In the Jewish Bible, there is a steady stream of references to water — it can purify, or punish. Habakkuk 2:14 states that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Complete immersion in a properly-prepared pool of water — a mikvah — is part of the conversion process. Bringing the perspective of Judaism to the week’s Interfaith Lecture Series and its theme of “Water: A Metaphor for Life,” Rabbi Elyse Goldstein will speak at 2 p.m. today in the Hall of Philosophy.
A frequent program guest over the years for the Everett Jewish Life Center in Chautauqua and the Hebrew Congregation of Chautauqua, Goldstein is founding rabbi of City Shul, a Reform congregation in downtown Toronto, which she founded in 2011.
In 1983, Goldstein broke the “stained glass ceiling” right after her ordination upon her arrival in Toronto. At the time, she was the only female rabbi in Canada.
After her first position as assistant rabbi at Holy Blossom Temple — Canada’s largest synagogue, of 5,000 families — she founded Kolel: The Adult Centre for Liberal Jewish Learning, for which she was awarded the internationally recognized Covenant Award for Exceptional Jewish Educators in 2005.
Goldstein was the first woman to be elected as president of the interdenominational Toronto Board of Rabbis, and was one of seven women featured in the Canadian National Film Board documentary, “Half the Kingdom.” Her first book, ReVisions: Seeing Torah through a Feminist Lens, won a Canadian National Jewish Book Award. Her second and third books, The Women’s Torah Commentary and The Women’s Haftarah Commentary were the first Bible commentaries in history written by a female rabbis. Her fourth book, New Jewish Feminism: Probing the Past, Forging the Future, was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Awards.
Goldstein writes for The Times of Israel and HuffPost, and in 2013 was named one of America’s 50 Most Influential Rabbis by The Forward.
