ots@ohrtorahstone.org.il

The Beth Israel Synagogue in Halifax, Canada is one of the oldest in North America, but its new rabbi is the epitome of modern and contemporary. Ari Sherbill has been at the community’s spiritual helm for just five months, in which time he has initiated a breathtaking number of creative programs which are engaging people of all religious backgrounds and ages.

“Who Should You Listen To, Your Parents or the Torah?” is the topic scheduled to be debated by Sherbill’s bar and bat mitzvah students in front of the entire community. “It is important that our teens feel that they are being listened to,” declares the rabbi. “It’s also important that they are given room to think for themselves, alongside the Talmudic and Midrashic sources they learn in studying halacha.”

Not all programs are aimed at youth. A thriving learning and discussion group for doctors and medical personnel focuses on medical ethics, a “Lunch and Learn” program on women’s issues at the local federation which has proven so popular that working women asked for repeat sessions in the evenings, and a list of ongoing classes ranging from “Davening 101” to “Synthesis Between Self and Other,” are just a few of the dizzying number of activities the dynamic, young rabbi has instituted for the community’s adults.

Playing in the intramural Jewish Basketball League has enabled Sherbill’s interaction with the local Jewish student population, and has brought a host of new faces to his classes, as well as to the Sherbill’s Shabbat table. New community-wide initiatives in the pipeline include “Story Time” for young families, movie nights followed by discussions for teenagers and a computer-generated family learning session.

“It’s important to open up to new ideas and to look at the world around you from various perspectives,” says Sherbill who, in addition to his studies in the Straus-Amiel Practical Rabbinics Program, has also attained rabbinical ordination and a BA in International Business Administration. “Many people are interested in Torah studies and Jewish living. It’s my job to make it appealing and accessible to them.”

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