EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this article said Rabbi Sachs was contacted for comment, but didn’t respond. The CJN did attempt to reach out to him, twice. It now appears we were using his old Beth Torah synagogue number. We hope to add his statements on the lawsuit next week. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter and get email updates from The CJN with the latest story links.
Two synagogues in midtown Toronto who have been quietly embroiled in a dispute over the hiring of a popular rabbi have now been forced to go public and inform their thousands of members that the whole thing has escalated into a lawsuit at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Beth Torah Congregation on Glenbrook Avenue, the plaintiff, and the respondent, Beth Sholom Synagogue on Eglinton Avenue West both issued communiques to their members ahead of the start of the eight-day festival of Passover.
Beth Torah’s allegations, which have not been proven in court, are contained in a 17-page Statement of Claim filed on March 27 against Rabbi Louis J. Sachs and his new employer Beth Sholom. Both synagogues follow similar progressive principles of Conservative Judaism.
The lawsuit claims Rabbi Sachs broke the terms of his contract with Beth Torah, for the better part of eight months in 2024, by serving in two places at the same time. The suit alleges Rabbi Sachs did this all while Beth Torah was paying his salary, RRSP contributions, travel, housing and auto allowance, and other benefits. At the time he left Beth Torah, the lawsuit states the rabbi was earning “in the range of $280,000.”
Rabbi Sachs left Beth Torah at the end of October 2024. He was installed at Beth Sholom during a series of celebrations that began Nov. 1.
Beth Torah is asking for $750,000 in damages.
“The fact is, that in addition to breaching his Employment Agreement with Beth Torah Congregation in multiple fashions and at multiple times, all as set out herein, Rabbi Louis Sachs’ actions and inactions were a breach of his honest dealings, and good faith duties, and fiduciary and trust duties, that he owed to Beth Torah Congregation at all material times and especially in view of his leadership role,” the lawsuit says.
How the parties got here
Louis Sachs is an American rabbi, who graduated from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles. He came to Canada in 2017 to work as an assistant rabbi at Beth Tikvah in the Bayview Village area of Toronto, and stayed there for five years.
During the lockdown period of 2021, the charismatic spiritual leader of Beth Torah, Rabbi Yossi Sapirman, parted ways with that synagogue, after nearly 24 years.
A new rabbi was needed. Rabbi Sachs was hired at Beth Torah in March 2022, the lawsuit says.
By the fall of 2023 or early 2024, it’s alleged in the lawsuit that Rabbi Sachs began to hold meetings that were conducted “clandestinely”, and “quietly” with Beth Sholom’s rabbi, Aaron Flanzraich. At those meetings, court documents allege, the two clergymen—who are described as friends—discussed Rabbi Sachs leaving Beth Torah and coming over to work with Rabbi Flanzraich at Beth Sholom.
On Feb. 29, 2024, Rabbi Sachs informed Beth Torah he wanted to resign, effective the end of August. Beth Torah knew he had accepted a job at Beth Sholom, the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, Beth Torah, Rabbi Sachs and Beth Sholom agreed that he would stay on at Beth Torah until after the Jewish holiday period ending Oct. 28, with his existing contract intact.
Beth Torah argues they were stunned to discover Beth Sholom announced in its June bulletin to members that Rabbi Sachs had been hired and would be joining officially in the fall—in the meantime, he would begin to help Beth Sholom on future programming. The lawsuit maintains Rabbi Sachs soon began participating in a series of Beth Sholom’s fall events, widely advertised on both his own personal social media accounts, and Beth Sholom’s website and social media accounts, as early as September 2024.
Beth Torah said it lodged an objection with Rabbi Sachs and Beth Sholom, but Rabbi Sachs’ study session covering preparations for the High Holidays went on at the other synagogue as scheduled, on Sept. 30.
According to the allegations in the court document, Rabbi Sachs recorded a video for his new shul right from his office at Beth Torah.
The lawsuit alleges Rabbi Sachs soon began favouring his new synagogue over his current one—such as leading a talk at Beth Sholom on the afternoon of Yom Kippur Oct. 12, but not providing the same service that day for his present congregation.
Aside from the public events their rabbi was holding at the other synagogue, Beth Torah states Rabbi Sachs stopped performing some of his pastoral duties once he knew he was going to be leaving, the lawsuit alleges.
Rabbi Sachs, the lawsuit reads, “upon submitting his resignation on the 29thj of February, 2024, failed and/or refused to undertake most of his contractual duties…specifically, but not limited to, he did not a) ensure that the Executive Committee was kept informed of his activities; b) visit members…that were ill or had suffered a death; and c) plan, devise and oversee the organization and operation of education programs, youth and adult services and ritual activities…and in fact he failed to attend at least one such program (the ‘Sukkot’ program).”
Beth Sholom blamed for its part in dispute
Rabbi Sachs is named first in the lawsuit, but Beth Torah is also suing Beth Sholom—saying their clergy, including Rabbi Aaron Flanzraich, went about “inducing” Rabbi Sachs to breach his contract.
Rabbi Flanzraich has been the rabbi at Beth Sholom Synagogue for nearly thirty years, joining in 1998, according to the synagogue’s website.
Although membership figures vary, Beth Sholom, which was founded in 1948, appears to be more than double the size of Beth Torah, with an estimated 1,500 families, according to its YouTube Channel. (However, the membership figure on Beth Sholom’s main website says it serves 1,000 families.)
Beth Torah was founded in the early 1960s by Holocaust survivors and first-generation Canadians.
Yossi Sapirman, the long-serving spiritual leader, left after nearly two decades, in 2021, to devote his energies to a digital Jewish outreach project, Living Jewishly, and religious services and other live events under the name NuShul.
“It’s been hard for me because it wasn’t the easiest departure,” Rabbi Sapirman told The CJN at the time.
Beth Torah’s lawsuit says they served 350 member families when Rabbi Sachs left. Updated membership numbers may become clearer if the lawsuit goes to trial, as Beth Torah is also suing for what it claims is an exit of members when Rabbi Sachs’ departure became known.
Explaining that synagogues traditionally go through their key membership renewal period between July and the start of the High Holidays in September or October, Beth Torah argued that Rabbi Sachs’ alleged moonlighting at the other shul “created confusion and misinformation in the Jewish community which questioned Beth Torah Congregation’s ability to have meaningful and inspirational services during the ‘High Holidays’ and beyond.”
This is why Beth Torah has asked the court for damages both for the lost revenue in 2024, and also in the future.
Was an appeal to rabbinic court rejected?
Beth Sholom officials maintain they “thoroughly disagree with these allegations” and said their team had tried to keep the matter from escalating.
“For a dispute in the Jewish community, a lawsuit is not the first place that one goes,” Beth Sholom’s president Margaret Lindzon told The CJN in an interview on April 3. “Generally this is something that’s handled by a beit din (rabbinical court) and or alternately a mediator, and we offered many options for that, and this is what they chose to do instead, since we couldn’t come to a conclusion on the details.”
Lindzon went further in a recent written communique to her congregation, accusing Beth Torah of being the ones who refused to take the matter to a rabbinic court, also known as a beit din.
“Circumventing our religious court is a rejection of our Jewish values and it deeply saddens us,” she wrote.
Now that the case has gone to the provincial courts instead, a course of action which Beth Sholom “deeply” disagrees with and regrets, the synagogue will defend itself from the lawsuit.
“We are not in any way at fault in the situation. In fact, I believe at every milestone along the way we have acted in good faith and in good communication and in support of another member of our shul community,” she told The CJN. “I really do not understand why this is something that they would want to do, why they would want to sue another shul, why they might want to damage a rabbi’s reputation.”
Lindzon also worried about having a dispute between two synagogues carried on in open court, where financial and other private details could be revealed to the public.
“I don’t think it’s good for our community in these very antisemitic times and I don’t think the outcome should be really on public record in that same way,” she said. “I don’t think it’s good for them. I don’t think it’s good for anybody.”
[Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article said Rabbi Sachs was contacted for comment, but didn’t respond. The CJN did attempt to reach out to him, twice. It now appears we were using his old Beth Torah synagogue number. We hope to add his statements on the lawsuit next week.]
On March 27, the day the lawsuit was filed against him in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, Rabbi Sachs wrote this post on his social media accounts beside a photo of himself at Beth Sholom, during the Torah procession, holding his son in his arms, standing beside his colleague, Rabbi Aaron Flanzraich.
“It struck me how lucky I am to be raising my family in such a warm, welcoming, and supportive community. This is the same room—and the same people—that watched his own children ( Rabbi Flanzraich’s) grow up, along with countless other kids,” Rabbi Sachs wrote on his Facebook and Instagram accounts.
“I feel truly blessed to be part of an intergenerational community like this. Our second home is one built on Torah, kindness, and connection.”
Beth Torah hoping to resolve dispute
No one from Beth Torah would speak to The CJN. The congregation’s lawyer for this lawsuit, Paul Dollak, did not reply to emails asking for an interview.
After the initial reporter inquiries, Beth Torah’s members were sent an email informing them of the existence of the lawsuit, and warning them not to comment publicly about the matter.
“I am writing to advise that issues arose late last summer and early last fall between Beth Torah and Rabbi Sachs and Beth Sholom Synagogue,” said the communique from the president Andrew Weisberg, a copy of which was made available to The CJN.
“As a result of Rabbi Sachs’s termination of his contract with Beth Torah and his transition to Beth Sholom, the board of directors, in the fall of 2024, authorized a reach out to both Rabbi Sachs and Beth Sholom Synagogue, with the goal being to try to resolve the issues that had materialized,” the communique said.
Weisberg said when that didn’t resolve things, the board started legal proceedings against Rabbi Sachs and Beth Sholom.
“It was a decision which was not made lightly.”
He also explained why they didn’t tell the congregation about the lawsuit right away.
“We held off on notifying our members of this turn of events, as we have continued with efforts to try to resolve the matter with both Rabbi Sachs and Beth Sholom. We will continue with these efforts.”
The letter went on to say Beth Torah’s vice-president, Stephen Turk, “who has been involved in this matter from its beginning,” is available to try to address any inquiries from members.
When rabbis end up in lawsuits
The Rabbinical Assembly, which assists Conservative rabbis and cantors to find employment at synagogues around North America and beyond, has a new code of ethics, in place since March 1.
While most of the document covers rabbis’ human rights issues such as sexual misconduct, addiction and workplace behaviour, one section outlines how rabbis are supposed to deal with each other when they live and work in the same community.
“It is a blessing to share community that is enriched by the presence and gifts of fellow RA members,” the Code says. “To respectfully share community also requires transparent communication and an unwavering commitment to ethical behavior and mutual respect.”
Beth Torah is a member of the international network United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), while Beth Sholom is not a member.
The CJN reached out to the head of the USCJ to ask how common it is for employment disputes between rabbis and synagogues to reach the civil courts. Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, the CEO, declined to be interviewed.
“This issue has not been brought to the attention of either organization by any of the parties, and therefore we are not prepared to comment. Warm regards,” Rabbi Blumenthal wrote in an email.
The CJN’s resident rabbi Avi Finegold—a contributor to Scribe Quarterly and host of the upcoming weekly podcast Not in Heaven—has read the Beth Torah lawsuit. He also personally knows some of the protagonists involved, as do other staff members at The CJN, although Rabbi Finegold hadn’t been aware of this legal case.
Rabbi Finegold told The CJN he was surprised the contract dispute wasn’t resolved before it reached the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
“It used to be that it was way beyond the pale for anything like this, for synagogues, to sue other synagogues. We don’t do that,” Finegold said in an interview April 10, adding that, just as in other professions now, “it happens more and more” in the synagogue world.
According to Rabbi Finegold, there can be many reasons why a rabbi decides to leave one shul for a different job. It could be the rabbi’s religious and moral values didn’t align with the congregation’s. There could have been tension between the board and the rabbi or cantor, or the clergy and the president, or a combination.
“As you get older, and as you develop experience, you know more about your own career and what your preferences are, and more about yourself, and you start looking for places that might be more ideal for you,” Rabbi Finegold said. “And hopefully, that happens at the end of a contract. And hopefully that happens without having hard feelings on either side. And most of the time there are no hard feelings. There are definitely times where there are.”
The state of the rabbinical marketplace
While the lawsuit doesn’t state the length of Rabbi Sachs’ original contract, according to Rabbi Finegold, rabbis shop around for a new position all the time.
“Because you’re hoping to not be unemployed,” he said.
“And if you’re looking to make a switch, you have to talk to people elsewhere to see what’s going on, and I’ve heard many cases where somebody will go in for a Shabbat as a scholar in residence, for example, without saying anything where the first shul knows about it, and it’s public, but not many other people know that that is really a job interview,” he said.
Rabbi Finegold says rabbis needs to be cautious when job hunting while they are still employed by a synagogue.
“Rabbis can freelance for other congregations, but not often. It’s when it comes at the expense of your initial congregation, that’s not a good thing.”
While the lawsuit against Rabbi Sachs and Beth Sholom may be unusual, at least in recent years, there have been several high-profile cases in Ontario where fired rabbis sued their employers for wrongful dismissal.
The late Rabbi Stuart Rosenberg, who served at Beth Torah from 1982-1986, was ousted from his former synagogue Beth Tzedec in 1973. He subsequently sued them for $2.5 million. The case was settled out of court.
In an unrelated case, in 1999, an Ontario court awarded the late Rabbi Joseph Ben David $130,000 including damages, after being terminated by B’nai Israel in St. Catharines, where he had officiated for 24 years since 1969.
Beth Torah welcomed its new rabbi, Jennifer Gorman, this past January 2025. Rabbi Sachs is scheduled to lead Beth Sholom’s community seder on Sunday April 13.
