Canada's Jews

Canada is home to one of the world’s largest and most culturally creative Jewish communities, one of the few in the Diaspora that continues to grow demographically. With its ability to mirror trends found in Jewish communities elsewhere (particularly the United States) while simultaneously functioning as a distinct society, Canada’s Jewish community holds great interest for scholars, exercising a measurable influence on the culture and politics of World Jewry. Consisting of a series of essays written by experts in their respective fields, Canada’s Jews is a topical encyclopaedia, covering a wide variety of topics, from history and religion to the intellectual and cultural contributions of Canada’s Jews. An indispensable reference book for both laypeople and for scholars of Jewish and Canadian studies.

Robinson Ira :

Ira Robinson is Chair in Quebec and Canadian Jewish Studies in the Department of Religions and Cultures at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, where has taught since 1979. He has written, edited, and translated seventeen books, including Cyrus Adler: Selected Letters, which won the Kenneth Smilen Award for Judaica non-fiction; Renewing Our Days: Montreal Jews in the Twentieth Century, which won a Toronto Jewish Book Award; Moses Cordovero's Introduction to Kabbala: An Annotated Translation of His Or Ne'erav; Rabbis and Their Community: Studies in the Eastern European Orthodox Rabbinate in Montreal, 1896-1930, which won a J.I. Segal Prize; A History of Antisemitism in Canada; History, Memory, and Jewish Identity, and, most recently, Les Juifs Hassidiques de Montréal (2019). He is president of the Canadian Society for Jewish Studies, and past president of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies and the Jewish Public Library of Montreal. He is the 2013 winner of the Louis Rosenberg Canadian Jewish Studies Distinguished Service Award of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies.Ira Robinson is Professor of Judaic studies in the Department of Religion of Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec. He is President of the Canadian Society for Jewish Studies. His latest books are: Rabbis and Their Community: Studies in the Eastern European Orthodox Rabbinate in Montreal, 1896-1930 (2007) and Translating a Tradition: Studies in American Jewish History (2009).

Susan Landau-Chark, Metivta of Ottawa:
“Canada’s Jews has the potential to be a “go-to” resource for Canadian Jewish studies, to be used as a textbook and reference book. It is up to those in the field to promote and encourage its use.”

Leah Cohen:
“This collection of 26 essays offers a comprehensive snapshot of the history of Jews in Canada, their contemporary situation, their spiritual/cultural life, and their representation in Canadian literature. . . . The essays are written in a clear style largely by experts in their respective fields. . . . This book would serve equally well as a University text book on Canadian Jewish Studies for the uninitiated and as an introduction to the topic for the curious lay person.”