City overview

Vancouver's Orthodox community is centred on Oak Street, which runs south from Broadway through South Granville, Shaughnessy and Oakridge. Congregation Schara Tzedeck stands at 3476 Oak Street, Beth Hamidrash, the Sephardic congregation, is a few blocks east at 3231 Heather Street, the Ohel Yaakov Community Kollel is on West Broadway at 1965, and Chabad Lubavitch of British Columbia has its head office further south at Oak Street and 41st Avenue. Kosher food follows the same line: a bakery on Oak Street, a dairy café at the Chabad building, a dairy restaurant inside the Jewish Community Centre on West 41st Avenue and a meat restaurant next to the Kollel on West Broadway, with a butcher and deli and a kosher grocery warehouse in East Vancouver on Fraser Street and Kingsway. Richmond, across the Fraser River to the south, has its own smaller community: The Bayit on No. 3 Road, which is inside the Richmond eruv, and Chabad Richmond on Blundell Road, which maintains that eruv. Downtown Vancouver has Chabad of Downtown on Howe Street, which holds a Shabbos morning service and helps visitors. For a visitor who keeps Shabbos, where you stay matters more than anything else. Most hotels are downtown, a long walk from the Oak Street shuls, and Chabad Lubavitch of BC says no hotels are within walking distance of its building at 41st Avenue. The Holiday Inn Vancouver-Centre on West Broadway at Heather Street is inside the Vancouver eruv and within walking distance of Beth Hamidrash. In Richmond, the hotels along Westminster Highway are outside the Richmond eruv. Book with the Shabbos walk in mind before anything else.

ListMap

Map

Eruv

Yes

Vancouver eruv: Congregation Schara Tzedeck publishes the Vancouver eruv information and map, and Beth Hamidrash shows the same map. The eruv is checked every Friday to make sure it is kosher for Shabbat, and construction or disruptions near the border are reported to the Schara Tzedeck office at (604) 736-7607. No written boundary description is published, so use the map to check whether an address is inside. Richmond eruv: maintained by Chabad Richmond, with halachic supervision under the guidance of Rabbi Shnayer Roth, Certified Eruv Expert of New Haven CT. Chabad Richmond publishes the boundaries as follows. Western: traveling north on No 1 Road from Steveston Highway to Westminster Highway; No 1 Road itself and all the homes and properties on No 1 Road are not included in the eruv, unless Rabbi Baitelman informs you otherwise. Northern: Westminster Highway, east from No 1 Road to No 2 Road; turn south on No 2 Road to Blundell Road; turn east on Blundell Road until No 4 Road. Westminster Highway itself between No 1 and No 2 roads, No 2 Road between Westminster Highway and Blundell, Blundell between No 2 Road and No 4 Road, and all homes and properties on these roads are not included in the eruv unless Rabbi Baitelman informs you otherwise. Eastern: No 4 Road from Blundell Road to Steveston Highway; homes on the west side of No 4 Road between Blundell Road and Steveston Highway are included in the eruv, and homes on the east side are not included, with no exception. Southern: Steveston Highway, from No 4 Road until No 1 Road; all homes and properties on Steveston Highway are not included in the eruv, unless Rabbi Baitelman informs you otherwise. The Bayit is included in the eruv, but the sidewalk in front of it on Steveston Highway is not, so access The Bayit from No 3 Road only. Chabad Richmond posts the eruv status on its website every Friday and offers email alerts; call 604-277-6427 with questions.

View boundary map