City Shul is a

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

in downtown

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, founded in October 2012 and currently led by Transition Rabbi Danny Gottlieb, following the retirement of founding Rabbi

Elyse Goldstein Elyse Goldstein is a Canadian Reform rabbi. She is the first woman to be elected as president of the interdenominational Toronto Board of Rabbis and president of the Reform Rabbis of Greater Toronto. Early life and education Goldstein was bor ...

. Until September 2017, the congregation met at the Wolfond Centre for Jewish Campus Life, near the St George campus of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. 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.

History

City Shul was founded to serve the growing Jewish population in downtown Toronto. It is part of the Downtown Jewish Community Council of Toronto. City Shul includes members who are

visible minorities In Canada, a visible minority () is defined by the Government of Canada as "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". The term is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada ...

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

, Jews-by-choice and people with no Jewish background. The Shul also includes members who were raised in different Jewish traditions, such as

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

Sephardi Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

Jews, and those who come from a variety of

Jewish religious movements Jewish religious movements, sometimes called " denominations", include diverse groups within Judaism which have developed among Jews from ancient times. Samaritans are also considered ethnic Jews by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, although they a ...

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 The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. The CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world. ...

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 The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms establ ...

in December 2013.

References

External links

* {{Synagogues in Canada, state=expanded Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Toronto Reform synagogues in Canada Sephardi Jewish culture in Canada Sephardi Reform Judaism Synagogues in Toronto 2012 establishments in Ontario Synagogues completed in 2012 21st-century synagogues in Canada