Strathcona once more

RYAN NADEL

Vancouver is notorious for having a cavalier attitude toward its history. Policies and development often favor sleek glass and steel condos over the original, emphasizing gentrification over restoration. There are, however, pockets of history throughout the city. One area, in which the 100-year-old home trumps the 100-unit condo, is Strathcona. This quaint neighborhood, nestled just east of Chinatown, was the nucleus from which the city emerged; and it was here that Vancouver's Jews settled and built the first synagogue, in 1911, at Heatley and Pender.

As the city expanded west, so did the Jewish community. The congregation bought a new property on Oak Street in 1945 and sold the building at Heatley and Pender. Since then, there has been no official Jewish presence in Strathcona. But that has recently changed.

Four months ago, Rabbi Binyomin Bitton and his family purchased a house in the area and are working to revitalize its Jewish community.

"There is a Jewish concept that holiness never leaves a place," explained Bitton, surrounded by his playful children and scholarly books. "There is still holiness in this neighborhood, where Jews placed the roots of the community and we hope that this energy will help us to grow and bring back the community."

Bitton, originally from France, moved to Vancouver four years ago with his wife, Malky, who is from here. Three years ago, the couple started Chabad in Yaletown, a pioneering effort to build a Jewish community Downtown. According to Bitton, there are between 2,000 and 3,000 Jews living Downtown.

"When we moved to Yaletown, we not only had to organize classes and services but build a sense community from nothing," said Bitton. He started it by walking the streets and talking to people. His big beard and black hat stood out among the lululemon and designer outfits of Yaletown; it did not take long for people to notice him and word began to spread about what he was doing.

As the Yaletown community grew, so did the Bitton family; a condo would not suffice for their growing brood. "We wanted to stay in central Downtown but this was not possible so, when we heard about Strathcona, we realized it was perfect," Bitton said. "It is a very family-oriented neighborhood."

He continued, "The first week we moved here, we decided to walk around and see the building of the old synagogue. We felt emotional about the fact that the Jewish community started here and that we are here to bring back to life the roots of the community."

The old building stands prominently among the single-family homes that surround it. From the architecture, it is identifiable as a synagogue, even though it has been converted to condominiums. Outside, there is a plaque commemorating the building's original use and, inside, a photograph of the synagogue hangs on the wall.

Bitton plans on organizing a walking tour of the neighborhood, similar to that which the Jewish Museum and Archive of British Columbia has conducted. Bitton's "will be a tour of the old and new. We want to bring the entire community with a guide and tour the area, go around and see the neighborhood of old and neighborhood of new," he said.

Bitton's goal is to bring together the few Jews who live in Strathcona with the ones who live Downtown. Currently, Chabad of Downtown runs classes throughout the week and Shabbat services. One of the most popular classes is a monthly women's workshop and the rabbi rattled off various other classes, programs and initiatives he and his wife will be implementing to rejuvenate the community. He paused to reflect: "We want to bring back the beauty of Judaism, it shouldn't just be history, it should be alive."

Ryan Nadel is a Vancouver freelance writer and MA candidate in digital media at the Centre for Digital Media.

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