OrH Newsletter

Biweekly Newsletter

2 February 2022

A Month of NEW

We may be staring down the cool gaze of February, but this will be a great month for OrH events. We had our very first Liturgy 101 class (did you know there are options for gender-neutral prayers?!) and our very first 4th Shabbat morning service. Our Shmooze n’ Learn this month will be poignant, and we will hold a special Shabbat service for Disability and Inclusion month. Join us for a month of connection and learning - we promise spring is just around the corner!

Jewish Disability and Inclusion Month (JDAIM) 

Along with synagogues across North America, we dedicate this upcoming Shabbat service in honour of Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month, an initiative first launched in 2009. We’ll open our minds and hearts to voices about special needs from in and around our community. Join Rabbi Liz and guest speakers as we pray, sing, learn and explore how we can all embrace and advocate for a whole and holy inclusivity in Jewish communal spaces. The morning will include video clips from the movie Just As I Am, about the Montreal Shira Choir led by Hazzan Danny Benlolo.
Here are a few links where you can get more information about #JDAIM 2022 in OTTAWA:
https://jewishottawa.com/events/jdaim-jewish-disabilities-awareness-acceptance-and-inclusion
https://www.tamir.ca/webinars/
https://www.friendshipcircleottawa.com/programs
https://inclusioninnovations.com/jdaim/

Repairing the World

You are Invited! The Repairing the World group had an extremely informative year of learning last year, about anti-racism, and more specifically Black anti-racism. The group feels it is time to move towards action. Through a facilitated process, we will start the conversation about what actions we at OrH want to undertake. So if  this interests you and you would like your voice to be heard, please come to our meeting to help us plan next steps.
Date: Monday, Feb 7, 2022
Time 3:00 to 5:00 pm
Zoom Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkd-6pqTMqGtTFzdeSwoNwcR-UoGsGThKN
Please register ASAP and come to the meeting a few minutes early as we will start promptly at 3:00 pm.
Any questions: call Monica at 613 728-0045, or monica.rosenthal18@gmail.com

OrH Annual Fundraiser

We’ve made it halfway up the mountain; can you help us reach the top? So far we have raised over $17,000, and it has been so exciting watching the needle creep up on our 5782 Annual Campaign donation meter! The funds we raise during our annual fundraising drive go to paying for essential costs and core activities for our community. The more we are able to collect; the more opportunities we can craft for our members throughout the year. We encourage you to give what you can to help us reach our $32,000 goal! Questions? Email our treasurer, who will be happy to assist you.  

From all of us in the Or Haneshamah community, we would like to say a heartfelt thank you to the following individuals and households who have contributed to our campaign this year. Your support is truly essential and incredibly important to us.

New in Our Service Schedule:

4th Shabbat Morning Services
 
Starting January 29, join Shira as she davens (prays) a traditional Shabbat morning service on Zoom. Traditional but still Reconstructionist, these services will be conducted with more Hebrew and lots of singing. These services will be slightly less interactive and will include less English, but provide a chance to sink into the melodies and prayers and to enjoy the flow of morning blessings, psalms of praise, the Shema and the Amidah. As time and interest permits there will be an informal discussion of the parashah. These services will be listed in our events as we get closer to the date.

Liturgy 101 - A Practical Course
 
What exactly goes on in a Shabbat morning service? What is the structure of the service? What are the essential prayers? This course is for anyone who would like to know more about our Reconstructionist Shabbat liturgy but will be aimed particularly toward those just beginning to explore Jewish liturgy. The course is intended to be practical, enabling people to participate and even lead elements of a service. A familiarity with the Hebrew alphabet is helpful but not necessary. (A free course to learn or review the alphabet can be found here.) The course will include learning melodies, blessings, and essential liturgical terms. Class sessions will be recorded to be posted on the OrH website along with course resources. The course is free to members (with donations suggested and appreciated). Questions and registration: email rituals@orh.ca
 
Next class is February 14, 7:30-8:45 PM on Zoom (and every other Monday thereafter)

Virtual Tours of Israel - LIVE

The virtual tours of Israel online curriculum is now live. It can be accessed at the following website:

https://vimeo.com/showcase/8936204
Password: ORHANESHAMA

There are  a total of 17 chapters divided into 60 short videos. The content in the link is arranged in the ideal order to be viewed.

There are 2 ways to view the content:

1. Short clips. This allows a short break between the videos in the chapter and may be used to stir conversation and debate in the houses. The current link holds a total of 60 of those (average chapter is 3-4 videos but some may be more or less).
2. Longer pieces. This allows continuous viewing of each chapter as a whole with no breaks in between. 

The link provided allows access to all the short chapters (Tzipori 1, 2 & 3 as an example) and if they just let it run it would automatically move to the next one in the order set. 

OrH will have access to all of the content until Pesach 2022. Shai Nahon, the guide, has also kindly offered to host an interactive Zoom session in the winter so that we can experience a live discussion on a topic of interest, hopefully inspired by the curriculum. 

If any member is having issues accessing the content, please email Ben Sohmer (bensohmer@yahoo.ca) for assistance.

Upcoming Services and Events

Shabbat Morning Torah Service -- Observing JDAIM
Saturday, February 5 10:30am to noon
Zoom 

Repairing the World - Tikkum Olam
Monday, February 7 3:00pm to 5:00pm
The Repairing the World group had an extremely informative year of learning last year, about anti-racism, and more specifically Black anti -racism. The group feels it is time to move towards action. Through a facilitated process, we will start the conversation about what actions we at OrH want to undertake. So if  this interests you and you would like your voice to be heard, please come to our meeting to help us plan next steps. 
Please register ASAP and come to the meeting a few minutes early as we will start promptly at 3:00 pm.

Rabbi Brant Rosen, “Decolonizing Jewish Liturgy”
Wednesday, February 9h 8:00pm to 9:30pm
Please join us for the next in the exciting speaker series: “Reconstructionists Expanding our Conversations about Israel/Palestine”  Click here to register for the entire free series.
 
Schmooze ‘n Learn: Conversations about Truth and Reconciliation
Sunday, February 13 10:30am-12:00pm
Nancy Dyson and Dan Rubenstein will speak about their troubling experiences as childcare workers at an Indigenous residential school in 1970, and the implications of that now that the unmarked graves of children have been revealed.  Their book, St. Michael’s Residential School was released in 2021.
More information here.

Reconstructionist News and Events

Convention 2022 
B'Yachad: Reconstructing Judaism Together
Convention Registration opens Sunday, September 26!
Come gather together from March 23 – 27, 2022 for B’Yachad: Reconstructing Judaism Together. 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. Our convention will take place in the versatile spaces of the beautiful Hilton McLean Tysons Corner hotel, located in the Chesapeake region. Reserve a hotel room for our convention at a special rate.

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

Kamionkowski Bet Midrash is offering 50% off their online Classic Hebrew Fundamentals course. This class is for folks who can read Hebrew, but who may not understand it. Take advantage of this amazing deal!
The school is also offering a new webinar series which will run for four sessions on Mondays. The series is an introduction to the Book of Exodus as understood by biblical scholars. There are careful readings of the plague narratives, the famous Hollywood splitting of the sea, and more! If you can't make a session, no problem - you can access the recordings. You can sign up for the webinar series here .

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 ​​​​​​​
Interim Member-at-Large: Lyn, lyn@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.