The Window of
Joseph Meyer Freiden
Mark Landy and Family
Joseph Meyer Freiden immigrated with his young family
to Winnipeg after the turn of the 20th
century leaving behind the pogroms of Russia. He opened a small tailor
shop on Portage Avenue and supported his family as a tailor. Limited in
his formal education by the lack of opportunity when he was young, he
pursued throughout his adult life a love of literature and learning. Self
educated he read the works of Shakespeare, among others, translated into
Yiddish. He was a long-standing member of the Winnipeg community's
Yiddish Theatre and frequently read from the works of Sholom Alechem and
J.L. Peretz.
The tree in this window represents the tree of knowledge. In it are
three large fruits representing the three daughters of Joseph and Reva
Freiden; Syma, Jennie, and Edith. The five smaller fruits represent Edith
and David Landy's five children. The curtain framing the tree and the
book below the tree, represent his participation in the theatre and his
love of learning. The thimbles, needles and thread in the upper corners
are a remembrance of his craft and the means by which he enabled his
family to root itself and then flourish in the new world. |
