Paula E. Kirman
Edmonton’s Jewish community has spent much of its history migrating further and further west, including several stops in and around the Jasper Place area.
The earlier days of Edmonton’s Jewish community were centred around what was then the downtown area. As documented in Debby Shoctor’s excellent article, “A Brief History of the Edmonton Jewish Community,” this area included 95th Street and Rowland Road, where the city’s first synagogue (Beth Israel) was built. This area of the city is now northeast Edmonton and includes the neighbourhoods of McCauley and Boyle Street.
As the decades marched on, so did the community, with synagogues and other Jewish organizations setting up in what was then the “West End:” Beth Shalom Synagogue (a congregation in the Conservative Jewish movement) on 119th Street and Jasper Avenue, Beth Israel Synagogue (Orthodox) on 118th Street, and the Talmud Torah school on 132nd Street. Beth Israel and the Talmud Torah are now much further west, in the Westridge and Callingwood neighbourhoods, but the Jewish community still has central west/Jasper Place connections.
Beth Shalom Synagogue remains on 119th Street and Jasper Avenue. The Jewish Drop-In Centre (also known as the Jewish Senior Citizens’ Centre) is nearby at 100th Avenue and 117th Street. Temple Beth Ora, a Reform Jewish congregation, as well as the Chevra Kadisha (burial society), are located at 123rd Street and 105th Avenue.
Heading further west, the Edmonton Kollel (an Orthodox Jewish study group) used to be located in Wellington Crescent, where the members lived and studied. Bliss Baked Goods, Edmonton’s only kosher bakery, is located on 107th Avenue and 142 Street. Around the corner on 107th Avenue, Menorah Academy, an Orthodox day school, closed in 2021 after operating there for 30 years.
The surrounding neighbourhoods of Glenora, Crestwood, Parkview, and Laurier Heights still have a contingent of Jewish residents. Many current and former residents of the area grew up eating traditional Jewish baked treats from Bon Ton Bakery at 8720 149th Street, in Lynnwood, originally part of the Town of Jasper Place. While the ownership has changed over the years, the bakery has deep roots in the Jewish community.
Today, many community members now live in Westridge and Oleskiw, which are closer to the current location of Beth Israel Synagogue, Chabad Lubavitch of Edmonton (an ultra-Orthodox congregation and community outreach), and the Talmud Torah school.
A Jewish Community Centre used to be located in the Hillcrest Country Club near Rio Terrace, one of the neighbourhoods that used to be considered part of the Town of Jasper Place. The JCC housed numerous Jewish community organizations which are now located in the former Jasper Place Legion Building at 10220 156 Street. The JCC and Jewish Archives and Historical Society of Edmonton and Northern Alberta (JAHSENA) is discussed in the article JAHSENA: Preserving Alberta’s Jewish History on this site.
For a deeper look at locations in Edmonton with Jewish connections, visit Jewish Edmonton Stories Online, which features interviews with numerous members of the local Jewish community as they discuss places of importance connected to their personal stories. The site includes a map, and the interviews are videos which are captioned and also available as PDF transcripts.
The Jasper Place Community History Project is hoping to add more stories and interviews about the Jewish community and its connections to the Jasper Place area.
Paula E. Kirman is a freelance writer who grew up, and still lives, near the Jasper Place area
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