Loading ...
By George Medovoy
MONTREAL – When we tell our friends that Montreal is “a very Jewish city,” they give us a rather surprised look, expecting us to say “very French.”
Well, very French it is – or more specifically, Quebecois, to distinguish it from France — with an infectious joie de vivre that spills over into so much of life here, especially the arts, the night life, and the cafes – ah, the cafes, where you can linger over a cup ofcoffee and French pastries, including pastries of the kosher kind at one of Montreal’s many kosher eateries.
If you happen to be an observant Jewish traveler seeking a friendly North American city with real cosmopolitan flare, there is no more welcoming a place than Montreal, the tightly-knit island setting in the St. Lawrence River graced by leafy parks and charming neighborhoods with sumptuous, historic architectural styles.
European culture first came to the island in 1535 with the arrival of French explorer Jacques Cartier, the discoverer of today’s Mount Royal – hence, the name Montreal – a splendid sylvan setting in the city’s urban center.
In the ensuing years, many other people arrived, contributing to the 80 ethnic communities who make up Montreal, including today’s 93,000 Jews.
For a sense of Montreal’s Jewish presence, it helps to remember that, between the two world wars, the city’s three principal languages were French, English…and Yiddish, the latter reflecting the large number of European Jews who settled here.
In recent years, the once-dominant Ashkenazi presence has been somewhat eclipsed by North African Jews, including many Moroccans, whose Sephardic synagogues, day schools and other institutions have added a rich new flavor to Montreal’s Jewish soul.
A city of 3.6 million, Montreal is easy to navigate on foot, making its many lovely parks, public markets, great shopping and museums easy to get to.
The piece de resistance as far as shopping goes is the vast underground city – especially welcoming in winter – with 20 miles of Metro subway, 1,700 boutiques and businesses, and 40 theaters.
Montreal is also a bilingual French-English city, but if you plan on practicing the Parisian French you studied in school, don’t be surprised if you’re confused by the distinctly Quebecois accent of the sing-song French spoken here!
On our visits, we always include a trip to Mount Royal, whose park was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the same designer of New York’s Central Park.
Getting to the summit is half the fun – either on foot, by car or bike, by jogging, or better yet, in a romantic, horse-drawn buggy.
We like walking along Mount Royal’s tree-lined paths or having a picnic next to Beaver Lake, an artificial pond which becomes an ice-skating rink in winter.
At the foot of Mount Royal you’ll find the Outremont neighborhood, with its large Hassidic population spread out among lovely 19th-century row houses.
On the other side of the mountain and seemingly worlds away is Crescent Street, where luxury boutique shops, haute couture showrooms, and art galleries in charming old brownstones beckon the shopper.
Within walking distance are Sherbrooke Street and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, whose newer pavilion was designed by the renowned Israeli-Canadian architect, Moshe Safdie.
Safdie’s iconic “Habitat,” looking like legos stacked one upon another, was a major attraction at Expo ’67, the Montreal World’s Fair, and has since morphed into condos with a view of the Montreal skyline.
Montreal’s earliest Jewish settlers arrived at the port, now Old Montreal, where small hotels in 17th, 18th- and 19th-century buildings stand along cobblestone streets, some with gas lamps that add to Old Montreal’s flights of fancy.
The Montreal neighborhood with the most pronounced Jewish setting is Snowdon. You’ll know you’ve arrived when you spot a kosher restaurant or two and the modern headquarters of the Montreal Jewish Federation at 5151 Cote Ste-Catherine Road, also known as 1 Cummings Square, named in honor of Maxwell Cummings, the late Jewish benefactor.
The federation building, which flies the Canadian and Israeli flags, includes the Jewish Public Library, which boasts the largest circulating collection of Judaica in North America; the YM-YWHA Jewish Community Centres; the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre; as well as the offices of the French-language United Sephardic Community of Quebec.
Montreal supports about 40 synagogues, most of which are Orthodox. The large Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue on St. Kevin Street was originally opened in 1760 by early Jewish settlers at another location. It is the oldest Jewish institution in Canada.
There are about 25 Jewish day schools here from pre-school to high school, with 60% of tuition supported by the Quebec provincial government.
The city is also home to roughly 8,000 Holocaust survivors, and the Holocaust Memorial Centre, sponsored in part by the Quebec and Canadian governments, offers touching, personal stories of survivors who settled in Montreal.
If Montreal can quench your thirst for Jewish culture, it can also satisfy your hunger for kosher food, with something like 17 kosher restaurants.
Two of our favorites, in Snowdon, are Exception II (Cholov Yisrael) at 5039 Queen Mary Road, and Chez Benny, an Israeli-Mediterranean place down the street.
We rank Exception II at the top of our list, with great sandwiches and salads, hearty breakfasts, and French pastries to die for.
Chez Benny is known for shawarma, falafel, and wonderful Smoked Meat sandwiches, which are classically Montreal.
A busy, noisy place for pizza and falafel is Pizza Pita at 6415 Decarie in Snowdon. Pizza Pita’s claim to fame is having the only kosher drive-thru in the world!
For kosher Moroccan cuisine, it’s El Morocco at 3450 Drummond downtown.
Before we leave the city, we always stop at Montreal Kosher Bakery at 7005 Victoria Avenue, near Snowdon, to load up on wonderful kosher knishes…and wish we could stay longer in this wonderful city.
WHEN YOU GO…
For general information about Montreal, visit www.tourisme-montreal.org or call (877) 266-5687.
For a full list of kosher restaurants and bakeries in Montreal, go to www.mk.ca
A great hotel with very comfortable rooms is Hotel de la Montagne, just a stone’s throw from Sherbrooke Street. Call (514) 288-5656 or visit www.hoteldelamontagne.com
Other important contacts:
www.federationcja.org (Jewish Federation), 514-735-3541
www.mmfa.qc.ca(Montreal Museum of Fine Arts) 514-285-1600
www.mhmc.ca (Holocaust Memorial Centre), 514-3
George Medovoy is a California-based travel writer who also publishes an Internet travel magazine, www.PostcardsForYou.com
