First of Two Volume History of Jewish Community in Canada Published

The first volume of a two-volume “History of the Jewish Community in Canada” by Rabbi Stuart E. Rosenberg of Toronto, has been published here by McLelland and Stewart. The book culminates eight years of research and writing co-sponsored by the publishers and the Canadian Jewish Congress. The first volume deals with the beginnings of the Canadian Jewish community and its development to the present time. The second volume will describe new trends in the communal development of Canadian Jewry and the contributions of Jews to Canada. Rabbi Rosenberg, spiritual leader of the Beth Tzedek Congregation in Toronto, has been a leader in Canada for the rights of Jews in the Soviet Union and the Arab countries. The American educated rabbi writes in the preface of his book that this is the first extended statement about Canadian Jews to be written by one “who was neither born nor educated in Canada and one who has consciously avoided identification with any Jewish organizational establishment in the country.” Jacques McLelland, speaking for the publishers, said he was encouraged to risk money on the book because “the Jews are known as great book readers.” He praised the contributions to Canadian culture by various Jewish poets and expressed the hope that many more Jewish writers will come to the fore, thus invigorating the spiritual climate of Canada.