United Talmud Torahs of Montreal - History

History

Founded in 1896 by Rabbi M.A. Ashinsky, classes initially were taught in the Yiddish language, later in Hebrew. The first class had but twenty students, all of them boys (girls were first admitted only in 1911), and one teacher. In 1903, Talmud Torah School was housed in its own building for the first time.

In 1917, six individual Talmud Torah schools merged as the United Talmud Torahs of Montreal. In 1962, the elementary school opened at St. Laurent. Ground was broken in 1930 for the first new building of the school, financed by a fundraising initiative with major community support; the building was erected on the corner of Joseph Boulevard and Jeanne Mance Street. Over 1,300 students were enrolled.

The high school was opened in 1946 and the first classes were held with Melech Magid, who had been a teacher and principal with the United Talmud Torah schools since the early 1920s as the full-time Educational Director. In the early 1970s, French became a significant language of instruction at both the elementary and high schools.

In the 1990s, all four Herzliah/UTT campuses were renovated. In 2000, Herzliah’s Judaica Program for students with little or no Jewish elementary school experience, was established as an addition to its program.

In October 2010 it was decided that the Beutel campus in St. Laurent (both high school and elementary) would be closed and merged with the Snowdon campus, because of increasing financial problems and decreasing enrollment. It was closed down in 2011. A merger of the Herzliah/United Talmud Torah schools with JPPS/Bialik, another Jewish school system and long the primary competitor with Herzliah/UTT, was announced in February 2011. However, this idea was soon rejected. Renovations were made to the Snowdon campus in 2011 and 2012 to accommodate the new wave of students.