Kiryas Tosh (Hebrew/Yiddish: קִרְיַת טאהש) is a Hasidic Jewish community in the town of Boisbriand, Quebec. It is affiliated with the Tosh Hasidic Dynasty. The community is home to approximately 350 families, or about 3,000 people. [1]
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The community was formed in 1963 by Rebbe Meshulim Feish (Ferencz) Lowy. Lowy moved to Montreal in 1951, but viewed the moral climate in the community as deteriorating and not conducive to the study of Torah.[2] The Rabbi and 18 families moved to the Boisbriand area in 1963, in an attempt to better insulate and isolate the community from outside influences.[2] Since then, the population of the community has greatly increased, mostly due to the fertility rates of Hasidic communities.
According to Dr. William Shaffir of McMaster University, about 20% of men living in Kiryas Tosh work outside of the community.[2] Those who work outside of the community usually work in either specialized Jewish businesses, as Shochetim (ritual slaughters) and teachers in religious schools, or in Jewish-owned businesses in the greater Montreal area.[2] The rest of the community work in either religious jobs (at the community synagogue, mikvah, or yeshiva) or own their own small-scale retail businesses out of their homes (from jewelry making and shatnez laboratories to accounting and insurance agencies).
The community has a small shopping centre, housing a supermarket, a butcher, a toy store, and a clothing store, as well as shops to buy judaica items.
Kiryas Tosh is served by its own Hatzolah unit for medical services, making it one of only three chapters in all of Canada.[1] The village is also patrolled by a volunteer neighborhood watch group known as Chevrah Shomrim, which consists of over 20 young people that patrol the streets and come when one call for help, working in conjunction with the local police forces.
The community seems to avoid voting in federal elections. In a poll-by-poll map of Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, the riding that covers Kiryas Tosh, voter turnout was as low as 10% in 2008. [3] In the 2011 election, the community was evenly split between the Liberal and the Conservative candidates in their riding, while the riding itself was won by Laurin Liu of the NDP.[4]
The community caused a controversy among Quebec Jews when it seemed as if the community would support a "Yes" vote in the 1995 Quebec referendum, running contrary to the opinion of the other Jews in the province, who largely supported the federalist "No" side.[2]