Sharoni Sibony, Adult Education Department
I once spent an amazing February day at Kew Gardens, London, where I caught sight of bright pink flowers as I was walking through a snow flurry. That image has stayed with me as a symbol of hope pushing through hardship, of growth and hibernation coexisting in the same moment. As we come up to Tu B’Shevat, I’m thinking about it again.
Tu B’Shevat is our new year for fruit trees. Before the rabbis established an annual birthday for all trees, farmers in Biblical times had to know when each tree was “born” and had to wait until the end of the tree’s third year – a maturation period – before they could harvest its fruit, first for the Temple priests in the tree’s fourth year and then in subsequent years for their own sustenance. When the trees were but seedlings or saplings, of course, there was no fruit to harvest. As soon as there was fruit to harvest, they celebrated all its possibilities – including the seeds of new growth that the fruits now contained.
Sometimes when we look at a tree’s growth only above ground, we can forget how much growth is happening below the surface of the soil. We see trunks and branches stretching out seasonally, but some trees grow their roots year-round. We can take comfort in the notion that even when we feel like we’re struggling or pruning in our own lives, there is something sustaining us below the surface, a seed or a light that’s just waiting to push through.
On Sunday, January 16 at 3:30 PM, I’ll be hosting a Creative Commentary workshop in honour of Tu B’Shevat. Together, we’ll explore some texts that will inspire our own writing or art-making about the themes of the holiday. We’ll ask each other questions like: What are you planting at this moment? What are you harvesting? What are you gathering, and what are you letting go of? Watch next week’s On the Horizon for the registration details.
And if you’re looking for a cool Tu B’Shevat tzedakah project, you can help with seed conservation efforts to preserve the planet’s biodiversity for future generations. You can adopt a seed through the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Gardens, which is a massive seed conservation bank, run in extraordinary partnership with 97 countries around the globe. And here in Canada, the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security is also working to preserve the seeds of our tree species.
We are pleased to announce that Rachel Saslove has joined the Holy Blossom professional team as Interim Director of Membership & Community Engagement. Abigail Nemzer (formerly Carpenter-Winch) will work with Rachel over the next few weeks to ensure a smooth transition to handover leading these important areas of Temple during Abigail’s parental leave.
Rachel, a.k.a “Sas”, brings a wealth of experience to Holy Blossom Temple through her extensive work as a professional in the Jewish Camping world in both the US and Canada, as well as through her professional and volunteer roles at various other Jewish Community organizations in Toronto such as the UJA, Taglit Birthright Israel, March of the Living International, URJ Camp George, and Hillel of Greater Toronto. Sas is no stranger to Holy Blossom Temple as she grew up in the Reform movement in Toronto and has fond memories of city-wide youth group events at Temple.
We are thrilled that Sas has joined the HBT Professional team and want to take this opportunity to wish Abigail and her family all the best!
Rachel Saslove can be reached at [email protected] and she will take over extension 232. If you’d like to introduce yourself and get to know Sas, she will be holding “get to know you” office hours over the month of January as below. Simply click on the Zoom link during one of those times, no appointment necessary. If you would prefer to schedule time to meet with Sas one on one, please use this link to schedule an appointment: www.calendly.com/rsaslove.
Times for “get to know you” office hours:
Tues. Jan 18th and Thurs. Jan 20th from 1pm – 2:00pm
Mon., Jan 24th and Wed. Jan 26th from 3pm – 4pm
Mon. Jan 31st and Wed. Feb 2nd from 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Tues. Feb 1st and Thurs. Feb 3rd from 3pm – 4pm
Zoom link:
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Meeting ID: 844 9913 8101
Passcode: 405484
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My dear Holy Blossom congregants and friends,
It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that I report to you the passing of my and our dear friend Professor Dr. Cantor Joe Levine z”l, on December 30, 2021. Joe was one of the most distinguished members of our Cantors Assembly. Cantor Joe Levine was one of my dearest and closest friends who guided mentored and was my personal teacher for many decades since my arrival to the USA.
Cantor Joe Levine was a devoted and loyal friend of Holy Blossom Temple. His constant visits to our congregation as a private worshiper on High Holidays Shabbat and festivals, as his gracious presence as a scholar in residence on several occasions, left a significant print on our congregation’s musical life. It was his influence and positive constructive inputs as to how when and what we would choose to offer and teach the congregation an authentic “Musical diet”, insisting on community participation through inspiration and skills of collective singing. He taught us how to create the sacred space in time through a meaningful high-level worship experience. “RISE AND BE SEATED” his second book was largely influenced by his personal experience at HBT, especially 2nd day RH and YK afternoon. It is then when he concluded: THE PARGDYM EXAMPLE OF A LIBERAL AND TRADITIONAL SYSTEM OF HOLY BLOSSOM TEMPLE” Joe developed much of his outlook on modern styles in Cantorial and Liturgical music taking in the high level and the musical sophistication he experienced here at Holy Blossom Temple.
Among his many accomplishments to mention only a few, Cantor Joe was the editor for many years of the Cantors Assembly Journal of Synagogue music. That was but one aspect of his accomplished career.
A disciple of Hazzan Abba Weisgal, Joe was also a first-rate pulpit Hazzan.
He received his Doctoral Ph.D. degree on the work of his teacher Abba Weisgal in 1981 from the Jewish Theological Seminar
Joe was a beloved instructor in the Cantorial School at JTS. Beyond that, he was an author, lecturer and even an artist. I personally have a large collection of incredible sketches he created for every occasion he saw fit. A book of his portraits was recently published by the CA depicting cantors and musicians in various moods.
I was privileged and honoured to be asked by the family of which we have been in close and deep friendship, to officiate and lead the funeral service.
This thought came to my mind as I began after chanting the opening Psalms.
“MISHICHMO VA’MA’ALAH” “HIGHER THAN YOUR STATURE”
“ATA ALITA AL KULANU” “YOU SURPASSED US ALL”
With your wit charm wisdom scholarship “MENCHLECHKEIT” kindness teachings writing endless publications and mostly the authentic and imaginable ingenuity of combining antiquity and modernity through the spine and thread of time and space.
Even as we socialized years after years we had some fiery discussions about what is trivial and what is of quality. There was never a moment of “SICHAH L’VATALAH” a trivial moment of discussion. Joe in his endless original imagination analyzed in a macro and micro way every nuance Gracenote as he did with a massive piece of a Liturgical text.
Joe’s favourite poem was Yehudah Haleivi’s “MI YITNEIENI” which I commissioned Hazzan Jerome Kopmar and was sung here at the opening of our YK afternoon service. Joe Asked that I sing his own abbreviated version of this complex composition at his funeral. I do it with the greatest of honour and I hope you hear its haunting whisper my dearest friend. Rest in Peace. TANUACH B’SHALOM
I will miss your loving guidance for the rest of my life.
Cantor Emeritus Beny Maissner
Rabbi Bill S. Tepper
Only one person was at first created, so that none should say to her or his fellow human being: ‘my ancestor is greater than your ancestor.’
Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5
As a student rabbi, my initial experience in leadership unfolded in a church in a small Indiana community, generously lent to the congregation I was serving in the understanding that the congregation had no physical home of its own.
In the years since my ordination, I have visited – in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Winnipeg, Manitoba, among other locales – churches and mosques many times: to address worshippers as guest-clergy, teach Bible, serve on social justice panels, and accompany my congregational youth and adult members in the name of experiential education.
As well, I have been privileged to have my clergy colleagues of other faiths speak from my own pulpit: for U.S. Thanksgiving, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and the anniversary of 9/11.
I cannot overstate the value of interfaith activity. I cannot amplify the importance of extending hands, minds, hearts, and spirits across religious lines. We learn from one another. We acquire a more-global view of the communities that are our homes. We appreciate the imperative of being on-call for each other. And we establish enduring friendships.
For these reasons, I am proud to be participating in the work undertaken by Holy Blossom Temple’s Interfaith Committee, a group that played an integral role in the success of our congregation’s recent Indigenous Memorial Program and Gifts of Light Concert.
Holy Blossom’s energetic Interfaith Committee has several worthy projects planned for 2022, all of which involve partnerships with other faith groups, and that are blessed with the ingenuity and devotion of Temple volunteers: a multifaith Passover seder, a project devoted to First Nations learning and engagement, a tikkun olam undertaking, and participation in the upcoming World Interfaith Harmony Week. Living in a world plagued by ignorance, xenophobia and mistrust, these endeavours will go a long way towards enlarging our capacity for compassion, understanding and justice.
Please contact me – Rabbi Bill S. Tepper – to learn more about Holy Blossom Temple’s Interfaith work.
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.