HBTogether: What a year it has been!

The Holy Blossom Ukulele Orchestra, now in its seventh year, is continuing to thrive.

We meet most Sunday mornings at 10 AM for coffee at Holy Grounds and then proceed to our weekly rehearsal from 10:30 to 12 PM.

The group plays a wide variety of repertoire. This season we have included some special selections in Hebrew for Israel’s 75th anniversary.

We are taking the ’show’ on the road in late May and June to some local retirement residences.

On June 11 we are hosting a ’Sing-A-Long/Play-A-Long’ session at HBT at 10:30 AM.

Everyone is welcome to join us in the Mishkan for a lovely morning of song. Lyrics and chords will be projected so that everyone can participate. Bring your voice, your ukulele, guitar, or mandolin.

Suicide Loss Survivor’s Group

Our HBTogether Suicide Loss Survivor’s group was designed to welcome anyone who had lost someone to suicide. Our goal was to create a safe place for sharing memories, stories and experiences. We started our monthly meetings on Zoom but now we gather in person, rotating homes and sharing dinner. Sometimes our conversations wander all over the place and have nothing to do with our losses. But sometimes one of us is facing an anniversary – a birthday, a yahrzeit, a holiday without our loved one, and we really need to talk to someone who “gets it.” We’ve become good at listening and importantly, we’ve become good friends. As one member said, “I love our group!”

HBTogether Bookclub

The HBTogether Bookclub is a lively and informal discussion of books of Jewish interest that meets at 11 am on the first Wednesday of the month on Zoom.

Join us for the first discussion of our 2022/2023 session: Rabbi Larry Englander will be discussing his new biography of Maimonides, The Prince of Healers, on Wednesday, September 6.

Contact Caroline Ingvaldsen, Temple’s Librarian Volunteer, at [email protected] for further details.

New members are always welcome!

HBTogether Jewish Music Group

We are writing to give you an update on one of Holy Blossom’s weekly Zoom groups. Since the onset of the Covid Pandemic, Marty Steinhouse has been creating unique, enriching, and varied musical programs across a broad spectrum of Jewish Music, as well as honouring requests for special programs. As welcoming as the music itself is the camaraderie between participants, and the warm, sometimes humorous, and touching personal reflections shared throughout the hour. A few of the many programs that Marty has presented include a look-and-listen to Al Jolson, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and newcomer Cantor Magda Fishman. Cantor Steinhouse has brought us the “great” cantors of the past, Yiddish theatre, musical comedians like Victor Borge and Myron Cohen, as well as musicals like Cabaret and Fiddler on the Roof. Topics include both Ashkenazi and Sephardic nusach, current Israeli music, as well as Israel’s participation in Eurovision, especially since Israel’s Noa Kirel just advanced to the Grand Finale of 2023. It is a beautiful and inspiring way to begin the week.

We have enjoyed our weekly visit with Marty so much that we wanted to share the experience with you. We hope you will join in soon. We meet virtually on Monday morning at 10 am!

All are welcome.

Harriet Wolman, Freda Ariella Muscovitch, Jennifer Malvin

Poetry and Writing Group 

The Poetry and Writing group has been meeting monthly for over two years. It consists of its leader, Harriet Wolman, and a small group of regular attendees who love poetry. There is no requirement for participants to be poets themselves although several of them have written and presented beautiful and original poems. Here is what two participants think about their Poetry Group experience:

Barbara Thal-Hodes says: I am grateful to have a chance to tell other people how much I have gained from being part of the Group. I am awed by how comforting it can be when we read poetry to each other and react to each other’s work. We are closer to each other at the end of every meeting.

Glenda Bocknek says: Under Harriet’s guidance, a group of acquaintances has become friends. We have learned empathy and found insight into the world around us as we discuss poetry we have read or written. Sharing our thoughts and feelings has created a circle of friendship that begins and ends with our love of poetry.

And I say: Leading this group has been a rewarding experience for me. We have had some very special guests at our meetings, including Rabbi McCarroll and poet Adam Sol. Although we are certainly not professionals in the field, we have new knowledge and appreciation through our monthly presentations and discussions. New members are always welcome – so try it.

To learn more about HBTogether, whether you want to join a group or start one of your own, click here! Or contact Abigail Nemzer at [email protected]