Rabbi Grimberg grew up in the Ukrainian city of Kiev. She moved to North America with her family when she was sixteen, and immediately became involved in the Jewish community of Indianapolis. While working for the rights of “refuseniks” back in the Soviet Union, she developed a passionate interest in the Jewish heritage that was so hard to access in her childhood.
Rabbi Grimberg initially trained and worked as a family therapist specializing in women’s issues and domestic violence. Her love of Jewish tradition and family life led her to the doors of Hebrew Union College’s Jewish Institute of Religion, and in 2001 she received her rabbinic ordination from that seminary. Her first book, Out of Line: Growing Up Soviet, was published in 2007 and has won numerous awards.
Rabbi Grimberg is dedicated to teaching Torah and serving the needs of our communal family. She strongly supports and promotes respect and mutual understanding among all faiths including participating in many events with the Islamic Foundation of Toronto, as well as examining the role of female rabbis as agents of change and preservers of tradition. Rabbi Grimberg was recently a guest on CBC’s The Current with Matt Galloway in an interview where he asks her about her recent trip to Poland to help displaced Ukrainians with transport, shelter and gifts.
Congregation Darchei Noam has been blessed to have Rabbi Grimberg as its spiritual leader, teacher of Jewish heritage and personal counselor in times of joy and grief for 20 years.
