At its founding, it was a shtibel or small storefront synagogue typical of poorer Jewish immigrant communities of the time.

[2] Funds were raised for the construction of a synagogue building, on St. Andrew Street near Spadina Avenue, designed by Harold Solomon Kaplan & Sprachman.

[4] While the lot itself is north–south and the facade is on the south side of the building, the interior layout is designed according to Jewish custom so that the main sanctuary is on the eastern wall so that prayers are directed towards Jerusalem.

Due to the onset of the Great Depression, the congregation was unable to pay Glassman in full for his services and so they offered him a lifetime membership in the synagogue instead.

[6] Following World War II, Toronto's Jewish population gradually migrated away from the Kensington Market area and north up Bathurst Street.

[8] Anshei Minsk, the Kiever Synagogue (also in Kensington Market), and Shaarei Tzedek are the only historic Orthodox congregations remaining of at least 40 that existed in downtown Toronto in the early 1930s.