Last of the candidates for BAYT'S top spot

The weeks have gone by and the time is quickly aproaching when the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation (BAYT) will have to choose their next Senior Rabbi. Before the votes are cast one candidate remains to be screened: Rabbi Josh Blass, Morah D'asra of Kehillas Bais Yehudah in Wesley Hills, New York. A position he has held since August 2005.

Blass, the youngest of the three candidates for Beth Avraham's top job, received his smicha from RIETS in 1998. Straight from high school Blass studied for a year and a half in Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim before commencing studies at Yeshiva University.

Aside from his shul obligation his time is given to Project Tikvah, a branch of the Rockland Women's Shelter (caring for battered and abused women) serving as the rabbinic advisor. He is an active member of the chevrah kadisha and has lectured extensively throughout the New York area.

In much the same way as those evaluated before him did, Blass will be speaking on Friday night and Shabbat morning as well as Shabbat afternoon at Seudah Shelishit (Third Meal). He will meet with the BAYT's young families group on Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. in the Simcha Suite and will also give the Daf Yomi shiur Sunday morning.

Up for review - BAYT's rabbinical candidate #2

Up next for review by the congregation of Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation, for the position of its next lead rabbi, is American Rabbi Rabbi Dovid Cohen. Since 2006 he has performed his rabbinical duties at the congregation of Young Israel of the West Side in New York City.

Cohen, ordained in 1997 by Rabbi Isaac Elchanon Theological Seminary, is a former lawyer who focused on white collar criminal defense, bankruptcy and restructurings. In 2004 he left the legal profession and moved to Israel to deepen his rabbinical knowledge. Cohen has taught popular courses at seminaries in Jerusalem, is a Mashgiach Ruchani at Stern College for Women in New York and advocates for the greater inclusion of special needs children in communities.

Similarly to when Rabbi Daniel Korobkin was screened at BAYT last week, Cohen will be speaking on Friday night and Shabbat morning as well as Shabbat afternoon at Seudah Shelishit (Third Meal). He will meet with the BAYT's young families group on Saturday night at 8 p.m. in the Simcha Suite and will also give the Daf Yomi shiur Sunday morning.

BAYT screens a new rabbinical candidate

In December, 2010 Rabbi Baruch Taub, founding rabbi of Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation (BAYT), now rabbi emeritus of the synagogue, retired and made aliyah.

Stepping up to the bimah this week at BAYT is Rabbi Daniel Korobkin Rosh Kahilla of Kehillat Yavneh in Los Angeles, where he writes on Jewish philosophy and a myriad of other Jewish topics. Korobkin is the first of three candidates for the vacated rabbi position. He will be speaking on Friday night and Shabbat morning, meeting with the BAYT's young families group on Saturday night at 8 p.m. in the Simcha Suite and will also give the Daf Yomi shiur Sunday morning.

In Los Angeles Korobkin also serves as spiritual leader of the Kehilla's minyan and Yeshivat Yavneh, a large yeshiva elementary school on Yavneh's campus. He is director of community and synagogue services for the Orthodox Union's West Coast Region and a doctoral candidate in the area of medieval Jewish thought at UCLA. (Full profile found on the RCA (Rabbinical Council of America) website.)