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Canadian PM Harper Dedicates Chabad Centre Synagogue

PM Harper speaks as Chabad senior rabbis look on. (photo: Daniel Rinzler copyright by lubavitch.com)

TORONTO, Canada — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper sported a blue kippah Thursday night as he helped cut the ribbon at a new Lubavitch synagogue in Toronto, which has been more than 20 years in the making.

The start of the Jewish year of 5748 (1988) was a monumental period for the Diaspora. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of blessed memory, declared that it would be “the year of building,“ and called on his followers to construct new structures to strengthen the social and religious fabric of the Jewish people.

His words resonated with Lubavitch representative in Ontario, Rabbi Zalman A. Grossbaum and developer Ernest Manson. Shortly before the start of Yom Kippur in 1987, they forged a plan for what would become Chabad@ Flamingo in Thornhill, a Northern suburb of the city. Their vision continues to be realized with Thursday night’s opening of a stately, 600 seat sanctuary to accommodate Rabbi Mendel Kaplan’s growing congregation.

“The Ernest Manson Lubavitch Centre will serve as spiritual, social, and educational hub for this community,” Harper said to a full-house at Bathurst Street and Flamingo Road. “Thanks to the vision and leadership of the late Rabbi Schneerson, thousands of Chabad and Lubavitch centers like this have opened their doors around the world.

”Through education and outreach programs these centers are strengthening the bonds of the faith within the Jewish community everywhere. In so doing, they signify the enduring spirit of the Jewish people.” The unapologetically pro-Israel Prime Minister received an Obama-esque rock star reception.

Also at the event was Conservative MP Peter Kent, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and a veteran journalist.

“Following the Holocaust and the devastation of the world’s Jewish Community, Chabad emerged as one of the most dynamic religious, educational, and social forces in the world, small at first, but ever growing,” Kent said. “This new synagogue is a testament to this community.”

Article Continued (lubavitch.com)

Rabbi Mendel Kaplan dances with friends. (photo: Daniel Rinzler copyright by lubavitch.com)

Rabbi Kaplan presents PM Harper with a Hebrew/English prayer book published by the Lubavitch Publishing house, Kehot. (photo: Daniel Rinzler copyright by lubavitch.com)

Rabbi Nochem Kaplan, Director of the Merkos-Chabad Office of Education. (photo: Daniel Rinzler copyright by lubavitch.com)

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One Comment

  • Martin

    What a Kiddish Hashem for Canada and for the world to see.
    The Rebbe is getting real nachas from this.
    Yasher Koach to Rabbi Mendy Kaplan for hosting this Chanukas Habayit, along with his shver Rabbi Zalman Aaron Grossbaum, who’s foresight and vision has literally changed the landscape of Jewish Orthodoxy in Thornhill, Ontario….