Zachor Remembrance Wall

Deadline September 15 – As we approach the High Holidays it is a time to wish family and friends a Sweet, Happy and Healthy New Year.
We also take the time to remember loved ones that are no longer with us.
The Zachor committee invites everyone to consider honouring the memory of a loved one on our wall of Remembrance in our cemetery. This is especially meant for people not buried in the Jewish cemetery. Once we have 10 new names we’ll do the inscriptions and have a dedication ceremony at the Wall.

Located within a natural Garry Oak meadow, our historic Jewish Cemetery of Victoria is filled with eclectic headstones and graves dating from 1861 and also is the home of the Shoah/Holocaust Memorial of Victoria. We are offering a special opportunity to inscribe, in English and/or Hebrew, the names of loved ones not buried in our Cemetery into the Zachor Remembrance Wall and to include them in the Cemetery website.

What will this cost?

5 – 10 characters$58026 – 35 character$785
11 – 25 characters$68536 – 60 characters$885

English and/or Hebrew characters can be used.
Deadline to order is September 15, 2022.

What will I get for this contribution to the Victoria Jewish Cemetery?

Names will be engraved into the stone of the Zachor wall. Letters will be ≈0.75 in/1.9 cm high. Placement will be assigned on the wall, taking into account the number of words to be engraved and the size of the various stones. Family names purchased at the same time will be engraved in the same location with ≈0.75 in/1.9 cm spacing between lines.

Transliterated Hebrew names can be included on the order form (attached below), and the final Hebrew will be confirmed with the purchaser before engraving. We will post a photograph and a 500 word submission about the people memorialized on the Cemetery website’s Zachor wall section. Please provide a suitable scanned image and text to: jewishcemetery@congregationemanuel.ca

Engravings will be carried out in groups of ten, so there may be a period of time between the purchase of the engraving and when it actually will be done. You will be invited to a ceremony at the cemetery after the engraving of the names are completed.

A receipt for any tax-deductible amount in your payment (up to the total $400 contribution) will be sent to you in February following the end of the calendar year in which the payment is made.

The Zachor wall does not replace the Yizkor plaques in the historic sanctuary of Congregation Emanu-El, which also include dates, and which are illuminated during appropriate times during the Jewish calendar year.

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JFS Saanich Green Market

Sunday August 7 – Jewish Family Services of Vancouver Island is running a farm-fresh produce market this Sunday, August 7th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. outside the Jewish Community Centre on 3636 Shelbourne St. This market is for everyone but particularly for those individuals and families that need a boost at this time of high prices and inflation.

On August 7th we will feature a variety of fresh berries from Gobind Farm, free range eggs from Rabbit River Farm, spray free vegetables from Sun Wing Tomatoes and wonderful live music with a kosher BBQ lunch. Our produce is from local farms and what we pay-you pay! Please bring your own grocery bag. For your convenience we accept debit, credit, and cash.

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A Thank-You Kiddush

Shabbat August 13, 10:00 a.m. – As a gesture of thanks to Congregation Emanu-El, Susan Glass is sponsoring a kiddush after the service on 13 August. All are welcome!
Susan’s daughter, Sarah Boivin, is leaving Victoria and moving to Montreal.
13 August is the first time Sarah will be davening Shacharit. Please come share the ruach and take this time to chat with Sarah and wish her well.

Summary of event details

  • Date: August 13, 2022
  • Time: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
  • Where: Emanu-El Sanctuary
  • Cost: n/a
  • Registration: n/a
  • Contact: n/a

BÄ“ma Presents: Peace Talks

August 25 – Peace Talks, a new play by Izzy Salant and Ryan Michael Dunn, is premiering in Victoria Fringe Festival 2022.

Too many people have no idea about the complexity of Arab/Israeli relations.

This thoughtful, relevant and well conceived script peers into some difficult and controversial subjects. Bema has worked with the playwrights for two years, and the play will now premiere in Bema’s Black Box Theatre in the Victoria Fringe Festival before it tours university and college campuses. As part of the Fringe, this play will have a wide Victoria audience and will possibly open some eyes. Make sure you get your tickets!

Ticketing Information:

Tickets can be purchased in person at The Fringe Box Office (Intrepid Theatre), #2 – 1609 Blanshard (at Fisgard). The Fringe Box Office will be open 12:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily August 22 through September 4.

Online tickets can be purchased anytime at www.victoriafringe.com starting August 4.

This is a live performance, but here are a few glimpses on video:

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2022 Tish’ah Be’Av

Saturday August 6, 8:00 p.m. – Services to be held in-person in the Sanctuary.

Tish’ah Be’Av – the ninth day of the month of Av – marks moments of destruction in Jewish history. It is the date that commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem. This is the day that marks the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 as well as many other tragedies that have befallen our people.

There is a teaching in Talmud, in Tractate Yoma, that the Second Temple was destroyed by sin’at ḥinam– baseless hatred. We are entering Tish’ah Be’Av this year at a time of war, a time of suffering and a time of anxiety. Join with your congregation in commemorating Tish’ah Be’Av in a spirit of ḥesed ḥinam—free-flowing love.

Tish’ah Be’Av falls on Saturday night (August 6). We will begin with evening services, the chanting of Eikhah (Lamentations) followed by traditional liturgical poems of a yearning for Jerusalem rebuilt. Services will begin at 8:00 p.m. (Note: Shabbat ends 9:37 p.m.)

May this season of escalating tensions and violence soon end. “May we see a day when war and bloodshed cease and humankind will not again know war.” May our prayers and commitment to ḥesed ḥinam lead on towards that day.

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Outreach Gifts for the Community!

For the month of August, Dahlia and Rafi Beck are sponsoring the Shabbat Gift Bag Program in honour of our spirited Congregation Emanu-El.

Shabbat Gift Bags are being delivered to community members every month. This warm-hearted project began as an Outreach initiative to reach congregants in need of connection or support on Shabbat. The project is growing, and the Outreach Committee hopes to reach every member of the community over the next few months. If you would like to volunteer or support Outreach in their many projects, please contact the shul office, 250 382-0615.

Housing Presentation

Housing as a Human Right means Housing for All.
Time to make this a reality, not just a slogan

August 9, 7:30 p.m. – Join Emanu-El’s Avodah and GVAT’s Affordable Housing team, as we hear how GVAT has been engaging with member organizations to establish housing priorities and needs, and the achievable solutions it has been developing.

The presentation is a work in progress. Come be part of the process, for – in its final form – it will be the basis of GVAT’s campaign and the ASKS, to be made of candidates and politicians prior to the Elections

Join the Zoom discussion at us02web.zoom.us/j/89575080616?pwd=UDBzWWlLTlQ0bjBWOUlPenRqaVBSdz09

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Save the Date

August 25 – Peace Talks, a new play by Izzy Salant and Ryan Michael Dunn, is premiering in Victoria Fringe Festival 2022.

Too many people have no idea about the complexity of Arab/Israeli relations.

This thoughtful, relevant and well conceived script peers into some difficult and controversial subjects. Bema has workshopped this script with the playwrights, and the play will premiere in Bema’s Black Box Theatre in the Victoria Fringe Festival before it tours university and college campuses. As part of the Fringe, this play will have a wide Victoria audience and will possibly open some eyes. Make sure you get your tickets!

The ticket link will be in next week’s newsletter.

This is a live performance, but here are a few glimpses on video:

Note: don’t forget tags!

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Victoria Fringe Festival Volunteer Outreach

Interested in joining an amazing community of artists and theatre enthusiasts, all while getting sweet perks like free show tickets? The 2022 Victoria Fringe Festival team is now looking for volunteers! Fringe is a theatre and arts festival with performers from around the world, and live events at six venues. Learn more and sign up at intrepidtheatre.com/about/volunteer/

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Sarah & Ella Bookman are B’nei Mitzvah!

Saturday July 30 – Ann and Aron Bookman are pleased to invite you to celebrate the Bat Mitzvah x2 of their wonderful daughters, Sarah and Ella, on Shabbat Matot-Mas’ey, Saturday July 30, 10:00AM to 1:00PM. If you are not comfortable with a larger than usual gathering in the Sanctuary, please join us on Zoom. We look forward to seeing you!

Summary of event details

  • Date: July 30, 2022
  • Time: 10:00AM – 1:00PM
  • Where: Sanctuary & Social Hall, Zoom