Rabbi Erin Polansky

Shalom! Welcome to Beth Israel. I look forward to meeting you and welcoming you personally.

Though I am a native Montrealer and Torontonian, Kingston is close to my heart since I spent my undergraduate years here at Queen's.

I am excited to be part of an active, engaged, and committed Jewish community here in Kingston. Our members are devoted to their synagogue and community and will welcome newcomers with open arms. We are proud of the community we are building and want to share it with others.

I feel extremely lucky to be able to raise my children as part of this Jewish community. In the short time we have been here, each one of them has remarked to me how embraced they feel by the members of Beth Israel. Living in a big city, they took their Judaism for granted. In Kingston, they feel its importance and understand their role in helping our synagogue community to thrive.

I am  originally from Montreal, Quebec and grew up in Thornhill, Ontario. I was the first recipient of the minor in Jewish Studies at Queen’s University and subsequently attended the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem and then in Cincinnati where I earned ordination in 2000. Upon ordination, I served as Assistant Rabbi and Rabbi Educator at Bet Shalom Congregation in Minnesota. In 2004, I returned to Toronto where I served as Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai and was the spiritual leader at Neshamah Congregation of York Region in Vaughan, Ontario from 2011 – 2018. After serving Beth Israel for two years, I satisfied the requirements to be admitted to the Rabbinical Assembly, and am now a member of the Rabbinical Assembly and Secretary of the Rabbinical Assembly of Ontario chapter.

My husband Adam, our family and I are happy to call Kingston home as we join with the members of Beth Israel to continue to make Judaism vibrant, engaging and embracing of all our members and families.

I look forward to meeting you. Please feel free to contact me at rabbi@kingstonbethisrael.ca.