Rabbi Careers

Overview

Our client, Beth Sholom Synagogue www.bethsholom.net is a vibrant many-generational 1000+ family congregation located in Toronto, providing members with a place for prayer, observance of life-cycle events, lifelong learning, social and cultural programs, and Jewish support in times of joy and loss. A key strength of Beth Sholom in achieving this mission is a warm and welcoming spiritual leadership team who aims to inspire people to connect to Judaism.

We are searching for a Rabbi to join our team. Note this is not a search for an assistant rabbi but an experienced rabbinic leader. We envision our new Rabbi moving into the role of Senior Rabbi as Rabbi Flanzraich transitions out of this position, likely at the end of the new Rabbi’s initial contract.

The candidate would be reporting to our long-serving Senior Rabbi, Aaron Flanzraich. The Rabbi is expected to model, teach, and be engaged within our larger community through traditional rabbinic duties: such as engagement with young families, social programming for conversion candidates, and working with our clergy team to develop and implement programming you think would be inspiring and meaningful to the congregation.  It is expected that, at least initially, there will be a particular emphasis on the development and broadening of relationships with young families through, among other things, targeted outreach and programming initiatives.

Responsibilities:

The tasks asked of this candidate include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Create, improve, implement, and evaluate regular religious (Shabbat and Holiday) educational and cultural programs and experiences.
• Rabbinic duties with the spiritual leadership team include but are not limited to leading services, planning holiday experiences, covering minyanim, teaching, preaching, pastoral care, and life-cycle events.
• Lead congregational school and teen programs.
• Support lay committees.
• Develop and maintain budgets to achieve programmatic objectives.
• Carry out personal administrative tasks such as communications, reporting, and maintain records for purposes of data analysis
• Other duties that may arise and be agreed to.

We would like this position to be filled by someone who is a living example of meaningful, passionate, and genuine Conservative Judaism as defined by the congregation. You should also be a person who can relate and engage with other people authentically, have good organizing skills, and be able to take a set of goals and carry them through to implementation. You should also be an effective communicator, adept with social media, and strongly conversant in essential rabbinic texts.

The opportunity laid out here is an exciting one. Toronto is Canada’s largest and most cosmopolitan city, known for its cultural diversity and the strength and engagement of its Jewish community, which ranks as one of the top ten largest in North America.  Beth Sholom Synagogue is approaching its 75^th anniversary and undertaking a $15 million renovation to accommodate the needs of its growing congregation, growth that is driven primarily by young Jewish families living in the area surrounding the shul.  The neighborhood is amongst the most vibrant in North America’s 4^th largest city.

Our Senior Rabbi, Aaron Flanzraich, has been at the Shul for 27 years and our Chazzan for 25 years, which speaks to the stability and menschlichkeit of our environment. Both arrived to the congregation under the age of 30 to become a part of some deeply important moments in the lives of our congregants. Our mission is to find a candidate who can fulfill this sacred task for the next generations of our kehillah.

Requirements

• Rabbinic ordination from a recognized Seminary.
• Minimum of five (5), but no more than 20, years of experience in a congregational setting or related field.