Rev. Nathan Gordon

A man of deep learning, broad knowledge and scholarly attainments, of force, experience and capacity, Rev. Nathan Gordon has become known as one of the most able educators in Quebec province, and as one of the successful and consecrated workers among the Jewish people of Montreal. He was born in Odessa, Russia, and took his arts course in the Cincinnati University, from which he was graduated, B. A., in 1906. He is also a graduate of the Hebrew Union Theological College of that city and in 1909 received the degree of M. A. from McGill University.

Mr. Gordon came to Montreal in 1906, having been appointed in September of that year Rabbi of Temple Emmanu-El, and since that time he has accomplished a great deal of earnest and zealous work among the people of his congregation, who recognize him as a sincere, upright and God-fearing man. The church property is valued at one hundred thousand dollars, and the business affairs connected with its administration are ably conducted, Mr. Gordon assisting his associates by his executive skill and sound and practical judgment. Combining religious zeal with the ability necessary to make it effective among his people, he has indeed been a force for good at Temple Emmanu-El and an able propagator as well as a conserver of the doctrines in which he believes.

A scholar, a deep thinker and a broadly educated man, Mr. Gordon has long been an ardent student of Oriental languages and literature and has paid particular attention to the language of his own race, in which he is thoroughly proficient. In 1909 he was appointed lecturer on rabbinical and mediæval Jewish literature and instructor in Semitic languages at McGill University and in this position has done a great deal to promote a more general interest in these subjects and a more widespread knowledge of the customs, language and traditions of the Jews. An ardent champion of his race and an upholder of its creed, a foe to the injustices and wrongs which have continually oppressed it, he has supported the cause of the Hebrew people on every occasion and one of the most eloquent and telling appeals on behalf of the nationalization of the Plains of Abraham came from him. The people of Temple Emmanu-El are fortunate in having at their head a man so fearless in conviction, so able in argument, so uncompromising in support of his professed beliefs, and the city of Montreal is fortunate also, having in Rabbi Gordon an upright, public-spirited and loyal citizen.