Part 1: The Origins of the Shaar

Until the 1840s, only one synagogue had been founded in pre-Confederation Canada. Shearith Israel, also known as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, was founded in the 1760s by Jews mostly of Sephardic Western European background.

Throughout the next century, Ashkenazi Jews immigrated in Canada in increasing numbers, joining their coreligionists at the Spanish and Portuguese.

The first page of the Official Act of Lower Canada by which the Congregation of German and Polish Jews was incorporated. 1846.

By mid-19th century, the Jewish population of what is now Canada totaled little more than 150 people, largely concentrated in Montreal.  Still, the Ashkenazi community sought to pray according to its own rite, and in 1846 split from The Spanish to form its own “English, German and Polish Congregation.” The synagogue was officially incorporated through an Act of Parliament that year.

The ceremonial silver trowel presented to David Moss in 1859 on the occasion of the cornerstone laying for the congregation’s first building on St. Constant Street (today Rue De Bullion).

It was not until 1859 that the Congregation procured its first building at 41 St. Constant Street (today De Buillon Street) in Montreal. During the inauguration, the cornerstone was laid by David Moss who had contributed the largest financial sum to the building fund.

Marcus Ollendorf (1810-1867), first synagogue president, 1860; 1861-1863; 1865.

The building measured under 5,500 square feet, and could accommodate approximately 150 men and 50 women. Within thirty years, however, the Congregation had quickly outgrown its modest building, and began to set its sights on a new property.