Adath Israel Congregation (Toronto)
Adath Israel Congregation is a Conservative synagogue located at 37 Southbourne Avenue in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario. It is one of the largest Conservative Synagogues in Canada, with approximately 1,600 member families. Like the majority of Conservative synagogues in the Toronto area, and in contrast to most American Conservative synagogues, has not adopted egalitarianism. In 2008, the congregation seceded from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and affiliated with the Canadian Council of Conservative Synagogues.
| Adath Israel Congregation | |
|---|---|
 Adath Israel Congregation | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Conservative Judaism |
| Leadership | Rabbi Adam Cutler Rabbi David Seed Cantor Alex Stein |
| Status | Active |
| Location | |
| Location | 37 Southbourne Avenue Toronto, Ontario M3H 1A4 |
| Architecture | |
| Completed | 1957 |
| Website | |
| adathisrael | |
History
Adath Israel was founded in 1903 by Jewish immigrants from Romania as the First Roumanian Hebrew Congregation Adath Israel. New immigrants from Roumania first met in a rental space, later moving to three congregation's first permanent home on Centre Avenue. In 1911 the synagogue dedicated a new building on Bathurst Street near Dundas Street, where Abraham Kelman was the rabbi.
In 1947, Erwin Schild became the rabbi.[1] In the next few years membership grew and a new building was constructed in North York. The formal name was shortened in the 1950s, and in 1957 the new building was officially dedicated.
Pesach Schindler served as director of education from 1956 to 1962.[2]
In 1989 Schild retired and was succeeded as rabbi by Steven Saltzman, who died in September 2014.[3] In 2012 Saltzman advocated allowing non-egalitarian synagogues to remain affiliated with Conservative Judaism.[4]
In 2016, the synagogue’s membership consisted of 1,800 families.[5]
In 2017, as part of a spree of hate mail targeting at least 5 synagogues across Canada, members of the synagogue opened a plain-looking envelope to find a swastika and the words "Jewry must perish". In response, Justin Trudeau tweeted: "Sending my full support to the Canadian Jewish community. These recent acts of hatred & anti-Semitism have no place in our country and we will not tolerate it".[6]
In 2003 David C. Seed was hired as rabbi and in 2015 Moshe Meirovich became Interim Rabbi while the synagogue searched for a new senior rabbi. In March 2018, Adam Cutler became the first Toronto-born rabbi to lead the congregation.
References
- Sarick, Lila (9 March 2023). "Rabbi Erwin Schild of Toronto's Adath Israel Synagogue talks about personally experiencing 103 years of Jewish history". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
- Fay Cashman, Greer (9 August 2017). "Death of Rabbi Pesach Schindler a loss to the Conservative Movement". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
- Lungen, Paul (15 September 2014). "Rabbi Steven Saltzman dies after battle with cancer". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20130408190434/http://glbtjews.org/article.php3?id_article=213: "Speaking at his shul last December, Rabbi Steven Saltzman of Adath Israel Congregation proposed the establishment of a Canadian “sovereignty association” within the Conservative movement that would agree to disagree with the American movement. Rabbi Saltzman’s suggestion came on the heels of the Conservative biennial convention in Boston, where Rabbi Menachem Creditor of Sharon, Mass., challenged the philosophy of halachic pluralism - an approach affirmed by movement leaders - when he said that it’s immoral to allow non-egalitarian synagogues to be part of the Conservative movement."
- "Pope blesses rabbi, wife on 70th anniversary". www.timesofisrael.com. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
- "An 8 on the frighten scale': Toronto synagogue troubled by letter calling for Jewish genocide". CBC News. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2023.