In this Newsletter:
. PLEASE HELP US BUILD TOWARD THE NEXT 25 YEARS:
DONATE! VOLUNTEER!
. Monthly Shabbat Service and Meditation January 8
. Bereavement Notice: Bonnie Benedik
. Not sure what "gematria" is? Check out Cantor's Corner!
. Lunch and Learn January 18
. Poetry at Shir Libeynu January 23
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Dear Members:
This month, our board message is a collage of words, adapted from our President, Karen Charnow Lior's, remarks at our Annual General Meeting and a recent appeal from our new Treasurer, Rebecca Sugarman.
This has been a momentous year, our 25th year. There has been some chaos, some order, some confusion, some sadness, some isolation and lots of joy. We came together to share and learn and care for one another. It is so significant that the song in our hearts, Shir Libeynu, is celebrating this 25th anniversary.
Shir Libeynu began as a place of refuge, an alternative to the offerings in the mainstream Jewish community, a place that welcomed diversity, that was inclusive, participatory and nonjudgmental. From the first moment, we welcomed everyone, any kind of Jew you were or wanted to be, any relationship you were in. Shir Libeynu was and is a place of belonging.
Like many organizations, COVID has hit us hard. It has affected us all deeply as individuals and as a community, as we strive to stay connected, and it has hit our bottom line. To do all we do and want to do, we simply need more resources. Cantor Wunch is constantly approached to do more things, offer more classes, bring us more programming, be part of more Jewish clergy networks… We want her to be able to do all of these things for us, but we need to raise more funds.
Part of our commitment to the community is to provide a place of worship and learning for individuals and families who can't afford to pay membership fees. We want to continue this work but we need your help. Donations can be made securely by going to our website, www.shirlibeynu.ca. Follow the Donate link. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who has already contributed.
Funds are vital and so is the contribution of your time and effort. We are very, very grateful for all the work our volunteers do to make services beautiful, special, musical. Thanks to all of you. We also need volunteers to sit on our board of directors and to work on fundraising, communications, education and social justice. Don’t worry if you lack experience, everyone starts at the beginning and we learn together. Just email the board at the link below.
This is our 25th year. Our strength is in being inclusive, accessible, a place for everyone, in creating community, in making sure the song in our hearts continues to be sung loudly with vision and determination.
Wishing everyone health and peace.
Board of Directors
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Bereavement Notice: Bonnie Benedik, Life Partner of Cindy Tavener
We are saddened to announce the death of Bonnie Benedik on December 16, 2021, in Toronto. Bonnie was the cherished life partner of Cindy Tavener, who was with us at Shir Libeynu for years, as congregant, administrator and a dear friend to many. We send our sincere condolences to Cindy, and to Bonnie's children, Sylvie and Joshua, grandchildren and the entire family, as well as her circle of friends. May Bonnie's memory be for a blessing.
To leave condolences, and for more information:
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2022: A Year of "And"
There's a meme going around on social media right now that shows a person with a panicked look on their face, and a caption that says, “That feeling when you realize that 2022 is pronounced twenty-twenty, too.” The implication of this meme is that we’re in for another year of devastation and loss – a repeat of 2020. Of course, none of us can see the future or know for sure what is about to come our way, but I found this meme to be painfully pessimistic, and I wanted a different way to look ahead to the secular new year. In order to find a new interpretation of 2022, I and some of my colleagues turned to gematria – the system of assigning numeric values to Hebrew letters, and this is what we discovered:
First, we saw that the letter כ kaf has a numeric value of 20, and the letter ב bet has the numeric value of 2. The letter כ kaf is the first letter in the word כּוֹחַ - ko’ach – "strength" or "might" and the letter ב bet is the first letter of the word בַּיִת – bayit – "home" or "household." In this interpretation, we can find a blessing in the number 22. May our homes be a source of strength, and may we find our might within ourselves and our households.
Next, a colleague of mine suggested, jokingly, that the numbers 2 0 2 2 could stand for בַּיִת בַּיִת אֶפֶס בַּיִת - bayit efes bayit bayit – "home nothing (but) home, home." She took this to be a prophetic message about staying in as much as possible. I’d say that if you’re feeling at all unwell, this would be good advice to follow!
The most powerful numeric interpretation that we found was by adding up 2+0+2+2. The resulting sum of 6 corresponds to the letter ו vav. In Hebrew, vav means "and." It’s a letter whose purpose is to connect. It connects words, sentence fragments, and ideas. When condensed down to one digit, the year 2022 becomes a year of "and," a year where we focus on our connections – connections to each other and connections to the Divine. May we all find connections this year, and may we serve as the vav, the connectors in our world.
Gematria can also apply to biblical passages. Using a gematria calculator, one of my colleagues discovered that the words of Psalm 96 verse 6 add up to a total of 2022. This verse reads: הוֹד וְהָדָר לְפָנָיו עֹז וְתִפְאֶרֶת בְּמִקְדָּשׁוֹ – hod v’hadar l’fanav oz v’tiferet b’mikdasho – "Glory and majesty are before God; strength and splendour are in God’s temple." Let’s dedicate 2022 to finding our strength and reveling in the splendour of our world.
And finally, looking at gematria once again, the word טובה – tovah – "good" has a sum value of 22 (ט=9, ו=6, ב=2, ה=5), and so based upon this visionary math, I confidently wish for all of you that 2022 will be a שנה טובה - shanah tovah - a good year.
B’ahavah,
Cantor C. Wunch
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Join Cantor Wunch for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, January 8 at 10:30 am.
There is no need to register. We will send the Zoom link to everyone on our email list, along with the PDF of the siddur (service booklet), on Friday, January 7. Please do not share this link, especially on social media. If you receive this newsletter, you will automatically receive the service link.
If you have not received the service link by 2:00 pm on Friday, please email Lillian, our Administrator, at shirlibeynuadmin@gmail.com. If you know of anyone who wants to attend our services, please ask them to email Lillian.
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Catch Your Breath Before the Service with Lorne Blumer
Before the service on January 8, from 9:30 to 10:15 am, join Lorne Blumer for “Meditation on Shabbat.”
If you receive this newsletter, you will automatically receive the Zoom link to join this meditation along with the Shabbat service link.
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.
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Lunch and Learn
Tuesday, January 18, from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
on Zoom
Join Cantor Wunch for Lunch and Learn on January 18 at 12:00 noon. You don't need to register. Just click here to join.
We'll chat and engage in some casual text study. We'll begin with the weekly Torah portion (in English), and see where our interests take us. No previous experience with text study is necessary--just an inquisitive spirit!
Looking forward to seeing you there, learning and having fun together!
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Poetry at Shir Libeynu
Sunday, January 23 at 10:30 am
Come and hear the poets of Shir Libeynu:
Ronna Bloom, Jacquie Buncel, Jaclyn Piudik, Maria Meindl and you!
Registration is not required to attend. Please click here to join.
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If you missed any of our past offerings or wish to view them again, below are the links:
Shabbat Service, December 3, 2021 click here.
Chanukah Dance, Story and Singalong, December 4, 2021click here.
Shir Libeynu AGM, December 12, 2021 click here.
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Congregation Shir Libeynu
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