urbanvillageboy
New Member
No problem. Your belief is wrong, though.
Sorry, I thought this was done. I am really not sure this conversation is right for this thread, but you seem a bit upset by what I said, for which I apologise. By all means, you are part of whatever community you feel yourself to be part of.
In fairness, no. You wrote about 3 congregations sprawled across downtown (Brunswick, Riverdale, Kensington), of which one holds weekly Shabat services. Renting the JCC twice every September/October is another important local use of the facility, although I am not certain how that is distinguished from all of the community centre and church hall (!) spaces rented for the same purpose throughout the GTA.
Is it possible you are making too much of this? I wasn't trying to argue that there are no persons of Jewish origin or heritage living south of St. Clair -- only that it seemed a bit ridiculous to take umbrage at the idea that, whereas 50 years ago Toronto's urban geography worked quite differently, today Bathurst and Centre in Thornhill is inside a heavily-Jewish neighbourhood in a way that the neighbourhood around the Mosaic is not. I wasn't really taking a position as to whether or not the suburbanization of Toronto's Jewish or other ethnic communities is a good or bad thing. Just raising my eyebrows at the idea that it never happened.
If you want to see that as a controversial statement, you are obviously free to do so, but if you are seeking support for that viewpoint, I would suggest that calling out a synagogue, a couple of prayer groups, and a 50-year-old Jewish bakery whose original owners lived in the area -- in a metro area with hundreds of thriving synagogues and Jewish eateries -- does not support it very strongly. Certainly there are the seeds of urban renewal for a distinctive Jewish presence in an urban neighbourhood in Toronto. There is quite some distance to go before that is more than a phantom reality in my opinion. But, well, that's pretty subjective.
(Yes, I think this needs a separate thread. Maybe in Neighbourhoods? Do those necessarily have to be geographically based, or can they be demographically oriented instead?)
You know what I give up because you are just wrong and you're minimizing and denigrating what has been going on. I am now sure you have no first hand acquaintance of it
. I stated that this community is different- it does not operate like the traditional suburban community does. There are thousands of Jews living in the greater downtown area- their growing presence has led to the development of a day school, at least one afternoon school, several new congregations, the revival of the old congregations in Kensington Market( Anshei Minsk being one), and the renewal of the JCC. Two, not just one of the congregations I mentioned, have weekly services. I don't think that we've seen the end of this development because my guess is that a growing group of individuals will be moving into many of the condominiums including retirees from Forest Hill. The dynamic will continue to grow and change and it will be interesting to watch it.
And by the way there are not hundreds of synagogues in the north end. At most there are a several dozen.
Actually I find it a pity that you cannot open your mind to accept what is in fact a very interesting new urban phenomenon worth exploring and understanding. But you know what, that's your loss.