Past Events

Since there are eight crazy nights during the festival of lights, why not celebrate one of them playing some trivia?! On December 14, join us for some exciting rounds of Hanukkah-themed trivia. Whether you're a pop culture enthusiast, history buff, foodie, or all of the above, you can expect categories for every taste. Don't worry – we play fair! Emceeing our trivia will be none other than Sarah Deshaies, who will make sure that you leave no questions unanswered (unless…

Is your New Year's Resolution to get out more? Meet new people? Shake up your usual date night? Calling all queer moms for a night of snacking, drinking, wisdom from a queer jewish parent, and semi-structured socializing. Organized by MJM microgrant recipient Talia Ralph, the Museum of Jewish Montreal is hosting a night for queer moms of all stripes to let their hair down, skip the small talk, and make a new friend (or four). On the eve of Tu-Bishvat, come…

On February 18, join us for a candle-making workshop that explores participatory ritual, tradition, and ancestral connection. Facilitated by artist Sof Kreidstein, this creative workshop is focused on the old Ashkenazi custom of making soul candles out of beeswax. This centuries-old practice, called feldmestn (Yiddish) was carried out by women in Eastern Europe who would measure the graves of their ancestors with wick thread, making candles as a connective channel between the dead and the living. During the workshop, guests will learn all…

Not tired yet of the back-and-forth thinking about what it means to be Jewish? Looking for connections with other “not Jewish enough,” “Jew-ish,” or “WIP” Jews? Well, this writing workshop might be just what you need. Facilitated by Karl Ponthieux Stern, one of the Museum of Jewish Montreal's (MJM) microgrant recipients, Doikayt, on being here and loving it is an interactive writing workshop dedicated to the complexities of navigating diasporic Jewishness. Meaning "hereness" or "diasporism," the Yiddish term doikayt refers to how Jewish communities are…

For the 21st edition of Nuit Blanche à Montreal, join us for an evening to celebrate art, culture, and music in our city. Stop by to visit our ongoing exhibition BACK RIVER by Montreal-based artist Sonia Bazar, who will be in attendance throughout the evening. A bar stocked with alcoholic and non-alcoholic options (paid by card only) will be open. Local DJs and musicians will be setting the mood all through the night. Admission is free and all are welcome!…

Please join us for a special tour of our current exhibition BACK RIVER that reveals the ongoing research behind the exhibition and the many hidden stories of the Back River Cemetery. Led by researchers from Concordia University's School of Community and Public Affairs, Dr. Anna Sheftel and Department of History, Naomi Frost, alongside artist Sonia Bazar, participants will have the chance to learn about the process of and fascinating reciprocal relationship between research and art-making. The 45-minute discussion will conclude with…

Calling all queens, kings, and bon-vivants! We’re having a Purim party again and you’re invited! On March 21, come dressed in your most dazzling disguise and join us for a celebration that you won’t want to miss. Featuring a costume contest with chances to win prizes from our favourite local vendors, sweets, music, and a drag performance, there’s no reason you wouldn’t want to celebrate one of our most spectacular holidays. Tickets start at $10 for students and $15 for…

Have you ever wondered about the connections between plants and Jewish rituals? To kick off spring, join us with Celia Robinovitch for an interactive workshop about Jewish herbalism. A part of our Microgrant Program for Creative or Cultural Exploration, this workshop will look at the plants central to Jewish traditions, culture, and healing methods. This interactive workshop will give participants a chance to play with (and take home!) a colorful variety of dried herbs and spices while learning about their…

Ring in the Passover season by learning a new skill! Join us for a workshop on linocut printmaking. On April 7, Damián Birbrier will facilitate a 3-hour workshop, which will instruct guests on how to design, prepare, and produce their own prints using the linocut technique, otherwise known as block printing. With Passover just around the corner, this workshop will be geared towards creating a cover for your Haggadah – though guests are more than welcome to create prints for…

What can we learn from “the ordinary”? The varied work of architect Maxwell M. Kalman (1906–2009) poses this question in the context of Montreal’s urban landscape. On Thursday, May 2, please join us for an opening reception to celebrate the Museum of Jewish Montreal's first heritage exhibition at our Mile End home, Maxwell Kalman: Lessons from the Ordinary. This display is a photographic retrospective of the career of Maxwell M. Kalman, who designed buildings for Montreal's working class, affluent families, as…

Join us on Sunday, May 5 for a special look inside the holdings of the Jewish Museum Berlin, presented by head archivist Aubrey Pomerance. The Jewish Museum Berlin is one of the outstanding institutions on the European museum landscape. The family collections that have been donated to the museum by German Jewish families and their descendants from around the world offer a fascinating insight into almost all aspects of Jewish life in Germany: religious practice, family life and celebrations, education, military service,…

On May 7th, join Rabbi Adina Lewittes and musician Ryan Stotland for an exploration of psychology through song and scripture. This 75-minute program will weave together original music and deep Jewish teachings to explore how to harness the complexities of our brains and the stressors of contemporary life in the search for more mindful, grounded living. Over the course of the night, we’ll take a new look at ideas such as the gift of stress, the success of failure and…

On May 14, we invite you to join us at the Museum of Jewish Montreal to celebrate the launch of Ben Gonshor's debut novel, The Book of Izzy. Accompanying the author for a discussion will be literary translator Sebastian Schulman. Complimentary wine and refreshments will be provided. Copies of The Book of Izzy will be available for purchase, with thanks to Bibliophile Bookstore. Please note that pre-registration is required for all who wish to attend. Click here to reserve your spot.  About The Book of…

On June 2, join artist Sonia Bazar for a walking tour of the Back River Cemetery and Memorial Gardens, one of the city’s oldest Jewish cemeteries located in Ahuntsic, and the subject of Bazar’s ongoing solo exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Montreal, on view until June 9. Guests will be immersed in the cemetery’s tumultuous 140-year history as Bazar dives into the circumstances behind its founding, evolution, and near-abandonment. Informed by research conducted by Bazar, Dr. Anna Sheftel, and…

How can exploring a family archive transform our understanding of the collective present? The Past Is Before You by Montreal-born artist Arnie Lipsey explores this question by considering how memories can be examined, reimagined and even uplifted, shedding new light on the artist’s personal history. An exercise in catharsis, Lipsey’s paintings forgo linear time, choosing instead to collapse the past, present, and future. Each work begins with an archival family photograph, and branches out into thematic explorations of war, survival, immigration,…