{"id":49720,"date":"2026-09-04T00:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T07:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=49720"},"modified":"2026-09-25T18:07:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T01:07:30","slug":"embraced-by-the-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2026\/09\/04\/embraced-by-the-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Embraced by the community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cHaving been here for about two months, we feel that the staff members and community have been so welcoming, assisting us in every way we need to help us feel settled,\u201d Rabbi Avi Garson, new assistant rabbi at Congregation Schara Tzedeck, told the Independent<\/em>. \u201cThis was always going to be a big move, across the globe with two young kids and no family support nearby, but the community has kind of adopted us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garson comes to Vancouver with his wife, Abigail, and their two daughters, Debbie, 3, and Ruthie, 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in London, England, Garson has lived there most of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy parents were the rabbi and rebbetzin at the Ohr Yisrael Shul in Borehamwood, so I grew up with this,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a child, I always joked I\u2019d be a rabbi like my dad but I never actually believed it would happen. I do have a small family connection to Vancouver \u2013 my grandfather came here almost every month for many years to see one of his clients. He never dreamed his grandson would move here though.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abigail Garson was born in Gibraltar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe youngest of six, my siblings live in Israel, the United Kingdom and Miami, so my parents are world travelers,\u201d she said. \u201cThey will hopefully come here soon to visit us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avi and Abigail Garson met through a shadchan<\/em> (matchmaker) and, after they got married in 2021, they moved to Jerusalem so he could begin his smichah<\/em> (rabbinic ordination). Their two daughters were born there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rabbi received smichah from the Jerusalem Kollel this past March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Kollel trains couples to become leaders in the Jewish world,\u201d he explained. \u201cTo date, the Kollel has ordained over 350 rabbinic couples who have gone on to inspire, in communities, shuls and outreach organizations. From Sydney to Utah, Herzliya to Johannesburg, the Jerusalem Kollel\u2019s alumni are impacting the world. This is my first position in the rabbinate, although I have done a couple of rabbinic internships at shuls in London.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abigail Garson completed her computer programming degree in Israel before the couple was married, and she works as a software developer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"photo
Rabbi Avi and Abigail Garson and their daughters Ruthie and Debbie. (photo from Schara Tzedeck)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce Abigail and I decided we would be up for the adventure to move away from the UK, I asked the Kollel\u2019s director if he knew of any available positions in the rabbinate,\u201d said Garson. \u201cWhen I spoke to him in November 2025, there were over 50 positions available in North America alone. After reviewing some of the job descriptions, we felt that Schara Tzedeck held the most potential for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInitially, we met on Zoom with a member of the search committee,\u201d he continued. \u201cThis was followed by interviews with the rest of the search committee and some board members, the rabbi and then in person with the NCSY director. I also sent a video of a d\u2019var Torah. After these meetings, we flew out to Vancouver to see the shul and meet the community over a trial Shabbat. All this happened very fast and, before we knew it, we had been offered the job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Garsons had heard how beautiful Vancouver is, it rained the entire weekend they were here in January. What won them over, said Rabbi Garson, was Schara Tzedeck and its members, not the city itself so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe really liked that the shul had a vision, and that the board and staff felt a sense of responsibility to the Vancouver Jewish community as a whole, not just to Schara Tzedeck members. This idea of leaving no one behind was something we connected to,\u201d he said. \u201cWe also found that the members we met over our Shabbat here were thirsty for connection and inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garson said Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt has been very supportive, encouraging him to get involved in all aspects of the shul. Already, Garson has given many Shabbat sermons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In searching for an assistant rabbi, executive director Shelley Rivkin told the Independent<\/em>, \u201cWe were looking for a young, energetic rabbinical couple that would complement the Rosenblatts [the rabbi and his wife, Dr. Cirelle Rosenblatt], expand and diversify our learning opportunities and educational programs, and connect with and engage the young adults and young families associated with Schara Tzedeck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it seems that the synagogue has found what it was looking for in the Garsons. Rivkin described them as \u201ccommitted to outreach and comfortable with the diversity of practice among our congregants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRabbi Garson\u2019s depth of Torah knowledge, warm personality and great sense of humour have already had a positive impact on the congregation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total search and hiring process took about nine months, said Rivkin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had a six-person search committee representing a broad cross-section of our membership,\u201d she said. \u201cAlthough we sent out job postings to all of the appropriate organizations in Canada, US and Israel, it was through a personal relationship that one of our committee members had established with the Jerusalem Kollel that we were able to meet Rabbi Garson.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that Schara Tzedeck is the largest Orthodox synagogue in the city means there is the opportunity for Garson to be involved beyond the shul walls \u2013 with the mikvah, the cemetery and eruv, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis role isn\u2019t just being an assistant rabbi of the shul,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are hands-on opportunities in all areas of Jewish life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Garsons look forward to building relationships with as many members of the community as possible, through seeing them in shul and at events, and hosting them over Shabbat, said the rabbi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are also very excited to help engage some of the younger Jews in Vancouver,\u201d he added. \u201cThere is a program called Shabbat Club for Jews aged 25-40 living in Vancouver that is under the Schara Tzedeck umbrella. We look forward to working with the Shabbat Club to provide meaningful Jewish experiences to their members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter the loss of Joseph Marciano z\u2019l,\u201d said Rivkin, \u201cit took us almost a year to rebuild our klei kodesh<\/em> [clergy]. With the arrival of Rabbi Garson and our new Torah reader, Eliyahu Kaminetsky, we now have a robust clergy team to both support Rabbi Rosenblatt and meet the needs of our congregation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more about the synagogue, visit scharatzedeck.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHaving been here for about two months, we feel that the staff members and community have been so welcoming, assisting us in every way we need to help us feel settled,\u201d Rabbi Avi Garson, new assistant rabbi at Congregation Schara Tzedeck, told the Independent. \u201cThis was always going to be a big move, across the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":49721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[25011,25010,463,2327,25008],"class_list":["post-49720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-abigail-garson","tag-avi-garson","tag-schara-tzedeck","tag-shelley-rivkin","tag-synagogue-life"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49720"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49723,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49720\/revisions\/49723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}