In this Newsletter:
. Monthly Shabbat service and meditation December 4
. Chanukah celebrations December 5
. CSL Annual General Meeting December 12
. Lunch and Learn December 21
. Update on ROM climate change project
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Hello all,
This Sunday evening we light the first candle of Chanukah, our festival of lights.
This is the season in which people all over the world attempt to somehow illuminate the winter’s dark days. There is Diwali, Kwanza, and the Winter Solstice on December 21. Here at Shir Libeynu we will light up the season with our Chanukah celebration on December 5th and our AGM on December 12th.
Many families are celebrating this year by returning to their traditional family gathering to light the menorah, enjoy fried foods and play dreidel. “When even the moon starves to a sliver of quicksilver, the little candles poke holes in the blackness.” (Marge Piercy)
We all need light to show the way through the darkness of winter.
Chag Sameach,
Board of Directors
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Lights at the End of the Tunnel
It is hard to believe that we are entering the final month of 2021. We have all been through a lot this year, and it seems like we are finally seeing the light at the end of this (almost) 2-year tunnel. I know that many of us are looking forward to being able to gather as a community in the new year, and our Board of Directors and Venue Committee are hard at work exploring ways to make this happen. Of course, we will need to follow all public health regulations, but, if all goes well, we are hoping to be able to pray, sing, celebrate, and learn together, in person, by the spring. More information will be coming as we have it, so please remain patient with us as we work to find the safest way to be together.
In the meantime, I want to share with you a few exciting events, additions, and changes that are coming your way in the next few months. First, and most importantly, our beloved Musical Director and Chazzan Daniela Gesundheit will be taking her parental leave shortly after our December service. Daniela will lead us in prayer on December 4th, so please join us to shower her with love, and wish her “B’sha’ah Tova - בְּשָׁעָה טוֹבָה” and “L’hitraot - לְהִתְרָאוֹת” (lit. “all at a good time,” and “see you again”).
Speaking of services, as Daniela prepares for her new role as a parent, many people in our community have stepped forward to help lead our monthly services. It is a true pleasure to lead with such talented, dedicated people, and we would love to add more voices to our roster of volunteers. If you are interested in leading prayers (either spoken or sung), sharing a reading or poem, reading Torah, delivering a sermon, or having an aliyah, please let me know. There is no pressure to be perfect, and I’m happy to work with you to help you prepare. There is no judgment in prayer – just bring your whole self and share your gifts!
There are two new additions to our calendar that I’m excited to share with you. First, we began our monthly Lunch and Learn in November and will continue to meet on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 12:00. Last month we talked about the character of Jacob, and we thought about who his wrestling adversary might have been. Was it God? His brother Esau? One of Esau’s servants? Or was he wrestling with himself? It was an excellent conversation, and everyone shared their fascinating insights. If anyone has a suggestion for a future topic, or if anyone wants to lead one of our monthly discussions, please be in touch.
The second event will be coming in the early part of next year. For the past few months, I have been working with several other Jewish community leaders in Toronto to create an LGBTQ+ Community text study programme. Our goal is to create even more opportunity for study and friendship amongst LGBTQ+ Jews and allies in Toronto. We are hoping to launch the first series in February or March, so keep your eye on this space for more information as it becomes available.
Finally, the changes. As you may have noticed, we have stopped requiring pre-registration for our Shabbat services. We had found that the extra step of registering was frustrating for many people in our community and made attending our services a challenge. We hope that our new system of sending out our service link to everyone on our email list the day before the service will make it easier for anyone who wishes to pray to join us on Zoom. Another communication change to look out for is that beginning in January, we will send out our newsletters every two months, instead of every month. We know that you get a lot of mail in your inboxes, and so we are hoping that sending fewer, yet fuller newsletters will be helpful in allowing you all to sort through your email and catch up on our congregational happenings. Don’t worry – we will still send out occasional additional emails with service links and program information.
I look forward to seeing you all on Zoom Shabbat morning December 4th, and then again on December 5th for our congregational Chanukah celebration!
B’ahavah,
Cantor C. Wunch
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Join Cantor Wunch and Daniela Gesundheit for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, December 4 at 10:30 am.
REMINDER ABOUT ZOOM LINKS
The feedback was great after last month's new Zoom system, so we will be doing this going forward for Shabbat services. In case you missed it, this is how it works: Rather than asking you 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, December 3. Please do not share this link, especially on social media. If you receive this newsletter, you will automatically receive the service link. We hope this new system will avoid some of the confusion around registration.
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 December 4, from 9:30 to 10:15 am, join Lorne Blumer for “Meditation on Shabbat.”
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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Chanukah Celebration
Sunday, December 5, 4:30 pm
Join us for a Zoom Chanukah Celebration with dance, song and storytelling, presented by our own Shoshana Fainsilber, Cantor Wunch and Eden Nameri. We will light the last candle together, sing Chanukah songs, dance out the holiday and listen to a Chanukah story. To quote Peter, Paul and Mary, "light one candle to find us together, with peace as the song in our hearts.”
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8 Gays of Channukah
Sunday, December 5, 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm
Location: Comedy Bar, 945 Bloor St. West
Shir Libeynu is proud to be co-sponsoring Gila Munster's 3rd annual Queer Jewish Variety Show.
Tickets are on sale now for $10 + tax. Limited tickets available.
Please click here for program and ticket information.
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Shir Libeynu Annual General Meeting
Sunday, December 12, 11:00 am
Join us for our AGM, “25 Years: Looking Back and Looking Forward," and help us celebrate 25 amazing years! We will have interviews with original members, short talks by our Rabbi Emerita, Aviva Goldberg, and our Spiritual Leader, Cantor Wunch, and a slide show of Shir Libeynu through the years. It promises to be a great event.
The agenda and minutes from last year will be sent out later this week.
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Lunch and Learn
Tuesday, December 21 at Noon on Zoom
Bring your lunch, midday snack, coffee or tea and join Cantor Wunch and other CSL members on the third Tuesday of the month at noon on Zoom for our new Lunch and Learn program.
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!
Join Cantor Wunch for our second Lunch and Learn on December 21 at 12:00 noon. For registration details please email Lillian, our Administrator, at shirlibeynuadmin@gmail.com.
If you can't make it to this session, that's okay! Each session will be standalone, so come to one, a few, or every one! Put these next couple of Lunch and Learn Tuesdays in your calendar: January 18 and February 15. We'll send you the links before the sessions.
Looking forward to seeing you there, learning and having fun together!
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If you missed any of our Shabbat Taldot service on November 6, 2021 or wish to view it again, please email Lillian, our Administrator, at shirlibeynuadmin@gmail.com.
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The Royal Ontario Museum Climate Project
The Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change
Check out this article from The Globe and Mail to see how Allan Shiff and his late wife, Helaine's, climate change project at the ROM is progressing. If you missed our previous newsletter piece, "Doing Something About Climate Change," you can read it on our new website in "From Our Members," under "Community": https://shirlibeynu.ca/from-our-members/.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-roms-first-ever-climate-curator-wants-to-move-away-from-the-doomsday/
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Congregation Shir Libeynu
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