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June 2009
Message from the Board
As we cast our sights towards the promise of a warm, relaxing summer the DJC remains busy preparing for our upcoming High Holidays. We have much to look forward to and some changes to tell you about.
What we can look forward to:
- Rabbi Lynn will be officiating, offering us her gentle wisdom and wonderful stories.
- Lisa Kent, our cantor, is already rehearsing with the choir and we look forward to music that moves and inspires us.
- We will be announcing a special event for our community that will be occurring over 2009/2010 ... but you'll have to be at the High Holiday services to hear about that one!
Changes to tell you about:
- Our Jewish school will be starting in September before the High Holidays (usually our Jewish school starts after the High Holidays). This will give our children an opportunity to prepare for the High Holidays through the school and reconnect with friends.
- For children between the ages of 2-6 there will be children’s services held before the adult services and we will continue to offer day care for this age group during all of the High Holiday services.
- Children between the ages of 7-11 are invited to attend the community -wide services or attend a new Youth service run by our school.
- The gym will not be available at any time during the High Holidays and there will be no day care for children over the age of 6. We look forward to children over the age of 6 participating in either the Youth or community-wide services.
- There will not be any meditation before the adult services. We tried this last year and although it was well-received, it was a logistical challenge and as a result, we unfortunately need to discontinue this program.
If you have any feedback or ideas you would like to share, please send them to us at: info@djctoronto.com.
Please look for more information in our High Holiday newsletter and registration package the first week of August.
When Family and Community Intersect: Saturday Shabbat Service
Some communities feel like a family, and some families are shaped by community. And so it is that Kathy Miller and Emil Sher, who have been involved with the DJC from its earliest days, invite the community that has so enriched their lives to join them as their daughter Molly is called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah during the Shabbat service on June 13 at 10:00 a.m. at Eastminster United Church.
The service will be led by DJC cantor Lisa Kent, whose thoughtfulness and exquisite voice make for a beautiful blend.
Kiddush to follow.
June CALENDAR…At a glance
| date | time | event/details | location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, June 13 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm | Bat Mitzvah: A Community InvitationKiddush to follow service | Eastminster Sanctuary (service) - 310 Danforth Avenue -  Kiddush in Hurndale Room For more information, contact Emil: esher@pathcom.com |
| Weekend June 12-14 | 3:30 pm “check-in” Friday until 3:00 pm Sunday | Canamica 19th Shabbat in the Woods Retreat* with DJC members *(description in news) |
For more informationcontact: josielalonde@rogers.com Registration (forms to download): www.canamica.com |
| Friday, June 26 | “Early Bird” deadline | Registration: DJC Children’s Jewish Studies program | For more information or to register write to info@djctoronto.com |
WEEKEND RETREAT
Share a dynamic Jewish weekend with a group of DJC members at the Canamica 19th Shabbat in the Woods Retreat.
This community retreat will take place the weekend of June 12 – 14 at the Canterbury Hills Retreat Centre, located in the woods just outside of Hamilton. The retreat offers a time for study, Jewish experience, and spiritual growth incorporating both tradition and innovation. The retreat is open to all—all ages, all backgrounds, all affiliations, all levels of Jewish knowledge. People are welcome to attend as families, couples, or on their own. Children and teenagers can enjoy exciting programs just for them. No one is too young, none too old. Only your desire to learn and participate is important.
The retreat brochure and registration forms for download are available on the Canamica web site: www.canamica.com. Please indicate on the registration form that you are part of the Danforth Jewish Circle. You also can indicate with whom you would like to ‘bunk’.
Please contact Josie Lalonde (josielalonde@rogers.com) if you have any questions, require carpooling, or are able to carpool others.
An Open Letter to the DJC on B’Nei Mitzvah
In honour of the B’Nei Class of 2009: Nicola Adilman, Jonah Bacon Lefkowitz, Mikayla Katz, Isaac Hunter Page, Jonah Prussky, Hannah Walters-Vida, Daniel Winer
And in honour of the first brave class of 2008: Abe Brath, Lonya Burton, Rachel Carnat, Dylan Martin-Gold, Jemma Israelson, Jacob McCall, Zachary O’Brien, Samson Weiss Willis
You touched our hearts…
A few Saturday’s ago I attended the second annual DJC B’Nei Mitzvah service, moved and inspired by seven young people going through the ritual transition from being children to adults of the Jewish community. As I sat through a service that was compelling, engaging, political, drawing on the traditions of Judaism and creating new rituals grounded in the tikkun olam approach of the DJC, I began scribbling notes to our community, wanting somehow to impart how significant an event this was, and to share the pride I felt in our community for offering such a meaningful and amazing program to our young people. Our community is one that is growing and changing, striving always to meet the varying needs of the diverse individuals and families that come together each year for holidays and celebration. Our B’Nei Mitzvah program, moving into its third year this fall, provides something new and clearly desired within our community.
As many of you know, it was only last year that the DJC Jewish School launched its first B’Nei Mitzvah program. Until that time, children could attend our Jewish School up until grade 6, and that was it. After several years of worrying about this drop-off point at the end of grade 6, we designed a collective B’Nei program, hired a teacher, and lead 8 of our children through a year of learning about social justice and Judaism, and exploring what Judaism meant to them in their lives. Despite the inevitable challenges of starting a fairly ambitious new program, it was successful beyond most of our imaginings. In that first year, eight young people spent a year together exploring Judaism; religious, secular and political. They shared a Torah portion, wrote inspiring Divrei Torah, connected with Holocaust survivors and each dedicated their bar/bat miztzvah to a child who had not survived to have a ceremony of their own. Each of those eight kids emerged with much grace through a year of work that required them to think weekly about what it meant to them to be Jewish, and to speak about this publicly in front of over 200 people at the service.
This May, our second B’Nei group completed their year together. The service was stunning. Each child read from the Torah, families made aliyot, significant family members presented each child with a tallit which they donned simultaneously. There was singing, blessings, readings, and the amazing words of these young people in their Divrei Torah, sometimes funny, sometimes political, always nuanced and thoughtful. Lisa Kent led the service with the gentleness and grace of a true teacher, explaining the meanings of different moments in the service, yet ultimately leaving the kids at centre stage. Assaf Weisz who taught this program for the second year spoke eloquently about how we are offering something so important and ultimately central to our community; the opportunity to explore Judaism in a social and political context, and to share that experience with a group of peers. Alysse Rich coordinated behind the scenes this year, helping us offer a more organized and coherent program while ensuring the service ran smoothly. As in the first year of the program, the parents worked tirelessly over the year, to support their children, to nurture them along in learning their torah portions and writing their Divrei Torah, and to imagine and construct a meaningful and beautiful service. This assembly of people created an outstanding process and a truly inspiring event. As a witness to the service it felt so clear that this moment was neither only ritual, nor only duty, it was a B’Nei ceremony that resonated with meaning for the kids and their families.
This is a very proud moment for the DJC. We have launched another group of young people out into the world with a deep sense of Judaism, of working to repair their world, and of community. The DJC community is always invited, indeed urged, to attend these B’Nei services, and we hope next year some of you will consider coming to both witness and share in the joy of this moment. To partake in this celebration is to be inspired as Jews, to remember the value of teaching our young people well, to be rejuvenated ourselves. In this way our community honours our children and their families as they move through this most significant of life moments.
Nadya Burton
(DJC JS education committee and B’Nei Mitzvah program volunteer)
DJC CHILDREN’S JEWISH STUDIES PROGRAM
2009/10 REGISTRATION
Registration is now underway for our 2009/10 year. We’d like to invite any new (and returning families) to register at this time. For more information and/or to register your children in our Children’s Jewish Studies grades JK/SK - 6, please write to info@djctoronto.com for more information. To register online (or to download a registration form) go to website link: http://djctoronto.com/participate/jewishstudies_registration.php
An Early Bird special applies if you register or place a deposit by June 26/09.
In addition to our regular Thursday class, we are very pleased to offer the Hebrew Whole Language Program again in the 2009/10 school year. We are excited about the second year of our program. At this time we anticipate classes will begin on September 15 2009. The tuition fees will be $675 per student. The program his year will take place for the duration of the school year.
*Please note that we offer a very low student teacher ratio which allows for a very high retention rate and better success for students.
For more information, please write to info@djctoronto.com
The DJC Book Club committee is busy planning another exciting year of reading...
Please stay tuned for upcoming announcements!
COMMUNITY NEWS
The Jewish Diversity Committee is pleased to present:
Twice Blessed: The Joys Not the Oys of Being Jewish and LGBT
Join us for an evening to hear about and celebrate the joys of being Jewish and Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT). A diverse panel will share the joys of their lived experiences. And because there should always be more to sing about than to kvetch about, speakers will share the stage with LGBT Jewish musical performances. If you're Jewish and LGBT, if you're not, if you're related to someone who is, or if you think you've never met anyone who is, this promises to be a delightful evening for all.
Music by Corey Sandler and musical companions
Sunday June 7, 2009 at Congregation Darchei Noam
7:00-9:30 pm
864 Sheppard Avenue West
Doors open at 6:45 pm —No entrance fee
Refreshments will be available
Co-sponsored by
For further information contact Andria Spindel aspindel@rogers.com
Happy spring!
You may have noticed that I haven't sent out any word about my gigs for a few months now; that's because I have been hard at work on a new project that I think you'll enjoy.
Introducing (insert fanfare here): The Satin Dolls vocal jazz quartet!!!
I and three other women (Donna Green, Aviva Rajsky and Karen Bell) have been hard at work perfecting some beautiful four-part harmonies to some of the great songs of the '30's, 40's and beyond. For a sample of The Satin Dolls music, please visit www.myspace.com/satindollsquartet.
Great news! We've been playing a number of private events but now you have a chance to hear us:
Saturday, June 13th at 8:00 p.m.*
The Trane Studio
www.thetranestudio.com
964 Bathurst Ave. (south of Dupont)
Cover: $15
with Mark Kieswetter on piano, Jordan O'Connor on bass and Glenn Anderson on drums
*RESERVATIONS for the Trane Studio appearance ARE ESSENTIAL as in all likelihood it will be sold out. Please e-mail me if you would like a seat.
I look forward to seeing you at one of these fun performances; in the meantime, have a wonderful spring season!
All the best,
Ilana Waldston
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