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Elyse Goldstein is a Canadian Reform Judaism rabbi. She is the first woman to be elected as president of the interdenominational Toronto Board of Rabbis and president of the Reform Rabbis of Greater Toronto.
Goldstein was educated at Brandeis University (B.A. summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) and graduated in 1978. She was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1983.
In 1985, Goldstein married Baruch Browns (changed to Browns-Sienna) (born 1956), a Jewish educator and graphic designer, and they have three children: Noam Ezra (born 1989), Yonah (born 1991), and Micah Benjamin (born 1994).
From 1986 to 1991, Goldstein served as rabbi of Temple Beth David of Canton, Massachusetts, before returning to Toronto.
In 1991, Goldstein founded in Toronto, an institute in the tradition of the Lehrhaus in Germany, offering Jewish studies to adults in classes, lectures, retreats, and in-depth seminars. It was the first such institution under Reform Jewish auspices in Canada and one of only a handful in North America. Housed in its own building and serving an increasing number of singles and unaffiliated Jews as well as established members of the community, Kolel became a significant and singular presence on the Jewish educational scene of Toronto. In 2011, Goldstein retired from Kolel to found a new Reform synagogue in downtown Toronto, City Shul. After 13 years, she retired from City Shul, is now Rabbi Emerita at City Shul.
Goldstein served on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Canadian Jewish News and Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger.
For several years she wrote a monthly column for the Canadian Jewish News. Her articles have appeared in The Journal of Canadian Women's Studies, The Journal of Reform Judaism and other periodicals.
She is one of seven women featured in the Francine Zuckerman documentary Half the Kingdom.
In addition to her book publications she is also the author of several journal articles and newspaper articles, including:
Writings
Goldstein is the author of four books published by Jewish Lights Publishing:
Awards
In 1996, the YWCA of Metropolitan Toronto presented her with the Woman of Distinction Award for excellence in the field of education. Her book ReVisions: Seeing Torah Through a Feminist Lens won the Canadian Jewish Book Award in the field of Bible 1998. She was named World ORT "Woman of the Year" in 2001. Elyse Goldstein received the 2004 UJA Rabbinic Achievement Award. She is the 2005 recipient of the most prestigious award in Jewish education, the internationally recognized Covenant Award for Exceptional Jewish Educators. In May 2008 she received an Honorary degree Doctor of Divinity degree from Hebrew Union College.
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Categories: 1955 Births, Living People, Canadian Reform Rabbis, American Reform Rabbis, Reform Women Rabbis, Canadian Women Non-fiction Writers, Canadian Non-fiction Writers, Jewish Canadian Writers, American Emigrants To Canada, Jewish Ethicists, Reform Jewish Feminists, 20th-century American Rabbis, 21st-century American Rabbis
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