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History of the Jews in Vancouver

The history of the Jews in Vancouver (also: Greater Vancouver and Metro Vancouver) in British Columbia, Canada has been noted since the mid-19th century.

Early Jewish settlers were isolated from established Jewish institutions and communities in eastern Canada and the United States. They were also often isolated from each other, scattered across the Greater Vancouver area. As the local cities developed, the Jewish community also grew and expanded beyond the original business districts to spread throughout the area. While some early Jewish settlers ran farms, poultry operations, and sawmills, most tended to work in merchant industries. Many started as street peddlers and worked their way up to running small stores, a few of which grew into retail empires.

Most of the early Jewish immigrants came from the United States and Britain. By the end of World War I immigrants from Eastern Europe formed the majority of the Vancouver-area Jewish community due to discrimination in their homelands, notably the pogroms in Russia, and changes in Canadian immigration policy.

Early Jewish life in Vancouver edit

Early Jewish settlers in Vancouver were concentrated in the stores of the Gastown area and the homes of the Strathcona neighbourhood: the East End of Vancouver. The first Jewish businessman in Vancouver was Louis Gold, who opened a general store on the waterfront in 1872. His wife and son were also prominent businesspeople, and his son Edward willed valuable land to the Jewish community for charities and building projects. Edward was also elected Councilor in South Vancouver in 1914.[citation needed]

One notable early settler was David Oppenheimer, who moved to Vancouver in 1885. As the city's second Mayor (1888–91), he was responsible for starting much civic infrastructure and industry. Oppenheimer also secured a Jewish burial area in the city-owned Mountain View Cemetery and offered land to the community for a synagogue. He and his brothers were prominent in real estate, groceries, and transportation; their grocery business is still operating as The Oppenheimer Group.[1] Another prominent settler was Zebulon Franks, who arrived in 1887 and opened a hardware store by 1896. Parts of his business still survive as Y. Franks Appliances[2] and Y. Franks Parts & Service. Franks was also involved in the development of Vancouver Jewish religious and community institutions, hosting the first Orthodox prayer services and serving as a founding member of B'nai B'rith. Along with Henry Sigler, he also negotiated the purchase of the land for the first synagogue in Vancouver.

Development of synagogues edit

In the city's early years, its nearest synagogue was Temple Emanu-El in Victoria. Agudas Achim (Orthodox) was the first congregation in Vancouver, active from 1891 to 1906. A semi-Reform congregation soon followed, as Temple Emanu-El started in 1894 and was active through 1917. In 1907 a new Orthodox congregation appeared, named B'nai Yehudah (also known as Sons of Israel). However, the first Vancouver synagogue did not appear until 1911, when B'nai Yehudah was built at the corner of East Pender and Heatley Streets. Though it seated 200, larger halls had to be rented for High Holy Days. The building also housed several community organizations. Children's Judaic classes began shortly after the opening in nearby homes. In 1914, during an economic depression, the synagogue was saved from foreclosure by an emergency fundraising campaign. In 1917 B'nai Yehudah was incorporated as a society by the name of Schara Tzedeck. The Vancouver Hebrew School/Talmud Torah[3] started at the synagogue in 1918. After thirty years as a boys' club and vocational school, the synagogue was developed into residences and was honoured with a Vancouver Centennial plaque in 1986.

Formation of community organizations edit

Local Jewish community organizations founded in the early 20th century included the Young Mens Hebrew Association (1909), the Ladies Aid Society (1907; later Schara Tzedeck Ladies' Auxiliary and the Sisterhood), B'nai B'rith (1910), the Hebrew Aid and Immigrant Society (1910), the Zionist and Social Society (1913), and the Hebrew Free Loan Association (1915). Samuel Davies Schultz was appointed to Vancouver County Court in 1914, making him Canada's first Jewish judge. Max Grossman was the first Vancouver Jew to be appointed King's Counsel, as a lawyer, in 1917. Grossman was involved in many community organizations and was a major force in the first Schara Tzedeck Synagoge, the Vancouver Hebrew School, and the first Jewish Community Centre.

Increase in affluence edit

More affluent Jewish families began to settle in the West End area in the early 20th century, centered around Congregation Temple Emanu-El. The congregation started raising funds for a semi-Reform synagogue in 1911, but World War I and economic depression interrupted their efforts. The congregation stopped services in 1917. Shortly afterwards, the rearrangement of European boundaries following the Russian revolution and the Treaty of Versailles led to a wave of Eastern European Orthodox Jewish immigrants. The Jewish population of Vancouver was still too small to support multiple synagogues; therefore in 1919–1921 the remnants of the Reform congregation joined with the larger Orthodox congregation, Schara Tzedeck, to build a new synagogue in the East End for all Vancouver Jews. However the Temple Emanu-El Ladies Auxiliary continued to hold separate social and charitable events in the West End, as well as a children's Sabbath school, until the congregation dissolved entirely in 1932.

Growth during the 1920s edit

The 1920s were a time of further growth for the Jewish community. Schara Tzedeck Synagogue (Orthodox) was built in 1920 on the site of the old B'nai Yehudah synagogue in the East End. The old synagogue building remained for use by the Hebrew school and as a community hall. A Hadassah chapter was founded in 1920, Jewish Community Chest and Vancouver Council of Jewish Women in 1924, the Hebrew Athletic Club and early meetings for Congregation Beth Israel (Conservative) in 1925. The first Jewish regular newspaper, called the Vancouver Jewish Community Centre, started in 1923. It later became the Jewish Western Bulletin, which published from 1930 to 2001. The Schara Tzedeck congregation, which had hosted and subsidized the Talmud Torah Hebrew school, took over the school's governance from 1928 to 1943.

A significant event was the 6–7 July 1921 visit by the Very Reverend Dr. Joseph H. Hertz, Chief Rabbi of the United Congregation of the British Empire. In 1922 visiting vaudeville performer Jack Benny met Sadye Marks at a Passover Seder in the West End. They married in 1927 and she went on to vaudeville, radio, and movie stardom as his partner Mary Livingstone.

Two prominent Jewish businesses were established during this period. First, in 1919, Sam Cohen opened the Army & Navy surplus and liquidation store. He built it into a mail-order and retail chain operating throughout western Canada; it is now run by his granddaughter Jacqui.[4] Second, Ben and Morris Wosk started Wosk's in 1923 as an appliance store. It grew into a major publicly traded chain of furniture and appliance stores in western Canada, but is now defunct. The Wosks were also real estate moguls and philanthropists.

Into the 1930s edit

In the 1920s and 1930s, many Jewish families moved to new neighbourhoods south of False Creek, especially Fairview. The Talmud Torah Hebrew school opened an annex here, near Broadway and Cambie Street, in 1923. After a long period of fundraising, the first Jewish Community Centre was built in 1928 at Oak Street and 11th Avenue. The Talmud Torah school annex moved into the Centre that same year. The Congregation Beth Israel was formally founded in 1932 and held services in the centre. In 1937 the Schara Tzedeck congregation decided to move to the Fairview area but was hampered by economic depression and war. Following the Wall Street Crash of 1929, many upper-class families left the West End for the new neighbourhoods of Shaughnessy and Point Grey.

The Jewish Administrative Council was established in 1932 to coordinate the Free Loan Association, Community Chest, and Community Centre.

1940s edit

By the 1940s, Jewish population and community life began to centre on Oak Street in central Vancouver, south of the first Jewish Community Centre. The Talmud Torah school established its first independent facility in 1943 on West 14th Avenue between Oak and Cambie Streets. The Orthodox congregation Beth Hamidrash B'nai Ya'acov began in 1943, so its members could be within walking distance of their Fairview homes. The Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture,[5] previously known as the Vancouver Peretz Institute or Shule, was established in 1945 near Oak Street as a secular-humanist educational and cultural centre. A home for elderly Jews was founded nearby in 1946, partly funded by American comedian Eddie Cantor. The Schara Tzedeck congregation finally dedicated its new synagogue here in 1948, as well as the Beth Israel synagogue in 1949. The Talmud Torah school moved to a new Oak Street campus in 1948 and became a day school for elementary grades.

A Vancouver branch of the Canadian Jewish Congress was established in 1941. In 1944, the first Jewish funeral chapel was opened by Schara Tzedeck.

Post World War II edit

The post-World War II period saw a greater influx of central and eastern Canadian Jews, as well as the first wave of Sephardic Jewish immigration to British Columbia. The Council of Jewish Women was key in assisting and aiding the various refugees that came post-war, including forty-seven children orphaned by the Holocaust who came in 1948.[6] In addition to Holocaust survivors, the next decades brought Jewish immigrants from Iraq, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.[6] The first Sephardic High Holy Day services were held in 1966 at the Jewish Community Centre. A Sephardic congregation soon formed and used the Beth Hamidrash synagogue, whose membership had been shrinking. In 1979 the Sephardic congregation merged with the Beth Hamidrash Ashkenazic congregation.

1960s and 1970s edit

The Jewish population continued to shift south and west to the Oakridge area through the 1960s and 1970s. At Oak and 41st a new Jewish Community Centre was built in 1962 as well as the Louis Brier Home and Hospital[7] for the aged in 1968. It is the only Jewish seniors' facility west of Winnipeg.[8] Temple Sholom (Reform) was founded in 1965. Its first home was on West 10th Avenue. This building was destroyed by a fire bomb in January 1985; the Congregation built a new synagogue on Oak Street, which was dedicated in 1988. [1]

Wealthy families also moved to the Point Grey and West Vancouver neighbourhoods. Leonoff's study of the Vancouver Jewish Community Telephone Directory suggests that only 10% of the local Jewish community lived outside Vancouver in 1960, though many families began moving to the suburbs as housing costs rose.[9]

While the development of community services and congregations has often been a cooperative process, with help from organizations in neighbouring cities, there are some accounts of suburban communities feeling ignored by central organizations. The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver[10] was established in 1987 to develop a wider community across the area. It was born from the merger of the United Jewish Appeal and the Jewish Community Fund and Council.

The Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver[11] also offers services intended for the entire community. It houses many organizations such as the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver,[10] the Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C.,[12] and the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.[13] The centre also offers programs for all ages, the Isaac Waldman library,[14] and recreational, arts and event facilities.

In 1974 Rabbi Yitzchak and Henia Wineberg moved from Brooklyn, NY to open the first Chabad House centre in Western Canada. [promotion?]Chabad has been credited with spearheading the resurgence in Jewish identity, and practice. Chabad Lubavitch BC now operates 7 centres in BC including, Chabad of Vancouver Island, Chabad of the Okanagan, Centre for Judaism of the Lower Fraser Valley in White Rock, Chabad of Richmond, Chabad of Downtown Vancouver, Chabad of East Vancouver, and the Chabad headquarters on 41st and Oak. Chabad also operates in the popular resort town of Whistler, BC with some holiday programs including

21st century edit

Beth Hamidrash dedicated a new synagogue building in 2004. Congregation Schara Tzedeck celebrated its centenary in 2007 as the first and largest Orthodox synagogue in British Columbia. Its membership counted 450 families, some of whom were fourth-generation members. Congregation Beth Israel celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2007.

Several notable members of the Jewish support movement were responsible for the building of banks and clinics in East Vancouver, most notable being Duffy Holeksa who was quoted as saying “I'll build these banks with every penny I have!”

New Westminster edit

Jewish merchants have been part of New Westminster since its founding in 1859 when firms like Meyer, Reinhards & Co. and Messrs. Levi and Boas arrived to supply prospectors for the Cariboo Gold Rush. There were a few Jewish families and businesses in the area by the late 1920s. The Schara Tzedeck congregation of Vancouver consecrated its cemetery here in 1929, despite neighbourhood opposition. One prominent family was that of Louis Zack, who started a drycleaning business in 1929 and became business and community leaders. In 1941 Sam and Paul Heller acquired and modernised the Pacific Pine Co. Ltd. sawmill.

The Royal City Hadassah chapter was founded in 1947, and was active through at least 2001. The chapter was the focus of increased Jewish social activities. After years of parent car-pooling to Vancouver Jewish schools and hiring private tutors, the New Westminster branch of Vancouver's Talmud Torah school was established in 1949. Most families still tended to participate in Vancouver synagogues, partly due to family ties. Louis Leask was a prominent doctor and school trustee from 1952 to 1971. Muni Evers, a pharmacist, served six years as alderman and fourteen years as mayor of New Westminster.

By 1960, the Jewish community directory listed 21 families in New Westminster. However, during the 1970s the local Jewish community was shrinking and spreading to cheaper housing eastwards.

History by local areas edit

 
Greater Vancouver

West Vancouver and North Vancouver edit

Due to an early lack of bridges across Burrard Inlet, and the distance from Jewish institutions, the Jewish population of West Vancouver and North Vancouver was small until after the Second World War. One of the notable Jewish businessmen who settled there was Samuel Gintzburger. He served on the first West Vancouver municipal council in 1912, founded the Vancouver Hebrew Free Loan Association, was a long-time president of Vancouver's Temple Emanu-El, and mentored Jewish children from the Juvenile Court. Another North Shore businessman was Louis Brier, who willed his Gold Rush fortune to fund a non-sectarian seniors' home, orphanage, and hospital. This became the Louis Brier Home in Vancouver.[7] A third notable resident was Harry Evans, who helped to establish Beth Israel Cemetery[15] in Burnaby in 1946. He also founded the B.C. Collateral Loan Co. Ltd., which is still operating, in Gastown in 1899.

In addition to business opportunities, Jewish families and community groups enjoyed the North Shore's beaches, hiking trails, picnic spots, fishing creeks, mountains, and ski runs.

A Jewish community began to develop on the North Shore in the 1950s. In 1952 the Gleneagles Golf and Country Club was established in West Vancouver, since private golf clubs would not admit Jews at the time. It is now owned by the City of West Vancouver.[16] The North Shore Jewish Community Association was founded in 1958, and began holding religious services in the West Vancouver Community Centre as Conservative congregation Shaar Harim in the early 1960s. At this time a Sunday Hebrew School started in a North Shore family home, later moving to the West Vancouver Community Centre.

The North Shore's first synagogue, Har-El (Conservative), was built in 1998.[17] It also features the North Shore Jewish Community Centre and an afternoon Hebrew School. A Traditional congregation, Torat Hayim, started in 1999.[2]

Burnaby and Coquitlam edit

One of the first Jewish settlers in Burnaby was George Biely, who started a poultry farm in 1936. Early Jewish residents often socialized in neighbouring cities: residents of western Burnaby went to Vancouver, while those of eastern Burnaby went to New Westminster. In 1946 Vancouver's Beth Israel congregation consecrated a cemetery in northern Burnaby.

The establishment of Simon Fraser University in 1965 attracted many Jewish academics, especially from the United States. More families also began to settle in east Burnaby and neighbouring areas like New Westminster, Port Moody, Coquitlam, and Port Coquitlam. The Burquest Jewish Community Association began in 1973, and was incorporated in 1976, to offer social and educational programs. A cooperative Sunday school, which met in members' homes and later at the Centennial Lodge of New Westminster, was also founded at that time. From 1976 until 1980, when services started in Burnaby, the Richmond/Delta Jewish Community Association offered seats at its High Holidays services to Burquest members. The Burquest Jewish Community Association and Sha'arai Mizrah congregation are now based in Coquitlam.

Richmond and Delta edit

The rich river delta soil of the area attracted many Jewish farmers. One was Jack Bell, the "Cranberry King", who started BC's first cranberry farm on Lulu Island in 1946.

Urban development in Richmond first started at Steveston on the southwestern end of Lulu Island. As the town boomed around its fishing harbour and canneries in the 1890s, several stores were established by Jewish immigrants. When fire ravaged Steveston in 1918, development shifted to the northern side of the island. Twelve Jewish families were listed here in 1959, with four in more rural areas.[18] The same year, the Richmond Country Club[19] was founded on Steveston Highway; though non-sectarian, it was largely Jewish and remains so. The Jewish population increased with the postwar boom as families searched for affordable land, and as bridges were built to Vancouver.

In the 1960s, Jewish residents of Richmond were mostly young families. Residents met to organize a Hebrew school for these children, and formed the Richmond/Delta Jewish Community Association in 1971. Youth programs started in 1971 and High Holy Days services in 1972, both in borrowed facilities. The Conservative congregation Beth Tikvah[20] started in 1977. Ten years later, the congregation established a cemetery in Surrey and a Hebrew high school. The synagogue was expanded in 1993.

In 1977, some families split from the community association to form the Orthodox Congregation of Richmond. Services and school were held in homes until the 1979 opening of Eitz Chaim synagogue. The congregation built a new synagogue and school in 1988.

The Richmond Jewish community grew quickly in the 1980s and 1990s, welcoming a large number of immigrants from abroad. The Kehila Society[21] was founded in 2000 to manage such growth and coordinate Richmond Jewish community organizations. Chabad of Richmond[22] (Chabad-Lubavitch) was formed in 1997. Three years later the congregation first celebrated High Holy Days and formed a Community Kollel for pan-Jewish education. Richmond Jewish Day School[23] started in 1992 and moved to a permanent facility in 1998.

In 2002, some of the congregation of Eitz Chaim split off to form a new orthodox community which known as Young Israel of Richmond (YIRBC), which closed in June 2015 .

South Surrey and White Rock edit

Some Jewish families settled in the area as pioneers, while others retired there after owning summer homes; still others arrived in the 1960s' search for affordable housing. One notable resident was Max Zack, who owned a hotel in White Rock and served as alderman (1958–1960).[citation needed]

A summer camp for Jewish youth was built at Crescent Beach in 1937 by the National Council of Jewish Women,[24] with help from the Vancouver Jewish community. The camp was transferred to the Zionist Organization of British Columbia in 1946 and renamed Camp Hatikvah. Local Jewish men trained here to fight in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Camp Hatikvah moved to the Okanagan region of British Columbia in 1956.

The area became home to several Jewish cemeteries, including those belonging to Temple Sholom, Vancouver, in 1977, and Beth Tikvah, Richmond, in 1987.

In 1986 the Centre for Judaism of the Lower Fraser Valley was founded,[3] and later opened its first synagogue in North Delta (Chabad Lubavitch). In 1995 it moved to White Rock, where it resides today. The school also runs the Gan Israel children's summer day camp.[25]

A chapter of Jewish Women International,[26] formerly B'nai B'rith Women of BC, formed here in 1989.

In the early 1990s a group of families hosted an open Passover dinner, inviting all South Surrey Jews to attend. The response to the event was so overwhelming that it grew into what became White Rock South Surrey Jewish Community Centre in 1994.[27] In its present permanent location the community centre holds regular services and conducts Hebrew school for all ages, while hosting a multitude of programs from preschool to senior ages. It has members from as far away as Abbotsford, B.C., and Bellingham, Washington.

Fraser Valley edit

A small number of Jewish families settled in the farmland of the Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver. They were generally storekeepers, farmers and doctors. Early Jewish residents of Maple Ridge included John and William Hammond, who arrived in 1872 and established the town of Port Hammond. Thomas Haney arrived in 1876 and built a brick plant that started nearby Port Haney. These towns peaked in the early 1880s as supply points for Canadian Pacific Railway construction; they are now parts of Maple Ridge, retaining their names as neighbourhoods.

Jewish settlement in the Fraser Valley was scattered, and the nearest synagogues were a day's travel away in Vancouver and Bellingham, Washington. In the early 1950s, the Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel (Bellingham, Washington) briefly provided classes for local Jewish children. He could not visit frequently enough, however, and families resumed commuting. Since the 1964 opening of the Highway 1 freeway and Port Mann Bridge made travel easier, Fraser Valley Jewish families have been able to participate more fully in the synagogues of Vancouver and its suburbs. Some families still prefer to commute to Bellingham, Washington, which is closer but across the US border.

Intermarriage rate edit

Cyril Edel Leonoff claims that the interfaith marriage rate for Vancouver Jews in 2001 was about 60%, with 40% of Jewish people formally involved with religious congregations. He also states that as of 2001 the largest congregations were Conservative, though the Reform congregation has also been growing.[28] In the 2006 Canadian census 21,465 people in Greater Vancouver identified their ethnic origin as Jewish.[29] These people represent about 1% of the census region's approximately two million respondents. Leonoff said in 2008 that the Jewish population of Greater Vancouver was 25,000, which was 80% of the Jewish population of British Columbia.[30]

Population trends edit

Jewish population trends in Vancouver, 1881–1981[31]
Year Jews by religion Jews by ethnicity
1881 9 9
1891 18
1901 202 205
1911 1,000 982
1921 1,248 1,059
1931 2,419 n.a.
1941 2,742 2,812
1951 5,467 4,424
1961 7,374 4,837
1971 8,940 10,815
1981 12,865 11,425

List of local congregations edit

  • Congregation Schara Tzedeck: Vancouver; Orthodox.
  • Congregation Beth Hamidrash]: Vancouver; Orthodox (Sephardic).[32]
  • Chabad of Vancouver: Vancouver; Orthodox (Chabad-Lubavitch).
  • Chabad of Downtown: Vancouver; Orthodox (Chabad-Lubavitch).[33]
  • Chabad of EastVan: Vancouver; Orthodox (Chabad-Lubavitch).[34]
  • Louis Brier Home and Hospital: Vancouver; Orthodox.[35]
  • Ohel Ya'akov Community Kollel: Vancouver; Orthodox[36]
  • Congregation Beth Israel: Vancouver; Conservative.
  • Temple Sholom: Vancouver; Reform.[37]
  • Congregation Or Shalom: Vancouver; Jewish Renewal.[38][39]
  • Chabad of Richmond: Richmond; Orthodox (Chabad-Lubavitch).[4]
  • The Bayit; .[5]
  • Eitz Chaim Congregation: Richmond;
  • Beth Tikvah Congregation: Richmond; Conservative.[40]
  • Burquest Jewish Community Association: Coquitlam; Reform.[41]
  • White Rock South Surrey Jewish Community Centre: South Surrey White Rock, Various.[42]
  • Centre for Judaism of the Lower Fraser Valley: White Rock; Orthodox (Chabad-Lubavitch).[43]
  • Congregation Har El: North Vancouver; Conservative.[44]

List of local Jewish schools edit

  • Florence Melton Adult Mini-School:[45] Part-time Judaic studies certificate program for adults from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, located in Vancouver at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.
  • King David High School:[46] Full-time Judaic and general studies for grades 8–12, located in Vancouver.
  • Pacific Torah Institute:[47] Full-time Judaic and general studies for male students, grades 8–12, located in Vancouver.
  • Shalhevet Girls High School: Full-time Judaic and general studies for female students, grades 8–12, located in Vancouver.
  • Richmond Jewish Day School:[48] Daycare, preschool, and full-time Judaic and general studies for kindergarten to grade 7.
  • Vancouver Talmud Torah:[3] Preschool and full-time Judaic and general studies for kindergarten to grade 7.
  • Vancouver Hebrew Academy, a private Orthodox Jewish day school offering preschool and full-time Judaic and general studies for kindergarten to grade 7. The academy is the only Orthodox Jewish elementary school in Vancouver.[49]
  • White Rock South Surrey Jewish Community Centre:[50] Preschool and part-time Judaic and general studies for kindergarten to grade 7; youth group for grades 8–12.

List of local Jewish cemeteries edit

  • Beth Israel Cemetery:[15] Consecrated in 1936 at 1721 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby.
  • Beth Tikvah Cemetery:[51] Consecrated in 1987 at Victory Memorial Park Funeral Centre, 14831 28th Avenue, Surrey.
  • Mountain View Cemetery:[52] A section of this Vancouver city-owned cemetery was set aside for Jewish burials in 1887. It is located west of Fraser Street between 31st and 43rd Avenues, and the office is at 5455 Fraser Street.
  • Schara Tzedek Cemeteries:[53] The first cemetery was consecrated in 1929 at 2345 Marine Drive, New Westminster. In 2008, a new cemetery was consecrated at 16656 60th Avenue, Surrey.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ oppyproduce.com
  2. ^ Edmonds The Appliance Store | Edmonds & Y. Franks The Appliance Stores
  3. ^ a b Vancouver Talmud Torah
  4. ^ armyandnavy.ca
  5. ^ Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture
  6. ^ a b "The Jewish Community of Vancouver". The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot.
  7. ^ a b louisbrier.com
  8. ^ The Louis Brier Home and Hospital (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2008 from http://www.louisbrier.com/index_louis.html.
  9. ^ Leonoff, Cyril (2001). Vancouver and its Outlying Jewish Communities. The Scribe: The Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of B.C., vol. XXI (No. 1&2), p.5.
  10. ^ a b jfgv.com
  11. ^ Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver
  12. ^ jewishmuseum.ca
  13. ^ vhec.org
  14. ^ JCC-Isaac Waldman Jewish Library
  15. ^ a b "Beth Israel Cemetery & Memorial Park | Burnaby, BC".
  16. ^ Gleneagles Golf Course | Parks | District of West Vancouver
  17. ^ harel.org
  18. ^ Leonoff, Cyril (2001). Vancouver and its Outlying Jewish Communities. The Scribe: The Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of B.C., vol. XXI (No. 1&2).
  19. ^ . Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  20. ^ btikvah.ca
  21. ^ kehilasociety.org
  22. ^ chabadrichmond.com
  23. ^ Richmond Jewish Day School – Location
  24. ^ ncjw.org
  25. ^ ganisraelbc.com
  26. ^ . jwi.org. Archived from the original on 2010-05-03.
  27. ^ wrssjcc.org
  28. ^ Leonoff, Cyril (2001). Vancouver and its Outlying Jewish Communities. The Scribe: The Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of B.C., vol. XXI (No. 1&2), p.44.
  29. ^ "Vancouver. Ethnic Origin (247), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census - 20% Sample Data". Statistics Canada. 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
  30. ^ Leonoff, C.E. (2008). The Rise of Jewish Life and Religion in British Columbia, 1858–1948. The Scribe: The Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of B.C., XXVIII.
  31. ^ Elazar, Daniel J.; Waller, Harold M. (1990). Maintaining Consensus: The Canadian Jewish Polity in the Postwar World. University Press of America. p. 390.
  32. ^ http://www.bethhamidrash.com/
  33. ^ http://www.chabadcitycentre.org/
  34. ^ http://www.chabadeastvan.com/
  35. ^ . Archived from the original on 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  36. ^ http://thekollel.com/
  37. ^ http://www.templesholom.ca/
  38. ^ http://www.orshalom.ca/
  39. ^ Temple Sholom http://stainedglasscanada.ca/site.php?site=269 2012-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
  40. ^ http://www.btikvah.ca/
  41. ^ http://www.burquest.org/
  42. ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
  43. ^ http://www.centreforjudaism.ca/
  44. ^ https://www.harel.org/
  45. ^ "Florence Melton Adult Mini School". Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
  46. ^ http://www.kdhs.org/
  47. ^ . Archived from the original on 2008-11-19. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  48. ^ http://rjds.ca/
  49. ^ Golombek, Jamie (December 21, 2017). "Tax court rules against rabbis claiming clergy residence deduction". Financial Post. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  50. ^ http://www.wrssjcc.org/
  51. ^ . Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  52. ^ index
  53. ^ . Archived from the original on 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
  • Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver (2008). Who We Are: About Federation. Retrieved November 30, 2008 from http://www.jfgv.com/page.aspx?ID=157000.
  • Leonoff, C.E. (1978). Pioneers, pedlars, and prayer shawls: The Jewish communities in British Columbia and the Yukon. Victoria: Sono Nis Press.
  • Leonoff, C.E. (2001). Vancouver and its outlying Jewish Communities. The Scribe: The Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of B.C., XXI(1&2). Retrieved October 24, 2008 from http://www.jewishmuseum.ca/assets/2008/6/22/2001_1__2.pdf
  • Leonoff, C.E. (2008). The Rise of Jewish Life and Religion in British Columbia, 1858–1948. The Scribe: The Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of B.C., XXVIII.
  • Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot (n.d.). The Jewish Community of Vancouver, Canada. The Database of Jewish Communities. Retrieved January 11, 2009 from https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/vancouver.
  • Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved November 30, 2008 from http://www.peretz-centre.org/aboutus.html.

Further reading edit

  • Faith Jones, Between Suspicion and Censure: Attitudes towards the Jewish Left in Postwar Vancouver, Canadian Jewish Studies / Études Juives Canadiennes, vol. 6, 1998.
  • Jean Gerber, Opening The Door: Immigration and Integration of Holocaust Survivors in Vancouver, 1947-1970, Canadian Jewish Studies / Études Juives Canadiennes, vol. 4-5, 1996-97.
  • Shyla Seller, Gesher Project Poetry at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, Canadian Jewish Studies / Études Juives Canadiennes, vol. 34, 2022.
  • Norman Ravvin, Placed Upon the Landscape, Casting Shadows: Jewish Canadian Monuments and Other Forms of Memory, Canadian Jewish Studies / Études Juives Canadiennes vol. 31, May 2021.

External links edit

  • Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver
  • Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia and Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia
  • .
  • The Scribe, journal of the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia
  • Congregation Schara Tedeck, the oldest synagogue in Vancouver

history, jews, vancouver, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, citation, style, several, templates, tools, ava. This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation June 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources History of the Jews in Vancouver news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message The history of the Jews in Vancouver also Greater Vancouver and Metro Vancouver in British Columbia Canada has been noted since the mid 19th century Early Jewish settlers were isolated from established Jewish institutions and communities in eastern Canada and the United States They were also often isolated from each other scattered across the Greater Vancouver area As the local cities developed the Jewish community also grew and expanded beyond the original business districts to spread throughout the area While some early Jewish settlers ran farms poultry operations and sawmills most tended to work in merchant industries Many started as street peddlers and worked their way up to running small stores a few of which grew into retail empires Most of the early Jewish immigrants came from the United States and Britain By the end of World War I immigrants from Eastern Europe formed the majority of the Vancouver area Jewish community due to discrimination in their homelands notably the pogroms in Russia and changes in Canadian immigration policy Contents 1 Early Jewish life in Vancouver 2 Development of synagogues 3 Formation of community organizations 4 Increase in affluence 5 Growth during the 1920s 6 Into the 1930s 7 1940s 8 Post World War II 9 1960s and 1970s 10 21st century 11 New Westminster 12 History by local areas 12 1 West Vancouver and North Vancouver 12 2 Burnaby and Coquitlam 12 3 Richmond and Delta 12 4 South Surrey and White Rock 12 5 Fraser Valley 13 Intermarriage rate 14 Population trends 15 List of local congregations 16 List of local Jewish schools 17 List of local Jewish cemeteries 18 See also 19 References 20 Further reading 21 External linksEarly Jewish life in Vancouver editEarly Jewish settlers in Vancouver were concentrated in the stores of the Gastown area and the homes of the Strathcona neighbourhood the East End of Vancouver The first Jewish businessman in Vancouver was Louis Gold who opened a general store on the waterfront in 1872 His wife and son were also prominent businesspeople and his son Edward willed valuable land to the Jewish community for charities and building projects Edward was also elected Councilor in South Vancouver in 1914 citation needed One notable early settler was David Oppenheimer who moved to Vancouver in 1885 As the city s second Mayor 1888 91 he was responsible for starting much civic infrastructure and industry Oppenheimer also secured a Jewish burial area in the city owned Mountain View Cemetery and offered land to the community for a synagogue He and his brothers were prominent in real estate groceries and transportation their grocery business is still operating as The Oppenheimer Group 1 Another prominent settler was Zebulon Franks who arrived in 1887 and opened a hardware store by 1896 Parts of his business still survive as Y Franks Appliances 2 and Y Franks Parts amp Service Franks was also involved in the development of Vancouver Jewish religious and community institutions hosting the first Orthodox prayer services and serving as a founding member of B nai B rith Along with Henry Sigler he also negotiated the purchase of the land for the first synagogue in Vancouver Development of synagogues editIn the city s early years its nearest synagogue was Temple Emanu El in Victoria Agudas Achim Orthodox was the first congregation in Vancouver active from 1891 to 1906 A semi Reform congregation soon followed as Temple Emanu El started in 1894 and was active through 1917 In 1907 a new Orthodox congregation appeared named B nai Yehudah also known as Sons of Israel However the first Vancouver synagogue did not appear until 1911 when B nai Yehudah was built at the corner of East Pender and Heatley Streets Though it seated 200 larger halls had to be rented for High Holy Days The building also housed several community organizations Children s Judaic classes began shortly after the opening in nearby homes In 1914 during an economic depression the synagogue was saved from foreclosure by an emergency fundraising campaign In 1917 B nai Yehudah was incorporated as a society by the name of Schara Tzedeck The Vancouver Hebrew School Talmud Torah 3 started at the synagogue in 1918 After thirty years as a boys club and vocational school the synagogue was developed into residences and was honoured with a Vancouver Centennial plaque in 1986 Formation of community organizations editLocal Jewish community organizations founded in the early 20th century included the Young Mens Hebrew Association 1909 the Ladies Aid Society 1907 later Schara Tzedeck Ladies Auxiliary and the Sisterhood B nai B rith 1910 the Hebrew Aid and Immigrant Society 1910 the Zionist and Social Society 1913 and the Hebrew Free Loan Association 1915 Samuel Davies Schultz was appointed to Vancouver County Court in 1914 making him Canada s first Jewish judge Max Grossman was the first Vancouver Jew to be appointed King s Counsel as a lawyer in 1917 Grossman was involved in many community organizations and was a major force in the first Schara Tzedeck Synagoge the Vancouver Hebrew School and the first Jewish Community Centre Increase in affluence editMore affluent Jewish families began to settle in the West End area in the early 20th century centered around Congregation Temple Emanu El The congregation started raising funds for a semi Reform synagogue in 1911 but World War I and economic depression interrupted their efforts The congregation stopped services in 1917 Shortly afterwards the rearrangement of European boundaries following the Russian revolution and the Treaty of Versailles led to a wave of Eastern European Orthodox Jewish immigrants The Jewish population of Vancouver was still too small to support multiple synagogues therefore in 1919 1921 the remnants of the Reform congregation joined with the larger Orthodox congregation Schara Tzedeck to build a new synagogue in the East End for all Vancouver Jews However the Temple Emanu El Ladies Auxiliary continued to hold separate social and charitable events in the West End as well as a children s Sabbath school until the congregation dissolved entirely in 1932 Growth during the 1920s editThe 1920s were a time of further growth for the Jewish community Schara Tzedeck Synagogue Orthodox was built in 1920 on the site of the old B nai Yehudah synagogue in the East End The old synagogue building remained for use by the Hebrew school and as a community hall A Hadassah chapter was founded in 1920 Jewish Community Chest and Vancouver Council of Jewish Women in 1924 the Hebrew Athletic Club and early meetings for Congregation Beth Israel Conservative in 1925 The first Jewish regular newspaper called the Vancouver Jewish Community Centre started in 1923 It later became the Jewish Western Bulletin which published from 1930 to 2001 The Schara Tzedeck congregation which had hosted and subsidized the Talmud Torah Hebrew school took over the school s governance from 1928 to 1943 A significant event was the 6 7 July 1921 visit by the Very Reverend Dr Joseph H Hertz Chief Rabbi of the United Congregation of the British Empire In 1922 visiting vaudeville performer Jack Benny met Sadye Marks at a Passover Seder in the West End They married in 1927 and she went on to vaudeville radio and movie stardom as his partner Mary Livingstone Two prominent Jewish businesses were established during this period First in 1919 Sam Cohen opened the Army amp Navy surplus and liquidation store He built it into a mail order and retail chain operating throughout western Canada it is now run by his granddaughter Jacqui 4 Second Ben and Morris Wosk started Wosk s in 1923 as an appliance store It grew into a major publicly traded chain of furniture and appliance stores in western Canada but is now defunct The Wosks were also real estate moguls and philanthropists Into the 1930s editIn the 1920s and 1930s many Jewish families moved to new neighbourhoods south of False Creek especially Fairview The Talmud Torah Hebrew school opened an annex here near Broadway and Cambie Street in 1923 After a long period of fundraising the first Jewish Community Centre was built in 1928 at Oak Street and 11th Avenue The Talmud Torah school annex moved into the Centre that same year The Congregation Beth Israel was formally founded in 1932 and held services in the centre In 1937 the Schara Tzedeck congregation decided to move to the Fairview area but was hampered by economic depression and war Following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 many upper class families left the West End for the new neighbourhoods of Shaughnessy and Point Grey The Jewish Administrative Council was established in 1932 to coordinate the Free Loan Association Community Chest and Community Centre 1940s editBy the 1940s Jewish population and community life began to centre on Oak Street in central Vancouver south of the first Jewish Community Centre The Talmud Torah school established its first independent facility in 1943 on West 14th Avenue between Oak and Cambie Streets The Orthodox congregation Beth Hamidrash B nai Ya acov began in 1943 so its members could be within walking distance of their Fairview homes The Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture 5 previously known as the Vancouver Peretz Institute or Shule was established in 1945 near Oak Street as a secular humanist educational and cultural centre A home for elderly Jews was founded nearby in 1946 partly funded by American comedian Eddie Cantor The Schara Tzedeck congregation finally dedicated its new synagogue here in 1948 as well as the Beth Israel synagogue in 1949 The Talmud Torah school moved to a new Oak Street campus in 1948 and became a day school for elementary grades A Vancouver branch of the Canadian Jewish Congress was established in 1941 In 1944 the first Jewish funeral chapel was opened by Schara Tzedeck Post World War II editThe post World War II period saw a greater influx of central and eastern Canadian Jews as well as the first wave of Sephardic Jewish immigration to British Columbia The Council of Jewish Women was key in assisting and aiding the various refugees that came post war including forty seven children orphaned by the Holocaust who came in 1948 6 In addition to Holocaust survivors the next decades brought Jewish immigrants from Iraq Hungary and Czechoslovakia 6 The first Sephardic High Holy Day services were held in 1966 at the Jewish Community Centre A Sephardic congregation soon formed and used the Beth Hamidrash synagogue whose membership had been shrinking In 1979 the Sephardic congregation merged with the Beth Hamidrash Ashkenazic congregation 1960s and 1970s editThe Jewish population continued to shift south and west to the Oakridge area through the 1960s and 1970s At Oak and 41st a new Jewish Community Centre was built in 1962 as well as the Louis Brier Home and Hospital 7 for the aged in 1968 It is the only Jewish seniors facility west of Winnipeg 8 Temple Sholom Reform was founded in 1965 Its first home was on West 10th Avenue This building was destroyed by a fire bomb in January 1985 the Congregation built a new synagogue on Oak Street which was dedicated in 1988 1 Wealthy families also moved to the Point Grey and West Vancouver neighbourhoods Leonoff s study of the Vancouver Jewish Community Telephone Directory suggests that only 10 of the local Jewish community lived outside Vancouver in 1960 though many families began moving to the suburbs as housing costs rose 9 While the development of community services and congregations has often been a cooperative process with help from organizations in neighbouring cities there are some accounts of suburban communities feeling ignored by central organizations The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver 10 was established in 1987 to develop a wider community across the area It was born from the merger of the United Jewish Appeal and the Jewish Community Fund and Council The Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver 11 also offers services intended for the entire community It houses many organizations such as the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver 10 the Jewish Museum and Archives of B C 12 and the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre 13 The centre also offers programs for all ages the Isaac Waldman library 14 and recreational arts and event facilities In 1974 Rabbi Yitzchak and Henia Wineberg moved from Brooklyn NY to open the first Chabad House centre in Western Canada promotion Chabad has been credited with spearheading the resurgence in Jewish identity and practice Chabad Lubavitch BC now operates 7 centres in BC including Chabad of Vancouver Island Chabad of the Okanagan Centre for Judaism of the Lower Fraser Valley in White Rock Chabad of Richmond Chabad of Downtown Vancouver Chabad of East Vancouver and the Chabad headquarters on 41st and Oak Chabad also operates in the popular resort town of Whistler BC with some holiday programs including Chanukah celebrations and Passover Seders21st century editBeth Hamidrash dedicated a new synagogue building in 2004 Congregation Schara Tzedeck celebrated its centenary in 2007 as the first and largest Orthodox synagogue in British Columbia Its membership counted 450 families some of whom were fourth generation members Congregation Beth Israel celebrated its seventy fifth anniversary in 2007 Several notable members of the Jewish support movement were responsible for the building of banks and clinics in East Vancouver most notable being Duffy Holeksa who was quoted as saying I ll build these banks with every penny I have New Westminster editJewish merchants have been part of New Westminster since its founding in 1859 when firms like Meyer Reinhards amp Co and Messrs Levi and Boas arrived to supply prospectors for the Cariboo Gold Rush There were a few Jewish families and businesses in the area by the late 1920s The Schara Tzedeck congregation of Vancouver consecrated its cemetery here in 1929 despite neighbourhood opposition One prominent family was that of Louis Zack who started a drycleaning business in 1929 and became business and community leaders In 1941 Sam and Paul Heller acquired and modernised the Pacific Pine Co Ltd sawmill The Royal City Hadassah chapter was founded in 1947 and was active through at least 2001 The chapter was the focus of increased Jewish social activities After years of parent car pooling to Vancouver Jewish schools and hiring private tutors the New Westminster branch of Vancouver s Talmud Torah school was established in 1949 Most families still tended to participate in Vancouver synagogues partly due to family ties Louis Leask was a prominent doctor and school trustee from 1952 to 1971 Muni Evers a pharmacist served six years as alderman and fourteen years as mayor of New Westminster By 1960 the Jewish community directory listed 21 families in New Westminster However during the 1970s the local Jewish community was shrinking and spreading to cheaper housing eastwards History by local areas edit nbsp Greater VancouverWest Vancouver and North Vancouver edit Due to an early lack of bridges across Burrard Inlet and the distance from Jewish institutions the Jewish population of West Vancouver and North Vancouver was small until after the Second World War One of the notable Jewish businessmen who settled there was Samuel Gintzburger He served on the first West Vancouver municipal council in 1912 founded the Vancouver Hebrew Free Loan Association was a long time president of Vancouver s Temple Emanu El and mentored Jewish children from the Juvenile Court Another North Shore businessman was Louis Brier who willed his Gold Rush fortune to fund a non sectarian seniors home orphanage and hospital This became the Louis Brier Home in Vancouver 7 A third notable resident was Harry Evans who helped to establish Beth Israel Cemetery 15 in Burnaby in 1946 He also founded the B C Collateral Loan Co Ltd which is still operating in Gastown in 1899 In addition to business opportunities Jewish families and community groups enjoyed the North Shore s beaches hiking trails picnic spots fishing creeks mountains and ski runs A Jewish community began to develop on the North Shore in the 1950s In 1952 the Gleneagles Golf and Country Club was established in West Vancouver since private golf clubs would not admit Jews at the time It is now owned by the City of West Vancouver 16 The North Shore Jewish Community Association was founded in 1958 and began holding religious services in the West Vancouver Community Centre as Conservative congregation Shaar Harim in the early 1960s At this time a Sunday Hebrew School started in a North Shore family home later moving to the West Vancouver Community Centre The North Shore s first synagogue Har El Conservative was built in 1998 17 It also features the North Shore Jewish Community Centre and an afternoon Hebrew School A Traditional congregation Torat Hayim started in 1999 2 Burnaby and Coquitlam edit One of the first Jewish settlers in Burnaby was George Biely who started a poultry farm in 1936 Early Jewish residents often socialized in neighbouring cities residents of western Burnaby went to Vancouver while those of eastern Burnaby went to New Westminster In 1946 Vancouver s Beth Israel congregation consecrated a cemetery in northern Burnaby The establishment of Simon Fraser University in 1965 attracted many Jewish academics especially from the United States More families also began to settle in east Burnaby and neighbouring areas like New Westminster Port Moody Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam The Burquest Jewish Community Association began in 1973 and was incorporated in 1976 to offer social and educational programs A cooperative Sunday school which met in members homes and later at the Centennial Lodge of New Westminster was also founded at that time From 1976 until 1980 when services started in Burnaby the Richmond Delta Jewish Community Association offered seats at its High Holidays services to Burquest members The Burquest Jewish Community Association and Sha arai Mizrah congregation are now based in Coquitlam Richmond and Delta edit The rich river delta soil of the area attracted many Jewish farmers One was Jack Bell the Cranberry King who started BC s first cranberry farm on Lulu Island in 1946 Urban development in Richmond first started at Steveston on the southwestern end of Lulu Island As the town boomed around its fishing harbour and canneries in the 1890s several stores were established by Jewish immigrants When fire ravaged Steveston in 1918 development shifted to the northern side of the island Twelve Jewish families were listed here in 1959 with four in more rural areas 18 The same year the Richmond Country Club 19 was founded on Steveston Highway though non sectarian it was largely Jewish and remains so The Jewish population increased with the postwar boom as families searched for affordable land and as bridges were built to Vancouver In the 1960s Jewish residents of Richmond were mostly young families Residents met to organize a Hebrew school for these children and formed the Richmond Delta Jewish Community Association in 1971 Youth programs started in 1971 and High Holy Days services in 1972 both in borrowed facilities The Conservative congregation Beth Tikvah 20 started in 1977 Ten years later the congregation established a cemetery in Surrey and a Hebrew high school The synagogue was expanded in 1993 In 1977 some families split from the community association to form the Orthodox Congregation of Richmond Services and school were held in homes until the 1979 opening of Eitz Chaim synagogue The congregation built a new synagogue and school in 1988 The Richmond Jewish community grew quickly in the 1980s and 1990s welcoming a large number of immigrants from abroad The Kehila Society 21 was founded in 2000 to manage such growth and coordinate Richmond Jewish community organizations Chabad of Richmond 22 Chabad Lubavitch was formed in 1997 Three years later the congregation first celebrated High Holy Days and formed a Community Kollel for pan Jewish education Richmond Jewish Day School 23 started in 1992 and moved to a permanent facility in 1998 In 2002 some of the congregation of Eitz Chaim split off to form a new orthodox community which known as Young Israel of Richmond YIRBC which closed in June 2015 South Surrey and White Rock edit Some Jewish families settled in the area as pioneers while others retired there after owning summer homes still others arrived in the 1960s search for affordable housing One notable resident was Max Zack who owned a hotel in White Rock and served as alderman 1958 1960 citation needed A summer camp for Jewish youth was built at Crescent Beach in 1937 by the National Council of Jewish Women 24 with help from the Vancouver Jewish community The camp was transferred to the Zionist Organization of British Columbia in 1946 and renamed Camp Hatikvah Local Jewish men trained here to fight in the 1948 Arab Israeli War Camp Hatikvah moved to the Okanagan region of British Columbia in 1956 The area became home to several Jewish cemeteries including those belonging to Temple Sholom Vancouver in 1977 and Beth Tikvah Richmond in 1987 In 1986 the Centre for Judaism of the Lower Fraser Valley was founded 3 and later opened its first synagogue in North Delta Chabad Lubavitch In 1995 it moved to White Rock where it resides today The school also runs the Gan Israel children s summer day camp 25 A chapter of Jewish Women International 26 formerly B nai B rith Women of BC formed here in 1989 In the early 1990s a group of families hosted an open Passover dinner inviting all South Surrey Jews to attend The response to the event was so overwhelming that it grew into what became White Rock South Surrey Jewish Community Centre in 1994 27 In its present permanent location the community centre holds regular services and conducts Hebrew school for all ages while hosting a multitude of programs from preschool to senior ages It has members from as far away as Abbotsford B C and Bellingham Washington Fraser Valley edit A small number of Jewish families settled in the farmland of the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver They were generally storekeepers farmers and doctors Early Jewish residents of Maple Ridge included John and William Hammond who arrived in 1872 and established the town of Port Hammond Thomas Haney arrived in 1876 and built a brick plant that started nearby Port Haney These towns peaked in the early 1880s as supply points for Canadian Pacific Railway construction they are now parts of Maple Ridge retaining their names as neighbourhoods Jewish settlement in the Fraser Valley was scattered and the nearest synagogues were a day s travel away in Vancouver and Bellingham Washington In the early 1950s the Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel Bellingham Washington briefly provided classes for local Jewish children He could not visit frequently enough however and families resumed commuting Since the 1964 opening of the Highway 1 freeway and Port Mann Bridge made travel easier Fraser Valley Jewish families have been able to participate more fully in the synagogues of Vancouver and its suburbs Some families still prefer to commute to Bellingham Washington which is closer but across the US border Intermarriage rate editCyril Edel Leonoff claims that the interfaith marriage rate for Vancouver Jews in 2001 was about 60 with 40 of Jewish people formally involved with religious congregations He also states that as of 2001 the largest congregations were Conservative though the Reform congregation has also been growing 28 In the 2006 Canadian census 21 465 people in Greater Vancouver identified their ethnic origin as Jewish 29 These people represent about 1 of the census region s approximately two million respondents Leonoff said in 2008 that the Jewish population of Greater Vancouver was 25 000 which was 80 of the Jewish population of British Columbia 30 Population trends editJewish population trends in Vancouver 1881 1981 31 Year Jews by religion Jews by ethnicity1881 9 91891 181901 202 2051911 1 000 9821921 1 248 1 0591931 2 419 n a 1941 2 742 2 8121951 5 467 4 4241961 7 374 4 8371971 8 940 10 8151981 12 865 11 425List of local congregations editCongregation Schara Tzedeck Vancouver Orthodox Congregation Beth Hamidrash Vancouver Orthodox Sephardic 32 Chabad of Vancouver Vancouver Orthodox Chabad Lubavitch Chabad of Downtown Vancouver Orthodox Chabad Lubavitch 33 Chabad of EastVan Vancouver Orthodox Chabad Lubavitch 34 Louis Brier Home and Hospital Vancouver Orthodox 35 Ohel Ya akov Community Kollel Vancouver Orthodox 36 Congregation Beth Israel Vancouver Conservative Temple Sholom Vancouver Reform 37 Congregation Or Shalom Vancouver Jewish Renewal 38 39 Chabad of Richmond Richmond Orthodox Chabad Lubavitch 4 The Bayit 5 Eitz Chaim Congregation Richmond Beth Tikvah Congregation Richmond Conservative 40 Burquest Jewish Community Association Coquitlam Reform 41 White Rock South Surrey Jewish Community Centre South Surrey White Rock Various 42 Centre for Judaism of the Lower Fraser Valley White Rock Orthodox Chabad Lubavitch 43 Congregation Har El North Vancouver Conservative 44 List of local Jewish schools editThe congregations listed above offer part time educational and Bar and Bat Mitzvah programs Some also offer daycare and or preschool Florence Melton Adult Mini School 45 Part time Judaic studies certificate program for adults from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem located in Vancouver at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver King David High School 46 Full time Judaic and general studies for grades 8 12 located in Vancouver Pacific Torah Institute 47 Full time Judaic and general studies for male students grades 8 12 located in Vancouver Shalhevet Girls High School Full time Judaic and general studies for female students grades 8 12 located in Vancouver Richmond Jewish Day School 48 Daycare preschool and full time Judaic and general studies for kindergarten to grade 7 Vancouver Talmud Torah 3 Preschool and full time Judaic and general studies for kindergarten to grade 7 Vancouver Hebrew Academy a private Orthodox Jewish day school offering preschool and full time Judaic and general studies for kindergarten to grade 7 The academy is the only Orthodox Jewish elementary school in Vancouver 49 White Rock South Surrey Jewish Community Centre 50 Preschool and part time Judaic and general studies for kindergarten to grade 7 youth group for grades 8 12 List of local Jewish cemeteries editBeth Israel Cemetery 15 Consecrated in 1936 at 1721 Willingdon Avenue Burnaby Beth Tikvah Cemetery 51 Consecrated in 1987 at Victory Memorial Park Funeral Centre 14831 28th Avenue Surrey Mountain View Cemetery 52 A section of this Vancouver city owned cemetery was set aside for Jewish burials in 1887 It is located west of Fraser Street between 31st and 43rd Avenues and the office is at 5455 Fraser Street Schara Tzedek Cemeteries 53 The first cemetery was consecrated in 1929 at 2345 Marine Drive New Westminster In 2008 a new cemetery was consecrated at 16656 60th Avenue Surrey See also edit nbsp Canada portal nbsp Judaism portalHistory of the Jews in Canada List of Canadian JewsReferences edit oppyproduce com Edmonds The Appliance Store Edmonds amp Y Franks The Appliance Stores a b Vancouver Talmud Torah armyandnavy ca Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture a b The Jewish Community of Vancouver The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot a b louisbrier com The Louis Brier Home and Hospital n d Retrieved November 30 2008 from http www louisbrier com index louis html Leonoff Cyril 2001 Vancouver and its Outlying Jewish Communities The Scribe The Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of B C vol XXI No 1 amp 2 p 5 a b jfgv com Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver jewishmuseum ca vhec org JCC Isaac Waldman Jewish Library a b Beth Israel Cemetery amp Memorial Park Burnaby BC Gleneagles Golf Course Parks District of West Vancouver harel org Leonoff Cyril 2001 Vancouver and its Outlying Jewish Communities The Scribe The Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of B C vol XXI No 1 amp 2 Richmond Country Club Archived from the original on 2008 10 11 Retrieved 2008 11 23 btikvah ca kehilasociety org chabadrichmond com Richmond Jewish Day School Location ncjw org ganisraelbc com Jewish Women International Home jwi org Archived from the original on 2010 05 03 wrssjcc org Leonoff Cyril 2001 Vancouver and its Outlying Jewish Communities The Scribe The Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of B C vol XXI No 1 amp 2 p 44 Vancouver Ethnic Origin 247 Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses 3 and Sex 3 for the Population of Canada Provinces Territories Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations 2006 Census 20 Sample Data Statistics Canada 2008 Retrieved October 24 2008 Leonoff C E 2008 The Rise of Jewish Life and Religion in British Columbia 1858 1948 The Scribe The Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of B C XXVIII Elazar Daniel J Waller Harold M 1990 Maintaining Consensus The Canadian Jewish Polity in the Postwar World University Press of America p 390 http www bethhamidrash com http www chabadcitycentre org http www chabadeastvan com The Snider Campus for Jewish Seniors Archived from the original on 2008 12 22 Retrieved 2008 11 30 http thekollel com http www templesholom ca http www orshalom ca Temple Sholom http stainedglasscanada ca site php site 269 Archived 2012 03 31 at the Wayback Machine http www btikvah ca http www burquest org Welcome Archived from the original on 2012 07 23 Retrieved 2012 05 30 http www centreforjudaism ca https www harel org Florence Melton Adult Mini School Archived from the original on 2012 09 06 Retrieved 2012 05 30 http www kdhs org Pacific Torah Institute Archived from the original on 2008 11 19 Retrieved 2009 01 12 http rjds ca Golombek Jamie December 21 2017 Tax court rules against rabbis claiming clergy residence deduction Financial Post Retrieved February 27 2020 http www wrssjcc org Beth Tikvah s Cemetery Archived from the original on 2011 07 06 Retrieved 2008 11 24 index Congregation Schara Tzedeck Directions to the Cemetery Archived from the original on 2008 11 12 Retrieved 2008 11 09 Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver 2008 Who We Are About Federation Retrieved November 30 2008 from http www jfgv com page aspx ID 157000 Leonoff C E 1978 Pioneers pedlars and prayer shawls The Jewish communities in British Columbia and the Yukon Victoria Sono Nis Press Leonoff C E 2001 Vancouver and its outlying Jewish Communities The Scribe The Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of B C XXI 1 amp 2 Retrieved October 24 2008 from http www jewishmuseum ca assets 2008 6 22 2001 1 2 pdf Leonoff C E 2008 The Rise of Jewish Life and Religion in British Columbia 1858 1948 The Scribe The Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of B C XXVIII Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot n d The Jewish Community of Vancouver Canada The Database of Jewish Communities Retrieved January 11 2009 from https dbs bh org il place vancouver Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture n d About Us Retrieved November 30 2008 from http www peretz centre org aboutus html Further reading editFaith Jones Between Suspicion and Censure Attitudes towards the Jewish Left in Postwar Vancouver Canadian Jewish Studies Etudes Juives Canadiennes vol 6 1998 Jean Gerber Opening The Door Immigration and Integration of Holocaust Survivors in Vancouver 1947 1970 Canadian Jewish Studies Etudes Juives Canadiennes vol 4 5 1996 97 Shyla Seller Gesher Project Poetry at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre Canadian Jewish Studies Etudes Juives Canadiennes vol 34 2022 Norman Ravvin Placed Upon the Landscape Casting Shadows Jewish Canadian Monuments and Other Forms of Memory Canadian Jewish Studies Etudes Juives Canadiennes vol 31 May 2021 External links editJewish Federation of Greater Vancouver Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia and Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia Jewish Independent tourist guide for Vancouver The Scribe journal of the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia Congregation Schara Tedeck the oldest synagogue in Vancouver Retrieved from https en 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