By Michael Cole and Howard Roger, Holy Blossom Temple Archives

Carole Payne’s path to Holy Blossom Temple—and to Judaism—was, to say the least, circuitous. Her (Jewish) mother and her (non-Jewish) adoptive father had not, when she was growing up, given her any indication of her Jewish identity. Her mother’s first husband, and Carole’s birth father, whom Carole did not know, had converted to Orthodox Judaism in order to marry Carole’s mother. Carole connected with her birth father, in England, only years later, after the discovery of her Jewish identity.

As a young girl, Carole was attracted to the services at the local United Church and to its minister. Carole went on to attend Victoria College at U. of T. and was active at Metropolitan United Church and in its interfaith groups, including with Holy Blossom.  She took a particular interest in social justice issues, and in 1965, at an interfaith rally in front of the American consulate protesting for civil rights, she found herself in the presence of, and was very impressed by Rabbi Plaut, one of the speakers at the rally and the first rabbi she had ever met.

In 1976, Carole, who by this time was married and the mother to four young children, enrolled in Emmanuel College, the divinity school of the United Church at University of Toronto. Carole was weeks away from receiving a Master of Divinity degree, and committing to becoming an ordained United Church minister when, through an off-hand remark in a letter from a cousin in Scotland, she discovered that she was Jewish. Confused, she sought advice from one of her professors at Emmanuel College.

Video: Watch Carole explain why her professor encouraged her to visit Holy Blossom and describe what she experienced there.

At Holy Blossom, Rabbi Plaut encouraged Carole to explore her Jewish identity, and she was warmly welcomed by members of the congregation and guided in the experience of Jewish living by such couples as David and Margaret Hart, Gary and Toby Ciglen, and Ernie and Lori Gershon. Carole did not become a United Church minister. She did become the first paid librarian at Holy Blossom. It was she who guided the library into the digital age. The old card catalogues were replaced by a computer program. In 1981, Carole and her husband were among the Holy Blossom contingent in an interfaith trip to Israel with members of Timothy Eaton Memorial Church.

Some years ago, Carole relocated from Toronto to Port Hope, where she pursued yet another career as a bookbinder. She also became a valued member of Beth Israel Synagogue in Peterborough, and it was to that congregation’s cemetery that a number of Holy Blossom members travelled on July 23 to lay Carole to rest after a long battle with cancer. Among those in attendance were some who knew her from the time she first began the exploration of her Jewish roots and some who knew her through her online participation in Shabbat morning Torah study.

All of us who knew Carole were impressed by her insatiable intellectual curiosity, her commitment to social justice, and her unconditional acceptance of people regardless of their religious beliefs.

May her memory be for a blessing!