In The Ottawa Community
* = New item this week
Community Events and Announcements
* Join Rabbi Joshua Lesser for a queer approach to the Institute for Jewish Spirituality's course, Awareness in Action: Cultivating Character through Mindfulness and Middot, an eight-week, online and live program designed to help us respond more often as our best selves, even in challenging times. During this course, you’ll learn how to access and practice eight core character traits (middot), ranging from loving connection to mindful speech. Rabbi Lesser will be offering weekly guided practice sessions on the materials and practice through a queer lens. Full details and registration info are available here. The program begins the week starting Sunday, January 10; the registration deadline is Thursday, January 7.
This special edition of Awareness in Action is for anyone interested in a queer, LGBTQ+ aligned approach to practicing mindfulness and middot. In eight weekly, live practice sessions, Rabbi Lesser will apply an intentional queer lens to the program materials and sacred texts. This approach will support participants in integrating the practice more deeply, and bolstering the change they wish to manifest in themselves, their communities, and the world. All gender identities and sexual orientations are welcome.
* Bikur Cholim Conference. During this COVID time, OrH members have more need than ever to learn skills to Jewishly comfort those who are sick—other OrH members, our friends, and in the broader Ottawa community. We urge you to consider registering for the Bikur Cholim (comforting those who are sick) conference or individual sessions which run every two weeks between January 4 and May 10. The presenters are excellent, the price is low ($72 US for the 10 sessions, $36 US for 3 sessions, and $18 US for single sessions). https://www.jewish-funerals.org/2021-bikur-cholim-conference/#pgm.
Bikur Cholim (comforting those who are sick) is an important mitzvah. During Covid it has become a challenge, yet it is even more important now. Bikur Cholim provides a healing antidote to restrictions on human interaction. Both the comforter and comfortee have the potential to be spiritually uplifted. We’ve put together a 10 part Bikur Cholim series with some of the best experts in the field. Join us every other Monday starting January 4 at 7pm EST. You’ll find information about each session and the presenterson our web site. Or you can click hereto go directly to registration. $72 for 10 sessions. Scholarships available.
David Balto and David Zinner
www.Jewish-funerals.org/bikur
* A Jewish-Arab Israeli Political Party in the Making? Sunday, January 17, 2021, 13:00 EST. Presented by the International Progressive Jewish Network. Speakers: Rula Daood, Avraham Burg, Yona Yahav, David Enoch; moderated by Dania Masalha-Shahbari. To RSVP and more information: https://www.jlinknetwork.org/events.
Invitation from KBI to demonstrate on behalf of the Uyghurs. This year, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, members of Kehillat Beth Israel (KBI) demonstrated every weekday afternoon opposite the Chinese embassy on St. Patrick Street on behalf of the oppressed and
persecuted Uyghur population of China. At the conclusion of the week they decided to continue the demonstrations and protests on a weekly basis – they continue to meet and demonstrate one day a week, on Thursday afternoon. They have also reached out to other faith communities to join them in this stand and their numbers have grown over time.
The mistreatment of the Uyghurs, including forced labor and “re-education” camps, is reminiscent of the Jewish experience with concentration camps of the Second World War, in the opinion of campaign organizer Andre Brantz, which inspired him to start the protests in September. Since then, a committee of the Parliament of Canada has described the Uyghur persecution as a form of genocide.
This week, the Guardian newspaper published an article by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis: "As chief rabbi, I can no longer remain silent about the plight of the Uyhgurs." The subtitle is: "An unfathomable mass atrocity is being perpetrated in China. The responsibility for doing something lies with all of us."
(https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/15/chief-rabbi-silent-plight-uighurs-atrocity-china)
We invite all members of the Ottawa Jewish community to join us on Thursday afternoons at 3 PM opposite the Chinese Embassy on St. Patrick Street. It is our hope and our prayer that this action, taken in conjunction with other political and economic actions, will raise awareness and will lead to the end of these atrocities.
Special Notice for Holocaust Survivors: Any survivor who has received the one-time Hardship Fund compensation payment from Germany through the Claims Conference may now be eligible for two supplemental payments, beginning in 2021. The Claims Conference will mail a personalized application to you, based on the address they have on file. If you have moved since the time you received the Hardship Fund, you will need to notify the Claims Conference. The Claims Conference has all the information about the Supplemental Hardship Fund on their website including all the contact information you, or someone acting on your behalf, will need. The Claims Conference website is: www.claimscon.org If you require additional information and, or support please contact Jewish Family Services 613 722-2225 x 311 (English), or x 326 (Russian)
The City of Jerusalem: Ideas and Images, an art history course developed by Dr. Loren Lerner at Concordia University, is now available for free at https://jerusalemjournal.concordia.ca/jerusalem_ideas_and_images.html
The latest episode of Meet the Author is now live! In the current episode, Ruth Panofsky, a professor of English at Ryerson University where she specializes in Canadian literature and culture, discusses her recent edited volume (The New Spice Box: Contemporary Jewish Writing). Her interviewers are Catherine Caufield (Concordia University of Edmonton) and Jesse Toufexis (University of Ottawa). Enjoy, and stay tuned for more episodes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAwQ0n44_48