The first verse of this week’s parshah contains a syntactic peculiarity. It begins with the phrase “Vayikaḥ Koraḥ” – and Koraḥ took. The rest of the verse then lists Koraḥ’s lineage along with that of Dathan and Abiram, leading men in the tribe of Reuben. In the Hebrew text, there is no direct object following the verb took. So, what exactly did Koraḥ...
We have some exciting and important news to share with you!Beth Tzedec Congregation is no longer charging membership to those under 40.Click here to confirm your no-fee membership now.What has possessed us to do such a thing? It’s simple, really. Because we want to invest in our relationship with YOU. We care about you and your connection to our community.So, what’s the catch? There...
Dear Friends,
Earlier this week I was in
New York City for the Rabbinical Assembly meetings (the international
association of Conservative rabbis). I have been a member of the Nominations
Committee for the last few years, and this was our first in-person meeting, all
the others having been on Zoom. To be honest, I was curious why this particular
meeting needed to be in person. It seemed to...
I like to think that one of the reason’s the characters of the Bible resonate through the ages is because they are not superheroes, rather, they flawed human beings like the rest of us. In this week’s parashah, Beha’alotekha, Moses is certainly showing his flaws: he is getting older and he is quick to anger. And yet, it is in this parashah that we learn of what is perhaps...
Beth Tzedec Bulletin - Summer 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:Divas on the Bima concert event (page 2);Patti Rotman's...
The song Mi Lo Yavoh by the talented Israeli artists Avraham Tal and Benaia Barabi, was written and inspired by the beginning of their friendship. The two met for the first time on the reality TV show "The Voice Israel", when Avraham was Benaya's mentor. They became friends, got to travel Asia together and write and perform songs together.In the song, they talk about...
This week we usher in Pride Month. Throughout June in Canada, the LGBTQ+ community is celebrated and brought into focus throughout public spaces and various cultural, educational and religious organizations. The celebration happens from within the community, as well as being led and supported by allies, family members, friends, colleagues, neighbours...everyone and anyone. There are parties...
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...