Rabbi Lawrence A. Englander is the founding Rabbi of Solel Congregation, Mississauga, serving there since its inception in 1973 until his retirement in June 2014; he now serves Solel as Rabbi Emeritus.  He is also Adjunct Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Toronto.

Rabbi Englander received his Doctorate of Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in the field of Jewish Mysticism and Rabbinics.  He has taught in the Religious Studies Department at York University and spent a semester teaching rabbinical students at Leo Baeck College in London, England.  He has written several articles on Jewish Mysticism, as well as a book, The Mystical Study of Ruth, published by Scholars Press.  He is former Editor of the Central Conference of American Rabbis Journal.  

Another passion of Rabbi Englander’s is Reform Zionism, a subject on which he has written and edited articles.  He served as Chair of ARZENU, a world-wide progressive Zionist organization, from 2014 to 2017.  He is co-editor (with Rabbi Stanley Davids) of the book Fragile Dialogue: New Voices in Liberal Zionism, published by CCAR Press.  He also serves on the Board of JSpace, a Canadian liberal Zionist organization.

In 2005 he was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada for his work in the community.