About Us

Our Mission & History

Our mission at Shaare Zion Beth-El is to provide a warm and welcoming community for Conservative Jews in Montreal to come together and deepen their connection to their faith, heritage, and tradition. We strive to foster a sense of belonging and continuity through prayer, education, and social programs, and to be a source of support and guidance for our congregants. Our goal is to uphold the principles of Conservative Judaism, while also embracing diversity and inclusivity within our community.

Meet Our Team

Rabbi Barry Leff

rabbi@szbe.org

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Rabbi Barry Leff (Rav Barry) has been Shaare Zion Beth-El’s interim senior rabbi since July 2022. Rav Barry was ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies (American Jewish University) in Los Angeles in 2002, after a 20-year long career as an entrepreneur and business executive in Silicon Valley. After ordination Rabbi Leff served congregations in Vancouver, Canada, and Toledo, Ohio. He moved to Israel in 2007 with his then wife and the three youngest of his five daughters and went back to work in business. He is on the board of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem and has served as chairman of the board of Rabbis for Human Rights. Rav Barry serves on the Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards and has written and lectured extensively on business ethics. He also holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, and undergraduate degrees in psychology and liberal arts. This is Rav Barry’s third interim assignment: he has also served as interim rabbi for congregations in Birmingham, Alabama and Mercer Island, Washington. In his spare time Rav Barry likes to fly small planes (he’s a flight instructor), run, bike, and play piano. When not doing interim rabbinical work, he and his partner Susy Lutz split their time between New Mexico and Jerusalem.

Cantor Adam Stotland

adam.stotland@szbe.org

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Adam is a graduate of Concordia University where he studied music. A native Montrealer, Adam went to Hebrew Academy and spent many summers at Camp Massad. Upon graduating high school, Adam spent some time in Israel learning in Yeshiva. A lyric tenor vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Adam has spent the last decade singing and performing at concerts and weddings here in Montreal and throughout North America, Europe and Israel. Married to Yahel Farkas, granddaughter of long-time Shaare Zion members Louis and Valerie Farkas (z'l), Adam and Yahel have 4 young children, three boys Shaya, Yahav, Eden and a daughter Aria.

Reverend Asher Tannenbaum

Ritual Director

reverend@szbe.org

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Asher studied at the Bar Ilan University and has degrees from both Concordia and McGill Universities. Asher has been the Ritual Director since 2004,. Prior to that, Asher was the Ritual Director at Congregation Beth David in Toronto. He has two children, Benjamin, born in 2001, and Madelyn, born in 2007. In his free time, Asher enjoys spending time with his family and working on his golf game.

Rabbi Lionel Moses

Rabbi Emeritus

lionel.moses@szbe.org

Rabbi Lionel Moses is the Rabbi Emeritus of Shaare Zion Beth-El Congregation. He served as Shaare Zion's spiritual leader for 23 years from 1995 until 2018. Rabbi Moses is a native of Toronto and a graduate of the University of Toronto, where he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and a Masters degree in Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literature. Rabbi Moses was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1977 and has held pulpits in New York City and in Sacramento California. He is a Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute and currently chairs the National Beit Din of the Conservative Movement.

Rabbi Ronnie Cahana

Rabbi Emeritus

cahanas@gmail.com

From a long rabbinic line, Swedish-born and US-raised, educated, and ordained, Rabbinical Assembly member, Rabbi Ronnie Cahana has enjoyed an international rabbinate. He held pulpits in Bolivia, Sweden, USA and Canada before becoming Congregation Beth-El’s rabbi in 2001 and now serving as the SZBE Rabbi Emeritus. A lifelong activist, Rabbi Cahana earned a Swedish Peace Prize for co-founding the Nordic Center for Inter-religious Dialogue and for his peace mission during the Bosnian War. He is also a 2012 recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal “for significant contribution to Canada”.

Since his stroke in 2011, Rabbi Cahana has devoted his free-time to writing Divrei Torah for the Amen Institute, poetry for his blog, and he’s currently working on a series, called Locked-Down Poetry, for which he received a Canada Council Arts Grant.

Karen Knie-Cahana

kcahana@szbe.org

With a background in Jewish Studies, Social Work, Family Therapy & Conflict Resolution, Karen Cahana is available by appointment to provide confidential social work and pastoral services about psychosocial issues or concerns you may be facing.