Welcome Rabbi Baruchel

Welcome Rabbi Taylor Baruchel, Director of Outreach & Next Gen Engagement

We are delighted to share that we will be welcoming a new member of Holy Blossom Temple’s Senior Leadership Team in the new role of Director of Outreach & Next Gen Engagement. Taylor Baruchel will join Holy Blossom Temple to lead this important area. She will start part-time this coming Monday and will be with us full-time after the Victoria Day weekend.

Together with the Board of Directors, we are thrilled to have been able to advance in creating a new Directorship to serve our younger families and young adults and those who will join us. This initiative has been supported in honour of Rabbi Splansky’s 25th anniversary at Temple.  This new position will help us to realize Rabbi Splansky’s vision for Holy Blossom Temple’s future, which includes bringing this essential cohort into sharp focus as a top priority for the years ahead.

Taylor comes to us most recently as Program Coordinator and Lead Educator at Introduction to Jewish Life (Toronto’s conversion program under the auspices of the Reform Rabbis of Greater Toronto) as well as Chaplain Intern, providing spiritual and pastoral care at Baycrest Health Sciences. Prior to moving to Toronto, Taylor spent four years in various leadership positions of increasing responsibility at the Hillels of Georgia where she made a profound impact on the Jewish student body through outreach and engagement. Hailing from Montréal, Taylor was involved in the Jewish Community in a number of ways including as a board member at Temple Emanu-El Beth Sholom and through her volunteer work programming for the equivalent of our Young Adult Division (YAD) here at Temple.  Taylor holds a BA in Religious Studies and a Master of Arts: History & Philosophy of Religion both from Concordia University, a Master’s Concentration in Israel Education from The iCentre for Israel Education (in Chicago), and a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). She will receive her Rabbinic Ordination from HUC-JIR in a few short weeks in Los Angeles.

Having a Rabbi in a staff position, as opposed to a pulpit position, is new to Holy Blossom Temple, although it is very common among other large congregations across the Reform Movement. The fact that Taylor Baruchel will soon be Rabbi Baruchel will make her outreach and engagement work even more effective.  She will bring depth to her outreach initiatives and Jewish content to the engagement opportunities she creates.

Many of you will already know Taylor as she and her family, Associate Rabbi Samuel Kaye and their nearly three-year-old daughter, Selah joined HBT in June 2022. Holy Blossom is already the Baruchel/Kaye’s spiritual home, and we are blessed to have Taylor join our professional team.

As of May 1, Taylor can be reached at [email protected]  or extension 233. Her desk will be in the Membership Office, but she will be seen often at Holy Grounds Café, meeting with members and prospective members, social animators, outside professional partners, and emerging lay leaders. She will also be out and about town, strategically placing herself wherever our Terumah and YAD folks are in the community.

Our deep gratitude goes to the first five families who have provided generous seed funding to enable us to create this new position, essential for our future growth.  They are Karen & Tom Ehrlich, Wendy & Elliott Eisen, Helena & David Fine, Judy & Jack Winberg, and Carole & Bernard Zucker. We continue to strengthen the congregation in honour of Rabbi Splansky’s 25^th. To learn more or to make a gift, please visit https://holyblossom.org/rys25/.

Mazel Tov to us all and Shabbat Shalom,

Rachel Malach                        Rabbi Yael Splansky

Executive Director                  Senior Rabbi