Saturday, May 14, 2022
Friday, March 13, 2022
Sharoni Sibony
Every year, as we count the Omer and Shavuot approaches, I turn up Patty Griffin’s stunning tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., “Up to the Mountain.” Although Griffin was inspired by MLK’s final speech – “I’ve Been Up to the Mountaintop,” delivered on April 3, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, the night before he was assassinated – the lyrics always put me in mind of Moses walking out alone to receive the revelation of the Torah on our collective behalf:
I went up to the mountain
Because you asked me to…
Sometimes I feel like
I’ve never been nothing but tired
And I’ll be walking
Till the day I expire…
Some days I look down
Afraid I will fall
And though the sun shines
I see nothing at all
Then I hear your sweet voice, oh
Oh, come and then go, come and then go
Telling me softly
You love me so
The peaceful valley
Just over the mountain
The peaceful valley
Few come to know
I may never get there
Ever in this lifetime
But sooner or later
It’s there I will go…
For many years, when I worked at the Miles Nadal JCC planning the Downtown Tikkun Leil Shavuot, our team tried to create mountaintop moments – joyous learning experiences that lasted until the wee hours of the morning, when we’d arrive, in a state of fatigue and elation, onto the roof of the MNjcc to greet the sunrise. Some of you came along with us for the ride, either for part or for the whole. Our classrooms burst to the seams, teeming with 750 people learning Torah and Talmud or Jewish art and architecture, discussing contemporary social justice issues, singing, and baking cheesecake.
“Mountaintop moments” change something inside of us, shift our perspective and compel us to pray and work for a better world. Like Moses, we reach out to connect with something greater than ourselves and come down from the mountain, inspired and with renewed purpose.
This year, we offer you two chances to connect with the mountaintop as we celebrate Z’man Matan Torateinu, the Time of the Giving of our Torah. On June 4th, we welcome back to Holy Blossom Rabbi Joan Friedman, the first woman rabbi to serve a Canadian congregation (as Holy Blossom’s Assistant Rabbi from 1980-81), to reflect upon the evolution of Jewish law through the lens of Reform Responsa. And later that night, Sinai also returns to Spadina for an in-person outdoor gathering hosted by the Miles Nadal JCC and many of our community partners, at which Rabbi Splansky will be teaching.
I hope to see you at the mountain.
By Gillian Rosenberg
The shoulders we stand on
On October 26, 1921, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, 60 women met in a classroom of Holy Blossom’s Bond Street Synagogue to form a sisterhood. The Chair of the meeting was 27-year-old Rebecca Brickner, wife of Holy Blossom’s first Reform rabbi and a highly accomplished woman in her own right.
As a first step in defining their role at Holy Blossom and within the Jewish community, they identified 4 priorities:
100 years of service
Over the 100 years that followed that meeting, Sisterhood consistently devoted both human and financial resources to these priority areas and several others, in order to strengthen Holy Blossom Temple, to develop programs for Holy Blossom and the broader Jewish community, to provide leadership and representation within and beyond our congregation, and to support other Jewish institutions. Here’s a snapshot.
Holy Blossom Temple
Programming
Leadership and Representation
Jewish Institutions
Continuing the legacy
COVID-19 did not slow us down. We took the time to reinvent as Women of Holy Blossom (WHB). We re-branded around welcoming and celebrating all who identify as female and/or are comfortable in female spaces and with female experiences. We partnered with Women’s Advocacy Group (WAG), which provides educational programs on social, cultural, and political issues of interest to women. And we crafted a new mission that honours and extends the 1921 priorities, that addresses current challenges faced by women and Jews, and that builds toward a relevant and productive future. All that to say, this is not your grandma’s sisterhood, and yet, it is.
On June 2, we’ll celebrate 100 years with an evening event featuring Annamie Paul—lawyer, activist, and former Green Party of Canada Leader. In a pre-recorded address, Annamie Paul will share her thoughts on Jewish women’s leadership and engage in conversation with Rabbi Yael Splansky.
Please join us, virtually or in person. Information and registration can be found at https://holyblossom.org/event/women-of-holy-blossom-celebrates-100-years/.
For more about us, follow Women of Holy Blossom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and see our mission on the Holy Blossom website at https://holyblossom.org/groups-and-programs/.
Yom Huledet Sameach, WHB!
Serving as a rabbi at Holy Blossom implies partnering with a range of Temple constituencies, each in a different way: the Youth Education Center, Interfaith Committee, and the Women of Reform Judaism, among others. At this moment, I am with pride able to look both back and ahead on the unfolding of projects that have brought and will continue to bring further esteem to our remarkable congregation. Each venture is – in its own special way – a fount of inspiration, for me and all who are invested in them.
As a member of our Temple clergy, my portfolio includes being present for shacharit on Monday mornings in our Herman Chapel. Over the course of forty-five minutes, I participate in worship, teach Torah and – most importantly of all – connect with the many congregants who attend this service virtually or in person. What a wonderful way to begin the day.
Within the Youth Education Center, I am a resource person for all grades, guide to the Confirmation class, and co-leader of our Sunday morning t’filah experience. How rewarding and uplifting are the sights and sounds of youth learning together in our beautiful Temple building!
Last month, the Interfaith Committee organized an excellent online Passover seder, within which sixty persons – besides myself, and representing an array of our community’s faith groups – participated. As well, both Interfaith Committee representatives and Youth Education Center students were guests of the Imdadul Islamic Center – a valued friend of Holy Blossom – at the conclusion of Ramadan for a dynamic evening of learning, socializing, and feasting.
On June 2 the Women of Holy Blossom will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of our Temple Sisterhood, an event that transpired under the wise and determined guidance of Rebecca Brickner, spouse of our congregation’s first Reform spiritual leader Rabbi Barnet Brickner. In addition to an array of speakers and visual presentations, the program will include – with my guidance – a dramatic re-creation of the first Sisterhood gathering in October of 1921 at the Temple on Bond Street. Actors, musicians, tech persons, and Women of Holy Blossom leaders have all begun this exciting work!
Founts of inspiration: they sustain and enrich our Temple life. How fortunate I am for the opportunity to contribute to their achievements. And how blessed are we all for the abundance of skills, gifts, and devotion that our members bring to Holy Blossom in their entirety. Our cup runs over! As the words of our sages remind us: Hazak, Hazak V’Nithazek. Strong, strong…and let us continue to be strong.
1950 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5P 3K9
(416) 789-3291
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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.