KEEPING THE FAITH IN TORONTO'S CORE...
MAKOM ("space" or "place" in Hebrew), a congregation that blends hipsterism and traditional Jewish orthodoxy, is REJUVENATING the area around Kensington Market.
THEY OFFER SEMINARS on urban homesteading, jam and chocolate making, beer brewing, composting, canning--all topics that appeal to a certain kind of progressive 20-to-45-year-old demographic. Makom's founder, Rabbi Aaron Levy, describes his congregation as a mix of young professionals, social-justice workers, artists and academics. Many are descended from families who moved out of the area 40 or 50 years ago. "Our programming is reflective of a downtown ethic: open-minded, politically progressive, diverse, inclusive, artistic, active," ...Jane Jacob devotees... "We think, like Jane Jacobs said, that new ideas need old buildings," Mr.Levy said.
"I THINK THE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING. They don't find it in the shopping centres of the suburbs," said David Pinkus, the 86-year-old president of Bellevue Avenue's Kiever Synagogue.
THE DOWNTOWN CORE has the highest proportion of 25-to-44-year-olds in the city, the young people who form families and act as catalysts in a community.
by Joe Friesen, Toronto, JUDAISM, THE GLOBE AND MAIL - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2010
Email blwoodard@shaw.ca Spirituality is as diverse as the community it thrives in. BW
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