Rabbi Bulka's granddaughter authors book about his life and legacy

Rabbi Reuven Bulka was known for sharing kindness and compassion everywhere he went and now, his granddaughter has written a book about his life and legacy.

Rabbi Bulka passed away from cancer in 2021, but left a legacy of caring.

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"Finding out the impact that he made on Canada in that way was really impactful and inspiring to me," author Rikki Ash told CTV News Ottawa.

"Really what the book is about, and what I hope readers experience from it, is they get to see someone who lived a life of purpose and hopefully it inspires them to live their life with more purpose as well," she said.

Ash learned more about her grandfather while writing the book, and about the kind of person he was to so many.

"I started just with interviews. I interviewed my grandfather. I have like eight hours of video footage with him, which is also really special. And then, you know, my father did me a favor — or not, I don't know — of kind of telling people I was writing this book, even though I was like in the very initial stages, and so people who had stories, they would share them with me."

Known as 'Canada's Rabbi,' Bulka led one of Ottawa's largest synagogues for half a century and he left an impression on this city, and the country.

He was a long-time radio host on Newstalk 580 CFRA, a member of the Order of Canada, received a key to the City of Ottawa, and launched Kindness Week.

His granddaughter, visiting Ottawa from New York, shared stories about Rabbi Bulka with students at the Ottawa Jewish Community School on Friday.

"And we've honored Rabbi Bulka and his memory by renaming our mitzvah trip experience to the Rabbi Bulka Kindness Project this year. And I think it's really impactful for the students to be able to hear from Rabbi Bulka's family and learn some of those more personal lessons," says teacher Michael Washerstein.

Ash says 'The Life and Legacy of Rabbi Reuven Bulka, Canada's Rabbi,' will be available on Amazon.

"I really just hope that when people read the book, they kind of see that it's possible to live this kind of life of purpose," she said.