Getting to Know Our Ancestors in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

By Joanne Lebovits- Brodkin

Jewish Cemetery of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

There may only be about 13 Jewish people living in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, but true to the Jewish saying from the Talmud, "To save one person is to save the world,” Jacob Matz has certainly carried out this ancient command. Well, perhaps it’s exaggerating to say that Jacob has really saved lives, but it’s definitely not an overstatement to say that it takes only one person to make a difference, and Jacob has done just this by bringing many Jewish people back to life in this area that is rich with history and known as a major fishing and ferry port. 

Originally hailing from Russia and then Israel, Jacob arrived in Yarmouth, with his parents and younger brother and sister, approximately 3 years ago. The first thing Jacob did when he began his new life here in Canada was to find an English tutor. (It was hard to believe Jacob had ever needed help with his English because when I spoke to him, his English was absolutely flawless!). A very kind soul by the name of Peter Eldridge helped him out throughout his years in high school, and as Jacob says with such warmth in his voice, “Peter had an immense effect on my English and on getting to know Canadian culture.” It was Peter, who knew about Jacob’s interest in wanting to do some community work on the Jewish aspects of Yarmouth, who put him in touch with the Yarmouth County Museum & Archives. And it was Peter, who is not Jewish, and who is involved in the local church, who accompanied Jacob throughout his fascinating historical, genealogical project.  

Some of the gravestones Jacob translated

Apparently, the museum, for years, had been looking for someone to translate the tombstones in the Jewish cemetery from Hebrew to English. Now, thanks to Jacob’s excellent translation skills, they finally have the names and data of all Yarmouth’s Jewish citizens who, at one time, decided to spend their lives in this seacoast town. Located in the Mountain cemetery, the Jewish cemetery has tombstones dating back to the late 19^th century. Jacob estimates that there are approximately between 70 – 100 graves, indicating that the Jewish community, in the early 20^th century, was quite a big larger than its present-day Jewish population. The years on the stones reveal that as time marched on, the Jewish population got smaller and smaller. 

With lots of hard work and determination, and a little help from a JIAS Canada scholarship, Jacob has now moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to begin his university studies at Dalhousie University. Alongside his studies, Jacob will be joining the Jewish Students’ Association and looks forward to making a contribution to the Jewish community of Halifax as well. Jacob may have moved on to a new chapter in his young life, but he certainly left a lingering presence back in Yarmouth, not only of himself, but of all the Jewish people who had decided, for one reason or another, to at one time make Yarmouth their home. Now, they can live on forever, due to Jacob’s research about the Jewish community that once was. It didn’t take long for someone like Jacob, who arrived in this new land called Canada not that long ago, to make such a major contribution to Canadian Jewish history. Todah Rabah Jacob, for making a difference in all of our lives!

Joanne Lebovits-Brodkin is a freelance writer and a volunteer with JIAS Canada