Pape Avenue Cemetery, officially known as Holy Blossom Cemetery, is the first

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...

in the city of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The small cemetery is now closed to new burials, and is mostly hidden within the residential neighbourhood of

Leslieville Leslieville is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated east of the Don River. It is bounded by the Canadian National railway line and Gerrard Street to the north, McGee Street to the west, Eastern Avenue to south, and Coxwell Ave ...

. It was established in 1849 by two prominent local businessmen Judah G. Joseph and Abraham Nordheimer (uncertain if Joseph is buried here, while Nordheimer died during his trip to Germany in 1862 and is buried at Bamberg Jewish Cemetery ). At the time the nearest Jewish cemeteries were in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

or Buffalo, and Joseph was concerned for his fatally ill son Samuel, who eventually became the first burial in the new cemetery. The location near the corner of Pape (then called Centre Road) and Gerrard was then in still rural areas to the east of the city. It was not close to much of the Jewish community, but was a convenient location to purchase. It was one of the first Jewish institutions established in Toronto, being opened some years before the city's first

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

. When Toronto Hebrew Congregation, the predecessor to

Holy Blossom Temple The Holy Blossom Temple is a Reform synagogue located at 1950 Bathurst Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the oldest Jewish congregation in Toronto. Founded in 1856, it has more than 7,000 members. W. Gunther Plaut, who died on 8 Februa ...

, was established in 1856, it took over management of the cemetery, and continues to run it today. Over the next decades almost all the early founders of Toronto's Jewish community would be buried there. The small Pape Avenue Cemetery quickly ran out of room, and it was closed to new burials in the 1930s.

Jones Avenue Cemetery

In 1883 the nearby Jones Avenue Cemetery opened at 480 Jones Avenue in Riverdale, serving the members of

Beth Tzedec Congregation Beth Tzedec Congregation ( he, בית צדק, lit=House of Righteousness) is a Conservative synagogue on Bathurst Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1955 with the amalgamation of the Goel Tzedec ( he, גואל צדק, lit=Right ...

's two predecessor synagogues.

Holy Blossom Memorial Park

To replace it, Holy Blossom opened a new cemetery further east at 66 Brimley Road in the

Cliffcrest Cliffcrest is a residential neighborhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located along the shores of Lake Ontario in the district of Scarborough, bordered by Midland Avenue to the west, the Canadian National Railway to the north, and Bellamy ...

area of Scarborough, Ontario. Notable burials at Holy Blossom Memorial Park: *

Frank Shuster Frank Shuster, (September 5, 1916 – January 13, 2002) was a Canadian comedian best known as a member of the comedy duo Wayne and Shuster, alongside Johnny Wayne. Life and career Shuster was born to a Jewish immigrant family in Toronto, Ont ...

(1916-2002) and

Johnny Wayne Johnny Wayne (born Louis Weingarten; May 28, 1918 – July 18, 1990) was a Canadian comedian and comedy writer best known for his work as part of the comedy duo Wayne and Shuster alongside Frank Shuster. The son of a successful clothing manuf ...

(1918-1990) - comedians *

Bora Laskin Bora Laskin (October 5, 1912 – March 26, 1984) was a Canadian jurist who served as the 14th chief justice of Canada from 1973 to 1984. Laskin was appointed a puisne justice of the Supreme Court in 1970, and served on the Ontario Court of A ...

(1912-1984) - 14th

Chief Justice of Canada The chief justice of Canada (french: juge en chef du Canada) is the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, the highest judicial body in Canada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of the Canadian court sy ...

Saul Laskin Saul Laskin (15 May 1918 – 4 October 2008) was a Canadian politician. He was the first mayor of the City of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Born in Fort William, Ontario, he was the younger brother of jurist Bora Laskin. He was educated in Fort Willia ...

(1918-2008)- 1st

Mayor of Thunder Bay This is a list of mayors of Thunder Bay and the former cities of Port Arthur and Fort William. Thunder Bay was incorporated in 1970, amalgamating the cities of Port Arthur, Ontario, Port Arthur and Fort William, Ontario, Fort William. Mayors of ...

* Nathan Phillips (1892-1976) - 52nd

Mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

Alex Levinsky Alexander "Mine Boy" Levinsky (February 2, 1910 – September 1, 1990) was an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey Defenseman who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Black Hawks and New ...

(1910-1990) - NHL hockey player *

Murray Koffler Murray Bernard Koffler, (January 22, 1924 – November 5, 2017) was a Canadian pharmacist, businessman, and philanthropist. He was best known for founding the Canadian pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart, establishing the Koffler Centre of the Arts ...

(1924-2017) - pharmacist, businessman, founder of

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in nine provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist Murray Koffler in 1962 ...

References

{{coord, 43.667627, N, 79.339402, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Jewish cemeteries in Toronto Jews and Judaism in Toronto 1849 establishments in Canada