Buildings & Structures Archives | 100 Years of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Westmount

Julius Suss and Rabbi Adam Scheier, Time Capsule

Julius Suss (Shaar President, 2019-2022) and Rabbi Adam Scheier remove the 1921 time capsule from the cornerstone.

Christendom and Jewry in Amity, Montreal Gazette, November 11, 1921

The headline from an article in the Montreal Gazette (November 11, 1921) detailing the order of events at the laying of cornerstone ceremony for the Shaar Hashomayim’s building […]

Re-dedicating the Shaar Sanctuary in Memory of Rabbi Wilfred Shuchat

Rabbi Shuchat’s family unveils the plaque dedicating the sanctuary in his memory at the re-dedication service (September 17, 2022), honouring 100 years of the Shaar in Westmount. Shaar […]

Celebrating 100 Years in Westmount – Re-dedication of the Shaar’s Sanctuary

The re-dedication of the synagogue’s sanctuary held on September 17, 2022. This included a re-creation of the inaugural service held 100 years prior on September 17, 1922.

1921 Time Capsule

The Shaar’s 1921 time capsule, embedded in the back of the synagogue building’s original cornerstone.

Laying of the Cornerstone, 1967

Transcript Rabbi Wilfred Shuchat: Page 109, in the standard prayerbook [Mincha service begins, Chazzan Mendeslon begins chanting in Hebrew] [Chazzan Mendelson recites the Kaddish prayer, choir responds] [Chazzan […]

Turning of the Sod Ceremony, September 1966

Transcript Dr. Harry Ballon: Rabbi Shuchat, Mayor Tucker, Mr. Heillig, Mr. Levine, fellow congregants and friends, on behalf of the trustees of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, it is my […]

1968 Dedication of the Chapel, Junior Congregation

Transcript Junior Congregation Member: Would the congregation kindly rise for the opening prayer. [Bustling, people standing] Junior Congregation Member: Almighty God, in thy name the members of Shaar […]

Shaar Hashomayim Building Extension Campaign, Progress Through Expansion

The pamphlet distributed for the building extension campaign when it was first launched in 1965 with the aims of raising the necessary funds to begin construction. Transcription: […]

Turning of the Sod Ceremony, 1966

Rabbi Wilfred Shuchat, Mayor of Westmount M. L. Tucker. and Synagogue President Dr. Harry Ballon, sharing the ceremonial shovel at the turning of the sod ceremony (1966) which […]

Rabbi Herman Abramowitz Building Ceremonial Trowel, 1948

The ceremonial trowel from the 1948 cornerstone-laying for the Rabbi Herman Abramowitz Building. The inscription reads, “Presented to M. J. Heillig, Esq. President, Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, on the […]

Rabbi Herman Abramowitz Educational Annex, Architectural Drawing

An architectural drawing of the facade for the Rabbi Herman Abramowitz Educational Annex (M. M. Kalman, Architect), reproduced in the programme for the building’s dedication ceremony.