Color Footage of 1955 Montreal Yeshiva Rabbinic Ordination Ceremony

Shmais.com - On the chilly Friday afternoon of October 24th, 1945, nine Lubavitch students arrived in Montreal, Canada, from Shanghai, China. The young men had moved to town in order to strengthen the Jewish community under the direction of the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yossef Y. Schneerson.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe told Rabbi Aryeh Leib Kramer to establish a Yeshiva in Montreal in collaboration with the other students living there. Thus, hardly a day after his arrival in Montreal, on Motzei Shabbos, Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch of Montreal – Rabbinical College of Canada – was established. On Sunday, the very next day, the Yeshiva opened in Montreal's Nusach Ari Shul with Rabbi Kramer as its acting director.

In Shevat of 1944, the Lubavitcher Rebbe sent a letter to the Montreal community, officially appointing Rabbi Kramer as the director of the school.

Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim did not charge tuition and it grew rapidly from the start. By 1955, there were five hundred students enrolled. In addition to its intensive Judaic curriculum, the Yeshiva also had a strong secular program, and attracted students with all types of Jewish backgrounds. Many of the graduates went on to become professionals.

On the 19th of Kislev, 1955, Rabbi Kramer organized the first ever (documented) Chag Hasmicha ceremony in Canada. This monumental event, which took place at Montreal’s Young Israel, was celebrated in style, complete with a catered meal and a sizeable representation of the Montreal Jewish community.

As we near the 70-year anniversary since the arrival of those 9 students in Montreal, a unique documentary is being produced about Rabbi Kramer’s legacy – the continuing growth and development of the Jewish community in Montreal.

Today we commemorate the 11th Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Kramer, of blessed memory, who passed away on the 27th of Cheshvan, 5760 (1999).

In honor of this we bring you a short clip of colored footage from the Chag Hasmicha of 1955, as part of the documentary to be released.


Please visit www.RabbiKramersLegacy.com for information on the life of Rabbi Kramer. To share valuable information with us or to learn more about this project, please email: Yosef@RabbiKramersLegacy.com or call 347-497-6286.