About Rabbi Grimberg

Tina Grimberg, Rabbi Emerita of Darchei Noam, served the congregation for twenty-four years (2002 – 2026). 

Born in Kyiv, Rabbi Grimberg earned a BA (General Studies) at IU Indianapolis in Indiana in 1989, an MS (Marriage and Family Therapy) at Butler University in Indiana in 1993, and Rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 2001. Rabbi Grimberg became the first female rabbi in North America born and raised in the former Soviet Union. She served as an intern and the Assistant Rabbi at the historic Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn (1996-2002) before moving to Canada. In 2016, Rabbi Grimberg graduated from the Hartman Rabbinic Leadership Initiative, a three-year program for leading North American rabbis, who influenced and molded Jewish life in their respective congregations and broader communities. In 2026, Rabbi Grimberg received an honorary doctorate from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion.

Under Rabbi Grimberg’s leadership, in 2008, the congregation moved from a rented basement to its current location. The beautifully renovated synagogue was designed by award-winning Torontonian architect Les Klein, Principal and Head of BDP Quadrangle’s Toronto Studio. The congregation experienced momentous growth.

A passionate teacher, Rabbi Grimberg has been deeply involved in outreach to the Canadian Jewish community beyond the scope of her congregation. In 2013, Rabbi Grimberg led a trip to Russia and Ukraine, where Darchei Noam members spent two weeks travelling, learning and supporting Jewish communities in Russia and Ukraine. Between 2016 and 2018 Rabbi Grimberg was a presenter at Limmud Festival in Toronto, an event that brought together Jewish people from various walks of Jewish life. She was also a speaker at Limmud FSU (Former Soviet Union) where she presented on the needs and particular interests of the Canadian Jewish Russian-speaking Community. 

In 2012, Rabbi Grimberg partnered with the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto and Blavatnik Archives in New York to tell the story of Jewish men and women who courageously served in the Soviet army during WWII. The resulting exhibit was featured at Darchei Noam and titled “Honouring Jewish Soldiers in the Red Army During World War II”.

Rabbi Grimberg was the only female rabbi who accompanied Prime Minister Harper in a bilateral mission to Israel in 2014. 

In 2015, she completed Wise Aging Facilitator Training with Rabbi Rachel Cowan, and developed the seminar Growing Wise for the Darchei Noam community. 

In 2023, she participated in a delegation of North American rabbis to Krakow, Poland to assist and provide relief to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. She joined fellow North American congregations in international humanitarian work for Ukrainian refugees, raised funds in her Darchei Noam community and beyond and delivered donations of essential supplies to women and children. 

Several months later, Rabbi Grimberg returned to Poland, this time with her son David to further promote this cause. They brought art supplies and clothing to the Paszkówka Refugee Center an hour from Krakow, where Ukrainian women and children found shelter. Rabbi Grimberg initiated the creation of over 200 finger puppets by Canadian Jewish people, who sewed, crocheted and knitted tiny puppets for children displaced by war and could play with the small toy and place it in their pockets while looking for a permanent home. Through art, group work and conversation, issues of trauma and longing were brought to the surface. This work followed Rabbi Grimberg’s presentation at the Krakow Jewish Cultural Festival connecting issues of refugees to art, music and sacred text. 

As an advocate of social justice, Rabbi Grimberg led the transformation of Darchei Noam into one of Canada’s leading Reconstructionist synagogues, celebrated for its inclusion of interfaith families and outreach to other faith communities, gender equality, and integrated learning. Her interfaith work and dialogue with Muslim communities culminated in teaching and the co-creation of Islamic and Jewish projects. In the spring of 2026, together with volunteers of Darchei Noam and National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, she organized an interfaith panel that raised awareness around the issues of domestic violence and abuse.  

She is the author of Out of Line: Growing Up Soviet, for which she won several awards in 2008 including the Frances and Samuel Stein Memorial Award in Youth Literature (Canadian Jewish Book Awards), the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards (Silver Medal), and the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year (Bronze Medal). 

Her love of poetry, literature, film, and visual arts is the lens through which she connects to Jewish tradition and the human soul in her Darchei Noam community and beyond. Her commentary and interviews appeared in Canadian Jewish News and CBC Radio.

Rabbi Grimberg is a member of the Toronto Board of Rabbis, the Canadian Council for Reform Judaism, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. 

She is grateful to the people and pivotal experiences that have shaped her perspective. In her twenties, while working in a hair salon in Indianapolis, she discovered her love of helping people and an appreciation of art and beauty. While training and working as a family therapist in the late 1990s, she became passionate about women’s issues and prevention of domestic violence as well as women’s development.

While living in New York, she learned from her teachers Esther Perel and Peninnah Schram. She is the mother of David, now studying at university, who has taught her more about computers, AI, and love than she thought was possible. 

Tina lives in Toronto with her husband, Joel, and their two dogs, Blake and Cara.

Rabbi Grimberg is available for rabbinic services to the Toronto Jewish community and beyond.