Baskin, Bernard
Biography
To McMaster University and the Hamilton community, Rabbi Bernard Baskin is a household name. Born in New Jersey, he graduated with a B.A. degree from Brooklyn College and with a Master of Hebrew Literature from the Jewish Institute of Religion in New York city. He came to Hamilton's Temple Anshe Sholom, the oldest Reform Congregation in Canada, over 45 years ago. A regular book reviewer for the Hamilton Spectator and the principal book reviewer of the Canadian Jewish News for over thirty years, Rabbi Baskin is an omnivorous reader. But books are more than a passing fascination for him. They represent a way of life mirroring the wonder and complexity of the human condition. For fifty years he has been an assiduous book collector, and in that time he has amassed 10,000 books. His collection is so large and diverse that much of it is housed in compact shelving. With his wife Marjorie, who used to work in the Development Office of McMaster's Faculty of Health Sciences, he is the proprietor of Ibis - The Book Arts, an antiquarian bookselling firm that specializes in Judaica, typography, private press books (in particular books printed by Leonard Baskin and the Gehenna Press), illustrated books, art, and the occult. In 1969, McMaster University conferred upon him the honourary degree Doctor of Laws; and in 1972 he was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree by the Hebrew Union College. A Canadian citizen, he is a former member of the Board of Governors of McMaster University and has served on the boards of the Hamilton Art Gallery and Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a former Chairman of the Hamilton Library Board.
The Rabbi is married and has three children. His wife Marjorie is a former Chairman of the Hamilton Board of Education and was on the Board for many years. In 1990 he was chosen for Hamilton's "Gallery of Distinction" and his portrait hangs in the Convention Centre. He is now retired but still serves as Rabbi Emeritus of the Temple Anshe Sholom congregation.
Awards/Recognitions
1990 Gallery of Distinction Inductee
Other Information
Bernard Baskin profile in UJA Federation of Hamilton
Published Work
2008. The essential Bernard Baskin. Hamilton: Temple Anshe Shalom. [Nonfiction]
