Hebrew School
Religious education was extremely important to the early families who settled in St. Catharines. In 1902 they hired Jacob Cooperman to act as Baal Tefillah and teacher. At first, the students were given instruction individually. After the congregation received permission from the St. Catharines Board of Education to establish a formal religious school, formal classes were held in the building on Calvin Street beginning in 1918.
Over the years, several teachers were brought in to help Mr. Cooperman teach the students. In 1933, Rabbi Hersh Shapiro was hired to replace him and serve as the Baal Tefillah, shochet and teacher. He moved to Canada from Poland with his wife Yetta and son Edward. He ended up serving the community in this capacity for 25 years. Rabbi Shapiro and his family were provided with housing next door to the synagogue. His work appeared to be quite frenetic, as he attempted to carry out his duties leading services, killing poultry for the community and teaching their children approximately three afternoons a week along with Sundays. Several of his students indicated that he would occasionally excuse himself from class in order to go downstairs and kill a chicken for someone and then return to his teaching duties with blood on his clothing.
By the 1940s, the religious school had become an official division of the synagogue. The congregation established a Board of Education to administer the school. Its first chairman was Jack Dempsey. During this period, they added a Sunday school, nursery and kindergarten.
The school improved dramatically with the arrival of Rabbi Pappenheim in 1948. By 1951, the Canadian Jewish Congress community survey revealed that 35 students, aged 7 to 14, were attending Hebrew school within the community. As well, 201 community members in St. Catharines over 14 years of age had received a Jewish education in Hebrew or Yiddish. The curriculum consisted of Jewish history and customs, Hebrew, the Bible and Yiddish. Most of the funding came from the congregation, Sisterhood and the Welfare Fund.
