Last week Special Envoy Deborah Lyons announced that she was stepping down from her position after two years. You can read the Canadian Jewish News coverage at this link.
We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to the Special Envoy, and to her office, for her hard work and tireless efforts to safeguard the Jewish community of Canada.
Over the last two years, and in a large part because of her hard work, the IHRA definition of antisemitism has received critical support and attention across Canada. The Canadian Handbook on the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism is a pivotal project that helps the Jews of Canada, and our allies, effectively combat and define Jew hatred in our country and beyond.
Irwin Cotler, and other leading Jewish voices, have praised Lyons’ dedication and hard work. Cotler writes “I regret that Deborah Lyons is leaving her post. She has been a very effective and engaged Special Envoy… I look forward to continuing to work with her in common cause.”
Special Envoy Lyons visited Holy Blossom Temple in November of last year. You can watch her fireside chat with Advocacy Committee member Tom Friedland here. Her message from that evening is still vital and relevant today. Concerned citizens of this country must do everything in our power to combat antisemitism.
Learn more about Advocacy@HBT here.
Our community is facing serious challenges, and we need your voice. Today, we’re highlighting an opportunity and urgent opportunities to stand up for Jewish safety and values in Canada.
Take action this week to help protect our community from hate and extremism:
Stop Kneecap and Bob Vylan and Urge the Government to Deny Their Entry to Canada.
Two extremist musical groups, Kneecap and Bob Vylan, have come under international condemnation for their hate-filled rhetoric and actions. From chanting “Death to the IDF” at a music festival in Glastonbury to displaying a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London, these acts clearly cross the line into incitement and hate speech.
While other G7 nations have taken action, the U.K. has launched criminal investigations, and the U.S. State Department has revoked their visas; Canada has yet to respond.
Kneecap is currently scheduled to perform in Toronto and Vancouver this fall. This is a matter of public safety and Canadian values.
Join CIJA in calling on the Government of Canada to deny entry to both bands and ensure our country does not become a platform for extremism and hate.
Let’s send a clear message: there is no place for hate in Canada.
Learn more about Advocacy @ HBT here.
By Or Litchi Yoel
Before coming to [Camp Shalom], I shared a personal post on Facebook that received over 1,000 likes from the Jewish community. There’s one paragraph I want to share with you here, because it touches on why I kept some distance until now:
“…This past winter, I had to step back to take care of my mental health. It wasn’t easy being away, especially from the people and places that matter most — like Holy Blossom Temple, where I was embraced with love from day one…”
When I first came to the Temple, I was searching for answers — mainly, “what is wrong with me?” I didn’t find the answer there, but something else happened. Something I still can’t fully explain: a deep energy, especially during Kabbalat Shabbat, and the warmth of remarkable people. It wasn’t something to rely on — it was something to carry with me.
That’s why I chose to take my healing journey away from Temple, with a heart full of longing. Around January, the combat PTSD from the war hit harder than I expected. I used to joke that “we all have PTSD,” but I didn’t realize how real and intense it could be. That’s when I decided to take a step back, quietly, until I was strong again.
Today, I’m at Camp Shalom. The situation hasn’t changed much on the outside, but my inner strength has grown immensely. I’ve not only reclaimed skills I thought I’d lost — I’ve discovered new ones I didn’t know I had.
These days, I’m working on the next chapter: planning for what comes after camp, extending my status, and figuring out life here. The details are still forming, but המורל גבוה והראש איתן —
“my morale is high, and my head is held strong.”
I may have an opportunity with a local theatre in Toronto, and once the paperwork is settled, I’ll explore housing. JIAS has offered to help if I find a suitable lease.
You’re welcome to share both Facebook posts with your members. It would be more than an honor for me to offer something back to the נשמה — the soul — of the very people who gave, and continue to give, so much to mine.
Links for Facebook post:
By Barb Nyman
The Rabbi asked if I would write something. It took a while, which made my sharing list longer. I am a travelling member of the Temple, the wandering Jew.
When COVID hit, Holy Blossom was able to pivot in a way that would personally be of great benefit. Holy Blossom enabled me to say Kaddish via Zoom for the two years following my parents’ passing. My father passed in September of 2020. At his funeral, Rabbi Splansky offered my brother and me full access to services. (My sister has been a member for many years.) I had never been a member of a synagogue. The invitation from the Rabbi and the beautiful welcome from the congregants were game changers. I am now a distance member.
When Dad passed, Holy Blossom morning and evening services were only online. I have never been very observant; however, I felt the need to say Kaddish twice a day. The Temple made it easy with the Zoom services. During COVID, when I was taking care of my mom, she loved to hear and watch the services. As I age and people in my life pass, my spiritual connection as a Jew has become more important.
When mom was dying (a year after dad), she asked if I would say Kaddish for her. “Of course I will! At least once a day and twice when I can.” This promise made Mom very happy. I said Kaddish twice a day when my mom passed in September of 2021, until I started travelling in March for a new job. My new job took me to many places in the East. The time differences were a challenge, but I was able to get to Zoom prayers at least once a day from March of 2022 until September to fulfill my promise to my mom. Promise or no promise, my heart felt that this was the right thing to do. I was able to show my respect to my mom from Toronto, Dubai, the Maldives, Jakarta, Bali, Bangkok and Hanoi. I was able to attend the Tuesday evening Bereavement Group, but for me, it was often Wednesday morning.
I will be forever grateful to Holy Blossom and the community for making me feel at home. Since the end of my mourning period, I have tuned in for Yahrtzeit and comfort from home when I’m so far away. When travelling these days, I continue to use services and the Temple as a kind of touchstone that connects me to home. This is especially necessary since October 7th. I am thrilled that the synagogue continues to deliver livestream and Zoom alternatives. It’s not the same as being there in person, but since I finished saying Kaddish for my parents, I continue to join in and connect from Arizona, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Boise, Skamania, Seattle and Phuket. I’m sure as I continue my travels, I will always find my way back to Holy Blossom.
Last month, I fell victim to the algorithm.
As many of you know, I grew up in Denver, Colorado. So, when a terrorist attack targeted the Jewish community in Boulder, just 45 minutes away, it hit me hard. I couldn’t stop reading news, scrolling through profiles, listening to the stories of the victims, and learning about the attacker.
I even read the comments.
I stopped sleeping well, I was anxious and nervous to be in public… and the portal of unlimited knowledge in my pocket, my phone, certainly wasn’t helping. It kept feeding me a steady drip of poisonous material that I greedily consumed.
I knew it was bad…and so I did the only sensible thing I could think of. I uninstalled the last remnant I had of social media. Within days, I felt like myself again. A month later, I don’t miss it at all.
In the Talmud, our Rabbis ascribe a specific and special ability to the wicked prophet Bilaam, who appears in our Torah portion this week. They argue that Bilaam’s great power is not that he is a normal prophet, who understands the mind of God. Rather, Bilaam’s talent is that he knows the exact moment when God is angry, that he knows what to say to get God even angrier, and that he can exploit that for his own benefit.
Bilaam is, for the purpose of this story, the negative algorithm on social media. God, this person is sinning. This person is cruel. This person is hateful. This person doesn’t care. This person is causing pain. This person… etc., etc. Just like when we are doom-scrolling. A terrible flood. A war. An injustice. An unanswerable cruelty. Oy. Yet we can’t look away. Our hearts harden at the sight of it.
Balaam’s plan is to get God good and angry, by showing God all of the failures and foibles of humanity, so that the Jewish people will receive a terrible fate, and a miserable curse. Of course, as we read in our Torah portion this week, his plan is foiled and God exercises compassion and restraint, and transforms negativity, curses, and spite into an eternal blessing.
While not everyone can ‘log out’ of social media, I encourage everyone to internalize the lesson of this parshah. From its most ancient words to its most modern relevancies. There have always been outside forces right now that seek, sometimes openly and sometimes quietly, to affect the way we think, feel, and act.
But, like Bilaams curse, these influences do not need to determine our actions. We write the blessings of our lives with our choices, our faith, and our hopes.
מַה־טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל׃
How good are your tents oh Jacob, your dwellings places Israel.
May it always be so.
Noah Shack, the new CEO of CIJA (the Centre for Jewish and Israel Affairs), has a simple ask – call your MP!
This week, Noah Shack, the new CEO of CIJA, sent out an impassioned plea to concerned Canadians.
In his first communication as CEO, Noah asks Jewish community advocates and dedicated allies to contact their elected representatives, so that the government can hear first-hand what matters to us right now. To make that connection easy, he also introduced the new CIJA Action Hub.
The Action Hub is a one-stop webpage for learning about the actions that you can take right now to help fight antisemitism and extremism in Canada and to build relationships with your elected representatives. As Noah writes, “Our new Action Hub helps you call, email, post and show up in-person.”
We encourage you to explore the Action Hub, add your voice to the call against hatred, and join your neighbours in making lasting and meaningful relationships with our elected officials.
Learn more about Advocacy@HBT here.
1950 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5P 3K9
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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.