B.C.'s oldest active synagogue will be welcoming a new rabbi as Rabbi Harry Brechner retires after 24 years and Rabbi Elisha Herb takes the helm.

Coming from Salem, Oregon, Herb will be taking over the 19th-century Congregation Emanu-El at the corner of Blanshard Street and Pandora Avenue. Along with regular services and a Hebrew School, the synagogue also co-sponsors Syrian and Palestinian-Syrian refugees, supports those who are unhoused, and collects donations for marginalized groups across Greater Victoria.

“As much as I’ve helped to grow this community, it’s also grown me,” said Brechner in a news release. “The people I’ve met, the joy and pain I’ve had entrée to, and the relationships I’ve developed all inform how I understand our place in the world as a Jewish people. I hope Rabbi

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