ALUMNI QUARTERLY
SPRING 1997
Renewal:
THE BAGG STREET SYNAGOGUE
by Janice Paskey

Technically, it's the Beth Solomon Synagogue, but no one calls it that. Instead, Montreal's last downtown synagogue, at the corner of Clark and Bagg Streets, is known simply as the Bagg Street Synagogue. Although it is the synagogue nearest to McGill, the dwindling orthodox congregation of 11 elderly men went unnoticed until last year. That's when McGill social work professor Jim Torczyner moved into the neighbourhood and stumbled upon the historic, if tattered, building during an afternoon walk.

"This is going to be a project," announced his wife, Jadis Norman, a social worker. Heeding her sage advice, Torczyner asked some students to investigate by attending synagogue and observing. Joe Brick, the retired electrician who has managed the synagogue since the sixties, welcomed the youthful faces. "I love the boys and the girls," he says. "Our survival depends on the students."

The Bagg Street Synagogue had been left behind as more affluent English Jews moved to western districts of Montreal. The Plateau Mont-Royal area made so famous by writer Mordecai Richler is now inhabited largely by a transient student population.

Moving from observation to action, the social work students organized a special Friday night dinner last March that drew 100 students and synagogue regulars. The first wedding in anyone's memory was held last Labour Day.

This year, McGill work-study students Shira Fine, Hirut Eyob, Jared Isaacson and Bena Medjuck are encouraging McGill students to use the synagogue (attendance is free for students). They are looking at how the aging building can be designated an historic building by the city of Montreal and researching sources of renovation funds.

"An institution like McGill has a social responsibility to the community it lays claim to," Torczyner declares. Few could argue.

Services are Saturday morning at 9 am, 3919 Clark St. There is no telephone.

Above Painting: Yves Landry. This image was created for the Bagg Street Klezmer Band (see music review).