The oldest continually used synagogue in Canada and western North America.

A Jewish community grew in Victoria on Vancouver Island when the city was an important port during the Klondike and Fraser Canyon gold rush years. Five years after the Jewish Community’s first meeting, and four years before Canada’s independence, the cornerstone for Congregation Emanu-El was laid. On June 2, 1863 Victorians of all walks of life celebrated the opening of the synagogue with music provided by the band of HMS Topaze, a 24 gun Royal Navy Frigate. According to Wikipedia “The dedication was marked by a procession of benevolent societies of what appears to have been every religion and ethnicity resident in the young city. The marchers in the procession are known to have included not only the Hebrew Benevolent Society, but the French Benevolent Society, the St. Andrew’s Society, the Germania Sing Verein (a German Singing Club), and the Fraternity of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons.”

The city, Jewish Community and synagogue flourished. Eventually the gold fields played out and railroads from the east were extended to the nearby mainland city of Vancouver. Due to these factors, the importance of Victoria as a port waned as did the city’s growth and prosperity. There were lean years for Victoria and Congregation Emanu-El until the latter half of the 20th century when Victoria’s fortunes changed. In 1983 a group of Congregation leaders raised support to refurbish the synagogue building to its former grandeur, earning it designation as a national heritage site.

Today Congregation Emanu-El is the oldest continually used synagogue building in Canada and western North America. Borrowing words from the Congregation’s website, it is “an inclusive, warm, haimishe, progressive Conservative synagogue on the western edge of North America on beautiful Vancouver Island, BC.

Congregation Emanu-El consists of an eclectic and diverse group of 190 families who come together to create a dynamic and spiritual expression of Jewish life. It’s a place of love and connection where deep friendships are forged and nourished. We believe in connecting people to one another and to their Jewish roots & traditions, as well as nourishing feelings of connectedness, security and belonging.”