Yiddish used to be spoken and heard throughout the Market. Many first and second generation European Jewish immigrants spoke varying levels of the language. As different waves of immigration came through the Market and many Jewish people began to settle in different areas of Toronto, Yiddish became less common, with Portugese, Mandarin, and other languages being heard instead.
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- An example of Yiddish ads in the Daily Hebrew Journal. Photo from Bill Gladstone: http://www.billgladstone.ca/?p=4449
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- Loblaw’s Groceteria, n.d. Photo from Bill Gladstone: http://www.billgladstone.ca/?p=4449
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- Joe Rosenblatt in 2009. Photo courtesy of Saul Joseph
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- Zoltan Zimmerman in his home, 2014
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- A family in front of 12 Kensington Ave, a Kosher butcher shop, 1939. Photo from the Kensington Market Historical Society Collection
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- Jewish Market Day on Kensington Avenue, 1924. Photo from Wikimedia
Do you have your own 90 second story about speaking or hearing Yiddish in the Market? We’d love to hear it!