TORONTO — When Jeff Perlmutar was growing up downtown, his mother never worried about him getting into trouble.
That’s because Perlmutar, now 73 and a substitute teacher for the York Region Board of Education, spent all his spare time at what was then known as YM/YWHA at Bloor Street and Spadina Avenue, which opened in 1953.
“I joined the Y when it was at College and Brunswick, and I was at the new JCC on Day 1. When I was 13, I volunteered for a boys’ group. I then became a swim instructor, took judo and karate, played basketball and floor hockey. It was a huge part of my life. It was my home.”
The seeds for what is now called the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre (MNJCC) were planted in 1919, when the Hebrew Association of Young Men’s and Young Women’s clubs, the precursor to the YM/YWHA, was created.
The athletic association soon expanded to include social, educational and cultural activities. It grew throughout the 1920s and became targeted toward boys, so “Young Women” was dropped from the name.
In the mid-1930s, overcrowding at the rented location at Brunswick Avenue and College Street became an issue, especially when activities for women began again in 1936.
As a result, the YM/YWHA erected its own athletic building in 1937 at 15 Brunswick Ave., entirely self-funded and run by volunteers.
A combined building campaign began in 1950 in order to raise $2,750,000 for a new YM/YWHA and a new Jewish Home for the Aged. In 1953, the new Jewish community centre was
