B’nai Brith Canada, in advance of the organization’s 150th anniversary in Canada, is putting together a national history of the grassroots development of the organization. As such, they are collecting interviews for this project.

Raymond Moscoe, a past president of our Lodge, decided to participate. In advance of his interview, he collected his memories of Forestdale Heights.

B’nai Brith Involvement – Forestdale Heights Lodge
I’ve been a member of the Lodge for 55 years, and at 79 years of age, I am still involved. I was president of the Lodge for three years in a row.

Baseball League  
I took it over when there were only four or five teams in the league. I started playing when I was 24 years old. I played for the first years. Then two teams folded. That would have been the end of the baseball league. However, I decided to take it over as the league commissioner (and continued as commissioner for nine years). Plus, I still played ball as the first baseman. I got a list of all the presidents of all B’nai Brith lodges in Toronto and sent out letters to each lodge. In those days, there were no computers. Everything was done by hand, by phone, and by mail.

We had a tremendous response. We held a meeting of all the Toronto lodge athletic chairmen in the basement of my house with 18 – 20 people in attendance. Next year we had an additional 12 lodges that joined. More teams kept coming in. To play, a person had to be a paid member of Bnai Brith, and it brought in over 1,000 members over the next few years. Our primary purpose was to get as many players as possible to be involved in B’nai Brith. Each lodge had so many ballplaying members that they broke into teams, sometimes seven or eight teams representing each lodge. We set up a schedule, obtained the parks, and permits for the parks, and arranged umpires. Meetings were held monthly at my home to set up rules for the league, schedules, and handling problems. It quickly grew to 12 teams, then to 18. After seven years, we had 100 teams in the league with an average of 15 players per team. At its peak, the league had about 1,500 players.

We had monthly baseball league meetings and set up rules and regulations, schedules, and playoffs. After a few years, we were classified as one of the largest organized men’s baseball leagues in North America. We had both fast-pitch and slow-pitch leagues. The baseball committee members set up an annual banquet for the Baseball Leagues for many years, and between 400 and 500 members showed up. The League is still going today (after 60 years), just not under the auspices of B'nai Brith. However, some teams are still playing in a Senior’s League in North York.

Hockey League
When the B’nai Brith hockey league started many years ago, we assisted them by having two of our members referee their games (myself included). We started with four teams, and it grew considerably. Soon the league grew so quickly that they had to hire professional referees.

My Involvement in the Lodge
Over the years, we did an enormous amount of fundraising. Our Lodge and two other lodges purchased an ambulance for use in Israel. We still hand out cash donations to many charities in Toronto and some in Israel each year. For the past few years, we also have handed out parcels of clothing and food to the homeless. Years ago, we worked with the blind and drove them to doctors’ appointments and programs. We also worked with Bloorview Hospital/school children, running floor hockey, basketball games, and other programs. We sponsored a bingo twice a month at the Don Mills Centre.   

We’ve been a very social lodge and had many annual picnics in the early days as well as Chanukah parties. We have also held yearly banquets, including one special 50th-anniversary party, which attracted former members for this great event.

Fundraising
Over the years, we did an enormous amount of fundraising. Our lodge and two other lodges purchased an ambulance for usage in Israel. We still hand out cash donations to many charities in Toronto and some in Israel each year. In past years, we also distributed parcels of clothing and food to the homeless, many of them in person. Years ago, we worked with the blind and drove them to doctor’s appointments and other programs. Our Lodge members also worked with Bloorview Hospital/school children, running floor hockey, basketball games, and other programs. We sponsored a Bingo twice a month at the Don Mills Centre and had large crowds, 500 – 600 people a night, and raised large sums of money for B’nai Brith.

Our Award-Winning Bulletin, Kol Echad
Another significant part of our Lodge is our Lodge’s award-winning digital and print bulletin Kol Echad. Kol Echad includes articles by many of our members and advertising, recipes, jokes, and good tips. It is capably handled by editor Jeff Rosen, a former editor for The Canadian Jewish News when it was a print publication. 

I am proud to have been a member of this Lodge for so many years. It truly has enriched my life. My wife, Rosalie, a trustee of Forestdale Heights Lodge, has been supportive, written articles for Kol Echad for many years, and has shared in many charitable and other programs.