Come make a tallit for yourself or for a loved one or consider making another one for yourself. No sewing skills are needed. There are people who will sew for you. We will not be sewing the tallit during class time.
We will meet twice at 1135 McClure Street:
1st meeting: Wednesday, July 28 at 7:00 pm. You don’t need to bring anything to this first meeting.
2nd meeting: Sunday, Sept. 5 at 7:00 pm. We will tie the tzitzit at this meeting.
Call Charlotte Sutker at 250-516-9993 or email her at charlotte.sutker@gmail.com to let her know you are coming.
Cost: $18 plus the cost of the materials you choose.
If you have not yet seen the Theresienstadt Autograph Book Exhibit about Mænni Ruben’s story and connection to congregation member Susi Deston (z”l) in the Social Hall, there is still time, as it doesn’t close until August 12, 2021.
The research, exhibit and booklet reflect international participation and last August a newly created project website was launched along with a program sponsored by the Victoria Shoah Project. The original Autograph Book has been donated to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. For viewing before August 12, please contact Congregation Emanu-El office at (250) 382-0615 or info@congregationemanuel.ca for open hours.
The Anti-Racism and Equity Working Group met on July 9, 2021. The members are looking forward to taking part in the upcoming Union of Reform Judaism (URJ) online 4-part Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Community Training Series: How to create a DEI Working Group & Assess Our Community DEI Efforts. The sessions will be held from 5 to 6:30 pm PT on Wednesdays—July 28, August 4, 11, and 18, 2021. There is no cost.
We hope others will join in, and specifically, that we can bring together at Emanu-El as representative a group as possible with respect to race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, age, ability, Jewish background, and more. Have any questions? Interested in joining us? Please email Ilana at vicepresident@congregationemanuel.ca.
The Journeys in Jewish Music series produced by the Victoria Jewish Community Choir (VJCC) wrapped up on Sunday, June 20, 2021 with an engaging session on Klezmer music by Moshe Denburg. VJCC is grateful for the funding from the Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island (JFVVI) which, along with the support of our community sponsor Congregation Emanu-El, the enthusiasm of the many who participated and those who made donations, made the program possible.
We are incredibly pleased to announce that JFVVI has granted us another generous allotment which makes it possible to continue the series in the Fall with an additional six Zoom presentations. We are now organizing this series and welcome any suggestions regarding content or knowledgeable presenters. The talks are scheduled for Monday evenings following the High Holydays, and dates and details will be released as available. If you registered for the previous series, you will automatically be notified and sent the links.
To register or send comments or suggestions please send a note to: jewishmusictalks@gmail.com. The Victoria Jewish Community Choir is non-auditioned and welcomes all voices. The Choir will re-convene as soon as regulations permit. If you are interested in joining the choir, please contact co-director Carol Sokoloff at casjazz@islandnet.com.
RSVP required—We will hold our Thursday morning minyanim at 7 am in the synagogue throughout the summer. Our Thursday morning minyan offers an intimate, contemplative experience—a way to connect with others, with self, and ultimately, with Divine Source.
To register for the Thursday morning service, please email elishevag@shaw.ca. Please do not attend if you have any symptoms or have travelled out of the country within the last two weeks.
Tish’ah Be’AvSaturday night, July 17, 9:00 pm on Zoom—the ninth day of the month of Av—marks moments of deep tragedy and destruction in Jewish history. It is the day when we commemorate the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem, the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, and many other tragedies that have befallen our people.
There is a teaching in Talmud (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 ḥesedḥinam—free flowing love.
Tish’ah Be’Av begins on Saturday night, July 17, 2021. We will hold evening services including the chanting of Eikhah (Lamentations) followed by the recitation of traditional liturgical poems of yearning for a Jerusalem rebuilt. Services will start at 9:00 pm. Join Online: CLICK HERE… To dial in: 1 778 907 2071 Meeting ID: 874 2587 9161 Password: 059827
May this season of escalating tensions and violence soon end. “May we see the day when war and bloodshed cease, when a great peace will embrace the whole world” (Lev Shalom p. 178) May our prayers and commitment to ḥesedḥinam lead us towards that day.
Saturdays at 10 am – RSVP by Friday, 3:30 pm—Throughout the summer, we will hold Shabbat services in the sanctuary, and broadcast the service on Zoom. For now, we are allowing a maximum of 50 people to attend in person. Preregistration along with adherence to all health and safety protocols is required.
If you would like to attend, please register by emailing the synagogue office at info@congregationemanuel.ca before 3:30 pm on the preceding Friday. We look forward to seeing you then!
June 24, 2021 at 7 amRSVP necessary—This week, our Thursday morning minyan will take place in the sanctuary. We look forward to praying together “in-person” and hope you can join us. Our Thursday morning minyan offers an intimate, contemplative experience—a way to connect with others, with self, and ultimately, with Divine Source. Also, we are hopeful that we will soon return to breakfast at John’s Place.
For information about the service, including registration, contact the office at info@congregationemanuel.ca before Wednesday at 3:00 pm.
Please do not attend if you have any symptoms or have travelled out of the country within the last two weeks.
We began our third meeting by recognizing the profound grief, loss and reckoning following the murder of a Muslim family in London, Ontario, and the disturbing discovery of 215 children’s bodies at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. We also discussed what the calls from Indigenous communities and leaders for responsibility and accountability mean for our work. Please see the links below: for a letter from Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc on how to support that First Nations Government, interviews with Indigenous leaders, and the Indigenous organizations accepting contributions.
We attended the Union for Reform Judaism’s fantastic three-part REDI (Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) series covering how to intentionally build Jewish communities of belonging, to deepen understanding of identities, biases, and much more. We are happy to share the wonderful resources we received, so please reach out if interested!
We will attend their next 4-part Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Community Training Series: How to create a DEI Working Group & Assess Our Community DEI Efforts on July 28, August 4, 11, and 18, 2021. We welcome anyone interested to sign up and join us! You can register and see the training series description here: https://urj.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctf-qoqDMsGNBo6nwqk8khKQPpBnprjtU9
Stay tuned for the first community event that we are planning for October, after the High Holy Days.
The group’s fourth meeting will be on Thursday July 8, 2021 from 6:30 – 8 pm. Please contact the office for more information and the meeting Zoom link.
Sunday, June 20, 2021, at 7:30 pm—Journeys of Jewish Music, sponsored by the Victoria Jewish Community Choir, brings Moshe Denburg back for the sixth and last conversation in the series. Moshe will explore the Ashkenazi stream of Jewish music and answer some of the following questions: What is Klezmer? What are its modes and rhythms? How is Yiddish song associated with the Klezmer tradition? How have Ashkenazi traditions of Jewish music-making evolved over the past 150 years? There will be musical examples sung and played live with participation encouraged. For advance information on the subject, consult this essay on the Tzimmes website: http://www.tzimmes.net/jewish-music/the-way-of-the-klezmer/
Moshe Denburg is an award-winning composer, arranger, and music educator whose works have been widely performed in Canada, the US, and internationally. Moshe hails from a well-known Montreal Rabbinical family; he moved to the West coast in 1982. Having grown up in the synagogue, his knowledge of Jewish liturgy and musical practices is deeply rooted. He has traveled worldwide, living, and studying in the US, Israel, India and Japan. A life-long musician, Moshe has sung and written songs in Jewish and Middle Eastern idioms extensively. He started his ensemble Tzimmes in Victoria in 1986; he studied composition at UVic. Moshe is committed to presenting Jewish Music in its many styles and languages. His music incorporates Klezmer (European), Sephardi (Mediterranean), and North American Folk influences in several languages: Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, and English. Moshe is also the founder of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra and has written many large scale compositions which bring together the instrumental and musical resources of many cultures.
