The Abraham Reisen Schools were Jewish afternoon schools founded by the Workmen's Circle group, and named after the famous Yiddish poet Abraham Reisen. The first school in Montreal was established in May 1920 in the Mile End, with a second school opening by 1924 at the Workmen’s Circle centre. However, it was in 1941 that the institution which became known as the Abraham Reisen Schools was established. By 1957, there were three schools with approximately 300 students. The last school closed in the early 2000s, with the final course for adults ending in 2005.
Source: http://mimj.ca/location/2305
Connie Abramovitch, (b.1929) lifelong library member, has been volunteering at the JPL for over twenty years. What originally began as a joint mission with her late husband Syd, Connie continues to pick up and deliver library books to frail and housebound members. Without her services, many library patrons would otherwise be isolated. Connie is described as a role-model at the Cummings Centre, participating in Cardio-Balance and Aerobic classes four times a week and volunteering in the registration area. Frequently attending a variety of lectures and social groups, Connie is deeply ingrained in community life and is a stalwart of the Jewish community campus.
Connie’s watercolor painting, a passion that began in 2000, sheds light into the artistic side of this philanthropically minded woman. The works document her travels around Montreal and its environs, as well Connie’s attention to minuscule, serene moments.
Rabbi Doctor Herman Abramowitz was born in Russia in 1880, and came to America in 1890. He was educated at the public schools, the College of the City of New York (from which he graduated in 1900 with a Bachelor of Arts) and at the Jewish Theological Seminary. From 1900 to 1903, he took a post-graduate course in philosophy at Columbia University. In 1907 he received the degree of Doctor of Hebrew Literature from the Seminary, being the first graduate to receive this honour. In 1903, he accepted a call from the Shaar Hashomayim Congregation, Montreal. Dr. Abramowitz developed the congregational Sunday School, and Hebrew Day School; the Women's Auxiliary; the Young Peoples' Society and other activities. He was active in all communal enterprises ofa philanthropic and educational character and in 1910 personally raised from subscriptions the entire cost of the building of the Mount Sinai Sanatorium for tubercular patients. He was also in charge of the organization which raised annual subscriptions for the maintenance of the Sanatorium. His part in the Plamondon case was as a key witness in this infamous anti-Semitic libel case in Quebec City in 1913. In 1909, Dr. Abramowitz visited the Jewish agricultural colonies in the western provinces of Canada to establish religious schools and other institutions. He was invited to become a member of the Canadian Committee and in 1913 was sent to Paris to confer with the Jewish Colonization Association heads. He also represented Canada at the Congress held later that year in Vienna. Shortly after the outbreak of the World War I, Dr. Abramowitz was appointed Jewish Chaplain in the Canadian Army with the rank of Captain. He was also active on the speakers' team in all the Victory Loan campaigns and relief drives held during the war. He was Vice-President of the United Synagogue of America; Director, Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Montreal; Director, Montreal United Talmud Torahs; and a life Governor of the Montreal General Hospital. Dr. Abramowitz married in 1911 to Theresa Bokar and had one son, David Lester and one daughter, Judith.