History of the Community

In the late 1800's and early 1900's, many Jews fleeing the persecution in Eastern Europe came to Western Canada.

In 1908, the Saskatoon Jewish Community was comprised of only a handful of people. The first religious service was held in a rented house, and often the local hotels had to be canvassed to find a traveller, or more, of the Jewish faith who could help complete the minyan of ten required for formal prayer.

In 1919 a new synagogue was built at the corner of Avenue F and 21st Street, and a Hebrew School was opened at Avenue I and 19th Street. At that time, the majority of Jews lived on the west side of the city. As the community grew, a new school was built across the street from the synagogue, along with a space for community gatherings.

In 1958, the current synagogue was dedicated. It was constructed to be a community centre comprised of a sanctuary, social hall, Hebrew school, and extra room to facilitate the growing needs of the community. With this move in location, the community also changed its orientation from Orthodox to the Conservative movement, opening the door to complete and equal access for all members of the Saskatoon Jewish Community.

Commemorative History Book

In 1997, our community celebrated its 90th anniversary. A commemorative book, entitled Heritage and History, was recently published as a record of the Saskatoon Jewish community, past and present. According to the prologue of the book:

"Itis the story of the men and women who have contributed to the settlement and progress of Saskatoon and area. With plans to celebrate the Fortieth anniversary of Agudas Israel Synagogue and Community Centre, and the Fiftieth anniversary of Israel, came the idea for a commemorative book. From this idea a plan developed for a more inclusive hardcover book that would contain the history of the Jewish community in Saskatoon dating back to its beginnings at the turn of the (20th) Century. Our research has made us marvel at the courage and determination of those pioneers who, with considerable difficulty, settled in Saskatoon and managed to maintain a viable Jewish community.

Toput together a history book in so short a time would have been impossible without the research that Anna Feldman has been doing over the past twenty years. She has been collecting oral histories from, and researching written documents about prairie Jews since 1978. Anna and her husband Keiva, whose parents were pioneers in the Sonnenfeld colony, retired to Saskatoon from Ottawa in 1986. We are greatly indebted to Anna who has provided a scholarly history of the Saskatoon Jewish Community for this project.

While Heritage and History was in progress, Gerry Rose, a member of our committee, passed away after a brief illness. His knowledge of times past, including the history of the early Jewish business community, was essential to our gathering of historical facts. We miss him and we express our heartfelt appreciation for his contribution to our project."

If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the history book, please contact the
office. Copies may be purchased at the Centre, for $70 each. This is a wonderful book!