, 39–40, 63, 119, 187, 188 Lazarus, Abraham 44, 45 Leeser, Isaac 38; and Occident 38; Leo, Joseph S. 77–79, 88, 90, 137, 163, 178 Lerner, Max 185 Lessard, François-Louis 195 Levadie, A. M. 119, 129n29, 139, 148 Levadie, Jacob 119 Levi, Paul 100 Levin, Abraham A. 78, 83, 90, 98,

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181, 182, 136, 137, 163, 178, 182, 183, 232, 233, 236–239, 247n22 Levin, Shmarya 76, 85, 86, 135, 137, 161, 176, 178, 216, 233, 235–237 Levinsky, Joseph 91 Levy, David 80, 81 Levy, Henry 83 Lewin, Kurt 24n5 Lewis, Abraham P. 90, 91 Lewis, Ida (later Ida Siegel), 196 Lewis, Samuel 90 Liberal Party 39, 46, 62, 119, 149, 185, 187, 188 Lilienblum, Moshe Leib 71 Lipsky, Louis 59, 136, 237 Lloyd George, David 229 Maccabean 173 Macdonald, Sir John A. 33, A. 63 MacInnes, C. S. 193 Mack, Julian W. 136, 179, 227, 236, 237, 239 MacMillan, Daniel H. 57 Magnes, Judah L. 76, 84, 136 Maille, L. O. 242 Manitoba Free Press 33, 34, 93, 230, 231 Mansion House (Russo-Jewish) Committee, London 32, 36, 63 Manson, Max 140, 147, 215, 232 Mapu, Abraham 60, 71 Marks, Samuel 40 Markus, M. 90, 137 Marmorek, Oscar 79 Marshall, Louis 86, 217, 227 Martin, Médéric 235 Marx, Karl 108, 115 Matenko, Isaac 56, 153 Meighen, Arthur 161, 229 Meldola, Raphael 37 Meltzer, Leon 113, 115, 141 Mevaseret Tsion 112 Mewburn, Sydney Chilton 193, 194 Mintz, Moses 73 Mizrachi Zionism 31, 45, 57, 99, 100, — 265 —

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103n40, 136, 146, 189, 201, 212, 213, 216 Montefiore, Moses 37 Morris, Jacob 116 Morris, Sarah 196 Mossinson, Benzion 138, 176, 186, 235, 238 Nathanson, Ben-Zion 100 Neileben-New Life 168n73 Nordau, Max 42, 76 Nordheimer, Abraham 32 Nordheimer, Samuel 32 Ohavei Zion, Winnipeg 92 Oppenheimer, David 32 Osovsky, Aaron 62, 93–94, 119, 122, 157, 215, 230, 237 Ottawa Zionist Society 94 Oungre, Edouard 65 Palestine Foundation Fund (Keren Hayesod) 23, 230, 232–238 Palestine Workers Fund 123, 140, 148, 185 Patterson, William 82 People’s Relief Committee, 145, 146 Peretz, I. L. 148 Perley, George 84, 85 Petluria, Simon 241 Pevsner, Bella 84, 116, 119, 120, 197 Phillips, Lazarus 79, 180 Phillipson, David 40, 75 Pierce, Asher 93 Pinsker, Leo 135 Pioneer Women’s Organization of Canada 113, 198 Poale Zion 11, 15, 16, 43, 56, 58, 75, 89, 100, 102, 107–116, 120–123, 128n1, 129n30, 133, 134, 136, 138, 140, 149, 150, 157, 180, 183, 185, 189, 191, 198, 203n24, 204n75, 209, 210, 212, 230; in Montreal 21, 55, 111, 116, 117, 124–126, 141, 142, 144, 146, 152, 184, 191, 192, 204n75, 211, 216, 218; in Toronto 56, 66n1,

66n6, 111, 117, 118, 127, 139, 147, 153, 155, 184, 215, 216, 218; in Winnipeg 111, 119, 127, 129n29, 139, 147, 148, 163, 184, 186, 215, 216, 218, 239; in other centres 110, 111, 120, 139, 143, 191, 215 Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs 86, 102n19, 136, 149, 163, 174, 176, 182, 183 Rabinovitch, Israel 184, 214 Rabinovitch, Sh. F. 72 Rabinovitz, Rose 200 Raphael, Morris J. 38 Raskin, P. M. 138 Reform Judaism 22, 32, 38, 40, 44, 75, 101n12 Reines, Isaac Jacob 99 Rhinewine, Abraham 33, 45, 61, 139, 153, 155, 215, 216, 218, 222 Richards, Bernard 133 Ripstein, Rose 200 Rocker, Rudolph 118 Rome, David 15, 43, 87 Rosen, Isaac 92 Rosenberg, Louis 15, 166n9 Rosenberg, Stuart 21, 186 Rosenblatt, Rachael 198 Rothschild, Baron Walter 236 Rothschild, Edmond de 73, 233 Rothschild, James de 233, 236 Rubenstein, Israel 78, 88 Rubenstein, Louis 102n23, 149, 161 Ruppin, Arthur 36 Rutenberg, Pinchas 155 Sack, Benjamin 60, 75, 116 Sack, Mendel L. 116 Sacks, S. 94 Salzman, Charles 62 Samuel, Annie 196 Samuel, Sir Herbert 236 Samuel, Herbert J. 46, 145, 147, 156, 194, 215, 230

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Samuel, Lewis 31 Samuel, Mark 31 Schechter, Solomon 76 Scheuer, Edmund 32, 44, 146 Schiff, Jacob H. 85, 86 Schlossberg, Joseph 126, 149 Schubert, Joseph 140, 141, 143, 218, 220 Segal, Jacob Isaac 184 Selick Anna (later Anna Raginsky), 197–199, 201 Serebrin, Reuben 93 Shaar Hashomayim synagogue, Montreal 30, 31, 39, 42, 71, 78, 88, 90, 180 Shaarey Zedek synagogue, Winnipeg 46, 56, 57, 147, 156, 157, 194, 215 Shapiro, Moses 88 Shapiro, S. S. 118, 127, 140 Shapiro, Shmuel Mayer 61, 118, 169n83 Shapiro, Zvi Hermann 97 Shavei Zion, Montreal, 73, 74, 78 Shayne, Alex 91 Shayne, John 85, 86, 91, 92, 99, 137 Shearith Israel (Spanish and Portuguese) synagogue, Montreal, 15, 24n4, 37–39, 77, 78, 88 Sheps, Ben 153, 156–158, 184, 215, 216, 218, 222, 243 Shultz, Samuel 95, 104n66, 149 Sifton, Sir Clifford 33 Silverman, A. S. 118 Simkin, Frank 62 Singer, Louis M. 149, 182, 183, 229 Sise, P. F. 195 Sklaver, Jacob 124 Sloves, Nathan 146 Smolenskin, Peretz 71 Social Democratic Party 122, 186 Socialist Party of Canada 62, 119, 121, 140 Socialist-National Workers’ Bloc 211

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Socialist-Territorialists 47, 53n68, 56–58, 61, 111, 116, 117–120, 155, 184 Sokolov, Ben 195 Sokolow, Nachum 42, 84–86, 102n27, 228, 236 Sperber, David 88 Sperber, Marcus M. 149, 191 Stein, M. B. 83, 95, 138, 232 Stern, Harry J. 101n14 Stolar, G. A. 199 Stone, Barnett 91, 137, 138, 155, 178, 181–183, 229 Sullivan, A. 242 Sutherland, Hugh 64 Sweet, David 137, 138, 178, 229 Syrkin, Nachman 55, 107, 108, 114, 115, 126, 133, 157, 176, 185, 191, 227 Szold, Henrietta 136, 179, 198, 200 Tarte, Joseph I. 75 Taschereau, Alexandre 185 Temple Emanu-El, Montreal 40, 52n42, 75, 101n14 Thompson, W. A. 63 Thornton, Edward 38 Tolstoy, L. N. 60 Toronto Jewish Weekly 61 Toronto Yidisher Prese 61 Toronto Zionist Council 91, 197, 215 Troper, Harold 18 Tulchinsky, Gerald 21, 245 Tupper, Charles 64 Turgenev, I. S. 60 Uganda proposal 80, 81, 110 United Garment Workers of America 61, 124–127, 148, 149 Unzer Vort, 149 Ussishkin, Menachem Mendel 80, 81, 178, 228, 233, 238 Vineberg, Harris 41, 64, 88 Vineberg, Moses 92 Waller, Harold 245 Wallerstein, Abraham 120 — 267 —

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Wallerstein, Fishel 118, 120 Warburg, Otto 84 Weidman, Hiram 56, 92, 93, 215 Weidman, Mordecai 46, 92 Weiner, B. M. 137 Weinfeld, Morton 245 Weinreb, Joseph 100 Weizmann, Chaim 18, 43, 181, 200, 233, 235–238, 235 Western Canada Relief Alliance, 145, 147 White, Frank 211, 214 Wilder, Harry E. 48, 147, 200, 215, 230 Wilder, Sylvia 200 Wilson Smith, R. 75 Wilson, Woodrow 174, 176, 179, 227 Winchevsky, Morris 125 Wise, Isaac Meyer 75, 101n14 Wise, Stephen S. 136, 138, 174, 176, 179, 227 Wolf, Joseph 32 Wolfe, Louis 248n34 Wolffsohn, David 76, 82, 83, 98 Wolofsky, Hirsch 58, 59, 66n17, 152, 159, 164, 210, 218, 236, 247n22 Wolofsky, Zelig 153 Wolsey, Samuel 73 Workman, Mark 145, 187 Wright, Ramsay 91 Yidishe Folkstsaytung 73 Yidishe Gazetn 73 Yidisher Kemfer 143, 215 Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Society, Montreal 36, 41, 47, 63, 64, 72 Zangwill, Israel 42, 76, 81, 102n30, 121 Zaslovsky, Zalman 119 Zhitlovsky, Chaim 55, 115, 117, 120, 121, 139, 147, 157, 184, 191, 215, 216, 219, 223 Zionist Organization of America, 168n73, 174, 179, 237, 238, 239

Zionist Organization of Canada 15, 17, 18, 31, 77, 78, 81, 103n40, 111, 122, 179, 181, 182, 199, 211, 212, 229, 232, 235, 237, 239, 244, 246 Zivkin, Shlomo 119 Zlotkin, J. L. 235 Zucker, Louis 116, 124, 141, 149, 150, 153, 154, 211, 216, 222 Zuckerman, Baruch 114, 116, 121, 133, 155, 185 Zuckerman, Ben 120 Zvankin, Peter 119

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