Where Did They Go?

Bar Mitzvah of Shelly Freedman, c.1964.

Photo Courtesy of Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2007-9-3.

Sheldon Freedman is now a lawyer in New York City. His life is typical of young Jewish people from North Bay or any small northern Ontario town.

Already in the 1960s, the sons and grandchildren of Jewish shopkeepers were choosing professions rather than following in their parents’ footsteps. Sid Cohen was an optometrist and Max Back (President of the shul) was a dentist.

Most young people who left to attend university married into the larger Jewish communities of the city, and never moved back to North Bay. The Sons of Jacob Synagogue relies on a small influx of newcomers in the health and education fields to keep the congregation going.