The Shaarei Tzedec congregation was founded in 1902[1] and is the westernmost of the three Orthodox synagogues left in Downtown Toronto.
In 1912, a number of families left Shaarei Tzedec, then on Centre Street, in a dispute over burial rites, and formed a new congregation, Chevra Rodfei Sholem, commonly known as the Kiever Shul.
The Markham Street Shul is one of the few remaining synagogues and the last remaining Orthodox shtiebel of what were once dozens of small congregations in the area around Kensington Market, Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street - which was a vibrant Jewish area prior to World War II.
Shaarei Tzedek, Anshei Minsk, and the Kiever Synagogue are the only historic Orthodox congregations remaining of at least 40 that existed in downtown Toronto in the early 1930s.
[3] First Narayever Congregation on Brunswick Street, a liberal egalitarian synagogue, is the only other remaining shtiebel in the area.