Jews have been part of, and contributors to, Quebec society since the 1760s. The first non-Catholic place of worship in Quebec was a synagogue, established in 1768. In 1807, Ezekiel Hart became the first Jew elected to political office in the western world when he was voted into the Legislative Assembly as the representative from Trois-Rivières, but was ultimately refused his seat because he wasn’t Christian. In 1832, the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada (Quebec) passed a bill that guaranteed full rights to practitioners of the Jewish faith. It would be another quarter century before England and its other colonies followed suit. During the 1900s, early Jewish settlers came to Canada with few skills, but adapted swiftly to their new circumstances. The needle-trade drew many of them, partly because the skills could be learned in six weeks or less, partly because they could take work home and make more money, and partly because predominantly Jewish ownership of the tiny sweatshops means they would not have to work on the Sabbath.
A journey through 100 years
