Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom

Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, Westmount is a Reform synagogue in Westmount, Quebec. It is the oldest “Liberal” or “Reform” synagogue in Canada, incorporated on March 30, 1883 (the Bill of the incorporation was granted under the Act of Incorporation (46 Victoria 1883) by the Quebec Provincial Legislature), and is the only Reform congregation in Quebec.HistoryThe founding meeting for the Reform congregation, later to be known as Temple Emanuel, was held on August 23, 1882, in Lindsay Hall, St. Catherine Street West. The attendees included the leading trustees of the English, German and Polish Congregation (known then as the St. Constant Street Synagogue, now known as the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue) and the Portuguese Congregation – Shearith Israel (now known as Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal) (Both congregations were the only ones in Montreal at the time and were Orthodox).The May 2, 1884 issue of Hamelitz, a Russian newspaper printed in Hebrew, record of events that lead up to the breakaway of members who would create "Temple Emanuel".Rabbi Samuel Marks became the congregation's first Minister, lecturer and teacher. He came from the United States bringing with him the “new ideas of Reform”.The first services of Temple were held in Albert Hall, of the Zion Church, at the foot of Beaver Hall Hill Street at Latour Street.The First Temple Sanctuary was erected on Cyprus Street at Stanley Street in 1892.In September, 1911, Temple Emanu-El's new building, at the corner of Elm and Sherbrooke streets in Westmount, was dedicated. The Temple Emanu-el was enlarged in 1922. The building, which was destroyed by fire, featured a cruciform plan and Romanesque detailing resembling a church. The building included facilities for education, social gatherings and auxiliary groups, and an auditoriumlike sanctuary with mixed seating. It was one of the first Canadian congregations based on the Reform service.