Ben Lappin's Reflections on May Day Celebrations in Toronto's Jewish Quarter

WHEN BEN LAPPIN wrote this articce for Commentary in n955, hh was working for Canadian Jewish Congress as executive director of its Central (Ontario) region. In that capacity he knew Toronto Jewish community, therefore, extraordinarily well, especially multitude of political organizations, labour unions, sick-benefit societies, synagogues, and family associations that were affiliated with Con­ gress that styled itself the parliament of Canadian Jewry. Bom in Kielce, Poland, in 1915, Lappin moved with his family to Canada in 1924. His parents, Leibish and Sarah—Leibish was a Hebrew teacher—gave and his four siblings a sound Jewish educatton. Durrng summer racations, went to work running messages between Spadina Avenue clothing factories, and, for a while, as an operator in a shop producing socks —an experience from which, according to his Congress colleague Kayfetz, he garnered some humorous stories. On die Avenue he witnessed, first-hand, bitter strikes, lockouts, and bankruptcies that plagued this tumultuous manufacturing sector during 1930s. He saw pain inflicted on workers by its low wages, sweatshop conditions, seasonality, and long hours they were forced to work during rushed production runs. Between wars, Toronto had a substantial Jewish working class, mainly in clothing trades. In 1931, 27.42 per cent of all gainfully employed Jews worked, mainly in Spadina Avenue area factories, in production of men's and women's ready-to-wear, custom tailoring and dressmaking, millinery, hats and Gerald Tulchinsky, Ben Lappin's Reflections on May Day Celebrations in Toronto's Jewish Quarter, Labour/Le Travail, 49 (Spring 2002), 211-211

Ancient history · Archaeology · Judaism · Quarter (Canadian coin · Canadian Identity and History · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies

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