In this Newsletter:
. Toronto’s Affordability Crisis - TONIGHT!
. Shabbat Service & Meditation February 6
. Speaker Series February 21: The Personal and the Political with Tema Smith
. Be part of Vashti’s (Adults Only) Cabaret!
. Stand Up for Racial Justice
. Queer Text Study with Rabbi Lithwick
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Dear Members,
This week was the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, the birthday or anniversary of the trees. Thanks to Rabbi Lithwick, Daniela Gesundheit and Paula Wolfson for creating and presenting the Tu B’Shevat service.
There are many songs and stories about this holiday that we celebrate on the 15th day of the month of Shevat. In the Middle East at this time, the almond trees are in bloom, an early harbinger of spring. The olive trees, harvested in the fall, are budding. Some scholars believe that this was originally an agricultural holiday to mark the early spring harvest of a variety of fruit and nuts.
Today Tu B’Shevat has become more of an environmental holiday: a day to remind us of the Jewish duty to care for the natural world—Tikkun Teva. There is much we can do to take care of our planet, starting with reducing, reusing, recycling and repairing, instead of throwing away.
Tu B’Shevat offers us another beginning, a New Year, one of four in the Jewish calendar. We can see it as a time of renewal, a new cycle, a time to recommit to taking better care of each other and the Earth. The days are lighter earlier, and the light lasts longer, each day a little more. “… there is always light,/if only we’re brave enough to see it/ if only we’re brave enough to be it.” Amanda Gorman
The Board will be calling all members in February to see how you’re doing and to ask a few questions, including what kinds of programs you would be interested in. You can also reach out to us anytime.
We would like to rename our newsletter because we are returning to monthly editions. If you have a suggestion, please email us. You could win a fabulous prize! This year, we will be revamping our website, which will allow us to put more information online and produce a less text-heavy newsletter. Please bear with us as we continue to improve communications. If you want to help with communications, please get in touch.
Stay well,
Board of Directors
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Shir Libeynu is changing its mailing address.
Our new address, effectively immediately, is:
Congregation Shir Libeynu
c/o 750 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, ON M5S 2J2
Yes, that is the address of the MNjcc. They are graciously allowing us to receive our mail there.
We will also be changing our phone number and will let you know as soon as we have the new one.
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Join Rabbi Dara Lithwick and Shabbat Chazzan, Paula Wolfson, for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, February 6 at 10:30 am. The service booklet will be available closer to the date.
If anyone would like to participate musically in our services, or register for the service, please email shirlibeynuadmin@gmail.com.
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Catch Your Breath Before the Service with Lorne Blumer:
Back by Popular Demand!
Before the service on February 6, from 9:30 to 10:15 am, Lorne Blumer will once again offer “Meditation on Shabbat.” You need to register for this session separately.
Abraham Joshua Heschel once described Shabbat as a “sanctuary in time.” Let’s see if we can cultivate a sense of exactly that as we near Shabbat services, catching our breath, finding some stillness, and working with meditation (guided and silent), shaped by the mood of the moment and ancient Jewish texts.
Lorne Blumer is a graduate of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s program in Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training, who's often led meditation for the Shir Libeynu community.
To participate in virtual offerings, you need to have a Zoom account and register. See our website for more details.
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Congregation Shir Libeynu and Danforth Jewish Circle Present:
Mixed Race and Jewish: The Personal and the Political, with Tema Smith
Sunday, February 21, 10:30 am
Tema Smith is the mixed-race daughter of a Polish/Russian Ashkenazi Jewish mother and a Black Bahamian-American father. As Alex Rose wrote[1], “with her fair skin, curly dark hair and glasses, [Tema] looks, in her own words, like a stereotypical Ashkenazic Jew. As a Jew of colour who often doesn’t have to defend her Judaism the way other Jews of colour do, one of her goals as a Jewish professional is to ‘make the community a comfortable place for people of colour to be Jewish.’”
Both Danforth Jewish Circle and Congregation Shir Libeynu are progressive, egalitarian and unaffiliated and we have in common the aspiration to inclusivity. At this joint event, Tema will be speaking about what it is like to be a Jew of Colour in the Toronto Jewish community. Through the lens of her experiences with Jewish anti-Black racism, Tema will open up a space to reflect on what our community does well and what we can do better.
Tema Smith is a diversity advocate, writer and Jewish community builder. She is currently a Contributing Columnist at The Forward, the historic American Jewish newspaper, and the Director of Professional Development at 18Doors (formerly InterfaithFamily), an organization that empowers people in interfaith relationships to engage in Jewish life and make Jewish choices, and encourages Jewish communities to welcome them. This comes after seven years as a synagogue professional, most recently as the Director of Community Engagement at Holy Blossom Temple, Toronto’s oldest synagogue. She is a noted expert on race and the Jewish community who frequently speaks and trains at Jewish organizations and academic institutions across North America.
[1] “Being a Jew of Colour: Finding Acceptance and Inclusion,” Alex Rose, The Canadian Jewish News, April 14, 2019.
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Be part of Vashti’s (Adults Only) Cabaret!
February date to be announced soon.
Is there a song you’d like to sing? A piece you’d like to speak? Juggle? Play an instrument? Magic trick? Anything odd or fabulous or entertaining? Come as you are, or as a Purim character.
Let us know by February 15th and we’ll put you on the playbill.
Be happy, it’s Adar!
Contact: shirlibeynuadmin@gmail.com
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Members can purchase Professor Sucharov’s new book, Borders and Belonging: A Memoir at a special discounted price.
Thanks to Eden Nameri for drawing on her own insights and experiences to facilitate a truly fascinating dialogue with Professor Sucharov. We are grateful to Eden for organizing our Speaker Series.
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Toronto’s Affordability Crisis: What Can You Do?
Happening Tonight!
Sunday, January 31, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Moderated by Joe Mihevc and sponsored by the Social Justice Advocacy Committee at Congregation Darchei Noam, this panel discussion will answer your questions about best practices for tackling Toronto’s worsening housing affordability crisis and how you can most effectively advocate for change.
This event is free of charge, but non-members of Darchei Noam must fill out a brief form in order to receive the Zoom link.
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Stand Up for Racial Justice
A group of Jewish activists are working with SURJ (Standing Up for Racial Justice) on a campaign to cut the Toronto police budget by 50% in favour of funding to communities and public community services. Please consider signing their letter and check out their phone/email zap on February 1 (see Upcoming Events on Facebook site below).
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LGBTQ at the J (MNjcc) is excited to partner with Shir Libeynu in February for:
Queer Text Study with Rabbi Dara Lithwick
Thursday, February 18, 6:00 - 7:30 pm
What's so queer about Torah study? Well, everything!
Join Rabbi Dara Lithwick for Queer Text Study one week before Purim, possibly the queerest of all Jewish holidays. We'll explore the weekly parsha, Terumah. At the core of the parsha is the question of how we can use what makes each of us unique and special to create sacred space. Bring your whole selves. It will be fabulous!
The Queer Text Study series is here to connect our community to text in an accessible, supportive and open space. Each month, we join with a queer Jewish educator, as we dive in together to connect to text.
Suggested donation of $10 to support our facilitator, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
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Congregation Shir Libeynu
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