OrH Newsletter

Weekly Newsletter

10 March 2020

Words of the Spirit
 
The Jewish Experience in Canada Today: A Presentation on the 2018 Survey of Jews in Canada
 
In 2018, the Environics Institute for Survey Research conducted the first ever survey of Canadian Jewry, inspired by the 2013 Pew Study of American Jews. On March 4, 2020, OrH and the Soloway JCC hosted an event featuring an overview of the report’s six themes by one of the project’s principals, ORH member Keith Neuman.
 
A succinct yet rich presentation of the survey’s key findings was followed by a thoughtfully probing panel discussion moderated by OrH member Joel Westheimer, exploring questions raised by the research. Rabbi Deborah Zuker of Kehillat Beth Israel, Carleton University professor and media commentator Mira Sucharov, and OrH member Sarah Caspi from Jewish Family Services Ottawa each offered probing reflections from their respective perspectives as congregational rabbi, political science professor, and social service agency executive director.
 
The report itself was released in 2019 and was conducted in four Canadian cities representing over 80% of Canada’s Jewish population: Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. In addition to serving as a set of benchmark findings about Canadian Jewry, by following the overall pattern of questions crafted for the American study, the results also provide fascinating data about the Canadian and American communities’ contrasts and similarities.
 
While I couldn’t possibly capture the dynamism of the reflections, and conversation that unfolded throughout the evening, I can offer excerpts from my opening and closing remarks, the list of themes explored on the survey, and some of the questions brought to the table by the panelists. You can read an executive summary or to dive into the full report here.

From my welcoming remarks: As a rabbi trained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and serving a congregation affiliated with Reconstructing Judaism, I think about the issues explored in this study a great deal.  I work on and wrestle with questions around Jewish identity, core values, and the challenge of serving the Jewish people on a daily basis. 

And like any Jewish professional these days, I’m aware of how swiftly, and how massively, the paradigms of Jewish communal life are shifting.  I’m also aware as a Canadian who was trained in the United States that there are some subtle as well as some clear differences between the two communities, and was especially intrigued and challenged by what the study tells us about our particularity.

A recent article commenting on Jewish life south of the border offers these observations: “The Jewish community is dramatically more diverse than we once realized it was: One in every seven to eight Jews is a person of color; we have a sizeable LGBTQIA+ population; and the number of Jewish-adjacent individuals in our communities is growing. At the same time, religious affiliation is in decline, more houses of worship are shutting their doors than opening up for business, and “Jews of no religion” are on the rise.”

How these factors, and others, play out in Canadian Jewish life are of deep interest to me.

Rabbi Deborah Zuker:  I was struck by the data regarding day school attendance and assimilation. It looks to me like day schools are an enormous investment with a relatively small return; for example, after 9 years of Jewish Day School, you are 8% less likely to have a Christmas tree and 7% less likely to marry a non-Jew. Is heavily promoting day school the right ‘intervention’ to ensure healthy Jewish communities?

Mira Sucharov: I appreciated the use of the phrasing “strength of personal attachment to Israel.” I’d like to probe the relationship between how we understand “attachment to Israel” in light of attitudes about Israeli politics and policies. When we ask about “attachment to Israel” do we all mean the same thing? Can you be attached and critical?

Sarah Caspi: I come from the perspective of often working with Jewish individuals and families who are not always part of the formal Jewish community. How do the results help us shape service delivery, and how as a community can we support those who continue to feel marginalized, such as those who are low income, struggling with addictions and mental health, women fleeing abuse, folks with disabilities, etc.? 
 
From my closing remarks: What a rich evening of learning and conversation. Thank you, the audience, for your thoughtful attention and questions. Thank you to my friends and colleagues, including our OrH members, who spoke and presented this evening – and I do want to note the gender composition of our panelists and observe: this is what the present, and the future, of discourse in our community should look like.
 
The most striking finding in the study, for me, was learning that what Canadian Jews consider most essential to being Jewish – to a significant extent - is leading and ethical and moral life. By contrast, attending synagogue was among the least essential.
 
This links with our perceptions around discrimination, revealed in the finding that Canadian Jews are highly aware, and far more aware than our American counterparts, of discrimination against Indigenous peoples, Muslims and racialized communities. Layered with a strongly expressed commitment to social justice, I hear from this a clarion call to synagogues and denominations to pay attention to what we must do in our communities in the decades ahead if we are to continue to meet our peoples’ deepest self-understanding.
 
The study’s findings led me to wonder what we would learn if we could find out more about Spiritual Typologies, rather than denominational affiliation. Singing and dancing; meditation and contemplative or devotional practices; creatively engaging ritual activities; spiritually-motivated social action – these and more are some of the modalities through which Jews relish in their Jewish-ness, both “inside” and “outside” our communal institutions.
 
To be a Jew, says Mordecai Kaplan biographer Mel Scult, is to identify with the great drama that is the life of the Jewish people. May this great endeavor that is our engagement with Jewish peoplehood flourish in the details of our communities, and in the stories we tell.

- Rabbi Liz

OrH Community Passover Seder
 
Or Haneshamah's Community Passover Seder will take place on Wednesday, April 8 at 6:00 pm. This year we will again run two parallel seders, both at the Unitarians:
 
• A community seder geared for families with children of all ages but open to anyone who would like a shorter seder of about an hour. Share the four cups and the four questions, enjoy the lively pace, a delicious meal, and all the familiar songs and customs.
 
• An immersive, leisurely seder led by Rabbi Liz. Dig into the perennial yet relevant questions around freedom, liberation, and identity. Engage the ritual practices and texts, imbued with contemporary resonance.
 
Registration is now open. As space is limited, we will first open registration to OrH-affiliated households - members, Tishrey Visitors and Machaneh Shabbat households - and their guests. If we have places remaining after Tuesday, March 24 we will then welcome guests from the broader Ottawa community.
 
For more information, to register, and to sign up for a pot-luck offering, please visit the OrH seder page.

New Jewish Pastoral Care Training Program in May 2020
 
Jewish Pastoral Care is rooted in Jewish values such as ‘bikkur cholim’ (visiting the sick) and ‘gemilut hasadim’ (deeds of loving-kindness).
 
Temple Israel, Or Haneshamah, and Kehillat Beth Israel are delighted to announce that with the help of a generous financial contribution from the Innovation and Capacity Building Fund from the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, a second Jewish Pastoral Care Training Program will be running Monday afternoons starting May 4, 2020 for seven weeks.  Rabbi Daniel Mikelberg, Rabbi Elizabeth Bolton, Rabbi Eytan Kenter, and trainers from the Ottawa Pastoral Care Program will deliver this course. 
 
For more information about this program, please visit orh.ca/pastoral-training-2020

High Holiday Machzor Dedication Sale
 
A recent inventory of our book holdings revealed that 31 older High Holiday Machzorim have not been dedicated. We would like to give members and Tishrey visitors an opportunity to dedicate a Machzor at a reduced donation of $36. (Our current donation requested for Machzor dedications is $54.) The dedications can made “in memory of” a loved one; “from the xxxx family”; or “in honour of” or “in celebration of”a person or event. If you would like to make a dedication, you can do so here.

Beware of Email Phishing Scams

A number of congregations across North America have been targeted by email phishing scams. These are primarily in the form of messages from the Rabbi asking you to purchase gift cards or otherwise transfer money. Please be cautious of any unsolicited emails that appear to be from Rabbi Liz or OrH Board members that are asking for you to buy giftcards or send money. Often these messages will be sent from a free email service such as gmail or Outlook, rather than from @orh email accounts. The email address may include OrH or Or Haneshamah in the name, before the @ symbol. If you receive such a message please do not send gift cards or other monies, and do not reply or respond to the message. You should inform the monthly Board Chair (treasurer@orh.ca) if you receive such a message.

KLEZ 13

Or Haneshamah is very happy to once again be sponsoring this year’s KLEZ 13 concert and silent auction for the Ottawa Kosher Food Bank on Sunday, April 5 at 3:00 pm in the SJCC Social Hall. Ottawa’s amazing klezmer band, A Touch of Klez, will again be providing the music. Shaina Lipsey, Cantor Jason Green, and our own Rabbi Liz will sing Yiddish songs, with Miriam Tepper and Seymour Shlien of the Ottawa International Folk Dancers leading the dancing. For more information visit www.orh.ca/event/klez13

Upcoming Services and Events
  
Ruach Shabbat /  Refugee Shabbat
Saturday, March 21, 2020
9:45 AM - 12:15 PM, NOW Room
  
Learn to Leyn
Saturday, March 21, 2020
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM, Room 5
 
Guf Va'Nefesh: Mind-Body-Spirit Integration Class
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM, Location TBC
 
Shabbat Morning Torah Service
Saturday, April 4, 2020
9:45 AM - 12:15 PM, Fellowship Hall

Reconstructionist News

The latest issue of Reconstructionism Today can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/s4c8fcf. The archive of back issues is available at: https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/newsletter-archive

In The Ottawa Community
* = New item this week
 
Community Events and Announcements
 
The Gamliel Institute is a center for study, training, and advocacy concerning Jewish end of life practices.  All of their courses for 2020-2021, short and long, can be found at https://www.jewish-funerals.org/  You will also find more detail about the short courses which are listed here: 
History of Chevrah Kadisha, US$36
    Rick Light
    March 11, 2020  Wednesday, 8:00pm Eastern (one 90-minute class)
Prayer as Deepest Desire: Writing Contemporary Liturgy, US$72
    Alden Solovy
    March 25, April 1, 2020  Wednesdays, 8:00pm Eastern (two 90-minute classes)   

OrH members are invited to the CHILD HAVEN FIESTA, to celebrate Child Haven’s 35th Anniversary, on Friday March 13th, 7:00, 1st Unitarian Congregation, 30 Cleary Avenue. Kuljit Sodhi will take the audience on a superb musical journey, combining Indian folk, jazz, and world music, and using his instruments and his voice. Kuljit’s Bollywood style dancing is full of fun and will inspire the audience to join him. Brightly dressed Nepali dancers will perform traditional dances and a Tibetan family will delight you with the Yak dance. Indian snacks will feed your hunger after all that dancing!
Our goal is to raise money for the Ottawa charity CHILD HAVEN INTERNATIONAL (www.childhaven.ca), which operates 9 homes for destitute children in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Food, education, health care, shelter, clothing, emotional and moral support are provided. Child Haven keeps administrative costs to a minimum, so that your donation benefits the children more. Fred and Bonnie Cappuccino have received the Order of Canada for their work. Tickets are $30 adults, children $5 at www.childhaven.ca. For info. call 613.527.2829

* GENOCIDE and IMPROVISATION: LISTENER and TELLER. Saturday, March 14, 2 pm. Woodside Hall, Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre. This event is free.
https://www.facebook.com/events/2477371539142602/
 
A multi-media performance-talk created and performed by a son-mother duo, Dr. Daniel Oore, jazz saxophonist, and his mother, writer, Dr. Irene Oore. Their performance talk begins from an exploration of elements in Irene’s book The Listener: In the Shadow of the Holocaust (U of Regina Press, 2019). The Listener is a book of Holocaust stories that Irene’s mother “gifted” her about life as a Jew in Nazi-occupied Poland. It documents Irene’s wrestling with aspects of transmission —and ultimately creative transcendence— of this traumatic gift. Daniel will perform music, improvisations, original compositions, soundscapes and more. Irene and Daniel will read and reflect on excerpts from the book. An audience Q&A, hosted by Dr. Ellen Waterman, Helmut Kallmann Chair for Music in Canada at Carleton University, will follow the event. For those unable to attend on Saturday, Daniel and Irene Oore will also be performing March 15, 2020 at Limmud OTTAWA (register through Limmud Ottawa http://limmudottawa.ca/registration/)

Canadian Friends of Peace Now presents THE OSLO DIARIES, Wednesday, March 18, 7:30 pm at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre, 21 Nadolny Sachs Pvt., Ottawa. Admission free, donations welcome. This outstanding documentary by Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan goes behind the scenes of the 1990s Oslo Israeli-Palestinian peace process. It reveals the hopes, the potential, the tragic collapse and offers perspective on today's situation. Based partially on the diaries of the main negotiators, the film features interviews with key players (including Shimon Peres, his last interview before his death), riveting historical footage and dramatic re-enactments. RVSP to goliger@rogers.com or Canadian Friends ofPeace Now presents: The Oslo Diaries

Soloway JCC Winter Israeli Film Series
Film series with short talk by Orly Erlich, Consul at the Israeli Embassy in Ottawa and Ohad Kaynar, Charge d’affaires, Deputy Head of Mission.
January 16: Turn left at the end of the world
February 19: Zero Motivation
March 19: Peace after Marriage
Doors open at 6:40
Sponsor: Vered Israel Cultural and Educational Program, SJCC, The Embassy of Israel, CICF
Soloway JCC, 21 Nadolny Sachs Pvt.

Risen Leaves: A Rare Books Workshop from the Collection of the Jewish Public Library. The JPL has a number of special collections but one of the most valued ones are the Rare Books. The earliest of the 1,500 books is an incunabulum printed in 1481 (about 20 years after Gutenberg),  and while the array of books ranges from early Hebrew grammars, Talmuds, kabbalistic works, liturgical texts, history, and early antisemitic tracts, there are also unusual tracts dealing with religious vestments, architecture, and travel. Three of the JPL’s librarians will discuss these books, the history of printing (as well as Hebrew printing), and share some of the strange stories and scandals that underscored the production of these works. Tuesday, March 24, 1:30-3:30 pm, First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa, Fellowship Hall, 30 Cleary Avenue, FREE ADMISSION. To register: Email: adultlearning@firstunitarianottawa.ca Phone: 613-725-1066.
 
Ottawa Choral Society performs Annelies - a profound and contemporary work based on the Diary of Anne Frank by British composer James Whitbourn scored for soloists, chamber musicians and chorus, Sunday, March 29 at 3 pm at St. Francis of Assisi Church on Wellington Street in Ottawa. Tickets available at http://ottawachoralsociety.com/annelies

Community Service Awards. Do you know an awesome volunteer? Please nominate them for special recognition! The Jewish Federation has four awards to recognize our community’s outstanding volunteers. Members of the Jewish community are invited to nominate worthy individuals. Visit https://jewishottawa.com/volunteering/community-service-awards for nomination forms, instructions and info about these awards: Freiman Family Young Leadership Award, Shem Tov and Student Leadership award. Nominations will be accepted until March 31, 2020.

The Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation accepting applications for four awards. Deadline for all applications is, April 17, 2020: GJ Cooper Scholarship Award, Norman Lesh Philanthropy Award, Women’s Collective Philanthropy (WCPP) Grant, Ilana and Steven Rubin Scholarship Award. More info at https://ojcf.ca/programs_awards

Ottawa Tour to Israel: Celebrating Women’s Voices, May 17-27, 2020. Join an exceptional group of women on this educational and thought-provoking tour to Israel. Tour covers inspirational speakers on topics such as Ethiopian Jewry, civil rights, and Israeli health innovation. It also includes events with Palestinian Member of Knesset, Aida Touman-Sleeman, and a panel of experts discussing Palestinian and Jewish/Israeli perspectives on political and social issues. We will celebrate Rosh Chodesh with Women of the Wall and among other activities visit a Bedouin Weaving Centre and Dead Sea spa. Eight spaces remain to share in this exciting tour. For the itinerary, please contact: Yaffa Greenbaum at yaffa.greenbaum@gmail.com (613-266-6677) or Paula Agulnik at agulnikpaula@gmail.com (613-298-7520).

Community Opportunities

A message from Reconstructing Judaism’s Thriving Communities office: We have learned about an upcoming Taglit-Birthright Israel trip co-sponsored by two longstanding Israeli progressive organizations, Hashomer Hatzair and Habonim Dror. The title of the trip is “Exploring Israel as a Shared Society,” and the dates are June 7 – June 18, 2020. Jewish-Americans and Jewish-Canadians between the ages of 18 to 26, who have not gone on a previous Israel trip, are eligible to apply to participate. Like other Birthright trips, this is essentially a free trip for those whose applications are accepted. For more information, please visit https://www.israeloutdoors.com/choose-your-trip/specialty-groups/sharedsociety/. Or, you can contact the Habonim Dror North America office at mazkir@habonimdror.org to get more information.

Donations to OrH

Donations are a significant part of the funding for activities and rabbinic support in our community. You can direct your contribution to different areas of Or Haneshamah’s activity, including: general donations to fund programming, rabbinic leadership, donations in honor or in memory of a person or event, or dedication of ritual objects. We also welcome donations to the Gita (Tova) & Zvi Taub Memorial Fund, the Rabbi's Discretionary Fund, the Or Haneshamah Endowment Fund. Federal employees or retirees can also give to OrH through the Annual Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign. Information on all these programs and how to give can be found at this link, or by clicking on the "Donate" tab on the main menu of the OrH website.

Wearing of Scented Products
Out of concern for our fellow members and guests who have chemical sensitivities, and out of respect for the commitment of the First Unitarian Congregation to ensure that the space we share be fragrance-free, the Board respectfully requests that OrH members and visitors refrain as much as possible from wearing scented products, such as perfume, cologne, and hair or body sprays, at OrH services, events and activities. We appreciate your attention to this issue and for supporting our commitment to be an inclusive and welcoming community.

Potluck Protocol
Our community’s long time practice is to welcome egg, dairy and fish on the potluck table. Please label your meal contributions with all ingredients to help people with food allergies or sensitivities; also advise kitchen staff whether dish is to be served hot or cold.

Board of Directors

March Board Chair: Ari, treasurer@orh.ca

Treasurer: Ari, treasurer@orh.ca
Secretary: Joanie, secretary@orh.ca
Communications: David, communications@orh.ca
Membership: Barbara, membership@orh.ca
Member-at-Large: Sharon, member-at-large.sharon@orh.ca
 Member-at-Large: Timna, member.at.large-timna@orh.ca

Rabbi Elizabeth Bolton: rabbi@orh.ca
OrH Members are welcome to contact Rabbi Liz, or any member of the board, regarding pastoral needs.

Or Haneshamah
30 Cleary Ave., Ottawa, ON, K2A 4A1
613-239-4988
www.orh.ca
info@orh.ca

** Disclaimer Regarding Community Event Postings **

Or Haneshamah frequently receives requests to post notices of upcoming events in the community at-large.  These events run the range from cultural, educational, and in some cases explorations of topical political issues.  In the interest of providing information to our congregation about the diversity of interesting events in the Ottawa community we will post notices of these events in our regular newsletter.

We recognize also that from time to time we are requested to post notices of events which are highly controversial in nature and reflect a wide range of opinions among our congregation on particular issues.  We are, however, of the opinion that it is appropriate for us to post events taking place in the community which may challenge us, which may cause discomfort, and which may cause us to reflect on some of our beliefs.  Our openness to post notices for a wide range of community events, however, does not mean that we have abdicated our responsibility to show discernment and to distinguish between those events which demonstrate an open-minded and thoughtful approach to specific issues and those which do not appear to reflect such values.  So, we will make judgments about what notices we believe are appropriate to post and those which we believe will not contribute to a thoughtful and balanced exploration of ideas and issues.

Will we make mistakes along the way?  Probably.  But the possibility of errors of judgment does not mean that we can excuse ourselves from the responsibility to show judgment in posting notices about events in the community and we promise to do so with openness tempered by a sense of responsibility.

In agreeing to post any notice of an event in the community, Or Haneshamah does not endorse, support or promote any perspectives, positions or ideas expressed in the events which are posted in our newsletter.