Montreal

The Christian Jewish Dialogue of Montreal (CJDM) will hold its 44th annual Christian Commemoration of the Shoah on Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. The host Congregation this year is Mountainside United Church. The theme this year is “Love your neighbour as yourself”.

This event will take place at Birks Heritage Chapel (3520 University Street, Montreal H3A 2A7; McGill metro or bus 24). The commemoration will also be live streamed. (Access available at https://www.mountainsideunited.ca/work).

This special service will bring together Jews, Christians, and others to commemorate the six million Jews and one million other victims of the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah (“the annihilation” in Hebrew), during World War II.

Co-presided by Rev. Dr. R. Douglas Throop and Rabbi Sherril Gilbert, the commemoration will include a testimony by Holocaust survivor Maxwell Smart. There will be also a candle lighting ceremony in remembrance of all the victims of the Shoah. Hymns and music will be performed by the Mountainside Choir (Carmina Franco, Graeme Linton, Nathaniel Stern, Leah Weitzner) and by Music Director Alberto Santos. A kosher reception will follow.

Other Christian communities in Quebec and elsewhere are invited to commemorate the Shoah during their own religious services on April 23th. The CJDM has prepared for them resources which can be integrated into both in person or online worship. The resources are available on the websites of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism (http://www.oikoumene.ca/).

Yom Hashoah (“the Day of the Shoah”) was established in 1951 by the Knesset, the Parliament of Israel. In Montreal, the first Christian Commemoration of the Shoah took place at Christ Church Cathedral in 1979. Since then, different Christian churches have engaged with members of the Jewish community in a shared act of remembrance on the Sunday closest to Yom Hashoah. In 1999, the National Assembly officially recognized the observance of Yom Hashoah and invited Quebec citizens to share in the memories and mourning of the Jewish community and to ponder the lessons learned from the Shoah.

Founded in 1971, the Christian-Jewish Dialogue of Montreal is composed of representatives of various sponsoring organizations, who come together on a regular basis in order to build and strengthen mutual understanding and support between Christian and Jewish communities.

 

-

Information
Mountainside United Church (https://www.mountainsideunited.ca/)
Tel.: (514) 486-116