Welcome to the Website of Congregation Emanu-El,
Victoria, B.C., Canada

It is my privilege to be President of Congregation Emanu-El, the little congregation that is proud of its 144 years of history and devotion to Conservative Judaism. When you come to shul on Shabbat you will find one or more of a dozen individuals capable of chanting from the Torah and many more very capable of chanting the Haftorah. Despite our small size we have managed to educate our youth with great passion. You may hear one of our B’nai mitzvah students chanting the preliminary service, shachrit, a portion of the Torah Parashat or musaf. You may meet one or more of our children who have come back from Israel after serving in the IDF. You may even meet one of our children who have grown up and become a Rabbi or Cantor elsewhere in North America having received a very strong Jewish education in our Hebrew school. We are truly blessed by those who devote themselves to our faith with such great energy.

As an egalitarian conservative shul we pride ourselves on being understanding of views that differ from ours. We are not only respectful of other faiths but of the different branches of Judaism. Our approach to worship is that we all come before Hashem as individuals. Our Congregation takes pride in not discriminating on the basis of gender or sexual orientation. It is not tolerance that we practice, but respect for the individual. We are all made in G-d’s image.

It isn’t just devotion to Judaism through prayer that makes us proud to be members of this historic shul, but our pride in having a significant percentage of our kehilla attending Shabbat services. We are also proud of our activities such as ‘Calling All Artists’ an annual adult education program that brings out the painter, the sculptor, the poet and the musician in our midst. Under the guidance of Rabbi Harry this program takes a Torah portion and opens the portion to artistic interpretation. The opening ceremony of this event has been attended by more than 100 enthusiastic viewers annually and the paintings, sculpture and written poetry is then shown and sold in our Wings of Peace Gallery which is open to the public.

The first ever New Orleans style Purim Parade was organized by our shul. To see our children dressed in costumes, being driven in a horse drawn carriage and walking along Pandora Street to the music of the Jewish Columbia Orchestra was an incredible experience. Adults were also seen in the parade dressed in costume. The parade brought out many in our kehilla as well as from other Congregations. Several of our congregants are accomplished musicians who donate their time and talents for our fund raising events.

A significant number of other adult activities also occur including the celebration of Yom Yerushalayim (40th anniversary of the unification of Jerusalem), and a Chanukah concert followed by dancing. We honoured Jewish Veterans of WWII (entitled ‘Duty and Valour’) an occasion that made the pages of the Globe and Mail, The Times Colonist and many local radio and television stations. Our Jewish veterans were honoured by a packed sanctuary of our members and friends and overseen by her Honour Iona Campagnolo Lieutenant Governor, British Columbia and our former Co-President Lindy Shortt.

We open our national heritage building to the public for tours of our building along with a lecture on our history in Victoria and basic Judaism which helps to educate the general public.

This is your invitation to come to our historic shul and pray on Shabbat in Canada's Oldest Continuously Operating Synagogue (Founded in 1863 in the Colony of Vancouver Island).

L’shalom
Melvin Weisbart, Ph.D., F.A.A.A.S.
Past-President

If you would like to be in touch with me please email me, phone (250-382-0615) or come to shul (1461 Blanshard Street Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2J3).