Our Story begins in the early twenties; some one hundred Jewish families had set up residence in this area. Amongst them were a handful of diligent and dedicated, eager and zealous men who confidently resolved to establish a synagogue to satisfy the religious needs of a growing Jewish constituency. Their hope was bold even though the omens were by no means propitious.

These daring pioneers were not men of wealth, nor were they deeply schooled in Judaic learning. They were, in the main, immigrant Jews or descendants of immigrant parents. Theirs was a shtetl background. More than anything else they wanted to be Canadians, but, at the same time, they earnestly wished to remain Jews. The process of integration was palpably troublesome. How does one form part of the general society and at the same time retain and pass on his Jewish identity? Harmonizing his old country Jewish upbringing with the culture of the new world was a perplexing problem and a matter of deep concern. This awareness stimulated a need to reconcile, in terms, the interplay between traditional the conditions of life western culture imposed.

Although compromising in some respects with strict religious observance, it was clear to these early settlers that nothing was more important than to establish a distinctive life style which would give meaning and expression to their Judaic heritage.

Though Notre Dame de Grace at that time was but a remote suburb of Montreal, the Jews who made their homes there were not, from a communal point of view, unlike fellow Jews who had settled in towns hundred of miles from the Metropolis. This new region was a new stage in their existence. It was a movement from the clustered areas to open spaces.

While Shaare Zion Congregation became a legally incorporated body March 24, 1926, when it received its charter from the Province of Quebec, the foundation was laid back in 1920 when minyan met for Sabbath and Holiday services at the home of the late Jacob Finestone. Business meetings were conducted at the home of the late David Cummings. It was in September 1920 that the name, Shaare Zion, was adopted and a slate of officers elected.

In the course of three years, as the number of Jewish residents in Notre Dame de Grace grew, there developed, within the founding fathers, an inner strength and a quiet certainty of purpose. They quickly realized that the increasing number of worshippers required larger quarters. Victoria Hall in Westmount became the improvised synagogue for Sabbath and Holiday services.

It was in 1939 that the synagogue on Claremont Avenue was destroyed by fire, and the present site was purchased shortly thereafter. The first High Holiday services took place September 1947, at Shaare Zion's present home on Cote St. Luc Road.

The history of the Shaare Zion begins in the roaring twenties, confronts the depressed thirties, endures the painful forties, abides the exuberant fifties, tolerates the turbulent sixties, suffers the anxious disillusioning seventies, and has grown and strengthened its image and place amongst Montreal's Jewish Community during the eighties, nineties and now the twenty first century...