In her talk at the White Rock South Surrey Jewish Community Centre on Nov. 23, Elana Wenner articulated what many in the room felt: that understanding our local history is not only a matter of dates and facts, but of recognizing the people and decisions that shaped Jewish life in British Columbia.
Wenner is director of programming and development at the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia (JMABC). She offered participants at the WRSS JCC an opportunity to learn, ask questions and connect with a narrative that continues to inform how communities develop today.
Wenner framed the museum’s work as a living effort: one rooted in storytelling, preservation and accessibility. Since its founding in 1971, the museum has aimed to collect and safeguard materials that reflect the breadth of Jewish life across the province. While the JMABC’s office is in Vancouver, the physical archives are in Steveston, and much has been digitized. The museum’s holdings include an extensive collection of photographs, oral histories, community records and artifacts that trace the evolution of BC Jewish communities from the 1850s to the present. As Wenner explained, the goal is not only to document the past, but to continually bring it forward through tours, public programs and exhibitions that invite ongoing engagement.
A significant portion of the talk focused on the formation of early Jewish communities here, with Victoria serving as the central example. Wenner outlined how Jewish settlement in the province grew in tandem with broader economic shifts – particularly, the Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858, which drew thousands of newcomers, including Jews, arriving largely from San Francisco. Unlike many immigrant populations fleeing hardship, early Jewish settlers often came from stable or middle-class backgrounds, equipped with professional experience and communal networks established during prior periods of Jewish emancipation in Western Europe. This shaped the type of roles they took on upon arriving in British Columbia.
Rather than heading directly into the goldfields, Jewish settlers tended to create the infrastructure that supported the prospectors. Businesses, supply stores and service-oriented ventures were the backbone of Jews’ early contributions. By the 1860s, Jews owned a notable portion of the establishments in Victoria’s commercial district, helping transform what was still a young settlement into a functioning hub. One example highlighted in the talk was the Victoria Dry Goods Store, run by Kady Gambitz. Far more than a retail space, the store became a gathering point where members of the small but growing Jewish community could meet, organize, and exchange news. It became, as Wenner described, “a community centre before the community had a centre.”
This comment led into a discussion about what it takes to build a Jewish community from the ground up. Drawing on both historical evidence and contemporary observations, Wenner outlined several elements: a critical mass of people, stability and safety, access to kosher food and religious rituals, a cemetery, communal leadership and, eventually, the capacity for self-organization. In Victoria, one of the first formal steps was the creation of the Victoria Hebrew Benevolent Society around 1860/61, which coordinated charitable efforts and helped fund essential communal needs, including education and welfare. The society’s earliest priority, Wenner noted, was establishing a Jewish cemetery; a cornerstone of Jewish communal life reflecting the importance of honouring the dead according to tradition.
Wenner also spoke about the construction of Victoria’s Congregation Emanu-El. While today it stands as the oldest continuously operating synagogue in Canada, its path to completion was complicated. Tensions between more reform-minded members, who preferred a church-like architectural style, and traditionalists, who insisted on a recognizably Jewish structure, stalled progress. The turning point came through the efforts of the Victoria Ladies Hebrew Aid Society. Through fundraising events, including a community ball that attracted attendees from across the city, they raised sufficient funds to move the project forward. In the end, both visions were incorporated: a subdued exterior aligned with contemporary preferences and a traditional interior complete with a women’s gallery. The synagogue, completed in 1863, remains a testament to compromise, cooperation, and the decisive leadership of Jewish women, who often worked behind the scenes.
Throughout the presentation, Wenner emphasized how women’s contributions extended far beyond fundraising. They maintained communal spaces, organized cultural events and helped establish social services that supported families and newcomers. Their work, preserved through handwritten receipts, event notes and donation lists – all of which can be found in the archives – highlights a broader pattern: that community endurance is rarely the work of a few visible leaders, but of the collective efforts of many.
Wenner also touched on the political influence of early Jewish settlers. Figures such as Lumley Franklin, Victoria’s mayor and the first elected Jewish mayor in North America, and David Oppenheimer, Vancouver’s second mayor, were presented not merely as historical footnotes but as individuals whose civic engagement reflected the integration and ambition of the province’s early Jewish community. Henry Nathan, Canada’s first Jewish member of Parliament, who represented Victoria in Ottawa, and Samuel David Schultz, the country’s first Jewish judge, further illustrate the ways in which Jews have contributed to the shaping of public life in the region since they arrived.
As Wenner’s talk moved into the Q&A session, attendees asked about migration patterns, economic networks, and how early Jewish settlers balanced maintaining tradition with adapting to a rapidly developing province. Wenner’s responses blended archival detail with broader social insight, giving the discussion a conversational quality that matched the curiosity in the room.
By the end of her presentation, what emerged most clearly was a sense of continuity. Early Jewish settlers faced many of the same issues we do today surrounding organization, leadership, collaboration and identity. The history Wenner shared was not distant; it was grounding. It provided a reminder of how communities form, evolve and endure through intention and shared purpose.
Chloe Heuchert is an historian specializing in Canadian Jewish history. During her master’s program at Trinity Western University, she focused on Jewish internment in Quebec during the Second World War.