Sepherdic Judaism is not a recent arrival in Montreal. It has been present here for about two centuries.
The cities oldest synagogue, still one of its leading ones,the Spanish and Portuguese Congreagation, traces its history back to Sephardim who began arriving here from Amsterdam and London in 1760.The few families met for prayer in private homes until the Congregation was formally established in 1768 in what is now old Montreal. The Corporation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews is the oldest Jewish institution in Montreal, in Quebec and in Canada. In 1993 there were an ongoing series of celebrations to mark the 225th anniversary. The Congregation is as old as Quebec itself.
The first Synagogue building was located in Old Montreal and was the first non-Catholic house of worship built in the city. In 1838 the Congregation moved to Chenneville Street and in 1890 to a beautiful edifice on Stanley Street. The Congregation is now housed in its fourth premises at 4894 St.Kevin St, in the Snowdon-Cotes des Neiges(center city) area of Montreal since 1947. Until the early 1960s the congregation also known as Shearith Israel and now in its was the only Sephardic congregation in Canada.
The Spanish-Portuguese tradition follows the rites and customs of those Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal beginning in 1492 who sought refuge in European lands. Other Sephardi (=Spanish or Iberian) Jews left for Mediterranean, mostly Moslem, lands. They became known as the Sephardi oriental Jews. During the past fifty years many hundreds of families from these communities have come to Montreal and have joined the Congregation, reconnecting with their kin from whom they had been separated 500 years ago. Until the early 1960's it was the only Sephardi congregation in Montreal and in Canada.
Although established mainly by English speaking Jews it has now become a bilingual community due to the arrival of numerous French-speaking families from North Africa and the Middle East.
We continue to consider our responsibility to be not only an active Jewish congregation but also an historic monument to Canadian and Quebec and Jewish life.
Rabbi Howard S. Joseph
A Torah A gift from England in 1768
More on The Spanish and Portugese Synagogue, on the Jewish Links
Other Shuls Which I knew of, in the same era.
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