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“Canada’s Rabbi” has died

(CJN) Rabbi Reuven Bulka, who served as spiritual leader of Ottawa’s Congregation Machzikei Hadas for 48 years, died of cancer early on June 27 in New York. He was 77.
Rabbi Bulka moved to New York to be closer to his five children following a diagnosis of terminal liver cancer earlier this year. His funeral service took place there later on June 27Tributes to the beloved rabbi poured in.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised Rabbi Bulka for his commitment to his country and for inspiring parliamentarians to adopt Kindness Week.
“The Jewish community has lost a giant, the Canadian community has lost a giant and the world at large has lost an unbelievable person,” eulogized Rabbi Bulka’s son, Shmuel Bulka, at the funeral service.
Shmuel Bulka noted that God “had called for the lefty”—a nod to his father’s love of baseball. “His life’s work was about making the world a better place than it was before he got here.”
“A lot of people today when they see people who are different, all they do is go toward the differences. Some people make a career out of exploiting the differences. My father was the exact opposite. He would always look for commonalities.”
Sen. Jim Munson, a close friend whose “Kindness Week” bill, inspired by Rabbi Bulka, received royal assent earlier this year, tweeted that his “heart aches” over Rabbi Bulka’s death.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson praised Rabbi Bulka as an outstanding community leader.
“He epitomizes kindness,” said Watson, who knew the rabbi for more than 30 years. “He was a larger-than-life figure in our community. He was a great supporter when the community needed him most.”
Andrea Freedman, president of Jewish Federation of Ottawa, told CBC that Rabbi Bulka “had this amazing ability to just think through how something could be phrased that would help other people feel better.”
Retired Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said, “Rabbi Bulka was a pillar in our community and changed our country for the better. He was always there for Ottawa Police and a proud supporter of the men and women who keep Ottawa safe.”
Rabbi’s Bulka’s passing “leaves an enormous void in our country,” tweeted CTV chief news anchor Lisa LaFlamme. “He was a man who built bridges and inspired goodness. A healer in a divided nation. I will miss our personal conversations and his public Remembrance Day benedictions.”
At a worldwide virtual prayer service for Rabbi Bulka in January, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he’d had many opportunities to see the rabbi at local and national public events, and to visit with him.
“It is not for nothing Rabbi Bulka has been called Canada’s rabbi,” said Harper. “Throughout his long life, he has been a credit to his faith to the wider community and great country.”
Harper said the main lesson he learned from Rabbi Bulka is to live life from two perspectives, gratitude and hope. “Gratitude for all that we have, all that God has given us, and hope for what the future may bring.”
Rabbi Bulka was born to Rabbi Chaim Yaakov and Yehudis Bulka in London, England on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Two years later, the family moved to the United States, where his father taught at Hebrew schools in Providence, R.I. and Rockaway, N.Y. before becoming rabbi of a synagogue in the Bronx.
Rabbi Bulka received semikhah (ordination) from the Rabbi Jacob Joseph Rabbinical Seminary in 1965, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from City University of New York the same year.
He briefly served as an associate rabbi at Congregation K’hal Adas Yeshurun in the Bronx, before becoming rabbi of Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Ottawa in 1967. He received masters and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Ottawa in 1969 and 1971 respectively, concentrating on the life and work of Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl.
Rabbi Bulka was an authority on Frankl’s use of logotherapy, which teaches that humans’ search for meaning in life is their prime motivational force. He later became the founder and editor of the Journal of Psychology and Judaism. He authored some 30 books and dozens of columns in the Ottawa Citizen. He was the go-to rabbi for reporters seeking a quote on a Jewish issue.
Rabbi Bulka’s local initiatives included his interfaith outreach and work with the United Way, and Canadian Blood Services.
A fixture at national Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa for many years, Rabbi Bulka’s name was “synonymous” with Remembrance Day, Maj.-Gen. Guy Chapdelaine, Chaplain General of Canada’s Armed Forces, told last January’s prayer service.
He also noted Rabbi Bulka’s support for Armed Forces chaplains and the Royal Canadian Legion.
Rabbi Bulka was also awarded the Canadian Forces Medallion for Distinguished Service “for inspiring sermons, venerable presence and meaningful messages to Canadians during the national Remembrance Day ceremonies.”
Rabbi Bulka founded Kind Canada, a non-profit that encourages kindness. In 2019, the city named Rabbi Bulka Kindness Park in Ottawa’s Alta Vista neighbourhood. The first national Kindness Week is slated for February 2022, and Canadians are called on to carry out acts of kindness in their communities during the third week of February every year.
The week could “potentially raise the Canadian consciousness of the importance of kindness, and the ensuing commitment thereto, to levels that
Features
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Musings from Dizengoff Street – by Bruce Brown

(August 8, 2026)
Outside Basimta Café in Central Jerusalem. Love the red shirt against a tiny sea of black. Not sure I am shrugging because of the ultra-orthodox uproar over a Jerusalem café operating on Shabbat or the lack of an ultra-orthodox uproar over a Jerusalem café operating on Shabbat. For the last six weeks Israeli headlines shouted about the cafe chaos. With the ultra-religious blocking entrances and storming the café. While shouting ‘Shabbos! Shabbos!’ Upsetting the secular amongst us just wanting to enjoy our Saturday iced matchas. So the wife and I thought we would check it out. And. Yes. Buy something to support the business. Uproar. Not. Blocked entrances. Not. Storming the café. Not. Albeit there were police barriers separating the devout protesters from the coffee drinkers. The protesters being just a few dozen black clad, pious Jews. Mostly teenagers. And yes. Shouting ‘Shabbos! Shabbos!’ Certainly underwhelming in its reported mayhem. Reminds me of the famous saying misattributed to Mark Twain – “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do, you’re misinformed.” But I did enjoy my iced matcha.
(August 6, 2026)

Here we go again. Another round of forever negotiations. As someone who negotiates for a living. The way things are going in the straits. If I had to recommend a book on the subject to a new hire. Between The Art of the Deal, A Presidential Edition by Donald J. Trump or The Real Art of the Deal by the Mullahs of Iran with a special forward by the IRGC. Well. I would choose the latter.
(August 3)

Bravo Yoav Segalovitz, Liberal Yesh Atid MK and Monsour Abbas, United Arab Ra’am MK and party head. For breaking a glass ceiling where a Jewish lawmaker joins an Arab political party. No less a political earthquake in my little shtetl. Which can significantly impact coalition block arithmetic and posturing and strategy in the upcoming elections. Now Ra’am can be considered a legitimate ‘Zionist’ partner when forming coalition blocks and potentially pushing the ‘center left/right’ party over the 60 seat majority threshold. In our crazy parliamentary democracy defined by a multi-party (about fourteen!!), proportional representation system. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, Israel’s proportional representation model of governance is the best parliamentary democracy system except for all other forms of working democracies. Stay tuned for more amateurish political musings as we move towards Israel’s 26th national election – five of them held since 2019.
(August 1)

Although both sides say they are open to diplomacy. Neither really trusts the other. And American military action, or its threat, continues. I read headlines in the middle of the night -it’s a nervous habit lately– that the Dynamic Duo of Trump and Netanyahu may again strike in unison. Possibly this weekend. Yikes! Prompting me, at 2:30 AM, to dash around the house stocking my safe room. Bottled water. Canned food. Medicines. Documents. The beat goes on….
If it’s crazy here. It’s insane in Italy. With a recent online ‘Jew Hunt’ in the Milan area. Before being removed, the digital forms urged reportings of Israelis and Italian Jews staying in local hotels. The infamous Global Sumud Movement -yes, the one coordinating ‘peace and humanitarian’ flotillas to Gaza- was somehow connected. Although they deny involvement?! This deranged decree was looking to identify Zionist tourism and Zionist neo-colonization in Italy. I’ll stick with stocking the saferoom.
Then there’s New York Mayor Mamdani, a Global Sumud Movement supporter, threatening to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu if he comes to New York. But since discovered he has no legal right for such a grandstanding, antisemitic, anti-Israel, anti-Western, anti-democratic antic. Maybe Mandami should be arrested! Or at least impeached. For being a grandstanding, antisemitic, anti-Israel, anti-Western, anti-democratic mayor.
Here’s a post Bruce sent us Friday, July 31:
WARTIME MUSINGS
Should credible threats against FLOTUS and ‘FSOTUS’ (first son..) not be justification to attack first.
As for yesterday’s summit. Netanyahu really can’t win. Explainer. If Trump now attacks without victory its ’cause of Netanyahu. If Trump now attacks with victory its ’cause of Trump. And, in Israel, if Trump doesn’t attack -victory or not- Netanyahu failed in his eighth meeting with Trump. And if Trump does attack -victory or not- half the country will vilify Bibi anyway. Missing a permutation?
Ya. I know. Kinda’ need a definition of victory for that musing to work.
And here in my little shtetle. We go to sleep unsure if there will be a code red in the middle of the night. And if not. We wake up thinking it will be tonight. How do you define stress?

Seemed like an appropriate way to end this musing.
Bruce Brown is a former Winnipegger who made aliyah to Israel over 35 years ago. Bruce first began writing for us – in his own inimitable style, in 2012, during what was known as “Operation Pillar of Defense.” His occasional musings on aspects of life in Israel that were far from what you’d typically read in other reports from Israel were hugely popular – both in the print Jewish Post & News and on this website.
We’re now glad to report that Bruce is back writing for us – this time on a regular basis. We will post Bruce’s reports as they arrive – with the date of each post at the beginning of that post.
Here’s some information about Bruce – and awards he’s received for his writing:
Bruce Brown. Canadian born. Now living in Israel (for a long time). Bruce works in Israel’s hi-tech sector by day and, in spurts, is a somewhat inspired writer by night. He received the American Jewish Press Association’s award for writing excellence in 2019 and 2025. And wrote the 1998 satire, “An Israeli is….” Bruce’s musings are political, social, economic and personal. With lots of biting, contrarian, sardonic and irreverent insight.
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K-tip placement at Sets on Corydon

