I’m from Vancouver and have been venturing to Saskatoon every summer since 2015, where I built a seasonal window washing business (a long story in its own right). When I spend the summers there I often go to Chabad of Saskatoon and have become a good friend of Rabbi Raphael Kats. He is the one who told me about Edenbridge, a historical Jewish farming colony in Saskatchewan.
During a Shabbat dinner at the rabbi’s house, the topic came up about how I never had a bar mitzvah as a kid growing up in Israel. He suggested that we go visit Edenbridge together and do a “grown up” bar mitzvah in the synagogue.
At the time, I was vlogging about my adventures on the road as a travelling window washer, in my other Youtube channel called Van Man. One of my videos documented that first trip with the rabbi.
Since then, I returned to Edenbridge in 2019 with my brother, and again in 2022 with a friend, to film a more substantial documentary about its history.
As a heritage site, Edenbridge is unique because it’s rare to find historical pioneer colonies settled only by Jews. There are a few others in Canada, but none of them have such a well preserved historical synagogue, and in my opinion, none are situated in as beautiful a setting as Edenbridge, which makes it one of a kind.
It has a special place in my heart because of the magic I feel when I go there. There’s a melancholic atmosphere, but it is also a beautiful place. You can almost feel the presence of the pioneers who founded it. The ghostliness of the site is palpable. The location is so hidden that no one ever goes there and many locals don’t even know it exists, so every time I visit, I have the place to myself. When it comes to Jewish heritage sites, Edenbridge is Canada’s best kept secret.
I’m from Vancouver and have been venturing to Saskatoon every summer since 2015, where I built a seasonal window washing business (a long story in its own right). When I spend the summers there I often go to Chabad of Saskatoon and have become a good friend of Rabbi Raphael Kats. He is the one who told me about Edenbridge, a historical Jewish farming colony in Saskatchewan.
During a Shabbat dinner at the rabbi’s house, the topic came up about how I never had a bar mitzvah as a kid growing up in Israel. He suggested that we go visit Edenbridge together and do a “grown up” bar mitzvah in the synagogue.
At the time, I was vlogging about my adventures on the road as a travelling window washer, in my other Youtube channel called Van Man. One of my videos documented that first trip with the rabbi.
Since then, I returned to Edenbridge in 2019 with my brother, and again in 2022 with a friend, to film a more substantial documentary about its history.
As a heritage site, Edenbridge is unique because it’s rare to find historical pioneer colonies settled only by Jews. There are a few others in Canada, but none of them have such a well preserved historical synagogue, and in my opinion, none are situated in as beautiful a setting as Edenbridge, which makes it one of a kind.
It has a special place in my heart because of the magic I feel when I go there. There’s a melancholic atmosphere, but it is also a beautiful place. You can almost feel the presence of the pioneers who founded it. The ghostliness of the site is palpable. The location is so hidden that no one ever goes there and many locals don’t even know it exists, so every time I visit, I have the place to myself. When it comes to Jewish heritage sites, Edenbridge is Canada’s best kept secret.