The Jewish Experience in Toronto

The Jewish population of Canada is currently about 400,000 people of which close to half reside in the GTA.  They first settled in the area in the 1820s and their number continued to increase when Jewish immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe arrived in Canada in large numbers after 1880.  They came seeking a home and country in which they could not only survive and prosper, but one in which they could leave a positive legacy for their children, grandchildren, and the generations that followed.  They did indeed find the refuge they were searching for in Toronto and elsewhere, yet their acceptance and integration into the larger society was not always wanted or welcome, and the struggles they faced caused much inner turmoil and hardship.  In this lecture historian and author Allan Levine examines the key lessons, trends and patterns of two centuries of Jewish life in Toronto.

This lecture is a live, in-person event in Cameron Hall. You do not need to pre-register to attend – just show up.

BIOGRAPHY:

Allan Levine is an award-winning author and historian with a PhD from the University of Toronto.  He has written sixteen books including Details are Unprintable: Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Café Society Murder; Seeking the Fabled City: The Canadian Jewish Experience, which was longlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize; Toronto Biography of a City; and King: William Lyon Mackenzie King: A Life Guided by the Hand of Destiny, which won the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction.  For the past twelve years, he has written the column “Now & Then” for the Winnipeg Free Press, which looks at the history behind major news issues. His articles and reviews have also appeared in The Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, and Maclean’s, among other publications.