If Rabbi Jeffrey Ableser has his way, Windsor, Ont.’s Jewish population will swell this Rosh Hashanah.

The city’s two main shuls, Rabbi Ableser’s Reform Congregation Beth El and the Orthodox Shaar Hashomayim Congregation, will host a Jewish New Year Gala and Special Homecoming Reunion for Windsor Jews and Jews who’ve left the city over the years for points west and east.

“It’s a great community, but I’ve seen it dwindle, and most of our kids have gone to Toronto,” Rabbi Ableser told The CJN.

Rabbi Ableser estimates the current Jewish population in Windsor at around 1,500 and said he wants people to remember that his community has been around since the late 1700s.

“I tend to know just about every Jew in this city,” he said, adding that he hopes the gala will attract Jews from Toronto and Detroit back to the city to help shore up its flagging Jewish population and make use of its excess community infrastructure.

He said his congregation and the Shaar Shomayim’s schools were merged eight years ago to offset the drop in enrolment and now offer the community’s youth an “integrated” education “from preschool through high school.”

For the past year, the shuls have planned the upcoming gala with an eye toward pitching Windsor as an attractive alternative to bigger cities.

“We have more infrastructure than we need right now,” Rabbi Ableser said. “We have a mortuary, a senior’s home [and] an active chevra kadisha. We are all one community, even though we have a few congregations.”

Beth El serves some 170 families, he said.

“I’d love people to move back to Windsor. One could make a case that life [here] is better,” he said, alluding to the city’s proximity to Detroit, with its four popular sports franchises, its varied selection of radio stations and the fact that “the prices of homes are 30 per cent cheaper here.”

“I came back to Windsor from Toronto because it’s a heimish community,” he said.

Rabbi Ableser’s first pulpit job was at Temple Sinai in Toronto.

Windsor’s Jewish New Year Gala takes place Sept. 27 at the Windsor Jewish Community Centre and will feature kosher catering, live music, a comedian, a silent auction and dancing, among other activities. Tickets cost $75.

For more information, visit www.windsorgala.com, or call 519-969-2422