Simcha Rabah, simcha rabah, aviv higiyah, Pesach ba …

“With great joy, with great joy, Spring is arriving, and Pesach is coming!”

This well-known verse might be a familiar tune as we mercifully herald in the new season, watch the snow begin to melt, and feel the cold begin to lift.

With the entry of spring, we also turn our hearts and minds to the Pesach festival, in which we ultimately celebrate the opportunity for our renewal.

This is especially in light of the fact that the month of Nissan, in which Pesach falls, was the original first month of the Hebrew calendar.

Although we as Torontonians and Canadians might look to the blossoming of the trees and the blooming of flowers as our signal that Spring is here, as Jews we also have another symbol of the promise of the season’s cycle: the karpas (parsley or similar green vegetable) on our Seder plate.

The first ritual food we eat during the Seder, we recite the blessing “borei p’ri ha’adamah” (praising God as the Creator of the fruits of the earth) over it. This is unusual because we would normally recite this blessing only over foods – specifically, vegetables – that have been cooked, but of course, we eat the karpas raw.

Rabbi Naftali ben Shimon Hertz Ginzburg provides his interpretation of this question, writing his commentary on the Haggadah in Poland at the end of the 17th Century.

He teaches that instead, it is an allusion to the Midrash about the Israelite women giving birth in the fields, and the ground swallowing up these precious bundles to protect them from the Egyptians when they came to look. As such, “borei p’ri ha’adamah” is a reminder of this miracle, and the miracle of freedom we recall at this time in our Jewish calendar.

As the heavy grey of winter recedes to become less gloomy, there is a sense that our sacred congregation itself is feeling a weight lift from its shoulders, and feeling much freer as we face Pesach 5783.

We can feel our sacred congregation breaking through the (frozen) grounds and blossoming once more, with much to look forward to on the horizon, whether that is volunteer opportunities for our YAD 20s/30s, our meaningful Pesach services, including Yizkor, and our commemorations for the Israeli holidays. You should particularly take note of all our Pesach events HERE.

With so much happening during this season of our renewal, we encourage you to come along and participate. Check out the website. Join us on Shabbat. Ask your rabbis and cantors.

We look forward to welcoming you and keeping you up-to-date with all the latest details.

Subsequently, may all of your labour’s efforts to be involved be fruitful, full of blessing, and full of spring joy.

May it be a season of “simcha rabah”, and an early Chag Pesach Sameach!

Our Shabbat liturgy is filled with the language of welcome.

During Lecha Dodi, we stand and face the entrance, and bow as we sing:

Boi b’shalom, ateret ba’alah, gam b’simcha u’v’tzahola, toch emunei am segulah, boi kala, boi kalah.
“Come O bride, crown of her betrothed, enter in joy and in peace, into the people that keeps its faith, enter, O bride!”

It is perhaps no surprise then that this Shabbat was full of special moments of welcoming. On Friday night, it was members of our YAD (Young Adult Division), who joined for Kabbalat Shabbat before enjoying their first proper dinner back at HBT since the pandemic. Then, on Shabbat morning, new members attended either the Mishkan or the Family Service and were hosted at a reception in the Garson/Baskin Gallery.

The scene was palpable, as both our sacred spaces and our communal areas became animated with life, with prayer, music, children happily running around, glasses clinking l’chayim, and the sounds of laughter and conversation as members of our congregation took the opportunity to get to know one another. Shabbat itself became a simcha as we welcomed these newcomers into our midst. We hope that those who joined this past Shabbat felt truly embraced by their Holy Blossom family, our holy congregation that they have now chosen to call their spiritual home. With approximately 160 new member households in our community, we stand at a transformative moment in our rich history.

On that note, one more newcomer we are to shortly welcome into our midst is Yoel Sykes, co-founder of the infamous Jewish Music group, Nava Tehila. A student rabbi, he also travels around the U.S. and the world to lead transformative and healing prayer experiences. We are blessed that he will be joining us for Shabbat Shira, on February 3 and 4.

Details for our Shabbat Shira services, at which he will be our spiritual facilitator, as well as the registration for the Friday night dinner, can be found HERE.

The wooden doors to our beautiful building have carved into them the words of another well-known piece of Shabbat liturgy, from the Shalom Aleichem: Boachem L’shalom – “Come in Peace”.

May all who walk through our doors – whether this Shabbat or into the future – come in joy and in peace, with that warm HBT welcome being a sign of our own faith brought to life, in all its transformative power.

To everything there is a season

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!