With gratitude, Congregation Emanu-El acknowledges the support of the Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island Society (JFVVI). Grants from the JFVVI this year have been awarded to support initiatives by the following:
Dear Haverim (Friends)
We have had an incident at the synagogue that required police intervention. You may have read something regarding this incident through the news or social media.
A mentally ill person brushed past a Gan Shalom (daycare) parent and managed to enter the building not due to any fault of the daycare parent. Another daycare parent quickly called emergency 911 and the police were dispatched. The police were remarkably responsive, communicative and efficient. Our day care children were never in a dangerous situation and for most of the incident they were not aware that anything unusual was happening.
This mentally ill man held himself up in the balcony of the sanctuary; we were not successful at talking him down and out of the building. The police provided a transit bus for the daycare to transport the children to the other Gan Shalom daycare and the children felt like they were going on a field trip. It took the police a bit of force to subdue and retain the intruder and we are left with some broken windows and a mess to clean up. I am super thankful to Victoria’s finest for their professionalism in containing this situation and ensuring that everyone was safe.
This incident had nothing to do with antisemitism and could have occurred in any downtown building. The incident is a difficult and powerful reminder of the intensity and difficulties associated with our current mental health crisis.
I want to also state that the Gan Shalom staff and Gan Shalom parents who stayed by to ensure that the children were safe were remarkable and very calm. We are very safe, our protocols were tested and proved efficient.
B’virkat Shalom
With blessings of peace and wholeness
Rabbi Harry
On or before December 22, 2019 — Avodah invites you to bring 8 items – one for each night of Ḥanukkah to the Menorah Lighting in Centennial Square, Sunday, December 22, 2018 at 5:00 pm or to the synagogue office during office hours.
Let’s share our abundance with the Emergency Food Service at St. John the Divine.
Saturday, December 21, 2019 — It’s hard to believe, but this December marks two years that we’ve had our new prayer books. The Lev Shalem (A full heart) offers user-friendly and gender-neutral language. There is also comprehensive commentary – from both modern and more traditional sources.”Printed in 2016, this is a new kind of prayer book and the latest to be released by the Rabbinical Assembly.” Continue reading Celebrating our siddurim – a special kiddush
Avrael and Lucius Perreault invite the congregation to a Kiddush luncheon following services on Saturday, December 14, 2019 in celebration of the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Micah.
Next rehearsal Tuesday, December 10, 2019 —The Jewish Community Choir welcomes new voices to join our friendly, non-auditioned choir. We meet regularly to enjoy singing from a vast repertoire of Jewish music, accompanied by a gifted pianist. We sing both sacred and secular songs from Jewish composers, from centuries past to the modern day, including synagogue music as well as Yiddish and Israeli folk and songs from Broadway and popular songwriters. We sing in English, Hebrew, Aramaic, Yiddish and Ladino (or Judeo-Spanish) – all transliterated into English language syllables. We are non-denominational and welcome all, including non-Jews. The ability to read music or prior choir experience, while helpful, is not required.
Our weekly rehearsals are held on Tuesday evenings from 7:00-9:00 at Congregation Emanu-El Synagogue. We next gather on Tuesday, December 10, 2019. If interested please contact our choir Director, Carol Sokoloff at 250-385-3378 or
casjazz@islandnet.com.
