History or comments

Beth Zion Congregation is an Open Modern Orthodox Synagogue located in Cote Saint-Luc, a suburb of Montreal.

In the 1950s the Cote St. Luc area of Montreal was considered a hinterland of fields, swamps and a few roads and farms. 25 Jewish families lived in the area in 1953. A group of ten men met in early 1953 to establish a synagogue.

By 1955, with slightly over 150 members, land was purchased in the center of Cote St Luc and a ground–breaking ceremony for our first house of worship took place. Only a year later, with more than 300 members, the newly built synagogue was already too small so High Holiday services were conducted in a large tent.

In 1958, the day after Yom Kippur, ground was broken for the present Hudson Avenue building. It was dedicated in 1959. By the end of 1960, the Congregation membership exceeded 700 families with over 2000 children. By 1965, the congregation’s ranks had swelled to almost 1000 families, and on June 20th of that year ground was broken, once again, for a new Sanctuary that was connected to the existing structure.