There was time when the Young Israel of Montreal synagogue was a hub of Jewish community activity: its seats were full each week, it was the place for simchahs, there were social and cultural events galore and prominent speakers sought its podium.

Many were drawn to the Hillsdale Road shul in Outremont by its erudite and eloquent spiritual leaders: from 1954, Rabbi Mendel Lewittes, and after 1970, Rabbi Harry J. Kaufman, both outstanding voices of modern Orthodox Judaism in North America.

The congregation will recapture that past glory on Sept. 25 when it holds the festive completion of a sefer Torah, its first in decades. The hope is that the day will attract many former members, as well as other community members who may not realize the Young Israel is still in operation.

A highlight will be the presence of Rabbi Kaufman, who retired last year at age 92 and is now living in Lakewood, N.J. Rabbi Kaufman, a Columbia University graduate, came to Montreal from Washington, D.C., where he was a religious consultant to the White House, taking part in the inaugurations of presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.

By the 1960s, families started moving west to Côte St. Luc and Hampstead, in search of houses that were not readily available in eastern Côte des Neiges, an area of mainly rental dwellings.

In addition, the first election of the Parti Québécois in 1976 triggered an exodus of members out of the province.

Today, Young Israel has about 100 member families, said president Shalom Diamond. “At its peak in the ’70s, there were easily 600 or 700. People used to say that if you didn’t get to Shabbat services before 9, you wouldn’t get a seat, and there are 700 seats. On Saturdays, the street teemed with people coming and going from the shul.”

Diamond, a member since 1985, following in the footsteps of his late father, Hy Diamond, who joined in the ’40s, wants this celebration to show that Young Israel is fulfilling a needed, if diminished, role in the area.

About 1-1/2 years ago, the congregation sold its large property to the Belz chassidic community, which uses the classrooms for a boys school (Young Israel once had its own day school). Conditional on the sale was that the Young Israel could remain in the building for 10 years.

“We’re happy it stayed in Jewish hands and was not turned into condos or bought by another [non-Jewish] house of worship,” Diamond said.

The community centre opened in 1949, and the sanctuary was completed in 1954. The congregation was founded 30 years earlier, moving to various locations in the St. Laurent Boulevard/Park Avenue area.

In the coming year, Diamond said serious thought will be given to its future beyond the 8-1/2 years remaining. “We hope people will come and re-connect, and help us continue until our 100th anniversary.”

There is still a strong Jewish presence in the area, but it is largely haredi. They do not daven at the Young Israel, but do use its facilities for events. (The Belz live further east in Outremont and Mile End, but Diamond can foresee their eventually moving into the neighbourhood.)

The Young Israel remains vital to older people, as well as to some young Jews in the neighbourhood and a fair number of women, who find it more congenial and comfortable than their husbands’ shuls, he said.

Led by Rabbi Menachem Willig, the Young Israel offers daily as well as Shabbat services. At Rosh Hashanah, at least 150 are expected to attend.

Diamond grew up in Chomedey and attended the Young Israel there in his youth.

Both Montreal congregations are affiliated with the Young Israel movement that was founded in New York in 1912 by young Jews who wanted to make Orthodox Judaism more relevant to their generation than their European parents’ practice. Support for religious Zionism and, in time, the State of Israel were fundamental tenets.

“We’re the only shul in the neighbourhood today that says a prayer for the State of Israel,” Diamond pointed out.

The Young Israel’s first home was a cramped space in a factory on St. Laurent, north of Laurier Avenue, where a few young people who believed in “this new concept of religion” came together, wrote one of them, Perry Pevzner.

The sefer Torah is sponsored by two women, with contributions from members and friends. The women are member Helen Glazer and another who does not wish  to have her name published.

The completion of the Torah will take place at a member’s home on Lennox Avenue at 2 p.m., followed by a procession with live music along Van Horne Avenue to the synagogue. A dinner will be held in the evening, which non-members may attend as well for $30.  For more information, call 514-737-6589.