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Beth Hamedrash Hagadol

collection1917-1995

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Beth Hamedrash Hagadol
Beth Hamedrash Hagadol · 1917-1995

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Held by
Museum of Jewish Montreal via Museum of Jewish Montreal — map of Jewish Montreal
Creator
Sara Tauben
Dates
1917-1995 (indexed as 1917–1995)
Level
collection (source: Story)
Extent
4 places
Scope & content
(Traduction à venir) Historic Outline Far from the center of the Jewish community, this synagogue was in the present day antique district. In 1917 the congregation established itself in what was probably a former Presbyterian church at 1887 Notre Dame. It was the only synagogue servicing the community in that area and held the only Talmud Torah in the neighborhood. It must have as well served an important social function as the congregation maintained not only a Ladies Auxiliary but a Young People’s Society. The congregation remained at the Notre Dame location until 1949. In 1951, Jacob Cohen and a handful of officers met with members of a burgeoning congregation on McKenzie Street in the Côte des Neiges area. The new congregation took over the older synagogue’s assets, accepted its charter, perpetuated its name and hung its memorial plaques in the new synagogue. The inauguration of the McKenzie shul, in 1953, was dedicated to the members of Congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, 1917-1949 and to its honouary president, Jacob Cohen. The new congregation, recognizing its amalgamation with a congregation that had relocated from St. Urbain Street, was renamed Beth Haknesseth Hagadol Tifereth Israel. Unable to continue to maintain that building, the congregation merged with the Shomrim Laboker at 6410 Westbury in 1999. Witness to History An invitation to an 18th anniversary meeting addressed to “members and seatholders” reveals a pride in the synagogue’s accomplishments while it expresses concerns for its future under the economic constraints of 1934. The president Jacob Cohen writes: (partial translation from the Yiddish) “It is already an old tradition to celebrate the establishment of our shul on that day (September 7). Seventeen years have passed since that historic day in this neighborhood when the synagogue was founded. And who better than we Jews of this neighborhood know how important it is to have a synagogue and Talmud Torah in this area. How much effort and money went into the results you see today. But the terrible crisis has impoverished many in this neighborhood. It is your duty to help the shul. Spend a little time on behalf of the synagogue, as did the early members. Help the seat committee to sell seats. Don’t turn away from God’s way. We will be able, justly, to ask for God’s help…We have the fortune of having engaged the famous Cantor H. Rubenstein of the Tifereth Zion Synagogue in Warsaw. Let us at this meeting get together and agree on a budget for the coming year. At this meeting we will also hear a finance report for the year. We will also have nominations for officers. We also let it be know that everyone must pay for his seat before sitting in it. We also ask you to pay for your own debts. We ask you to try to bring new members into the shul. And the ladies should become members in the Ladies Auxiliary and the youth in the Young People’s society. Everyone should be active in the shul. As the passage says, “He who builds a shul for prayer, he who comes to shul to worship, he who gives light and warmth to the shul, is one who gives tzedakah.” In general, he who is genuinely active, will receive god’s help and we will be assured of a good year of health and income. Your officers and president wish you a “good inscription” (in the Book of Life). We look forward to your participation in the meeting. Ladies are warmly welcome. Jacob Cohen, President.” It is worth noting the “Englishisms” which liberally pepper this Yiddish text. Words such as members, seatholders, welcome, meeting, budget, even Ladies Auxiliary and Youth Society are transliterated rather than translated into Yiddish. Written by Sara Tauben Sources: Tauben, Sara Ferdman. "Aspirations and Adaptations: Immigrant Synagogues of Montreal, 1880s-1945." Masters Thesis. Concordia University, 2004. Tauben, Sara Ferdman. Traces of the Past: Montreal's Early Synagogues. Montreal: Vehicule Press, 2011. *Images courtesy of McCord Museum and Arie Subar.
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Subjects
Architecture; Religious
Language
English
Harvested
2026-10-17T06:33:27Z · source datestamp n/a · mjm
Original metadata as harvested (mjm)