The Gerald Schwartz/Heather Reisman Centre for Jewish Learning at Holy Blossom Temple

Holy Blossom Temple is as much a House of Study as a House of Worship. Our Gerald Schwartz/Heather Reisman Centre for Jewish Learning reflects this, affording our members and the larger Toronto Jewish Community the opportunity to come together for major public lectures which address the important issues of our day. The Centre also provides the opportunity to study in smaller groups and classes — everything from the Bible to Rabbinic Texts; from Jewish Literature to Jewish History; from how to make Jewish marriage work to how to raise Jewish children of strong character.

The Gerald Schwartz/Heather Reisman Centre for Jewish Learning at Holy Blossom Temple is made available through the generosity of our members Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman. Gerry and Heather’s generosity reflects their belief in Holy Blossom Temple as a place of deep engagement in the larger issues of concern to the Jewish People. Gerry and Heather’s commitment reflects their belief that the synagogue is the central address in the Jewish Community.

Our Schwartz/Reisman Centre is the home for the following:

The Gerald Schwartz/Heather Reisman Fall Lecture Series at Holy Blossom Temple

In the fall of every year this major Lecture Series hosts prominent speakers, each of whom is invited to address one particular issue of interest at the moment. We have been privileged to host such people as Amos Oz, Hirsh Goodman, Natan Sharansky, Ehud Barak, the late Abba Eban, George Will, Yossi Klein HaLevi, Sir Martin Gilbert among others.

In addition to the Fall Lecture Series, our Schwartz/Reisman Centre hosts a number of major lectures throughout the year. Since the second Intifada (Sept. 2000), and especially since Sept. 11, 2001, the lectures in the Schwartz/Reisman Centre have focused on matters of great concern for all: The situation in Israel; the newly emerging world of terrorism; Canadian Foreign Policy toward Israel and the Middle East. Holy Blossom Temple has become the place in Toronto’s Jewish Community to gather for major lectures on the important issues of the day.

The Schwartz/Reisman Centre's Calendar of Events is mailed to our members each year in September.

Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah

Join other adults in a serious, in-depth two-year program, which includes the basics of Hebrew, Jewish history, Torah chanting, rabbinic thinking and textual analyses (for members only).

Academy of Jewish Learning

Jewish knowledge is a pre-requisite for Jewish leadership. This two-year, intensive study program is designed to cultivate current and future Temple leadership. The faculty is comprised of Toronto’s finest teachers of Jewish texts, history, and thought (for members only).

Ongoing Learning

While our lectures are designed to draw larger numbers, our study classes are no less integral to the Schwartz/Reisman Centre. They reflect the character of Holy Blossom Temple as much as do our lectures: substantive and engaging at the same time, open to all regardless of the level of Jewish learning.

We offer many ongoing classes, providing our members the opportunity to study sacred texts in depth. These classes, designed for the adults in our community, encourage each of our members to move from one level of learning to another. This enables each of us to slowly build a foundation of Jewish learning.

For more information on our Gerald Schwartz/Heather Reisman Centre for Jewish Learning at Holy Blossom Temple, please call (416) 789-3291, ext.527.

Download the Schwartz/Reisman Centre Calendar of Events for the 2008-2009 Season.

Pre-School • Religious School • The Leo Baeck Day School • Bar/Bat Mitzvah • Library