by CAROLYN SHAFFER

Congregation Temple Solomon, also known as the Bagg Shul, is one of the last bastions of the Plateau’s Jewish past. Situated at the corner of Clark and Bagg, this synagogue, the oldest in Quebec to have kept its original location and congregation, has only a handful of ageing members left and is in need of repair. Despite its heritage designation in 1998, its committee is struggling to raise the funds necessary to keep it operating.

The Quebec government, through its Religious Heritage Foundation, has pledged the money necessary for structural repairs to the synagogue’s sagging ceiling and its wiring (an artifact itself, dating to the 1920s). A campaign is on to raise the estimated $60,000 needed to restore the plaster and murals and replace old lighting and tattered floor coverings. The effort is headed by Joe Brick, an officer of the synagogue and its champion for nearly 40 years now.

Brick still lives in his childhood home a few doors down from the synagogue, where his bar mitzvah was held over six decades ago. Having watched all the other synagogues that used to pepper this street close their doors, he’s not about to give up on the Bagg.

“It’s the only one left of its kind,” he says. “It’s special because it’s a replica of the old Eastern European synagogues from Poland, Ukraine and other places which were all destroyed in the Second World War.”

Originally a duplex, the building dates from before the 20th century, and was converted into a synagogue in 1921. Its unique interior features robin’s-egg-blue walls and ceiling and paintings of the 12 zodiac signs, labelled in Hebrew. The lights and fixtures lend an art-deco-ish touch, and above the sanctuary there is a U-shaped wooden balcony or “women’s gallery.”

In the Bagg’s early days, Brick says, this was the heart of the Jewish immigrant ghetto and the clothing and textile (“shmatta”) industry. “The workers would come from the Cooper Building and the Berman Building to pray at this synagogue,” he says, pointing towards St-Laurent and to buildings now occupied by film production companies, chic cafés, bars and shops.

Brick’s family was not particularly religious, and while he was growing up, they attended the synagogue only occasionally. His involvement was sparked by the death of his father in 1967, when he began attending services daily in order to perform the ritual prayers of mourning. He soon became an officer, a post which he holds to this day.

Brick’s recollections of the Bagg’s earlier days include a poor scrap peddler and his wife who brought heavy platters of laboriously-prepared gefilte fish to the synagogue on occasions for all the congregants to enjoy.

An old safe in the synagogue’s basement contains original ledger books from the Bagg’s earliest days. Records show that a yearly membership cost $1.50, which included the services of a doctor, Brick says, who performed house calls at a cost of 50 cents per visit. A funeral, according to old receipts, cost $35.

Brick is appealing for donations for the next phase of renovation and restoration efforts, scheduled to start now. Cheques can be sent in the name of the synagogue: Congregation Temple Solomon, 3919 Clark, Montreal, QC, H2W 1W5.