JEWISH WORLD

Back to the ’Hood

Young Jews are returning to and revitalizing Jewish life in ’s inner city neighborhoods

A THRIVING JEWISH COMMUNITY: Rosh Hashana greeting card from the Sherman Family, c. 1924

ONTARIO JEWISH ARCHIVES

Renee Ghert-Zand Toronto

S SHE STROLLS ALONG that were open farmland until recently, thou- slum filled with Jews and immigrants from , at the north- sands of young Jews, most in their 20s and other countries, especially Ireland and Italy. ern edge of Kensington 30s, have been purposefully returning to and Those Jews who could moved westward to Market in downtown revitalizing Jewish life in the adjacent inner the streets surrounding Kensington Market. Toronto, Sarah Brodbar- city neighborhoods, long-abandoned by their , located several blocks to the ANemzer sometimes imagines that she is parents and grandparents, of Kensington north of Kensington Market and bordering the walking back in time. Focusing on the past Market and The Annex. University of Toronto campus, was also home is strange for the 27-year-old Jewish com- Arriving in Toronto initially from England to many Jewish families. Most of the immi- munity professional, but the way she sees it, and Germany and then, by the late 19th cen- grants lived in small row houses, or in larger she wouldn’t be where she is, professional- tury, primarily from Eastern Europe to escape Victorian and Edwardian-era brick houses ly, personally and even geographically, if poverty and persecution, Jews settled in the converted into multi-family dwellings. she were not walking in the shoes of others, area known as the The Ward. A small square Today, Kensington Market has a youthful, who did the very same thing in the very area, Kensington Market was soon popularly bohemian, multicultural cachet, with an open- same place about a century ago. known as “the Jewish Market,” and by the air market along with cafés and funky second- At a time when the Toronto Jewish com- 1930s was home to as many as 50,000 Jews. hand clothing boutiques and bookshops that munity is generally expanding ever north- But even by the first decade of the 20th cen- draw crowds of local visitors and tourists, ward along Bathurst Street into new suburbs tury, The Ward had become an overcrowded especially on weekends. The Annex is now a

26 THE JERUSALEM REPORT OCTOBER 10, 2011 gentrified, residential neighborhood mainly live within eight kilometers of the Bathurst minyan, a reference to the happening for the upper-middle class, who can afford the Street corridor, which also houses some 200 Carlebach-style synagogue in Montreal fre- expensive downtown real estate prices Jewish schools, shops, synagogues and com- quented by McGill University students. The grittier, cacophonous, pedestrian munity centers. According to a recent Toronto Meloff recalls that the message went viral and bicycling-oriented downtown lifestyle is UIA-Federation study, 21,000 Jews now live and almost immediately they received hun- not for everyone. Nor was it self-evident that in and around the old Jewish neighborhoods – dreds of enthusiastic replies from contempo- downtown would be a source for a 41 percent increase since 1991. raries who recognized the reference and Jewish revival. The YMHA (reorganized in 1994 as the understood what they wanted to create. “Kensington Market was an exotic desti- Miles Nadal Jewish Community Center) has Meloff tells The Report he was not surprised nation and a historical site to visit with your also stayed in place and has now been joined to find that these young, cosmopolitan pro- day school or Hebrew school class,” recalls by the thriving Paul Penna Downtown Jewish fessionals were disillusioned, as he and Brodbar-Nemzer. And Stephen Reich, 45, an Day School (PPDJDS), a congregational Belzberg were, with what he refers to as “the earring-sporting legal strategy consultant and school, day-care programs and a plethora of alienating ‘big-box’ Reform and actor, says that when he told older Jews he community activities. Locals are patronizing Conservative synagogue experiences of our was moving to , friends hip new Jewish-owned establishments such as uptown and suburban told him that they were surprised he was Caplansky’s Deli, Israeli-style upbringings.” He thinks “was moving back to the slums.” Aroma espresso bar, and Free that downtown Jews are But downtown definitely does suit a grow- Times Café, as well as original attracted to The Annex ing group of young Jews who do want to holdovers like the famous Shul because they “are embrace Jewish pluralism, creativity and Harbord Bakery, known city- searching for what they diversity, while also living in close proximity wide for its incredible challa consider to be greater to Toronto’s cultural and civic centers. “This bread. inclusiveness and isn’t the shtetl. This is not where you live if Although a few of Toronto’s Jewish authenticity.” you want an all-encompassing Jewish life,” Jewish congregations, including Belzberg and says Reich, who relocated to The Annex from the First Narayever, Anshei Meloff claim they Winnipeg 20 years ago. “But now there is an Minsk and the Kiever, are still at were the first, back in option in if you want hip, urbane, their original sites, most moved ONTARIOJEWISH ARCHIVES 2006, to tap into the Jewish community.” northward and into new build- evident growing Indeed, downtown Toronto has become a ings along the Bathurst Street desire for downtown magnet for young, educated, creative Jews corridor following World War II. Jews to plug into a who yearn for connection with Jewish com- Downtown Toronto Jews seeking community where munity – but on their own terms. a prayer experience have their they could both feel Uninterested in the preponderantly tradition- choice of these historic syna- and make a direct al, conservative Toronto Jewish community gogues or a number of local A RICH JEWISH LIFE: Toronto’s impact. With sup- (Canada’s largest), they have returned to its prayer services that span the Jewish neighborhoods were filled port from the UJA cradle to enact a rebirth of sorts. It is on the observance and egalitarian spec- with synagogues, schools, Federation and the old streets and through the historic buildings trums. businesses, and culture, such as Hillel of Greater and institutions that these young liberal and The Annex Shul and Makom this issue of The Canadian Toronto, they began progressive Jews are connecting with their are two of these new communities Jewish Review, from 1923 holding semi-regu- roots. Unwilling to simply transport uptown that are gaining attention not only lar Friday night ser- Judaism downtown, they are reinvigorating, among the downtown crowd. vices at the University of Toronto. and even reinventing, the 25 synagogues and The motto of The Annex Shul is, “Come as cultural and community centers in the area. HE ANNEX SHUL WAS FOUND- you are, make it your own.” This, says Meloff, ed four and half years ago by friends is in response to what he and Belzberg identi- ITH ITS POPULATION OF TBram Belzberg, 30, and Richard fied as the “untapped demand” for Jewish par- approximately 2.5 million, Meloff, 33, who were looking to replicate ticipation. “People want ownership, a stake, to WToronto, located on the northern what they viewed as the vibrant, intimate and make an impact now. Our generation does not shore of Lake , is Canada’s largest participatory Jewish life they experienced as want to wait 30 years to be invited onto the city. Toronto is popularly considered to be students and young professionals in cities board,” Meloff says emphatically. They have one of North America’s safest and is home like Montreal and New York. developed a flat organizational structure, in to over 100 ethnic groups. Reuniting in Toronto, Belzberg and which any community member could suggest The Jewish population of the Greater Meloff decided to see if they could recreate an idea for an activity and receive resources Toronto Area is close to 200,000, according to that experience for themselves and their and guidance from a leadership team. Dr. Harold Troper, professor of education at friends. Typically, they gathered the first In early 2011, The Annex Shul celebrated the University of Toronto and an expert on members of their community together its “Milestone Weekend.” Scott McGrath, 37, Canadian Jewish history. Troper also tells The through an e-mail, in which they wrote that the current head of the leadership team tells Report that some 70 percent of Toronto’s Jews they wanted to start a “Ghetto Shul-type” The Report that the recent initial membership

THE JERUSALEM REPORT OCTOBER 10, 2011 27 JEWISH WORLD

nodding hello from his seat in the front row, as worshipers trickle in, and drumming vigor- ously, his eyes closed, on the low bookshelf that serves as a mechitza. Levy, an American transplant, says he started Makom in early 2009 “because my own family’s Jewish life wasn’t as robust as REVITALIZING AND we wanted it to be. There were no Jewish REINVENTING: The communal options that resonated for us.” He Annex Shul founders had originally helped set up The Annex Shul, Bram Belzberg (left) and Richard Meloof (right) and as an Orthodox rabbi (ordained by the with spiritual leader left-wing Orthodox Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Yakov Fruchter in Manhattan), he prays daily at the Kiever synagogue, one of the several original syna- COHEN PHOTOGRAPHY drive surpassed its goal by 25 percent, bring- ing in 80 new members at the affordable rates ‘Now there’s an option in Canada, if you want hip, of $250 for an individual and $450 for a fam- ily. The highlight of the “Milestone urban Jewish community’ Weekend” was the installation of the commu- – Torontonian Stephen Reich nity’s first full-time spiritual leader, Yakov Fruchter. On a cold, crisp Sunday evening, in the lobby of a Bang & Olufsen high-end women only, and one for mixed seating). gogues still operating in the historic down- audio accessories store in the tony Yorkville This innovative take on the traditional town. But he and his wife, education policy neighborhood, the hip “Beyond the Pale” separation of men and women by a researcher and analyst Miriam Kramer, band played klezmer and Eurofolk music as mechitza, appeared to be an acceptable com- sought, he tells The Report, “a more multi- the crowd of a hundred or so young profes- promise at a recent Friday evening service. faceted, diverse and inclusive Jewish commu- sionals, the women dressed in fashionable lit- The chapel was packed with some 50 young nity that revolves as much around social and tle black dresses and the men in dark suits, people, with a slight majority of them seek- environmental activism and arts and culture munched on kosher finger food, drank wine ing seating in the mixed-gender section. The as it does around prayer and learning.” and feted Fruchter. worshipers joined in with Fruchter as he led In just two years, Levy, working without Fruchter, 28, who tells The Report that he the prayers and niggunim (wordless pay and relying on limited grant-based rev- grew up in a modern Orthodox home in melodies), as the life-size photographic enue, has brought Makom’s e-mail list up to Montreal, is not an ordained rabbi (although images of some of the original Jewish 900. “Slingshot, A Resource Guide to Jewish he says he is considering pursuing rabbinical inhabitants of the neighborhood, artfully Innovation,” placed Makom on its highly studies). He views his role as one of “sharing sandblasted into the windows of the chapel, respected list of North America’s 50 most my own journey of Jewish learning.” As appeared to gaze down silently on the scene. innovative Jewish non-profits in 2010-2011. spiritual leader, the slightly-built and earnest Makom is the first and only Canadian organi- yet affable Fruchter helps lead semi-monthly NLY SEVERAL CITY BLOCKS zation to be awarded this distinction. Friday evening services and monthly away from The Annex Shul, Levy, Kramer and their two young sons Shabbat morning services, counsels commu- O Makom also hosts Friday night ser- live just outside Kensington Market, which nity members, and provides guidance and vices. And while the melodies are mostly the the rabbi refers to as “the geographic center of resources for member-initiated programming same, the atmosphere is decidedly different. gravity” for the community they are building that ranges from classes that meet at the local Makom (which, in Hebrew, can mean together with likeminded young Jews, many branch of the Aroma espresso bar chain to place or can be a allusion to God) bills itself of whom, Levy says, “are engaging in holiday celebrations to activities geared as “a joyous, grass-roots, downtown commu- Judaism in a significant way for the first time toward families with young children. nity building traditional and progressive in a long time.” Although few of the members of The Jewish life in Toronto.” Some 50 members Brodbar-Nemzer, a member of Makom’s Annex Shul are religiously observant, they attend services once every two weeks, most of leadership team, agrees that the “downtown feel, says Fruchter, comfortable with a tradi- them young. In contrast to the somewhat cor- ethos” is key. She lives with six friends in a tional framework with gender egalitarian ele- porate office milieu at The Annex Shul, Jewish communal house a few blocks from ments. This framework, often referred to as Makom projects a more laid back, funky vibe, Kensington Market that serves as a social hub the “partnership minyan model” in the inde- as the congregants stomp, sway, clap and sing for young Jews in the neighborhood. “People pendent minyan world, plays itself out at The the traditional prayers in an artist’s storefront are choosing to live in close proximity to one Annex Shul with, on the one hand, the active studio that they use for a chapel. another. They want to be engaged with others, participation of women and, on the other Although other members of the group lead to draw energy from the people around them,” hand, a division of the room into a “tri-chitza” prayers, founder Rabbi Aaron Levy, 35, she explains. set-up (one section for men only, one for guides the service as he alternates between The connection to Kensington Market is a

28 THE JERUSALEM REPORT OCTOBER 10, 2011 means of reviving ties to a place that repre- grandmother who works as a substitute the same time, some Jews – especially small sents a historical sense of urbanism, neighbor- teacher and goes to Israeli dancing several business owners, the elderly, and academics hood and progressive politics. Brodbar- times a week, grew up in The Annex. She at University of Toronto – never left the Nemzer says that young Jews moving into the still owns her family’s house there, although downtown neighborhoods. area feel “a very strong association with the she moved to the more residential areas Troper, 68, has always lived downtown, history of the place,” especially those who, when she married and had children. She, too, he tells The Report . like she did, grew up in the suburbs or more remembers the streets overflowing as people Furthermore, what many perceive as a residential areas of Toronto. walked to and from the synagogues on the sudden influx of Jews into downtown in the High Holidays. In her neighborhood, too, last half decade or so has actually been “a AYLA CHAIKOFF WAS BORN IN you did not have to go further than the cor- slow reversal that began in the 1960s,” he 1930 and lived on Nassau Street in ner to find kosher provisions. And she says. Those who see a very recent spike in B the heart of Kensington Market until remembers the peddlers who delivered milk, Jewish population downtown are not com- she was 30. She went on to raise a family fruits and vegetables to people’s doorsteps pletely mistaken, but they may not realize further north in the city, as well as to lead a from their wagons. that as “the city took on a rapturous love of busy and fulfilling life as a teacher and itself in the 1960s and 1970s and the youth administrator in Jewish day schools and and counter-cultures took root,” some young public schools. Jews moved back downtown. Some wealthy Unlike those who warned Reich, she professionals and retirees have been making does not remember the neighborhood as a their way back south and there has been a slum. She does admit, however, that “the steady growth in Jewish faculty members at market had such a negative connotation… It PHOTOGRAPHYCOHEN the University of Toronto over time. was not considered a good neighborhood, “So, by the 1980s, there was already a but it had no crime. Most people got out base that had been built” for the increase that after World War II.” the younger generation of people like Reich Now 81, Chaikoff was the daughter of and Brodbar-Nemzer are so pleased with. socialist, intellectual Polish immigrants; her Troper observes, “The cake takes the father was a furrier. “My parents were ideal- HIP HOP HANUKKA: Yakov Fruchter at The shape of the pan it is baked in,” and so it is ists. We had a culturally rich life even though Annex Shul, beer in hand not surprising that “downtown Jews tend to we weren’t wealthy,” she recalls. She be more liberal, more accepting of gays and remembers Chaim Grade and other famous Her father earned only a modest electri- lesbians, and more accepting of intermar- Yiddish writers eating dinner at her family’s cian’s salary, so her family shared their riage. They are less affiliated with Federation home when they came to visit Toronto. And home with tenants until Hirt was 16. “We and its offshoots, and more progressive. They while other kids were out playing on the had nine people using the bathroom,” she are also well educated and financially streets after school, she would be learning says. “But very few people could afford to resourceful – or else they are the opposite and Yiddish and Yiddishkeit at the Borochov live in their homes without either taking in just don’t care much about money.” Shule or building her musical skills at then- tenants or living with extended family. It Actor and writer Diane Flacks, who was pricey 50-cents-per-hour violin lessons. wasn’t fancy living.” raised in the suburbs, has lived downtown Looking back, Chaikoff sees it as a “won- And though Kensington Market was actu- for the past 20 years and has witnessed the derful neighborhood” bursting with Jewish ally very close, to Hirt it was “a whole dif- growth and change over time. “It never made life. She tells The Report that on one block ferent place. You didn’t have to go far, every- sense for me to live anywhere else,” she there were large synagogues on either end thing was right there. So as a kid, I rarely shares. As a partner in a lesbian and inter- with six shtieblech (small prayer ventured beyond my block,” she relates to faith marriage, she believes Jewish day houses) in between. There were Talmud The Report . school would not have been an option for her Torah religious schools, Zionist and children had the diverse, arts-based PPDJDS Yiddishist shulen, and bar mitzva preparation ITH FOND MEMORIES OF not been established 13 years ago. School options of every possible sort available to the their childhoods, both women principal Rhonda Rosenheck says most of youth, including lessons given by rabbis who Wthink it is “wonderful” that young the parents are like Flacks. “Our families ran small schools in their living rooms. Jews are returning to downtown Toronto. wanted to establish a school that could pro- Only half a block from her home, her But Troper, the Canadian Jewish history vide a strong Jewish identity without fear of mother and grandmother could buy anything expert, cautions that “the mass exodus of the other. Our families want to be part of the they needed for the day from any of the mar- Jews from downtown should be taken as a broader community gleefully.” ket’s many kosher butchers, bakers or pickle, folk wisdom.” Brodbar-Nemzer sees herself and others cheese or fruit and vegetable sellers. “You Although it is true that the development as “continuing the tradition of Jewish cre- could buy six daily Yiddish newspapers – of Jewish life in midtown and northward ativity, of starting from the ground up” as the two or three of them were local. And you along Bathurst Street “exploded” in the immigrant generations did. She imagines barely ever heard English spoken in the 1950s due to the availability of serviced land “the historical Jews cheering us on as we streets,” she recalls. at affordable prices and the influx of tens of make Judaism and Jewish living relevant and Hindy Hirt, now an energetic 71-year-old thousands of Holocaust survivors at about meaningful to our lives today.” •

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