Cantor Paula Baruch
Cantor Baruch has served as our Cantorial Soloist since 2011 and completed her formal studies at Hebrew Union College’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music to be certified as a Cantor in May 2018. She is a member of the American Conference of Cantors and serves on the Board of the Guild of Temple Musicians as the VP of Education. Cantor Baruch teaches others to sing and help lead services by teaching a Shaliach Tzibbur class. She oversees and guides our choir and expertly designs services that speak to the heart of meaningful worship. Our members join in the worship singing with full voices thanks to her encouraging manner. Cantor Paula Baruch provides pastoral care and counselling to our members and in the largwer community through the McMaster University Spiritual Care and Learning Centre. She also offers sessions in Spiritual Direction, Hebrew learning, Torah and Haftorah chanting skills at our Temple. She is currently studying with the Pluralistic Rabbinic Seminary.
- pbaruch(at)anshesholom.ca
- (905)-528-0121 ext 23
Rabbi Jordan Cohen
Rabbi Cohen was welcomed to Temple Anshe Sholom as of July, 2007. Originally from Toronto, Rabbi Cohen previously served as Rabbi of the United Jewish Congregation of Hong Kong, the only Liberal Rabbi at the time serving in Asia. Rabbi Cohen has worked and studied in Canada, Israel, and the United States, and served for five years as Rabbi of the North Shore Temple Emanuel in Sydney, Australia. Rabbi Cohen holds a Bachelors Degree in English Literature from the University of Waterloo (Ontario), Masters Degrees in both Hebrew Literature and Education from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (California) and was ordained as a Rabbi at the Hebrew Union College in New York. In addition to his congregational work, Rabbi Cohen has worked extensively in the areas of Jewish Education (youth and adult), Inter-faith Relations and Jewish Folklore. A respected teacher and avid story-teller, Rabbi Cohen has served as Associate Director of Kolel, the Adult Centre for Liberal Jewish Learning in Toronto and on the faculty of the internationally renowned Brandies-Bardin Institute in Los Angeles. Rabbi Cohen has published in the areas of Jewish education and folklore, and his weekly Internet Torah commentaries have been translated into three languages.
As of August 2024, Rabbi Cohen stepped down indefinitely to focus on his health and officially retired from the pulpit in March 2025.