Congregation Emanuel

Congregation Emanu-​El is the oldest surviving Jewish Temple on North America’s West Coast. It’s also a national historic site, and guests are welcome on Shabbat. They are reported to be an inclusive, warm, haimishe, and progressive Conservative synagogue, with current membership at around 190 Families. Gayle and I came across this architecturally interesting shul during one of our long walks in and around Victoria.
In the 1850s, during the time of gold prospectors, fur traders, and steamships, the Jewish community of Victoria began. The first Jews came in 1858, mostly from San Francisco. Gold prospectors had to stop in Victoria, to obtain mining licenses, and then go on to the mainland where gold was discovered. The first Jews came with these prospectors, and supplied the mining camps with food, clothing, household goods, and tools. In the 1850s, there were about 200 Jews in Victoria.
The congregation «Emanu-​El of Victoria, Vancouver Island» came into being in 1862, and members purchased the present site of the synagogue just after that. The cornerstone-​laying ceremony took place on June 2, 1863.