About Shaarei Zion

Rabbi Yakov Malaib was born in Samarkand in 1978. In 1989, he immigrated to Israel with his family. He studied at Beit Shaarei Zion in Tel Aviv and later continued his Torah education at Yeshivat Shaarei Zion in Bnei Brak. In 1998, he married his wife, Orit. Rabbi Malaib pursued advanced Rabbinical studies at the Shaarei Zion Kollel in Bnei Brak, including a rabbinical ordination track. In 2003, he received semicha (rabbinical ordination) as a Community Rabbi for the Diaspora from the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar. In August 2003, Rabbi Malaib was appointed by the Shaarei Zion institutions, under the leadership of Rabbi Shmuel Elishayov, to serve as the rabbi of the Bukharian Jewish community in Toronto. On Rosh Hashanah 2003, the first Bukharian synagogue in Toronto was established at the Kehila Centre. In 2011, an additional synagogue was opened in North Toronto, in Richmond Hill. In 2018, a Bukharian-Sephardic synagogue was built in North Toronto. Rabbi Malaib continues to lead vibrant and meaningful community initiatives serving the Jewish communities of Toronto. These include early childhood education, Torah classes, seminars, and Shabbat retreats, as well as bar mitzvah preparation and classes for grooms and brides.