1950 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5P 3K9
(416) 789-3291
[email protected]
Emergency Funeral Contact
Cell: 416-565-7561
The Book of Kohelet teaches us that “to everything there is a season”, and boy, is it coming up to that time of year again. You know the one; the one with the shofar blast, and the sweetness of apples and honey, and the round challahs, and the sounds of nostalgic melodies.
As the season ramps up to the High Holy Days, I’m starting to notice a kind of tension in the air; everyone feels hurried and scattered, and that precious gift of time feels like it’s literally melting through our fingers, unable to be caught before it touches the floor.
To be clear, it does not seem like it’s just your rabbis, cantors and professionals feeling this way. The hustle and bustle of our regular lives resuming now that Labour Day has passed signifies that school is back in session, the office beckons us back, and the weather will soon cool down, the leaves changing to brilliant shades of browns, yellows, oranges and reds.
Each year, it seems like the start of fall, with all it represents, descends upon us like a surprise, and always feels like it is too early, or even late, but never exactly on cue.
Yet, our Talmud teaches us the principle of ain mukdam u’m’uchar batorah: there is no early or late in our Torah. In other words, our festivals and occasions arrive exactly when they are meant to.
This could be the precise reason why, despite the hustle and bustle of the season, we are encouraged, during this introspective Hebrew month of Elul, to pause, take a deep breath, and look within our souls. It is perhaps no coincidence, then, that the word for soul, neshama, and the word for breath, neshima, share the same Hebrew root.
As such, let us instead take this time – with all the stresses of our busy lives on our shoulders – to embrace all the opportunities of this season and all the good that is to come as Rosh Hashanah approaches. Whether that’s attending uplifting High Holy Day services at Holy Blossom Temple, making sacred memories with family and friends, or taking on new challenges – take a deep breath, and dive in with all your soul.
L’shanah tovah – we can’t wait to live out Jewish time with you in 5783!
Dear Holy Blossom Families,
We can’t wait to welcome your children back to Holy Blossom Temple. We have a wonderful year of growth and discovery ahead of us.
As you prepare to return to school, we want you to know we are thinking of you and wishing you well. We share this prayer with you to mark the milestone in the life of your family.
A Back-to-School Prayer
Our God and God of our Ancestors:
Protect, guide, and uplift our children as they return to their schools.
May they know good health and the joy of discovery.
May they know the warmth of good friends, the laughter of unstructured play,
the strength of teammates, and the comfort of community.
May they witness the inspiration of dedicated teachers,
the influence of thoughtful role models,
and the vision of how to create a better world for their generation
and the generations to come.
May they know that they are loved and supported.
May they know the blessings of their people, the safety of their land,
and the strength of their faith.
May they know peace and also resilience, hope and also hard work,
dreams and also practical skills.
May they grow in mind, body, and spirit.
May they know kindness and compassion — receiving it and offering it –
each and every day.
And let us say, Amen!
We wish you and those you love a L’Shanah Tovah!
Rabbi Yael Splansky | Cantor David Rosen |
Rabbi Samuel Kaye | Cantorial Soloist Lindi Rivers |
Rabbi Eliza McCarroll |
How to Elevate your High Holy Day Experience
The current month of Ellul is a gift to help us prepare more deeply, so we can greet the New Year with curiosity, courage, and compassion.
Asking the BIG Questions
This is the time to hold up the mirror and see our life, our character, our dreams more clearly. The pandemic has forced us to ask small questions. It’s time to turn to the bigger questions once again. Let’s find the confidence to do so by turning towards God, who is the Source of All Life.
Shabbat Shalom and L’Shanah Tovah!
The Judaica & Art Shop is excited to introduce Rosh Hashanah Shortbread Sugar Cookie Decorating Kits, by UBake Box. A fun and creative activity for kids of all ages and a perfect gift.
The kits are beautifully packaged and include shelf-stable, pre-baked cookies, decorations, piping bags, and an instruction card.
The ingredients contain no nuts, but UBake Box is NOT a nut-free facility.
Email [email protected] for the ingredients list.
Pick up at Holy Blossom’s Judaica & Art Shop on Sundays, 10:30 – 12:30, beginning Sept. 11. The boxes will be held at the security desk after these hours. For an additional $7+TAX, the order can be delivered to your preferred address, within the boundary of Finch to Bloor and Dufferin to Don Mills.
To have your kits by Erev Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 25), please place your order and arrange for payment no later than Sept. 19. Orders after Sept. 19 will be processed as soon as possible.
Start salivating!
Baruch Dayan HaEmet. It is with heavy hearts that we share the sad news of the passing of Alyce Helfman, our congregant and Rabbi Jordan Helfman’s mother. During times of sadness, we come together as a community to support each other and the Helfman family, even if from afar. To send condolences to the family in the US and the UK, you may leave a comment below or write to Rabbi Helfman directly at [email protected].
The funeral will take place in Detroit on Tuesday, August 30 at 12:00pm EDT and can be streamed here.
Details for Tzedakah in Alyce’s memory may be found here.
Alyce and Dennis came to Holy Blossom often to join Rabbi Helfman, Jemma, Toby, Molly, Henriette and Dov for Shabbat and Holy Days. During the pandemic, they were active in lifelong learning programs and maintained their many friendships at Holy Blossom. We will remember Alyce’s shem tov before Kaddish each day throughout shloshim.
Zichrona livrachah. May her memory be for blessing.
As a child, I had a security blanket, knit by a family friend, made of resilient white yarn. It was my token of safety, and it was something that I couldn’t sleep without. It was my one and only, no other object could do, no matter how worn out or threadbare it got. One morning I couldn’t find it. Despite knowing that it had been with me when I went to sleep, and therefore was in the house, I cried myself hoarse feeling the panic of simple need.
Now, as a father myself, when I tuck my daughter in at night for the bedtime shemah, there are all sorts of comforting tokens I make sure she has. The stuffed bear/blanket which was a gift from one set of grandparents, a pig-shaped pillow from the movie Moana, a Winnie the pooh blanket, and of course her sus, attached to a stuffed sloth, that a student of mine gave us when she was born. Yet none of these things can avert her crying if one of her parents doesn’t sit in “abbas chair/ mummas chair” as she falls asleep.
Comfort comes in many forms. Sometimes in things, stuffies, knick-knacks, and handmade gifts. Sometimes comfort comes in knowing that, even in the darkness, the people you love are at your side. During the 7 weeks we find ourselves in right now, the period between Tisha B’Av and Rosh Hashanah, we read the haftarot of consolation. This week, as a part of the haftarah, we read an extraordinary verse; one of the very few in Tanach which imagines God in the role of the divine feminine. כאיש אשר אמו תנחמנו כן אנכי אנחמכם ובירושלם תנחמו. “As a mother comforts her son, so I will comfort you; you shall find comfort in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 66:13)
What a powerful and wonderful vision of the divine comforter. In his book Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow, Rabbi Arthur Green writes, “(God) loves us fully, the way only a parent can love a child. This is a God who accepts us as we are, with all our shortcomings. However, God is also a parent who cares enough to make demands on us. God as parent has not given up on us and maintains faith always in our ability to grow and change. God knows that this growth if it goes far enough, will eventually bring us back to our deepest selves and to a relationship with the One who is our Source. A trusting parent knows that any road the child takes will lead back home.”
When I close the door and turn off the lights, my two-year-old daughter knows I’m not going anywhere, and yet she is still worried. My blanket wasn’t lost, it was simply in the wash. The need for comfort and consolation are not always in response to rational fears. Sometimes they are simply about being loved unconditionally.
God calls out to us from a text nearly three thousand years old, with words of comfort and words of love. These words remind us that God has not gone anywhere, like a parent sitting in a chair or a blanket in our arms. And, as we enter into the month of Elul, there is also a gentle reminder of another kind of comfort; the comfort that comes in faith, relationship with the divine, and in choosing to live a Jewish life.
May this month of Elul continue to bring your spirit comfort. Chodesh Tov!
Perhaps it’s the heatwave, or maybe it’s the summer vibe and memories of late-night campouts, but I’ve got fire on the brain. As far as analogies go, it’s a particularly apt one. Our Jewish passions and identities are not spontaneous things which just come about. We are built up, we are ‘sparked’ by other people who are already aglow, and then we are sent off to shed our own light and continue the great chain of Jewish tradition. We start with a burst of energy and, just like a fire, to keep the Jewish journey going we must continue feeding our neshama with moments that give us meaning and joy.
For me, travelling to see the different facets of the Jewish diaspora keeps my soul fed and happy. In 2019 Taylor and I had a brief tour of Jewish Morocco, and it was transformational. Morocco stole a small piece of my heart, and I can’t wait to go back. One of my former chavruta invited me to visit him and his husband at the Jewish community in Curacao, where they have one of the oldest synagogues in this hemisphere! A few days ago I was comparing travel experiences in Lithuania with a Yiddishist who gave me a few spots to visit next time I make it to Eastern Europe. And, while yes, it is the opposite of the diaspora, I can certainly feel Jerusalem calling me home. The travel bug has been itching hard after the last few years, and who knows… maybe my next trip abroad will be with our community!?
Fire puns aside, I hope that you are also engaged in spiritual self-care practices. Rabbi Arthur Green argues in his book Judaism 10 Best Ideas, that Joy/Simcha is one of the cornerstones of our faith. Joy builds an appreciation of the divine and strengthens the soul. He compares the spiritual practice of joy akin to going to a wedding. Like a good guest, we celebrate everything we can. How great is this food, how lovely the decorations, how happy the family, how beautiful the couple! It is good to celebrate the blessings of life.
And one might say When it comes to the mitzvah of celebrating with the wedding couple, it’s easy to be joyous! But what about when it’s hard to be happy? “When the ancient Israelites wandered through the wilderness for forty years, a certain group of Levites were given the privilege of carrying the Holy Ark. ‘How heavy it must have been,’ somebody commended, ‘with those massive stone tablets inside it!’ ‘No,’ a Levite answered. ‘The Ark carried those who bore it.’ The same is true of any mitzvah carried out with Joy. It elevates and ‘carries’ the one who does it.”
Sometimes we carry joy into the world and light the fire. And sometimes, we are the ones whose spark needs to be rekindled. This summer, as you are building up your own Simcha, I hope that you are getting enough of both; the moments that are keeping your spark burning strong and the opportunities to inspire others to glow even brighter.
Dear Holy Blossom Family,
This will be the first Shabbat since Rabbi Marmur was laid to rest in the hills of Jerusalem. My condolences to those of you whose lives were directly shaped by his teaching, his leadership, his partnership, and his friendship. My condolences to those of you who did not know him personally, but know of his shem tov, his good name. His influence is still very much a part of who we are as a congregation. The entire Reform Movement is mourning this loss, and the Holy Blossom community is mourning uniquely.
I knew I’d be lucky to spend a few weeks studying in at the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, but I did not know how fortunate the timing was. I was able to visit with Rabbi Marmur when he was well, to visit with Fredzia during the long days after his fall, to visit at Rabbi Marmur’s bedside in the hospital, and then to offer words of honour and comfort at his very beautiful funeral, and to visit with his family during shiva. With each step, I was there with my own heavy heart, my own love and concern, but also keenly aware that I was there as your representative.
You may read the eulogy I offered here or watch the recording of the entire funeral service here. You may wish to send condolences to the Marmur family here or make a donation in his memory here. You will hear Rabbi Marmur’s name included before Kaddish each day at Holy Blossom Temple. I encourage you to pick up gift copies of his book, On Being a Jew and his memoir, Six Lives, so you can benefit from his insights once again. These volumes are ready and waiting for you in the Schwartz/Reisman Atrium.
Zichono livrachah. May Rabbi Dow Marmur’s memory continue to be a blessing for our congregation, which he served and led, admired and loved.
Shabbat Shalom,
Yael
While we have been thrilled to welcome back the bagel to Holy Blossom Temple after a pandemic hiatus, it has become clear that bagels are not a very popular everyday breakfast choice in 2022. Since Shacharit breakfast was re-introduced as food was brought back to congregational life, we have been trying to find the balance of providing breakfast after morning services and using resources efficiently to minimize waste. Sadly, due to COVID protocols, it is no longer an option to donate left-over food to worthy organizations when food has been opened by others first. We want to make sure the offerings are being enjoyed by all who attend services in person.
After informal consultation with some of our regular Shacharit attendees, we started a Pilot Project with the intent to replace the Bagel Breakfast with a healthy nourishing “lite bite”. Offerings include some combination of individual yogurt, mini muffins, and fruit (i.e. clementines, bananas, apples). Coffee and tea continue to be a staple. So far, the new breakfast refreshments have been appreciated and are being enjoyed by those who partake. You’ll note that many of these items also have more longevity, which will help to produce less waste over time.
Many families choose to mark the yahrzeit of a loved one by sponsoring the Shacharit breakfast – thank you! Please note that our full or enhanced Bagel Breakfast will be provided when sponsored, and we will do our best to share sponsored dates ahead of time through Shacharit announcements so that more service goers are encouraged to attend in-person and lend much-needed moral support to the sponsoring family. We hope that by moving away from the everyday bagel, bagels will become more exciting when they appear from time to time.
We encourage everyone who is interested to join in person for Shacharit when you can and as you feel comfortable. Joining a service online remains a great alternative for anyone who can’t make it in the flesh, but part of the experience that makes Shacharit and all worship services so meaningful is the connection made between people and the support that comes along with standing by each other both literally and figuratively. Shacharit is a wonderful experience at Holy Blossom Temple because of the warm and dedicated group of Temple members who are welcoming to all.
We hope you enjoy the new breakfast lite bite. Breakfast refreshments are available after Shacharit services near the Holy Grounds café, so you can enjoy each other’s company and a quick bite in the atrium. A word of thanks to our dedicated Shacharit Service Leaders, we truly appreciate all your efforts in providing meaningful daily morning services to our congregation – thank you.
1950 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5P 3K9
(416) 789-3291
[email protected]
Emergency Funeral Contact
Cell: 416-565-7561