Digitized Documents

The London Chronicle, 1765 (PDF document, 3132 KB) Ezekiel Solomons and Gershon Levy appear in a London Chronicle list of British merchants and traders in the city of Montreal dated 1764 and published in 1765. This is the earliest original document in the Canadian Jewish Congress chronological records series. Source: CJC records, Series ZA, CJCCCNA CJC0001
The Bylaws of the Young Men's Hebrew Benevolent Society, 1872 (PDF document, 1594 KB) This Montreal organization later developed into the Baron de Hirsch Institute, a precursor to today's Federation CJA. Source: Federation of Jewish Philanthropies collection, CJCCCNA I0020
Annual Reports of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, Montreal
Beginning in 1917, the FJP annual reports, from the organization which later became Federation CJA, provide multi-faceted information about the Montreal Jewish community of the early 20th century. Source: Federation CJA collection, JPLA, 1001

Jewish War Heroes, Number 3: The Canadian Edition (PDF document, 5537 KB) In 1944 Canadian Jewish Congress published a series of three comic books featuring true profiles of Jewish servicemen from Canada and other Allied nations. Source: Canadian Jewish Congress Organizational records, series FA2, CJCCCNA CJC0001

Business Letter from Thomas Sketchley of Quebec City to Levy Solomon of Montreal, December 11, 1788. (PDF document, 1007 KB) This is the earliest original manuscript document in the Canadian Jewish Congress collection. Source: CJC collection Series ZB (Personalia), CJCCCNA CJC0001.
The Joseph Family "Blue Book"
Between 1839 and 1841, members of the Joseph family of Montreal and Quebec City circulated this lively yet cryptic handwritten newsletter that combined family gossip and social commentary. Source: Wolff and Joseph family collection, CJCCCNA, P0200, Series A

The Splendid Shilling, July 14, 1840. Dated in Hebrew, this companion to the Blue Book appears to have been written by another branch of the Joseph family. The paper includes humorous observations and concludes with the footnote "Our Three Rivers correspondent has just informed us that the Duke of Dash arrived there yesterday and left today. Why will he travel on Saturday?" (PDF document, 2466 KB)
The Blue Book, March 5, 1841. In a section of this issue titled "Religious Intelligence," the editors critique a community member for attending a ball at "Bellmont Place" on the Jewish Sabbath: "...we are happy to say that altho' most of the Israelites in our City were invited (...) none but one weak-minded mortal attended (...) what cares she for the awful Commandment ZACHOR ET YOM HA-SHABBAT L-KADSHO "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy?" (PDF document, 2712 KB)
Blue Book Extraordinary Supplement, January 28, 1842: "The Wedding Day." This account describes travel arrangments, food, dress, and social interactions in rural Quebec in the 1840s. Using Anne Joseph's chronology in Heritage of a Patriarch one can deduce that the bride and groom who were wed on January 4, 1842, were Theodore Hart (a cousin to the Josephs) and Frances Michael David. (PDF document, 560 KB)

Abraham de Sola's Sermons
Abraham de Sola was the rabbi of Montreal's Spanish and Portuguese Congregation between 1847 and 1882. Renowned as a rabbi, scholar and community leader, De Sola's sermons are an illustration of life in Canada from a Victorian Jewish perspective. Source: Abraham de Sola collection, CJCCCNA, P0048

Sermon of Thanksgiving. This sermon was preached following the cessation of the cholera epidemic of 1850. (PDF document, 2771 KB)
Sermon on the Occasion of a Bar Mitzvah. Rabbi de Sola's speech to a Bar Mitzvah boy, Shearith Israel Congregation, Montreal, on Shabbat Bereshit 5628. The Hebrew date is equivalent to October 1867. (PDF document, 6165 KB)
Religious Instruction Sermon. Here de Sola preaches that parents must play an active part in the religious training of their children and makes references to forbidden fruit, Cain and Abel, and gentile customs. Dated 5610 in Hebrew, equivalent to 1850. (PDF document, 4382 KB)