Eli Rubenstein [1] (born in 1959) is a Holocaust educator, writer, storyteller, filmmaker, and activist. He is currently the religious leader of Congregation Habonim Toronto,[2] a Toronto synagogue founded by Holocaust survivors, served as the Director of Education for March of the Living International since 1988, and currently serves as National Director of March of the Living Canada from 1988 to 2024. Rubenstein was the President of the Israel Guide Dog Centre for the Blind, and was appointed to the Order of Canada in December 2022.[3]
Rubenstein was raised in Toronto's orthodox Jewish community by parents of Hungarian and Polish Jewish lineage. He attended Eitz Chaim School as a child. His mother, Esther Rubenstein née Greenblatt, was a Holocaust refugee from Szatmárcseke, Hungary, who escaped to the United States in the spring of 1941 at age eight on one of the last trains permitted to leave Hungary. His great-grandmother, Amalia Malka Greenblatt (1860-1945), was deported to Auschwitz from Debrecen, Hungary, in 1944 but ended up at a forced labour camp in Austria due to the bombing of the Auschwitz train tracks. She survived the war and was carried back to Debrecen by family members but died on July 6, 1945.[4] [5] [6]
Rubenstein's father, Isadore Israel Rubenstein, was born in Toronto, Canada. His grandfather, Nechemia Charles Rubenstein, emigrated to Canada from Tarlow, Poland, in 1913. Nazi Germany destroyed the Jewish community of Tarlow, Poland, in the Holocaust, a subject Rubenstein addressed in a sermon he delivered to his congregation following his visit to Tarlow in 2011.[7] [8]
Rubenstein's first cousin is Jason Greenblatt, the former chief legal officer of the Trump Organization and former President Donald Trump's special representative for international negotiations. Holocaust survivor and anti war activist Robert Greenblatt is Rubenstein's first cousin, once removed.[9]
Rubenstein has served as the religious leader of Congregation Habonim Toronto since 1988, succeeding Rabbi Allen Veaner, who followed Rabbi Reuben Slonim.
He has helped facilitate collaborative initiatives with numerous organizations, such as Ve'ahavta[10] (for their annual Passover Seder for the Homeless), Sara and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre,[11] Free the Children, the Polish Consulate, the Toronto Partnership Minyan,[12] and various other organizations.
In 2015, amidst a growing membership and religious school, Rubenstein, together with Rabbi Cantor Aviva Rajsky, led the synagogue in a new building campaign to replace its decaying structure, which eventually raised the needed funds. Groundbreaking took place in the summer of 2018, and the new building was opened in the fall of 2019.[13]
A member of Congregation Habonim, Canadian actor, musician, and producer Shaina Silver-Baird credits the original idea for her comedy web series "Less Than Kosher" to her earlier days out of theatre school, recruited by Rubenstein as a substitute cantor for weddings and children's services at the synagogue.[14] Congregation Habonim has archived some of Rubenstein's sermons online.
Rubenstein is an avid storyteller and speaker and has done so across Canada, the United States, Europe, Israel, and Africa. He was a co-organizer of ""Because God Loves Stories," an annual storytelling event in memory of mentor, Alec Gelcer. The concert was part of The Annual Toronto Festival of Storytelling. An article in CJN with Rubenstein interviewed reads, "Under [Alec] Gelcer's influence, he introduced stories into his sermons. He noticed that sermons on theology sometimes had his congregation squirming in their seats. “But as soon as I launched into a story, people were sitting on the edge of their seats.”[15] One article quoted, "Eli brings his guitar, a wealth of stories and folk-tales, and a relaxed and joyful approach to services and programs at Habonim."
Rubenstein has been the keynote speaker for Holocaust Education Week in Toronto. Speaking about storytelling in 2011, he said, “When you hear a story you become part of the story. You place yourself in the shoes of the person in the story and you develop, probably the most important human quality, which is empathy. If you have empathy, that is the key to making the world a better place.”[16]
In Rubenstein's book,, on the subject of the significance of storytelling and passing stories on, former president Obama said:
Rubenstein has been involved with March of the Living since its inception in Canada in 1988. It is an annual educational program that brings together thousands of youths in Poland and Israel to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day and Israel's Independence Day. He assumed the role of National Director in 1989 and led his first Canadian delegation on the March in 1990, where he first met Elie Wiesel, whom he has prominently featured in his published works.[17]
In 2017, Elisha Wiesel was invited by Rubenstein to attend the March of the Living to light a torch in memory of his father, Elie Wiesel, where he delivered a speech to many thousands of participants. "It is a reminder to all of us that we are the next generation. We must all pick up the torch," Rubenstein commented.[18]
Over the years, Toronto has brought the largest delegation for the March of the Living, and Canada is among the countries with the largest delegation.
In 2019, Rubenstein led an effort to bring together the USC Shoah Foundation and the International March of the Living. The joint project involved capturing the testimonies of Holocaust survivors in Europe, using 360-degree filming techniques at the locations where they experienced life before and during the war and where they were liberated. This project aims to ensure that those participating in the March of the Living in Poland can benefit from the survivors' stories relevant to the places they visit.
Commenting on this project, Rubenstein added that "by using emerging technologies, the project is transforming the way the stories and lessons of the Holocaust are learned by people around the globe".[19]
In one of Rubenstein's sermons titled, "Rescuing the Memory of the Six Million: One by One by One," he wrote about the 2021 Virtual March of the Living (during the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person March was cancelled that year). The March of the Living commemorated Yom Hashoah with a special online program on the theme of "Medicine and Morality: Lessons from the Holocaust and COVID-19."[20] [21] [22]
During the memorial program, a candle lighting ceremony was performed honoring the medical professionals who opposed the Nazis in the Holocaust. A candle was also lit in memory of the victims of COVID-19. One of the six candles was lit in honor of Dr. Benedykt Ziemilski – one of the six million victims of the Holocaust. It was lit by Dr. Allen Nager, Director, Division of 1 Emergency and Transport Medicine and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
In an interview with Polcast in 2016, Rubenstein was called, "a charismatic and devoted bridge-builder." Rubenstein, speaking about Poland, said his mission , working with the March of the Living, had transformed since the original inception of the program in 1988. He referred to three developments:
The first was one that transformed from focusing solely on the Holocaust, to a broadened understanding of what the Polish people had undergone, because “the Poles suffered tremendously as well.” This transformation led to an appreciation of the sacrifices they went through in their history.[23]
The second development was that “the March and Rubenstein] began to understand the complexity of Polish-Jewish relations, both the beauty and the remarkable civilization that centuries of Jewish life in Poland was able to flourish because of the welcoming fertile ground that Poles presented to the Jews, but also the difficult parts of that relationship and to look at both sides with an objective and fair-minded eye."
The third evolution, was to appreciate the tremendous thousand-years of Polish-Jewish history that preceded the Holocaust." [24]
Subsequent to all of those changes, Rubenstein explained, “We also decided the following: that whatever conclusion you come to about the history of Polish Jewish relations, because it's a complicated subject, there is no excuse for not building bridges today. And we have had so many experiences, year after year after year, where people in Poland have reached out their hands to the Jewish community, and when we respond, it is something wonderful to behold.”
In the area of Holocaust education, Rubenstein has advocated for positive relations between Poland and Jews of Polish heritage, emphasizing the 1,000 years of Jewish history in Poland, introducing Polish-Jewish dialogue on the March of the Living, as well as working to recognize the heroic actions of the Righteous Among the Nations, especially those of Polish origin.
He has been quoted as saying, "We can debate the history of Jewish life in Poland over the centuries – and there are many divergent views on this subject. But there is no excuse now for not reaching out to today's Poland, building bridges and fostering positive relations. We may not be able to forge a consensus about the past, but it is in our hands – indeed our obligation – to create a harmonious present and future for Jews and Poles."[25] [26] [27]
As part of Toronto's annual Holocaust Education Week, he has spoken at a number of interfaith programs, including ones at the Holy Trinity Armenian Church and St. Ansgar Lutheran Church in Toronto.[28]
On November 7, 2018, the Canadian government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, issued a formal apology in the House of Commons for Canada's Holocaust-era record toward Jews, including its turning away of MS St. Louis and its None is Too Many policy.[29] Speaking in Ottawa at a special ceremony after the event, where the Prime Minister, several ministers and a survivor of the St. Louis spoke, Rubenstein praised the Canadian government in his closing remarks:
Rubenstein also commended the decision in the Canadian Jewish News, where he wrote: "Let us applaud our country and our elected officials for their ability to acknowledge Canada's errors and forge a new path forward. Countries, just like people, can perform the mitzvah of teshuvah (repentance.)"[30]
Speaking on January 27, 2019, in Ottawa, at a Library and Archives Canada event marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Rubenstein said: "I was never more ashamed to be a Canadian, than when I first read "None is Too Many" as a student attending York University in the early 1980s. But I was never prouder to be a Canadian, than when our government issued its apology for this historic wrong."[31] [32]
In 1993, "For You Who Died I Must Live On...Reflections on the March of the Living" was published by Mosaic Press. The book was edited by Rubenstein, and featured the experiences from participants on the March from its first four years. It was subtitled, "Contemporary Jewish Youth Confront the Holocaust." The book won the 1994 Canadian Jewish Book Award.[33] In 2015,, authored by Rubenstein, was published by Second Story Press. The book was "inspired by a 2014 United Nations exhibit of reflections and images of Holocaust survivors and students who traveled on the March of the Living since 1988." Spanish, Polish and Hebrew were also subsequently published. In 2020, a special edition of Witness appeared, commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the end of WWII and the liberation of Europe from Nazi tyranny, and included a section dealing with liberation stories of Holocaust survivors. The new edition also featured an afterword by Steven Spielberg, founder of the USC Shoah Foundation, as well as content from Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis related to the March of the Living and stories concerning the Righteous Among the Nations.
Notable Individuals Quoted in Witness:
“Work for peace. Unite with people from different cultures and religions. Keep an open heart. Don’t discriminate. Welcome and understand others. May God bless you.”[34]
Pope John Paul II
“I know all about the March of the Living. God bless your daughter, and God bless the March of the Living.”
President Barack Obama
“I think of Pinchas Gutter, a man who lived through the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and survived the Majdanek death camp…‘I tell my story,’ he says, ‘for the purpose of improving humanity, drop by drop by drop. Like a drop of water falls on a stone and erodes it, so, hopefully, by telling my story over and over again, I will achieve the purpose of making the world a better place to live in.’ Those are the words of one survivor – performing that sacred duty of memory – that will echo throughout eternity. Those are good words for all of us to live by.”[35]
"Forever will I see the children who no longer have the strength to cry. Forever will I see the elderly who no longer have the strength to help them. Forever will I see the mothers and the fathers, the grandfathers and grandmothers, the little schoolchildren…their teachers…the righteous and the pious…. From where do we take the tears to cry over them? Who has the strength to cry for them?"[36]
Steven Spielberg
"We’ve never had a Remembrance Day quite like this. But today, on Yom HaShoah, we gather for our first-ever virtual March of the Living. And I wish we could all be together in person. But what’s important is that we are together now. Because this virtual gathering not only gives us a chance to remember the horrors we faced in the past, it also shines a light on the struggles that lie ahead and those we face as a community this very day. The work we are doing – which is your work – is already having a generational impact. So for that I can only say thank you. Thank you for your bravery. Thank you for your commitment to the March of the Living. And thank you for gathering today to look back, as we continue the vital work of ensuring a better future.[37]
So to the survivors among you: Your stories are safe with us. They remind not only of your unwavering courage, but also that the days ahead are going to be filled with light and hope."
In 2001, Rubenstein founded of the March of Remembrance and Hope. The initiative focuses on teaching the severe impact of hatred and prejudice through the study of the Holocaust in Poland and Germany. Since its inception, many thousands of students worldwide, and from many faiths have taken part in the program. Rubenstein's belief in inclusion has kept bringing people together to learn about the effects antisemitism throughout history's examples.
In January 2023, after receiving the Order of Canada one month prior, Rubenstein was interviewed by Matt Galloway on CBC’s The Current as part of their segments on the recipients from the Office of the Governor General that year. Galloway introduced the segment by saying, "Another story of a Canadian doing extraordinary work from finding his calling as a child learning about the Holocaust to educating generations about antisemitism." Rubenstein's appointment to the Order of Canada was listed "For his significant contributions and innovative programs in Holocaust education as a writer, storyteller, film producer and community organizer."[38]
Galloway asked when Rubenstein's interest in Holocaust education had started. Rubenstein explained, "My teachers, many of them were Holocaust survivors. I grew up seeing, as a matter of course, people with numbers in their arms, which were numbers the Nazis put on prisoners, and Auschwitz branded them like cattle. I grew up with that very, very sad part of human history as a part of my consciousness. And it was something that really bothered me and troubled me because, I was a child, I wanted to love the world. I wanted to appreciate the world. I wanted to see the beauty in the world. And then I was surrounded by examples of the exact opposite.....I was wondering, 'How could this have happened?' 'How can we understand this, and how can we make sure it doesn't happen again?--not to just to the Jewish people, but to any member of the human family? I grew up with that shadow of the Holocaust throughout my entire childhood and adolescence."[39]
Rubenstein's long-standing commitment to March of the Living and what it means to be involved in Holocaust education were discussed. Rubenstein was asked, "What have you heard from those students who have heard those [survivor] stories firsthand in those places of horror?"
Rubenstein said, "The students embrace the survivors, they support the survivors, and they've committed to transmitting the memory of the survivors to the next generation. And they do it in a very universal way. They say it's not just about fighting antisemitism and hatred towards Jews. It's fighting against all forms of racism, injustice, and intolerance, and I should say, on the trip itself, the students give incredible support to the survivors."
Blind Love: A Holocaust Journey to Poland with Man's Best Friend, a documentary that follows six blind Israelis traveling to Poland with the help of their guide dogs, to learn about the Holocaust. The film premièred in November 2015, at a special screening organized in conjunction with the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, and aired on CBC's Documentary Channel (Canada). It was screened at the Edmonton Jewish Film Festival in May 2016 as well.[40]
70 Years After Liberation; A Warning to Future Generations[46]
Rubenstein introduced a number of Canadian Holocaust survivors to Justice Thomas Walther (lawyer), Germany's last Nazi hunter. In 2015, with the testimony of these survivors at the trial of Oskar Gröning, a German SS member in Auschwitz, Walther successfully prosecuted Gröning. Known as the "bookkeeper of Auschwitz", Gröning was convicted of being an accessory to the murder of over 300,000 Hungarian Jews and was sentenced to four years in prison by a German court.
Rubenstein also interviewed Canadian residential school survivor, Chief Rodney Monague (1943-2013) of Christian Island.[62]
Rubenstein co-produced a short film, edited by Naomi Wise commemorating 85 years since the start of the first Kindertransport, when countries helped ship thousands of children out of Nazi occupied areas to safety. The film was released by International March of the Living, airing on Jewish Broadcasting Services in January, 2024. The film was titled, "If We Never See Each Other Again."[63]