Baruch Taub Explained

Honorific-Prefix:Rabbi
Baruch Taub
Synagogue:Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation
Synagogueposition:Founding rabbi and rabbi emeritus
Began:1980
Ended:2010
Successor:Rabbi Daniel Korobkin
Other Post:National Director of NCSY (1976 - 1980)
Birth Name:Baruch Taub
Nationality: Canada, Israel
Residence:Netanya, Israel
Spouse:Judy Blustein
Malkah
Children:Shimon
Moshe
Naomi
Shmuel
Gitty
Alma Mater:Yeshivas Ner Yisroel
Loyola College of Maryland
Maimonides College of Ontario
Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin
Semicha:Yeshivas Ner Yisroel

Baruch Alter HaCohen Taub (Hebrew: ברוך אלתר הכהן טאוב) is the founding rabbi and Rabbi Emeritus of the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation (BAYT), the largest Orthodox congregation in Canada.[1] He also served as the de facto chief rabbi of Vaughan, Ontario,[2] and is the former National Director of NCSY. He currently lives in Netanya, Israel.

Biography

Rabbi Taub received his rabbinic ordination from Yeshivas Ner Yisroel of Baltimore, MD. He holds a master's degree from Loyola College of Maryland and a Doctorate of Philosophy from the Maimonides College of Ontario.

He became National Director of NCSY in 1976, following the departure of Rabbi Pinchas Stolper to become Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union. He served in this post until 1980, when he left to become the spiritual leader of the BAYT Congregation.[3]

His selection as founding rabbi of the BAYT Congregation came about through his introduction to Canadian philanthropist Joseph Tannenbaum by Rabbi Nota Schiller of Yeshivat Ohr Somayach. Tannenbaum was interested in starting a synagogue in northern Toronto, and Schiller introduced him to the dynamic Ner Yisroel graduate then living in New York with his wife and five children.[4] Rabbi Taub started the BAYT Congregation in his living room with 13 families in 1980, and continued shepherding it as the sole rabbi.[4] By the time of his retirement in 2010, the congregation had grown to 600 to 700 families,[5] making it the largest Orthodox congregation in Canada.[1]

Rabbi Taub is a noted speaker on Orthodox Jewish outreach and the teshuva movement. He delivered the keynote speech to the 1996 AJOP Convention on the subject "The Teshuvah Movement: The next generation".[6] During his tenure as Rabbi of BAYT, he spoke at Israel solidarity rallies[7] and led his congregation on annual solidarity missions to Israel.[8] He led the 11th Siyum HaShas at Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin in Lublin, Poland.[9]

Personal

Rabbi Taub's first wife, Judy Blustein, died in October 2001. A guidance centre was dedicated in her memory in the Beit El Israeli settlement in the West Bank  - BAYT's twin city  - in November 2002.[10]

Rabbi Taub and his second wife, Malkah, made aliyah to Netanya, Israel, in December 2010.[11] [12]

His son Moshe was the rabbi of Young Israel of Greater Buffalo[13] since September 2003 and is the supervising rabbi of the Vaad Hakashrut (Kosher-Supervising Board) of Buffalo, New York,[14] as well as the rabbinic editor & weekly contributor for Ami Magazine. He is now the Rabbi of Young Israel of Holliswood.[15] Another son, Shimon, is a Torah scholar and author of The Laws of Tzedakah and Maaser: A comprehensive guide, published by ArtScroll.[16]

Selected bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Heart-warming tribute to outgoing BAYT Rabbi Baruch Taub . https://archive.today/20120326040552/http://www.jewishtribune.ca/TribuneV2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3769&Itemid=53 . dead . 26 March 2012 . Beck . Atara . 1 December 2010 . 11 September 2011 . .
  2. Web site: Major issue at BAYT threatens dissent . 19 September 2007 . The Canadian Jewish Tribune . 20 January 2013 .
  3. Web site: About Us . cbaj-albany.org . 2005 . 11 September 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120219111538/http://www.cbaj-albany.org/ncsy/members.htm . 19 February 2012 .
  4. Book: Teller, Hanoch . Hanoch Teller

    . Bridges of Steel, Ladders of Gold: Joseph Tanenbaum, builder of bridges to Torah . 170 - 172 . Hanoch Teller . . January 1990 . 0-87306-526-3.

  5. Web site: BAYT's Rabbi Taub retires after 30 years . Kraft . Frances . 2 December 2010 . 11 September 2011 . Canadian Jewish News.
  6. Web site: Keynote Address: The Teshuvah Movement: The next generation . 11 September 2011 . Torahmedia.com.
  7. Web site: Thousands Come Out For Israel (news release) . . 11 October 2000 . 11 September 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120330062057/http://www.bnaibrith.ca/press3/pr-001011-44.htm . 30 March 2012 .
  8. Web site: 2009 Mission (advertisement) . 3 . The Canadian Jewish Tribune . 22 January 2009 . 11 September 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110919201334/http://www.jewishtribune.ca/tribune/PDF/jt220109.pdf . 19 September 2011 .
  9. Web site: Rabbi Baruch Taub . . 2012 . 12 June 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120528171719/http://www.ou.org/torah/author/Rabbi_Baruch_Taub . 28 May 2012 .
  10. Web site: BAYT solidarity mission dedicates guidance centre . Stein . Stacey . Canadian Jewish News . 17 June 2003 . 11 September 2011.
  11. News: Thirty-Year Pulpit Rabbi Makes Aliyah, Honored in Beit El. Israel National News. 19 December 2010. 11 September 2011.
  12. Web site: Litmus Test For The Diaspora Rabbi . Gordon . Baruch . 17 December 2010 . 11 September 2011 . Israel National News.
  13. Web site: Rabbi Moshe Taub . The Young Israel of Greater Buffalo . 11 September 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110805101813/http://yibuffalo.org/rabbi.htm . 5 August 2011 .
  14. Web site: Rabbi Moshe Taub . Buffalo Vaad Hakashrut . 23 October 2014.
  15. Web site: Home . yiholliswood.org.
  16. Book: The Laws of Tzedakah and Maaser: A comprehensive guide . registration . shimon taub. . Mesorah Publications Ltd. . 2001 . 1-57819-589-6.