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Some visits yield two stories worth telling, like a recent one to
the West Toronto Masonic Temple. It led to a longer-than usual
column, but I have two tales to tell.
The first was about a treasure. Some buildings boast unique
architecture, antiquity, fine art, or even roots in local history.
The Annette Street temple has all of these, and one thing more. It
has the last pipe organ in a Masonic Lodge in Toronto and probably
one of the last in Ontario.
ITS ORIGINS
The instrument was built in the early 1900's, an age of elegance when pipe
organs graced salons in stately homes, like Lady Eaton’s mansion, or “Dunvegan”,
Sir Sandford Fleming’s manor, or Sir Henry Pellat’s Casa Loma. The builder,
Leonard Morel, learned his trade from Casavant Freres in St. Hyacinthe,
Quebec, and plied his skills in Toronto.
Those were the days when people caught the train at Toronto Junction for a
trip to Toronto. From Morel’s shop on Vine Street came the organs for St.
James-Bond United Church and the University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall
and churches throughout Canada. The smaller ones, if a pipe organ can be
“small”, went to big homes, small churches and one particular Masonic
lodge.
The Junction was kind of a music capital of Canada. Organs came from Morel
and pianos (uprights, grands, baby grands, and players with paper rolls)
came from Heintzman’s, two blocks away. The pianos are still making music
in homes and church halls but the organs, because of the
expense or maintenance, have fallen silent. All but a few. When Morel
installed his two manual with pedal and 12 stops in the West Toronto
Masonic Temple, he would walk the few blocks to do the work.
PIPES AND WIND
Before electricity, the organs had to be pumped by hand to get enough air
for the music. Consider the volume of air required for the 675 pipes in
this particular model. The longer ones range up to eight feet in length
and rumble as low as three octaves below middle C. The small ones are the
size of a whistle. Morel led the industry in electric blowers and other
manufacturers bought his machinery. But with the Great Depression, grand
mansions and home organs became things of the past. The business failed.
RECOGNITION AND GENEROSITY
All organs have majesty and power. But only the big pipes can make your
chest rumble with their vibrations. Electronic keyboards and speakers have
replaced (but not surpassed) the glory of pure air-driven sound. The “Old
Lady”, of course, needs more upkeep than when she was young.
The acoustics of the temple are great. A whisper from any corner carries
through the entire lodge room. The sound from the organ loft rolls across
the vaulted ceiling and tumbles down to the audience. Could a few sticking
keys and aging valves silence this voice from the past? One answer was an
organ recital to show off the asset. Eight lodges from three districts
meet in the West Toronto Masonic Temple. Their members, family, and
friends attended an emergent night in March that opened the lodge room to
the community. The purpose was to start a fund to restore the Morel.
Talent and generosity are available within The Craft. Ashley Tidy, a past
Grand Lodge organist, recruited three others with similar collars and
jewels for the March performance, Murray Black, Frank Cammisuli, and Lloyd
Oakes. In addition, a newly made fellowcraft, Paul Tuz of University
Lodge, was Patron of a champagne reception as Consul General of the
Republic of Mali.
The evening had the marks of an open house, a music recital, a family
gathering, a friend-to-friend night, and a fund raiser. The organists, in
presenting everything from Bach to Broadway, from sacred to singalong,
demonstrated why the organ has to be restored.
The lodge room itself is impressive and well worth the visit. Listen to
the music and you will understand the pride the eight lodges and one
chapter have in the Morel, their heritage organ.
Masonry in West Toronto started with Stanley Lodge number 426 in
1890. Shekinah Chapter followed in 1904, and Victoria Lodge number
474 in 1905. The three built the West Toronto Masonic Temple.
Others that originated in or moved to the temple are University
496, General
Mercer 548, Kilwinning, King Hiram 566, Fidelity 575, Runnymede
619, and Prince of Wales 630. All welcome visitors.
------AND ON TO ARSON
Anshei Minsk is a synagogue in the heart of Toronto’s Kensington
Market. It was torched by an arsonist in late March. The structure
was saved and the fire was confined to the balcony, which might
seem a blessing. But under the pews in that balcony were 5,000
books awaiting archiving.
.
When a religious artifact is desecrated, according to Jewish
custom, it is buried. But in this case, maybe not. “Lets not be
too judgmental to these books,” commented Rabbi Shmuel Spero.
Let’s be kind to them. These are the survivors.”
“Survivor.” Since the Holocaust the word has an aura of nobility.
Some of the books are charred, other slightly damp, and even more
are waterlogged. In bygone days their pathetic condition would
have deteriorated with time and private interment would have been
their only dignified end.
“I don’t want the event to be controlled by the perpetrators,”
insists Rabbi Spero.
TRANSITIONAL AREA
Kensington Market is a traditional a reception area for
immigrants. Currently there is a strong West Indian presence.
China Town has moved from Elizabeth Street to Spadina. Both these
groups displaced a Portugese settlement population.
Jewish immigrants arrived in Kensington in the early 20th century.
They came from what are now the Baltic Republics, Poland, Ukraine,
and Russia, some escaping pogroms and persecution, others seeking
new opportunity in a new land. Some gravitated to the growing
garment industry. Others were entrepreneurs. The Shopsowitz family
set up a delicatessen on Dundas near the synagogue. (It’s popular
name was “Shopsy’s”.)
Scrolls, books and religious articles came with the immigrants,
packed in suitcases and trunks and sometimes carried close to the
heart in carpet bags. The arrival dates were around 1900, but many
of the texts in Hebrew were already family heirlooms. They
communicated faith and philosophy from Europe to the New World,
and none is replaceable. Anshei Minsk has been the repository of
these treasures since its consecration in 1930.
SALVAGE POSSIBLE
The damaged writings may not be lost. Modern science may mix with
ancient religion to save the books.. Similarly damaged texts have
been taken for a “ride” in Downsview where the Canadian Forces
operates a high altitude chamber. The air is evacuated to simulate
an altitude of 40,000 feet. Held on high for a few days, the books
have the moisture sucked out with no damage to the pages. There’s
a similar hyperbaric chamber in the Toronto General Hospital but
patients have first call on that one. Warming weather and wet
pages present a major threat from mold. So some of the books are
being freeze-dried in Montreal, another conservation method.
That’s another possibility.
Restoration is painstaking and expensive. Is it worth it? Consider
that we are exploring the origins our faith with restored
fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
MASONIC CONNECTION
This was the story related by the Chaplain to the audience
assembled for the organ recital. The first reaction was
indignation. How dare they—how dare anyone perpetrate such a
crime.
Then the threat. Kingsway Lambton United Church expressed it on
their lawn sign. “An attack on Anshei Minsk is an attack on us
all.”
Then the question, “What can we do?” The Worshipful Master pointed
to the Broken Column*.
The result was a donation to the synagogue for restoration of the
holy texts. It underlined our belief that the bad guys can’t win.
We can’t let them.
* a repository for impromptu charitable donations.
-end-
Happy
to
Meet Again !
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V.W.Bro. Ted Morris, 76
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If you want to chat, Call Ted at 416-232-9545 or 705-448-2574.
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