The Museum of Jewish Montreal finds a new home in Leonard Cohen’s backyard

The Museum of Jewish Montreal started out as a digital idea about 10 years ago. When Zev Moses started plotting historic sites of old Jewish Montreal, putting little stories about theses buildings and people on a website, he wanted to showcase the origins of what was, for 200 years, Canada’s largest Jewish community.

That concept morphed into a physical museum in 2016, right on Saint Laurent Boulevard. It hosted well-known walks, fascinating exhibitions, in-person classes, klezmer brunches and foodie events. Unfortunately, the pandemic put a halt to most of that.

A new landlord bought the museum's physical building and issued an eviction notice. Staff scrambled to put everything in storage, pivot to online programming and plan for an uncertain future.

Now, thanks to some financial help from an investor and government funding, the museum has a new site—and it's even closer to one of the most iconic landmarks of Canadian Jewish history. The founder of the museum joins to discuss the museum's troubled year and what the future has in store.

What we talked about:

• Learn about the Museum of Jewish Montreal at imjm.ca
• Sign up for the Red Light Walking Tour at museemontrealjuif.ca
• Read more: "Famed food writer Ruth Reichl lends support to Museum of Jewish Montreal" (the cjn.ca)

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.