These are the deeds for which there is no prescribed measure: leaving crops at the corner of the field for the poor, offering first fruits (bikurim) as a git to the Temple, bringing special offerings to the Temple on the three Festivals, doing deeds of lovingkindness and studying Torah.One of the biblical names for the holiday of Shavuot is Yom Habikurim, the day of offering our first fruits. The...

This Shabbat we start a new book of the Torah, Sefer Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers. Hebrew speakers might pick up that the English name of the book, Numbers, is not at all a translation of the word  Bamidbar, which means In The Desert. We see the same issue with the name of the book we just finished–VaYikra means And He Called, not Leviticus (or anything to do with Levites).The...

This year the Torah portions Behar and Behukotai are combined. The Haftarah for Behar (Jeremiah 32) is not publicly recited. This haftarah includes Jeremiah’s prayer of exaltation to God, even while sitting in prison for uttering the oracle of the fall of Jerusalem, which was fulfilled in the calamity of 586 BCE. The prayer is a “covenantal history,” similar in language and style to...

We are all familiar with the term observant Jew in our vernacular. This week’s Torah portion Emor contains an expressive exhortation with regards to religious observance: וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם מִצְוֹתַי וַֽעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם “You shall observe My commandments and do them” (Leviticus 22:31). What does it mean to observe a commandment? If one does a mitzvah,...

Dear Friends, I am writing to you on a bus, driving by the shores of the Kinneret, our final location for the Toronto March of the Living student delegation. Over the past two weeks, we have slept in Krakow, Warsaw, and Jerusalem and now we are happily settling in for a few nights in the north of Israel. The Poland component of this trip was not easy. I will share more about it when...

The 27th of Nisan to the 5th of Iyar are what Donniel Hartman calls the modern High Holy Days.  It is in this time period we commemorate Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 Nisan), Yom Hazikaron, Israeli Memorial Day (4 Iyar) and Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day (5 Iyar). This is a time in which we remember those who were murdered for simply being born of a Jewish...

Beth Tzedec is making a major move toward meeting the needs of our growing Congregation. We are delighted to announce that Cantor Audrey Klein has accepted the position of Beth Tzedec’s Director of Family and Young Adult Engagement, beginning in July.Cantor Klein will be the spiritual and administrative lead for family programming at Beth Tzedec. In her new role, she will develop personal...

On Sunday, April 23, our own Rabbi Steven Wernick will participate in a celebratory reading of Israel’s Declaration of Indpendence—Megillat Ha’atzmaut—at the Egalitarian Kotel. Every year between Yom HaShoah and Yom Ha'atzmaut, the World Zionist Organization holds a festive event of reading Megillat Ha'atzmaut at the Egalitarian Kotel. It is broadcast live in different...

Every year we are challenged at Passover by the phrase בכל דור ודור חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים, to look at ourselves as if we ourselves came out of Egypt. In some Sephardic and Mizrachi traditions, seder guests actually get dressed up and replicate the Exodus, arriving at the seder as guests who have just fled Egypt and are in need...

For the month of April, I got inspired by the upcoming holiday Pesaẖ, or in it׳s other name—H̱ag haHeirut—and decided, that the song I’ll choose for this month will be about freedom. The song “Lev Hofshi” by the Israeli artist Mooki is a beautiful song that talks about freedom, new beginnings and letting go of your past, of being happy with the things that surrounds...

The unappeased memory of a future still to be fulfilled. -- Harold Fisch. Most of the Book of Leviticus is about the sacrificial service in ancient Israel, as practiced initially in the desert sanctuary and later in two temples. Re-reading these prescriptions and descriptions each year in the Torah reading cycle seem to have no practical use in a post-Temple Jerusalem and post-Temple...

The happiest month of the year, Adar, is here! "MiShenichnas Adar Marbim B'simẖah" is a saying that I'm sure you have heard before. This saying is what led me to choose the song "Misheu Iti Kan" by Benaia Barabi to be the song of the month!This song gives us a different perspective of being happy. The kind of happiness that you can find in the small things in life. It speaks about...

The double portion of Vayakhel-Pekudei, the final two parashiyot in the book of Exodus conclude the narrative of the construction of the tabernacle.Vayakhel recapitulates the instructions for fashioning the tabernacle and its furnishings, and Pekudei gives a detailed accounting of the expenditures involved. We read that all the people—men and women alike—responded with great generosity...

Dear Friends,Over the decades, I have returned countless times to the final verses of this week’s parashah, trying to understand what is happening. "And as Moses came down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, Moses was not aware that the skin of his face was shining/radiant/glowing, since he had spoken with God. Aaron and all the Israelites saw that the skin of Moses'...

Beth Tzedec Bulletin - Spring 2023 EditionThe latest edition of the Beth Tzedec Bulletin is available for download. Let's celebrate, learn, pray and connect as a community with the many opportunities offered throughout our quarterly catalogue of programs, events and articles.Don't miss any of the news and excitement, including:Bree-AH: The Arts & Pray/Play Lab (page 2);Open My...