Left to right: Church administrator Roger Legare, Chabad director Rabbi Levi Itkin, developer Samuel Gewurz and mosque administrator Mourad Bendjennet.

Jews, Christians, Muslims Share Roof on Montreal Island

Christians, Muslims and Jews are praying literally under the same roof on Nuns’ Island in Montreal, where a Chabad synagogue, a church and a mosque occupy the same building, a former mall. And they are not just neighbors – the three groups are working together on common humanitarian concerns; their first joint project is helping Syrian refugees.

From CTV News Montreal:

Three religious groups in Nun’s Island have come together under the same roof, hoping to spread a message of peace and unity.

A Jewish Chabad centre, the Al-Jazira Islamic Centre and the Catholic Ste. Marguerite Bourgeoys Church have all moved into the same building, a project that began after the church approached land developer Samuel Gewurz about building a bell tower.

“That was a novel request for me,” he said. “I thought about it for a moment and I told him, if we could consider the bells on the tower as bells of unity, then I’m in.”

Click here to continue reading at CTV News Montreal.

11 Comments

  • Don't get it

    We can’t walk into a church, so how can we share a building with one; I don’t get it. And why would Chabad be under the roof of a church tower?

    • Anonymous

      The same roof is a “media” thing as this is a strip mall and Levi’s Chabad House has NOTHING to do with the Church nor does it pay rent to it or share any roof the way the wording there implies. It would be like saying all stores and Shuls on Kingston Ave for example share the same roof as they are all attached to each other when you know that is not the case!

      A resident of Nuns Islan

    • Milhouse

      The building is not a church; why should we care if one of the tenants happens to be a church? How do the other tenants in the building affect us?

      And it’s not a church tower, it’s a bell tower. What’s wrong with that? The developer said he wants them to be uniting bells, not dividing ones, so they’re not just for the church. In any case, even if they were for the church’s use, why would that affect the rest of the buliding?

  • Which is worse?

    Which is worse – ignoring the words of the Rebbe and building an eruv in Crown Heights or ignoring the Shulchan Aruch that says one must distance oneself four amos from Avodah Zara? A church is considered a house of avodah zora!

    • Milhouse

      1. Where in shulchan aruch does it say this?

      2. In any case, the distance between the church and the shul is surely more than four amos.

  • L from Nuns Island

    Before Levi came to this island (part of Montreal) no one thought there were much Jews there. Clearly they were all wrong as thanks to Levi there is now a gorgeous Chabad house which is a result of the years of hard work that Levi did to bring out most of the Jews that were always living there but were not really “connected” at all.

    He has truly taken “nothing” and turned into a small and very much growing and thriving Jewish community! AMAZING work. Keep it up!

    L from Nuns Island :)

    • Anonymous

      Your title is perfect to describe you as just because YOU are confused does not mean you are correct with your comment!! Please have the decency to explain your comment and why you felt the need to write negatively on Levi WITHOUT explaining why! I suspect that if you truly saw how a few words in the article don’t describe the Chabad House and it’s NON affiliation with any church you would not be so quick to make such a rash comment!

  • To # 3

    It would depend on what tunes these “uniting bells” play and how often they chime. Trust me, those of us in Crown Heights who hear the bells on the corner of Brooklyn and Union from early morning til night are definitely NOT uplifted, although we are “united” in wishing they would stop.

  • Everyone take a chill pill, please

    I live in Montreal. I was in this new Chabad house.

    Its not under one roof, its not under one nothing. All it is that the chabad house is in a strip mall that also has a church and also has a mosque, because thats where the religious zoning happens to be on this island.

    People really need to take a chill pill. The developer was excited that these places are pretty close to each other, so he made a tzimmis out of it. This chabad house is like any other chabad house. Do you believe every headline and news story? – its always exaggerated to get you to read.

    Nothing to see here, folks. Move right along…Its just a young chasidishe couple with a beautiful family lighting up yiddishe neshomos on an island where there was zero, zero yiddishkeit until they came: no temple, no conservative, no reform, nothing.

    Through hard work and mesiras nefesh, they are doing their part to help bring moshiach.

    Are you doing yours?