Montreal, QC – September 3, 2024 – Federation CJA is bringing back the March For Jerusalem, a legendary Jewish community event that has been renewed and rebranded for a new generation.
For more than four decades the March To Jerusalem brought thousands in the Montreal Jewish community together for a city-wide walk-a-thon that culminated in the YM-YWHA Israel Street Festival. It was the city’s biggest Jewish community event of the year. The last one was held in 2014.
Federation CJA President and CEO Yair Szlak is proud to be able to revive the event for this year only, especially now. “After more than 300 days – nearly a year – of pain and angst, it’s heartwarming to have our community come together to celebrate and to publicly demonstrate our love for Israel, Szlak said.”
The original march was a 26-kilometre trek through the city. This year’s march, on Sunday, September 8, is shorter – a 5-kilometre trek that starts at 1:00 pm, and leads to Hampstead Park where a festival reminiscent of the original will be held. Participants are being asked to register online – at federationcja.org – and to start raising funds ahead of the march.
The event coincides with the launch of the 2024 CJA “ALL IN” campaign. Heather Adelson, the Campaign Chair says that bringing the two events together is a great way to ensure the campaign’s unique vitality for Jewish Montreal.
“Over the centuries the Jewish people have been persecuted and outnumbered. Yet we’re still here. We have an inner strength,” said Adelson, “and a belief in justice that informs everything we do at Federation CJA. We have an unwavering commitment to a better tomorrow. This is our mission.”
Some big names in Israeli and Jewish activism and entertainment will be a part of the post-march festival, including Israeli singer Eden Golan, who recently represented Israel at Eurovision, pop singer and activist Montana Tucker, activist Jonny Daniels, and Instagram influencer and activist Loay al-Sharif.
Event chairs Ruthy Bensimon Choueke, Marnie Zigman-Stern, and Dov Wolman jumped at the chance to head up the march. Choueke says they were really excited “to bring the community together, to have a reason to celebrate, to have a reason to dance, to have a reason to unite as a community.”
Wolman agreed, saying, “We felt there was a need for a safe and open way to express ourselves, to show our solidarity, to show our unity, to be together in a fun, non-political environment. It’s a way to show that we’re strong, we’re unified.”
Zigman-Stern points out that the money raised will go toward educating young people and strengthening Jewish identity through Federation CJA travel programs like March of the Living, Birthright, and Journey of Hope.
Federation CJA’s Community Security Network (CSN) is coordinating with the Montreal Police (SPVM) to ensure safety.
About Federation CJA
For more than one hundred years, Federation CJA has been at the heart of the organized Jewish community in Montreal. In partnership with a vast network of agencies and organizations locally, nationally, and internationally, Federation CJA builds and sustains this community by providing leadership and by supporting the delivery of services and programs to care for the vulnerable and those in need, to ensure a bright Jewish future, to represent communal interests, and to positively affect issues in the wider society. 
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