OrH Newsletter

Biweekly Newsletter

17 August 2021

Summer Rush

While we usually slow down a bit during the summer, the OrH board has been keeping busy, so strap in for a tightly-packed newsletter. Seeing so many of you at our recent events - in person! - has reinvigorated us immensely. With Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur coming up so soon, we want to keep the momentum going. So: renew, register, join us for Pride, and let’s celebrate the season together.

Celebrate the Days of Awe with us!

As we do every year, we open our doors, our hearts and our community to visitors to celebrate the High Holy Days. This year, with a few exceptions, we will be holding our services virtually. If you participated last year, you know that we still managed to create a meaningful and inclusive environment. The advantage of virtual is that we can welcome you, as you are, whoever you are, and wherever you are.
 
Please join us. Tishrey Visitors will have access to a full schedule of virtual gatherings in which to participate, all of them embodying the same thoughtfulness and energy, and intending the same spiritual and community uplift as in previous years. Check out the schedule here, including a link to an electronic copy of our High Holy Day machzor.
 
The suggested minimum donation for Tishrey Visitors this year is $108 (for one-adult households)/$180 (for two-adult households). This includes all services and events in the month of Tishrey for all members of your household. Students may join us for just $36 (and receive a full year's OrH membership). This donation level reflects the cost of delivering our High Holy Day services and events – costs that are not substantially different from our usual in-person services. At the same time, we appreciate that the pandemic may have caused hardship for some individuals and families. In those case, we encourage visitors to make a donation that corresponds to their personal circumstances, while respecting the membership and clergy that uphold our community.
 
If you are a longstanding Tishrey visitor with Or Haneshamah, welcome back. If you are new to us, you are wholeheartedly invited to join in. And tell your family and friends, near and far, to join you, and us, to celebrate the heart and soul of the Jewish year. Click on the "Register Here" button below.

For security reasons we require advance registration for all who wish to attend a service. Details are below. (As a reminder, Associate Members of Or Haneshamah who plan to join us for the High Holy Days should register as Tishrey Visitors.)

Membership in OrH
 
Consider joining our vibrant and inclusive community! We offer services, celebrations, talks and activities all year round. When you become a member, you help us expand our offerings, and you support our ongoing work. (And, if we may say, this coming year will be fantastic.)

There are only five days left to benefit from our Early Bird rate. While we include a suggested rate as part of your renewal, you can opt to contribute more than the standard amount. This system allows us to give rate reductions to those in need. As we are still a small congregation, these top-ups are immensely helpful, and help us remain flexible for members of all income levels. 

Moving Forward B’nai Mitzvah Program 
 
We are very pleased to share that we received a grant from the Jewish Federation of Ottawa to fund our new B’nai Mitzvah ‘Moving Forward’ diversity and inclusion program. 
Rabbi Liz and Morah Jenny will be working on this fantastic initiative together. This program will help us expand our offerings for our teen members, supported by a curriculum that is anti-racist, inclusive, and LGBTQ+ positive.

Healing the World - Anti-Racism at OrH
 
Following on from the ongoing work of the Tikkun Olam committee, OrH's Emancipation Day Shabbat on July 31 and the Reconstructionist Day on Learning on Reparations on August 8 (featuring OrH's Sarah Waiswisz as a speaker), the OrH Board signed onto the No Silence on Race Open Letter as well as the UN Decade for People of African Descent, previously signed onto by the Ottawa District School Board and several other religious organizations.

Rabbi Liz Bolton at Or Haneshamah 
 
After 8 years as our Rabbi (not including the time she spent here as a rabbinical student), Rabbi Liz is now on a perpetual contract! We are proud to have such a brilliant leader and teacher with us at Or Haneshamah. This also gives us a clear path as we grow our program offerings, and we are diving into planning mode.

Refugee Sponsorship
 
Are you interested in helping out with refugee sponsorship and settlement tasks? Or Haneshamah will be working with First Unitarian to co-sponsor a Syrian refugee family of nine people (including 6 children and one grandmother). The great news is that they already have a strong family support network in Ottawa, and they are trying to find a community to help sponsor their loved ones to come to Canada. We need to be able to raise the funds necessary to support this family for the mandatory one year period.
 
In order for this sponsorship to be possible, we would need a core team of volunteers to coordinate the refugee application process, and a larger team of people who would be willing to help with specific settlement related tasks once they arrive in 2-3 years. It would be helpful to have some people involved who have children, so they can provide referrals to services and school related resources.
 
If you are interested in helping with this important cause, please contact Carolyn at president@orh.ca

Upcoming Services and Events

Saturday, August 21 10:30-noon McNabb Park
Pride Shabbat, led by Rabbi Liz

(in person, outdoors and socially distanced, please bring masks)

Wednesdays, August 25 and September 1, 8pm EDT
Do We Need to Engage in Collective Teshuvah? Difficult Conversations on Israel
With Rabbi Brian Walt and Professor Joel Beinin - a rabbi and scholar focus on collective teshuvah (Zoom)

Saturday, August 28 8:30 - 9:30pm
Each Selihot, in preparation for the Days of Awe ahead, we consider what is important to us. Join us for a service of song, liturgy and creative collective artistry, introducing our New Torah Mantle with guest fabric artist Annie S. Kaufman (Zoom). 

Monday, Sep 6th 5pm to 7pm
Erev Rosh Hashanah
Join Morah Jenny and Rabbi Liz Rosh Hashanah seder with participatory maggid/story-telling featuring interactive play by Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, followed by the first service of the New Year. Seder begins at 5pm, followed by service at 6pm.
 
Tuesday, Sep 7th 9:30am to 2:00pm
Rosh Hashanah Day 1 Service
Prayer, Song, Reflections and Torah, ending with our family program (Zoom)
 
Tuesday, Sep 7th 4:00pm to 5:00pm Brentwood Park
Shofar & Tashlikh Experience
Join us outdoors and listen to the shofar ring out over the river; then complete the ritual of tashlikh with your fellow community members on the riverbanks. Please bring masks and meet at Brentwood Park in Old Ottawa East, by the water beyond the tennis courts.
 
Wednesday, Sep 8th 10:30am to 12:00pm
Rosh Hashanah Day 2 Text Study
Explore the New Year texts with members of OrH (Zoom)

Saturday, September 11th 10:30am - 12:00pm
Shabbat Shuvah
Join us for a special Shabbat Shuva service with our sister congregation Dorshei Emet of Montreal to reflect on this particular time in the Jewish year. Rabbi Liz will deliver a d'var Torah (Zoom).
 
Wednesday, September 15 6:15pm - 8:15pm
Kol Nidre
Experience the beauty of music and communal transcendence as we witness the approach of Yom Kippur (Zoom).

Reconstructionist News and Events

Listen: ‘Hashkiveinu Lullaby’
This choral setting, by Will Robertson, of the Hashkiveinu prayer from the evening liturgy was originally a lullaby he wrote for his daughter when she was a baby. It is performed by the Chorus of Congregation Bet Haverim in Atlanta. Sourced from ReconstructingJudaism.org

Listen: Spiritual Leadership in Times of Crisis
Rabbi Joshua Lesser explores the lessons he learned about community and vulnerability as an out gay rabbi during the height of the AIDS crisis and how that experience informs his work now. Sourced from Hashivenu: Jewish Teachings on Resilience

Convention 2022
From March 23 – 27, 2022 we will come together for B’Yachad: Reconstructing Judaism Together in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Over these four days, both in person and virtually, we will learn from and with experts, scholars and lay leaders. We will engage in conversations, ask questions, and listen. We will pray together, sing together, dance together and celebrate all that we do every day in our communities to reconstruct Judaism.  
Visit the Convention 2022 website here.

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

*JNF Family Pre-Shabbat Picnic in the Park (BBQ style)
Friday, August 27th, 5-7pm
OJCS Field, 31 Nadolny Sachs Private
Family-friendly community picnic

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

Chair: Carolyn, president@orh.ca 
Treasurer: Elijah, treasurer@orh.ca
Secretary: Nicola, secretary@orh.ca
Communications: Andrea, communications@orh.ca
Membership: Myrna, membership@orh.ca
Learning: Diana, learning@orh.ca
Ritual/Many Hands: Shira, rituals@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.