Looking for a cosmopolitan, European-style vacation, without having to update your passport or fly overseas? Maybe you crave French sophistication, but are wary of visiting a country with high anti-semitism and low support for Israel?
Just 8 hours north of NYC on the 87 Thruway and Northway, beautiful Montreal offers European taste with tres chic sidewalk cafés. The European aesthetic combines with North American efficiency, excellent public transportation and clean, safe streets buzzing with people. Easy to navigate, Montreal is Canada’s second largest metropolitan center and the largest French-speaking city outside France.
Montreal’s Jewish community is among the oldest in North America. Among the first Jews who immigrated to New France in 1750, the Gradis family played a pivotal role in sustaining the colony before the British conquest. Gradis’ fleet of ships went back and forth to France, providing food, supplies and munitions that kept the settlers armed and fed during their fight to defend the colony.
But while the Gradi
s supported the French, a Jewish man named Alexander Shomberg commanded the invading British frigate, Diana, in the attack on Quebec and the Plains of Abraham battle, where the French colony fell to British control.
In 1768, a dozen families founded Canada’s first congregation Shearith Israel, following Sephardic custom. The 1851 census recorded 451 Jewish residents in Upper and Lower Canada, mostly educated middle class tradesmen.
Over the next 100 years new Jewish arrivals were mostly refugees fleeing the European pogroms. The years 1951-71 brought many Holocaust survivors, and Sephardim from North Africa. Montreal’s Jewish community of about 100,000 is the second largest in Canada after Toronto.
Large in numbers, Jewish Montreal is very active and vibrant. Twenty two Jewish schools teach over 7,000 children in the Hebrew, Yiddish, English and French languages. There is also Montreal’s Holocaust Memorial Center, Bronfman Educational Center and the Jewish Public Library. With over seventy synagogues, 12 Chabad Houses (Rabbi Zushe Silberstein (514 385-9514) will gladly offer program info) and nine mikvahs, a Jewish traveler can enjoy a smorgasbord of customs and styles.
The respected communal Vaad Ha’ir of Montreal www.mk.ca supervises eleven restaurants (Israeli, Moroccan and Chinese), 10 butchers, 16 bakeries, and 7 take-outs, so you may savor a kosher croissant and nosh on your walking tour of the fascinating old Jewish sites.
Major Montreal Jewish neighborhoods are: Outremont -De-Vimy, Snowdon, Hampstead, Dollard Des Ormaux, Chomedy and Ville S. Laurent. The Van Horne-Victoria area offers nice Jewish shopping. Bon Voyage!
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Montreal must-sees include: Downtown: Lined with skyscrapers, The Sherbrooke / Rene Leveque avenue is lined with skyscrapers including Place Ville Marie, a 4-pronged building, the nucleus of business activity, and McGill University.
The Mont Royal mountaintop offers an exhilarating view of the city.
Old Montreal—Vieux Port—the most historic buildings in any North American city, recalls old-world charm. Stro
ll the narrow cobblestone streets and admire the architecture. There is also an Imax and entertainment.
Place Jacques Cartier is a grand public square with City Hall at one end and is surrounded by shops. Square S. Louis features nineteenth century architecture with painted roofs and original detailing.
Built for the 1974 Olympic Games, Olympic Stadium is well lit at night. Ride up the tower for great views.
Place Des Arts boasts three theatres and a contemporary art museum. Rue S. Catherine bustles with people and shopping and the Underground City is a network of linked underground malls, a refuge during the harsh winters. Bell Amphitheatre offers indoor skating surrounded by a winter garden.