Folks
like me from the West End drive through or past the Hudson-Vaudreuil-Soulanges
Region whenever we are en route or returning from the Ontario border. But who ever knew that there
was a fascinating Jewish history here?
 |
| Elaine Steinberg |
Steinberg is a historian who has done extensive research and
will share her findings. Forty years ago she moved her family across the Ile aux Torte Bridge
and never looked back. “She invited me to hear
a talk she gave to of all things a
Hudson Canadian
Hadassah-WIZO group a few months ago,” said Merle Kastner of the Jewish Genealogical
Society of Montreal. “She is so well informed.”
There are 24 municipalities in the Hudson-Vaudreuil-Soulanges Region. Looking back four decades, Steinberg says she moved her family off-island to accommodate her lifestyle. “The Hudson area was well known for its horsey activities,” she says. “I was
a young mom with a stable of horses, a menagerie
of dogs, a passion for gardens
and was teaching
half days at Jewish People's and Perez Schools in Montreal.”
Given
that Steinberg was
the first Jewish member of certain clubs
associated with Hudson,
people assumed that the Steinbergs were one of the firstJewish
families throughout all of
Vaudreuil-Soulanges. That was
until two years ago when Jean Luc Brazan, archivist at Centre
d' histoire de la Presqu'ile
in Vaudreuil, chanced upon an
early nineteenth century notarial
will of a Jew living in the region. It was the sign she needed to
begin doing some research.
Descendants
shared photos and family lore while village storekeepers had
stories to tell as well. Stephan the butcher turned out to be the guardian of
the oral story, maintaining
a tradition of handing down stories from one
generation to another. “Villagers
showed me photos, opened their homes and told stories of a Jewish pedlar,”
For reasons unknown, Vaudreuil -Soulanges Jewish history was left unattended,
says Steinberg. “When I returned to reclaim
it, our history was in a strange state,” she noted. “Sometimes other
cultures had claimed it, or it
was edited out; or it
became a myth by virtue
of unresolved facts.”
Despite living in various villages on different dates, the pioneer families shared certain tendencies.They
affiliated with a synagogue, stimulated the village economy, were figuratively
embraced by their rural community and educated their
children to the benefit
of Montreal at large and the Jewish community therein.
Steinberg still lives in Vaudreuil West, on the doorstep of Hudson where
her children grew up “Although Jewish
homes are dotted throughout the region, I think the St. Lazare municipality is
the new Jewish frontier,” she says. “It has the highest density and a Chabad rabbi
since 2010. Rabbi Nechum Labkowski. It
is not far from Dollard des Ormeaux, about 20 minutes, where a lot of Jews
live.”
In fact, there are some 200 Jewish families who affiliate with the St.Lazare Chabad
