The Yiddish Press in Montreal, 1900-1945

Organized Montreal Yiddish communal activity emerged in the first decade of the twentieth century with mass Eastern European immigration. The Yiddish press in Montreal served a dual function: to acclimatize the local Eastern European immigrant community to its adopted home in Canada; and to
maintain and foster a distinctive cultural life. After several failed attempts at creating a newspaper, the Keneder Adler, founded in 1907 by businessman Hirsch Wolofsky, became the city’s primary Yiddish paper. It was moderate in orientation and published virtually all of the country’s Yiddish writers, from anarchist to Orthodox rabbis. This study traces the development of the city’s Yiddish press during its heyday with a focus on the Keneder Adler.