Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal

The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal, also known as Shearith Israel, is a Montreal synagogue, located on St. Kevin Street in Snowdon, which is the oldest Jewish congregation in Canada. The Congregation traces its history back to 1760 and was formally established in 1768. It is affiliated with the Orthodox Union.Some of the notable Rabbis of the synagogue have included Jacob Raphael Cohen (1738 - 1811), Abraham de Sola (1825 - 1882) and his son Meldola de Sola (1853 - 1919).The current senior rabbi is Rabbi Shachar Orenstein. Rabbi Howard Joseph, who has served the community since 1970, is Rabbi Emeritus.ArchitectureThe first synagogue building, and the first non-Catholic house of worship built in the province of Quebec, was built in the Old City on Chenneville Street in 1838. The Judeo-Egyptian style temple-like building had a front of cut stone, adorned with a portico with two columns. This was the only formal place for Jewish worship in Montréal until 1846. Charles T. Ballard, architect, designed a new and larger synagogue for the Spanish and Portuguese Congregation on Stanley Street in the Egyptian Revival style of architecture in 1887–1890.The congregation has been housed in its fourth premises in the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce area of Montreal since 1947.