History of the Jews in Quebec - (Canadian Studies) by Pierre Anctil (Paperback)

About the Book

How did Québécois society affect the evolution of Judaism in Montreal? What influence did the Jewish presence have throughout the province? This book examines the history of the complex and fascinating relationship Jews have had with Québécois society over a span of four centuries.

Book Synopsis

The presence of Jews in Quebec dates back four centuries. Quebec Jewry, in Montreal in particular, has evolved over time, thanks to successive waves of migration from different regions of the world. The Jews of Quebec belong to a unique society in North America, which they have worked to fashion. The dedication with which they have defended their rights and their extensive achievements in multiple sectors of activity have helped foster diversity in Quebec.

This work recounts the different contributions Jews have made over the years, along with the cultural context that encouraged the emergence in Montreal of a Jewish community like no other in North America.

This is the first overview of a history that began during the French Regime and continued, through many twists and turns, up to the turn of the twenty-first century.

This book won the J.I. Segal Award (Jewish Public Library, Montreal), as well as the Governor General's Literary Awards (Translation).

Review Quotes

History of the Jews in Quebec represents the summation of its author's distinguished scholarly career. As the first comprehensive history to focus specifically on the Jews of that Canadian province, the original publication (L'histoire des Juifs du Québec, 2017) was justly honoured with the J. I. Segal Award in 2018. The English-language edition, ably translated by Judith Weisz Woodsworth, was accorded the Governor's General Literary Award in 2022. The multilingual sources from the original edition have been skilfully integrated into this translation.--Zachary M. Baker, Stanford University "Canadian Jewish Studies / Études Juives Canadiennes, 35, 119-123. Retrieved from https: //cjs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cjs/article/view/40324"

Buttressed by previously untapped French and Yiddish sources, and originally published in a French language edition in 2017, it is the culmination of 30 years of research by Anctil, a University of Ottawa historian. (...) Anctil, in History of the Jews in Quebec, has written an erudite, comprehensive, sympathetic and empathetic account of a deeply-rooted minority that has made stellar contributions to Canada's predominately French province.

https: //sheldonkirshner.com/the-jews-of-quebec/
https: //blogs.timesofisrael.com/history-of-the-jews-in-quebec/

--Sheldon Kirshner "Sheldon Kirshner Journal, reproduced in The Times of Israël"

This sweeping survey of the Jewish experience in the province from the 18th century to modern times is set against the massive social, political and economic changes Quebec underwent. It is a unique story, unlike that of any other Jewish community in North America.
https: //thecjn.ca/news/pierre-anctil-quebec/

--Janice Arnold "The CJN (Canadian Jewish News)"

Ably translated into English by Judith Weisz Woodsworth (...)

https: //sheldonkirshner.com/the-jews-of-quebec/
https: //blogs.timesofisrael.com/history-of-the-jews-in-quebec/

--Sheldon Kirshner "Sheldon Kirshner Journal, reproduced in The Times of Israël"

"Historian Pierre Anctil has just published a masterful, comprehensive, and fascinating book, History of the Jews in Quebec, in which he recounts four centuries of Jewish life in Quebec. A work that will go down in the annals of Jewish history in Canada."-- "The Canadian Jewish News, Montréal, 23 November 2017"

"Pierre Anctil tells the history of two minorities--Jews within Quebec and Francophones within Canada--with erudition. This overview is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand contemporary Quebec and Canada: it places the history of the Jews in Quebec at the very heart of Quebec history, and makes it one of its cornerstones."-- "Archives juives, Paris, vol. 52, no 2, 2019"

It was both a delight and a privilege to have translated Pierre Ancil's masterly history of the Jews in Quebec. A book of scholarly significance, it reads like a novel documenting the travails, dedication and joys of successive generations of Jewish immigrants.--Judith Weisz Woodsworth "Judith Weisz Woodsworth"

Judith Weisz Woodsworth's flawless translation renders Pierre Anctil's formidable socio-historical work accessible to an English-speaking audience. It replicates the engaging style of the original with enthusiasm and rigour. Weisz Woodsworth fully captures the scholarly but compelling prose of this essential overview. Her translation of the extensive documentation is equally masterful.--#GGBooks2022 jury (Anita Anand, Chantal Bilodeau and Steven Urquhart) "Governor General's Literary Awards 2022"

About the Author

Pierre Anctil is an award-winning author, a member of the Royal Society of Canada since 2012 and a professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa, where he taught contemporary Canadian history and Canadian Jewish history. He has written at length on the history of Montreal's Jewish community and on the current debates on cultural pluralism in Canada.
His most recent English-language titles are History of the Jews in Quebec (2021), Jacob Isaac Segal: A Montreal Yiddish Poet and His Milieu (2017) and A Reluctant Welcome for Jewish People: Voices in Le Devoir's Editorials, 1910-1947 (2019), all at the University of Ottawa Press.