Transcript:

The phrase Adraba in the Talmud means, “On the contrary”.  there are two ‘on the contrary’s I want to draw your attention to today.

The first is in the State of Israel. We have a Reform Rabbi standing for the first time for elections in the number four spot in a major political party.

Rabbi Gilad Kariv, a frequent guest to us at Holy Blossom Temple, who has taught us before the beautiful values of pluralism in the State of Israel  –  has taught us at our member Joan Garson’s House about a vision of a State of Israel which is equal for all of its citizens, is now going to be taking those progressive Jewish values into the Knesset if the Labour Party gets 4 mandates in the next election.  It is a very exciting moment for the Reform Movement, the Israeli movement for Progressive Judaism and for us to Holy Blossom Temple as friends of Rabbi Kariv.

The other Adraba I wanted to make sure you knew about comes in the form of our high school program.

A partnership that is just started, has just been signed.

There’s a new high school program in Toronto for after-school hours.

Many of our students attend JTEM, the Jewish Teen Experience Midtown, which provides great in-depth learning for young adults, Grades 8- 10.   And now in addition to that for grades 11 and 12,  we have partnered for High school credit courses taught by inspiring Jewish educators.

This year, there’s a wonderful course on food which teaches about different Jewish communities around the world and different Jewish ethnicities.  There is a course this year on philosophy, including of course Maimonides amongst the other philosophers throughout history, Jewish and not Jewish, but looked at through a rich Jewish lens.

And so for our high school students who are interested in credits, look soon for a message from Lisa Isen Baumal and Sophie Rivers – our new Coordinator of  Youth Engagement at Holy Blossom Temple.

Also look out for information on our team Israel trip which is going with the Canadian Reform Movement this summer and also for a program with the Religious Action Center of Washington, DC, where there is a specifically Canadian program about youth activism.

There are a lot of opportunities to be contrary, which is something we appreciate in the Jewish community – and we hope that you will come and engage as teenagers and as young adults.

B’hatzlacha, Rabbi Kariv, and also to all of our teenagers dreaming about school next year and thinking about how can I advance my studies and my Judaism.