TORONTO — Rabbi David Monson, known fondly as “the people’s rabbi,” died last week. He was 91.

He was founding rabbi and later rabbi emeritus of Beth Sholom
Synagogue. The last time he was in the shul was last fall, when he
received an aliyah in honour of his 90th birthday.

Rabbi Monson was proud to have served in the Canadian army as a chaplain during World War II. At his funeral, his casket was escorted into the Beth Sholom sanctuary by an honour guard of Canadian Jewish veterans.

As a chaplain, he served soldiers in Kirkland Lake, Belleville and Camp Borden in Ontario, as well as in London, England.

When he left the army, he was one of the first spiritual leaders of the new Shaarei Shomayim Congregation before joining the even newer Beth Sholom.

All the speakers at the funeral – officiating Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl; Shaarei Tefillah Congregation spiritual leader Rabbi Moshe Stern; Rabbi Monson’s nephew, Rabbi Asher Vale, and the rabbi’s grandson, Stuart Waldman – praised Rabbi Monson for his many acts of kindness, his humility and his phenomenal memory, which allowed him to effortlessly recall people’s names, their parents, where they lived and what  business they were in.

He had an inexhaustible store of anecdotes – funny, sad and historical.

Waldman said that his grandfather “considered everyone a friend. He saw everyone – from the mayor to the prime minister to the ordinary man on the street – as equal.”

He remembered Rabbi Monson once coming home barefoot, because he had given his shoes to a poor man he had met.

Rabbi Monson found jobs and homes  for people who needed them, raised funds for a predominately black church, and performed many acts of chesed – kindness – that no one knew about, his grandson said.

He was involved with the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, the Canada Council and St. Alban’s Club for disadvantaged youth. He was also a founder of the former Northwestern Hospital and was a supporter of many causes and institutions both here and in Israel.

But his main love was Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. Sheila Dropkin, former executive director of the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation, said that he “brought great passion to his love of Israel and Shaarei Zedek.”

Sharing that passion not only with his congregation but with everyone he met, Rabbi Monson was able to raise considerable sums of money for the hospital, Dropkin said.

She said that he made several trips to the hospital and developed personal relationships with many of its senior staff.

“He maintained that interest until the end, and his family are still strong donors,” she said.

So popular was he for his work for Shaare Zedek that Rabbi Vale talked about meeting a haredi school official in Jerusalem, who, when he realized that Rabbi Vale’s wife was Rabbi Monson’s niece, jumped up and started praising him.

Rabbi Aaron Flanzraich, current spiritual leader of Beth Sholom, called Rabbi Monson “a huge inspiration,” not only to him, but “to the many people in the many places who knew him.

“He will be missed.”

Rabbi Monson was predeceased by his wife of nearly 60 years, Sue, and his brother Juair. He is survived by his daughter Judith; grandchildren Beth, Monica and Stuart and his wife Jessica; sister Connie Soberman; brother Daniel and his wife Edith.