Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal
building in Quebec, Canada
The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal, also known as Shearith Israel, is an Orthodox synagogue, located at 4894 Avenue Saint-Kevin in Snowdon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The synagogue is the oldest Jewish congregation in Canada. The congregation traces its history from 1760 and was formally established in 1768. It is affiliated with the Orthodox Union.
Architecture
The Congregation first assembled in a room or hall on St. James Street. By 1777 the community felt itself able to erect and support a synagogue. Lazarus David had died in 1776 but on August 14, 1777 his widow, Phoebe, sold for 1200 French livres part of David's property to three of the congregation's leading members, Samuel Judah, Simon Levy and Andrew Hays, recently married to her daughter Abigail (Branny). The building, completed the following year, stood behind a low stone wall, had a high red roof, and was located at the junction of Little St. James and Notre Dame Streets, a site now partially occupied by the Palais de justice.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal” is building in Quebec, Canada. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Spanish, Portuguese and Synagogue, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “building in Quebec, Canada” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3481689. Authority coordinates are 45.490, -73.632. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1760, 1768, 1777 and 1776.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
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- Expand the search: follow Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal primary sources, Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal archive and Spanish research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.