"Tearing down stereotypes about Jews, Richard Marceau tells us about himself, using his own story to convey Jewish history and culture. He draws an original portrait of the State of Israel, the role it plays in today's Jewish identity, and helps us discover Quebec's Jewish community. Denouncing prejudices and intellectual dishonesty, identifying himself as a pro-Palestinian Zionist, Richard Marceau calls for a respectful dialogue, promoting both the legitimacy of the Jewish State of Israel and the creation of an independent Palestinian state."--pub. desc.

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 traces the evolution and execution of Canadian immigration policy during the Great Depression, when the pressure of unemployment prevented large-scaleimmigration of any kind, through World War II and its aftermath. During this period, immigration regulations were restrictive, with Jews, Orientals and blacks at the bottom of the list. The authors describe how, as in all democracies, Canada's policies and her public servants were subject to the will of the people and to political considerations.

WINNER 2001 CANADIAN JEWISH BOOK AWARDS Izzy and Betty Kirshenbaum FoundationPrize for Yiddish translation Montreal of Yesterday was originally published in Yiddish in 1947. It had earlier appeared in installments in the pages of the Keneder Adler - the Canadian Eagle - Montreal's legendary Yiddish-language newspaper. For the first time, this captivating classic on Jewish immigrant life in Montreal (1900-1920) is available in English. In the 54 short chapters of Montreal of Yesterday Medres writes with charm and gentle humour about immigrant life, class divisions, the first socialists, the first Jewish bookstore, Canadian life, the press, art and business, Yiddish vaudeville, politics and citizenship, Jewish soldiers, writers, the poor, and religious observance.

"How Montreal's Yiddish community ensured its lasting cultural importance and influence."--WorldCat.

Jews and French Quebecers recounts a saga of intense interest for the whole of Canada, let alone societies elsewhere. This work, now translated into English, represents the viewpoints of two friends from differing cultural and religious traditions. One is a French Quebecer and a Christian; the other is Jewish and also calls Quebec his home. Both men are bilingual. Jacques Langlais and David Rome examine the merging — through alterations of close co-operation and socio-political clashes — of two Quebec ethno-cultural communities: one French, already rooted in the land of Quebec and its religio-cultural tradition; the other, Jewish, migrating from Europe through the last two centuries, equally rooted in its Jewish-Yiddish tradition. In Quebec both communities have learned to build and live together as well as to share their respective cultural heritages. This remarkable experience, two hundred years of intercultural co-vivance, in a world fraught with ethnic tensions serves as a model for both Canada and other countries.