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March/April 2004
Lectures Close Out Anniversary YearElizabeth A. Morton, 50th Anniversary Coordinator Three lectures were organized to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Library of Canada in 1953. In March 2003 Phyllis Lambert gave the first lecture, entitled "The Ben Ezra Synagogue Restoration Project" (www.collectionscanada.ca/bulletin/p2-0403-02-e.html). The second lecture was given by Ira Robinson in November; and the third by Sandra Grant Marchand in December. Early Dilemmas of Jewish Orthodoxy in Canada
Ira Robinson, who is a professor of Judaic studies in the Department of Religion at Concordia University in Montréal, gave his illustrated lecture at Library and Archives Canada on November 16, 2003. The topic of his lecture was Rabbi Judah (Yudl) Rosenberg and the early dilemmas of Jewish Orthodoxy in Canada. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, the Jewish community of Canada grew dramatically in the wake of a massive emigration of Jews from Eastern Europe. Jews formed the largest immigrant collectivity of pre-World War II Montréal, where Yiddish became the most widely used non-official language. These Jewish immigrants established a cultural space with a formidable array of social, political, educational, religious and welfare institutions in order to preserve and perpetuate their heritage. The Jewish Public Library is one of those institutions. Rabbi Rosenberg immigrated to Canada from his native Poland in 1913. He served as a rabbi first in Toronto from 1913 to 1918 and then in Montréal until his death in 1935. Like the other Eastern European Orthodox immigrant rabbis who arrived to serve these communities, Rosenberg encountered unprecedented challenges. He wrote prolifically in both Hebrew and Yiddish, and he worked actively to accommodate the Orthodox tradition to the conditions of modern society. Professor Robinson introduced us to the concerns, the controversies, and the personalities of this period in Montréal and gave us a dramatic rendering of one of the more notable episodes of the early 1920s in which Rosenberg played a significant role in the Kosher Meat War. For more information on Rabbi Rosenberg and his community, I recommend An Everyday Miracle: Yiddish Culture in Montreal and Renewing Our Days: Montreal Jews in the Twentieth Century, both co-edited by Ira Robinson. His most recent publication is Not Written in Stone: Jews, Constitutions, and Constitutionalism in Canada. This lecture, like the Lambert lecture in March, was co-sponsored by the Council of the Jacob M. Lowy Collection and Library and Archives Canada. A selection of Yudl Rosenberg’s works from the Jacob M. Lowy Collection of Rare Hebraica and Judaica prepared by Curator Cheryl Jaffee was on display in the auditorium foyer during the reception that followed the lecture. Professor Robinson’s lecture was dedicated to the memory of Albert Rivers, who was a member of the Council of the Jacob M. Lowy Collection. Alfred Pellan: Un parcours esthétique
On December 7, Sandra Grant Marchand, a curator at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, presented a multimedia lecture in French entitled "Alfred Pellan: Un parcours esthétique," based on the retrospective exhibition co-curated by Grant Marchand in 1993 on the unique art of the late Canadian artist Alfred Pellan. Murals and engravings reflecting themes from Canadian and world literature and history decorate the interior of 395 Wellington which was completed for Canada’s centennial in 1967. The Canadian government commissioned Canadian artists Charles Comfort and Alfred Pellan to paint two murals each and John Hutton from New Zealand to create 37 engraved glass panels. For this aesthetic journey through the pictorial oeuvre of Alfred Pellan, Ms. Grant Marchand provided a virtual walk-through of the 1993 exhibition of Pellan’s artworks and slides of over 70 of his paintings from all periods of his life. This survey also looked at the social and cultural context in Canada and France that shaped his art. Following the lecture, Ms. Grant Marchand led a tour to the second floor Reference Room to view the two Pellan murals, Knowledge and The Alphabets, which frame the second floor Reference Room. Pellan has long held an important place at the Library. The stylized representation of a face seen as a book held by a young girl at the centre of Knowledge has identified the Library for many years, and for the 50th anniversary we turned once again to the distinctive work of Pellan. The central image of The Alphabets appears in the limited edition art poster produced for the anniversary, and the mural Knowledge appears on the packaging for the Authors stamps issued in September 2003 by Canada Post to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Library (see "Canada Post Stamp Launch" www.collectionscanada.ca/bulletin/p2-0603-02-e.html). For more information on Alfred Pellan, I recommend the illustrated exhibition catalogue entitled Alfred Pellan by Michel Martin and Sandra Grant Marchand (Musée du Québec, 1993). Anniversary posters are available on request at no charge. Library and Archives Canada |
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