Rabbi Leslie Lipson grew up in Rochester, New York; he connected to Canada by attending Camp Ramah for ten summers as both a camper and on staff.  After graduating from Haverford College,  Rabbi Lipson traded currency on Wall Street and then returned to Toronto to work on his MBA at York University.  After working in the foreign exchange industry for several more years, Rabbi Lipson decided to study at the Jewish Theological Seminary. While studying for rabbinic ordination, he also received a Masters in Education. He spent ten years in the pulpit world: two as an assistant in Monmouth County, New Jersey and eight years as the senior Rabbi at a shul in western Morris County New Jersey.  Rabbi Lipson is married with four children.  His leisure pursuits include studying Torah, listening to Jazz and the Grateful Dead, and avidly following his favourite baseball team: the New York Yankees.

Rabbi Lipson visited Crestwood’s World Religions class in February 2015, and the class interviewed as part of this project.