The Montefiore Club was a

private members' club Private members' clubs are organisations which provide social and other facilities to members who typically pay a membership fee for access and use. Most are owned and controlled by their members even to this day. Some were originally gentlemen ...

, catering to the

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community, located in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

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, Canada.

History

Founded in 1880, the club was originally called the "Montefiore Social and Dramatic Club", named for Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

-Jewish

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. It was established by 11 people, all quite young, with ages ranging from 15 to 23,The Canadian Jewish News - Montefiore Club closing doors after 130 years
/ref> as a social club for young Jewish people. It held

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

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s to help Jewish

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s, and

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

s that were produced to fund welfare programs for

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

s. Later renamed the "Montefoire Club", and modelled on

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...

gentlemen's club A gentlemen's club is a private social club of a type originally established by males from Britain's upper classes starting in the 17th century. Many countries outside Britain have prominent gentlemen's clubs, mostly those associated with the ...

s of

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, it functioned as a private social and business association, catering to members of the

community. Among its members, were "well-to-do" members of the Jewish community, who were excluded from

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clubs such as the St. James and the Mount Royal. In the early 1990s, the club had more than 600 paying members. In the mid-1990s, $500,000 was spent on renovations to the building. In 2005, after experiencing a decline in membership, new policies were introduced: *Annual fees were reduced *Women were admitted as full members *The dress code was relaxed *New activities were introduced including luncheon speakers and wine workshops In its final years, the building was used frequently by

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

, usually for social events. In the summer of 2010, after experiencing years of financial difficulties, the club closed.

The club

To obtain membership, a contribution to the life of Montreal's Jewish community was prerequisite. The location of the Montefoire Club itself changed locations three times, the last being its 1195

Guy Street Guy Street (officially in ) is a north-south street located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Concordia University's Integrated Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Complex is located on this street, as is the John Molson School of B ...

address, where it remained for 104 years, until its closure. The Guy Street location displayed no sign, with only a green canopy identifying it. The building is a large, three-storey

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

greystone. The Guy Street location had a luxurious interior, with high ceilings, and a lobby built with large

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

beams in a Dutch style. The rooms were carpeted, with deep-cushioned chairs and sofas, and walls of fine carved wood. Card rooms were located on the second floor, with bedrooms on the third floor that were made available on a temporary basis for members. Wives and children were forbidden access to the second and third floors. The club was open seven days a week, and often rented out its facilities for community events. The cuisine was considered among the finest in the city, and although having a Jewish clientele, the club was never

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

Notable meetings

Throughout its history, the club was as a venue for many notable meetings involving prominent members of the Jewish community. *The establishment of the forerunner of the Federation CJA. *The planning of the

Jewish General Hospital Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital (), commonly known as the Jewish General Hospital (JGH; ), is an acute-care teaching hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Affiliated with McGill University, the hospital has 637 beds, making it one ...

. *A meeting of Canadian Jewish leaders was convened by

Samuel Bronfman Samuel Bronfman, (February 27, 1889 – July 10, 1971) was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and member of the Canadian Bronfman family. He founded Distillers Corporation Limited and purchased the Seagram Company, that became the world’ ...

and Sam Steinberg during the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

. In that single afternoon, $13 million was raised.

Closure

In the summer of 2010, after operating for 130 years, and with only 72 paying members, the club closed. It had been experiencing financial difficulties, and had insufficient membership to remain open. At the time of its closure, the club had used all of its financial reserves, and was operating at a deficit of approximately $25,000 per month. With an annual operating budget of about $750,000, and full fees being only about $2,000 (among the lowest for Montreal's private clubs), the club was unable to remain operation. The organization sold the building to Concordia University in 2010. It will be renovated, and then used for meetings, events, and academic conferences.Concordia purchases Montefiore Club - NOW - Concordia University
/ref> The proceeds from the sale of the premises will be used to pay costs and staff severances. Remaining funds, expected to amount to approximately $1.5 million, will be donated to the Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal for Jewish education, and to Concordia University to fund a Jewish studies endowment. The contents of the building, which includes artwork, will be auctioned to members, with remaining items made available to the general public. The club plans to donate its substantial archives to the Jewish Public Library.

Members

Notable former members include: * Leo Kolber * Harry Blank *

Charles Bronfman Charles Bronfman, (born June 27, 1931) is a Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist and is a member of the Canadian Jewish Bronfman family. With an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion in 2023, Bronfman was ranked by ''Forbes'' as the ...

* Sam Steinberg

Presidents

Some past presidents include: *John Michaels: 1880–1882; 1892–1894 *Maxwell Goldstein: 1882–1885; 1886–1891; 1905–1906 * Lyon Cohen: 1891–1892 *Bernard Goldstein: 1894–1896 *J. Goldstein: 1896–1898 *Michael Hirsch: 1885–1886; 1896–1902; 1908–1910; 1911–1934 *Abraham Michaels: 1902–1905 *Emanuel Blout: 1906–1908 *Jacob Levi: 1910–1911 *David Kirsch: 1934–1936 *A. L. Mailman: 1936–1938 *Jack L. Klein: 1938–1943 *Joel B. Saxe: 1943–1945 *William Gittes: 1945–1947 *Samuel Moskovitch: 1947–1949 *Harry Benjamin: 1949–1951 *Arthur N. Friedman: 1951–1953 *Norman Genser: 1953–1955 *Bernard J. Lande: 1955–1957 *Arthur Pascal: 1957–1959 *Harry Wolfe: 1959–1961 *Saul E. Moskovitch: 1961–1963 *J. B. Becker: 1963–1965 *Phillip Meyerovitch: 1966–1968 *Dr. André Aisenstadt: 1968–1970 *Henry S. Weiser: 1970–1973 *Sidney Schwartz: 1973–1975 *James D. Raymond: 1975–1977 *Manuel Shacter: 1977–1979 *Nicki H. Lang: 1979–1981

Legacy

To support scholarships for

graduate student Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have ...

s, an endowment has been established. Recipients will be "Moses Montefiore Fellows". A plaque commemorating Moses Montefiore will be attached to the Guy Street building with the inscription:

"In memory of Sir Moses Montefiore for his lifelong philanthropy and service to world Jewry".The Canadian Jewish News - Jewish Canadian airmen buried in Britain
/ref>

References

External links

{{coord, 45.494548, N, 73.57618, W, type:landmark, display=title 1880 establishments in Quebec Jewish Canadian history Jewish organizations based in Canada Clubs and societies in Canada Gentlemen's clubs in Canada Concordia University Organizations based in Montreal Defunct organizations based in Canada 2010 disestablishments in Quebec Jews and Judaism in Montreal