A Letter from Rabbi Corber

VAUGHAN, ON, Canada – June 18, 2018

Shalom uVracha!                                                                      

I’m Rabbi Joshua Corber and I’m thrilled to be your new Rabbi.
My wife, Chloe, our daughter Eliana (21 months old) and I arrived here in Vaughan about two weeks ago and we’ve already fallen in love with your shul. We hope you’ll like us too:). Chloe and I are both struck by how warm and friendly everyone has been; there has been an outpouring of help and support from membersand leadership as we arrived and set up our home.

I feel very fortunate to be in my new position because Beit Rayim has a winning combo of traits. First and foremost, you live up to the name, a house of friends. Secondly, you are devoted to Jewish tradition and at the same time, you are passionately committed to pursuing progressive values. You are a welcoming and caring group with very knowledgeable, educated lay leaders who roll up their sleeves and give tirelessly to their shul.

What more can a Rabbi ask for?

What do I bring to the table?

My educational background before Rabbinical school was in Religion, Literature and the Arts and was quite eclectic. I studied ancient traditions of nearly the whole world while also

educating myself in Kabbalah and trained in several meditation disciplines. My Rabbinical studies were extensive: seven years total. I spent about half of the time in Israel learning in progressive yeshivot and half the time at the Ziegler School. My Rabbeim showed me how to navigate

the living tree that is Talmud Torah, and how to render halakhic decisions which are authentic, which address the needs of real people on the ground, and which above all preserve human dignity. 

During Rabbinical school I was heavily involved at IKAR, a progressive traditional community much like Beit Rayim. I gained a wealth of experience in building Jewish communities, teaching Torah which inspires and stimulates people, and crafting powerful, joyful prayer experiences. At Beth Tzedec in Calgary I was quite successful in shaping the educational programming. While running the religious school and B’nai Mitzvah program I also taught numerous adult classes which were well-received and often quite popular.

I created teen, young adult and young family programming, all of which were successful in their own ways. I bring all of this knowledge and experience to Beit Rayim. Together we will build the future. 

My passion is to help individuals and community while providing care, support and guidance and by broadening their access to Torah while helping them develop in their spirituality. I have not met most of you in person and I look forward to doing so very soon, G-d willing. I am so pleased to set out with you on this new journey together.

Best,

Rabbi Joshua Corber