February 8, 2012

Kickin’ It Old Shul

A glimpse back at the history of Toronto’s Jewish community

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY will soon be celebrating the holiest days of the year, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Although greetings of “Shana tova!” (“Happy new year”) can be heard everywhere today, the beginning of Jewish culture in Toronto took place a long time ago. Canada’s first census, in 1871, revealed 157 Jewish Canadians living in Toronto. But a new wave of Jewish settlers came to town at the turn of the century, and by 1913, there were 32,000, many living alongside other immigrant families in the St. John’s Ward area bounded by College and Queen, Yonge and University (approx. 150,000 live in the GTA today).

Holy Blossom Temple established the city’s first congregation on Sept. 7, 1856. During a recent celebration for their 150th anniversary, the Governor General of Canada made mention of the congregation being in existence before Canada was even a country. Holy Blossom built the city’s first synagogue in 1876, near the corner of Yonge and Richmond.

The congregation grew and has moved on two occasions: to Bond Street in 1897 and to its present location on Bathurst Street in 1938. In 1909 part of the ward was demolished to make way for the Toronto General Hospital. And, with the change in the area, the Jewish community began its move westward to Kensington Market. Around the same time, the Jewish community in the Junction neighbourhood formed the Congregation Knesseth Israel, which would purchase the land at 56 Maria St. (for $520) that would be home to the Junction Shul, another one of the city’s first synagogues.

Shortly after, in 1913, Ashei Minsk purchased land to establish Kensington Market’s first synagogue, also known as the Minsker (pictured above), and they moved into the location in 1916 with Rabbi Meyer Levy leading the congregation. Other historic synagogues include the Kiever (1912) and the Beach Hebrew Institute (1919).

Shana tova, and have a sweet year.

This article appears in the September 2009 issue of Post City Magazines

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