Russian music and dance was on display at the first Russian cultural festival.
Photos courtesy of Mark Groysberg

By Mark Groysberg
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Voice of the Community

When I arrived in Montreal in 1990, the Russian community was very small. Up until the collapse of the Soviet Union the following year, it was still difficult to emigrate.  Because there were relatively few of us, and we arrived only sporadically, there was an absence of programs to help us integrate.

However, once the opportunity arose and Russian Jews started to arrive in greater numbers, Jewish Immigrant Aid Services [now a part of Agence Ometz] began to help people to settle in, to find housing, to look for jobs, and to learn French and English.

Fifteen years ago, I realized that people in our community lacked a source of information in our language. We needed a Russian newspaper. Having been a photographer and journalist in the Ukraine, along with my brother, who was an editor in Grozny, we had the experience to undertake the project. So, we launched Voice of the Community. It was a struggle to get it off the ground, and we began on a shoestring. The Jewish Community Foundation was very generous with a grant and David Azrieli gave us a 50% discount on the rent of an office in Decarie Square. As the Russian population grew, there were, at one time, as many as half a dozen other papers, but they have all folded over the years.

Rabbi Sirota’s Jewish Russian Community Centre has been a long-standing focal point for our community. His services at the high holidays are always well attended and appreciated. He gets as many as 300 people to participate in his Passover Seders, and around 100 for Shabbat services. In 2007, we established the United Community of Russian-Speaking Jews of Quebec.  This wasn’t to compete with Rabbi Sirota. It was to attract those who have lived so long without any religion that they are reluctant to connect with a synagogue, but are still anxious for a sense of community.

Today, there is a substantial population from the Former Soviet Union in Montreal, a significant number of whom are Jewish. We come from all over the Former Soviet Union, but are united by language. Of course, there are differences of opinions and of politics, but we have managed to find common ground in culture. That was the basis for the success of the cultural festival that we ran at the YM-YWHA late last year. Among the participants were Jews, Christians, and Muslims. We had dancers and singers from Russia, the Ukraine, Belarus, and a violinist from Moldavia.

The festival gave us an opportunity to celebrate and to exhibit for all Montrealers the very richness of our contribution to the multi-cultural mix of our city. It is our hope and our plan to make it an annual event.

Mark Groysberg is a member of the Board of Federation CJA.
FEDERATION CJA is proud to support the Jewish Russian Community Centre

Federation CJA is a registered charitable organization pursuant to the Canadian Income Tax Act - Registration number: 106702251RR0001.
Federation CJA is a 501c(3) non-profit Community Organization - 98-018 3709.
All donations to Federation CJA are tax-deductible in full.