OrH Newsletter

Weekly Newsletter

9 March 2021

Schmooze ‘n Learn: Sitcoms and Jewish Identities

When people think of Jewish sitcoms, they think Seinfeld and Curb your Enthusiasm. But the marriage of Jewish life and sitcoms neither begins nor ends with Jerry and Larry. In fact, without Jews, there would be no sitcoms at all. As the descendant of Yiddish folklore and Borscht Belt-era entertainment, the Jewish roots of the contemporary sitcom run deep. Jewish humour and history provide the foundations for television comedy in ways that are not as obvious as one would think. In this informative and informal presentation, Jennifer Cherniak will trace television’s Jewishness from the first broadcasts to the latest webisodes. Jennifer is an artist and arts administrator in Ottawa. She makes art about language - the common, and not so common ways in which we communicate information - with a particular interest in television, the internet, and humour. Join us on Sunday, March 14 at 10:30 am for 30 minutes of schmooze followed by Jennifer’s presentation. More information here.

A Brief History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
 
Join us on Wednesday, March 17 at 7 for the second in our series on the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with Rabbi Maurice Harris, Associate Director for Thriving Communities and Israel Affairs Specialist at Reconstructing Judaism. The topic is, “The Founding of Israel, the Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Crisis, and a Chronic Stalemate (1947-67).” To register, and to view a recording of the first session, visit: www.orh.ca/event/israel-palestine.

Ruach Shabbat
 
Bedikat/Searching for Leaven, Saturday, March 20, 10:30am-noon.
Between the new moon of Nisan and the full moon, the night of the first seder, many engage in clearing out hametz – the stuff of leaven and yeast - from their homes. On this shabbat before Passover we’ll prepare our spiritual spaces by looking at the hametz of our souls and spirits. Join Rabbi Liz for a morning service of singing and contemplation, along with texts and kavanot to inspire and inform our Passover preparations. Consider this article, and this poem, for your bedikat hametz. More information here.

Celebrate Passover with OrH
 
First Night Seder Kick-Off
Passover is just around the corner, and we are creatively preparing our homes and heart for seders. Join Rabbi Liz, Morah Jenny and the community for an early first-night of Passover gathering on Saturday, March 27, 5:00 pm – 5:45 pm. With your own seder just about ready, we’ll lift our spirits together with song and greeting on this, our festival celebrating renewal and freedom. Be ready to bless, dip, and sing!
 
Join or Host a Virtual Seder!
While we can’t share a physical table and food, we can still welcome guests for the spiritual sustenance of community. Are you planning a virtual seder to which you would welcome more guests? Are you looking for a virtual seder to join? Whether you are a potential host or would like to be hosted, please indicate your interest as soon as possible by contacting rituals@orh.ca and we will help you connect.
 
For more information visit: www.orh.ca/event/passover2021

Upcoming Services and Events

Machaneh Shabbat
Saturday, March 13, 2021
9:00 AM (Machaneh Aleph), 9:30 AM (Machaneh Bet) – 10:30 AM, Zoom 

Schmooze 'n Learn: Sitcoms and Jewish Identities
Sunday, March 14, 2021
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom  
 
BaMa'gal B'nei Mitzvah Group
Sunday, March 14, 2021
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM, Zoom  

Ruach Shabbat
Saturday, March 20, 2021
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM, Zoom  
 
Passover Seder Kick-Off
Saturday, March 27, 2021
5:00 PM - 5:45 PM, Zoom  

Reconstructionist News and Events

Jews, Race and Religion. We invite you to attend a free online lecture series, continuing through April 22, which focuses on intersections of race and religion, drawing lessons from the history of antisemitism, examining the role of Jews in the racialized culture of the United States and exploring the role of race in Jewish identity. For more information or to register, please click here. Presented by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College's Center for Jewish Ethics and the University of Pennsylvania's Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies.
 
Adult B’nei Mitzvah Program.  As a prequel to next year's Convention and in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Judith Kaplan Eisenstein becoming a Bat Mitzvah, we are offering a once-a-month virtual class for those who are studying for their B-Mitzvah or recommitting to Reconstructionist learning. The goal of this class is for adult learners to engage with the movement in exploring evolving Reconstructionist thought and practice. Learn more & register here.

Reconstructing Judaism Names Rabbi Sandra Lawson Inaugural Director of Racial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We are honored to welcome Rabbi Sandra Lawson, RRC '18, as our inaugural Director of Racial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Working with senior staff, lay leaders, clergy, rabbinical students and Reconstructionist communities, Rabbi Lawson will help Reconstructing Judaism strive to become an anti-racist organization and movement.

Prayerbooks
Reconstructing Judaism has changed 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

In addition, you can now access the Reconstructionist Haggadah, A Night of Questions:
A Night of Questions  

If you would like to have a physical copy of this Haggadah as well, please click here to purchase.

If you would like to make a gift in appreciation of the digital download, please click here.

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

*Mary Jane Ainslie, “Challenging Antisemitism in Contemporary Maylasia,” Wednesday, March 10 at 7:30 pm EST. To attend, email michaelabaxleaney@outlook.com for Zoom link.
 
*The Jewish Studies program and the Center for Israel Studies at American University presents, “The Ravine: A Family, A Photograph, A Holocaust Massacre,” with author Wendy Lower. March 11, 11:20 am EST. Wendy Lower's extraordinary detective work identifies a Jewish family, their Nazi murderer and the photographer who caught the image. RSVP here.

*Ottawa Virtual Limmud. We wish we could Limmud with you in person but here is the next best thing… Limmud virtual sessions! We will be bringing high quality learning opportunities over 2021 in virtual format. The first session takes place Sunday, March 14, 2:00-3:30 pm EST, “Shira Tzefonit/Northern Poetry: An Online Anthology of Jewish Canadian Poets,” featuring, Karen Shenfeld, Rona Shaffran, B. Glen Rotchin, and Seymour Mayne. Free, but registration required at http://limmudottawa.ca/. 

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

March 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.