Département Francophone du YM-YWHA – Centre communautaire juif

1980 - 2015
5400 Westbury

A cultural, social and recreational institution, the Département francophone du YM-YWHA was an example of newly immigrated Sephardic Jews’ attempts in the 1960s and 1970s to integrate into Montreal’s Jewish community on their own terms while affirming their unique cultural identity. Created with the help of a variety of other local Jewish organizations, it grew into the Centre communautaire juif and today’s Services Communautaires de la Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec.

The aftermath of World War ll, coupled with the creation of the State of Israel and the independence of many North African nations, led to a wave of Sephardic Jewish immigration starting in 1957. Drawn to bilingual Montreal, French-speaking Sephardic Jews were confronted with the challenge of wanting to assert their cultural and linguistic identity within the predominantly Anglophone and Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish community.

Sephardic groups sought to provide their own community programs, as most Jewish services worked in English - even the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society (JIAS) only integrated bilingual services in 1975, nearly twenty years after Sephardic Jews had begun to settle in Montreal. JIAS’s restricted budget led to their recommendation in 1958 that Sephardic Jews turn to the YM-YWHA, which had more diversified services to support their burgeoning community. Offering social, recreational and religious services in conjunction with JIAS’s financial and employment aid, the “Y” hosted both the Association juive nord-africaine and the newly created Groupement juif nord-africain in their endeavour to address issues of integration.

A meeting in 1959 between the Groupement juif nord-africain, Neighbourhood House president Sheila Finestone, Canadian Jewish Congress executive director Saul Hayes, and Joseph Kage of JIAS led to the eventual creation of French services at the “Y”. The Neighbourhood House Services on Darlington Avenue, which were affiliated with the “Y”, would gradually become the focal point for the Francophone Jewish community.

At the same time, the increasingly organized Sephardic community was pursuing its own homegrown initiatives. The Département francophone du ‘Y’ was created in 1968 as an initiative of l’Association sépharade francophone (predecessor of the Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec [CSUQ]). It came at a critical juncture for the community, which saw over 5,000 Sephardic immigrants arrive in Montreal between 1967 and 1969. James Dahan, an early director of the Département francophone du ‘Y’, was aware of the social challenges facing Sephardic youth, many of whose parents were struggling to set up new lives in Montreal.

The Département francophone du ‘Y’ was based out of the Snowdon YM-YWHA, but was hosting many of its activities at the Neighbourhood House by the mid 1970s. It ran a variety of social, recreational and cultural activities for young North African Jews, including the Chorale Kinor and scouting troops based on the traditions of the Éclaireurs Israélites of Morocco. In 1971, it hosted its first trip to Israel for Sephardic youth.

That same year, the Département francophone du ‘Y’ was renamed the Centre communautaire juif (CCJ). In 1979, Neighbourhood House moved its activities (including those of the CCJ) back to the Snowdon YM-YWHA. Working in conjunction with the athletic facilities at the “Y”, the CCJ was actively involved with Sephardic sports teams, competing in the Maccabi Youth Games (summer sporting competitions held in North America), and organizing the Sheleg Ski School, which was unique for operating on Sundays as opposed to Shabbat (Saturdays). It also facilitated a regular Oneg Shabbat (informal Friday night Sabbath get-together), attracting many Sephardic youth. The CCJ changed its name in 2003 to become the Services Communautaires de la CSUQ and continues to provide social, recreational and cultural services for the Sephardic community.

Compiled by Marian Pinsky.

Liens

Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec

Sources

Acoca, Marcel. "Le scoutisme à Montréal." 50 ans ensemble : le livre sépharade 1959-2009. Ed. David Bensoussan. Montréal: Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec, 2010.

Benattar, Ralph. "De l’Association sépharade francophone (ASF) à la Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec." 50 ans ensemble : le livre sépharade 1959-2009. Ed. David Bensoussan. Montréal: Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec, 2010.

Friedman, Mark. "Forging a New Community: The Jews of the Maghreb in Montreal.” The Student Journal of Canadian Jewish Studies (Winter 2011).

Ibguy, Pinhas. “Organization communautaire : Les premiers pas”. 50 ans ensemble : le livre sépharade 1959-2009. Ed. David Bensoussan. Montréal: Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec, 2010.

Lallouz, Raphaël. “Le groupement juif nord-africain.” 50 ans ensemble : le livre sépharade 1959-2009. Ed. David Bensoussan. Montréal: Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec, 2010.

Lasry, Jean-Claude. "A Francophone Diaspora in Quebec." The Canadian Jewish Mosaic. Ed. William Shaffir, Morton Weinfeld, and Irwin Cotler. Rexdale: J. Wiley & Sons Canada, 1981.

Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec. Online.

Lévy, Joseph, and Yolande Cohen. "Moroccan Jews and Their Adaptation to Montreal Life." Renewing Our Days: Montreal Jews in the Twentieth Century. Ed. Mervin Butovsky and Ira Robinson. Montreal: Véhicule Press, 1995.

Lévy, Joseph J., and Léon Ouaknine. "Les institutions communautaires : des Juifs marocains à Montréal." Les Juifs du Maghreb : diasporas contemporaines. Montréal: les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 1989.

Lévy, Shlomo. “Le sport.” 50 ans ensemble : le livre sépharade 1959-2009. Ed. David Bensoussan. Montréal: Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec, 2010.

*The images are courtesy of the Dahan family and the Jewish Public Library.