Subscribe to (opens a new window) It’s a little-known fact that the first Jews in Canada were actually Sephardim , founders of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal in 1768. Over subsequent years, Ashkenazi Jews would follow from Europe, becoming the dominant Jewish culture; it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that Middle Eastern Jews arrived to add their own contributions to the Canadian Jewish mosaic. The often quiet history of Sephardic contributions to Jewish culture—not just in Canada , but in Israel, the United States and elsewhere as well—is the focus of a new book and digital-preservation project called...