The decision by staff at Jewish Urban Meeting Place (JUMP) to rebrand itself by changing its name to Yorkville Jewish Centre is the latest in a series of evolutionary moves the youth engagement non-profit organization has made over its nine-year existence.
Rabbi Joel Wardinger, who has been working as JUMP’s executive director for the last three years, said when the non-profit was founded in 2007, its mission was to strengthen Jewish identity of young professionals through educational and social programs, as well as tours to Israel.
“As the organization has evolved and moved away from its original suburban location, and has adopted a sharper urban focus, we are positioned to become the hub of Jewish life in the city centre,” Rabbi Wardinger said.
In 2013, after having moved from Thornhill to a midtown Yonge Street location, JUMP cut its staff in half and moved again to its current space at 94 Avenue Rd., just north of Bloor Street.
“Since moving to Yorkville about 2-1/2 years ago, we sort of learned the area and realized the opportunities are immense to make an impact on the neighbourhood… Where we are located is amid the massive University of Toronto and all of its grad schools… and the condo boom,” Rabbi Wardinger said.
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“We believe that the density is a major opportunity on two demographic fronts. One is young people, which was our mission from the beginning… to engage young people post-university… The second demographic, which is a total pivot, is all these empty nesters… who are moving down to these luxury condos. There are a lot of Jews who are looking for Jewish infrastructure.”
The programming includes weekly classes and networking events, a pop-up high-end restaurant, frequent Shabbat programs, and a minyan.
“We do have more religious services going on – a minyan in the morning and Shabbat is a big part of our programming. We do Shabbat dinners and Shabbatons,” he said, adding that JUMP also recently hired Rabbi Adam Winston – who grew up in Virginia, served in the IDF, and received his ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel before moving to Toronto with his family – to serve as the education director.
“Part of the reason we hired this rabbi is because we want the Shabbat program to become a linchpin for everything and there will be services every week starting after the holidays,” Rabbi Wardinger said.
“Our hope is that the majority of people who will attend these services are young people and that is how we’re marketing it on social media and through our networks… but at the same time, we get a lot of inquiries from local residents about whether we’re doing a Rosh Hashana thing, and yes, we are.”
He said whereas JUMP used to service young professionals exclusively, he said as part of the rebranding, Yorkville Jewish Centre will also cater to empty nesters, who are in their 60s and can serve as mentors for young professionals in the area.
“We think there is a great synergy between those two demographics,” Rabbi Wardinger said.
“We want to be able to serve as a hub for that dynamic neighbourhood and it is not only young professionals that are buzzing around the city. We will serve the tourist population, we will serve the local empty nester residents, but our main focus is on young professionals and grad students, and we feel we are well situated for that.”
