Ask the Archivist: Leonard Cohen in the Archives

The Shaar’s archives regularly receives a diverse range of research questions. One of the most frequent subjects we are asked about is Leonard Cohen, whose ties to our congregation run generations deep. Over the past few years, there have been several very interesting projects which draw upon the Shaar Hashomayim’s archives.

In this first edition of a new series called “Ask the Archivist”, with Shaar Archivist Hannah Srour-Zackon, we will be featuring the kinds of questions we receive and how people use our collections. This time we are showcasing:

How are our collections used for Leonard Cohen-related research?

Little People, Big Dreams: Leonard Cohen (2024)

In 2023, I was contacted by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books (an imprint of Quarto Books) to consult on an upcoming book on Leonard Cohen as part of their bestselling Little People, Big Dreams series. They asked many detailed questions about our synagogue and I was impressed by their care to ensure accurate depiction of Leonard Cohen’s childhood and Jewish upbringing within the Shaar. I shared with them archival photographs from our collections for reference as well as historical details.

The book, published in 2024 in both English and French, is beautiful. The attention to detail emerges in such things as a young Leonard Cohen’s ripped tie while sitting shiva for his father – a nod to the Jewish custom to wear torn clothing (kriyah) during the period of mourning.

They have also captured the Shaar’s typical dress for a Shabbat service from this era among other things. One detail I especially like is their drawing of a rabbi speaking from the lectern in the sanctuary a as a young Leonard sits during services. The rabbi in question is a rendering of then-Shaar rabbi, Rabbi Dr. Herman Abramowitz (pictured below), illustrated based on the Shaar’s photograph collection.

This was a fascinating project to have been involved with – as an expression of gratitude. The Shaar’s archivist is thanked in the acknowledgments on the copyright page: “Grateful thanks to Hannah Srour-Zackon for her consultation”.

So Long, Marianne (2024)

In the summer of 2023, the limited series So Long, Marianne, about the relationship between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen, was filming in Montreal, starring Alex Wolff as Leonard Cohen. The production team reached out to us with a unique request: to give a tour of the Shaar to Alex Wolff and show him some Leonard Cohen-related materials in our collections to gain a sense of his childhood in our community. Hannah Srour-Zackon, Claire Berger, and Carole Rocklin provided the tour to Alex Wolff—who came completely in character as Leonard Cohen. We showed him “his” graduation picture, the bulletin from “his” bar mitzvah as well as mentions of “him” in other bulletins, and some of the prayer books belonging to grandfather Lyon Cohen.

Later, we were invited to the set to watch a scene being filmed on the McGill University campus, and even sat in the audience as extras. So Long, Marianne premiered in 2024 and is available to watch on Crave in Canada.

“A Tale of Two Cohens: Purim in Montreal”

In 2022, after a chance interaction on X (formerly Twitter), Hannah Srour-Zackon was invited to write a Purim-themed article for the Jewish Review of Books using materials in our archives. The final piece was published on the online edition in March and is built around materials in our archives relating to a Purim spiel performance a young Leonard Cohen was a part of in 1947, and an earlier Purim spiel which his grandfather Lyon Cohen wrote and and in which he starred in 1885.

Read the article here

If you are unable to access the article and would still like to read it, please contact Hannah Srour-Zackon.

Do you have your own Leonard Cohen-related research questions? Get in touch with us at hsz@theshaar.org or museum@theshaar.org