On Sunday, April 11, 1916, the Winnipeg Young Hebrew Girls’ Helping Society put on a musical concert at the Grand Opera House (814 Main Street) for the benefit of Jewish war sufferers. This event needs to be framed within the context of what Arthur Ross defined as the expansion of the Jewish community’s “collective responsibility” for the well – being of Jews to include those left destitute by war in Eastern Europe. According to Ross the Winnipeg Jewish community had a proven track record in raising money for relief efforts in Eastern Europe, such as organizing funding drives for victims of pogroms in Russia in 1903 and 1905 as well as anti-Jewish violence in Romania in 1907. In 1915 the community created the Winnipeg Jewish Fund for the Relief of War Sufferers, whose main objective was to coordinate fundraising efforts to assist war victims. Arthur Chiel noted about two hundred men and women canvassed Jewish homes each Sunday. The volunteers also collected clothing and medicine. The Fund was also committed to bringing Jewish orphans to Canada. There were challenges to be sure. Working class North End Jews and their counterpart more affluent south-enders had different ideas regarding social and communal responsibility as well commitment to democratic principles and leadership. But here is not the place to delve into this complex issue. Arthur Ross explores this at greater length in his book Communal Solidarity: Immigration, Settlement, and Social Welfare in Winnipeg’s Jewish Community, 1882 – 1930.
Very little is known about the Winnipeg Young Hebrew Girls’ Helping Society and the concert. The evening consisted of several musical performances and the staging of an historical operetta titled “The High Priest,” written and composed by Joseph Goldsmith.
The program offers a fragmented description of the operetta which involved “priests, banner carriers, Hebrew Soldiers, etc. Some scenes take place in a field in Jerusalem. Mattathias, the High Priest hands a sword to his third son Judah. He explains the meaning of the four letters on the Hebrew Flag”. The operetta was probably based on the story of Mattathias ben Johanan who helped spark the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire, a Greek power in West Asia during the Hellenistic era by refusing to offer sacrifice to the Greek gods. Though the characters were all males they were played by women, namely: Viola Shefer (Mattathias, the High Priest), Fanny Silverman (Jochanon, Eldest Son), Fanny Weidman (Simon, Second Son), Goldie Zimring (Judah, Third Son), Sara Rosenblatt (Eleaser, Fourth Son) and Ethel Leonoff (Jonah, Fifth Son). Musical accompaniment was provided by Miss N. Goldsmith on piano and Master Fietterman on violin.
The musical component consisted of the “Barcarolle” from Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffman” featuring vocalists Pearl Lobel, Harry Isaacs, violinists Norman Adilman, Joe Zimmerman, and Edythe Finkelstein on piano. This was followed by Massenet’s “Elegie” with Pearl Lobel and Norman Adilman, Beethoven’s “Minuette” with Edythe Finkelstein, Norman Adilmen and Joe Zimmerman, the “Merry Widow Waltz” and “Brazilliene Maxixe” with Edith Finkelstein and Norman Adilman, Harry Isaac’s vocal rendition of “The Link Divine”, a recitation by Mr. B. Veisburd accompanied by Mr. B. Hirschfield on pian, and the “Marche Militaire” performed by the trio of Edythe Finkelstein, Norman Adilman and Joe Zimmerman.
The evening also featured an address by Golda Goldsmith and ended with the playing of “God Save the King”.
Suggested reading:
Chiel, Arthur. The Jews in Manitoba: A Social History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1961
Ross, Arthur. Communal Solidarity: Immigration, Settlement and Social Welfare in Winnipeg’s Jewish Community, 1882 – 1930. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press
