Rabbi Shmuel Dov Schwartz of Montreal has died at the age of 95 at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem after becoming sickened from COVID-19 the day before Passover. Rabi Schwartz was a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Canada after the war and was responsible for establishing a thriving ultra-orthodox community in Montreal which was virtually bereft of Jewish life prior to his arrival.
His son remarked that in those days observant Jews in Montreal would regularly resign from their jobs on Saturday rather than violate the Sabbath by working on that day, and then begin looking for work again on Monday.
Rabbi Schwartz was living in Montreal until a few years ago when he made aliyah or immigration to Israel.