Saint John Jewish Historical Museum

Last updated
Saint John Jewish Historical Museum
Rockwood park loyalist house 041.jpg
Canada New Brunswick location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within New Brunswick
EstablishedJuly 1986 (1986-07)
Location Saint John, New Brunswick
Coordinates 45°16′25″N66°3′13″W / 45.27361°N 66.05361°W / 45.27361; -66.05361
Website jewishmuseumsj.com

The Saint John Jewish Historical Museum in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, preserves and displays the history of the Jewish community in the city of Saint John. The Museum was opened by founder Marcia Koven in 1986. A Jewish Historical Society had already been established in the congregation. [1]

Contents

Overview

The Museum is based on a community history model. It is supported through artifact donations and other participation by members of the local Jewish community. The Jewish community in Saint John has roots going back to the mid-1800s. Solomon Hart, a businessman from England, became the founder of the existing Jewish community in the city when he immigrated to Saint John in 1858. [2] The first synagogue in the city was established by Solomon and Sarah Hart in 1889. [3] Immigration from northern and eastern Europe increased the community to about 1400 members in the 1920s. Immigration to Saint John waned after this, and as out-migration to larger cities increased, the city's Jewish population declined to about 300 members in the 1960s. Today there are roughly two dozen Jewish families in the congregation. [4]

The Museum has several permanent exhibits, as well as new exhibits each year, and occasional travelling exhibits. Outreach programs include hosting tours from local schools, distribution of educational kits, and hosting tours from cruise ships visiting the city. [5]

The Museum also has a library and archive of Jewish history, viewed by appointment.

Awards

The museum has received several awards recognizing its work, including the following: [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outremont, Quebec</span> Borough of Montreal in Quebec, Canada

Outremont is an affluent residential borough (arrondissement) of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. The neighbourhood is inhabited largely by Francophones, and is also home to a Hasidic Jewish community. Since the 1950s, Outremont has been mostly residential, but some streets such as Van Horne, Bernard and Laurier have many commercial buildings.

The Canadian Jewish Congress was, for more than ninety years, the main advocacy group for the Jewish community in Canada. Regarded by many as the "Parliament of Canadian Jewry," the Congress was at the forefront of the struggle for human rights, equality, immigration reform and civil rights in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethel Stark</span> Canadian musician (1910–2012)

Ethel Stark, was a Canadian violinist and conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal</span> Synagogue in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal, also known as Shearith Israel, is an Orthodox synagogue, located at 4894 Avenue Saint-Kevin in Snowdon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The synagogue is the oldest Jewish congregation in Canada. The congregation traces its history from 1760 and was formally established in 1768. It is affiliated with the Orthodox Union.

The Jewish Public Library or JPL is a public library in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, founded in 1914. The library contains the largest circulating collection of Judaica in North America. The JPL has close to 4000 members, and receives 700 to 800 visitors weekly. A constituent agency of Federation CJA, the Jewish Public Library is independent of the Montreal Public Libraries Network and instead receives its funding from the city's Jewish community, membership fees, donations and endowments.

<i>None Is Too Many</i> 1983 book

None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe 1933–1948 is a 1983 book co-authored by the Canadian historians Irving Abella and Harold Troper. It is about Canada's restrictive immigration policy towards Jewish refugees during the Holocaust years. It helped popularize the phrase "none is too many" in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Schara Tzedeck</span>

Congregation Schara Tzedeck is an Modern Orthodox synagogue located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The synagogue is the oldest synagogue and the largest Orthodox synagogue in Greater Vancouver. From Hebrew, the transliteration of the synagogue's name is the "Gates of Righteousness".

Moroccan Canadians are Canadians of full or partial Moroccan descent, as well as people from the state of Morocco who are ethno-linguistic and religious minorities. According to the 2021 Census, there were 98,980 Canadians who claimed full or partial Moroccan ancestry, an increase compared to the 2006 Census. A large minority of Moroccan Canadians are Moroccan Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinchas Hirschprung</span> Polish-Canadian rabbi, posek and rosh yeshiva

Pinchas Hirschprung was a Polish-Canadian rabbi, posek, and rosh yeshiva, who served as Chief Rabbi of Montreal from 1969 until his death.

The history of the Jews in Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada has been noted since the mid-19th century.

Antisemitism in Canada is the manifestation of hostility, prejudice or discrimination against the Canadian Jewish people or Judaism as a religious, ethnic or racial group. This form of racism has affected Jews since Canada's Jewish community was established in the 18th century.

Toronto's Jewish community is the most populous and one of the oldest in the country, forming a significant part of the history of the Jews in Canada. It numbered about 240,000 in the 2001 census, having overtaken Montreal in the 1970s. As of 2011, the Greater Toronto Area is home to 188,710 Jews. The community in Toronto is composed of many different Jewish ethnic divisions, reflecting waves of immigration which started in the early 19th century. Canada's largest city is a centre of Jewish Canadian culture, and Toronto's Jews have played an important role in the development of the city.

I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors is a 2010 animated film by Ann Marie Fleming based on a 2006 autobiographical graphic novel by Bernice Eisenstein. In the book and its film adaptation, Eisenstein explores her own identity through the experience of her parents, both Auschwitz survivors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Shaar Hashomayim</span> Ashkenazi Orthodox synagogue in Montreal

Congregation Shaar Hashomayim is an Ashkenazi synagogue in Westmount, Quebec. Incorporated in 1846, it is the oldest Ashkenazi synagogue in Canada and the largest traditional synagogue in Canada.

Israeli Canadians are Canadian citizens of Israeli descent or Israel-born people who reside in Canada. According to the 2011 Census there were 15,010 Canadians who claimed full or partial Israeli ancestry, although it is estimated that as many as 30,000 Israelis live in Canada, making it home to one of the largest Israeli diaspora groups in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Holocaust Monument</span>

The National Holocaust Monument is a Holocaust memorial in Ottawa, Ontario, across from the Canadian War Museum at the northeast corner of Wellington and Booth Streets, and about 1.5 km away from Parliament Hill. The memorial was designed by Daniel Libeskind.

Montreal's Jewish community is one of the oldest and most populous in the country, formerly first but now second to Toronto and numbering about 82,000 in Greater Montreal according to the 2021 census. The community is quite diverse and is composed of many different Jewish ethnic divisions that arrived in Canada at different periods of time and under differing circumstances.

Vivian Felsen is a Canadian translator from French and Yiddish into English, and a visual artist of Jewish origin. She is the recipient of the Canadian Jewish Book Award (2001) and J. I. Segal Award for her translations dealing with Canadian Jewish history and Holocaust memoirs.

Morton Irwin Weinfeld is a Canadian sociologist, who has conducted studies on Canadian Jewry. He is chair in Canadian ethnic studies and former chairman of the sociology department at McGill University.

The Ontario Jewish Archives (OJA) is a community archives and the central repository for records related to Ontario's Jewish community. Located in Toronto, Ontario, what is today known as the Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, was founded in 1973. The OJA maintains records dating back to the 1850s, including photographs, newspapers and minute books. Dara Solomon has been director of the archives since 2012, following Ellen Scheinberg (2002-2011) and founding director Stephen Speisman (1973-2000).

References

  1. Baskin, Judith R. (2011). The Cambridge Dictionary of Judaism and Jewish Culture. Cambridge University Press. p. 443. ISBN   9780521825979.
  2. "Saint John, New Brunswick". Jewish Immigrant Aid Society. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  3. Chouinard, Craig (1994). "A Tale of Two Synagogues: Culture, Conflict and Consolidation in the Jewish Community of Saint John, 1906-1919". Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes. 2: 2–18. doi:10.25071/1916-0925.19784.
  4. "Jewish Post". Jewish Post. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  5. Biggs-Craft, Katherine (2016). "Documentation of the Holocaust in the Maritimes". Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes. 24: 182–186. doi:10.25071/1916-0925.39968.
  6. "Saint John Jewish Historical Museum". Saint John Jewish Historical Museum. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2012.

Further reading