The 2005 Covenant Award for Exceptional Educators

Rabbi Elyse M. Goldstein

2005 Covenant Award for Exceptional Educators
Rabbi Elyse Goldstein Acceptance Speech

The Medzibozer Rebbe was once asked, why does the Torah end with the words l’eynai kol Yisrael- in the eyes of all Israel? Because, he taught, each Jew who looks into the Torah will see it with their own set of eyes. Building an open, welcoming and yet serious adult education centre has been eye-opening.

Knowing that each student has their own unique view animates pluralistic learning. I use as my modus operandi the verse in Deuteronomy "lo bashamayim hi "for this Torah is not in heaven, and it is not far away, but it is very close to you..." Like the midrash which suggests we learn all of Torah in the womb and forget it only when an angel comes and touches us on the lip, I believe my students are not learning but relearning. They need only touch this indentation, I tell them, and recall. Oh but that is easy outreach. That is not guerilla outreach, which we sometimes have to do. Some of my students come with Jewish baggage so big they have luggage racks attached to their hearts. They have earrings in places that haven't seen the sun, they haven't stepped into a shul maybe ever but certainly not since Bar Mitzvah, and Judaism? Not relevant. But something draws them, triggers them and somehow they end up on the phone with me and next thing you know they're in a class and the debates are flying because they are sitting next to a guy who went to the Ner Yisroel yeshiva and on the other side is a woman who is president of her Conservative synagogue and across from them is a Catholic thinking of converting and across from them all is me and the text and suddenly some searching soul feels- hey- there is something I can learn here. If it happens just once - dayenu. But when it happens often, you know you are doing holy work.

I am so blessed to teach Torah in this place. Toronto has embraced Kolel as a crowning achievement of what a community can offer when it is willing to think outside the box. And Oh Canada, just last Tuesday, in the week of Lech Lecha when Abraham and Sarah are called to leave their ancestral home, I took my oath of Canadian citizenship.

I am so blessed to teach Torah in this time. In the 1960s I dreamt of being a Rabbi, and people laughed and said, oh no you'll be the rebbetzin; and I explained with the courage of 13 year old, Oh no- I’ll be the rabbi - and one day my husband will be the Rebbetzin! Thank you to my husband and soul mate Baruch Sienna, a magnificent Jewish educator in his own right, and my three incredible sons, Noam Carmi and Micah who somehow believe it is "cool" that their mom is a rabbi and whose love and enthusiasm for outreach work makes it so much more fun to have those countless Shabbat dinners with interesting strangers. And thank you to my mother in law and my mother, who could have been a rabbi herself.

I am so blessed to teach Torah in this way. We’ve turned the conventional wisdom on its head that if you reach the kids you will get the parents- we know if you get the adults their kids will see Judaism as central. In seminary by serving the Jewish deaf I learned what it meant to be a Jew standing outside the window, looking in at all the fun, and I prayed that I might find a way to open that window. Kolel made that dream come true and continues to open so many windows for so many people it is almost mind boggling. Thank you to all the chairs of the Board since we opened in 1991, all of whom are here today; and to our donors whose belief in Kolel and in me has made it possible. Thank you to all the staff through the years and to the Board of Jewish Education and the Federation for their unwavering enthusaism for Kolel. Thank you to the Rabbis, Cantors and educators of every denomination in this community who teach at Kolel and who publicly affirm our worth. And of course, thank you to the students, without whom Kolel would have no purpose. As it says in the Talmud, "A wise person is a student who makes their teacher wiser." This trait is called in Hebrew "machkim et rabo", one who sharpens their teacher. How fortunate am I to be sharpened daily.

Dr. Seymour Epstein, I was honoured that you even nominated me. Thank you to the Board and Staff of the Covenant Foundation for all you have done. To the Crown Family: you are visionaries for your extraordinary support of Jewish educators. Thank you so much for choosing me. Clearly you understand, like the Medzibozer that every Jew’s eyes can be opened to Torah. Baruch hashem yom yom, thank You, Loving Spirit of the Universe, for the abundant blessings You daily bestow upon me. May I continue striving to be worthy of them.