By Teigan Goldsmith Hitsman
Imagine you’re walking through the front doors of the Soloway JCC (SJCC). You walk into the open-air foyer and hear conversation, children playing and laughing, and you can hear the choir singing in the Social Hall. The SJCC is abuzz, and you take a moment to take in the space. Looking around you notice the walls are decorated in large, elaborate paintings. Have those always been there?
Upon closer inspection, you realize there are 14, and they depict the 12 signs of the zodiac and two views of the Western Wall. An interesting piece in a JCC, it makes you wonder: what’s their story? Have they always been there?
To answer your question: yes, they have always been there. In fact, those murals predated the SJCC and go back to the former JCC on Chapel Street. But they’re even older than that. The murals have hung in our community for more than a century, dating back to one of Ottawa’s earliest synagogues. And the canvas they’re painted on isn’t canvas; it’s a wall.
The history of the connection between the zodiac and Judaism goes back to ancient times, as evidenced by findings at ancient synagogues in Israel (3rd–6th centuries), where mosaics featuring the 12 signs are thought to have been used to represent the cycles of time, the Hebrew calendar, and the seasons.
In this context, the zodiac was not about astrology or predicting fate, but about expressing a core Jewish idea: that G-d created and governs the natural order — the sun, moon, and rhythms of the year. This interpretation is supported by archaeological findings (such as the synagogues at Beth Alpha and Hammat Tiberias) and scholarly analysis of Jewish art and tradition, which view the zodiac as a symbolic representation of time, continuity, and divine order in Jewish life.
These beautiful murals were originally on the walls of the Murray Street shul. Congregation Machzikei Hadas began in a home on St. Patrick Street and grew to nearly 20 families by 1908, leading to the purchase of a building on Murray. In 1927, a new synagogue was commissioned at Murray and King Edward, designed by architect Werner Ernst Noffke. The Orthodox sanctuary featured Eastern European-style towers, and in 1935–36, murals of the Zodiac, Western Wall, and Tomb of the Patriarchs were painted in the women’s gallery. 
While the Archives isn’t aware of the specific names of the people who made these pieces, it is believed that it was done by local artists. If you know anything about this, feel free to contact us to share your story.
In 1974, Congregation Machzikei Hadas relocated to their current Alta Vista location after city planning forced them to leave. In 1977, it was announced that the synagogue was scheduled for demolition.
Spearheaded by Martin Weil, then-President of Heritage Ottawa, a campaign and committee were put together to save the murals before demolition. The committee consisted of Martin Weil, art historian Reesa Greenberg, and Shirley Berman, founder of the Ottawa Jewish Archives, among others.
In 1978, the committee secured enough money to have the murals safely removed from the walls of the synagogue, restored by conservator Ian Hodkinson, and stored until installation. In 1984, the murals were moved into the Chapel Street JCC, and in 1998, with the completion of the current Soloway JCC, the murals were installed in the main foyer, where they continue to sit on display for generations of Jewish Ottawa to enjoy.
-- Teigan Goldsmith Hitsman is the Archivist at the Ottawa Jewish Archives
