Jewish Heritage Month

May is a time to celebrate the richness of Jewish culture, heritage and history in Canada. Canada is home to the fourth largest Jewish community in the world. Jewish Canadian leaders are active in all parts of society and have helped shape the diversity found within it. 

Canadian Jewish Heritage Month provides an opportunity to celebrate Jewish communities from coast to coast to coast for their valuable contributions in building a more open, diverse, and consciously more inclusive Canada for all. 

Learn about the history of FIFSW partners  

Jewish Family & Child Service of Greater Toronto (JF&CS)

JF&CS got its start in 1868 with the establishment of the Ladies’ Sick Benefit Society, created by the first female Jewish residents in Toronto. Learn about the history of JF&S via an online exhibit, created in honor of the agency’s 150th anniversary in 2018. 

Practicum partner spotlight: Read our 2022 Q & A with Maytal Michaelov, Jewish Family and Child Service of Greater Toronto (JF&CS)

Baycrest Health Sciences Centre

Baycrest was born as the Toronto Jewish Old Folks Home in 1918. A timeline of its history is available on its website. Read more via the Ontario Jewish Archives. 

Practicum partner spotlight: Read our 2022 Q & A with Ruth Brickman, Social Worker, Memory Link, Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health, Baycrest  

Sinai Health System

In August of 1913, four immigrant women from Toronto’s Jewish community started knocking on neighbourhood doors to raise money for a hospital that would give Jewish doctors a place to practice. Learn more about Mount Sinai’s history via its website.

Read our 2023 article on Mount Sinai’s 100th anniversary.

National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, Toronto

Established in Toronto in 1897, NCJWC now also has sections in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver and members in other Canadian cities. Visit NCJWC’s website to read more about its history and programs.