Danforth Jewish Circle
OUR STORY. OUR VALUES.
From its beginnings in a living room...
The Danforth Jewish Circle was created in the spring of 1996. A few dozen individuals gathered in a neighbourhood home to discuss a shared desire to build a community that preserved Jewish traditions and culture while reflecting our contemporary lives.
Although few of those present attended synagogue weekly, we shared a deep commitment to Judaism. And although we each interpreted that commitment on a personal level, we wished to expand and deepen it by engaging with it collectively.
Shortly after that informal gathering, we held a potluck Shabbat dinner in the basement of a local church to gauge the response to a Jewish community event. There was no formal publicity; we relied entirely on word-of-mouth to spread the word. We expected a few dozen curious souls, and were overjoyed when over 150 people showed up.
Before long, committees were struck to tap into what we now knew to be a wellspring of desire. A newsletter soon appeared. A High Holy Day service was organized. A community was born.
From those humble beginnings, the Danforth Jewish Circle has grown to include 500 individuals and families. They may be looking for a school for their children (which we began in 1998), a monthly Shabbat service to feed the soul, a speakers’ series that challenges the mind, or a place to gather each year for the High Holy Days. In a few short years, we have established ourselves as a community group with a long-term commitment to nurturing progressive Jewish life in Toronto.
"We would keep things simple: some challah, the blessings, some songs. Above all, a chance to meet and greet, to discover, to bond, to break bread. We knew there were Jewish and interfaith households in the neighbourhood. To choose to live in East End Toronto meant planting stakes far from the city’s Jewish corridor, where the fruits of Judaism could be readily plucked. How many would show up? Who would show up?"
— Emil Sher, Roots and Branches: The Making of a Progressive Jewish Community
There are many doorways into the Danforth Jewish Circle.
We join to connect ourselves to a vibrant community; to learn and grow; to share moving, musical, and meaningful rituals and lifecycle events; and to stand against injustice and seek ways to repair the world (Tikkun Olam).
We are an egalitarian, unaffiliated community that is part of a larger progressive Jewish movement. We share in the rich wisdom and inspiration of Jewish tradition and culture while seeking to challenge, explore, and reinterpret it.
We embrace and wrestle with a diversity of opinions and identities.
As a vibrant and multifaceted community, we both embrace and wrestle with the diversity of opinions and identities that shape our collective relationship with Israel. We are committed to deeply listening to every voice within our congregation and actively seek to learn from one another, as well as from a broad spectrum of external sources. While engaging in this journey of learning and growth, we strive to revitalize our traditions and culture with moral courage, creativity, and generosity of spirit.
Roots and Branches: 25 Years of the DJC
Edited by Paul Axelrod and Karen Robbins, and filled with contributions from numerous DJC members,
Roots and Branches: The Making of a Progressive Jewish Community celebrates the DJC’s first 25 years and is available to purchase. Its insightful chapters and poignant personal vignettes explain how the DJC resonates in the lives of its members and the important place of this unconventional community on the contemporary Jewish landscape. The publication and sale of Roots and Branches helps sustain the Danforth Jewish Circle as it enters its next 25 years.
