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Our Permanent Rabbi Search
Introducing Rabbi Stephanie Crawley
March 3, 2025
We are sharing joyous news: City Shul has engaged Rabbi Stephanie Crawley as its next spiritual leader.
There is no greater challenge for a congregation than finding its spiritual leader. For City Shul it is a special challenge: we are a unique, passionate, learned and devoted congregation.
Our expedition to find the right Rabbi has been demanding. We held town halls, interviewed congregants and pondered and planned this journey for over two years. Our congregants shared tremendous wisdom. Committees held meetings to deliberate our goals. Our Chalutzim Campaign gave us the resources to find the very best.
The Search Committee interviewed 10 candidates from Canada, the United States and Israel. When we interviewed Rabbi Crawley in late November, she immediately advanced to the front of an accomplished field. Her visit to Toronto in early January confirmed for us that she was the Search Committee’s unanimous choice. Rabbi Crawley is scholarly, thoughtful and passionate about working with her community.
Rabbi Crawley graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a background in political science, international relations, and Jewish studies. She is a recipient of Hebrew Union College’s prestigious Tisch Rabbinical Fellowship and served as a Spiritual Counselor at Beit T’shuvah, a Jewish addiction treatment centre. Her Rabbinic work has taken her across North America and Israel and to diverse regions from Argentina to Azerbaijan.
Rabbi Crawley has served as Associate Rabbi at Temple Micah in Washington, D.C., since 2018. There, she pioneered projects to transform Jewish experiences for those disenchanted with formal institutions: The Storefront Project, which brought Jewish life into cultural centres around the city, and Open Book, an exploration of foundational and compelling Jewish ideas. Rabbi Crawley is particularly proud of the work she accomplished leading Sukkat Shalom, Micah’s working group on immigration, refugee and migrant justice. Her ongoing quest is to be a rabbi who is, as she says, rooted, hopeful and fully human.
A native of St. Louis, she grew up balancing softball with summers at Jewish camp, where her passion for Jewish life and community first took root. Rabbi Crawley is married to Rabbi Jesse Paikin, a Toronto native, and they frequently come to Toronto to visit his family with their toddler daughter, Ruthie. (They still remember first noticing the City Shul signboard outside our once-and-future home, Bloor Street United.)
Our Rabbi Emerita has met with Rabbi Crawley and had wonderful discussions with her. Rabbi Goldstein is enthusiastically supportive as great new things happen for City Shul.
“You have built something remarkable at City Shul,” Rabbi Crawley says. “In just over a decade, you’ve created a thriving, learned, engaged spiritual community in a place where it is so needed. The creativity, dedication and leadership of Rabbi Goldstein has inspired me, and I am honoured to have the merit to follow in her steps. My dream is that when people think and speak of City Shul, they will know that it is a place where Judaism is celebrated joyously, where it is taken seriously and where people are welcomed into a shining example of what a synagogue community can be. We will continue to build this together, and I can’t wait to get started with you.”
We sincerely thank the Search Committee for their hard work. Our Leadership Team wholeheartedly believes that Rabbi Crawley is the right match for City Shul. With her leadership, we will continue to create pathways to explore and live engaged, connected Jewish lives.
We look forward to welcoming Rabbi Crawley to City Shul this summer, once she says her goodbyes to her current congregation and settles into her new home in Toronto. We’ll provide more information once the calendar is set. To read some of Rabbi Crawley’s sermons, poetry & kavvanot, visit her website.
We invite you to join us in welcoming Rabbi Crawley with open hearts. We believe City Shul will come to love and cherish her warmth, learning and leadership – of our unique, passionate, learned and devoted congregation.
Jonathan Wyman, Chair, City Shul Search Committee
Barbara Wade Rose, President, City Shul
Liron Taub, Chair, City Shul
Sat, May 24 2025
26 Iyar 5785
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Upcoming Events
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Saturday ,
MayMay 24 , 2025“How Do We Talk about Israel - a Dialogue Program for Parents”
Shabbat, May 24th 8:00p to 9:30p
Families are grappling with this question amid the ongoing war in Gaza and increased tensions in the Toronto Jewish community. Join us together with facilitator Jenny Isaacs, Director of Camp Shomria Canada, for a dialogue geared toward parents and caring adults who are asking difficult questions about Israel and Palestine while raising Jewish children and teens. -
Saturday ,
MayMay 31 , 2025Shabbat Special Event - A Musical Shabbat with Hava N’Ranena
Shabbat, May 31st 10:00a to 12:30p
Join us for a music-filled Shabbat. The event begins at 10:00 AM, with a quiet shmooze, as the band sets up. Hava N’ranena - whose music is inspired by Nava Tehila in Jerusalem - will begin performing at 10:30 AM. The event concludes with Kiddush, followed by some light refreshments. -
Saturday ,
JunJune 14 , 2025City Shul Pride Havdalah
Shabbat, Jun 14th 7:30p to 9:00p
Join us on Saturday, June 14th from 7–9 PM for a special Pride Havdalah, an inclusive, community gathering to mark the end of Shabbat and celebrate LGBTQ+ joy and resilience—light refreshments will be served, and all donations will go to support a local LGBTQ+ aid organization. -
Tuesday ,
JunJune 17 , 2025Adult Education Presents “A Tribute to My Grandfather - an Aliyah Story”
Tuesday, Jun 17th 7:30p to 9:00p
Alon Knaan is one of City Shul’s 2024/25 Shinshinim. In honour of his grandfather's 90th birthday, his family made a film about his Aliyah story and his life in the early days of the Kibbutz. Alon interviewed him for parts of the film and also did the voice-over. He will be screening the film for the City Shul community and will lead a short discussion afterwards. The film is in Hebrew, and he will add captioning in English so we can all enjoy this unique tribute. -
Saturday ,
JunJune 28 , 2025Shabbat Special Event - A Musical Shabbat with Hava N’Ranena
Shabbat, Jun 28th 10:00a to 12:30p
Join us for a music-filled Shabbat. The event begins at 10:00 AM, with a quiet shmooze, as the band sets up. Hava N’ranena - whose music is inspired by Nava Tehila in Jerusalem - will begin performing at 10:30 AM. The event concludes with Kiddush, followed by some light refreshments.