Some personal thoughts about facts and features.

Ottawa's Jewish community is more diversified than unified. Unlike Montreal and Toronto, where observant Jews are visibly concentrated in a few larger areas, Ottawa's Jewish population is mainly invisible and spreads over the whole city, although more to be found in its Western parts (Nepean South, including Centrepoint and Craig Henry, Nepean West, Ottawa West, Barrhaven South and Kanata). The spiritual differences are substantial and the physical distances between the shuls are huge, which makes it often difficult if not impossible to share simchos on shabbos and yom tov. Someone living in the area of the Jewish Community Center - JCC - (Ottawa West) would have to walk more than 8 km (5 miles) to Beit Shalom West in Craig Henry, 11 km (6.8 miles) to Ohev Yisroel downtown, nearly 14 km (8.7 miles) to Machsikei Hadas in Alta Vista and 19 km (11.8 miles) to the Ottawa Torah Center in Nepean (which would be out of the techum [the shabbos limit on travel] anyway).

According to the 2006 Census of Canada, Ottawa has now the fourth largest Jewish community (after Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver). Statistics Canada counted for the first time slightly more Jews in the nations Capital than in Winnipeg: 12,495 Canadians in the Ottawa-Gatineau region identified their ethnic origin as Jewish, some 1.2% of the total population of the area. That reflects the percentage of Jews in the population of Canada (a drastically shrinking number ) However, most of these Jews are not affiliated with any congregation. Our community is also significantly aging since the younger ones are heading for other Metropolitan areas in Canada and in the US or are making alyiah. Jewish Orthodox life in the Capital is still challenging although much better than some 20, 30 years ago. There are an estimated 120 to 150 shomer shabbos families who are living in "pockets", mainly in walking distance to the seven Orthodox shuls. The infrastructure provides all the basic halachic necessities for Torah Jews. Two mikvos (mikva'oth), two frum schools (one litvish and one Chabad affiliated - see details on this Web site!), one High School for boys and one for girls (both under the leadership of the Israeli-born dean HaRav Rabbi Eliezer Ben-Porat, shlita) and a respectable section of assorted kosher foods in the Merivale/Baseline-store of Loblaws(in Nepean). In addition, there is "Menachem" Avraham Serraf from Montreal Kosher who takes gladly orders for his company and delivers at least once a week (freshly printed Hamodia included). On the other hand, Loblaws is difficult to reach otherwise than by car (I tried it once by bike and trailer with the result that most of the passing vehicles were frenetically honking). There are no additional shops and no restaurants besides the Pizza-snack-bar in the JCC (closes at 7 p.m.). The Jewish owned Rideau-bakery - under the supervision of the Va'ad HaYir (and the only one in town) - is not accepted by everybody since it opens on shabbos.

There is a strong presence of Chabad (three Shabbos minyanim) but no other chassidim. There is no shul for Sefardim and not one minyan that davens sfard. There is no community in Hull and no infrastructure in French (not a single French immersion in the Jewish schools). The only orthodox shuls/shtiebls where the vast majority of its members are shomer shabbos are the Young Israel, Beit Tikvah, Ohev Yisroel, Hillel Lodge and the Kollel of Ottawa.

Jewish education poses a big burden on the community, since the government of Ontario doesn't subsidize our schools and institutions. Therefore, they all rely extensively on the spiritual, voluntary and financial support of dedicated individuals. Nevertheless, Jewish education is definitely improving and I was told that no kid ever was rejected because of lack of funds. As far as Kiruv and Learning is concerned, several organizations and initiatives are doing a great job, among them, as usual, Chabad which is very active in Centrepointe and in Nepean (detailed information about the classes are available on Rabbi Mendelssohns and Rabbi Blum'sWebsite), furthermore JET (Jewish Education through Torah), a Kiruv/Outreach organisation that offers a variety of classes, lectures, and programs for adults and families and TORAH HIGH, an after-school Jewish studies program that allows public high school students to take Jewish studies courses and receive a high school credit. And last but not least, there is a Learning Kollel on Carling, next to the JCC, in its sixth year (originally there were twelve, at the moment there are nine families from Lakewood). The young, very dynamic rabbis are all living in the vicinity of the JCC. One of them, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Butrimovitz is also a mohel; another one, Rabbi Simcha Zev Baum used to be the Interim Rabbi of the Young Israel Congregation after former Rabbi Mordechai Berger headed to Melbourne, Australia. He has now been replaced by Rabbi Ari Galandauer who leads the Young Israel since Purim. Three new Rabbis joined the Kollel this year to fill in for the six chaverim from the first generation who previously left: Rabbi Moshe Koff, Rabbi Eli Neuhaus and Rabbi Amir Hochstadter.

With three Orthodox and two konservative shuls/shtiebles in immediate vicinity to the JCC, the three neighborhoods Mckellar Park, Highland Park and especially Westboro can be considered as the "heart of the community". They guarantee a walking distance to shul of max. 15 to 20 minutes. Moreover, they offer the sole operational two mikvaoth in town, the Hillel Lodge for Jewish elderly requiring assistance, the Greenberg Family Library (in the JCC) and the Jewish Youth Library on Switzer Avenue. However, real estate in these neighbourhoods is fairly expensive.

There is an eruv around the city that not everybody holds by. Since the laws of eruvin are complicated, you should ask a competent halachic authority for the details. There are two smaller eruvin to accommodate those who don't hold by the city Eruv, one around the JCC (1) , the other one in Craig Henry (2) . The boundaries - generally outlined - are as follows: 1) from the sound barrier of the 417 to Maitland Ave to Kerr Ave to Boyd Avenue. This eruv includes the Kollel, the JCC and Hillel Lodge. However, the bordering streets are outside the eruv. It is checked weekly by Rabbi Shotkin 2) from Baseline Rd to Woodroffe Ave to Knoxdale Rd to Gibbard Avenue to Greenbank Rd. Here as well: most parts of the bordering streets are outside the eruv. This eruv includes Beit Shalom West and Chabad of Centrepointe. It is checked weekly by Rabbi Simes. If you plan to move into this area and are not sure if you would be in the eruv, ask Rabbi Shotkin for a pole list in order to get the exact location.

My experiences in this community are limited to the Orthodox shuls in the JCC area and the Ohev Yisroel downtown. Hospitality is essential. The members are welcoming and caring. The chances to be invited for shabbos or yom tov are very high. This goes as well for getting an alyiah or being asked to daven for the omed or even darshen as a guest-speaker. As far as davening is concerned, all these shuls have a decent pace and an effective "no-talk-policy"; hence the davening is inspiring as it should be. They have, of course, as well a mechitza. Each one is different in look and size. The range is from fabric to wooden pannels to glass. There are two basic approaches to the height of mechitzot in most Orthodox shuls in North America:

(1) Rabbi Moshe Feinstein maintained that the proper height for a mechitza is 18 tefachim (hand-breaths), approximately 60 inches (153 cm). This is based on his understanding that a mechitza in a shul is designed to serve as a physical barrier between men and women.
(2) Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum (the previous Satmar Rebbe) maintained that the proper height for a mechitza is such that the men could not see the women, and the exact height depended on the design of the shul. This is based on his understanding that a mechitza in a shul is designed to serve as a visual barrier between men and women.

The normative custom in most parts of America is to follow the ruling of Rabbi Feinstein on this matter, and such is the rule in the Young Israel and in Hillel Lodge. The Ohev Yisroel and the Kollel hold to the second opinion. Their mechitza is higher (the one in the Kollel goes up to the ceiling and is unilaterally translucent). The Chabad shuls cling to a high standard as well. The Lubavitcher Rebbe ruled that the mechitza needs to be of a height so as to prevent men from seeing women. In one teshuva he ruled that the mechitza should be at least 6 feet high (183 cm). He emphatically rejected a mechitza with the upper part made of glass.

Among the Orthodox shuls only Machzikei has a permanent and payed chazan but Ottawa is still the home of world famous cantor Moshe Kraus who survived Bergen-Belsen through singing. He davens in the Young Israel during the week days and can be heard occasionaly on a shabbos or yom tov in the Kollel. To see and hear him there doing the naanuim on sukkos (shaking the four species) is an absolute must!

The bulk of frum kids, especially younger ones can be found in the JCC area. They attend the Torah Academy for kindergarden and school (a three km or seven min drive from the JCC). There is a pirchei program during the winter months, run by Rabbi Zvi Finkel from the Kollel (an hour before mincha) and a Father-and-Son-Learning-Program (avos-ubanim) on motzaei shabbos (both located in the Kollel). The second frum school, the Maimonides School, moved from Napean into the JCC. It is Chabad affiliated. There are plenty of camp activities in this community which are usually listed on the websites of the organisations and shuls that are providing these programs.

Finally, one of the recent developments is the split between Chabad and non-Chabad in the Young Israel. This shul used to be an interesting mix of individuals with all kinds of background who davened for about 30 years under one roof. It probably was the only Young Israel in North America that had a Lubavitcher Rabbi. The minyan managed to overcome its main differences and presented a unique potpourri of customs I never saw somewhere else. When a Litvak said kaddish he would say it in Ashkenaz, when a Lubavitcher said it, he would say it in nussach Ari. Sometimes they would say kaddish together and you would here the different versions spoken out aloud. In the keddusha of shachris and mussaf, you would hear the mimkomcha and the shema according to the minhag of the ba'al tefillah. The same for yom tov. It always depended on who would daven for the omed. Occasionaly you would hear the Yeckishe tradition of leining and even the Sefardi one. From the 1st of Elul to Rosh Hashana you would listen to the regular shofar and then to the Lubavitcher version. Not everybody liked it and some emphasised that halacha was incompatible with such a practice. Those who could not stand the deeper, more fundamental differences left quietly. However, when Rabbi Berger headed to Melbourne, the two sides broke apart. The Lubavitcher relocated their shabbos minyan in the Jewish Youth Library building and the rest stayed. The majority of both sides seem to endorse the split but there are also those who bemoan the change.

When I moved with my family from Montreal to Ottawa eight years ago I had none of these informations. It would have been much easier for us to make decisions if there had been some insider information. That's the purpose of this website.

My little essay on Jewish life in Ottawa doesn't claim to be complete and objective. It reflects the personal experiences and insights of an Orthodox Jew who is yearning to see Torah life growing...

Chaim Moykopf, Ottawa, May 28, 2009