At Tot Shabbat there’s a moment we call for “mazel moments!” Mazel moments are the things we have accomplished since we last were together, good and exciting life cycle events, and other expressions of gratitude. At Tot Shabbat there’s often a wiggly tooth, a birthday, or a new baby sibling.  

My mazel moment, which I am honoured and excited to announce, is that I have been accepted into the prestigious Amplify Israel Rabbinic Fellowship, out of Steven Wise Free Synagogue in New York. I will be joining 23 other young rabbis, each of us ordained within the last decade, on a journey of learning, professional development, and advocacy. Together we will be exploring the power of Zionism and Jewish peoplehood and delve into its evolving nuances inside of our Reform Jewish community.  

I have many old friends, colleagues, and peers in this cohort, including familiar local faces! Both Rabbi Jodan Shaner from Temple Sinai and Rabbi Zachary Goodman, who was our assistant rabbi here at Holy Blossom and now serves at Wise Temple in Cincinnati, are fellows as well.  If you’d like to learn more about the fellowship, you can read more from its inaugural launch last year at this story from eJewish philanthropy.  

Many of you know how dear and important Israel is to me. Both as an epicentre in my spiritual journey and as the place I called home for several years. Those of you who have studied with me know that it has been a source of deep heartache for me that since October 7th, I have not been able to return. As part of this fellowship, in January, I will be going to Israel for a week of study, meeting with a veritable whose who of English-speaking Zionist voices, representatives of our Israeli Reform movement, and leading thinkers from across the spectrum of Israeli life. I have no doubt that we will also make the terrible journey, both south and north, to visit communities deeply affected and afflicted by the last 14 months of war and the atrocities of October 7th. I am already bringing gifts with me for representatives of those communities, thanks to our incomparable Judaica and Art Shop, operated by the Women of Holy Blossom. Please know that you will be with me as I make these visits of solidarity and comfort, witnessing the rebuilding of our people.  

I want to thank the congregation and our community for making this opportunity possible for me and for pushing me to apply. The time that this fellowship demands is not insignificant, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do this important work as one of your rabbis. 

Wake up! 

This week at our Monday night senior school I had the great pleasure to help Cantor Rosen and Robin Malach teach our students how to blow the Shofar. Long before I gave them an instrument though, I asked them to answer a question for me. “Why do we blow the Shofar?” And, almost universally, they responded “Because it’s Rosh Hashanah!”  

And that’s a good answer… but I needed more! Yes, we observe traditions at their times and seasons because that is what makes a tradition a tradition! Is that enough? Shouldn’t we also want ritual to have meaning that speaks to this moment in our life!?  

I reminded our students that the Shofar is an alarm clock, but not for the mind or the body. It is a clarion call for the heart and for the soul! “You can do it,” says the Shofar, “you can make this year a good one.”  

From the lesson, we went into the practical. Teenagers are, as I’m sure you remember, a group that historically gets nervous about standing out. They especially don’t like to make mistakes or do things they may not be good at in front of their peers. And yet, in great number and with great enthusiasm, they enthusiastically volunteered to try to make a call bellow forth from one of humanity’s most ancient instruments.  

The Shofar is not an easy thing to master, several of them walked away a little dejected. At the same time, a cheer group also broke out amongst them whenever one of their friends would do well. When I offered to let the kids try out my own Shofar, which is an ibex horn that I purchased in Jerusalem, teens who had tried without success on the smaller rams horns lined up all over again! (And if you are among the parents who are thinking, that’s a lot of germs! Don’t worry, we sterilized them between uses.)  

I cannot tell you how inspiring it is to see our children enthused about this great and sacred mitzvah. It brought me back to my own childhood enthusiasm for the Shofar. My father served as a chaplain for many years. On Rosh Hashanah, after our morning at synagogue, he would take me with him to the hospital. There we would go from room to room, visiting the Jewish patients who couldn’t be at synagogue, and offering to let them hear the call of the shofar. In those days, before streaming services was a possibility, this gave hospitalized Jews a chance to feel as if they had not missed the holiday. 

I didn’t know it at the time, but that was the first step in my road towards Jewish leadership. Who knows, perhaps for some of the young folks this last week, their journey toward a sacred calling has just begun!  

If you want to hear the call of the Shofar, and you can’t wait for Rosh Hashanah, come to morning Minyan for the remainder of the month of Elul.  

May it serve as the sacred awakening we all need this time of year.  

Shana Tovah U’metukah!  

In the Shuk there were two merchants. They both sold the same things, but that was the only way they were alike. One was dishonest, the other was a person of great integrity. One took advantage of his customers, and the other never would. One said terrible things about the other, while the other refused to speak a bad word.  

The son of the honest merchant could not understand how his father was eternally unbothered. How unfair it seemed for the other man to prosper, as their family struggled. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. “Abba, we should fight fire with fire! Run the business a bit more cutthroat! You are a good man! We deserve to live as well as he does!” 

And the merchant looked at his son and said “My dear child. If my zechut, my merit, was so worthless to me, that I would throw it away to be like him, did I ever have it in the first place?”  

In our current days, where the hatred of Israel and Jewish people seems more and more accepted, there is a very normal and rational mentality that can arise. I have felt it often myself in the last 300+ days since October 7th. A mentality that says “If the nations of the world do not want us, if they do not like us, if they in fact, hate us… then I should be free of my responsibilities to them. I don’t owe them anything.”  

But as the merchant says to his son… if our good name was so worthless to us that we would throw it away for a few sheckles, just to prove a point, what merit did we have in the first place?  

In the days we live in, it is more important than ever to hold ourselves to our ancestral standards. We are not abandoning our mission to be a light to the nations, nor our obligation to acts of hesed and tzedakah. This is who we are, it is what we stand for, and no amount of hatred, intimidation, lies or bias can take that away.  

This summer our Holy Blossom Temple community has regularly volunteered to feed and clothe the struggling and unhoused on our streets with Ve’ahavta. You can sign up for a shift with friends, family, and community members here. We have reserved spots for Holy Blossom Temple Members on the Ve’ahavta van through October.  

Every day, dedicated volunteers bring food to the Temple and distribute it anonymously at our tiny pantries on the corner of Bathurst and Dewborne. When you come to Holy Blossom; you can leave shelf-stable food at the Janis Rotman Tzedakah Centre directly inside the front doors. It never goes to waste.  

Out of the Cold will begin again in just a few months on November 7th. We are always looking for new, and returning, volunteers to help us welcome our guests during the coldest months of the year. Our Out of the Cold isn’t just a hot meal; there is live music, games, coffee, camaraderie, and more. If you’d like to get involved, email [email protected]. 

Finally, in the coming months, Holy Blossom will be launching a support group for Israelis who are newcomers to Canada, just as our community has previously provided for refugees from other nations. Thousands are still evacuated, and our community will be there for those who chose Canada as a home. If you want to be involved from the start, email me at [email protected].  

In the Talmud Yerushalmi, the students of Shimon Ben Shetach find a pearl in the saddlebags of a donkey they have just purchased for their rabbi. Rav Shimon was very poor and his students celebrated, this treasure would ease all his ills. Rav Shimon told them to return the gem, even though it was legally theirs, and his students could not understand why. When they returned the pearl to the gentile merchant, the merchant wept and exclaimed “Praises! Praises to the God of the Jews! Praises to the God of Shimon Ben Shetach.” 

And then they understood, that was all the treasure their Rabbi needed.   

Am Yisrael Chai.  

Last week the newly formed advocacy committee at Holy Blossom Temple reached out to our congregation. We asked you to make your voices heard regarding Opposition Resolution 658. As you are likely aware, Parliament passed this non-binding resolution on Monday evening. Some community partners see the passing of the resolution as an insult to the Canadian-Jewish community, a reminder that in the nationwide game of politics, we are vastly outnumbered. Other voices see the last-minute removal of the most extreme element of the resolution, the immediate and unconditional recognition of a Palestinian state, as a victory.  

The answer likely lies in the middle. As Judaism teaches us again and again, these and these can both be true. 

In moments like this, when our community comes together but the reach of our influence is unclear, it is more important than ever to remain steadfast.  It is also vital to recognize and appreciate those who heed the call.  

Then let me say, thank you! Thank you to our members who answered the charge and made their desires clear to our elected officials. Thank you for reaching out to members of parliament digitally, over the phone, and through the CIJA portal. Together with Jewish communities across the country, we generated more than 900,000 contact points with members of parliament. It made a difference, and you made a difference.  

This weekend is our holiday of Purim. The Megillah has many messages, but one of the timeliest is that the decrees of government are not always just. Esther must reveal herself, take a stand, and fight for her people in the halls of power. Even when she is successful, her work is not over. In the final chapters of the Megillah, even after Haman is defeated, Esther must organize and continue to lead the Jewish people out of danger.  

As it was in her day, so it is in ours. No matter how we view the outcome of Mondays vote, the work of Jewish Advocacy is not over.  

In addition to our Purim celebrations, I want to highlight an important program, and a vital next step in our Advocacy work, that is happening next week. Dahlia Lithwick, Tiffany Moller, Guila Benchimol, Megan Stephens and Rabbi Yael Splansky will be leading a roundtable conversation at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, March 27th. This powerful evening will address the ongoing fight for justice and recognition regarding the sexual violence that Israelis experienced on October 7th. You can register here.  

This week we need Purim, and its eternal message of hope, joy, resilience, and advocacy more than ever.  

ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששן ויקר (Esther 8:16) 
 The Jews enjoyed light and gladness, happiness, and honour.  

So may it be for us as well, swiftly and in our day.  

Chag Purim Sameach.  

Chag Ilanot Sameach! 

Tonight begins Tu Bishvat, the ‘birthday of the trees.’ Tu Bishvat, in the days of our ancient ancestors, was when you celebrated a coming arboreal harvest. The trees that were being celebrated had ‘made it through’ the winter, several times in fact. They were counted because our ancestors were confident that soon they would start to bear fruit. With that fruit, of course, came the obligation to bring bikkurim, first fruit offerings, to the Temple in Jerusalem.  

It doesn’t necessarily feel like a ‘tree holiday’ here in Canada. When we look outside, we don’t see flowering trees that have survived the harshest rains. We see ice. We see snow. Yet, these seasonal festivals are one of the things which make the Jewish people special and different. Our calendar isn’t set by the land that we live in. Rather, our calendar is set by the seasons of the land of Israel.  

Master educator Avrahm Infeld has a story about this clash between the seasons and the Jewish calendar. He writes: 

“As a child in South Africa, I remember asking my father to explain why we prayed for rain in the summer. It was December, and in synagogue the prayers included a request for rain, which no child in South Africa wants at that time of year! My father’s answer was very straightforward: “Our rain doesn’t fall in South Africa; it falls in Israel! 

Try growing up normal with an answer like that! But being Jewish is not being normal. Being Jewish means living with the knowledge that irrespective of where you actually live, it is only in the land of Israel that the Jewish People are indigenous. With the lesson of the rain my father taught me about the deep connection between the Jewish People and the Land of Israel.  As individuals, we can pray for rain in South Africa, or wherever else we may live, but the Jewish People’s collective rain falls in Israel.” 

At this time in our people’s history, where one of the great accusations against us that is being leveled again and again is “You don’t belong in the land of Israel. You are settlers. You are a colonialist. You should go back to where you came from.”  Tu Bishvat refutes this narrative. Our link to Israel is not something established in 1948, or in 1897, or at any other date in the last few centuries. Our link to the land of Israel is so core to our religious and national identity, that the ancient calendar Jews have used for millennia reflects its time and tides.  

So, if this year you looked out the window and thought to yourself. “Tu Bisvhat? Trees? Now? Really?” Remind yourself of this special connection. Even this small festival validates the ancient love we have for our sacred land. 

While we remain in the grasp of winter, the red anemone (the national flower of the state of Israel) is blossoming in the south, along the border of Gaza, promising that soon spring- and all its promise of redemption- will come.  

With God’s help, so may it be for us as well.