Planning a Seder can take a lot of work and creativity in a typical year.
Holy Blossom is here to help! We will be hosting a Virtual Passover Seder that you are warmly invited to. We are also pleased to be able to offer our members the opportunity to have their Passover Seders catered by local Caterers! Click the links below for delicious options for your Seder!
Please turn to the below resources for inspiration and to renew your Seder ritual. From sharing videos on zoom, to new family haggadot like this CCAR Haggadah, we at Holy Blossom are happy to provide resources to help us all move mentally from slavery to liberation.
JIAS Passover Supplement: Connect Passover with Refugees Today
This year as we recall the story of the Israelites fleeing Egypt in search of freedom, we will be thinking of the millions of Ukrainians who are enslaved by war and violence – including the 200,000 Jewish Ukrainians who are either in danger or displaced. The crisis in Ukraine compounds an ongoing and fast-growing world refugee crisis of catastrophic proportions. Almost 30 million people around the world have been forced to flee their country of origin in pursuit of safety and basic human rights. The JIAS Toronto Passover Supplement provides stories of 21st-century refugees, reminds us that we too were once strangers in a strange land, and challenges us to think about how we can help “welcome the stranger”.
JIAS is at the forefront of providing services that help immigrants and refugees on their own journey to freedom today. Click here to download the JIAS Passover Supplement and be part of this effort.
“Dayeinu”
by Rabbi Yael Splansky
The Toronto Star https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/04/08/passover-during-a-pandemic-from-degradation-to-exultation.html
“Expressions of Gratitude, even now”
By Rabbi Yael Splansky
If only my loved ones and I were healthy,
Dayeinu.
If only my government were good and trustworthy and proactive,
Dayeinu.
If only the medical professionals were showing up to work every day, despite the risks,
Dayeinu.
If only the grocery stores and pharmacies were still open to provide for the essentials of life,
Dayeinu.
If only I had a phone line to hear the voices of those I love,
Dayeinu.
If only I had internet access to connect with my congregation for prayer and sacred learning,
Dayeinu.
If only I had books on my shelf to read,
Dayeinu.
If only I could listen to the music that I love,
Dayeinu.
If only I could go outside or open a window for fresh air,
Dayeinu.
If only the sun came up each morning and set each evening, come what may,
Dayeinu.
If only I had good neighbours who are there for me if I ever need help,
Dayeinu.
If only I had a tablecloth and candlesticks to make “this night different from all other nights.”
If only I had the Jewish story to transport me from the narrow places of Egypt to the wide, open expanses of the wilderness, where God is near and the Promised Land is on the horizon,
Dayeinu.
May this Passover bring us from “degradation to exultation,” from the low places of captivity to the higher ground of health and hope for the future.
“A Passover”
after Rabbi Yael Splansky
By Gary Barwin
If my dove is good
If your coat and phone are open
If you were the only lioness or were paralyzed
If only I were a boomerang
If I could go outside or open the kissing cabinet
If the sun shines on each motel
If you had a door so you could sing
Hope which brings you from the cloak of the world to the scorching heat and soup to the galaxy
For now, my only friend is health.
This year of harsh separation has given us a taste of the bitterness and tear-filled sorrow our ancestors faced in Egypt. Instead of glossing over the feelings of pain and pretending they don’t exist, we bless the bitter, respecting and acknowledging it, before mixing it with the sweet.
1950 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5P 3K9
(416) 789-3291
[email protected]
Emergency Funeral Contact
Cell: 416-565-7561
Founded in 1856, Holy Blossom Temple is Toronto’s first synagogue with a rich history of tradition and modernity in our religious and spiritual expression.