TORONTO — Rabbi Wayne Allen is stepping down as senior rabbi of Beth Tikvah Synagogue. On Jan. 1, he began an 18-month sabbatical that will last until the end of his contract in June 2012, when he will have been with the congregation for 25 years.
Rabbi Wayne Allen
Rabbi Jarrod Grover, the shul’s assistant rabbi, is leading the congregation, which has more than 1,300 member families, and the board also plans to invite an interim rabbi to serve, shul president Maurice Kulik told The CJN.
Kulik added that the synagogue, which is located on Bayview Avenue, is going through an “evaluation of when, and who, and what direction the synagogue will take in terms of ritual orientation.”
“We’re going to consult the membership to see which way halachically the membership wants to move for the years ahead.”
In a news release, Kulik said that Rabbi Allen would be missed, but he recognized the contribution the rabbi can make to the larger community.
Rabbi Allen told The CJN that a combination of factors led to his decision in November.
“With the earning of my PhD [earlier this year], I had [academic] vistas open up to me that previously were not, and there are internal factors in the synagogue that suggest it would be a good time to move on,” he said.
He didn’t elaborate on the latter, except to say that his decision, which he said he came to “with consultation with the leadership of the synagogue,” did not arise from philosophical differences between him and the congregation.
Nor did they have to do with philosophical differences between him and the Conservative movement, which has become more liberal since his ordination, said the rabbi, who was honoured by the Union for Traditional Judaism with its Chaver Ne’eman Award in 2006. He serves as the organization’s vice-president.
Rabbi Allen, 59, will continue to have an office at Beth Tikvah until August, he said, adding that he may not be in Toronto for the entirety of his sabbatical.
The rabbi, who was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1977, is working on three books – the publication of his doctoral thesis, a book on the fundamental values of Judaism, and a second volume on Jewish law and contemporary issues to follow a book that came out last year.
He will continue to teach the Introduction to Judaism class offered by the Rabbinical Assembly, Ontario region. It will be held at Beth Tzedec Congregation instead of Beth Tikvah.
As well, Rabbi Allen is provost of the new Canadian Yeshiva and Rabbinical School, a project that is expected to open in 2012, and he sits on its board.
“I’m very much involved in the planning… but I have other considerations as well. If I can balance all of them together, that would be great. I don’t know yet how that will unfold.”
He said that he’s looking forward to the “opportunity to do something new and different, and contribute to the greater good of the Jewish people.”
