Josette and I extend best wishes for a Shana Tovah. We feel blessed by the growth of our family and by being part of this community. Beth Tzedec is a bulwark, a strong support, for the totality of the Toronto Jewish community. When the leadership of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism met here recently, they were amazed to hear that over 150,000 people come through our doors...

Vulnerable. That’s what many of us feel. Growing up, I felt vulnerable. I worried about whether my mother would be stable, whether we would have enough food and whether we could pay the rent. Vulnerable. With ice storms, floods and power outages locally, we are more sensitive to the devastation caused by hurricanes and floods, forest fires and earthquakes, the natural disasters that...

9 July 2016 ~ 3 Tammuz 5776                        This has been a month of anxiety, anger and anguish. Israelis and Jews continue to mourn the murders of 13-year old Hallel Yaffa Ariel who was stabbed to death in her bed and Michael Mark, father of ten, who was killed when his car was ambushed and attacked by over 20...

Shavuot 5776 ~ 13 June 2016 My mother rarely spoke of her life in pre-war Poland. She grew up in Brzeżany, a Galitzianer town, which existed under Austro-Hungarian, Polish, Nazi and Soviet dominion. Jews had lived in Brzeżany from the 16th century. On the eve of World War I, approximately 4,500 Jews were among its nearly 13,000 inhabitants. My mother left Brzeżany for Milwaukee in...

Emor ~ אמר   21 May 2016 / 13 Iyar 5776 This past week it has been our honour and privilege to have hosted a platoon of former combat soldiers of the Israel Defence Forces, צה״ל.  Through the Peace of Mind program, these veterans have had the opportunity to engage in serious and deep psychotherapeutic discussions about their experiences in military service, to enjoy the...

Missing at Seder, Missing in Life Ten years ago, the filmmaker Michael Rubiner drafted a plan for a two minute, short and sweet Seder.  Listen carefully. Thanks, God, for creating wine. (Drink wine.) Thanks for creating produce. (Eat parsley.) Overview: Once we were slaves in Egypt. Now we're free. That's why we're doing this. Four questions: 1. What's up with the...

As If Rav Baruch Frydman-Kohl Beth Tzedec Congregation, Toronto Pesah 5776 In one of my haggadot, cleverly designed by David Moss, he has placed mirrors on one page. Can any of you guess which passage from the haggadah would best be illuminated by mirrors?   בכל דור ודור חיב אדם לראות” את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים, ...

Shabbat Shemini ~ On the Eighth Day / 2 April 2016 ~ 23 Adar II 5776  Whenever I speak with friends about travel, the conversation often shifts to the quality or type of food available. “What a great restaurant,” “I really loved the …”  Travel conversations with traditional Jews—which often also relates to food—usually touches on what kosher food was available and...

Mikeitz ~ Shabbat Hanukkah / 6th Day  Rosh Hodesh Tevet There are two Torah reading cycles. One is continuous through the year. The other provides special selections for sacred days. Although independent of each other, many times I am struck by the connection between the calendar and the annual cycle. Bereisheet / Creation is read as we begin the new year. Shirat Ha Yam /...

Hayyey Sarah: 7 November 2015 / 25 Kislev 5776:  חיישרה ~ Sarah Lived Some of you will remember a 1969 film for which John Wayne won his only Academy Award. “True Grit” starred Wayne as U.S. Marshal Rooster Coburn, hired by Mattie Ross to track down her father’s killer. She heard that Rooster had true grit. The supporting cast included Glen Campbell, Kim Darby, Robert...

Many years ago, I was intrigued by a book by Rabbi Daniel Jeremy Silver of Cleveland. In Images of Moses, he explored how Moshe was described by different generations of Jews. The Alexandrian thinker, Philo, imagined him as a Hellenic sage. The teachers of the Talmud saw Moshe as a scholar and rabbi in the yeshivah. Christians criticised him for emphasising law rather than...

Frank and Ed were lifetime friends who shared a love of baseball. They played together through youth and professional teams. After retiring from the game, the two friends bought season tickets for adjoining seats. Frank became ill and was on his death bed. Ed came to visit and made Frank promise him to come back and tell him if there is baseball in the afterlife. Shortly thereafter,...

Although Sukkot in Israel is a time of warmth and outdoor life, we in Canada, Europe and the northern United States experience this as a time of transition. The European rabbis of past centuries often commented about going out of the comfort of our homes to experience the anxiety and ambiguity of the seasonal chill. We worry about rain and cold. I even remember two Sukkot when it snowed!...

The Torah refers to the festivals of the Jewish calendar with two designations: as mo’adim, appointed times and as miqra’ei kodesh, sacred convocations. “These are G-d's appointed times," reads the introductory verse to the Torah's listing of the festivals in the book of Leviticus, “sacred convocations, which you shall call in their appointed times" (Leviticus 23:4).אלה...

Many of you have asked what goes through my head as I sound shofar on Rosh Hashanah. As I blow the broken shevarim and teruah blasts, I think of the people who have had a year of fear and anxiety. Their prayers are short, shattered. When I blow the long tekiah, I think of the woman who just had an organ transplant, the man undergoing cardiac surgery, the woman being treated for cancer, the...