What makes the fabric of Canada so beautiful is that it is knit in so many bright and diverse colours. Multiple identities are highlighted and made more beautiful through how other strands reinforce their difference. There is dominance and dominion – yet there is also striving and through transitions and blends, as buried threads reach the surface and are restored. Violent rips and pain tears also are in this complex landscape, as hate pulls us asunder, and leaves us feeling unsupported as we seek to find our place back.
Many of us have felt unsupported as anti-Zionism mingled with Anti-Semitism, and a foreign war became a mini-domestic conflict. And our community has been able to cast that aside as domestic terrorism has created new feelings of physical insecurity for our Muslim neighbours.
Just as in Torah study, there is a pshat, drash, remes and sod to that sentence – layers and layers of interpretation.
In the coming days, (on a Sunday afternoon to be confirmed soon), I want to invite you for an internal, Holy Blossom Temple conversation on the news of the day. I have received many phone calls and emails from both parents of 20s and 30s and members in our community in their 20s/30s, about a gap in experience in our community. It is almost as if – and we know this is true – their social media and news universes are totally different. Rabbi Lea Mülstein, Chair of ARZENU (our Reform movement Zionist political party), and a community rabbi in the United Kingdom where she has been holding similar conversations will interview two of our members about their view of the world they see around them, as it relates to anti-Racism and their Jewish identities. One of the interviewees will be Dr. Karen Mock, CM and the other will be Emily Albert.
And, I want to invite you also to watch a series of videos produced by our partners in fighting hate at the Noor Cultural Centre: http://islamophobia-is.com/watch/
One of the early Reform Rabbis – Emil G Hirsch – taught that when Joseph went into slavery, his clothes of many colours were replaced by a single coloured garment and that this colour change represents different types of societies. The slave’s garment is singular, and a uniform for a society of oppression. The clothes of many colours are the opposite – representing the freedom and diversity which are God’s image for the world.
The fabric is complex, and that adds to its beauty.
July 9, 1936 – May 31, 2021
By “Happy” Iscove
“Establish for Yourself a Teacher and You Will Acquire a Friend.” (Pirke Avot 1:6)
Many times, as I neared her tiny office adjacent to the steps of the tower entrance, I heard Pearlie’s delicate, musical voice demonstrating a trope to a student or correcting the Hebrew pronunciation. As I passed by the door, she’d smile at me from behind her desk and wave. Then, she’d continue the lesson.
Pearlie was a passionate student of Judaism…all aspects of it. She loved to study Jewish texts and was active in a Tanach group, a Talmud group and a book club. Pearlie was a teacher because she cared about imparting Jewish knowledge, skills and culture to peers as well as to the next generations. It was what she did best.
It’s been said that great teachers have three loves: love of learning, love of learners, and the love of bringing the first two loves together. That describes my dear friend, Pearl Hermant, z”l, both a life-long learner and a life-long teacher of Judaism.
For more than four decades (through the end of 2007), Pearlie taught hundreds of Holy Blossom Temple bnei mitzvah their Torah and haftarah portions. She did more than teach them the mechanics of singing the tropes and merely chanting their portions. Pearlie combined her solid foundation of Jewish knowledge with her passion for sharing her insights. She was well organized and intelligent, making every moment of the lesson a teaching moment. For example, she often explained how a particular trope emphasized a word, and why that word was important in understanding the meaning of the text.
Teaching adolescents was not always easy, particularly when they showed up unprepared for their lessons. Pearlie was a no-nonsense person. She didn’t pull any punches and accepted few excuses. She was thorough and honest, fair and kind. She was determined that her students did well. Pearlie understood that chanting Torah on behalf of the congregation is a privilege that must be done accurately. She made sure that her students were “bima ready” and in so doing, she helped to foster their self-confidence and self-esteem.
Pearlie was also a teacher of teachers. She taught Dori Levine and me to recognize and chant the tropes so that we, too, could become bnei mitzvah tutors. I fondly remember my summer sessions in 2007 with Pearlie. I would leave her apartment with my study materials in hand, and head for my car with so much more than just trope signs and melodies in my head. I had new perceptions and ideas to consider.
I met Pearlie soon after arriving in Toronto fifty years ago, but it was during the past 25 years that we became particularly close friends. We spoke every week over the phone. I loved her sparkle when she entered a room, her warm “Hi” when we greeted each other, her curiosity about so many things from recipes to specific words in sacred texts, the stories of her family history that she was eager to tell, the lessons we learned from each other, her sense of humour and laughter, and her honesty whether critical or complimentary.
I will miss our friendship and the conversations left unfinished.
May Pearl Hermant’s memory always be for a blessing.
This Saturday night, the World Union of Progressive Judaism conference, which I co-chaired with Nitzan Barak (Israel) and Hannah Verhulst (the Netherlands) drew to a close.
It was a strange thing to be in my home, with over 1,000 participants in the event platform, and over 2,000 more watching on our livestream.
The big event was the installation of Rabbi Sergio Bergman as WUPJ President, as well as having moments to schmooze with and learn from him. His vision of the WUPJ is one that ties us all more closely with Israel and brings support to small Jewish communities all over the world.
Holy Blossom Temple played a major role in the event. Our member, Carole Sterling, delivered remarks at both the opening and closing ceremonies from our Bimah. Cantor Rosen contributed to the Saturday morning Shacharit from our Main Sanctuary. And Rabbi Splansky moderated a keynote address with some of the world’s most preeminent thinkers from her COVID office.
While I am not sure we’ll have any new wedding couples based on this year’s convention, the learning lingers longer.
The best-of list, of course, includes sessions organized and featuring many of our members:
All of these and more are present in the on-demand section of the WUPJ conference platform for those who registered and will be released on youtube slowly for those that did not.
Thank you to all who make your voluntary contributions, and the many who make time contributions as well to the WUPJ – including Executive Board Member Les Rothschild – and Denes Rothschild who provided a small film crew for one of our aliyot.
Under Rabbi Bergman’s leadership and Carole Sterling’s guidance, I know the WUPJ will continue to enrich our community through its connection to an international family.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union For Reform Judaism wrote the following article:
https://urj.org/press-room/reform-jewish-leader-addresses-situation-israel?fbclid=IwAR1pT9fNq7afG2ZvfRiCGpcztyTvhjk5qtrxUnxNR5psAKbQvVPKASXpp-s
The American Jewish Committee published a concise article about “Myths and Facts” regarding the current crisis: https://www.ajc.org/news/4-myths-and-facts-about-the-violence-in-jerusalem
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) also has an important perspective. https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-statement-regarding-recent-violence-and-rocket-attacks-in-jerusalem
If you’d like to read the Israeli press, here are three English language sources with differing perspectives:
Holy Blossom Temple is hiring for the following positions, funded by the Canada Summer Jobs program. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until positions are filled. These positions will be primarily remote but may require occasional work on-site at 1950 Bathurst St, Toronto, ON in accordance with COVID safety restrictions and government guidance.
Membership and Community Engagement Assistant
Two roles are available
18$/hour, 35 hours/week for 8 weeks
Responsibilities:
Communications and Marketing Assistant
Two roles are available
18$/hour, 35 hours/week for 8 weeks
Responsibilities:
Questions? Please email Abigail Carpenter-Winch, Director of Membership and Community Engagement at [email protected]
These summer jobs are funded by the Canada Summer Jobs program, and as such, applicants must:
*The youth must be 15 years of age at the beginning of the employment period. The youth may be more than 30 years of age at the end of the employment period as long as the youth was 30 at the beginning of the employment period.
**International students are not eligible participants. International students include anyone who is temporarily in Canada for studies and who is not a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person who has been granted refugee status in Canada. Youth awaiting a refugee status ruling, as well as those who hold a temporary visitor visa, youth visa or work visa are ineligible. As the objective of the Canada Summer Jobs program is to support youth entering the Canadian labour market, the temporary nature of an international student’s time in Canada does not allow for a long-term connection to the labour market.
Olam Chesed Yibaneh –
We must build our world from loving-kindness.
The world is a big place – and there are gaps between what is right and what is. Sometimes, those gaps feel closer together – such as in the news that George Floyd’s murderer will be behind bars, and the pressure on Queens Park to introduce sick-leave. Sometimes those gaps feel wider and unbridgeable – in conversations around the vaccine rollout in the Global South, where new variants are bringing hardship and devastation, we feel the need to try to do something to lessen the suffering.
One of my honours is to serve as a co-chair for the World Union of Progressive Judaism’s conference, which launches in mid-May, just after Shavuot. It is the first World Union Connections gathering in four years – and the first online conference.
When our member, and the chair of the World Union – Carole Sterling – asked me to help with the conference – I was excited for the opportunity to travel to Jerusalem – to Beit Shmuel once again. But instead, I’ll be taking a trip like Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlov taught about – creating a virtual Jerusalem.
There, I will see friends and members of our global Jewish family from around the world – I’ll have a chance to preserve tradition through pickle-making with Rabbi Whats the Dill…. And to learn how to make Kosher Chilli Crab with Rosita from Singapore. I’ll be able to schmooze at the ‘bar’ area, and hear some of the freshest new Jewish music in our movement.
In addition I am honoured to be able to learn from dynamic speakers and teacher – like Rabbi Splansky, who is moderating one of our keynote events with Professor Stephen Pinker and Adam Azari – a National Geographic level video on the environment with Rabbi Sergio Bergman, the new WUPJ President, and the former minister of the environment for the government of Argentina – and the first Reform Rabbi in the Knesset- Gilad Kariv.
I recently learned that one of the keynotes will be announcing a new initiative to bring healing to parts of our world greatly in need of support and care, and I look forward to learning more at the conference!
Our huge and interconnected Jewish world is built on Love- come, learn, and study the diversity of our movement and see how that diversity builds a more caring world together.
(And thank you to Rabbi Splansky, Tema Smith, Carole Sterling, Cantor Rosen, Kalman Green, Daniel Abramson, Les Rothschild, Rabbi Glickman, Abigail Carpenter-Winch, Rabbi Tepper, Ann Rosenfield and so many more members of our community for your help!)
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/connections-2021-facing-our-jewish-future-together-tickets-137432974727
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.