Montreal Jewish community unique

It was when I was interviewing Max Cantor, who was the head honcho behind Montreal's Cantor Bakery chain, following in his late father's footsteps as a food entrepreneur, that I realized how lucky I have been to experience something as unique as Montreal's Jewish community. Now, I am far from religious. I'm more of a traditional Jew, when it suits me, and am more spiritual than not. I believe in God, but the concept that he is a "Jewish" God is in my opinion a suitable fabrication... just as an Allah for Muslims is quite convenient and anointing Hebrew-born-and-raised Joshua/Jesus as a Christian leader -better yet the Son of God - has certainly proven convenient for Christians since the early first millennium. God as Creator is a concept that includes every living being on Earth... and you either believe or you don't.

But I have to tell you, growing up in Jewish Montreal has been unique. There truly IS no other community quite like it. The community as it stands today is in a state of decline, down from its high of 126,000 right before the separatist Parti Quebecois first came into power in 1975, thus beginning a mass exodus throughout Canada and the U.S. that continues to this day. At this time, the community hovers in the low 80,000s and a full quarter of the community is over the age of 65. About one third - and rapidly growing - are French-speaking Sephardim, while the balance are Ashkenazim, hailing from Europe originally. So, this community, one of the smallest cultural groups in the city at this point, is in dire need of a population infusion, which is difficult with so many of its members aging and the younger ones in the Ashkenazi community having very few children.

Our Jewish community's history is, however, so storied, its impact on the general populace (particularly in business) so vast, it is easy to become awe-struck when you think about it. The interview with Max Cantor reminded me of this history. Until the past decade, it was hard to throw a rock without hitting a Cantor Bakery. There were about 60 of them (including some in Ottawa) and, oy, you would dream of biting into their kreplach, danish, cheese bagelach, hamentashen, meats, cheeses and delectable pastries. I worked at a Cantor on De Salaberry Street, around the corner from Belmont Park - Montreal's best amusement grounds ever until its closure in 1982... for my then- girlfriend's dad, Philip Migicovsky. For two years part-time in the late 1970s, I served a mix of French-Canadian and English-speaking Jewish clients and one of the perks was wolfing down several of those dreamy desserts every shift. The mocha squares, eclairs, milles feuilles and other pastries still resonate on my taste buds. In fact, my buds are vibrating as I write! Only one other Jewish-owned business, a restaurant called Pumpernik’s, and the non-Jewish F.W. Woolworth, both defunct businesses, ever created cakes I still salivate for more than these.

One of THE most memorable visuals you still associate with Cantor is its famous poster, seen in every store window for decades, featuring an actual Eskimo, a toothless older aboriginal man from Frobisher Bay, grasping a Cantor bagel and the words You Don't Have to Be Jewish to Love Cantor's Bagels. It's a classic and I am actually in possession of an original. May make a good movie prop in a period film sometime.

Over the years, with the advent of specialty bakeries like Premiere Moisson and cafes that sell all manner of baked goods, Cantor became a bit obsolete, to the point where there are only a few left. Mr. Cantor, who maintains a part-time link to his old head office, also admitted that individual owners have become too independent. So Cantor is slowly turning into dust, I am sad to say.

At least it has outlived our city's finest grocery store chain, though. The name Steinberg's is well known to anyone 30 and up and we will never see its like again. The organization, started by Sam Steinberg and eventually involving his entire family, with his wife as matriarch, was massive and generations of Quebecers appreciated the professionalism that ruled the company. I have heard that, as shrewd and consumer-savvy as Steinberg was, he suffered fools lightly and could be brutal to his upper management if he was disappointed. But to this day, his employees remember him fondly, virtually all of them thanking him for expertly educating them in the entrepreneurial arts. After Sam's death, under heavy mismanagement by the family members who took over, the chain went bankrupt, its place assumed by companies like Provigo, Metro, IGA and Loblaws, which expanded into Quebec from Ontario.

That's not to say that Montreal's Jews are still not a force to be reckoned with in business and entrepreneurs, as well as Jewish professionals like doctors, lawyers and writers (LOL... my little homage to my craft... AS IF!) are still extremely active in the fabric of this city.

On the communal side, Jews here have really scripted a success story. Our small community, small compared to some others, raises more philanthropic funds per capita than almost any other Jewish community in the world... despite the fact that almost a third, seniors over 65, have a frightening percentage of impoverished shut-ins. The money raised through the Combined Jewish Appeal and other groups - as well as a terrific Meals on Wheels program via several organizations and synagogues - goes a long way in assisting these people. Several years ago, approximately $40 million was raised from this base of 85,000, many of whom are far from rich, as Jews are too often stereotyped. We do not all have big noses, either, but that's another story. If you believe either of these two supposed facts, quit reading this blog immediately and go and get your signed copy of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

We have the third largest community of Holocaust survivors outside Israel and New York City, which is probably why we have been so dedicated to combating anti-Semitism (just visit our impressive, world-class Holocaust Museum). And by that I refer to hate against Jews, not hatred of Arabs. People from Arab lands may be a Semitic people, but when the term anti-Semitism was spawned via the actions of racists in the late 1800s, it was Jews they were targeting. We also support Israel in massive numbers, with eight of 10 community members of all ages visiting the Jewish state at least once. I am proud to say I have been there eight times, supporting Israelis as much as I can. In the U.S., the number is more like three out of 10.

Montreal is also home to both the oldest synagogue in British North America, the Spanish & Portuguese, opened in the late 1700s, and Canada's second eldest, Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, whose membership split off from the Spanish in 1846 and formed its own synagogue, the German, Polish and English Congregation. It later became the Shaar. Both are still extremely active and are maintained in lovely historic buildings worth visiting.

I could go on and on about this community, because I am so impressed by how people of my generation and beyond have laboured to make Jewish life viable here. I guess what worries me regards what's to come. The community is shrinking and many young people don't seem to give a hoot about communal philanthropy. They are also leaving Quebec in droves as they complete their degrees and desire a life far away from constant separatist rhetoric from xenophobic governments-in-waiting like the Parti Quebecois... and worse.

Yet I suppose that we are okay as long as we have our world-famous bagels, knighted by none other than the Washington Post as the finest anywhere. For me, as long as I can still patronize Moishe's Steak House (opened in the 1930s as Moishe's Roumanian Paradise by the late Moishe Lighter), life as a Jewish Montrealer will always be good.

If, that is, I keep my teeth.


(Bram has written extensively on the Montreal Jewish community for various media and was the Montreal correspondent for the New York-based Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) for almost 20 years. )