{"id":16,"date":"2020-04-29T18:07:36","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T18:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/joefish\/?page_id=16"},"modified":"2020-05-03T00:48:36","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T00:48:36","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/joefish\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column]\n\t\t\t<!-- START Slider 1 REVOLUTION SLIDER 6.7.38 --><p class=\"rs-p-wp-fix\"><\/p>\n\t\t\t<rs-module-wrap id=\"rev_slider_1_1_wrapper\" data-source=\"gallery\" style=\"visibility:hidden;background:transparent;padding:0;margin:0px auto;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;\">\n\t\t\t\t<rs-module id=\"rev_slider_1_1\" style=\"\" data-version=\"6.7.38\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<rs-slides style=\"overflow: hidden; position: absolute;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<rs-slide style=\"position: absolute;\" data-key=\"rs-1\" data-title=\"Slide\" data-anim=\"ms:220;r:0;\" data-in=\"o:0;\" data-out=\"a:false;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/joefish\/wp-content\/plugins\/revslider\/sr6\/assets\/assets\/dummy.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"IMG_2456\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2033\" class=\"rev-slidebg tp-rs-img rs-lazyload\" data-lazyload=\"\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/joefish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/105\/2020\/04\/IMG_2456-1-scaled.jpg\" data-no-retina>\n<!--\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t--><rs-layer\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tid=\"slider-1-slide-1-layer-1\" \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-type=\"text\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-color=\"#000000\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-rsp_ch=\"on\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-xy=\"x:256px;y:-9px;\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-text=\"w:normal;s:92;l:115;\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-dim=\"w:838px;\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-frame_1=\"x:-178px;y:7px;st:240;sp:2020;sR:240;\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-frame_999=\"o:0;st:w;sR:6740;\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstyle=\"z-index:8;font-family:'Cantata One';\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>In Search of Jews \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/rs-layer><!--\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t--><rs-layer\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tid=\"slider-1-slide-1-layer-2\" \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-type=\"text\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-color=\"#567dff\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-rsp_ch=\"on\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-xy=\"x:326px;y:843px;\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-text=\"w:normal;s:30;\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-dim=\"w:1000px;h:40px;\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-frame_1=\"x:-225px;y:-525px;st:2250;sp:2250;sR:2250;\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-frame_999=\"o:0;st:w;sR:4500;\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstyle=\"z-index:9;background-color:#000000;font-family:'Cantata One';\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>One synagogue's struggle to keep Judaism alive in Kensington \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/rs-layer><!--\n-->\t\t\t\t\t<\/rs-slide>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/rs-slides>\n\t\t\t\t<\/rs-module>\n\t\t\t\t<script>\n\t\t\t\t\tsetREVStartSize({c: 'rev_slider_1_1',rl:[1240,1024,778,480],el:[900],gw:[1240],gh:[900],type:'hero',justify:'',layout:'fullwidth',mh:\"0\"});if (window.RS_MODULES!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules[\"revslider11\"]!==undefined) {window.RS_MODULES.modules[\"revslider11\"].once = false;window.revapi1 = undefined;if (window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal!==undefined) window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal()}\n\t\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\t<\/rs-module-wrap>\n\t\t\t<!-- END REVOLUTION SLIDER -->\n[vc_empty_space][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Anshei Minsk synagogue is located in Toronto\u2019s Kensington Market. It is an imposing brick building sandwiched between a Rastafarian store and a Korean restaurant on St. Andrew\u2019s Street. From the outside the shul looks derelict. The stone facade is weather beaten and dirty; its large red doors could use a fresh coat of paint. You enter the building from the south, but the chapel inside is oriented towards the east so that, as per custom, congregants can pray towards Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sanctuary within betrays signs of its former opulence. A large chandelier is suspended by a thick white-painted chain from the centre of a light-blue dome.\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several of the glass panels on the fixture are missing, and many of the incandescent bulbs are burnt out or absent altogether. Some of the shul\u2019s windows are gone, and in their place garbage bags have been taped to the panes. Above the altar, a wooden star of David is missing one of its constitutive line segments. The room feels cluttered. The space under the back pew is occupied by hundreds of prayer books. A few are stored in a red Budweiser box. Paul Shkolnik, one of the Minsk\u2019s congregants, best summarized the state of the shul when he said, \u201cit is not in a state of disrepair, it is disrepaired.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=&#8221;An introduction&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fas fa-glasses&#8221; color=&#8221;black&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221;][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I walked into the Minsk for the first time, the rabbi seemed excited. For synagogues, younger people represent survival and we are therefore a hot commodity. He asked for my Hebrew name and I told him it was \u2018Yosef\u2019. He asked for my family name, and we played \u2018Jewish geography\u2019; a game in which Jews mine their respective social circles for mutual acquaintances. There was little overlap between my Jews and his, but my last name gave him a flash of inspiration. He grabbed a red book off the shelf and showed me a passage in which the biblical Joseph was instructed by God to \u2018proliferate like Fish.\u2019 The rabbi interpreted this as proof that my presence there was preordained. \u201cIt\u2019s all in the Torah,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the service, the rabbi leaned out over the pulpit\u2019s wooden railing and called out to me. \u201cJoseph,\u201d he said, \u201chow often do you work out?\u201d I told him that I usually exercise two or three times a week. The answer was acceptable, and he invited me to come up and join him and his assistant, or <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gabbai<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, at the altar. He told me to pick up the opened Torah scroll by its wooden handles and turn 360 degrees while holding it above my head. There were about seven men in the pews and few of them seemed to be paying attention. At least one was asleep. A single bespectacled woman looked down on me from the balcony. We made eye contact but she did not smile.\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Later on, Paul Shkolnik walked in wearing a green parka and wool-lined checkered hunting cap (the Minsker had no yarmulkes to lend, I wore my beanie as a head covering). He was wandering through the sanctuary muttering to himself. The rabbi asked him to come up to the pulpit. When a rabbi invites a congregant to come participate in the service it is called an \u2018aliyah\u2019, and it is typically considered an honor for Jews. Shkolnik responded with a flat \u2018no\u2019. \u201cYou claim to be the chosen people,\u201d he said, \u201c&#8230;but you are always choosing someone else!\u201d\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=&#8221;31&#8243; img_size=&#8221;large&#8221; add_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1588269801040{border-radius: 20px !important;}&#8221;][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=&#8221;The man behind the Minsk&#8221; i_type=&#8221;linecons&#8221; i_icon_linecons=&#8221;vc_li vc_li-user&#8221; color=&#8221;black&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rabbi Shmuel Spero has been the rabbi at the Minsk for 32 years, the longest anyone has held the position since the shul\u2019s founding in 1912.\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=&#8221;23&#8243; img_size=&#8221;300&#215;500&#8243; add_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rabbi is short and mostly bald with a grey beard. Early old-age is evident in the creases on his face and forehead but his eyes have retained a youthful luminescence. He moves with the frenetic energy of a 20-something. He is quick-witted, with a benevolent smile\u2014 an attribute that may be a prerequisite for graduation from rabbinical school.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rabbi Spero was born into the Orthodox Jewish community in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1988 he was studying in a yeshiva in Israel when a Jewish organization reached out to him to ask if he would fill the vacant rabbi position at the Minsker. He initially agreed to sign on for a 6-month contract. He says he stayed on longer because he \u201cenjoyed the involvement in people\u2019s lives, the teaching.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rabbi\u2019s commitment to his congregation has garnered the Minsk a small group of devoted congregants, but the synagogue often struggles to attract sufficient numbers for their services. Being Orthodox, the shul subscribes to the belief that ten Jewish men, or a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">minyan<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, must be present for the proper performance of Jewish religious rites. The Minsk does not always reach this benchmark, and Rabbi Spero routinely goes out into the surrounding community in search of Jews he can convince to come inside to boost the numbers.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=&#8221;&#8220;We pull em&#8217; in&#8220;&#8221; i_type=&#8221;material&#8221; i_icon_material=&#8221;vc-material vc-material-transfer_within_a_station&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cyril Levitt, a longtime friend of my family, has witnessed the lengths the rabbi will go to to get his minyan. One night, he was eating with his daughter at Pho Hung, a Vietnamese restaurant one block away from the Minsk. \u201cI\u2019m sitting there and I\u2019m eating, my back is to the window,\u201d he said. \u201cMy daughter goes white, and she says, \u2018Dad, Rabbi Spero is staring at us\u2019.\u201d The rabbi was at the window looking in at them. Levitt went to the bathroom, hoping that Rabbi Spero would be gone by the time he came back. When he returned to the table, the rabbi was no longer there. \u201cI sat down, relieved, then my daughter says, \u2018Dad, look beside you\u2019, and Rabbi Spero is in the restaurant standing next to my chair,\u201d he said. The rabbi told Levitt that they needed a tenth man for a minyan and asked if he would be willing to come to the synagogue for a few minutes. Levitt agreed while doing his best to conceal the pork on his plate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space]<span id=\"creative-link-wrap-7731\" class=\"ult_main_cl ult-adjust-bottom-margin  \" >\n\t \t\t\t<span class=\"ult_cl_link_1  ult_crlink\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t<a  data-ultimate-target='#creative-link-wrap-7731 .ult_colorlink'  data-responsive-json-new='{\"font-size\":\"\",\"line-height\":\"\"}'  href=\"https:\/\/ontariojewisharchives.org\/exhibits\/synagogues\/synogogues\/Minsk\/images\/Religion\/10.html\"  class=\"ult_colorlink ult-responsive \" style=\"font-weight:normal;color:#1b74f9; \"  data-textcolor=\"#1b74f9\" data-texthover=\"#333333\"data-style=\"Style_1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span data-hover=\"Audio clip: Rabbi Spero discussing his recruitment tactics\" style=\"color:#1b74f9;;;\" class=\"ult_btn10_span   \">Audio clip: Rabbi Spero discussing his recruitment tactics<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/span>[\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Harold \u2018Hesh\u2019 Troper is a writer and historian who focuses on Canadian Jewry. A few years ago he was asked to give a tour of \u2018ethnic Toronto\u2019 to a group of schoolteachers from West Virginia. \u201cI may have been for some of them the first Jew they ever met,&#8221; he said. He was standing on the south side of St. Andrews Street telling his group about the synagogue when he received a tap on the shoulder. \u201cThis little guy says, \u2018are you Jewish?\u2019 and I said yeah, he says \u2018we need a tenth.\u2019\u201d Troper told him that he would be unable to help him because of the 20 West Virginians relying on him to finish the tour. Rabbi Spero told Troper to bring them in with him. \u201cAnd in we went,\u201d said Hesh. The service was being held in the basement, and the Americans watched from the wings as the men prayed. They were enthralled by the display that was entirely alien to them, and by the smoked herring and schnapps offered to them at the service\u2019s conclusion. \u201cThey had died and gone to heaven,\u201d said Troper. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When asked how he is able to tell when someone is Jewish, Rabbi Spero said that it is in their eyes. \u201cThe eyes of Jews are full of Jewish history,\u201d he said, before adding, \u201clooking Jewish is also helpful.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=&#8221;Left behind&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fas fa-truck&#8221; color=&#8221;black&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; parallax=&#8221;content-moving&#8221; bg_type=&#8221;image&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There was a time at the synagogue where rabbis did not have to resort to pulling people in off the street. For the first half of the 20th century, The Minsk served as a hub for Jews in Kensington Market which was itself the centre of Toronto Jewish life. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, there were at least 30 synagogues operating in the area at the time. Many of the shuls, including the Minsk, catered to populations from specific Eastern European cities and towns. The diversity of congregations demonstrated the truth in the old adage that \u2018where there are two Jews, you\u2019ll find three opinions\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Anshei Minsk was founded in 1912 by Belarusian Jewish immigrants. At the time, thousands of recently arrived Jews were living amid squalid conditions in a neighbourhood called St. John\u2019s Ward. By 1910, many of these migrants had seen a marked reversal in their economic fortune, and began moving into Kensington to escape the squalor of \u2018The Ward\u2019. Many sold wares out of push carts, or set up stalls on the ground floor of their homes to sell produce or livestock. The area took on the moniker of \u2018The Jewish Market\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the 1950s, Jewish people began leaving Kensington in droves. Many of them moved northward along Bathurst street into North York and the suburb of Thornhill. Some of the Kensington-area synagogues relocated to cater to the shifting demographics, but most closed down entirely.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Minsk remained in operation, and continued to fill its pews as a so-called \u2018businessman\u2019s shul\u2019. Jews working in the garment factories along Spadina Avenue would come to the Minsker to pray before and after work. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;70px&#8221;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;29&#8243; img_size=&#8221;500&#215;450&#8243; add_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beginning in the 1970\u2019s, the textile industry began to move overseas and the factories along Spadina closed. From then on the shul sustained itself by catering to the few Jews who remained downtown, and to students from the nearby University of Toronto. Some of the descendants of the original founders would also patronize the synagogue, on occasion. Eventually, however, even those sources of congregants began to dry up and the Minsk looked like it might go the way of its fellow Kensington shuls. Many credit Rabbi Spero for keeping it alive to this day.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_text_separator title=&#8221;Resurgence&#8221; i_type=&#8221;material&#8221; i_icon_material=&#8221;vc-material vc-material-child_friendly&#8221; color=&#8221;black&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221;][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ron Wiseman, a musician who has been called, \u2018The King of Jewish Reggae\u2019, began attending the Minsker in the late 80\u2019s. He says that before Rabbi Spero\u2019s arrival, the congregation was in decline. \u201cIt was dying,\u201d he said, \u201c[Spero] brought it back to life.\u201d Wiseman says that Spero would hold Shabbat dinners that attracted Jewish travellers from downtown hotels, and sick people and their relatives from the nearby hospitals. \u201cIt could be a Nobel laureate or a guy who\u2019s down and out without ten cents in his pocket\u2026 you\u2019re all at the same table,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wiseman sent me a video taken during the Minsker\u2019s Purim party in 1993, five years into Rabbi Spero\u2019s tenure. The hour-long video shows the Minsk basement packed with people. Wiseman himself is leading the band providing music for the party. They play Jewish standards like \u2018Hava Nagila\u2019 intermingled with his trademark Jewish-tinged reggae. Some of the partygoers dance in groups in the middle of the room while others gab animatedly on the sidelines. The crowd is made up of men and women, young and old. Children are running around.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_video link=&#8221;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=10vJ0O5fZbU&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The video concludes with an inebriated man standing in the middle of the sanctuary wearing a king\u2019s crown and sunglasses. His large beard is tied up into knots. His face is illuminated by a lamp in an attempt by the cameraman to make him look messianic. He tearfully pleads with the camera for the Jewish people to \u201ccome home\u201d to Israel. He says that, \u201cif you don\u2019t come home, you deserve everything you get. Don\u2019t cry \u2018another Holocaust, another Holocaust.\u2019 You deserve it.\u201d<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=&#8221;The fire&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fas fa-fire-extinguisher&#8221; color=&#8221;black&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the next decade, many of the older congregants died and a number of the younger ones began to move away. The shul was struggling to stay afloat, when tragedy struck.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the morning of March 11, 2002 an unknown assailant broke in the back door of the synagogue and started a fire on the upper balcony of the sanctuary that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=&#8221;35&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; add_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; onclick=&#8221;custom_link&#8221; img_link_target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; link=&#8221;https:\/\/nowtoronto.com\/news\/minsk-living-on-a-prayer\/&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The blaze nearly destroyed several boxes of old prayer books, some dating back to the 19th century. Rabbi Spero said he laid out the books on the floor of the basement to survey which to save or condemn. No motive was ever definitively established, but it was widely assumed that the attack was driven by antisemitism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Rabbi Spero, the synagogue saw an \u201coutpouring of support from the Jewish and non-Jewish community\u201d in the wake of the fire. He says it also generated curiosity, as people were fascinated by the fact that Jewish people bury damaged prayer books as if they were dead people. An article in the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Globe and Mail<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> referenced the rabbi\u2019s hope that the incident would attract new people to the Minsk and rejuvenate the synagogue. In the end it never came to fruition. Eventually most of the damage was repaired, but after the media hype subsided, attendance did not appreciably improve.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=&#8221;&#8220;A Place of refuge&#8220;&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fas fa-bed&#8221; color=&#8221;black&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, Rabbi Spero says that the Minsker location in the heart of downtown Toronto means that it attracts a varied clientele, including \u201cstragglers and the disenfranchised.\u201d He says that instead of turning them away, the shul \u201cadjusts to them.\u201d The rabbi is devoted to his congregants, and for many, the shul seems to play a larger role in some of their lives than a synagogue normally would. Rabbi Spero says he sees the Minsk as more than just a place for prayer. \u201cPeople find the shul as a place of refuge, of protection,\u201d he said. \u201c[It\u2019s] a home for some.\u201d He means that literally. The rabbi routinely allows people to sleep in the synagogue when they have nowhere else to go.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Corinne Levitt, Cyril\u2019s wife, has been attending the Minsk on the Jewish high holidays for around nine years. Once, while inside the synagogue, she observed the strength of Rabbi Spero\u2019s commitment to the community. \u201cSo I\u2019m sitting and it\u2019s sort of a balcony, and I can see under the bench from where I\u2019m sitting on the other side, and I went, \u2018I think that bedroll just moved,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAt first I thought, \u2018Is it a rat? Is it a raccoon?\u2019 So I look, [and] it\u2019s someone sleeping.\u201d Instead of being put off, Corinne said the sight made her happy. \u201cWhat other shul in the city \u2014 I\u2019m sure he wasn\u2019t Jewish \u2014\u00a0 would allow a guy to just tuck in and have his little nap there?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column]<span id=\"creative-link-wrap-9632\" class=\"ult_main_cl ult-adjust-bottom-margin  \" >\n\t \t\t\t<span class=\"ult_cl_link_1  ult_crlink\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t<a  data-ultimate-target='#creative-link-wrap-9632 .ult_colorlink'  data-responsive-json-new='{\"font-size\":\"\",\"line-height\":\"\"}'  href=\"https:\/\/www.toronto.com\/news-story\/4423932-two-men-dead-several-others-injured-in-kensington-market-rooming-house-fire\/\"  class=\"ult_colorlink ult-responsive \" style=\"font-weight:normal;color:#1e58cc; \"  data-textcolor=\"#1e58cc\" data-texthover=\"#333333\"data-style=\"Style_1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span data-hover=\"Article: Minsker takes in people displaced by nearby rooming house fire\" style=\"color:#1e58cc;;;\" class=\"ult_btn10_span   \">Article: Minsker takes in people displaced by nearby rooming house fire<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/span>[\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=&#8221;Eggs&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fas fa-egg&#8221; color=&#8221;black&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My third visit to the synagogue was for Friday morning services. It was the coldest day of the year, and when I arrived at 8 a.m., there were three men waiting at the doors for someone to let them in. The synagogue has no full-time employees other than Rabbi Spero. There is no caretaker to open the door or sweep the floors, no secretary to answer the phone or respond to emails. Noah Zaccharin, the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gabbai<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, put it best when he said, \u201cthere is no shul, there is only Rabbi Spero.\u201d I went to seek coffee and warmth in a nearby cafe and when I returned to the shul ten minutes later the doors were open.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the service, Rabbi Spero invited me to eat some eggs in a basement room that he called \u201cthe most productive space.\u201dThere was clutter everywhere. In the corner, a man slept on a makeshift bed made of chairs. On the walls there were pictures from the shul\u2019s halcyon days, including a photograph of a group of men and women seated at what looked like a Passover seder table. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spero walked around the basement retrieving miscellaneous things from various nooks. While doing so he told me about Korah, a biblical figure who was literally swallowed by the Earth as punishment from God for rebelling against Moses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rabbi brought out the first plate of eggs, and despite my trepidation about eating anything prepared in that basement, I took a plateful to be polite. They were a bit runny, but the rabbi mixed in Shawarma spice, which made them edible. The sleeping man got up and joined us at the table as the rabbi brought in the second bowl of scrambled eggs. Into this batch he mixed in some tomato and mango salad leftover from a past Shabbat. I abstained from this round. During the meal he received a call from his son in Israel and it ran long. I had to go before we got the chance to talk. As I was leaving I said, \u2018keep in touch.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s the only way to be,\u201d Rabbi Spero replied.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3JjJTNEJTI3aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZjZG4ua25pZ2h0bGFiLmNvbSUyRmxpYnMlMkZ0aW1lbGluZTMlMkZsYXRlc3QlMkZlbWJlZCUyRmluZGV4Lmh0bWwlM0Zzb3VyY2UlM0QxcFFvM3h1Y1pOSnlEZWx0dlRWUkRCcVBRM08xdzJPcjVOZ0E4RTN5MGwzRSUyNmZvbnQlM0REZWZhdWx0JTI2bGFuZyUzRGVuJTI2aW5pdGlhbF96b29tJTNEMiUyNmhlaWdodCUzRDY1MCUyNyUyMHdpZHRoJTNEJTI3MTAwJTI1JTI3JTIwaGVpZ2h0JTNEJTI3NjUwJTI3JTIwd2Via2l0YWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTIwbW96YWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTIwYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTIwZnJhbWVib3JkZXIlM0QlMjcwJTI3JTNFJTNDJTJGaWZyYW1lJTNF[\/vc_raw_html][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=&#8221;&#8220;Come back tomorrow&#8220;&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;far fa-hand-point-right&#8221; color=&#8221;black&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Paul Shkolnik has been attending the Minsker regularly since 2004. At 52, he is tall and sturdy. He speaks with a thick Russian accent that he has retained since moving to Hamilton, Ont. from Azerbaijan at the age of 12. He is funny, and often sends himself into heaving fits of laughter. Shkolnik said that when he first came to the shul he, \u201cthought it was just a fly-by-night operation,\u201d and that the congregants, \u201cdidn\u2019t seem well off, mentally.\u201d What kept him there was the rabbi. \u201c[Rabbi Spero is] very forgiving, he holds no grudges, and he\u2019s funny as hell,\u201d he said. To illustrate the latter point, Shkolnik told me that he once asked Spero a simple question about the Torah, to which the rabbi responded, \u201cnone of your business.\u201d <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He explained that the rabbi could be incredibly patient in his dealings with some congregants, who might show up intoxicated and even physically aggressive. \u201cHe would escort them out, and say, \u2018come back tomorrow,\u2019\u201d Shkolnik said. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If Rabbi Spero is upset about the physical state of the shul, or the sometimes disruptive congregants, or their struggle to fill seats, he does not show it. During services he sings and dances enthusiastically, regardless of how many are in attendance. Despite the aging congregation, and the physical deterioration, he maintains that \u201cthe best is yet to come\u201d for the Minsk. Of the much needed repairs, he said, \u201cit\u2019s all gonna happen when it has to happen.\u201d<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=&#8221;Rinse and repeat&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fas fa-redo-alt&#8221; color=&#8221;black&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was at the Minsk a few Saturdays after my first visit to the shul. That morning, we had 12 men, including a few older ones who had made the trip downtown from Thornhill. One of them moved with the aid of two canes. Thinking about him walking up and down the large stairway leading to the entrance made me nervous. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the suburb-dwellers departed, we were left one short of the 10 we needed. The other congregants were content with calling it a day, but the rabbi was not. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was freezing cold outside, but still Rabbi Spero braved the bitter elements, determined to find an unsuspecting Jew to complete his minyan.\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]The Anshei Minsk synagogue is located in Toronto\u2019s Kensington Market. It is an imposing brick building sandwiched between a Rastafarian store and a Korean restaurant on St. Andrew\u2019s Street. From the outside the shul looks derelict. The stone facade is weather beaten and dirty; its large red doors could use a fresh coat of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-microsite.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/joefish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/joefish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/joefish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/joefish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/350"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/joefish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/joefish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47,"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/joefish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16\/revisions\/47"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/joefish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}