OrH Newsletter

Weekly Newsletter

30 October 2018

“We Are All Dor Hadash”
As we at Or Haneshamah learn about the shooting in Pittsburgh, the distance between our two communities shrinks. We stand side by side with our sister affiliate Dor Hadash, with the entire Tree of Life,
 
-Or L’Simcha community where Dor Hadash holds their services, and the Jewish community of Pittsburgh as we attempt to come to grips with the horror, the loss of life, and the profound violation of the sanctity of our sacred space.
 
Yes, it is our sacred space as well, for we share in the openness, the welcome and the value of welcoming the stranger that led Dor Hadash, along with many other synagogues across the US, to be marking National Refugee Shabbat.
 
Our sense of security has been pierced by armed hate. Our response must be to deploy connection, compassion, and solidarity. Our people have been targeted, and in our shock, fear, anger and brokenness, we must - we must - hold on to a vision of a world built of love, olam hesed (Psalm 89:3)
 
Hold each other, let others hold you. Cry out, lament. Rage, grieve. Know that there are as many different responses as there are humans, so let us all support each other, and the community around us.
 
Olam hesed yibaneh - we shall build a world from love. We shall stand together in the face of hate, of this tragic act of Anti-Semitism. We shall support the mourners, the survivors, and each other.
 
- Rabbi Liz

Guf Va’nefesh – Body-Mind-Spirit Integration Class
Explore the connections between body and mind at the next Guf Va’Nefesh class, led by OrH member Tana Saler, on Wednesday, November 7 (and on the first Wednesday of every month) in Room 5 at Unitarians.
 
Guf Va’Nefesh means literally Body and Mind (Soul). Simply expressed, your mind (thoughts and emotions) affects your body (i.e. posture, breathing, muscle tension) and your body state affects your state of mind. Experiencing and truly understanding the mind-body continuum has practical life applications, Tana demonstrates, for health, relationships, well-being, creativity and more. The goal of the workshop is for participants to acquire self-awareness and self-regulation skills for more peaceful, fulfilling and effective living.
 
Open to everyone at no cost. For more information, visit www.orh.ca/gufvanafesh

Upcoming Services and Events
 
Shabbat Morning Torah Service
Saturday, November 3, 2018
9:45 AM - 12:15 PM, Fellowship Hall, Unitarians

Roots and Reflections
Sunday, November 4, 2018
9:45 AM – 11:30 AM, Member's home.
RSVP to mindfulness@orh.ca
 
Guf Va'Nafesh: Mind-Body-Spirit Integration Class
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM, Room 5
 
Jewish Mindfulness Meditation
Thursday, November 8, 2018
6:45 PM - 8:00 PM, Room 5

Reconstructionist News
 
Reconstructionism Today
The latest issue of Reconstructionism Today can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/ydce3wxy. The archive of back issues are available at: https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/newsletter-archive.

In The Ottawa Community
* = New item this week
 
Community Events and Announcements
 
Double Threat - Book Talk with Ellin Bessner, Sunday, Nov. 4, 10:30 am - 12 pm at the SJCC, 21 Nadolny Sachs Pvt. Ellin - the granddaughter of one of Ottawa's founding Jewish families, the Lieff's - brings her book and research to the Soloway JCC for a community talk about Canada's Jewish Community, and how Ottawa responded to WWII with personnel, political support, and financial support. Her book includes the stories of well-known local families, among them, the Maser (9 children in uniform), Zelikovitz and Saslove families. Contact Roslyn Wollock at rwollock@jccottawa.com
 
Holocaust Education Month “Pop-Up Museum,” November 4, 2018 at 12:30 PM to 4:00 PM, Temple Israel, 1301 Prince of Wales Dr. In honour of Holocaust Education Month, the “Pop up Museum” will display Holocaust artefacts brought in by community members with explanations provided by Dr. Robert Ehrenreich of USHMM. To learn more about this event and about how you can participate, visit the Holocaust Education Month Pop-Up Museum 2018 web page: https://carleton.ca/hempopup/. Free and open to the public.
 
“Let the Artefacts Speak: Returning Humanity to Holocaust Victims” -
Lecture by Dr. Robert Ehrenreich of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. November 5, 2018 at 7:30 p.m., Temple Israel.  Six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. The number is staggering. It is the equivalent of almost seven Ottawas. How can we represent the magnitude of this crime without reducing the victims to mere numbers? How can we show, as Holocaust survivor Abel Herzberg said so well, that “There were not six million Jews murdered; there was one murder, six million times”? How do we convey that these were real people with real lives and families. In this presentation, I will discuss how personal items can turn the huge numbers of victims back into individuals and return their humanity, based on three case-studies: personal items discovered near shooting pits in Ukraine; damaged photographs from Poland; and a piece of mica from the Theresienstadt Glimmerwerke (mica works).
 
The Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship ( https://carleton.ca/ches /) will mark the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, and the launch the 2018 Holocaust Education Month on November 7th at 7:00 p.m. at Kehillat Beth Israel, 1400 Coldrey Avenue, with a keynote address delivered by Dr Michael Berenbaum, a leading Holocaust expert and one of the founders of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. And a Special Premiere Performance by Niv Ashkenazy: In tribute to the six million whose voices were silenced forever. Mr Ashkenazy, a virtuoso and classically trained student of Itzhak Perlman, will perform on a “VIOLIN OF HOPE” that was salvaged from the ashes of the Holocaust and lovingly restored by Amnon Weinstein in Israel.

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 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.

Potluck Protocol
Our community’s long time practice is to welcome egg, dairy and fish on the potluck table. Please label your meal contributions with all ingredients to help people with food allergies or sensitivities; also advise kitchen staff whether dish is to be served hot or cold.

We Are Listening
How do you feel things are going in our community? Do you have ideas about programs or events that we should pursue? What aspects of Or Haneshamah do you feel are working well, and what do you think can be improved?  In the interest of making OrH the best community that it can be, the board and rabbi invite you to submit comments and feedback at any time. Please send your thoughts to  feedback@orh.ca  or directly to any member of the board (email addresses below).

Board of Directors

Interim President (until Dec 2018): Monica, president@orh.ca
Treasurer: Jacob, treasurer@orh.ca
Interim Secretary (until Dec 2018): Martine, secretary@orh.ca
Communications: David, communications@orh.ca
Learning: Michael, learning@orh.ca
Membership: Barbara, membership@orh.ca
Member-at-Large (Hesed/Caring Committeee): Jean, member-at-large.jean@orh.ca
Member-at-Large: Sharon, member-at-large.sharon@orh.ca
Interim Member-at-Large (until Dec 2018): Halina, member-at-large.halina@orh.ca
Interim Member-at-Large (until Dec 2018): Sarah member-at-large-sarah@orh.ca
Past President: Paula, past-president@orh.ca

 
Rabbi Elizabeth Bolton: rabbi@orh.ca
Members are welcome to contact Rabbi Liz, 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.