Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
- Textual record
- Object
- Graphic material
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1929-1986 (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
ca. 1.25 metres of textual records
ca. 15 scrapbooks
ca. 20 objects
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Ajalon Lodge was first organized on 10 March 1929 as the Ajalon Club of Young Judaea. The founding members were Abe Bohnen, Hyman Cohen, Isaac Gringorten, George (Hamell) Himmelstein and Lou Hochman. The group met at the Zionist Institute at 206 Beverley Street in Toronto. The name was selected by Abe Bohnen and Mark Zimmerman, the Young Judaea supervisor, from a map of Palestine which hung in the Young Judaea library.
The first leader of the club was Morris Kertzer followed by Al Zimmerman. In 1930 the lodge began to record its activities in scrapbooks, which it later named the Ajalon Archives. The archivists over the years included Max Schwadron, Ben Marks, Myer Bromberg and Willie Zimmerman.
The club was actively involved in Young Judaea literary, social and fundraising activities. In 1935, the club graduated from the Young Judaea movement and become a lodge of the Zionist Order Habonim. By 1939 however, the Ajalon, Balfour, Bialik and Jaffa lodges merged into the Toronto Habonim Lodge due the waning membership as many men went off to war. After the war, the four lodges returned to their original state. In 1940, the lodge acquired club rooms on the third floor of the Zionist Building and in 1944 several wives of lodge members organized the Ajalon Ladies Auxiliary. By 1953, Habonim became the Zionist Men’s Association of Canada, an affiliate organization of the Zionist Organization of Canada and by the 1960s, Ajalon Lodge became directly affiliated with ZOC. Over the course of its existence membership in the lodge has been between 40 and 90 members.
Ajalon Lodge participated in many fundraising campaigns for Jewish organizations in Toronto, such as the Jewish National Fund and the United Palestine Appeal. Many of its members also served on the Board of Directors for organizations such as the Toronto Zionist Council and Young Judaea. The lodge was involved in several fundraising initiatives, including the establishment of a kindergarten in Ashkelon, Israel in 1972. In later years the Ajalon Lodge was affiliated with the Zionist Organization of Canada.
Custodial history
Scope and content
This fonds primarily consists of the records collected and created by the Ajalon Archives Committee, under the direction of Max Schwadron, Ben Marks, Myer Bromberg and Willie Zimmerman. The archives are organized into scrapbooks by year and relate first to activities of Ajalon Club as a chapter of Young Judaea and then to Ajalon Lodge as a chapter of the Zionist Order Habonim. Later scrapbooks represent the lodge’s activities as part of the broader Zionist network affiliated with the Zionist Organization of Canada. The scrapbooks consist of photographs, event invitations, pamphlets and flyers, correspondence, editorial writings, newsletters, newsclippings, meeting minutes, activity reports and ephemera. They begin in 1929 and run to 1983.
Also included in the fonds are the meeting minutes, financial reports and general correspondence files of the lodge, as well as several artifacts collected by Meyer Bromberg while he was the acting archivist.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
The records were in the custody of both Willie Zimmerman and Meyer Bromberg before they were donated to the Archives in 1984, 1988 and 1994.
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
No finding aid.
Associated materials
Related material can be found in the Zionist Organization of Canada fonds 28, the Meyer Bromberg fonds, the Maurice Berg fonds and the Willie Zimmerman fonds 41.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.