User:Mikaelswayze/Canadian Yeshiva and Rabbinic School

Canadian Yeshiva and Rabbinic School

The Canadian Yeshiva and Rabbinic School was founded by Rav Roy Tanenbaum in 2009 and is located on the campus of the University of Toronto. Rav Tanenbaum serves as the Rosh Yeshiva. Rabbi Daniel Sperber serves as the Chancellor. The School is offering its first courses through the University of Toronto in the Fall of 2011 and is scheduled to accept its first Rabbinic students in the Fall of 2012.

The Yeshiva of Classic Judaism
The Yeshiva was established in order to provide a training ground for rabbis interested in Classic Judaism. The Yeshiva identifies itself with no current Jewish denomination, although the Rosh Yeshiva is a Rabbi associated with the Conservative movement and the Chancellor a Rabbi associated with Modern Orthodoxy. The Yeshiva itself welcomes students from any background who are interested in studying the classic texts of Rabbinic Judaism and living an authentic halachic Torah-observant lifestyle. The Yeshiva attempts to capture the principles of predenominational Judaism that form the core of authentic halachic practice bridging the traditional Jewish world today associated with traditional Conservative and modern Orthodox Judaism.

A Canadian Yeshiva
Currently, Canada's Jewish congregations are entirely served by Rabbis who train outside the country. Canada is the fourth-largest Jewish community in the world yet has never had a Yeshiva to train religious leaders. Also, Canada's Jewish community is, in many ways, unique. Across all denominations, Jewish practice is more traditional. In particular, there is a large body of Modern Orthodox and traditional Conservative Jews in Toronto. Yet, until the creation of the CY&RS, there was no seminary to train Canadian rabbis for Canadian congregations.

History
Rav Roy Tanenbaum, formerly Rabbi at Toronto's Beth Tzedec Congregation, established the Rabbinic Assembly's School for Shamashim at Beth Tzedec in 2005 and currently serves as Dean of the School. Subsequent to the creation of the school, Rav Tanenbaum and others interested in creating a Yeshiva in Canada began to make plans for the Canadian Yeshiva and Rabbinic School. The University of St. Michael's College, an affiliate of the University of Toronto, offered to provide space for the fledgling school. The Yeshiva was dedicated on Dec 9, 2010.

Affiliations
The CY&RS is in the process of becoming fully affiliated with the Toronto School of Theology. Once affiliated, CY&RS will be the first non-Christian college affiliated with the School. Through its affiliation with the Toronto School of Theology the CY&RS will become an affiliated college of the University of Toronto. The CY&RS is also seeking to become the first non-Christian member of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.

Social Media Presence
The CY&RS maintains an active social media presence with a blog and daily twitter and facebook updates. The CY&RS maintains a weekly Torah commentary published on Mondays on its blog and archived on the Yeshiva's homepage.