Selichot 5786
A Contemplative Night to Prepare Ourselves for the New Year
Saturday, September 5, 2026
8:00 pm: Sacred Study with Rabbi Larry Englander
The Prophet Who Won’t Go Away: Tracing Elijah through Biblical, Rabbinic, Kabbalistic, and Folkloric Literature
Join us in sacred study for the Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro Memorial Lecture
Note: There will be a half-hour break for dessert between the study and service
9:15 pm: Havdalah and Dessert Reception
9:45 pm: Selichot Service
For those joining us online in sacred worship, both the study and service will be streamed on our livestream page here: holyblossom.org/holy-blossom-temple-livestream/
This stirring service, filled with exquisite music, calls us to prepare ourselves for the New Year. We will ceremonially change the Torah mantels to white, reflect on the trying year it has been, and ready ourselves, with renewed spiritual courage, to welcome the year 5787.
Rabbi Lawrence A. Englander is the founding Rabbi of Solel Congregation, Mississauga, serving there since its inception in 1973 until his retirement in June 2014; he now serves Solel as Rabbi Emeritus. He is also Adjunct Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Toronto.
Rabbi Englander received his Doctorate of Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in the field of Jewish Mysticism and Rabbinics. He has taught in the Religious Studies Department at York University and spent a semester teaching rabbinical students at Leo Baeck College in London, England. He has written several articles on Jewish Mysticism, as well as a book, The Mystical Study of Ruth, published by Scholars Press. He is a former Editor of the Central Conference of American Rabbis Journal.
Another passion of Rabbi Englander’s is liberal Zionism, a subject on which he has written and edited articles. He served as Chair of ARZENU, a world-wide progressive Zionist organization, from 2014 to 2017. He is co-editor (with Rabbi Stanley Davids) of the book Fragile Dialogue: New Voices in Liberal Zionism, published by CCAR Press. He is also on the International Council of the New Israel Fund.
In 2005, he was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada for his work in the community.
He has also published a novel, The Prince of Healers, a historical fiction based on the life of Rabbi Moses Maimonides.
Rabbi Englander and his wife Cheryl are natives of Toronto, Canada.
Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro z”l served Holy Blossom Temple from 1977-1982. He is remembered by many with admiration and warm friendship.https://holyblossom.org/remembering-rabbi-mark-dov-shapiro-zl/. The majority of his rabbinate was in Springfield, Massachusetts, but he and his wife, Marsha, both native Torontonians, always maintained close ties here. Rabbi Shapiro was especially devoted to interfaith relations, social justice, pastoral care, and lifelong learning. He strengthened the Reform Movement by serving on many committees and writing publications for the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Union of Reform Judaism. Most of all, Rabbi Shapiro is forever cherished for his constant warmth and kindness. Family and friends, colleagues and congregants have given generously to establish an annual lecture in Rabbi Shapiro’s name. We dedicate this learning to his memory.
