Beth-El\u2019s final services in its own space were on Yom Kippur in 2019<\/a> before entering a two-year trial \u201cassociation\u201d with Shaare Zion. About 90 of its remaining families accompanied the merger in 2021 to form Shaare Zion Beth-El Congregation, which today counts some 750 families. \u201cIt\u2019s a win-win\u201d says Reverend Asher Tannenbaum, who has served as SZBE ritual director and hazzan sheini (second cantor) since 2004. He says most current members are over 70, \u201cbut we want to stick around another hundred years, so we do everything we can to attract younger families.\u201d There is proximity and some agreements on spaces, but no official affiliation with the adjacent SSA. Rapps agrees it\u2019s a challenge. \u201cIt\u2019s not the youngest community, but we have younger families too.\u201d<\/p>\n Tannenbaum says the celebration \u201cis not just our synagogue event, it\u2019s really a Montreal event,\u201d reflecting the community\u2019s longstanding impact on the city, and ability to sustain itself while remaining active in civic life. He says much of Montreal and Quebec\u2019s political class has been invited to the gala, expected to draw some 500 people (along with an acknowledgement and polite decline from King Charles.)<\/p>\n While the 1990s saw a full evolution to egalitarian practices, the decades-old family seating was always a major draw. \u201cWhen families come from Orthodox synagogues, this is the big feature, sitting together, even though our service is not really any different than where they came from in terms of liturgy. It fits us somewhere in the middle between Orthodox and Reform, a really good niche: open to everybody with many different ways people can enter. But we can\u2019t sit and wait for people to come\u2026. It\u2019s a tough market out there,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The centennial also includes a $5 million capital campaign, partly to support renovations. \u201cThe building is beautiful but dates back to the 1940s and needs updating,\u201d says Rabbi Rubin. \u201cPeople love the sanctuary, but it was designed for a different era, holding over 1,100 people and intended especially for High Holidays. On an average Shabbat, we\u2019re not going to have 1,100 people, so we plan to increase the sense of intimacy and closeness in part of it.\u201d Even if the room feels large, Tannenbaum told The CJN, people still find a corner or side seat, \u201cand just have their moment to sit down and reflect. It\u2019s a place to find your place.\u201d<\/p>\n What happens inside<\/p>\n More intimacy in large spaces doesn\u2019t mean radical redesign, but maybe dividers, lowering some visual elements, or replacing some pews with chairs, Rabbi Rubin adding, \u201cas important as it is for the building to be beautiful and welcoming, we want what happens inside to matter most.\u201d<\/p>\n He has seen the increased post-October 7 desire among many Jews across North America to connect. \u201cThere\u2019s a feeling of dismay, increased antisemitism, and in times of hostility there\u2019s a turning toward Jewish community and a feeling of wanting to be together. But it\u2019s not about hunkering down, it\u2019s much more positive than that.\u201d<\/p>\n That means supporting more innovative programming, including guest speakers, though SZBE actually prefers fewer \u201cone-offs,\u201d that is, bringing in high-profile speakers at great expense that typically attract large audiences to exciting events, particularly since October 2023. \u201cOf course, some speakers and events are very inspiring, but the most effective programming is ongoing programming that builds connection and meaning over time.\u201d<\/p>\n The Shabbat Be-Yachad dinners, subsidized by a donor to keep them affordable, are proof, reaching capacity every month, 100 people singing, learning, and eating. \u201cAnd they keep coming back,\u201d says Rabbi Rubin, \u201ceven during Canadiens playoff games. That kind of continuous community-building feels more important than glamorous one-off events. People want meaningful, recurring experiences, together.\u201d (His dream is for all three cantors to sing the anthems at the Bell Centre<\/a> if the Canadiens make the Stanley Cup Finals.)<\/p>\n Rapps\u2019 connection never stopped, deepening through high school and adulthood. \u201cWhen I got married, my husband belonged to an Orthodox synagogue with separate seating and we split our time between the two.\u201d Family seating won over. \u201cIt really makes a difference for many families, especially if you have three sons and you\u2019re sitting alone. Why sit alone when you can sit together?\u201d Now she does exactly that, with three sons, three daughters-in-law, and six grandchildren.<\/p>\n The reach has also expanded. Tannenbaum continues teaching bar- and bat-mitzvah lessons to members and non-members from a wide range of traditions, and the congregation includes Sephardi, South American, Israeli and Ethiopian families.<\/p>\n Entering its second century, enduring attachments and the ability to evolve continue to define SZBE, and Rapps is living testimony, from crawling on pews to praying with grandchildren. \u201cIt\u2019s very special. When I walk in, I feel at home. Being part of it all these years gave me a strong sense of community, and sending my own children to Solomon Schechter reinforced that even more.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the midst of all the antisemitism we\u2019re seeing, being together under one roof celebrating 100 years is very important. It\u2019s monumental.\u201d<\/p>\n Joel has spent his entire adult life scribbling. For two decades, he freelanced for more than a dozen North American and European trade publications, writing on home decor, HR, agriculture, defense technologies and more. Having lived at 14 addresses in and around Greater Montreal, for 17 years he worked as reporter for a local community newspaper, covering the education, political and municipal beats in seven cities and boroughs. He loves to bike, swim, watch NBA and kvetch about politics.<\/p>\n![\"Joel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779956738_264_Headshot-e1742321976617.webp\")
<\/p>\n