City Shul

Last updated
City Shul
Urban Oasis (7701894290).jpg
The exterior of St George by the Grange Church, in which the synagogue meets
Religion
Affiliation Reform Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational status Synagogue
LeadershipRabbi Dr Elyse Goldstein
StatusActive
Location
Location
CountryCanada
Toronto map.png
Red pog.svg
Location in Toronto
Administration Union for Reform Judaism
Geographic coordinates 43°40′02″N79°24′07″W / 43.66723°N 79.401959°W / 43.66723; -79.401959
Architecture
Date establishedOctober 2012
Website
www.cityshul.com

City Shul is a Reform synagogue in downtown Toronto, founded in October 2012 and led by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein. [1] Until September 2017, the congregation met at the Wolfond Centre for Jewish Campus Life, near the St George campus of the University of Toronto. From 2017 to 2022, it was located in the same building as Bloor Street United Church. Since 2022, the congregation has met at the St George by the Grange.

Contents

History

City Shul was founded to serve the growing Jewish population in downtown Toronto. [2] [3] It is part of the Downtown Jewish Community Council of Toronto. [4]

City Shul includes members who are visible minorities, LGBT, Jews-by-choice and people with no Jewish background. [5] The Shul also includes members who were raised in different Jewish traditions, such as Ashkenazi or Sephardi Jews, and those who come from a variety of Jewish religious movements including Orthodox, Conservative, and Reconstructionist. City Shul accepts non-Jews as voting members, with the requirement that members of the Leadership Team be Jewish (by birth or conversion).

Men and women participate equally in services at City Shul. The service is conducted primarily in Hebrew, and the shul uses a prayer book called Siddur Shirat Halev (Song of the Heart), which was developed in a four-year project with more than 70 congregants involved and designed by Baruch Sienna. Shirat HaLev includes commentary, art and poetry, and is adapted with permission from the Central Conference of American Rabbis prayer book Mishkan T'filah, World Union Edition: A Progressive Siddur.

City Shul was formally accepted as a member of the Union for Reform Judaism in December 2013.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siddur</span> Jewish prayerbook

A siddur is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word siddur comes from the Hebrew root ס־ד־ר‎, meaning 'order.'

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synagogue</span> Place of worship for Jews and Samaritans

A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It has a place for prayer where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, choir performances, and children's plays. They also have rooms for study, social halls, administrative and charitable offices, classrooms for religious and Hebrew studies, and many places to sit and congregate. They often display commemorative, historic, or modern artwork alongside items of Jewish historical significance or history about the synagogue itself.

<i>Hazzan</i> Jewish cantor

A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term also used in Christianity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West London Synagogue</span> Grade II listed Reform synagogue in City of Westminster, London, England

The West London Synagogue, abbreviated WLS, and fully the West London Synagogue of British Jews is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located near Marble Arch, at 34 Upper Berkeley Street, in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England, in the United Kingdom.

The National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) or Young Israel, is a synagogue-based Orthodox Judaism organization in the United States with a network of affiliated "Young Israel" synagogues. Young Israel was founded in 1912, in its earliest form, by a group of 15 young Jews on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Their goal was to make Orthodox Judaism more relevant to young Americanized Jews at a time when a significant Jewish education was rare, and most Orthodox institutions were Yiddish-speaking and oriented to an older, European Jewish demographic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Blossom Temple</span> Reform synagogue in Toronto, Ontario

The Holy Blossom Temple is a Reform synagogue located at 1950 Bathurst Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the oldest Jewish congregation in Toronto. Founded in 1856, it has more than 7,000 members. W. Gunther Plaut, who died on 8 February 2012 at the age of 99, was a long time Senior Rabbi for this synagogue. Notable members and supporters include Heather Reisman and Gerald Schwartz who made donations to create the Gerald Schwartz/Heather Reisman Centre for Jewish Learning at Holy Blossom Temple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bournemouth Reform Synagogue</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in Bournemouth, England

The Bournemouth Reform Synagogue, also known as BRS, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Bournemouth, Dorset, England, in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beit Warszawa Synagogue</span> Synagogue in Warsaw, Poland

Beit WarszawaSynagogue is a liberal Jewish synagogue officially opened in 1999 in Warsaw. It operates as a full-fledged synagogue with regular events, including Friday night and Saturday morning prayers. Beit Warszawa is a member of Beit Polska, the umbrella organization for the Progressive/Reform Judaism in Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiever Synagogue</span>

The First Russian Congregation of Rodfei Sholem Anshei Kiev, known as the Kiever Synagogue or Kiever Shul, is a Modern Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by Jewish immigrants from Ukraine in 1912, and formally incorporated in 1914. The congregants were poor working-people, and services were led by members and held in their homes. Two houses were eventually purchased in the Kensington Market area, and in their place construction was completed on the current twin-domed Byzantine Revival building in 1927. The building was once the site of George Taylor Denison's home Bellevue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardens Shul</span> Jewish religious building in Cape Town, South Africa

The Gardens Shul, formally, the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation (CTHC) is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in the Company Gardens, in the Gardens neighborhood of Cape Town. It has the oldest Jewish congregation in South Africa, dating to 1841. The congregation, known as "The Mother Synagogue of South Africa," possesses two historic structures, the 1863 synagogue known as the Old Shul and the 1905 synagogue. The South African Jewish Museum, located in its grounds, also occupies the Old Shul and is responsible for its upkeep. The 1905 building is an example of Edwardian architecture and has been called "one of the most magnificent synagogues in the world."

Orthodox Jewish feminism is a movement in Orthodox Judaism which seeks to further the cause of a more egalitarian approach to Jewish practice within the bounds of Jewish Law. The major organizations of this movement is the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) in North America, and Women of the Wall (WOW) and its affiliates in Israel and internationally, known as The International Committee for Women of the Wall (ICWOW). In Israel, the leading Orthodox feminist organization is Kolech, founded by Dr. Chana Kehat. In Australia, there is one Orthodox partnership minyan, Shira Hadasha, in Melbourne.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) affirming denominations in Judaism are Jewish religious groups that welcome LGBT members and do not consider homosexuality to be a sin. They include both entire Jewish denominations, as well as individual synagogues. Some are composed mainly of non-LGBT members and also have specific programs to welcome LGBT people, while others are composed mainly of LGBT members.

First Narayever Congregation is a traditional-egalitarian synagogue located at 187 Brunswick Avenue, in the Harbord Village neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest Jewish congregation in downtown Toronto. It was founded by the Jewish immigrants from Narayiv, western Ukraine, hence the Yiddish name "Narayever".

Toronto's Jewish community is the most populous and one of the oldest in the country, forming a significant part of the history of the Jews in Canada. It numbered about 240,000 in the 2001 census, having overtaken Montreal in the 1970s. As of 2011, the Greater Toronto Area is home to 188,710 Jews. The community in Toronto is composed of many different Jewish ethnic divisions, reflecting waves of immigration which started in the early 19th century. Canada's largest city is a centre of Jewish Canadian culture, and Toronto's Jews have played an important role in the development of the city.

Bet Mishpachah is a non-denominational Jewish egalitarian worshiping community and congregation that supports a synagogue, located in the Dupont Circle area of Washington, D.C., in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue</span> Reform synagogue in Hove, England

The Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Palmeira Avenue, in Hove, East Sussex, England, in the United Kingdom.

The Stashover-Slipia Congregation is a halachically progressive traditional unaffiliated Jewish congregation in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The current congregation is a merger of two of the oldest congregations in Toronto - Anshei Stashov and Chevra Knesseth Israel Anshei Slipia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anshei Minsk</span> Synagouge in Toronto, Ontario

Anshei Minsk is a synagogue in the Kensington Market neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1912 by poor Jewish immigrants from what is now Belarus, which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. The current Byzantine Revival building was completed in 1930.

Congregation Habonim Toronto, founded in 1954, is a liberal reform synagogue located at 5 Glen Park Avenue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the first Holocaust refugee/survivor congregations to develop in Canada. Although currently independent of any official denomination, its early founders modeled the synagogue on the example of early Reform Judaism in Germany.

References

  1. "New Reform synagogue opens downtown Toronto". Canadian Jewish News . 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2014-07-05.
  2. "New Reform synagogue set to open in Toronto". Canadian Jewish News . 2012-02-14. Retrieved 2014-07-05.
  3. "City Shul: an urban outfit". The Jewish Tribune (Canada) . 2013-04-30. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-05.
  4. "Downtown Jewish Community Council". Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  5. "New Reform synagogue opens downtown Toronto". Canadian Jewish News . 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2014-07-05.