Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom

Come Meet our New Senior Rabbi, Rabbi Lisa Grushcow!

The entire Temple family is invited to come meet Rabbi Lisa Grushcow this weekend!

Friday, February 17, 8:15 PM:  Rabbi Grushcow will give the guest sermon at Temple’s Friday night services.  Services will be followed by a special Oneg in honour of Rabbi Grushcow’s visit.

Saturday, February 18, 11:30 AM: Rabbi Grushcow will lead the Family Service at Temple.

Saturday, February 18, 5:30 PM: Rabbi Grushcow will be on the West Island for a “meet and greet”, followed by a special Havdalah service at 3 Capri, Dollard des Ormeaux.

Sunday, February 19, 10:00 AM: The entire Temple family is invited to enjoy a congregational brunch with Rabbi Grushcow, who will speak on the topic of “L’Dor va-Dor: Gifts the Generations Give Each Other.”  R.S.V.P. 514-937-3575, ext. 213, by Wednesday, February 15.

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet Rabbi Grushcow, who will become our Senior Rabbi on July 1st, 2012, as Rabbi Lerner assumes the role of Rabbi Emeritus.

 

Press Release

New Leadership at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom

Westmount, Quebec – December 1, 2011. Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom announced today that Rabbi Lisa J.Grushcow, D. Phil., has been named as its new spiritual leader and that Stephen Yaffe was elected as President of its Board of Trustees at its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday evening.

In introducing Rabbi Grushcow to the congregation, Alan Knopp, the outgoing President, stated, “Temple has benefited from the steady and inspirational leadership of Rabbi Lerner over the past 23 years. Thanks to him, our synagogue continues to be a unique and powerful voice in the Montreal Jewish community and a bridge-builder with the broader community. We are delighted that he and his wife Loren will continue to be part of our Temple family and that he will serve as Rabbi emeritus as of June 30th.”

“We are confident that under Rabbi Grushcow’s leadership,” he continued, “we will build on Rabbi Lerner’s legacy. She is a scholar with a human touch.  She has the capacity to make Judaism compelling not only to our existing membership, but also to potential members. Her approach is an inclusive one and under her leadership, Temple will become even more of a centre of Jewish life and Jewish learning will become increasingly relevant to the daily lives of our congregants.”

Rabbi Grushcow is a Canadian who was born in Ottawa and raised in Toronto.  She received her B.A. from McGill University in 1996 with First Class Honours in Political Science and a Minor in Jewish Studies.  She was a member of the Scarlet Key Society, was on the Dean’s Honour List and was chosen a Woman of Distinction by the Montreal YWCA.

In 1996, she was named a Rhodes Scholar and spent three years at Oxford.  She obtained a Master of Philosophy degree in Judaism and Christianity in the Greco-Roman World and then a D. Phil. with a thesis on “Rabbinic Interpretations of Sotah”.  She was ordained a rabbi in 2003 at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City where she was the recipient of multiple awards, including for homiletics, rabbinics and overall excellence. Rabbi Grushcow is also a Wexner Fellow.

Upon graduation, Rabbi Grushcow joined Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York City, where she is senior Associate Rabbi. In this position, she has been responsible for all areas of liturgy, lifecycle and pastoral care, been directly involved with day school and religious school, overseen the expansion of the adult education program and led a variety of outreach and membership development initiatives.

“Temple is a unique institution in the Montreal Jewish community and I look forward to working with the congregation to ensure its continued success,” explained Rabbi Grushcow. “My goal is to ensure Temple becomes even more inclusive by helping people feel at home in Jewish learning and a Jewish way of life when they may know less about Judaism than they do about many other elements of their lives. My goal is to lead a Jewishly-literate congregation in which members are open to integrating Torah in their lives, as part of their search for meaning and understanding. At the same time, I intend to pursue the path first set by Rabbi Stern and enhanced by Rabbi Lerner and strengthen our dialogue with our neighbours in the hope of building greater awareness and understanding.”

In accepting his new responsibilities, Stephen Yaffe thanked Alan Knopp for his leadership and his commitment to Temple. “In the coming months and years, we will build on the strategic direction that Alan has set. To this end, we will embark upon a major fundraising campaign that will honour Rabbi Lerner’s Legacy.  The goal of this campaign will be to have the funds available to renew and modernize our building, to follow through on our Temple West initiative, to diversify programming to better serve the needs of our current members, and to attract a wider range of new members through our outreach initiatives.  Demographically, we are an aging congregation and while we absolutely want to provide a meaningful Jewish experience to this core group, at the same time, it is of utmost importance that we renew our membership base and prepare for generational change in our leadership.”

Rabbi Grushcow will assume her new responsibilities on July 1 and will be moving to Montreal along with her partner, Rabbi Andrea Myers, and their two daughters – Ariella (8) and Alice (2) - at that time.

 

RESUME OF RABBI LISA J. GRUSHCOW, D.Phil.

RABBINIC EXPERIENCE

Congregation Rodeph Sholom, New York City, New York
Associate Rabbi, 2003-present

• Senior associate rabbi in a congregation with 1700 member households
• Responsible for all areas of liturgy, lifecycle, and pastoral care
• Directly involved with day school and religious school, teaching, leading prayer and developing vision and curriculum
• Chair and coordinator of weekly clergy/educator/staff team meetings and bimonthly retreats; mentor and direct supervisor of rabbinic intern
• Clergy liaison, partnering with lay leadership in areas including the following:

Adult Education (expanded the program to reach different demographics and increase learning opportunities)

Caring Community (brought the Organ Donor Sabbath and the Mental Health Initiative to the congregation; reinvigorated Bikur Cholim)

Inclusion and Outreach (restarted the committee and created a mission statement; provided support for the Parents’ Circle, for non-Jewish parents raising Jewish children; brought ASL interpretation to services)

Membership (developed initiatives in both recruitment and retention, focusing on creating smaller communities within the larger whole)

EDUCATION AND AWARDS

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York
Rabbinic Ordination, 2003. Thesis: “A Reform Responsum on Synagogue Attire.”
M.A.H.L., 2002

Wexner Graduate Fellowship, 1999-2003; multiple HUC-JIR awards, including for
Homiletics, Rabbinics and Overall Excellence

Oxford University, Oxford, England
D.Phil., Oriental Studies, 2003. Thesis: “Rabbinic Interpretations of Sotah.”
M.Phil. (Distinction), Judaism and Christianity in the Graeco-Roman World, 1998

Rhodes Scholarship, 1996-1999 (Quebec and Balliol)
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
B.A., First Class Honours in Political Science, Minor in Jewish Studies, 1996

Dean’s Honour List; Scarlet Key; Montreal YWCA Woman of Distinction

COMMUNITY INVOLVMENT

New York Board of Rabbis, Officer
New York Organ Donor Network, Jewish Advisory Group
Keshet, Young Leadership Circle
HUC-JIR, member of rabbinic interview and scholarship committees
Birch Wathen Lenox School, annual Seder leader and Graduation speaker

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS (SELECTED)

Editor, Choices and Challenges volume on sexuality (CCAR Press, forthcoming)

“The Cell Phone Sleeping Bag and other Shabbat Strategies: Towards a
Reform Practice.” Freehof Institute Seminar on Halacha, CCAR convention (New Orleans, March 2011).

Torah Treasures (parsha videos for children: Bereishit, Beshallach, Ekev, Emor,
Korach, Pekudei, VaYeshev), Diva Communications and New York Board of Rabbis (2009): www.torah-treasures.com

“The Case of the Disappearing Ritual: Theology, History, and Halakhah.”
Conservative Judaism [in honor of Rabbi Neil Gillman] 61:1-2 (Fall/Winter 2008-2009): 44-56

“The Fear Factor (On Organ Donation)” Reform Judaism Magazine (Spring 2007)

Commentaries on “P’kudei” and “Naso,” in The Torah: A Women’s
Commentary, ed. Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Rabbi Andrea Weiss (New York: URJ Press, 2007): 560, 838

“Adultery” in the Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (De Gruyter, 2007-present)

Writing the Wayward Wife: Rabbinic Interpretations of Sotah (Leiden: Brill, 2006)

Presenter and Participant at Interfaith Conferences
Seminarians Interacting, New York (2001)
International Jewish-Christian-Muslim Conference, Bendorf, Germany (1998, 1999)

HUC-JIR, guest speaker in classes on homiletics, and teaching the Bible to adult learners (ongoing)