Hirsch Wolofsky

Back River Memorial Gardens Cemetery / Adath Jeshurun, Section 1 (Map: B8) Montreal, QC / Canada Line 7 Grave 127

Harry Wolofsky, aged seventy-three, died at the Jewish General Hospital on November 9, after a lengthy illness. He is survived by two daughters, Mrs. L. D. Cres-tohl (Sophie); Mrs. A. A. Coop-erberg (Miriam); four sons, Daniel, Max; and Moses and Saul, of Toronto, Ont Phillip Wolofsky, another son, died in 1947. There are fourteen grandchildren: Myra and Harvey Crestohl; Peter and David Cooperberg; Mrs. Joseph Heillig (nee Esther Wolofsky), and Leib Wolofsky; Leila and Merle Wolofsky; Mrs. B. Eskanazi (nee Goldie Wolofsky); and Michael and John Wolofsky atid Timmie Wolofsky, of Toronto, Ont.; and one greatgrandchild, Albert Phillip Eskanazi. Funeral services were held from the United Talmud Torahs. Rabbi P. Hirschprung, Dr. C. N. Denburg, and I. Rabinovitch officiated. Burial was at Adath Yeshurim Cemetery, Back River. Shiva was at the home of Mrs. Crestohl, 1765 Ducharme Avenue. Mr. Wolofsky came to Canada from Poland in 1900, and took up residence in Montreal. He waa founder, editor, and publisher of the Jewish Daily Eaglv Yiddish paper; and...

During the first world war, he founded the Central People's Relief Organization. Mr. Wolofsky was a member of the national executive of the Zionist Organization of Canada. After three trips to the Middle East, he wrote a book entitled, "Europe And Palestine After The War." His two other books were, "The Eternal Spring11, commentaries on portions of the Torah; and "My Journey Through Life", an autobiography. When sets of the Talmud became unavailable during the First World War, Mr. Wolofsky had these Hebrew writings reprinted in eighteen volumes, the first such publishing venture in North America. At the time of his death, Mr. Wolofsky waa honorary president of the United Talmud Torahs. At the funeral services, honorary pall-bearers were: Arie Ben-Tovim, Montreal Consul of Israel; Ben. Beutel, Abe Bronfman, Allan Bronfman, Samuel Bronfman, Joseph S. Caplan, S. Greenfeld, Hyman Grover, A. H. Jassby, Lazarus Phillips, K C., 0. B. E.; George Salomon, Philip Segal, Alderman Max Seigler, J. Sternthal, B. M. Weiner, Abraham Albert, and Harry Gasco.

Hirsh Wolofsky arrived in Montreal from his native Poland in 1900, at the beginning of a period of massive Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe. At the time, the city’s Yiddish-speaking population was rapidly increasing. Wolofsky, who had been educated in a traditional milieu, immediately recognized that a Yiddish newspaper would help Jewish Montrealers to adapt to their new country and at the same time provide a structure that would allow the preservation of the culture of their countries of origin. In 1907, the Keneder Adler (Canadian Eagle), a daily newspaper in Yiddish, was established by Wolofsky. Over a period of several decades, and in particular between the two world wars, this newpaper and its publisher inspired the creation of an impressive network of major cultural, educational and religious institutions. Its headquarters were at 4075 Saint-Laurent Boulevard (just north of Duluth).

WOLOFSKY, HIRSCH (1878–1949), Canadian Yiddish publisher and author. Wolofsky was born in Shidlovtse (Szydlowiec), Poland, into an observant ḥasidic community to which his father was crown rabbi. He received a traditional religious education until orphaned at 15. He moved to Lodz, married, and immigrated to Canada via England in 1900 to join a brother in Montreal. In 1907 Wolofsky founded Canada's first enduring Yiddish daily, the Keneder Adler (Canadian Jewish Eagle), and served as managing editor until his death. Wolofsky's newspaper served a wide readership across ideological lines. It promoted Jewish education, establishment of a Canadian Jewish Congress, creation of a Jewish Community Council (Va'ad Ha'ir), and building of a Jewish hospital.

The Adler attracted Jewish writers of international renown such as Hebraist Reuben Brainin, who served as editor from 1912 to 1915, and featured many of Canada's Yiddish writers. Wolofsky's Adler subsidized the literary and scholarly pursuits of its associates and published many of their books. Among the books published was Canada's first Yiddish book: Moshe Elimelech Levin's Kinder Ertsiyung bay Yidn ("Children's Education Among Jews," 1910), and a local edition of the Talmud, the Adler's Shas Talmud Bavli or, as it became popularly known, the Montreoler Shas ("Montreal Talmud," 1919).

Wolofsky also wrote for the Adler. He published three Yiddish books: a travelogue titled Eyrope un Erets-Yisroel nokh dem Veltkrig ("Europe and the Land of Israel after the World War," 1922), a volume of contemporary commentary on the weekly Torah portions, Fun Eybign Kval ("From the Eternal Source," 1930), and a book of memoirs, Mayn Lebns Rayze ("Journey of My Life," 1946; Eng. tr. 1945, Fr. tr. 2000). In addition, Wolofsky served as publisher of the Anglo-Jewish weekly the Canadian Jewish Chronicle (founded 1914). He held various leadership positions in the Montreal Jewish community, including the vice presidency of both the American Union of Polish Jews and the Canadian Jewish Congress.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

L. Levendel, A Century of the Canadian Jewish Press: 1880s–1980s (1989).

[Rebecca E. Margolis (2nd ed.)]

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