A Christian has made it possible for a young German Jew, Klaus Goldschlag, to come to this city, live with him and study for the rabbinate.
Alan Coatsworth, the first person in Toronto to take a refugee from Naziland into his home, is adopting the Jewish youth and will furnish the means to make him a spiritual leader of Toronto Jewry.
The story of the benefactor, who has taken an interest in Jewish youths for many years — even to leading a Jewish boys’ club called the Maccabees — is told in the Canadian Jewish Review by Rabbi Maurice N. Eisendrath, who first had to break down Mr. Coatsworth’s resistance to making public the story.
Mr. Coatsworth gave in, Rabbi Eisendrath relates, only when convinced his example might open another household to a refugee — for whose maintenance the Council of Jewish Women is willing to pay.
Mr. Coatsworth approached Rabbi Eisendrath, the rabbi relates, fearing that his plan to adopt a refugee might not be feasible or that his motives be suspected. Rabbi Eisendrath, who was going to Germany, promised to see Chief Rabbi Leo Baeck to find out what could be done. Mr. Coatsworth asked that a boy be chosen who had the craving to be a rabbi.
Such a youth was found and “after several years’ preparation, at the personal expense of his foster-father-to-be, he will be enrolled at the Hebrew Union College where he will become equipped to minister, we trust, in our own city of Toronto,” Rabbi Eisendrath writes.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
