קהילת יהודי מונטריאול

Louis Rubenstein (1861-1931), figure skater and politician, born in Montreal, Canada, to parents who had immigrated from Poland. He represented Canada in the 1889 unofficial world championships for figure skating which were held in St Petersburg, Russia, and won the gold medal. Largely as a result of his efforts, the Amateur Skating Association of Canada was formed and he remained its president until his death. After retirement from skating in 1892, Rubenstein became involved in the sports of bowling, curling, and cycling. He was elected president of the Canadian Bowling Association in 1895, president of the International Skating Union of America in 1909. From 1913-1915 he was president of the Montreal amateur Athletic Association. In 1981 he was made a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
He was alderman in St. Louis ward of Montreal from 1916 until 1931.

ג'ורג' לונדון נולד בשם ג'ורג' בורשטיין) (1920- 1985), זמר בס-בריטון. נולד במונטריאול, קנדה. למד בלוס-אנג'לס אצל הוגו סטרליצר, נתן סטיוארט ואנריקו רוסאטי. הופעת הבכורה שלו כזמר אופרה נערכה ב-1941. אחר כך התקבל לאופרה של סן-פרנציסקו. בשנים 1956-1949 שר באופרה של וינה והיה זמר אורח בביירוית (1951), בלה סקאלה (1952), במטרופוליטן אופרה בניו-יורק ובמוסקבה (1960). ב-1967 חדל להופיע. ב-1972 התמנה למנהל תיאטרון האופרה של דרום קליפורניה בלוס-אנג'לס. נפטר בארמונק, ניו-יורק.

ליאונרד כהן (1934-2016) זמר ומלחין.

נולד במונטריאול, קנדה. מילות שיריו עוסקות בייאוש קיומי, בעוד שהמוסיקה שלו מבוססת על סגנון הפולקלור והרוק. שיריו נחלו הצלחה רבה והם מבוצעים גם על ידי זמרים אחרים.

משה דנבורג (נ. 1949) מוזיקאי, מלחין, מעבד ומכוון פסנתרים.

דנבורג גדל בבית דתי במונטריאול בקנדה. בשנת 1982 עבר למערב קנדה וצבר ניסיון כמלחין, מעבד ומכוון פסנתרים. בין השנים 1986-1990 למד קומפזיציה עם ג'ון סלונה באוניברסיטת ויקטוריה ובשנת 2000 ייסד את התזמורת הבין-תרבותית של ונקובר (Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra), שם עובד כמנהל מוזיקאלי עד היום.

כיום דנבורג משמש כזמר וגיטריסת ראשי בלהקה צימעס, אשר הקים בשנת 1986. דנבורג מנגן ברחבי העולם וממלא תפקיד פעיל בחינוך מוזיקה יהודית. כראש הלהקה צימעס הוא דואג לנגינת והנגשת מוזיקה יהודית מגוונת ממקורות מערביים וחוץ-מערביים. הוא עשה שימוש בכלי נגינה רבים מכל העולם כולל כלי נגינה ממזרח הודו, סין, יפן, ארצות ערב,  ועוד.

Edgar Bronfman (1929-2013), philanthropist, international Jewish communal leader, businessman, born in Montreal, Canada. His father was the founder of Distillers Corporation Limited, which in 1928 purchased what was then the largest distiller in the world, Seagram Co Ltd.

After graduating from McGill University in Montreal with a B.A. degree in 1951, he joined the family business. In 1957, he took over as head of Seagram's American subsidiary, he increased the range of products sold by the company, improved distribution, and expanded the number of countries in which Seagram's products were sold. In 1966, Cemp Investments, which managed the family's investments, bought 820,000 shares of MGM and in 1969 Bronfman took over the chairmanship of MGM for a short time. Following his father's death in 1971, Bronfman took over as president, treasurer, and director of Distillers Corporation-Seagrams Ltd.

In 1979, Bronfman was asked to take over as acting head of the World Jewish Congress. Bronfman was formally elected President two years later. Bronfman “turned the World Jewish Congress into a preeminent international Jewish organization and broadened its base by bringing in new member communities in Eastern Europe and other countries. Through the campaigns to free Soviet Jewry, the exposure of the Nazi past of Austrian President Kurt Waldheim and the campaign to compensate victims of the Holocaust and their heirs, notably in the case of the Swiss banks, Bronfman became well known internationally during the 1980s and 1990s. Among the initiatives Bronfman supported were the Jewish college organization Hillel, a major scholarship program for young Jews from Israel and North America called the Bronfman Youth Fellowships, and the educational website MyJewishLearning.com.

After Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union in 1985, Bronfman was invited to the Kremlin and on September 8–11, visited Moscow, becoming the first World Jewish Congress President to be formally received in Moscow by Soviet Officials. Bronfman met with Gorbachev, and initiated talks of a Soviet Jewish airlift and called on the Soviet Union to resume diplomatic relations with Israel.

In a Washington Post profile a few months after the September trip, Bronfman laid out what he thought had been accomplished during his September meetings. He said, "There's going to be a buildup of pressure through the business community. The Russians know the Soviet Jewry issue is tied to trade... My guess is that over a period of time, five to ten years, some of our goals will be achieved." In March 1987, Bronfman along with fellow delegates of the World Jewish Congress, flew to Moscow once again. Bronfman held three days of discussions with senior Soviet officials. Together, Bronfman and the World Jewish Congress delegates advocated for the freeing of the Jews living under Soviet rule.

On June 25, 1982, Bronfman became the first representative of a Jewish organization to speak before the United Nations. He argued that , "world peace cannot tolerate the denial of the legitimacy of Israel or any other nation-state ... [and the] charge that Zionism is racism is an abomination." Bronfman's goals for the visit were threefold. In his book, "The Making of a Jew", he explained: First, he called for the release of all so-called Prisoners of Zion, the Jews imprisoned for expressing a desire to emigrate to Israel. Bronfman also wanted freedom for Jews in the Soviet Union to practice their religion. Finally, he called for the freedom for Soviet Jews to learn Hebrew, which was forbidden at the time.

A year later, in 1988, Bronfman returned to Moscow to meet with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze This trip resulted in the Soviets promising to legalize the teaching of Hebrew in the Soviet Union and to establish a Jewish cultural center in Moscow. Bronfman said of this visit, "By their actions, they are indicating that they are eager to get the question of Jewish rights and emigration off the bargaining table. And it is actions, rather than simply words, that count."

In 1986, during Bronfman's presidency, the World Jewish Congress accused Austrian President Kurt Waldheim of covering up his past connections to the Nazi party. It was when Waldheim became a candidate for President of Austria that the World Jewish Congress first published material showing Waldheim's active duty in the German army during war time. This evidence was later used to prove that Waldheim must have known about the deportation of Jews to concentration camps, though Waldheim's service as an Austrian in the German army cannot be considered a war crime. Waldheim had served as an intelligence officer in a unit of the army that participated in the transfer of Greek Jews to death camps.

The allegations against Waldheim resulted in public embarrassment for the Austrian president. He was on the U.S. Justice Department's list of undesirable visitors in April 1987. On May 5, 1987, Bronfman spoke to the World Jewish Congress saying Waldheim was "part and parcel of the Nazi killing machine". Waldheim subsequently filed a lawsuit against Bronfman, but dropped the suit shortly after due to a lack of evidence in his favor.

In the late 1990s, Bronfman championed the cause of restitution from Switzerland for Holocaust survivors. He began an initiative that led to the $1.25 billion settlement from Swiss banks. The Swiss banks, the United States Government, and Jewish groups investigated unclaimed assets deposited by European Jews into Swiss banks before the Holocaust. Negotiations began in 1995 between the U.S. and Switzerland. The parties reached a settlement in August 1998, and signed the $1.25 billion settlement in January 1999. In exchange for the settlement money, both parties agreed to release the Swiss banks and government from any claims regarding the Holocaust.

President Bill Clinton awarded Bronfman the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999.

Stanley M. Diamond (b. 1933), founder and executive director of Jewish Records Indexing – Poland (JRI-Poland), family historian, lecturer, and author, born in Montreal, Canada. He was educated at McGill University, Montreal (B. Commerce 1954), and Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, USA (MBA 1958).

Diamond was the Founder and Chairman of Intalite International Group of Companies (1960 – 1986). 

Diamond is the Founder and Executive Director of Jewish Records Indexing – Poland (JRI-Poland), an award-winning international project to create an Internet-searchable index of all surviving Jewish vital records of Poland.  Launched in early 1995, JRI - Poland is the largest fully searchable database of indexes to Jewish vital records accessible online with many millions of records from more than 550 Polish towns. 

A dedicated family historian for more than 25 years, Diamond was the founder and president of the  Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal; a genealogist member of genetic research project team with McGill University ‑ Montreal Children's Hospital and Hebrew University‑Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem -  research related to Beta‑Thalassemia genetic trait in Ashkenazi Jewish families (1994-2006).  He was also a Founding Board Member of International Institute of Jewish Genealogy, Jerusalem, and served as consultant to producers of "Who Do You Think You Are?" television series, episodes on NBC, CBC, BBC and ABC (Australia) and “Finding Your Roots” television series on PBS (USA), (since 2007). 

His publications include “An Update on Jewish Records Indexing-Poland: Phase Three”, Avotaynu, The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Winter 2016; "New Developments in Research of Polish-Jewish Records", Avotaynu,  Spring 2013; “The Role of the Jewish Genealogist in Medical and Genetic Family History”, Avotaynu, Spring 2007; “How I Traced the Beta Thalassemia Trait”,  Avotaynu, Winter 2006; “A Jewish Genealogist’s Wish List”, Avotaynu, Spring 2003; "The 1915-1932 Canadian Naturalization Index", Avotyanu, Fall 2002; "Indexing the Jewish Vital Records of Quebec 1841-1942", Avotaynu, Summer 2002;  Documenting the Fate of the Jews of Ostrów Mazowiecka", Avotyanu, Fall 2001; "Shtetl-Based Jewish Genealogical Research", Avotyanu, Spring 1998; "Jewish Vital Records Research in Quebec", Shem Tov, Journal of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada (Toronto), June 1998.  He is co‑author of "Probable Identity by Descent and Discovery of Familial Relationships by Means of a Rare B‑Thalassemia Haplotype", Human Mutation, Volume 9, No. 1, 1997. 

Diamond was awarded the Government of Canada Meritorious Service Medal (2017); Nominated for the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2016), and Canada Export Award (1984).   

 יעקב יצחק סגל (1896- 1954), משורר, נולד בסולובקובצי, אוקראינה (אז חלק מאימפריה הרוסית). הוא היגר למונטריאול, קנדה, ב-1911. התגורר חמש שנים בניו-יורק (1928-1923) ואחר כך שב למונטריאול.
שיריו הרבים פורסמו בכתבי עת אמריקניים מרכזיים ביידיש. ספרי השירה שלו כוללים את "פון מיין וועלט" (1918), "ספר יידיש" (1950) ו"לעצטע לידער" (1955). נפטר במונטריאול, קנדה.

ילד וילדה עם הדגל הציוני. גלויית שנה טובה שנשלחה לגלזגו, סקוטלנד, מונטריאול, קנדה, 1910
(המרכז לתיעוד חזותי ע"ש אוסטר, בית התפוצות, באדיבות חיים שטייר, חיפה)

הסופר יצחק בשביס-זינגר, בשיחה עם חברי קהילת
"תפארת בית דוד ירושלים" לאחר הרצאה שנתן,
מונטריאול, קנדה 1979.
צילום: מיכאל סולמן, קנדה.
(המרכז לתיעוד חזותי ע"ש אוסטר, בית התפוצות,
באדיבות מיכאל סולמן, קנדה)

חברי המניין הספרדית "שובה ישראל" השוכן בבנין
קהילת "בית הלל", חוגגים הכנסת ספר תורה חדש,
מונטריאול, קנדה 1979.
צילום: מיכאל (מל) סולמן, קנדה.
(המרכז לתיעוד חזותי ע"ש אוסטר, בית התפוצות,
באדיבות מיכאל סולמן, קנדה)