The Museum of Jewish Montreal

Film Screening: The Windows on Rue Saint-Dominique
2025-09-09 19:00 - 21:00 UTC | Cinéma du Musée, 1379-A Sherbrooke St. W, Montreal, Quebec, H3G 1K3
Thirty-six stained-glass windows once illuminated the former Shomrim LaBoker synagogue on Rue Saint-Dominique. Over the years, the building was repurposed as an egg warehouse, and the windows disappeared from the premises. Filmmaker Simcha Shtull sets out to find the missing windows. The family story she uncovers paints a broader picture of the early Jewish immigrant experience in Montreal, and examines the different meanings we attach to ordinary objects.
On Tuesday, September 9, please join us and writer-director Shtull at Cinéma du Musée, for the Montreal premiere screening of The Windows on Rue Saint-Dominique. A post-screening panel discussion and wine reception will follow.
Watch the trailer here.
Post-screening panel discussion:
Simcha Shtull, filmmaker
Zev Moses, Director, Museum of Jewish Montreal
Sara Tauben, author of Traces of the Past; Montreal’s Early Synagogues
Date: Tuesday, September 9, 7:00 pm
Location: Cinéma du Musée (1379-A Rue Sherbrooke O.)
Tickets are $12 for general admission and $10 for seniors. Click here to reserve your spot.
This screening is proudly co-sponsored by Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, Congregation Shomrim Laboker, Musée McCord Stewart, Musée des Cultures du Monde, and the Museum of Jewish Montreal.

Red Light Walking Tour
2025-09-11 18:30 - 20:00 | 1111 Boulevard Saint-Laurent Montreal, 1111 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec, H2Z 1J6, Canada
Join us for a tour of Montreal’s historic Red Light District with Karen Herland! Come learn about this storied district in a walk through its landmarks and alleyways.
Sex work, especially in its most visible forms, tends to be recognized as a problem, requiring intervention and eradication. As a major transportation hub and port city, many sectors of Montreal’s economy were intertwined with the sex trade, even as police and politicians manipulated social responses (positive and negative) to the presence of a thriving Red Light District. From Maimie Pinzer to Harry Ship and through to the present day, this tour explores the social, economic, labour, cultural, racial, and gender history of Montreal through its former Red Light, which for decades thrived in the heart of Montreal’s burgeoning Jewish community.
This tour covers 150 years and 10 city blocks over 1.5-2 hours. The tour begins on the southeast corner of Boulevard René Lévesque and Boulevard St. Laurent and ends near St. Laurent Metro station.
Please note that while the tour will be led in English, questions can be asked and answered in French.
Click here to reserve your spot.
Point of Departure: We will meet on the southeast corner of Boulevard René Lévesque and Boulevard St. Laurent. Please ignore the specific address of 1111 Boulevard St. Laurent, as this is only an approximation.
Karen Herland is an author, independent researcher and educator, currently teaching at Concordia University in the Interdisciplinary Program on Sexuality Studies and Fine Arts. She published People, Potholes and City Politics: A Guide to Municipal Politics in Montreal in 1994 with Black Rose Books. Karen began researching the history of Montreal’s Red Light District after working as coordinator for Stella, a community development organization for sex workers in Montreal. Her research interests include cultural studies, urban space, sexuality studies, media and community mobilization.
Weather Policy: In the event of light rain, the tour will go on as scheduled. If there is a strong warning of heavy rain and/or thunderstorms, the tour will be postponed. All registrants will have the option to attend the rescheduled tour.
Image: Carte des bordels montréalais où les soldats ont contracté des maladies vénériennes : rapport de l’Armée sur la situation croissante des maladies vénériennes à Montréal. 1944. Archives de la Ville de Montréal. P43-3-2_V41_E521-E610_ext5op. Domaine public.

Pioneers of the Picket Line Walking Tour
2025-09-14 13:00 - 15:00 | Parc Ethel-Stark, Rue Prince-Arthur O, Montreal, Quebec, H2X 2R8, Canada
Curious to learn more about women’s involvement in Montreal’s garment history? Join us with local expert Melanie Leavitt for Pioneers of the Picket Line, a walking tour that explores the overlaps between industry, activism, and labour movements in Montreal.
From sweatshops to picket lines, discover the stories of women – union organizers, workers, and radicals – who paved the way for the modern labour movement, workers’ rights and women’s rights in Montreal. This walk will delve into the history and evolution of Montreal’s once thriving garment industry, spanning over a century. A special focus will be given to the life and work of Léa Roback (1903-2000), a pioneering union organizer, social activist, pacifist, and feminist in 20th century Québec.
This tour will begin at Ethel Stark Park, and will take approximately 2 hours. This tour will take place in English.
TICKETS:
Adults: $26
Ages 65+: $24
Students: $14
Ages 12 and Under: $8
Click here to reserve your spot.
Point of Departure: We will meet at Ethel Stark Park, located on the corner of Prince-Arthur and Clark. The tour will end at H. Fisher & Fils (4129 St-Laurent).
Weather Policy: In the event of light rain, the tour will go on as scheduled. If there is a strong warning of heavy rain and/or thunderstorms, the tour will be postponed. All registrants will have the option to attend the rescheduled tour.

Hasidic Montreal: Walking Tour
2025-09-30 17:30 - 19:00 | Quebec
Join us for a fascinating glimpse into Montreal’s Hasidic community through Outremont and the Mile End.
Formerly the home to the vast majority of Montreal’s Jews in the first part of the twentieth century, today, the leafy neighbourhood hosts dozens of Hasidic groups and their synagogues. Led by Steven Lapidus, this tour will illuminate Montreal’s Hasidic history through a tour of its institutions.
Please note this tour will be conducted in French.
Click here for tickets
Point of Departure: We will meet in front of the Mordecai Richler Library (5434 Avenue du Parc) at 5:30pm and conclude in the same place around 7:00pm
Weather Policy: In the event of light rain, the tour will go on as scheduled. If there is a strong warning of heavy rain and/or thunderstorms, the tour will be postponed. All registrants will have the option to attend the rescheduled tour.
Steven Lapidus, PhD is a Montreal-based scholar of the history of Orthodox Judaism, with a focus on North American Hasidism. A former co-curator at the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre, he has published articles and book chapters in both English and French on Canadian Jewish history and the Hasidic experience in Canada. As a long-time resident of Mile-End, his current professional engagements involve working with the borough of Outremont on improving communal relations.
