Adath Israel Poale Zedek Anshei Ozeroff

2008 - present
233 Harrow Cres.(Hampstead)

Historic outline - Adath Israel

Adath Israel was established in 1930. The congregation worshipped in rented premises at 1357 Van Horne until the construction of the synagogue in 1940 at 899 McEchran in Outremont. This was the only synagogue in the Outremont/Plateau Mont Royal areas that was not in close proximity to other synagogues and was in an entirely residential setting. It was the first synagogue in Montreal to define itself as a synagogue centre. All of these aspects foreshadowed what would be become a predominant post-war synagogue model across North America.

This congregation’s primary definition of “community centre” focused on the establishment of a school. The original elementary school facilities were in the basement and it was, according to an anniversary publication of 1965, not only the first congregational day school in Montreal, but also only the second in all of North America. By 1947, a school building was constructed in the adjacent rear lot which was extended in 1952 to accommodate Montreal’s first Jewish high school.

The congregation has been located at 233 Harrow Road in Hampstead since 1981 having amalgamated with two other former immigrant congregations: Poele Zedek (1985) and Anshei Ozeroff (2003, officially 2008).

Historic outline - Anshei Ozeroff

The Anshei Ozeroff represents a typical landsmanshaft shul. Like the landsmanshaftn, the immigrant mutual aid societies, the landsmanshaft shul was formed by people from the same cities or towns dedicated to lending support to each other in their adopted city. The congregation was established in 1918 and occupied several rented buildings, east and west of Boulevard St. Laurent, converted to function as a synagogue. In the 1960s the congregation built a synagogue in the post-war suburb of Snowdon. Finally, with a dwindling membership, the exclusive landsmanshaft association was abandoned when the congregation merged with the Adath Israel Poele Zedek in 2003, at 233 Harrow Road in Hampstead.

Written by Sara Tauben

Links

Liens

Adath Israel Congregation
Traces of the Past

Sources

Adath Israel Anniversary Publication, 1960.

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. Montréal: Véhicule Press, 2011.

*Images courtesy of Canadian Jewish Congress Charitees Committee National Archive, Jean Zwirek, Rachel Birnbaum and Sara Tauben.

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