Director of Lifelong Learning: Supplementary Information

More about Holy Blossom Temple

Our Mission Statement

Holy Blossom Temple, Toronto’s first synagogue, is a leading Canadian Reform Jewish congregation with a rich history of responding to both tradition and modernity in our religious and spiritual expression. We pursue meaningful opportunities for personal growth and family fulfillment at every stage of life through belonging, learning, prayer and ritual, and acts of service for our congregation and community, our city and country, the Reform Movement, Israel, and all the world.

Our Congregation’s Strengths

1. Our name. There is only one Holy Blossom Temple. As Toronto’s first synagogue, which later became the flagship Reform congregation for the country, Holy Blossom Temple enjoys the shem tov of a congregation which has maintained a fine balance between tradition and innovation and has thereby, remained relevant in every generation. It has the stability of a long-standing congregation and the ability to recreate itself with the passage of time.
2. Our leadership. Many shining lights of the North American Reform Leadership have led Holy Blossom Temple over its 170-year history. They are a great source of pride and strength.  We tell their stories often and are still shaped by them.
3. Our clergy and staff: We are blessed with rabbis, cantors, and educators with a wide range of experience, expertise, and backgrounds, and over 20 talented professional staff.
4. Our congregants. We have extraordinary talent among our members — leading figures in their fields, leaders in the Jewish community, in the UJA, URJ, ARZA Canada, WUPJ, WRJ, and other Jewish and Zionist causes. 
5. There is a relatively high level of Jewish literacy among our congregants. Holy Blossom sits on the traditional wing of the Reform Movement.  For example, we have two daily, lay-led services throughout the week. Shiva minyanim are led by capable volunteers. Fifty adults and teens chant Torah, Haftarah, and Megillot throughout the year. Our congregants have come to expect excellence at Holy Blossom Temple and are willing to work for it.  
6. The breadth and depth of today’s offerings. People look to Holy Blossom Temple for quality and quantity of opportunities to learn and grow Jewishly. In the areas of Torah, Avodah, and Gemilut Chasadim there is an impressive and sometimes surprising range of experiences under one roof — and now online as well.
7. Our location in the city. Our urban, but residential neighbourhood continues to be desirable for Jewish families of all generations, and is easily accessible by public transit. 
8. Our new and renewed spaces. Designed by internationally acclaimed architects, our Schwartz/Reisman Atrium is beautiful and serves us well to cultivate relationships, reinforce our values, and tell our stories.
9. Our generosity.  The Temple Foundation is preparing to launch a year of fundraising which will focus on supporting excellence in education.  

Highlights of our Current Educational Programs

Video link: We asked our families what makes the YEC at Holy Blossom so special

• Adult Learning:  Our adult learners have many wide-ranging opportunities to join together in learning. These are produced by teams of professionals and volunteers across our departments.  
  • Our rabbis, cantors, and educators offer text-based courses, Israel Dialogues, Interfaith Dialogue, Luke Sklar Mental Health Initiative, Dorot learning for seniors, Hebrew language, Conversion, and Jewish life skills classes. 
  •  Through our own Centre for Arts and Culture, we offer Jewish learning through the study of literature, film, music, visual art, and theatre.  We are blessed with partnerships which bring visiting experts from near and far.  For example, Jewish Studies departments from University of Toronto and York University, the Shalom Hartman Institute, and Jewish Family and Child Services.  
  • We also tap into a network of learning opportunities through the Reform Jewish family of organizations (i.e. ARZA Canada, IMPJ, WUPJ, WRJ, and Hebrew Union College.)  Many Chavurot offer small group learning circles.  Women of Holy Blossom, Women’s Advocacy Group, Brotherhood, and YAD (Young Adult Division) are also engines for meaningful learning. 
• Early Childhood Centre (ECC) – full day early childhood education program aged 18 months to 4 years. 60+ students and growing
• Youth Education Centre (YEC) – part-time school for Junior Kindergarten (JK) through Confirmation (grade 10).  169 students in 2025-2026.
  • Sunday mornings for JK – Grade 5
  • Monday evenings Grade 6- Confirmation
• 10 teachers, 100% retention of teachers for upcoming school year.  
  • Many are long-time teachers at HBT, which gives our YEC consistency and builds strong relationships between teaching staff and families. 
  • Our rabbis and cantors are significantly invested in our schools.  Our Assistant Rabbi and Director of Outreach and Next Gen Engagement are attached to our ECC.  Our Assistant and Associate Rabbis play leading roles in our YEC and with our teens. 
• B’nei Mitzvah – average of 30 per year, overseen by our Senior Cantor, a newly established committee, and a team of experienced tutors.
• Madrichim - 10 teen leaders (Grades 8-12) are Assistant Teachers in the YEC. They receive formal teacher training and leadership development.
• Zoom Hebrew tutoring by Teens – 6 high school/university students teach our students in grades 4-6 online for 30 minutes each week one-on-one for Hebrew reading practice and connection. 
• Project Tikvah – Our inclusion program for students who require extra support and resources, and for teachers and madrichim who require extra training in order to integrate all our students in . 
• After-School Program – A pilot program going into second year.  Currently 2 days each week. Including a walking school bus from nearby schools, play-based and art-based learning.
• Shinshinim – This global program of young Israeli ambassadors to Diaspora Communities began at Holy Blossom Temple.  Our Shinshinim create personal and lasting ties to Israel.
• Youth Engagement Coordinator who oversees all youth activities outside YEC formal program on Sundays and Mondays, as well as supports the YEC educational program. Activities include:
  • YEAH (Youth Excitement at Holy Blossom) – grades 2-5, youth group style programs, 6x per year 
  • JYG (Junior Youth Group) – grades 6&7 – 1x month activities with dinner before classes, Sunday afternoon programs throughout the year.  
  • HABSTY (Holy Awesome Blossom Senior Temple Youth) – grades 8-12. Teen leadership board of 8 students.  Weekly Lounge Night programs, run by teen board, staff and Shinshinim. NFTY regional programming – 3 weekend events per year, plus city-wide programs with other Temple youth groups.
• Mitzvah Bakers – teen volunteer baking once per month in support of Out of the Cold and Seeds of Hope 
• Retreats and Travel Programs
• Grade 6&7 Shabbaton.
  • Grade 8&9 trip to Montreal with other local congregations.
  • Teen Trip to Israel offered every other year for grades 9-12.
  • L’Taken Social Justice Seminar in Ottawa, offered every other year for grades 10-12.
• Family Learning Programs – Sunday morning holiday programs open to all families with school age children for Sukkot, Chanukah, Tu B’shevat, Purim, and Pesach. 
• Link to Curricular Highlights – Youth Education Centre: Curriculum – Holy Blossom Temple 
• URJ Camp George – 35 Holy Blossom youth are campers and staff at Camp George, the only Union of Reform Judaism (URJ) camp in Canada, located 2.5 hours from Toronto. 
• The Reform Movement’s Leo Baeck Day School “grew up” at Holy Blossom and now enjoys its own campus, with more than 800 students just 5 minutes away. 
• The Bialik Hebrew Day School will rent six of Holy Blossom’s classrooms for its Junior Kindergarten, beginning in the fall of 2026.  The Director of Lifelong Learning is not responsible for this program.
• Note: About one third of our children and teens attend full time Jewish day schools.

 

Dear Jewish Educator,

I’ve been thinking about you more than you know.  We at Holy Blossom Temple have been preparing for your arrival for more than three years now.  We have laid a solid foundation with careful thought and much enthusiasm as we strive to ensure your success and strive to meet the needs of our growing congregation.

Our Search Committee chair and I spent the summer meeting with seasoned synagogue educators in the field to gather insight. We have been reading about the current opportunities, challenges, and best practices in Jewish education.  We can’t wait to introduce you to our committee, which is made up of extraordinary congregants, who are uniquely committed to lifelong learning at Holy Blossom Temple. 

Soon you will also meet a very special team of professional colleagues, who look forward to the expertise you will bring to anchor and elevate our work.  The Principal of our Youth Education Centre and the Principal of our Early Childhood Centre are well-established at Holy Blossom and oversee a beloved faculty of full-time and part-time teachers.  Our four rabbis and two cantors also play an important role in the educational life of the congregation.  Each has a distinct set of strengths and responsibilities and works closely with volunteers and lay leaders, who are our sacred partners in fulfilling our mission. We meet weekly to dream together and to strategize how to best serve the congregation we respect, admire, and feel lucky to serve.  Our Senior Leadership Team begins every Tuesday morning with study.  That tells you something about the centrality of lifelong learning here at Holy Blossom Temple.

The David Feldman School Wing is the Beit Midrash of our campus.  This spring and summer classrooms will be upgraded and made ready to receive our students in the fall of 2026.  It is exciting to imagine the magic you will create there for our students and their parents.

I am in search of a partner to help me lead this extraordinary congregation forward by strengthening and expanding one of the six pillars of Holy Blossom Temple, namely, Lifelong Learning . I am extremely proud of all we have accomplished so far, and you will soon find that one of the many admirable character traits of the Holy Blossom Temple community is that we always set our eyes on the horizon.  Once you settle in, we will craft our next strategic plan and you will play a vital role in bringing it to life.  I pledge to support you in shaping your work, in order to deepen your impact, extend your reach, and magnify your own strengths and interests. 

Because you are a Jewish educator, we trust you are creative and future-facing, knowledgeable and wise, ambitious and hardworking, trustworthy and kind.  All the rest is the commentary that makes for a good shidduch.  I look forward to getting to know you and to introducing you to what makes being a “Teacher of Teachers” at Holy Blossom Temple so fulfilling.

I can’t wait to get started.  So bring your ideas, your energy, your passions, your curiosity.  We look forward to welcoming you.

In great anticipation,

 

 

Rabbi Yael Splansky