Are you expecting? B’sha’ah tovah, we pray that joy and mazal tovs are in the future. Holy Blossom wants to celebrate with you as we welcome your new baby into the Covenant.
One of our rabbis would love to be with you as we welcome your new baby into the Covenant and our community. Please contact us and we will schedule one of our Holy Blossom rabbis to be with you at home or at Holy Blossom Temple. We can also provide you a list of our recommended mohelim (ritual circumcisers) who are doctors and trained by the Brit Milah Program of Reform Judaism, including our member Dr. Rhonda Wilansky. A Reform trained Mohel will lead your family in an egalitarian and modern service in partnership with Holy Blossom clergy.
All of this can be arranged by contacting Lindsay Mockler by email or call (416) 789-3291, ext.255.
Consecration is a beautiful and meaningful life-cycle event marking the beginning of a child’s formal Jewish education. At Holy Blossom Temple, we have a long-standing tradition of celebrating Consecration early in the school year of Grade 1, with an interactive parent/student program, followed a week later by the Consecration Service. The Service is a family celebration where each child receives a small Torah and is blessed by parents and a rabbi.
Our Consecration ceremony emphasizes the value we place on Jewish learning and on the study of Torah.
Mazel tov to you and your new teenager! We take special pride when our young people embrace Torah as their own and become Bar (male), Bat (female) or Perach (gender neutral) Mitzvah at Holy Blossom Temple!
At Holy Blossom Temple we ensure that the day of celebration is meaningful and memorable. Moreover, our holistic approach extends far beyond the simcha on the bima.
We are very proud of our Bar/Bat/Perach Mitzvah program, which creates an outlook, a Jewish identity, and a foundation of Jewish learning and action that will last a lifetime.
For information about our program, or to book a Bar/Bat/Perach Mitzvah contact Iris Spitz at [email protected] or call (416)-789-3291, ext 224.
Confirmation is unique to Reform Judaism and has been observed at Holy Blossom for more than 70 years.
It is celebrated by Grade 10 graduates of the religious school and usually takes place on Shavuot, the festival in which we mark the giving of the Torah.
A wedding is a momentous occasion, both as a milestone in a couple’s life and in terms of the planning and preparation needed for such a celebration. Holy Blossom Temple is here for you throughout the process of planning your simcha. Just as each couple is unique, we will work with you to your wedding a true reflection of you and your families. Holy Blossom Temple clergy are proud to officiate at marriages of LGBTQ couples.
If you are interested in having your wedding at Holy Blossom Temple, or a wedding officiated by a member of our clergy, please call Lindsay Mockler as early as possible at 416-789-3291 x 255. She will help you get the planning process started.
We are here to support you in your time of need, with guidance and counselling both before and after a loss. The Moments Following a Loved One’s Death
If you need to contact Holy Blossom Temple regarding an emergency or a funeral and the Temple office is closed, please call 416 565 7561 until 10 p.m.; after 10 pm please contact the funeral home of your choice listed below. To ensure we are available to you in your time of need, we do answer this emergency phone on Shabbat and on holy days.
Click here to download our Guide for Mourners
Many members celebrating life-cycle events are interested in making donations to our Foundation to commemorate their special occasions. Among the many ways to contribute, establishing an endowment fund in the family’s name is a wonderful way to celebrate the simchas and achievements of loved ones or to honour their memory. Endowment funds support the pillars of our Temple — Torah (study), Avodah (worship), Gemilut Chasadim (deeds of social responsibility) and the building of a vibrant synagogue community.
As families mark each stage of life, they can continue to contribute to their fund. A growing fund will not only honour the family name in perpetuity but will ensure that our synagogue will continue to bring joy at every stage of life — from generation to generation.
For information on establishing a family endowment fund, please call the Foundation Office at (416) 789-3291, ext. 265.
The Holy Blossom Temple sections in Pardes Shalom Cemetery are RR and TT. The cemetery is located on Dufferin Street, north of Major Mackenzie Drive.
We ask that, in accordance with Ontario law, and the stay-at-home Provincial order, that you please do not visit our cemeteries at this time. If you must come to our cemeteries, please wear a facemask/covering, ensure that you maintain physical distancing, and only gather as permitted by law.
Holy Blossom Memorial Park, owned by the congregation, is located on Brimley Road, between Eglinton Ave. East and St. Clair Ave. East. It is a short distance north of Kingston Road.
We ask that, in accordance with Ontario law, and the stay-at-home Provincial order, that you please do not visit our cemeteries at this time. If you must come to our cemeteries, please wear a facemask/covering, ensure that you maintain physical distancing, and only gather as permitted by law.
Please note that entry into the cemeteries will not be permitted 15 minutes before our closing time.
We are closed for Shabbat, and we will also remain closed on all religious holy days, including 1st Day of Pesach, 7th Day of Pesach, 1st Day of Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah (both days), Yom Kippur, 1st Day of Sukkot, and Shemini Atzeret.
Our floral arrangement letters go out in February for the upcoming planting season.
We have opened a new section at Holy Blossom Memorial Park and have a limited number of plots available for purchase for our members. In order to purchase plots at the member price, you need to be a member in good standing for three (3) or more years. Cremation plots are also available. Please contact Cindy Zimmer at [email protected] for more details.
Regular plots are $5,000 for members and $15,000 for non-members. Cremation plots are $1,800 for members and $5,400 for non-members. For the Holy Blossom Memorial Park price list, please click here
At Holy Blossom Temple Memorial Park, the Temple will issue you an interment right or ‘deed,’ identifying the exact plot(s) you have purchased.
At Beit Olam, Jews will be buried with all the Jewish rites and rituals, while having the comfort of being laid to rest alongside their loved ones. To Honour the Deceased (K’vod haMeit) and To Comfort Mourners (Nichum Aveilim) are essential mitzvot. With the establishment of Beit Olam, we will further our ability to do both with dignity and compassion. Glenview Cemetery is pleased to provide the Jewish community with an identifiably Jewish burial section, which will preserve the Jewish Heritage in their serene landscapes.
For more information on Beit Olam, visit www.glenviewmemorial.ca or contact Cindy Zimmer.
The updated Cemetery by-laws have been approved by the Board of Directors of Holy Blossom Temple – September 5, 2019 and by the Bereavement Authority of Ontario on February 26, 2020. To download a copy of the by-laws, please click here.
As of July 1, 2012 the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act provides important consumer protection, please click here to get your copy of the Consumer Information Guide: A Guide to Death Care in Ontario from the Bereavement Authority of Ontario.
1950 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5P 3K9
(416) 789-3291
[email protected]
Emergency Funeral Contact
Cell: 416-565-7561
Founded in 1856, Holy Blossom Temple is Toronto’s first synagogue with a rich history of tradition and modernity in our religious and spiritual expression.