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Rabbi's Message

I am aware of a lot of different feelings as I begin my work at City Shul. Honour and privilege, excitement and anxiety, gratitude and joy. In the short time that I have come to know the City Shul community, I have found you to be open and welcoming, a committed family of diverse individuals dedicated to Jewish life and community. I know that there is so much more to learn about you, and I know that will come in time.

So I want to use this first newsletter opportunity to tell you a little about me and what drew me to City Shul.

I was born and raised in Toronto. And though I have spent some years living in London (England), Indianapolis, San Francisco and now Henderson, Nevada, Toronto will always be home to me. I grew up in the Reform Movement here. I was active in my youth group at Holy Blossom Temple and in NELFTY, our youth region. Over the fifty years that I lived in Toronto, I taught Religious School at Holy Blossom, was the youth advisor at Temple Emanu-El, a Rabbinic Intern at Temple Sinai, Director of Education and Assistant Rabbi at Har Zion, Sabbatical Replacement Rabbi at Solel Congregation, and Rabbi of Temple Kol Ami, so I guess you can say that I have served almost all of the Reform congregations in the GTA, now closing the circle with City Shul.

I also served for nine years as Executive Director of the Canadian Council for Reform Judaism (now known as The Reform Jewish Community of Canada), during which time I helped to establish new congregations across the country, and was among the founders of Kolel, The Reform Mikveh and Camp George. During this time I also served as Director of the Jewish Information Class, Chair of the Reform Rabbis of Greater Toronto and President of the Toronto Board of Rabbis.

During the last ten years of my rabbinate, I served as rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel Judea in San Francisco, before retiring to Henderson, Nevada where I have lived for the past four years. Since my retirement began, I have returned to a part of the work that I did at the Canadian Council, working as a Consultant in Synagogue Management with a special emphasis on congregations in crisis, or those facing or anticipating challenging transitions, such as merger, demographic decline, or resignation/retirement of their rabbi.

So it was the combination of City Shul’s time of transition, my love of Toronto and its Reform Jewish Community, and my friendship with Rabbi Goldstein, that drew me to you. I look forward to getting to know you as individuals as well as a community, to being a part of your lives, your hard times and your celebrations. I look forward to working with you as together we anticipate the selection and arrival of your new settled rabbi at this time next year.

By the time you receive this newsletter, my email will be active at rabbigottlieb@cityshul.com. You can find me there any time you need me, and we can meet in person when I am in Toronto, or on Zoom if I am in Henderson. Please feel free to reach out to me and we can make some time together. In  the meantime, I look forward to meeting you at one of these services—Saturday morning, July 13 and our outdoor Kabbalat Shabbat Service on Friday, July 26.

This Shabbat is Rosh Hodesh Tammuz. A new cycle begins. A new Tammuz, different than the ones of the past, holding out the promise of both the present and the future. A reminder of the new cycle beginning for us all.

Rabbi Danny Gottlieb

rabbigottlieb@cityshul.com

www.cityshul.com

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