A 1913 photo of the Purim celebration of the Jews of Lethbridge is memorable in many ways.It pictures 60 celebrants,almost every Jewish person in the city.It depicts people of all ages- from babes-in-arms to babushka-clad bubbies. In growing, united and resolute.

      The photo opposite includes members of the first Jewish family to settle in Lethbridge,that of Harris Goodman, who came in 1905.

      The pioneering families carried out their religious activities informally in each others'homes. In 1909, on the first Jewish death in Lethbridge,the community organized to buy a cemetery.

      In 1911 the "Hebrew Congregation of Lethbridge" was incorporated with nineteen men listed as memebers. A community history notes that the Congregation's constitution "shows the members to be serious minded men well aware of their religious and social obligations and seriously concerned with building a solid foundation for the Jewish Community."

      A 1911 census lists the Jewish population of Lethbridge as 54.By 1921 there were over 100 Jews in the city,as well as another 50 Jews in nearby towns such as Magrath, Pincher Creek,