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BUILDING A COMMUNITY
Vancouver's Jewish population increased between 1881
and 1931, particularly during the years 1901-1931. The community
became more diverse, requiring a wide array of social services.
Jews could now be found living in a variety of neighborhoods around
the city, with the well-heeled in the West End and newly developed
West Side, and the (mainly) eastern European immigrants on the East
Side.
The eastern European Jews included the religious, those who rejected
religion and believed the future of the Jewish people lay in the
creation of a secular Jewish homeland, and those who expressed their
Jewishness by promoting Jewish culture and socialist aspirations.
It is not surprising, therefore, that during this period there were
forces which drew Jews together, such as the building of the first
permanent Jewish Community Centre in 1928, and forces which kept
them apart-apparent in the variety of schools and youth camps in
this relatively small Jewish community.
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First
Schara Tzedeck Synagogue, Heatley Street, Vancouver, 1921
Leonard
Frank Photos, VPL Special Collections, JHS
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Old
Jewish Community Centre (JCC),
11th Avenue and Oak, Vancouver, c. 1940
JHS
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