It is un likely that much changed at the Congregation Temple Solomon since it was built in 1921. The oldest operating synagogue in the city of Montreal what is known as Bagg St. synagogue, is much smaller and simpler than what most contemprary kids are used to. Sure, the aqua blue walls have been painted over the years, but the narrowing pews and stacks of old disintegrating prayer books speak of another era.
While the temple itself was much the way it was when people of my age (72) attended services there, much around it has changed. The neighbourhood, known at the time as the Jewish quarter, was a bustling collection of 27 small synagogues, crowded homes and Jewish merchants. The street signs were in Yiddish.
The bathhouse (known as Schubert Bath in those days) just down the street of the synagogue, where the resident went to get a hot bath, particulary right before the Friday sabbath (erev Shabbos). And just around the corner were the offices of the daily Yiddish newspaper, the Canadian Eagle, that kept the local community about 50,000 informed.
This is the area, that I grew up in, and infact, on Oct.19,1999, my son & his wife came to visit us. We took them to see this shul and area. We also took them to see the streets where we lived. Nothing much has changed there either. Especially the narrow streets. I remember it all very well.
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10/30/99 7:28:55 PM