Visitors to the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre are getting a look at the history of the city’s Jewish community.
An exhibit titled B’nai Israel – The First Synagogue opened in January and is on display until the end of the year. It includes photographs and artifacts detailing more than 150 years of history.
While visiting the museum last summer, B’nai Israel member Pearl Katzman noticed a lot of space in the windows and thought of the idea to share some Judaica. When the museum curator agreed, Katzman and a group of volunteers got to work researching and collecting artifacts.
“One window has artifacts, including a Torah, a shofar, something from all of the holidays,” said Katzman. “The other shows our community involvement over more than 100 years, including articles and photographs.
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“It has been very well received. There is a lot of excitement about the history.”
The congregation’s first services were held some time around 1865 at the home of Phillip Ginsberg on Church Street, and later in facilities rented on Niagara Street. In 1902, a house was purchased for $3,500 at Church and Calvin streets to be the first permanent synagogue building. In 1923, ground was broken at the current location on Calvin Street. Construction was completed in 1925 at a cost of $ 26,500.
Originally an Orthodox synagogue, B’nai Israel has been a member of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism for 30 years. It is the only Conservative egalitarian synagogue in Niagara Region and has a membership of about 150 families.
“Of course we were interested in this exhibit,” said Kathleen Powell, the museum’s curator and supervisor of historical services. “We like to be able to tell as many of the stories of St. Catharines history as possible. The reception to the exhibit has been excellent so far. We expect as our busier season approaches that the exhibit will get even more attention. Even more than that, this exhibit has provided the museum the opportunity to connect with a new partner in the community, which only serves to make what we do richer.”
Katzman remembers the day she received a phone call from the museum. Amid archives and items in the museum basement, staff members were excited to find a seder plate that a former rebbetzin had given to the city.
“This exhibit is important because it is our responsibility as the keeper of the community’s heritage to be able to tell all the stories of our community,” Powell said.