{"id":6954,"date":"2026-09-30T14:02:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T18:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museejuifmontreal.ca\/?page_id=6954"},"modified":"2026-10-08T13:20:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T17:20:14","slug":"synagogue-stories-montreal","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/museejuifmontreal.ca\/en\/exhibitions\/synagogue-stories-montreal\/","title":{"rendered":"Synagogue Stories: Montreal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Synagogue Stories: Montreal<\/p><\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Welcome to Synagogue Stories: Montreal<\/h2><\/div>\n

This collaborative project functions as a resource supplementing the Montreal Jewish Museum\u2019s Official Collateral Event at La Biennale di Venezia: Nabatele, an open-air installation by Anna Kamyshan.<\/p>

In these stories, which highlight synagogues past and present in Montreal, in Italy, and in the former Pale of Settlement and surrounding regions which are found in what is now Poland and Lithuania, readers will recognize aspects of Nabatale through architectural references and the life it could sustain within. Spanning geography, tradition, and time, these synagogues reveal themselves to be more than houses of worship; they are also sites of collective memory, resilience, and belonging. For the synagogues that no longer stand, the legacy of their congregants becomes their ultimate Ner Tamid \u2013 the eternal and enduring light, found as a perpetually burning lamp in all synagogues.<\/p>

Here, we bring our attention to Montreal, featuring synagogues such as The Bagg Street Shul, The Spanish and Portugese Synagogue, Tifereth Jerusalem, Temple B\u2019nai Jacob, and Congregation Shaar Hashomayim. <\/p><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n

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The Bagg Street Shul (Temple Solomon)<\/h2>\n
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Tucked away in the Plateau neighbourhood of Montreal, the Congregation Temple Solomon, stands as Montreal\u2019s oldest continuously active synagogue still operating out of its original building (on the corner of Bagg and Clark since 1921). Best known by its colloquial name, the Bagg Street Shul, its humble size and hand-painted interior murals evokes the local craftsmanship of Jewish Eastern European life in small settlements or <\/span>shtetls<\/span><\/i>. In places like Montreal, it is an example of diasporic architectural memory carried primarily by Ashkenazi (meaning of Eastern European origin) Jewish immigrants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Around the time of its founding, the Bagg Street Shul was one of two dozen such small synagogues, also known by the Yiddish term <\/span>shuls<\/span><\/i> or schools, in the former and densely populated Jewish quarter of Montreal. These shuls were representative of Jewish immigration and settlement trends during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Canada and the United States. In the early 20th century Montreal\u2019s wealthier, more integrated, and more anglicised congregations would move westwards from what is now known as Montreal\u2019s Old Montreal and Chinatown neighbourhoods. At the same time, Montreal\u2019s recently emigrated, working class and Yiddish-speaking Jewish population, including those who first attended Bagg Street Shul migrated north along Saint Laurent Boulevard. This street, also known as \u201cThe Main,\u201d formed the spine of the city\u2019s historically Jewish neighbourhood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, visitors of Bagg Street Shul will immediately notice its lovingly preserved original interior, emblematic of many synagogues found in the Pale of Settlement. The building features a wooden interior with built-in furniture, intricate wooden carvings \u2013 including the Torah ark where the sacred Torah scrolls or holy Jewish texts are kept \u2013 and a striking series of Jewish Zodiac murals painted along the base of the women\u2019s gallery. The murals, which face the main sanctuary, were created by father and son of the Shadewasser family, and are notable for a unique blending of Jewish and Canadian symbolism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gesturing to the second commandment\u2019s assertion to not depict forms of God\u2019s creation, the Shadewassers replaced human figures with animals such as bison and reindeer, a somewhat common solution used to adorn Jewish places of worship while still honouring the traditional restrictions on icons. The richness and vibrancy of these decorative details reflect the deep pride this community and congregation held and continue to hold for their shul. A recognized Heritage Site of Quebec, the synagogue continues to flourish thanks to its dedicated community members and the many informal visitors who pass through its doors each year.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n

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