Canada's Jews

Ira Robinson is Professor of Judaic studies in the Department of Religion of Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec. He is President of the Canadian Society for Jewish Studies. His latest books are: Rabbis and Their Community: Studies in the Eastern European Orthodox Rabbinate in Montreal, 1896-1930 (2007) and Translating a Tradition: Studies in American Jewish History (2009).

“This collection of 26 essays offers a comprehensive snapshot of the history of Jews in Canada, their contemporary situation, their spiritual/cultural life, and their representation in Canadian literature. . . . The essays are written in a clear style largely by experts in their respective fields. . . . This book would serve equally well as a University text book on Canadian Jewish Studies for the uninitiated and as an introduction to the topic for the curious lay person.”

• Preface -- In Time: Canada's Jews & Their History; Jews & New France; Jewish beginnings under the British (eighteenth century); Jews in British North America (nineteenth century); Eastern European Jewish immigration & its impact: Farming Colonies & the West; Eastern European Jewish immigration & its impact: Quebec & Ontario; Jewish Labour; Jews & the Political & Social Life of Canada (to 1945): anti-Semitism; Zionism; Canadian Jewish Congress; Jews in Post-war Canada: Holocaust survivors, Sephardim, Russians & Israelis, Federations & Communal Governance; Part II: In Space: a Survey of Jews in Contemporary Canada -- Toronto; Montreal; Vancouver; Winnipeg; Maritimes; Central Canada (not including Toronto & Montreal ); Prairies (not including Winnipeg ); West & North (not including Vancouver); Part III. In Spirit: the Religious & Cultural Expressions of Canadian Jews -- Ashkenazic Orthodox: Hasidic, Modern, Kashrut; Sephardic; Non-Orthodox: Conservative, Reconstructionist & Reform; Languages, Literatures & Cultures -- Yiddish; Jews in Canadian literature; Jews in Quebec literature; Canadian Jewish Studies; Conclusion; Index.