This has been an incredibly exciting year for me and my family. My wife Rachel and I welcomed our wonderful daughter Mira into the world the day after Pesaẖ, and after the fall ẖagim, we moved into our first home. As we mark all the significant moments in Mira’s first year—rolling over, sitting up, her first tooth, and soon (but not too soon I hope) crawling—we are finding that...

Windows provide distance, the ability to see events from a removed, safe vantage point.I am blessed in my office with three large southern exposure windows. Rare is the day that I don’t rotate my chair 90 degrees, taking a short break from whatever I am doing, and stare out onto Warwick Avenue. I can watch the Robbins Hebrew Academy students head home from school or our shul’s...

Last month, Rav Baruch and I spent four glorious(read—FREEZING) days at the ReNEWed Jewish Leaders Conference. Seventy-three executive directors and rabbis representing nearly 250,000 Jews affiliated through our synagogues were invited to learn, share practice issues and problem-solve with academics and business leaders. In its fifth year, the program has presented professional Jewish...

Cuisine, in addition to text and melody, is important in the survival of Judaism.Particularly during the winter, I enjoy comfort food, a good book and music to stir the soul. Each makes claims on my identity. In The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, the late Gil Marks points to adaptation and transmission as essential to Jewish cuisine. In Jews and Words, Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Saltzberger make...

Monday Morning Mishpacha ProgramDue to overwhelming demand, a Monday session of the popular Mishpacha: Toddlers, Tunes and Treats program for children ages 1 to 3 with a parent, grandparent or caregiver is now being offered, beginning Monday, January 12. Spaces are limited; register early to avoid disappointment. For more information, contact Jo Swartz at 416-781-3514 ext. 230.

A chance for singers of all ages and musical backgrounds to join together and have fun singing with the ever-entertaining Cantor Simon Spiro. Broadway, Pop, Hebrew, Yiddish and more...If it's on vinyl, we'll be singing it! Regular rehearsals throughout the year will culminate in a 2015 performance with a professional band. Contact Marlene Laba at 416-781-3514 ext. 234.

Thank you to so many of you who spoke to me over the High Holidays wishing me well and encouraging many of our initiatives. Beth Tzedec continues to be at the forefront of Conservative Judaism. On October 6, we hosted The Future of Jewish Life in the Diaspora with Chancellor Arnold Eisen of the Jewish Theological Seminary in dialogue with writer and film-maker David Bezmozgis and moderated...

Take the opportunity to study and reflect on what we—as Conservative Jews—uniquely do.A hallmark of Conservative Judaism has been a fidelity to Jewish law and observance combined with an awareness of the historic development of Judaism. In mid-19th century Europe, the forerunner of what came to be Conservative Judaism called itself Positive-Historical Judaism. “Positive” meant...

There are eight qualities of leadership we find in the BibleThe recent election of Kathleen Wynne as Premier of Ontario and the race for Mayor of Toronto have focused attention on the nature and quality of leadership.Decisions by Prime Minister Harper, President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu draw attention to different dimensions of leadership in times of national stability,...

I want Beth Tzedec to transform the way our members experience their lives Jewishly.My connection to Beth Tzedec Congregation began with my maternal great-grandparents who were members of Goel Tzedec, one of our two predecessor synagogues. My parents joined Beth Tzedec in 1955 when they moved with their then two young sons into Cedarvale. I attended Beth Tzedec Day School (which would later...

MEKOR CHAIM Yom Kippur – Dancing Cheek to Cheek If Rosh Hashanah is about awareness of God, a proclamation of divine sovereignty and transcendence, then Yom Kippur is about getting close to God.  The ritual is a “dance” to help establish the connection, reveal our personality and demonstrate by our behaviour that we want such a relationship to exist. Our tradition teaches that...

Dear Friends,This has been a challenging summer for the Jewish community: the kidnapping and killing of "our boys", the revenge murder of a young Palestinian, the missiles from Gaza, the Israeli defensive response, the missiles from Gaza, the need for diplomatic and political advocacy, the missiles from Gaza. Many members of our congregation are in Israel; others have children, siblings,...

In Judaism, we know the power of the spoken word. We will shortly be recognizing the 50th anniversary of Mississippi Freedom Summer, the historic campaign to register as many African-American voters in Mississippi as possible. As was the case in many elements of the march for civil rights, Jews played a prominent role. As Cheryl Greenberg writes in Troubling the Waters: Black-Jewish...

Life is for living. Don’t wait. Go out and live it! As I write this, Aliza and I are still doing the switch from Pesaẖ dishes to ẖametz dishes, even though Pesaẖ ended more than just a day or two ago. True that it’s a big job and we lead busy lives, but that’s not the only reason it takes us so long. Our Pesaẖ involves more than dishes—we have Egyptian bobble head...

It’s time to take stock. The snow is gone, the broken trees are beginning to mend, my lawn is finally turning green and I’m getting ready to plant my garden. Maybe THIS year, we’ll have squash for Sukkot. Maybe. The cloud of winter is finally lifting and, with it, an emotional blanket that has covered blessings too numerous to count. It’s time to take stock: Amazing parents (I am...