OrH Newsletter

Weekly Newsletter

12 January 2021

Next Repairing the World Learning Session
 
In February our anti- racism sessions continue with an emphasis on the situation in Canada. Participants are asked to watch a documentary, available on YouTube, that profiles Desmond Cole in his journey from journalist to activist, unfolding in real time. Those who want more, can read his book, The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power.  This book describes the struggle against  racism in Canada during the year 2017, chronicling Cole's role as an anti-racist activist and the impact of  systemic racism in Canadian society. It promises to be a real eye opener on racism in Canada.
 
Date: Tuesday, Feb 2, 2021
Time: 7:00 pm
Resource: YouTube Documentary - The Skin We’re In: Pulling back the curtain on racism in Canada  https://bit.ly/34CJVcw
 
Please register for the session in advance to receive the Zoom link and other supplementary materials:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtcu2grjovH9edtrIkFsGKX-C8r854Zj1Q

Make an Almond Tree for Tu B’Shvat
 
As Tu B'Shvat approaches, Machaneh Shabbat Aleph has been making Almond Trees, which will be blossoming soon (although not in Canada)! Feel free to make one for your own at home too by checking this Almond Tree activity with Morah Jenny.
 
https://youtu.be/rqhgdLfZnOY

Upcoming Services and Events

Machaneh Shabbat
Saturday, January 16, 2021
9:00 AM (Machaneh Aleph), 9:30 AM (Machaneh Bet) – 10:30 AM, Zoom  

Mindfulness Shabbat Service
Saturday, January 16, 2021
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM, Zoom  

Chanting and Chocolate
Sunday, January 17, 2021
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM Zoom  

Reconstructionist News

A message from Reconstructing Judaism on the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6:
 
Reconstructionist Jews embrace living in both Jewish civilization and secular society. At the nexus of the Jewish and American civilizations is a wholehearted embrace of democracy. For us, democracy translates into practice the core principle of betzelem Elohim, the recognition that every individual is created in the image of God. Democracy advances millennia of Jewish experiments in self-governance, while also allowing deep and meaningful engagement with other ethnic and religious groups and full participation in broader society. Jews have flourished in democratic settings, and we have elevated democracy to the level of religious principle.
 
We watched in horror as an angry mob of armed militants, incited by the president of the United States and his enablers, stormed the Capitol to disrupt proceedings that would enact the will of our political system by certifying the election of a new president and vice president… [ continuing reading here]

OrH Members may be interested in some upcoming Recon events:
 
“God?: A Reconstructionist Conversation” - 2021 Virtual Day of Learning
Sunday, January 24, 2021, starting at 12:30 pm EST.

Schedule (all times are Eastern)
12:30 p.m. Welcome
12:45 p.m. God Café introduced by its creator, 4th Year Reconstructionist Rabbinical College student Sarah Brammer-Shlay, followed by small group discussions
1:45 p.m. Workshop Sessions
Teaching About God in a Reconstructionist Educational Setting
God in Pastoral Encounter
Praying With Your Feet
Praying Without God
God Through Our Hands/Hiddur Mitzvah (One of the panelists will be OrH Member Sarah Waisvisz) 
3:00 p.m. Panel Discussion: God? A Reconstructionist Conversation
4:30 p.m. Virtual Cocktail Hour

To register: https://na.eventscloud.com/website/20782/
Questions: Jackie Land  or Lani Moss. If you need help registering for the event, please reach out to Rachel Forth . 
 
How To Be An Inclusion Hero (Recon Community Live)
Sunday, February 7, 2021, 2:30 pm EST
Presenter: Kehillat Sukkat Shalom - Columbus, OH
Presenter email: joaniecalem@gmail.com
Come join JEOrg, the Jewish Educators Organization (Columbus, OH) in honoring JDAIM, Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month (February!) This year’s intergenerational event will be online of course. Come learn how to be an inclusion hero and defeat exclusion. Interactive activities for all ages. To register for this event, please email Joanie Calem, Education Coodinator, at joaniecalem@gmail.com. Click here to receive event details.
 
Neurodiversity and Inclusion: Lessons from Covid 19 and from the Torah (Recon Community Live)
Sunday, February 21, 2021, 7:00 pm EST
Presenter: Kehillat Sukkat Shalom - Columbus, OH
Presenter email: joaniecalem@gmail.com
In honor of JDAIM, Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month, (February!) please join us for an online conversation with Prof. Samuel Levine, Professor of Law, Director of the Jewish Law Institute, and founder of the Disability Rights and Inclusion Project at Touro Law Center, on the topic of: “Neurodiversity and Inclusion: Lessons from Covid 19 and from the Torah.” To register for this event, please email Joanie Calem, Education Coodinator, at joaniecalem@gmail.com. Click here to receive event details .

Reconstructing Judaism is changing the location where digital prayerbooks are stored. The new links are now hosted on the Reconstructing Judaism website and should be much more stable and accessible. These links are not visible on the main website. Although the old links will remain active for the time being, we strongly encourage you to switch to these new links as soon as possible. 
 
Daily Prayerbook
Shabbat Vehagim
Prayers for a House of Mourning
Machzor

The archive of back issues of Reconstructionism Today is available at: https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/newsletter-archive

In The Ottawa Community
* = New item this week
 
Community Events and Announcements

* Carleton's Religion and Public Life program presents the first lecture in the 2021 Edgar & Dorothy Davidson Lecture Series on Thursday, January 21, 2021 at 7:30 p.m.: Annamie Paul, the leader of the Green Party of Canada, will discuss her experience as a Black Jewish woman in politics and the lessons she has learned. Her talk, titled Intersections of Identity in Politics, will be followed by a moderated Q&A session. To register visit: https://carleton.ca/fass/event/intersections-of-identity-in-politics-with-green-party-leader-annamie-paul/

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.

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.

Board of Directors

January Board Chair: Elijah, elijah@orh.ca
Treasurer: Ari, treasurer@orh.ca
Interim Secretary: Kathy, secretary@orh.ca
Communications: David, communications@orh.ca
Membership: Barbara, membership@orh.ca
Learning: Diana, learning@orh.ca
Ritual/Many Hands: Shira, rituals@orh.ca ​​​​​​​
 Interim Member-at-Large: Elijah, elijah@orh.ca  
​​​​​​​Interim Member-at-Large: Carolyn, carolyn@orh.ca

Rabbi Elizabeth Bolton: rabbi@orh.ca
OrH Members are welcome to contact Rabbi Liz, the Hesed team (hesed@orh.ca),
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.