Congregation Beth Israel (Vancouver) - Early History

Early History

Congregation Beth Israel (Hebrew: בית ישראל‎) was founded in September, 1925, but did not formally incorporate until November, 1932. The incorporation was done in cooperation with the United Synagogue of America (now the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism); at the time, this was unusual in Western Canada, where most synagogues were Orthodox.

Previously, the small non-Orthodox Temple Emanu-El—also called the Deutscher Shul ("German synagogue")—had been formed in Vancouver in 1894 or 1895 as a "semi-Reform" congregation – not Orthodox, but more traditional than American Reform congregations. Most Jewish immigrants to Vancouver were, however, Orthodox Yiddish-speakers from Eastern Europe, and Emanu-El's membership did not grow. It lasted until 1910.

Beth Israel's founders were second generation, Canadian-born, English-speaking Jews who wanted mixed seating, and an alternative to Vancouver's Orthodox Congregation Schara Tzedeck (founded 1907). Former members of Temple Emanu-El joined with the new congregation, which also took responsibility for a religious school. Once the Jewish Community Center was built in Fairview in 1928, the congregation held its services there.