There have been more than a few articles in the St. Catharines Standard over the last hundred years documenting the history of our congregation and its facilities. In those more than a few articles, especially the ones from the very early years, there were always more than a few tidbits of historical significance to help fill in the gaps in our history.
We know thanks to an article that appeared in conjunction with the laying of the cornerstone of the synagogue that sometime around 1917, the community gathered in the home of the Zalavinskys and determined that the name of the congregation would be B’nai Israel. We know from interviews conducted by Frank Caplan z’l and family lore that Jacob Cooperman came to St. Catharines after Rachmiel Nadell got tired of driving in and out of Hamilton, a goodly distance back in the day, so that his son could be properly prepared for his Bar Mitzvah. Nadell spearheaded the search for a teacher and ba’al tefillah ( someone who could lead davening) and Jacob Cooperman answered the call. We know that once the name was arrived at, the congregation rented the house at the corner of Church & Calvin Streets so that it could be used as a synagogue and that the house was purchased afterwards thanks to a bequest from a Mr. Friedman who left enough money to buy a structure. We know that by 1923 the congregation could no longer fit into the small house it was using so decided to build its own structure. So, in August of 1924, the house was moved back to make room for the new synagogue. The cornerstone was laid in late August of 1924 and construction begun. In th picture below, you can see Ralph Jacob Hoffman with his wife Eva in front and Abraham Newman behind R. J..
It took until the spring of 1925 for the actual structure to be completed and until late summer for the work on the Aron HaKodesh to be completed. The new synagogue was dedicated in time for the High Holy Days in September, 1925 and there must have been some kind of a gala celebration, no doubt, to mark the occasion since the picture below shows all the young girls in the congregation who were part of the party. Some of the names on the picture represented members of the Slepkov, the Zet, the Nash, the Adelstein, the Newman, Atos, Zalavinsky, Taube, and Friedman. It was obviously quite the celebration.
