In this Newsletter:
. Pride Panel, Part 2: LGBTQ+ Jews & Leadership on July 29
. “Music, Meditation & Text: Preparing our Spirits for the High Holy Days”
on August 7
. Building our Online Community on Facebook
. Cantor Wunch Tackles the Difficult Issue of Carlebach’s Music
. Daniela’s Remarks from her Aufruf on July 17—and a Wedding Photo!!
. Participate in Research on Jewish Divorce Process
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Dear Members,
It feels as though gates have opened and we are no longer locked away. The parks are full, the sidewalks are bustling. As Cantor Wunch reminded us on Shabbat, this month of Av is a time for remembrance and joy, a time to commemorate and celebrate. As Jews, we are adept at moving between contradictions, holding differing opinions and moving forward. Let's hope that the rest of the summer continues to be a time of moving forward.
This has been a busy month. There are so many people to thank… Cantor Wunch for the Torah study session on July 3 and the lovely service on July 17. Daniela and Eric, Jon, Elysse, Gil and their families for sharing their immense joy with our community. Everyone who participated in the Shabbat service. It was wonderful to hear voices we have not heard in a long time and new voices. Lorne for helping us catch our breath before the service and teaching us so much in a short time. Paula for her brilliant "swan song,” Rabbi Emerita Aviva Goldberg for her beautiful introduction, and Eden Nameri for organizing (and naming) “From Broadway to the Bimah.”
There is much to announce. On July 29, Cantor Wunch will be hosting our second Pride Panel on LGBTQ+ Jews and Leadership with Carmel Tanaka and Arya Marvazy. On August 7, in lieu of our regular Shabbat service, Lorne Blumer will be collaborating with Cantor Wunch to bring us “Music, Meditation and Text: Preparing our Spirits for the High Holy Days.”
This fall we are launching education programs for all ages! We will offer an adult B'Mitzvah class and beginner Hebrew class, and a youth B'Mitzvah class. We have also arranged with the Danforth Jewish Centre for our young children to attend their school. All the details will be out very soon.
The High Holy Days are coming soon! Our first service for Erev Rosh Hashanah will be on September 6. We are once again offering high-quality virtual services to keep everyone safe. We will be sending out all the information about membership and the services soon. Please purchase your membership and take advantage of all the benefits of being a part of our community. Memberships are our lifeblood; they enable us to function as a congregation and to offer so many meaningful services and events.
We are looking for volunteers to read English, participate in Aliyah blessings, blow shofar or offer a sermon during the High Holy Day services. Please be in touch with us by Thursday, August 5 at slboard@shirlibeynu.ca to participate.
Are you looking for a creative, fun, time-limited opportunity to contribute to our community and meet new people? We’ve got just the thing! We’re looking for a member to represent Shir Libeynu in collaborating with Cara Gold at the MNjcc and other community partners on imagining and developing a queer safe sukkah space. Cara is looking into building one at the J, holding ritual times, but also allowing people to book it for their own small group sukkah times. If you are interested, email and let us know: slboard@shirlibeynu.ca.
Have a wonderful, safe August.
Board of Directors
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Building Our Online Community
Did you know we have a Congregation Shir Libeynu group on Facebook? You may not know we have this group because we haven’t been using it that much. We plan to start using it a whole lot more. It’s another way for us to stay connected, talk to one another, make recommendations and ask questions. We are inviting all members to join this online community. Click here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/shirlibeynu If you need any help getting connected, just let us know.
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Moving Towards a More Diverse Musical Landscape
Shlomo Carlebach was arguably the most prolific composer of Jewish liturgical music in the 20th Century. Synagogues, youth groups, summer camps, schools, and Jewish communities across the globe sing Carlebach music during their prayer services, joyous celebrations, and in times of mourning. Some communities, aptly named Carlebach minyanim, sing only his music to the exclusion of all else. Carlebach had a huge following, and genuinely changed how we sing in worship. He introduced communal singing in a way that Judaism hadn’t really known before—catchy, easy to learn melodies, with repeated refrains that sparked joy and spiritual awakening amongst his followers and worshipers.
As many of you already know, Carlebach, that charismatic “rock star rabbi,” was also a predator. Since the early 1970s the Jewish community has known, and largely kept silent, about the sexual abuses that Carlebach was alleged to have committed against women and teen girls in his communities. Since the #MeToo movement began, the voices of the victims have been amplified, and there has been a massive reckoning in the Jewish world about Carlebach and his music.
There is still debate and even angry, heated arguments within Jewish circles about how this man should be remembered. There are those who vehemently deny the allegations, and those who have found ways to excuse the behaviour that he was accused of. There are also those who have chosen to rid their communities of all traces of his music and his legacy.
Please click here for the full article.
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Pride at Shul: Conversations about LGBTQ+ Jews and Leadership in Jewish Institutions
Thursday, July 29, 7:30 pm
As part of our Pride celebrations this year, we are hosting two conversations between Cantor Cheryl Wunch, our new Spiritual Leader, and esteemed panelists.
Join us for Part 2 on July 29 to hear Cantor Wunch in conversation with Carmel Tanaka and Arya Marvazy.
Carmel Tanaka is the Founder & Executive Director of JQT Vancouver (https://www.jqtvancouver.ca), Vancouver’s Jewish queer trans non-profit. She is a queer Jewpanese woman of colour from Vancouver, and a Community Engagement professional. Her mother is Ashkenazi Israeli and her father is Japanese Canadian.
Arya Marvazy is the CEO at KAHAL: Your Jewish Home Abroad (https://kahalabroad.org), which gives Jewish students studying abroad the resources, tools and connections to engage meaningfully with the Jewish community. He is a first generation American born to Iranian-Jewish immigrants and raised in Los Angeles.
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Saturday, August 7, 10:30 am
Please join Cantor Wunch and Lorne Blumer for a very unique service in lieu of our regular Shabbat service. They will present “Music, Meditation and Text: Preparing our Spirits for the High Holy Days.” We will welcome in the month of Elul with chanting, text study and introspection as we begin our journey towards the new year. We will end our time together with an opportunity to say the Mourner's Kaddish for anyone who wishes to do so. No experience with meditation or text study are required!
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On July 17, 2021 we celebrated the marriage of our treasured Chazzan, Daniela Gesundheit, and her beloved Eric. Below are the beautiful words Daniela shared with us. |
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Daniela Gesundheit’s Remarks for Shabbat
When I became a Bat Mitzvah on Earth Day in 1995 in Los Angeles, I chanted and gave a d’var torah on the parsha about how the Jews are the chosen people. I am ashamed that I don’t remember the name of the Parsha — Cantor Wunch and Aviva please chime in— and I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to google it to no avail.
The Cantor gave me cassette tapes of my parsha which I listened to diligently on my walkman, with headphones, sprawled on my bed with books and binders after school. Some days I could hear the muffled morse code of my brother Avi’s drums as he practiced in the garage, or my mother’s voice echoing off of the kitchen tile as she took a phone call on the landline, the extra long phone cord…
I loved these private study sessions. I loved getting lost in the trope, the melisma of the melodies, the words taking form as I repeated them over and over, rewinding and replaying the cassette.
But then came the meetings with the Rabbi. Having read the translation of my parsha, this text that I so loved chanting alone in my after school bedroom, I wrote an essay challenging and refuting the notion that Jews are the chosen people. Where does that leave the rest of humanity? I mused. I submitted my essay to the Rabbi, and he asked me to re-write it, to omit the parts where I challenge this notion of chosen-ness.
Please click here for the full article.
Note:
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If you missed any of our past offerings or wish to view them again, below are the links:
July 17 Shabbat service with Cantor Wunch and Chazzan Daniela Gesundheit, click here.
June 13, From Anti-Semitism to Anti-Racism: Jewish Perspectives on Defunding the Police, Presented by the Danforth Jewish Circle: https://youtu.be/rfNYOqXe0Y0
The DJC was also kind enough to share links to various resources and articles mentioned by the panel:
Articles by/about Carin Mrotz:
Articles by April Rosenblum:
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Research on Jewish Divorce Process
A research assistant at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University is seeking people across Canada willing to be interviewed about their experience of the Jewish divorce process. She is having difficulty identifying LGBTQ+ individuals to interview.
The scope of the research includes:
- Jewish persons who have any experience of divorce: Those who have completed the get (religious divorce) process, as well as those whose gets were delayed, are not yet complete, were refused, or who did not want to complete a religious divorce.
- Adult (18+) children who can reflect on their experience of their parents’ divorce.
- Those with professional experience of divorce: Rabbis, activists, lawyers, social workers, etc. who can share their perspectives on Jewish divorce in Canada.
All participation is private and confidential. Interviews will be conducted virtually or by telephone.
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Congregation Shir Libeynu
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