Archives @ HBT: Edmund Scheuer

From the Holy Blossom Temple Archives: Edmund Scheuer

By Michael Cole, Holy Blossom Archives Committee

In the Star Weekly of February 12, 1916, the following was reported about the Jewish Free School and its founder and superintendent, Edmund Scheuer:

“Ones impressed with [the students’] discipline—founded, one can easily see, on their respect and affection (amounting almost to reverence) for their teacher, Mr. Scheuer …
… For attentiveness, for alertness, for discipline, these girls would stand comparison with any similar number of girls in any other Sunday school one could readily find.”

Edmund Scheuer, unusually for his time, was convinced that girls, as well as boys, deserved a good Jewish education, and the Jewish Free School, ostensibly run under the auspices of the Zionists of Toronto, put this conviction into practice, not only for the girls of Holy Blossom, where Mr. Scheuer (as he was always referred to) had been school superintendent for twenty years, but for Jewish girls across the city. At its height, the school enrolled about 300 students. Mr. Scheuer also compiled a textbook, containing hymns, prayers, and instructions on how to observe the holidays, that came to be used at Holy Blossom. It is likely the first Jewish textbook produced in Canada.

At Holy Blossom, Edmund Scheuer was a commanding presence in the Religious School well beyond his years as school superintendent. He was a born teacher and a knowledgeable Jew. To study Hebrew with Mr. Scheuer was considered a privilege. But his main emphasis was to teach young Jews to be good people and good citizens of Canada. The Star Weekly’s observer notes that “ … the lesson to the younger children was on the duty of truthfulness in all things—and especially in prayer. ‘It is only the sincere and truthful prayer that God answers, and He always answers that.’”

Heinz Warschauer, Mr. Scheuer’s eventual successor as head of the Religious School, wrote of his predecessor, “The children liked and respected him. He taught Judaism because he loved it and because he was convinced that only educated Jews would be able to be good Jews. And only good Jews would be able to work with good Christians for the Brotherhood of Man!”

Edmund Scheuer arrived in Toronto in 1886, and, until his death at 96 in 1943, was active in virtually every aspect of Holy Blossom’s life. He was the only person to serve on the Building Committee of both the Bond Street and Bathurst Street buildings. In 1934, he was elected an Honorary President of the synagogue. The Yohanan ben Zakkai window in our sanctuary is dedicated to Mr. Scheuer’s memory, and his portrait hangs in the foyer to the Enkin Boardroom.

Edmund Scheuer was very active in the affairs of the larger Jewish community. He helped found the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, the precursor of the UJA.

But it is his contribution to the education of Holy Blossom’s young people—and the young Jewish women of Toronto—that he will be most remembered.

Watch the video below of three late Holy Blossom Wardens, each a former student of Mr. Scheuer, reflect on the teacher, mentor, and remarkable person who left an enduring mark on their lives.

The Archives Committee receives inquiries regularly. We invite you to contact us about this or other areas of interest at: [email protected].   We are always interested in learning and sharing more about our remarkable history. We also encourage you to examine the archival displays in the Schwartz-Reisman Atrium.