My family joined Holy Blossom in early 2022, so we are quite new to the temple, though not to the Toronto Reform Jewish community. My husband Jonathan Gould and I grew up at Temple Emanu-El (though we didn’t meet until years later, once the internet was established!) Our children attend URJ Camp George.

In my younger days, I loved taking on leadership roles in the Jewish community – including Worship chair for NELFTY (now NFTY-NEL), president of the McMaster University Jewish Students Association, and music teacher at Temple Anshe Sholom religious school. In my next phase, I taught grade 9 (pre-Confirmation) at my childhood synagogue and took pride in my
role of Social Action Coordinator for the Canadian Council for Reform Judaism, where I was part of coalitions across the country, advocating for affordable housing and an end to child poverty.

In my full-time professional life, I am a public servant in the Ontario government, and currently a branch director at the environment ministry, working on policies and programs related to climate change mitigation. Most of my two decades in public service have been focused on housing policy and education policy.

I have always identified as a Reform Jew – because the movement is egalitarian, innovative, and adapts and evolves with ‘kavanah’ – holding central that every human being is created b’tzelem elohim – in the image of God.

My family has celebrated milestones at Holy Blossom in the short time since we joined. One child was confirmed in the 2023 Confirmation class and the other became a bar mitzvah in December 2023. Both are regular participants in the temple’s youth programs, and I am a shiva service leader. We feel warmly welcomed into this beautiful building and community by old and
new friends and I am honoured to serve on the Board.