As Holy Blossom Temple marks its 170th year, Rabbi Yael Splansky reflects on the past and future of the flagship Reform institution

'We're going to turn to Holy Blossom history ... and tap into that wisdom and that courage about how to face the future with hope' The post As Holy Blossom Temple marks its 170th year, Rabbi Yael Splansky reflects on the past and future of the flagship Reform institution appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News .

Rabbi Yael Splansky, the senior leader of Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple, presides over the Reform movement’s flagship institution and the oldest synagogue in the city at a pivotal time. The temple, which is marking its 170th anniversary this year, has not only completed a major physical renewal on its Bathurst Street property, it is also in the midst of a membership boom, as Jews seek connection in an increasingly challenging post-October 7 world. About 30 per cent of Holy Blossom’s 2,000 member households are new in the last five years, a staggering rate of growth relative to many modern Canadian congregations struggling to keep membership levels consistent.

Rabbi Splansky refers to the phenomenon as “The Surge” in an interview with The CJN, where she discussed the temple’s significant milestone anniversary as well as its future. Originally from Boston, Rabbi Splansky notes “That’s not typical across North America, so I’m not taking it for granted by any stretch.” Holy Blossom, she says, has received “this wave of people who are in the aftermath of October 7th, looking for ways to connect meaningfully and joyfully to Jewish life, and we’re able to provide that.”

There’s data showing “The Surge” is real. “Service attendance is up, interest in ritual life is up. Membership is up, conversions are up.

Donations are up. So, any marker that you can measure by,” amounts to a thriving Holy Blossom community, she explained. Rabbi Splansky says people finding the congregation seek to be “anchored in tradition,” along with innovation.

“People want very much to tap into what is old and lasting and enduring and forever. They want to also tap into our history of survival, because God knows we’ve seen rougher, tougher days than these. So, how did previous generations at Holy Blossom and beyond respond to external threats and internal threats, for that matter?”

She added: “And then, people are also looking for Jewish joy, and we really insist on it.” The congregation provides something for newcomers and longtime, loyal members, she says. “We’re going to study our ancient texts.

We’re going to turn to Holy Blossom history and retell those stories and tap into that wisdom and that courage about how to face the future with hope, and how not to let the haters win,” she said. “And it seems to be exactly what people need right now.” Rabbi Splansky, who is a fourth-generation rabbi, became Holy Blossom’s thirteenth senior rabbi, and the first woman to hold that position, in 2014.

Holy Blossom was the first Canadian synagogue to formally link with the Reform movement in 1920, and the first Canadian congregation to hire women rabbis, beginning in 1980. Among its many significant leaders was the late Rabbi Gunther Plaut who served as senior rabbi from 1961 to 1977, then became its first senior scholar. The internationally renowned Rabbi Plaut published prolifically, including The Torah: A Modern Commentary.

Engagement, advocacy, and the Canadian disconnect over Israel Holy Blossom’s leadership and engagement role became apparent once more last month, when the synagogue hosted Prime Minister Mark Carney for a high-profile address to and about the Jewish community. Rabbi Splansky, who had been away, offered a video address that set the tone for Carney’s remarks, in which she specifically implored the prime minister to acknowledge the level to which the crisis involved “lovers of Israel” being targeted throughout society. Carney’s words were strong and serious at first, she says.

“He was telling the story of antisemitism in this country and not pretending it away. Now it’s on the record. He is on the hook.

The highest office in the land has said ‘this is a national crisis,’ and he gave charge to every citizen to make this your concern. So that is not nothing,” she said. “I think that is significant, and it needs to be leveraged now in every way that it possibly can, and we all have a role to play in that: synagogues, rabbis, lay leaders have roles to play in this; schools and summer camps have roles to play, and certainly the organizations who have the mandate [for] civic engagement and advocacy, they now have new leverage.

I think that was a win for us.” The second half of the address, when the prime minister presented his “action items,” was another story. “That’s clearly where things fell down, and we have to help him, and we have to help everyone else to get it right.”

Rabbi Splansky acknowledges that won’t be easy, but says “now we have something more to work with.” Several leaders of Jewish organizations have criticized Carney’s speech for failing to specifically name the role anti-Israel sentiment has played in the current wave of antisemitism. A past president of the Toronto Board of Rabbis, Rabbi Splansky says she maintains contact with elected officials at all levels.

But an improved understanding among Canadians of the Jewish connection to Israel is key to better government relations, she emphasizes. “We have to insist that the Canadian government pursues a better working relationship with the government of Israel,” she said. “The relationship between the Zionism that most Canadian [Jews] hold dear is not understood by most Canadians and there’s work to be done,” she said.

While Holy Blossom did obtain a “bubble” zone designation from the City of Toronto mandating protests to keep away by 50 metres, the temple also put its own, more welcoming signs up to complement the less friendly printed notices the city requires. Earlier in 2026, after three of the city-mandated signs were cut down from the shul’s fence, red paper hearts and notes of support appeared affixed to the doors the next morning. Rabbi Splansky says she doesn’t regret Holy Blossom taking the opportunity to host Carney’s address.

“I feel that any synagogue, when asked: ‘The prime minister of the country wants to address the crisis, the national crisis of antisemitism,’ the only answer is ‘yes,’ at least for us that was an obvious yes,” she said. “And Holy Blossom from its very beginning in 1856 was all about civic engagement and being part of the city of Toronto and contributing to the country, and that’s very much a part of our identity.” Rabbi Splansky sees her role encompassing education as well as advocacy regarding the Jewish community.

She encourages members to vote, walking a nonpartisan line while promoting “civic engagement and the responsibility of citizenship,” she says. “I think there’s some people who want synagogues to be only committed to religious fulfilment. But for a synagogue like Holy Blossom Temple, among many others, civic engagement is a mitzvah, and also part of our responsibility as Jewish citizens of this country.”

Welcoming, yet vigilant: Meeting members’ needs Soon after the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks in Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, Rabbi Splansky says she learned that “two parallel exercises” exist: There’s “what needs to be done in order for people to be safe, and what needs to be done in order for people to feel safe.” She says while some congregants want detailed information about security systems and layers of protection, that level of communication makes others nervous. Rabbi Splansky’s grandfather was a U.S. Army chaplain during the Second World War, and she says while she’s “certainly not putting my body on the line the way he did,” participating in things like active shooter drills call for a similar show of strength.

“I am having to bang on the doors of elected officials on behalf of the Jewish people, and advocating for our safety and protecting Jewish bodies, the way my grandfather did, again,” she said. “It’s only an echo or a shadow of the extreme work that he did that demanded extreme courage,” she acknowledged. Thinking of her forebears, she muses: “What does it mean to take risks on behalf of your people?

“Every rabbi and every elected official, the mayor of any city, needs to ask herself the same question: How do I help to keep people to be safe, and how do I help people to feel safe? As the rabbi of my congregation, I’m constantly running on both those tracks.” Revitalized spaces for a community to thrive Those two tracks are evident in what is called the Renewal Project, the renovation and additions to Holy Blossom’s 1938 structure, completed in 2019, which include a new atrium, green wall, community gathering spaces, and a cafe.

Glass panel and steel beam ceilings across the top of the buildings create naturally lit, inviting, open spaces inside. Rededicated in 2018, the building’s evolution reflects its respective eras, she says. “The original building, the 1938 structure, was built with poured concrete and heavy oak doors, and the lions of Judah are growling above the doors.

And that was in the ‘30s when antisemitism was raging in this country, and the leadership of this congregation then was saying to the city—Bathurst [Street] wasn’t then what it is now, but they were still saying in a very public way ‘We are here, we’re not going anywhere, and we’re going to hold our heads high.’ “The architecture of our old spaces and our new spaces also tell different stories,” she said, mentioning how new doors with “Shalom Aleichem” on them also include upgraded security features. It’s a balance, she says.

“We do want to be inviting and welcoming and inclusive and give a message ‘everyone’s welcome here.’ And of course, we have to be vigilant. [Both] things are true.”

School, futures, next generations Holy Blossom’s educational programs are a big part of its thriving multigenerational community, and Rabbi Splansky says two major shifts are afoot. Enrolment at Jewish day schools has gone up since Oct. 7, and Bialik Hebrew Day School, several blocks to the synagogue’s north, is set to rent six classrooms at Holy Blossom for its junior kindergarten cohort, starting this fall. But the biggest change, come September, is in the name: The synagogue’s Youth Education Centre, which covers part-time education for JK through Grade 12, is being renamed The Cotler School, after Irwin Cotler, the former federal Minister of Justice and Attorney General and international human rights advocate.

Cotler’s name attached to the school will help Holy Blossom launch its next ambitious chapter, says Rabbi Splansky. “[Renaming the school] now not only elevates, but galvanizes our work... that we have this launching pad now that speaks to everyone immediately saying Jewish education for youth and teens is critical work.” She had to pitch Cotler on the idea, and says he eventually came around.

“It’s not in his nature, but I said to him: ‘All the schools that I know, the Jewish schools in Canada, are named after great figures: Bialik, Leo Baeck, Heschel. But they were all from over there. Don’t you think it’s a coming-of-age story for us to say: We have our own Jewish heroes, our own Canadian models of the best of us—of Canadian values, of Jewish values, of Zionism, and human rights—and we’re going to hold them up as the shining examples that inform how we’re going to raise our children?’

“He [Cotler] was moved by that, and eventually he did agree to lend his Shem Tov, his good name, to our school,” she said. A unique moment for Canadian Jewry Asked about the next 30 years, as Holy Blossom approaches two centuries, Rabbi Splansky says Canada’s Jewish community has the chance to set an example. “This is a real time of coming of age for Canadian Jewry,” she said.

“If we keep going at our rates and if France keeps going at its rates, we will jump over France, and become the second-largest diaspora community. That comes with responsibility and leadership, and I think Canadians are very good at being polite and modest and reserved, but this Canadian Jewish community has a lot going for it and needs to share it as a leading model for other countries to follow, and be very ambitious in the goals that it sets for the coming generations.” Holy Blossom’s hustle on that front includes the new Cotler School, she says, which enables the synagogue to better welcome young families.

“And they’re coming, they want it. They want joyful, relevant, relational Judaism that has meaning and impact. So that’s really what’s next,” she said.

“I think one of the things that makes the Canadian Jewish community so strong are its ties to Israel. And so that shouldn’t be hidden in any way, that should be celebrated, despite what a minority of people are saying about Zionism.” Within the congregation, she adds, political views encompass left, right, and centre, but all within a position of support for Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.

Holy Blossom’s full circle leadership in Jewish Toronto Beyond stretching one’s own capacities, guiding the community also involves building up others around her—and that goes back to the synagogue’s leadership within Toronto’s Jewish community. “There’s something about being the first synagogue of Toronto that has built leadership and striving into our DNA here at Holy Blossom,” she said. “There’s always the sense of striving for: There’s always the next question that needs to be answered, the next challenge that needs to be met.

It’s this constant, never fulfilling the task, but always striving for the next important thing. “And sometimes that next important thing is popular, and sometimes it’s unpopular. But Holy Blossom has never been afraid to go after it.”

Members and leaders of Holy Blossom helped establish a range of Jewish organizations in the city, she says, including Toronto’s Jewish Family and Child Services (JF&CS) and Jewish Immigrant Aid Services (formerly Hebrew Immigrant Aid Services). Seed funding from members established a number of other Canadian synagogues, including “[most of] the Reform synagogues across the country” she added. Leadership values: inclusion begets engagement, ownership, continuity Rabbi Splansky says aspects of her own leadership style reflect a deep level of connection she’s built with congregants in the relationships and collaborations she’s cultivated.

And, she says, the longevity of those relationships at Holy Blossom helps her do her job better. “People know me. I don’t have to earn their trust, that’s already built in.

I have to keep their trust, but I don’t have to earn it from scratch, so that’s also made me very effective in my work and able to move things relatively swiftly.” Her “superpower as a rabbi” is belief, she says. “I really believe there’s always a way, and you just have to find it.

It sometimes takes longer than you think it will, or it’s more expensive than you think it will be.” Rabbi Splansky sees herself as a “carrier of the stories of Holy Blossom Temple,” someone entrenched in the long-term relationships comprising the lives and histories of the congregation—and in shaping its future. “I’ve got all those people, all those stories, all those leaders over my shoulder and they’re whispering in my ear, and I feel that responsibility and that opportunity all the time,” she said.

“There’s hardly anything we can’t do.”