Welcome to Beth Tzedec Congregation. We are a landmark congregation dedicated to being a “Community Destination for Jewish Living.” A rich, colourful history and warm embrace await you in the heart of the city of Toronto.

With over 2200 member units, representing over 4000 members, Beth Tzedec Congregation is a leading voice in the world of Conservative Judaism.

The result of the happy amalgamation of two of the first and oldest Jewish pioneer congregations in Toronto, Goel Tzedec and Beth Hamidrash Hagadol, Beth Tzedec Congregation was dedicated on December 9, 1955.

As a Kehilah Kedosha, a righteous community, we invite you to join our home away from home. We offer the community opportunities to grow spiritually, socially, culturally and educationally, as well as the ability to take part in more than 300 programs annually. From children to elders, you will find your niche at 1700 Bathurst Street. Enter our doors and prepare to be moved.

History

From rented quarters on Richmond Street in 1883, to 20 years at the corner of University Avenue and Elm Street and 50 years on University south of Dundas Street, Goel Tzedec was a leading congregation in the city of Toronto. Founded as an Orthodox congregation on the principles and observances of traditional Judaism, in 1925 Goel Tzedec officially enrolled in the Conservative Synagogue movement.  Entering the new age, the congregation introduced family pews, adopted a revised Siddur (prayer book), added English prayers to the service and invited girls coming of age to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah.

Beth Hamidrash Hagadol, popularly known and more commonly called the McCaul Street Synagogue, began four years after Goel Tzedec was born, in a small but bright room above a blacksmith's shop at the corner of Richmond and York Streets. By 1904, the congregation first moved into and then renovated the former McCaul Street Methodist Church, converting it to a magnificent House of Prayer. With a new home came a new name: Beth Hamidrash Hagadol Chevra T'hilim (The Great House of Prayer of the Congregation of Psalms).

Together, the two congregations melded to birth Beth Tzedec Congregation with a mission “to build an affirmative Judaism, to bring the miracle of the Bible into our daily lives, to plant love of our tradition in our hearts, to inspire respect for religious life in our community and promote a religious fellowship among all its citizens.”

“A view of the past, a vision for the future,” Beth Tzedec is here for you.