Reuben Slonim (1914–January 20, 2000) was a Canadian rabbi and journalist.

Early life

Slonim was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. After his immigrant father suffered a stroke, his mother cared for her husband and three children. The family resided at the Jewish Orphanage and Children's Aid of Western Canada, where his mother worked as a cook. In his memoir ''Grand to Be an Orphan'', Slonim wrote that the orphanage provided educational opportunities and also described instances of

physical abuse Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. In most cases, children are the victims of physical abuse, but adults can also be victims, as in cases of domestic violence or ...

by staff.

Education

With support from the orphanage, Slonim studied at a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and attended the

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

, where he earned a B.S.A.S. degree in 1933. He subsequently studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was ordained and received a Master of Hebrew Literature (M.H.L.) in 1937. Between 1935 and 1937, he also attended

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary ...

in New York.

Community activism

Slonim held several community positions, including serving as president of the

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Zionist Council from 1947 to 1952 and as chair of the Synagogue Council State of

Israel Bonds Israel Bonds, the commonly known name of Development Corporation for Israel (DCI), is the U.S. underwriter of debt securities issued by the State of Israel. DCI is headquartered in New York City and is a broker-dealer and member of the Financial ...

from 1955 to 1960. Later in his career, he expressed opposition to the policies of the State of Israel and criticized what he viewed as uncritical support for Israel within the Jewish community.

Journalism

In 1955, Slonim was hired by the ''

Toronto Telegram ''The Toronto Evening Telegram'' was a conservative, broadsheet afternoon newspaper published in Toronto from 1876 to 1971. It had a reputation for supporting the Conservative Party at the federal and the provincial levels. The paper competed wit ...

'' as associate editor specializing in

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

affairs. He remained with the newspaper until it ceased publication in 1971 and later contributed to the ''Jewish Standard''. In his writings, Slonim frequently criticized the role of

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

influence in Israeli politics and Israel's treatment of

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

. He also advocated for Israeli withdrawal from the

occupied Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been occupi ...

and opposed the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

Rabbi

In 1937, Slonim became rabbi of Toronto's McCaul Street Synagogue, becoming one of the first Canadian-born rabbis to lead a Masorti congregation. He served there for three years before holding rabbinical positions in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

and

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

, over the following seven years. In 1947, he returned to Toronto to serve again at the McCaul Street Synagogue until its 1955 merger with the University Avenue Synagogue. He was not appointed to a senior role in the newly formed

Beth Tzedec Congregation Beth Tzedec Congregation () is a Conservative synagogue on Bathurst Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1955 with the amalgamation of the Goel Tzedec () and Beth Hamidrash Hagadol Chevra Tehillim () congregations, established r ...

. In 1960, Slonim became rabbi of Congregation Habonim Toronto, a small unaffiliated liberal congregation founded by Central European

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

survivors and influenced by German liberal Judaism. He attracted a younger, Canadian-born membership, and during his tenure, he publicly criticized Israeli government policies, which drew opposition from some Zionists. Following the 1982 Lebanon War, he was fired from his position. He later recounted his rabbinical experiences in his 1987 book ''To Kill a Rabbi''. Slonim went on to co-found the Association for the Living Jewish Spirit, which held High Holiday services until 1999.

Later life

Toward the end of his life, Slonim received formal recognition from the Jewish community. Rabbi

Gunther Plaut Wolf Gunther Plaut, (November 1, 1912 – February 8, 2012) was an American Reform rabbi and writer who was based in Canada. Plaut was the rabbi of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto for several decades and since 1978 was its senior scholar. ...

, who had previously disagreed with Slonim on various issues, later acknowledged that Slonim had been unjustly marginalized and expressed regret for his role in that treatment. In 1998, the Jewish Theological Seminary honored Slonim for his years of service. He died on January 20, 2000, at the age of 85, at his home, following a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

and complications related to

Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. According to his daughter, Rena Tsur, he had been in poor health during the preceding year. His wife, Reta, had died six years earlier.

Other writing

In addition to his two memoirs, Slonim published ''In the Steps of Pope Paul'' (1965), an account of Pope Paul's visit to the Middle East; ''Both Sides Now'' (1972) summarizing his career at the ''Toronto Telegram'', and ''Family Quarrel: The United Church and the Jews'' (1977) chronicling disputes over Israel between Zionists and the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slonim, Reuben 2000 deaths Illinois Institute of Technology alumni Albany Law School alumni Canadian Conservative rabbis 1914 births 20th-century Canadian rabbis Jewish Canadian journalists Clergy from Winnipeg Rabbis from Toronto Jewish Theological Seminary of America alumni Jewish Theological Seminary of America semikhah recipients Jewish memoirists 20th-century Canadian memoirists Writers from Winnipeg Journalists from Winnipeg Writers from Toronto Journalists from Toronto