Please note:
- This page and all derivatives is/are a continued work in progress. Please send a message for any corrections and those will be considered and/or actioned as soon as possible.
- Just because the below authorities wearing Techeiles are listed doesn’t mean we have contact info on all of them. This is for informational purposes only.
- String Ratio: Tosafot Ratio
- Tying Method: Tosafos R' Hershel Schachter
- How We Know: Saw in Person
- Location Born: Toronto, ON
- Current Location: Toronto, ON
Type of wearer: Canadian/Toronto Rabbis, Rabbi
Affiliation: Dati Leumi, Modern Orthodox
If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like when Torah speaks directly to the world we live in—its messiness, its questions, its bank statements—Rabbi Jay Kelman might be the clearest answer.
Based in Toronto, Rabbi Kelman wears a few different hats—and somehow, they all fit. As a rabbi, educator, and Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), he bridges two worlds that don’t often overlap, and uses that to teach people how to live their Yiddishkeit with eyes wide open.
He’s the founding force behind Torah in Motion, a program that does exactly what the name suggests. It takes Torah, gives it legs, and walks it straight into modern life. From packed lecture halls to Zoom screens across continents, he brings in scholars, thinkers, and serious voices to help Jews everywhere grapple with the tough stuff—ethics, halacha, history, and everything in between.
During the week, you’ll also find him teaching at TanenbaumCHAT, Toronto’s flagship Jewish high school, where he helps the next generation not just learn halacha, but understand why it matters—and how to live with it.
But Rabbi Kelman doesn’t just talk the talk. He also leans into mitzvos that speak to renewal and rediscovery. One of those is Techeiles, the ancient blue thread in tzitzis. Quietly, he wears Tosafos R’ Hershel Schachter Techeiles on his talleisim, a nod to the thoughtful return of this mitzvah in our time. It’s not loud. It’s not a campaign. It’s a personal practice that ties back to a halachic outlook shaped by deep learning and subtle courage.
His background in accounting gives him a sharp eye for business halacha—a topic he covers with both practicality and passion. His classes often dive into financial integrity, tzedakah, and ethical decision-making, all within a halachic framework that feels both timeless and timely.
With Torah in Motion, he’s created something rare: a global platform that’s intellectually serious, spiritually grounded, and refreshingly real. Whether it’s exploring the halachic edges of technology or examining historical rabbinic debates, Rabbi Kelman helps people see Torah not just as a subject—but as a system for living.
And in a world that often feels fragmented, his work brings things together—halacha and ethics, tradition and progress, old mitzvos and new meaning.
