Our People
RAbbi Sherril Gilbert
CHAIR, Aleph Canada
Rabbinic ordination: Mesifta Adas Wolkowisk, Queens, NY (2017)
Spiritual Director ordination: ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal (2012)
Rabbinic Chaplain ordination: ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal (2009)
Davennen Leadership Training Institute (DLTI 2002)
M.A., Human Systems Intervention (Concordia University)
B.A., Applied Social Science (Concordia University)
Spertus Institute, Certificate in Jewish Leadership, Chicago (2023)
Former Rabbi Educator, Congregation Dorshei Emet, Montreal’s Reconstructionist Congregation
Co-spiritual leader and co-founder (with Rabbi Schachar Orenstein), LevShul (Montreal, QC)
Spiritual leader and founder, P’nai Or Montreal Community Shul (Montreal, QC)
Spiritual leader and founder, Mishkan HaLev, St. John’s, NL (2005-2011)
Community rabbi with 21+ years of religious, cultural and spiritual community leadership experience
Social scientist with 30+ years experience as an adult educator, facilitator, trainer, and consultant to congregations, organizations and communities
Spiritual director in private practice
Member, Montreal Board of Rabbis
Past-president, Christian Jewish Dialogue of Montreal (2019 - 2023)
Board member, OHALAH Association of Rabbis and Cantors for Jewish Renewal (2019 - present)
Va’ad Member, Co-Director and Director of Studies, Rabbinic Pastor Program, ALEPH Ordination Program, ALEPH (2023)
Lecturer and Content Specialist in Special Care Counseling, Champlain College, 2012 - present (St. Lambert, Quebec)
Passport to Jewish Life Fellow, Federation CJA, Montreal QC (2020-2023)
Certified Prepare/Enrich Facilitator (2023)
Contact Reb Sherril: director@alephcanada.ca
RABBI schachar orenstein
TREASURER, ALEPH CANADA
DIRECTOR, INTEGRAL HALACHAH INSTITUTE
Founded Lev Shul with Rabbi Sherril in 2022
Served congregations in Vancouver and Montreal, including two of Montreal’s largest and oldest communities, Congregation Shaar Hashomayim and the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal
Received two Orthodox rabbinic ordinations from Yeshivat Mercaz Hatalmud & Yeshivat Noam Hatorah
BSc and MA (Jewish Studies) from McGill University
Created Pasook Picker — visual Psalms/Tehillim
Founded Teva Quebec, Quebec’s first Jewish Environmental Organization
Sang and played guitar on his popular Hebrew-French Music CD for children “Bonjour Mes Amis: Chansons juives pour les jeunes”
Wrote The Jewish Book of If: Questions for the Jewish Game of Life
Jewish Mindfulness Leadership Training Certificate
Yoga teaching certificates (hatha, yin, restorative and laughter)
Born in Ramat Gan, Israel, raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, & now lives on the bank of the St. Lawrence River in Lasalle, Quebec.
Contact Reb Schachar: execdirector@alephcanada.ca
RABBI ANDREA D. LOBEL
VICE-CHAIR, ALEPH CANADA
Rabbinic ordination: Mesifta Adas Wolkowisk, Queens, NY (2014)
Ph.D., Religion (Rabbinic Literature; Late Antique Judaism; Religion and Science), Concordia University, Montreal, QC (2015)
M.A., Religious Studies (Hebrew Bible; hermeneutics; Ancient Near East) (2004)
Board Member, ALEPH Canada: Alliance for Jewish Renewal in Canada (2017-present)
Co-Editor, Other Covenants: Alternate Histories of the Jewish People (2022, Ben Yehuda Press)
Rabbinic member of OHALAH (a trans-denominational association of rabbis, cantors and students)
University lecturer in Religion and Humanities: Tanakh and text-interpretation; Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; Interpretations of Religion; Big Questions in Religious Studies; Varieties of Religious Experience; Astronomy in the Ancient Near East (2006 - present)
Faculty/Lecturer, ALEPH Ordination Program
Research Affiliate, Max and Tessie Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies
Jewish community/adult education lecturer: Limmud, congregational
Instructor, Montreal Jewish Community Lay Chaplaincy Training Program
Board Member, Canadian Society for Jewish Studies (2015-16)
Scholar-in-Residence, OneShul (2016-19)
Rabbinic Mentor, Darshan Yeshiva
Spiritual counselling and coaching in private practice
Mindfulness Certification for Jewish Communal Professionals, Institute for Jewish Spirituality (2024)
Certified Prepare/Enrich Facilitator/pre-marital preparation and marriage enrichment (2024)
Former Montrealer, and now lives in Ottawa, ON
Contact Reb Andrea: codirector@alephcanada.ca
RAbbi Daniel Siegel
Rabbinic Director, Aleph canada
Founding Director, Integral Halachah Institute
Director of Spiritual Resources for ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal
First person to receive semicha/rabbinic ordination (1974) from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi as rabbi and colleague
Received an additional level of ordination (2003) as a Dayan/Adjudicator from Reb Zalman
BA from Rutgers University, MA from Temple University
Father of three sons, grandfather to two girls
Currently lives on Hornby Island, British Columbia, serving as president of the Hornby Island Residents and Ratepayers Association and past chair of the Hornby Island Community Economic Enhancement Corporation
Tends a garden
For more on Reb Daniel, click here.
Contact Reb Daniel: admin@alephcanada.ca