Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign: A street sign honors Canada’s Jewish Community

Canadian Jewry should be proud of the support it has given to Israel during this very difficult time in its history. The outpouring of love and support is nothing new: it is something we have been doing since long before Israel was born.

Postcard from the Seventh Zionist Congress in 1905, signed by many Congress delegates bringing “Greetings from the Seventh Zionist Congress to our friends in Toronto.” From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow (www.herzlcollection.com). Photograph by Kevin Viner, Elevator Digitial, Toronto, used with permission.

Label for the purchase of Jewish Colonial Trust share on instalemnt (Canada, early 1900s). From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photo by Kevin Viner, Elevator Digital, Toronto.

To cite one example, this is a street sign in Jaffa that reads that the street is dedicated to the Canadian charities that donated funds to rehabilitate the neighbourhood.

Street sign for Rehov Canada Jewish Community, 1970s. From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow (www.herzlcollection.com). Photograph by David Matlow.

The neighbourhood is Jaffa Dalet, which was built in the 1950s for new immigrants. By the 1970s it was a down-and-out area, one of the poorest in Israel, which had streets with numbers and no names.

Jaffa Dalet was one of 160 distressed neighbourhoods throughout Israel that prime minister Menachem Begin announced in 1978 would be rehabilitated in a joint project between the government of Israel and world Jewry. Named “Project Renewal”, the Jewish Agency joined as a partner, and undertook to twin Jewish communities around the world with specific neighbourhoods in Israel.

Jaffa Dalet was twinned with Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon, and it is the support from these communities, and donations from other Canadians, that is memorialized in this street sign. Other Canadian Project Renewal twinnings were Montreal with Yerucham, Toronto with Beit Dagan, and unfederated communities in Ontario and the West with Or Yehudah.

Today, Jaffa is a mixed community of Jews and Arabs and includes many Falash Mura who arrived from Ethiopia about 20 years ago. The area is again going through a phase of urban renewal (Pinui Binui in Hebrew, literally “evacuation and construction”) in which old apartment buildings are being demolished and replaced with more modern and larger buildings. The process allows existing residents to enjoy new and more spacious apartments without having to leave their neighbourhood, while the area’s infrastructure is updated and more residential units are built.

Jewish Canadians responded when the call came from Israel in the 1970s to help build the country. There is much rebuilding required now as a result of the wars Israel has fought since Oct. 7, 2023, and no doubt Canadian Jewry will continue to respond to the call. Our actions today will long be remembered, whether in the name of a street or in the knowledge that when help was needed, we were there.

Here’s hoping that 2025 finally brings a quick return of the hostages, safety for Israel’s soldiers, comfort to those who have lost so much, and peace for Israel and the entire region.

This article first appeared in the Canadian Jewish News (www.thecjn.ca) as part of the weekly Treasure Trove.