Biographical Sketch:
Sara Yablon is the head of the Jewish Historical Society in Halifax.

Custodial History:
The collection was donated by Sara Yablon.

Scope and Content:
5 photos from Skaudville, Kelm, Lithuania - 1930s. Certificates and bank notes, JNF, Keren Heyesod for Palestine, early 1920s. Letter from David Rome about the 1919 certificate.

Notes:
Alpha-Numeric Designation: P99/04.
General Note: The importance of the collection; Pre-World War II Zionist documents, pre- Holocaust Jews in Europe.

Biographical Sketch :
Born in Moscow, Boris Yefman came to Montreal in 1991. (Further biographical notes in file.)

Custodial History :
The collection was donated on Sept. 12, 2006.

Scope and Content :
1 lithograph painting depicting a Jewish wedding. 1 CD reproduction of works. Biographical info.

Notes:
Alpha-Numeric Designations: P06/07-3.
Language: Russian and English.

Administrative History:
The programs were aimed at Russian Jewish immigrants and were held in Russian, in order to allow the immigrants to maintain their heritage and language. Photos also show the parties held for each Jewish holiday and occasion. The classes included dance, gymnastics, art and Russian language. For a while, the Y Russian program and its newsletter “Courier” received funding from the Ministry of Immigration, and this shows in the enhanced newsletter of that period.

Custodial History:
The collection was donated by Anna RUBALSKY on June 12, 2007. Anna Rubalsky, of Kiev, came to Canada in 1979 and began working for the Snowdon YM-YWHA in 1983, where she remained until her retirement in 2004. She passed away in June 2009.

Administrative History:
As a small Orthodox congregation, the Young Israel of Montreal got its start in 1924, using the United Talmud Torah Bialik school building on Jeanne Mance for services. There were several moves throughout the decades, as well as the establishment of a school. Associated with the international Young Israel Movement, the congregation split in the early 1940s but reunited several years later. The synagogue was incorporated in 1945. By 1949, their present building was constructed on Hillsdale as a community centre. The sanctuary was completed in 1954. The synagogue school merged with the Adath Israel school to form the Hebrew Academy in the 1960s. Due to shifting populations, the Young Israel presently accommodates Moroccan and Egyptian services and a Belzer Hasidim school; this has also led to the founding of Young Israel congregations in Chomedey and St. Laurent.

Administrative History:
The Montreal Young Men’s Hebrew Association, a sports club, was founded in 1908 and then was granted a charter in 1910. The club rented space in various buildings to provide the facilities for athletics, courses and dances. It also ran field days, a library, social events, lectures, children’s activities and a theatre group. Members were recruited, and eventually the Y bought its own building. There were several moves, culminating in the opening of the Snowdon building in 1950, and then of several other branches. A Young Women’s Hebrew Association was also begun in 1910; the two merged in 1950. The Y’s activities over the decades included looking after Jewish soldiers during both World Wars, the Golden Age Club (1951), summer camp (1963), a nursery, and a variety of social and educational programs and lectures. The Saidye Bronfman Centre, opened in 1967, is the Y’s cultural branch, with a theatre, art and other classes, lectures and exhibitions. In recent years the Y has also been assisting Russian immigrants and serving the Sepharadi community through the Centre Communautaire Juif (1978), in addition to its athletics programs.

Scope and Content:
Minutes (1935, 1943-1951, 1972). Reports (1933, 1950, 1954, 1971, 1973). Financial reports and budgets (1925-1929, 1933, 1943, 1946, 1954). Meeting/conference agendas, proceedings (1941, 1956, 1965, 1968, 1970-1973). Board members (1918-1929,