1 Founding of Holy Blossom Temple

Toronto’s oldest Jewish congregation began with the establishment of a cemetery. In 1849, Abraham Nordheimer (1816-62) and Judah G. Joseph (1798-1857) purchased land on Pape Avenue for use by Toronto’s Jewish population. This meant that Jewish residents could bury their dead in accordance with the Torah, encouraging Jews to settle permanently in Toronto. In 1856, the Sons of Israel Congregation was established, the first organized Jewish congregation in Canada west of Montreal. In 1858, the congregation was renamed the Toronto Hebrew Congregation – Holy Blossom. A Cheder (Hebrew school) was established in 1859, and the congregation built its first synagogue in 1876 on Richmond Street. Holy Blossom’s numbers swelled with the arrival of Eastern European immigrants, many of whom had fled anti-Semitic Russian pogroms in 1881-84. A new synagogue was constructed in 1897 on Bond Street to house the congregation of 116 families. By the end of the 19th century, Holy Blossom had made changes to its services and become a Reform congregation, leading to the formation of Conservative and Orthodox Judaism congregations in Toronto, including Goel Tzedec (1883) and Beth Jacob (1889). During the height of the Great Depression (1929-39), the congregation grew to 250 member families, and a new synagogue was constructed on Bathurst Street in 1938. Holy Blossom continues today as one of Toronto’s leading Jewish congregations, with more than 7,000 members.

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