Rabbi Avram Rothman
Thornhill Community Shul
March 5, 2019
Rabbi Avram Rothman, Senior Rabbi, Aish Thornhill Community Shul, 949 Clark Avenue W, Thornhill, Ontario thornhillshul.com, 416.876.0691 Rabbi Avram Rothman, originally from Syracuse, NY, received semicha from Rav YY Ruderman, ztz"l at Baltimore’s Yeshivas New Israel in 1981 and was a student of Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg, ztz"l the next Rosh HaYeshiva. He holds an MS in Guidance & Counselling and a PhD in Comparative Literature. Before arriving in Toronto, Rabbi Rothman was the Rabbi & Director of the Hillel Foundation at the University of Colorado, Boulder and later as the Executive Director of the Hillel Council of Colorado. He was originally brought to Toronto in the early 1990’s to partner with Rabbi Uziel Milevsky, zt’l in creating Ohr Somayach of Thornhill. Over the next decade Our Somayach grew to expand into the Forest Hill neighbourhood and brought both Rabbi Eliezer Breitowitz, the present Rosh HaYeshiva of Toronto’s Yeshivas Darchei Torah and Rabbi Mordechai Becher, a Senior Lecturer for the Gateways Organization and teaches Jewish history and philosophy at Yeshiva University to work together with Rabbi Rothman. Following this period and the passing of Rabbi Milevsky, Rabbi Rothman became a lecturer and administrator for Arachim America and taught on a part-time basis for Aish HaTorah Toronto. Rabbi Rothman’s role in Aish HaTorah grew and he became the Rabbi of the fledgling Aish Thornhill Community Shul. The Shul, in its present format, started with eighty families and has grown over the past decade to a community of over two hundred families. Rabbi Rothman’s Shul is proudly tied with Aish HaTorah Toronto and is greatly invested in outreach, education and creating an environment that welcomes all Jews spanning the breadth of Torah Judaism. Members, teachers, other Rabbanim and visitors from all parts of the spectrum of Torah feel a welcome part of the ATCS community. Rabbi Rothman has written for aish.com, the National Post, the Canadian Jewish News and maintains his blog, “The Gripes of Rothman” published weekly. He publishes a regular D’var Torah in the Canadian Jewish News. He is involved with the Toronto Bais Din in areas of gerut, and has a regular group of potential and recent converts involved with his synagogue. He was awarded the Sherman Young Professionals Award in Jewish Communal Service, has lectured at Aish HaTorah’s Partners Conference and is an active member of Toronto’s Vaad Harabbanim. He has been involved with Yeshiva University’s centre for the Jewish Future and has greatly benefitted from their Kallah and other educational forums for Rabbis. He is married to his partner, Ruth E Rothman, a Psychiatric Registered Nurse and Rebbetzin. Is the father of four children, Rabbi Mordechai Rothman, the Executive Director of Chai Lifeline Canada, Moshe Rothman, a CPA in Toronto, Yehudit Shichtman, a Physician’s Assistant at New York’s Columbia Presbyterian and Dovid, a local businessperson and is a grandfather of eight grandchildren. Rabbi Rothman’s passion is building a broad, warm community of Jews interested in spiritual growth and creating a spirit of acceptance, unity through diversity and outreach. Together with his leadership and growing membership, his dream of such a community is becoming a reality.
