Congregation B'nai Israel (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: בני ישראל) is a

Conservative Jewish Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...

congregation located in downtown

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

, Ontario, Canada. It is the only Conservative synagogue in the Niagara Region. Founded early in the twentieth century, its

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 ...

building completed in 1925 is among the oldest standing in Canada.

History

The congregation was established in 1907 and religious gatherings were held in various places. In 1917, a temporary synagogue was built. Shortly afterwards, an architectural firm was commissioned for a permanent synagogue. A friend of a congregation member had to buy the property as the landowners would not sell to Jews. Construction started in 1924 and was completed by 1925. The previous synagogue was then used as the residence for their rabbi. The congregation has been part of the

United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is the major congregational organization of Conservative Judaism in North America, and the largest Conservative Jewish communal body in the world. USCJ closely works with the Rabbinical Assembly ...

since 1981. In 1998, the congregation was sued for

wrongful dismissal In law, wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is a situation in which an employee's contract of employment has been terminated by the employer, where the termination breaches one or more terms of the contra ...

by a former rabbi, who was then compensated $130,000. In 2016, the synagogue was featured in an exhibit at the St. Catharines Museum. In 2024, the building became a heritage site under the

Ontario Heritage Act The ''Ontario Heritage Act'', (the ''Act'') first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Canadian Province of Ontario, as being of cultural heritage ...

References

External links

Congregation B'nai Israel website
Synagogues completed in 1905 Buildings and structures in St. Catharines Conservative synagogues in Canada Synagogues in Ontario 1905 establishments in Ontario 20th-century synagogues in Canada {{Canada-synagogue-stub