Adath Israel was founded in 1903 by Jewish immigrants from Romania as the First Roumanian Hebrew Congregation Adath Israel. Known as the "Roumainshe Shul", the synagogue started when new immigrants from Roumania gathered together in a rental space, eventually moving to its first permanent home on Centre Avenue. In 1911, the synagogue dedicated a new building on Bathurst Street near Dundas, where for 30 years the congregation grew under the leadership of Rabbi Abraham Kelman.

In 1947, Rabbi Erwin Schild, newly ordained by the Yeshivah Torath Chaim of Toronto, became the new rabbi of the Congregation. The next few years at the synagogue were marked by tremendous growth in membership and activities to the point where, coupled with the shifting demographics of the Jewish community, a new building was constructed in its current location in North York. The formal name was shortened in the 1950s, and in 1957 the new building was officially dedicated.

In 1957, a large Synagogue community enjoyed the festive dedication of a complete Synagogue home with ample space for religious services, education of children and adults, social functions, and a plethora of congregational events and activities. The phenomenal growth of the Congregation soon necessitated further building. In 1965 a substantial addition created more lobby space, school rooms and the western portion of our building, which was dedicated as the “Rabbi Erwin Schild Wing. 

In the 1980’s, the Shul embraced the newly renovated Alex Koenigsberg Conservatory, which encompasses the Jack & Sylvia Hyde Library, the Chapel, and the Barris Boardroom. In 1999, an elevator and ramps were installed.

A study of Ontario Shuls compiled in 1980 provides a great amount of depth on Adath Israel. This can be accessed through the sources section of this listing.