History of the Jews in Quebec

by Pierre Anctil, Judith Weisz Woodsworth (Translator)

Overview

The presence of Jews in Quebec dates back four centuries. Quebec Jewry, in Montreal in particular, has evolved over time, thanks to successive waves of migration from different regions of the world. The Jews of Quebec belong to a unique society in North America, which they have worked to fashion. The dedication with which they have defended their rights and their extensive achievements in multiple sectors of activity have helped foster diversity in Quebec.

This work recounts the different contributions Jews have made over the years, along with the cultural context that encouraged the emergence in Montreal of a Jewish community like no other in North America. This is the first overview of a history that began during the French Regime and continued, through many twists and turns, up to the turn of the twenty-first century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780776629513
Publisher:	University of Ottawa Press
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Pages:	490
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.06(d)

About the Author

Pierre Anctil is an award-winning author, a member of the Royal Society of Canada since 2012 and a full professor at the Department of History of the University of Ottawa, where he teaches contemporary Canadian history and Canadian Jewish history. He has written at length on the history of Montreal’s Jewish community and on the current debates on cultural pluralism in Canada. His most recent English-language titles are Jacob Isaac Segal: A Montreal Yiddish Poet and His Milieu (2017) and A Reluctant Welcome for Jewish People: Voices in Le Devoir’s Editorials, 1910–1947 (2019), both at the University of Ottawa Press.

Read an Excerpt

This book focuses on Quebec society and the City of Montreal as sites of a distinct Jewish identity, which stands out from Jewish identities as they have evolved elsewhere in Canada. The approach is unique in that it makes use of French and Yiddish sources, which are copious in the case of Montreal’s Jewish population. One of the characteristics of this field of research is that it requires a command of several languages and dialects and a deep understanding of the different religious traditions that came into contact with one another over a long period of time. The history of Montreal Jews is striking in that it highlights the role of the city as a crossroads at which successive generations of immigrants have converged.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, Maps, Graphs and Illustrations 
Preface to the English edition 
Translator’s Note 


Introduction 
CHAPTER 1 • Forerunners and Founders, 1627–1900 
CHAPTER 2 • The Great Jewish Migration, 1900–1919 
CHAPTER 3 • The Interwar Years, 1919–1939 
CHAPTER 4 • Turbulent Times, 1939–1945 
CHAPTER 5 • New Context, New Arrivals, 1945–1960 
CHAPTER 6 • Sephardim, Hasidim, and New Political Realities, 1960–1995  
CHAPTER 7 • Contemporary Success Stories 


Conclusion 
Glossary 
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Pierre Anctil tells the history of two minorities—Jews within Quebec and Francophones within Canada—with erudition. This overview is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand contemporary Quebec and Canada: it places the History of the Jews in Quebec at the heart of Quebec history. Short as it may be, it is henceforth one of its cornerstones.

Archives juives, Paris, vol. 52, no 2 - Yves Chèvrefils Desbiolles

Historian Pierre Anctil has just published a masterful, comprehensive, and fascinating book, History of the Jews in Quebec, in which he recounts four centuries of Jewish life in Quebec. A work that will go down in the annals of Jewish history in Canada.

The Canadian Jewish News, Montreal - Elias Levy

Pierre Anctil tells the history of two minorities—Jews within Quebec and Francophones within Canada—with erudition. This overview is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand contemporary Quebec and Canada: it places the History of the Jews in Quebec at the heart of Quebec history. Short as it may be, it is henceforth one of its cornerstones.

Archives juives, Paris, vol. 52, no 2 - Yves Chèvrefils Desbiolles