Northern Lights

This series might be called Across the Jew.S.A, but for our final trip of 2023, we’re heading north to explore a different flavor of North American Jewry: Montreal Jews.

We start with a tour of the Plateau-Mont-Royal, the historic heart of Jewish Montreal, led by Zev Moses, the founder and executive director of the Museum of Jewish Montreal. The tour included a delicious stop at Fairmount Bagel, whose wares we scarfed down while Moses regaled us with the history of Jewish Montreal: a story of dueling languages and lifestyles that makes today’s Jewish community unique and uniquely strong.

There was more food, of course, thanks to Kat Romanow of The Wandering Chew, which preserves and revitalizes Jewish food traditions through immersive culinary experiences. But as we quickly realized on our journey, food in Montreal is simply the jumping-off point for a deeper discussion of immigration, assimilation (or not), and identity.

Here’s our visit to Montreal:

Across the JEW.S.A is created with support from the Jewish Federations of North America.