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Narayever Net  Weekly Announcements

August 31, 2016   |  27 Av  5776

For more information about the Narayever in general and upcoming activities in particular,  please  visit our website   or  like us on facebook

Shabbat Times 

Candle lighting Friday night September 2:  7:31 pm

Shabbat ends Saturday night September 3:  8:30 pm

Shabbat Services 

Kabbalat Shabbat service Friday September 2: 6:00 pm

Shabbat morning September 3: 9:00 am 

Parashat Re'eh/Rosh Hodesh Elul

Dvar Torah: Rabbi Elkin

Kiddush: The shul

Donations to the kiddush fund were made by Susan Starkman and Richard Gilbert, in memory of Ali Aber's mother Judith Aber; Susan Starkman and Richard Gilbert, wishing mazel tov to Ruth Rohn and Paul Pascal, on the birth of their grandson; Andrea Most, Alan Ackerman, Max and Alice, in memory of Judith Aber; Dorothy Garfinkel, in honor of the engagement of Liz Bohnen's son Tony Lemire to Candice Letvack; Rosalind and Gary Judd, in memory of of Ben Carniol's sister Erica Cherney.

Babysitting: 9:45 - 11:45 am

Rabbi's Tanakh Shiur: after kiddush

Sunday Rosh Hodesh minyan: 9 am



Shul Membership Renewals

By now, you should have received your membership renewal in the mail. Please call the Narayever office as soon as possible to complete your renewal: 416.927.0546. A quick response will help the office process your High Holy Day ticket order. You can pay by cheque, Visa, or Mastercard. High Holy Day tickets will be issued in September to those who have renewed.

If you have any questions or concerns about renewing your membership, financial or otherwise, please contact Membership Chair David Barkin or 416.948.0850.


Our High Holy Day Services 

The Narayever will once again offer services that are both beautiful and meaningful at two venues. 

Rosh Hashanah starts the evening of Sunday, October 2, with services at the shul. On Monday October 3 and Tuesday October 4 there will be services at both the shul and at the Miles Nadal JCC .  
Yom Kippur starts Tuesday evening, October 11 with services at both the shul and at the JCC. Yom Kippur concludes Wednesday evening, October 12.   

At the shul, we offer traditional-egalitarian services led by Rabbi Elkin, who will be assisted by Michael Rumack. 

At the Miles Nadal JCC, we offer traditional- egalitarian services led by Rabbi David Weiss. At the JCC, we also offer engaging, fun and educational family services, age-specific child and youth programming, babysitting and childcare. We also offer alternative  adult chanting and learning sessions at the JCC.

Non-members are warmly welcome to share these holy days with our community at the Miles Nadal JCC. Please spread the word as tickets at the Miles Nadal JCC are available for family and friends who might enjoy attending our High Holy Day services.    
 
For more information and to purchase tickets call us at the office at 416.927.0546 or see our website and  High Holidays.




Welcoming Our New Family and Youth Engagement Coordinator and our New ShinShinim Next Shabbat Sept.10

We recently announced that Sabrina Friedman has joined our shul staff in the role of Family and Youth Engagement Coordinator. Sabrina brings a wealth of experience to the position -- having worked in both formal and informal Jewish education with teens, young children, and families. 

This year's ShinShinim are extremely excited to join our Narayever community. Yuval, a 17-year old young woman from Pardes-Hannah has a great love for living in a multicultural country and a strong drive to contribute substantially as a medic when she enlists in the army following her year of service here in Toronto. Yahav, an 18-year old young man from the small village of Tzur-Yigal attends a high school in which ecological and agricultural studies are core to the school's curriculum. These two emissaries each describe an invaluable care for the environment.  Both Yuval and Yahav have a great deal of volunteer experience working with both youth and children, and a demonstrable devotion to social action.  If you're curious to learn more about them, feel free to take a look at their video by  clicking here .

We warmly invite you to help us welcome Sabrina, Yuval, and Yahav to the Narayever at their first Shabbat morning services on September 10. That is also the Shabbat when our teen led Shabbat services for kids of all ages will begin again for this school year -- so kids and families are encouraged to come out to see their teen leaders as well as meet Sabrina, Yahav, and Yuval. 



We are still looking for few more volunteers 
to Usher at the MNjcc

Please contact Ellen Friedland  or call : 416.993.8349

Thank you!




The Yazidis: A Persecuted Middle Eastern Minority Who Need Help
With Geoffrey Clarfield and Mirza Ismail
After kiddush September 10, 1:30-2:30

In this post-kiddush presentation, we will be hearing from two speakers about the Yazidis, a people whom the UN has declared are experiencing genocide. Geoffrey Clarfield will explain the history and ethnography of the Yazidi in the context of the Middle East. Mirza Ismail will be speaking on a more personal level about what he, his family and his people have been through. As he has been back to the region he will be able to report on what is happening now, in the camps and to those who are still in Iraq. He will talk about the impact that this genocide has had on those who survive and those who are still in captivity under ISIS.  Both will share their views about what Canada can do now to help the Yazidi people. 

Geoffrey Clarfield is an anthropologist at large. Having spent more than twenty years living and working in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, he has contributed numerous articles to the National Post, the Globe and Mail, the New York Post, and other publications. Mirza Ismail is the founder and chairman of Yazidi Human Rights Organization International.




You're invited to:
The Celebrations Committee Meeting

When: Thursday, September 15 at 7:30 pm
Where: The Shul
What to bring: Your ideas and energy
Why: To help make the holidays joyous/freilich

Meet a committee of dedicated, witty, inspiring and kind people.

Would you like to: Decorate the Sukkah? Set up the Purim carnival? 
Plan activities throughout the year?

Snacks will be provided!

If you aren't able to attend the meeting, but would still like to help make
5777 a joyous year at Narayever please email Jill Magen-Lichtblau at  celebrations@narayever.ca . 




Eyes in the Bible or Choose Life
A special program with Rouhama Danto
Sunday, September 18th | 11:00 am - 1:00 pm | at the shul | all are welcome
Light refreshments provided.

Dr. Rahamim Melamed-Cohen was born in Jerusalem into a family of Rabbis. He was an educator, a scholar and an artist. At age 57 he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and given two to five years to live. That was well over a decade ago. He is still alive, though completely paralyzed save for his eyes. But with the help of state of the art technology, he has since written 13 books, including a study of the importance and different appearances of eyes in the Bible.

The way Rahamim has overcome physical difficulties and challenges, dealing with unexpected troubles and obstacles to achieve his extraordinary accomplishments is a testament to the human spirit, the notion that nothing can stand in the way of our will (" Ein davar ha'omed bifnei haratzon"). In this inspiring program, Rouhama Danto will present the remarkable story and work of Melamed-Cohen.

Descending from a long rabbinical line, Rouhama Danto is a longtime educator who graduated as a Commercial Artist from the Tel Aviv School of Art, has received a BSc in science from the University of Tel Aviv, a Master's degree in Bible from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a degree in Art and Stage Design in N.Y. She has produced a series of educational films in Israel and worked as a consultant to the Jewish Board of Education in Cleveland and taught at Associated Hebrew School in Toronto. She has been a members of the executive of Yad Vashem and is still a devoted member of the Society for The Protection of Nature in Israel. Rouhama currently lectures on Bible, Art, Israel and Judaica.


FOOD MATTERS FROM THE NARAYEVER FOOD COMMITTEE

Kiddush Lunches

The Narayever is pleased to continue providing Shabbat Kiddush lunches for the congregation.  These kosher, organic and sustainable lunches have become very popular and provide an opportunity for those attending Shabbat morning services to socialize in our warm and welcoming community.

In order to maintain this practice, we rely on donations to the Kiddush Fund.  Unfortunately, donations to the Fund decreased substantially over the past year and as a result we have had to reduce the food budget by 6.5%.  To achieve this reduction at a time when food costs have been rising, we will provide a smaller Kiddush when attendance on Shabbat is typically lower, such as secular holidays.  

Starting this Labour Day weekend (September 5 , 2016) as well as on December 24 and December 31, 2016, a smaller Kiddush will be provided.

Please consider donating to the Kiddush Fund in honour or in memory of someone special or just to help maintain and enhance the Kiddush lunch program. 



Shul Lost and Found

We would like to clear out our Lost and Found. If any of these items belong to you, please claim them by September 13. 
Items remaining after that time will be disposed of.

Various Adult Items

Blue Water Bottle - McLeish Orlando, Grey cap - Tiger of Sweden, Grey rumpled skirt with elastic waist band, size L - Simply Vera by Vera Wang, Red Ladies jacket - MEC, Size Medium with Craigleith ski pass dated Jan. 18/14, Brown metal reading glasses


 

Children's items


 

Orange Cloth Ball "Splash", Small gold rimmed glasses (could be readers as well), Multi coloured Head band, Straw hat, Natural - very cute!, Green MEC fleece hat, Light Blue hooded sweat with zipper, GAP size S, Blue Cougar Kids winter boots w/ Velcro strips, size 3M

 
Other
Book: Mosquitoland by David Arnold






Re'eh
Deut.11:26-16:17

In this week's sedra, Moshe seeks to convey to the people the starkness of the choices that they will face as they enter Eretz Yisrael. To convey his meaning as clearly as possible, he ordains that as soon as they cross over the river Jordan, the tribes should divide themselves between two adjacent mountains - one called Gerizim, and the other Ebal. Levites are to pronounce blessings from Gerizim, and curses from Ebal. These blessings and curses would take effect depending on whether Israel obeys God's mitzvot, or not.
 
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch derives an interesting spiritual insight from the fact that these blessings and curses would be recited from these particular mountains. Gerizim has a green slope covered with fruit trees all the way up to the summit. Ebal, on the other hand, is barren and bleak. Hirsch writes that these two mountains "both rise on one and the same soil, both are watered by one and the same fall of rain and dew, the same air breathes over both of them, the same pollen wafts over both of them, and yet Ebal remains in barren bleakness while Gerizim is clad to its summit in embellishment of vegetation."
 
What can we learn from this natural phenomenon? "In the same way, blessing and curse are not conditional on external circumstances but on our own inner receptivity for the one or the other, on our behaviour towards that which is to bring blessing."
 
This is a telling insight. If there are two different people who are subject to the same external circumstances, they will not necessarily respond in the same way. We know, for example, that some children of abusers become abusers themselves; others, however, do not. They are able to transcend their own conditions. They are receptive to receiving whatever support the outside world might provide to escape the trap of their situation, and they possess the inner strength necessary to imagine that their lives can be different.

Hirsch knows that we often associate "blessing" with particular external manifestations: wealth, health, professional, academic, or social success. We associate "curse" with the opposites. But the real blessing and curse derives from our own openness to working with, and nurturing, the hand we've been dealt. 

As we celebrate the beginning of Hodesh Elul, with all the spiritual work the tradition asks us to do during this month of preparation for the yamim noraim, Hirsch's insight may help us to remember that, while not everything about our lives is under our control, there is much power and significance in the choices that we make. 

הרב אשר זאב בן הלל וגולדע
Rabbi Ed Elkin









 





 



Kosher Meals on Wheels (KMOW) Volunteer Drivers Needed. Circle of Care's KMOW program is a lifeline for seniors and individuals with disabilities. Volunteers deliver meals Monday - Friday mornings in less than 2 hours while also providing short, yet vital, social interactions. For more information on volunteering whenever you can, please contact KMOW Volunteer Claudia Kugelmass at claudiakugelmass@rogers.com or the Circle of Care Volunteer Dept. at volunteer@circleofcare.com.

 


Living with Dementia in the Family
We know the challenges you face caring for a family member with dementia. This free, 10 week supportive skills-based program helps you learn to problem-solve and communicate effectively and includes a concurrent stimulating and creative workshop for your family member. Confidentiality assured. Co-sponsored by: Cyril & Dorothy, Joel & Jill Reitman Centre for Alzheimer's Support and Training (Mt. Sinai Hospital) and Holy Blossom Temple.
10 week Program, with sessions once weekly.

Oct 19-Dec 21, 2016
12:30 pm - 3:00 pm
The Miles Nadal JCC, 750 Spadina Ave @ Bloor
Registration begins now. 
Please contact us to see if this is right for you and your loved one.


 


On September 6, 2016 at 7:30 pm, the Shaarei Shomayim Sisterhood will be hosting "Seeking Understanding: Jewish and Aboriginal Communities in Canada - An Evening of Awareness-Building, Learning, and Truth." This panel discussion will feature the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Canada's Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development, Dr. Dawn Lavell-Harvard, Ph.D, President of the Native Women's Association (NWAC), Dr. Seymour Epstein, Ph.D, Educational Consultant, and Tamara Podemski, a multi-disciplinary artist. There is no charge for this event. 



Grants Available for Jewish Feminist Scholarship and Artistic Projects

The HBI (Hadassah Brandeis Institute) is accepting proposals for the 2016 Research Awards program supporting interdisciplinary research and artistic projects on Jewish women and gender issues. Scholars, activists, writers and artists who are pursuing research on questions of significance to the field of Jewish women's studies may apply.

Application guidelines: http://www.brandeis.edu/hbi/grants/research.html

Proposal deadline: September 15, 2016

Questions: dolins@brandeis.edu


About Narayever Net

Narayever Net is the First Narayever Congregation's weekly announcement email. We hope that this aspect of our shul's communications will help members and friends keep better informed about our programs and activities. We send out announcements once/week.

Any information you would like to go into the Narayever Net, including Kiddush donations for the upcoming Shabbat, needs to be submitted to the office by the Tuesday of that week.

Announcements of programs/activities which are sponsored by other organizations or groups in the community are for informational purposes only and do not represent endorsement by the shul. If you do not wish to receive these weekly announcements, please send an email to Marsha at admin@narayever.ca  and your address will be deleted from our list.