A Bit About Us:
Committed to Serving the Community
Founded by the Nashman Family in 2003, The Jewish Family Institute was established in order to provide members of the Toronto Jewish community a chance to take part in a growth oriented learning that blended modern psychology and Jewish wisdom.
The goal of the JFI (The Yetta Nashman Jewish Family Institute) is to help shuls, schools and organizations in the Jewish world build stronger healthier communities. This year we are partnering with Aish Toronto for the first time and reaching beyond our roots to really start to engage the larger Jewish community and challenge us all to find common ground, conversations and positive connections that will propel us forward towards strength and unity.
Ellie Bass
Director of the Jewish Family Institute
Ellie Bass is the Director of The Yetta Nashman Jewish Family Institute in Toronto, Canada. Her efforts are engaging over 3,000 people each year in classes, programs and events. Her experience as a convert, her background in the arts and her extensive community building expertise have enabled her to become a well-versed role model and educator in the areas of building leaders, creating community spaces and serving diverse groups of people in ways that find common ground and deep connection. She teaches a regular Torah class in Toronto from the perspective of learning and growing by bringing together seemingly disparate ideas and melding modern issues and challenges with ancient Torah wisdom. She is a closet computer geek and former professional singer and dancer, and lives in Toronto with her husband, Israel Educator Richard Bass, and her two hilarious kids.