Rabbi Korobkin and the plan for BAYT

Now that the "BAYT's" - Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto – selection committee has chosen its next head rabbi, he is currying favour with the synagogue's congregants.

At a recent young family meet and greet, the beginning of a road map was laid out on how to reinvigorate BAYT's membership. Many Toronto Jews in recent years have pulled away from the community, creating a gap in attendance to programs and even services on a regular basis. Rabbi Korobkin stressed greatly that we (the Jewish people) have a deep need to stand together and be a part of a community. It's a lesson very much present in the bible and our teachings. The parsha for this week, Matot, highlights the effect tearing the tribe asunder can have on the future of the Jewish people.

BAYT finds its new voice

In the coming months, Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation will welcome its new senior rabbi, Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, the first of the three recently screened rabbinical candidates.

The decision recently made by BAYT's Board of Governors, was based on the strong recommendations from the Senior Rabbi search committee and also resulted from the membership survey.

While Rabbi Korobkin remains in a transitional state making preparations to leave his present pulpit at Kehillat Yavneh in Los Angeles, the congregants of BAYT very much look forward to his first official sermon, as their new senior rabbinical voice come September.

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.)