Les Juifs de Montréal (high school, living in, to move)

[walkingonadream9856]

Hey there. American/Israeli Jew from NYC here. I was living in Europe and I found out that although UK Jews are Ashkenazi (white), the (besieged and shrinking) French, Belgian, and Italian Jews are Sephardic (olive/Mideastern skin tone). I'm Sephardic and since I had bad experiences in Europe, I won't go back.. But I like speaking French and French culture so I want to check out Montreal. I know Montreal has a big Jewish community which is cool for me.
Few questions -
Is the Montreal Jewish community religious? Or is it mostly secular?
Are they Anglophone or Francophone?
What areas do they live in?
Is there antisemitism? In Europe antisemitism is never from white Europeans IME nowadays, but from Muslim immigrants..

Also, what proportion of Montreal is Québécois? (By that I mean descendant of French colonists and not a visible minority, Anglo, or Jewish)

[UrbanLuis]

Few questions -
Is the Montreal Jewish community religious? Or is it mostly secular?

I think you will find a good mix of both religious and secular Jewish people.

Are they Anglophone or Francophone?

I could be wrong about this but I think most are Anglophone. It probably depends on the area.

What areas do they live in?

Cote-st-luc, Hampstead, NDG, Snowdon, Cote-des-neige, In different parts of the west Island. I also noticed a lot of Hasidic Jews in Rosemont and the Plateau, mile end area.

Is there antisemitism?

Nothing to worry about.

[Migratory Chicken]

The long-standing Ashkenazi Jewish community in Montreal is mostly English-speaking. Jews started arriving in Montreal just after the Conquest, but the bulk arrived from Eastern Europe in the late 19th century and early 20th century and largely integrated into the English-speaking community since English was at the time the prestige language. However, I believe there is also a more recent French-speaking Sephardic Jewish community that started arriving from North Africa after World War II because of Montreal's status as a largely French-speaking city. Not only this, but I've heard that they now make up almost half of Montreal's Jewish community. This said, we hear very little about them and I really don't know much so I'll defer to someone more knowledgeable.

[DawnMTL]

Originally Posted by walkingonadream9856

Is the Montreal Jewish community religious? Or is it mostly secular?

I'm secular, so every other Jew that I know is secular too. The religious Jews (Hasids) typically live in the pockets of cities within walking distance to a synagogue.

The majority are secular.

Are they Anglophone or Francophone?

Ashkenazis typically speak English as our mother tongue.
Sephardics typically speak French as their mother tongue.

Ashkenazis and Sephardics, despite the difference in mother tongue, mix often. When I was in high school (ya know, in the dark ages ), there was a good mix of both.

What areas do they live in?

Hasids, again, are typically in pockets of cities within walking distance to a synagogue. I mostly see them in Mile End, Outremont, and Cote des Neiges. Very rarely do I see them elsewhere. They are quite the insular and insulated community.

Secular Jews live pretty much everywhere, but have a larger presence in Cote St. Luc, Hampstead, Westmount, NDG, and Dollard des Ormeaux (West Island).

Is there antisemitism?

No.

[UrbanLuis]

Hasids, again, are typically in pockets of cities within walking distance to a synagogue. I mostly see them in Mile End, Outremont, and Cote des Neiges. Very rarely do I see them elsewhere. They are quite the insular and insulated community

.

Yeah, Outremont is what I meant to say earlier, not Rosemont.

[Acajack]

Good comments about the Ashkenazis and the Sephardim. I thought the Sephardim were about a third of the Jewish community in Montreal now but as they are a fast-growing segment of the community through immigration (Ashkenazis are aging, have few newcomers and tend to move out of Quebec more) it may be true that they are now close to half the community in Montreal.

Also, while it's nothing to worry about for a newcomer and not a huge deal there is a bit of language tension within some Jewish organizations as when these are older and well-established they tend to have always functioned in English but many of the Sephardim now demand and expect stuff in French, or at least bilingually in French and English. This reflex to include French has not come naturally to some of the older Jewish organizations but I think the adaptation is slowly happening anyway.

[DawnMTL]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Ashkenazis are aging, have few newcomers and tend to move out of Quebec more

True.

Many left -- a lot went to Toronto -- just before the first referendum (1980).

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by walkingonadream9856

Also, what proportion of Montreal is Québécois? (By that I mean descendant of French colonists and not a visible minority, Anglo, or Jewish)

I believe this is the only question that has not been answered yet.

The answer depends on your frame of reference. Let's use "French Canadians" as a definer for the group you are talking about. This would include descendents of French colonists and people who assimilated to them long ago and are now induistinguishable from the descendents of the colonists (often intermarried with them).

The first frame is the city proper of Montreal. As you know Montreal is an island and the city proper covers the majority of the island but not all of it, and has most of its population. In this frame of reference this group would be about 60-70% of the population.

The next frame would be the entire island. Mostly made up of the city proper but also a number of suburban municipalities where a large portion of the non-French Canadian population is concentrated. These suburban municipalities tend to have a mix of people of all origins and aren't so dominated by the French Canadian population, even if they are still present in most of them. On the island (city proper + other municipalities), French Canadians would be about 50% of the population.

Then there is the larger metro area which included the island of course at its centre, plus suburbs off the island (often very close though). There are about as many people off the island as on the island itself. With only a few exceptions, the off island suburbs tend to dominated by French Canadians in fairly large proportions. If you include the entire metro (the island plus off island population), French Canadians are close to 70% of the Montreal area's population.

And another thing. There are people who are of the Jewish faith who are for all intents and purposes old stock French Canadians and have the same cultural practices and accent as everyone else. People like journalists Pascale Déry, Lise Ravary and Normand Lester. I don't know what the life path of these people is, though. For some it might be a family heritage, whereas for others it might be a conversion.

And there are other Jewish Montrealers who might not be considered old stock French Canadians but are fully integrated with the francophone community and function as part of the gang in spite of being clearly from elsewhere originally, due to their accents. These are people like Anne-France Goldwater and Danièle Henkel.

[Migratory Chicken]

Normand Lester is Jewish? Interesting, I never knew this.

As for Anne-France Goldwater, she speaks fluent French, but she's obviously an anglophone and I think of her as such. The reason why she's present in francophone culture and media is that she isn't shy about appearing in the media, speaking French. (To say the least. Some would be less charitable about Goldwater's desire for media attention.) Danièle Henkel is I believe an immigrant. Among French immigrants to Quebec it's likely that some will be Jewish. (And I also didn't know she in particular was.)

[modernrebel]

Originally Posted by walkingonadream9856

Hey there. American/Israeli Jew from NYC here. I was living in Europe and I found out that although UK Jews are Ashkenazi (white), the (besieged and shrinking) French, Belgian, and Italian Jews are Sephardic (olive/Mideastern skin tone). I'm Sephardic and since I had bad experiences in Europe, I won't go back.. But I like speaking French and French culture so I want to check out Montreal. I know Montreal has a big Jewish community which is cool for me.
Few questions -
Is the Montreal Jewish community religious? Or is it mostly secular?
Are they Anglophone or Francophone?
What areas do they live in?
Is there antisemitism? In Europe antisemitism is never from white Europeans IME nowadays, but from Muslim immigrants..

Also, what proportion of Montreal is Québécois? (By that I mean descendant of French colonists and not a visible minority, Anglo, or Jewish)

-There are lots of secular Jews. Many are vocally pro-Palestine and anti-Israel.

-Most Jews are anglophone. The anglophone population have traditionally been much more tolerant towards Jews compared to the francophones.

-Large numbers of Montreal Jews have left the province since the 1970's when Quebec was taken over by francophone purists and became a hotbed of intolerance.

- Concentrated in Cote des Neiges, and Outrement, or wherever there is a synagogue.

- Yes there is antisemitism but no one is going to throw a brick in your window or anything like that. In 2010 CTV Montreal conducted a survey of residents of Montreal and found that Jews are the most hated minority in the city, followed closely by Muslims. Blacks and Asians were most favoured. There are also a lot of Muslims in Montreal from francophone North Africa who are not exactly fond of Jews. Since you are from New York, I can tell you with some certainty that there are alot more like this in Montreal than in the in NY.

Bear in mind that the government of Quebec is different from France, and boisterously forces the culture of the post-Catholic Québecois majority onto minorities. Don't be shocked if the government decides that all torahs need to translated into French.