Holy Blossom Temple, a Reform Synagogue, is rooted in the three pillars of Judaism – Torah – Avodah – and Gimilut Chasadim. While we honour our past, our present and our future is an opportunity for all to share in dynamic and continued growth and excitement for our historic Congregation. We offer many opportunities for you to connect to Judaism through study, prayer and social action.

Please take some time to familiarize yourself with our Congregation. As you browse our Web site you will quickly learn about us and see the vast array of opportunities for one’s engagement at Holy Blossom. If Judaism matters to you, you will find something significant here at Holy Blossom for you. You will find relationships – connections to others who share your interest and that of your family. You will find a commitment to excellence.

If you are new to Toronto or looking to join a synagogue, we welcome you in to our congregation and our community. I believe that everyone who participates in our community has something to contribute to it. Consider how you can find your niche at Holy Blossom. Or even better, contact me so that we talk about it together.

Larry Babins, President

lbabins@holyblossom.org

Membership information

President's address to the congregation, Installation, November 29, 2008

Shabbat Shalom

This week’s torah portion is Toldot, which means generations. Toldot tells the story of Isaac, son of Abraham and his wife, Rebecca.  Although they longed for a child, Rebecca was unable to conceive until Isaac pleaded with G-d on her behalf, after which she became pregnant with twins.

Even in the womb the children struggled, foreshadowing a lifetime of conflict between two brothers born only moments apart. Esau became a hunter favoured by his father while Jacob was studious and more passive and he was favoured by his mother. The competition between these two brothers was significant. Ultimately, with the help of his mother, Jacob tricked Esau out of their father’s blessing and birthright.

Taken at face value, it seems that Isaac was deceived… but was he? Rabbi Plaut suggests that the deception was so crude that despite Isaac’s blindness, he must have known that it was Jacob, and not Esau, who stood before him. Rabbi Plaut concludes that Isaac knew in his heart that Rebecca was right… that Jacob was more suited to the responsibilities that lay ahead.

Jacob went on to become our third patriarch… but his path was not easy. Although the brothers reconciled some 20 years later, Jacob’s life was full of suffering.

Everyone in this family saga bears some responsibility for what happened. Certainly Jacob and Rebecca, but even Esau and Isaac made choices that led to conflicting and painful outcomes.

As I stand before you to deliver my inaugural speech as president of this congregation, how fitting it is that this week’s parasha focuses on generations. For, just as every family faces decisions and challenges across the generations, so too, do communities. And this applies equally to a synagogue community, which is a kehillah kedosha—a sacred community.

Through the generations, our kehillah kedosha at Holy Blossom has faced its share of challenges.  And like Isaac in his relationship with his father Abraham, we walk in the footsteps of those who came before us.

While reading the minutes of board of Directors meetings held by Holy Blossom’s in the 1930s, it struck me that issues faced by the congregation back then, as it planned and constructed its new synagogue, are similar to decisions facing us now as we proceed to renew the building. There are many parallels, including issues of design, the potential need for alternate facilities, and the costs in the face of serious economic turmoil.

Despite these hurdles in the midst of the Great Depression, that earlier generation of Holy Blossom leaders had the vision and determination to create this glorious building that has been cherished for seven decades. 

I believe that we have the resolve, goodwill and insight to achieve similar success in the current renewal project. The road to that success—and what makes a community strong—is the need for all of us to work together.  

The key is participation and inclusion. That brings to mind words spoken by Rabbi Moscowitz when Janice and I met with him in 1987. We had moved to the city from Montreal via London, Ontario. Our daughters, Shira and Aviva were of religious school age, and we chose Holy Blossom to provide their Jewish education. But in addition to that, we wanted to find our own place in this thriving community. As new members, we were seeking a sense of belonging but we did not know where to begin.

Rabbi Moscowitz’s advice was simple. He said, “Get involved. Join something.” Janice discovered Sisterhood and became an active participant. My first involvement was the result of a phone call from Abe Neufeld and Joel Rose, asking me to join them on a weekly 5 a.m. shift of the Out of the Cold Program.

Over time, additional requests arrived. The first came from Bob Smolkin, asking me to chair the Out of the Cold Program. Sometime after that, Sheila Smolkin asked me to chair the department of administration. Then David Baskin and Allan Garfinkel approached me to be Financial Secretary. Next, Barry Silver requested that I become 1^st Vice-President. It has been immensely enjoyable and satisfying to work with, and to learn from, such talented, resourceful and dedicated members of our lay leadership.

When Elliott Jacobson, informed me of my nomination as president. I was honoured to have been chosen, but I also experienced a twinge of anxiety, not unlike the feeling I had before my first 5 a.m. shift with the Out of the Cold program.  Mostly, however, I felt—and continue to feel—excited to be at the helm of this vibrant and accomplished community at such an interesting time in its history.

Some of you have a rich intergenerational background with Holy Blossom and others, like Janice and I, joined the Temple later. We all came through different portals, for different reasons and with varying levels of expectations.

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, believes, and I quote, that: “…the number one reason why Jews come to our congregations is their yearning for community. They see the synagogue as the place where you are there for other people and they are there for you, where your grief is halved, and your celebrations doubled by being shared. They come because the synagogue joins them by covenant with other Jews. They come because they derive special meaning in the great moments of life and they know that to do such things alone is not the Jewish way. In short, they come because they want to be part of an ancient story and tradition that asks us to take responsibility for one another.”

It is not surprising that the synagogue is the North American Jewish institution that evokes the strongest emotions—whether positive or negative—amongst members of the Jewish community.

If the synagogue is the primary vehicle driving Jewish continuity, our overriding mission as synagogue leaders is to find ways to ensure that the synagogue becomes more attractive to Jews, affiliated and non-affiliated alike.

It is up to our leaders, both professional and lay, to build bridges that help each member of the community to connect to one another and to G-d. Our mission is to facilitate our congregants’ journeys.

We will do our utmost to ensure that every congregant’s voice is heard. That every congregant has the opportunity to participate in synagogue life to the extent that he or she wishes. That every congregant feels connected and recognized.

The goal is to move people into the ever deeper circle of commitment. The starting point is to reach out to each of you, to draw on the talent, experience and insight of all members. By forging active participation within the synagogue, the community will be strengthened through both deeper and new connections.

Picture concentric circles of members, with the most involved in the centre and the least involved on the outer edge.  It is the task of the inner circle to reach out to the outer circle and seek their input. For example, many of us came together to discuss and exchange ideas about the renewal of our building and through that process, some significant issues were resolved. Our discussions need to continue and expand to all aspects of synagogue life.

Ron Heifetz, cofounder of the Center for Leadership at Harvard University teaches that people are actually not resistant to change… that what we resist is the loss that inevitably accompanies change. It is human nature not to want to go through the experience of loss. We do not want to feel disloyal to those who came before us.

All of us need to understand why we’re making changes and how they will affect congregational life. While renewing our building we must rely on our deep foundations of history and spirituality. When a congregation lives and breathes these values, the sacred community comes alive.

Our collective challenge is to become more self-reflective and brave, to focus on why we as a congregation do what we do. As Proust said, “The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” 

It may be a taboo subject, but money is important and we really need to talk about it. There tends to be little explanation of the need to collect dues and virtually no discussion of the meaning of funds dedicated to the support of our sacred community.

Giving is different from paying. Giving is a choice that comes from within. When one gives, there is deep satisfaction from knowing that the contribution matters. When one gives, knowing that a whole community of people is also giving, there is a feeling of belonging to a sacred community.

Our tradition teaches us to look around us, to take pleasure in the richness and beauty of our lives, to be grateful for the miracles, and then to express our gratitude by giving back. Developing a meaningful relationship with each individual in the congregation will inspire members to provide financial support.

Many assume that someone else would pay for the synagogue but, as a famous rabbinic axiom in Pirke Avot  3:17 teaches: “ Where there is no flour (money), there is no Torah (teaching)”.

The biblical injunction to give a half-shekel was incumbent on everyone. Even a poor person who is kept alive by tzedakah funds must give tzedakah from what they receive.

In closing, I would like to share with you the words of Dr. Ron Wolfson, Professor of Education at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, He says: “The purpose of a synagogue is to be a sacred community of people, whose lives are enriched with meaning, purpose, connectedness, and a relationship with G-d through prayer, study, acts of social justice, healing and loving-kindness.” This is a lofty purpose and one that aptly describes Holy Blossom. Our Temple is one of the most respected in the world for its achievements in many of these areas.

I am honoured to be standing here today as your president. Holy Blossom Temple has embraced my family personally and spiritually and I am inspired by its rich history, the depth of talent and spirit of its membership and its unbounding potential. And in recognition of the message of today’s parasha, I pledge to do my utmost to build on the strong foundation that I inherited from the generations that came before me.

Shabbat Shalom

Download and print the above speech.

Download and print the speech by Barry Silver, the outgoing President.