holidays

Dec 15 – Make Your Own Olive Oil Hanukkah Workshops

Low flickering oil-lamp flames with a black background. Text above that says Make your own olive oil! Hanukkah workshops for everyone

Join us for a hands-on experience! Press olives and make your very own oil for lighting hanukkiot (Hanukkah menorahs). Get a taste of what it was like to make oil in olden times and share the warmth and light of your own freshly pressed oil with family and friends.

Along with your oil, you’ll take home a set of glass inserts that can be used in most hanukkiot to enable them to hold oil, along with floating wicks.

All three events are on Sunday, December 15 at Makom (map).

Please register by as soon as possible so we can order supplies! Click the links below to register and get full details:

 

Families with Kids

Press your own olive oil,  make a “stained glass” dreidel, and hear a Hanukkah story. Geared for kids in JK through grade 5; younger siblings are welcome. This is designed to give parents and kids a chance to do a hands-on holiday activity together (not a drop-off program).

Sunday, Dec 15
1:00 – 2:30pm


Hativah (Grades 6-8)

Make your own olive oil, play fun Hanukkah games, and make (and eat!) latkes with other kids your age. Feel free to invite friends. This event is for middle school students (grades 6-8) only, not for parents.

Sunday, Dec 15
3:00 – 4:30pm


High School Teens

Make your own olive oil, play fun Hanukkah games, and make (and eat!) latkes with new and old friends. Feel free to invite friends. This event is for high school students only, not for parents.

Sunday, Dec 15
5:00 – 6:30pm


Suggestion for all events: everyone should wear or bring an old shirt/smock and old pair of pants, as oil can leave marks on clothing.

Any Qs? Please contact Sarah English, Director of Education and Youth Programs.

Oct 22: Downtown Jewish Teens – Pizza in the Sukkah

Take a break from the world and chill in the sukkah!

Enjoy some pizza with new and old friends and learn about the holiday of Sukkot.

This event is FREE! Please register by October 22 at noon.
Donations are greatly appreciated and help us cover food, sukkah rental, staff time, etc.

High school teens of all Jewish identities are warmly welcome, including from interfaith/intercultural families and LGBTQ+. No Makom affiliation necessary.

Please note that this is for high school students only (grades 9-12), not for parents.

See our other Sukkot events for Families with kids from infants up through grade 5,  for Kids in Grades 6-8, and for Adults!

Accessibility Information

Makom welcomes participants of all abilities. The Kiever’s sukkah is wheelchair accessible. However, the washroom is down a flight of stairs. If you have an accessibility need or require any accommodations, please reach out to us.

Questions? Email Rabbi Aaron.

Aug 12: Tishah be-Av Evening Services and Eikhah Reading

Monday August 12
8:30 – 10:00pm
@Makom (map)
Bring Food or $$ to Donate + Flashlight
No registration required

Please join us for a powerful, contemplative evening marking historical Jewish loss and ongoing brokenness in the world as we usher in Tishah be-Av, the ninth day of the lunar month of Av. This date marks the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem and other tragedies in Jewish history. It is traditionally observed with fasting, refraining from wearing leather, and other mourning customs. (For more background, see here.)

We’ll pray the brief evening service and listen to the Biblical book of Eikhah/Lamentations, hauntingly chanted by community members. We’ll also sing somber songs; read kinnot (elegies) for ancient calamities, the Holocaust, and October 7; and chant niggunim (wordless melodies). 

As signs of mourning, it’s customary to sit on the floor of the synagogue with the lights dimmed, so please bring a flashlight

Please BRING FOOD or CASH for our neighbours at Fort York Food Bank, in keeping with the spirit of Isaiah 58:6-7, “This is the fast I desire… It is to share your bread with the hungry.” Fresh produce, grains, and canned or boxed foods are all welcome, as are cash donations.

Doors open at 8:30pm; services begin promptly at 8:45.

FYI, the fast begins Monday at sunset,8:24pm, and ends Tuesday at nightfall, 9:11pm.

Oct 7: Simhat Torah Eve Celebration

Saturday, Oct 7
8:00 – 11:00pm

@Wolfond Centre (36 Harbord St)
Free, no need to register
BYOB



Let’s celebrate the Torah, which we both conclude and restart reading on Simhat Torah!

Join Makom and Annex Shul for brief ma’ariv (evening) services, hakafot (singing and dancing with the Torah), snacks, and Torah reading.  BYOB.

The Wolfond Centre is fully wheelchair accessible.
Services and dancing will have mixed (all-genders), men’s, and women’s sections.

Oct 5: Hativah Launch! Middle School Pizza Party in the Sukkah

Calling all Jewish middle school students! You’re invited to the launch of Hativah – our new youth group for grades 6-8.

Come hang out with other downtown kids your age, enjoy some pizza, and play fun games together, all in a sukkah.

View into a sukkah with a set table and lots of light.

Thursday, Oct 5
5:45 – 7:00pm

@Kiever Synagogue Sukkah (map)
Free!
Register by Thurs, Oct 5, at 12noon

Feel free to invite friends. Please note that this is for middle school students (grades 6-8) only, not for parents.

Middle school kids of all Jewish identities are warmly welcome, including from interfaith/intercultural families and LGBTQ+.  No Makom affiliation necessary.

Oct 4: Teens’ Pizza & Chill in the Sukkah

Chill in a sukkah with other downtown Jewish teens!

View into a decorated Sukkah against a night sky. Inside the sukkah there is a table with lit candles, a lulav and etrog, and wine.

Enjoy some pizza with new and old friends and learn about the holiday of Sukkot.

Feel free to invite friends, JSAs, etc.

Please note that this is for high school students (grades 9-12) only.

Wednesday, Oct 4
6:00 – 8:00pm

@Rabbi Aaron’s Sukkah (near Bathurst & Dundas)

Free! 
Register
by Wed, Oct 4, at 12noon

Oct 3: Families’ Pizza, Falafel & Crafts in the Sukkah

Connect with other families with kids over dinner and crafts while celebrating Sukkot.

Bring your kids for a fun and relaxed community dinner in the sukkah!

A craft sukkah, complete with walls, roof, table, chairs, and decorations, made of lolly sticks and tissue paper.

Families will learn about and get to shake lulav and etrog, do a quick craft, and enjoy a yummy kosher dinner and dessert together, all in a sukkah.

Tuesday, Oct 3
5:45 – 7:00pm

@Kiever Synagogue Sukkah (map)

Registration required by Tues, Oct 3, at 12noon

Schedule

5:45pm: Lulav & Etrog, Crafts
6:15pm: Dinner

Please note that this program is for families with kids from infants up through grade 5.

Families of all Jewish identities are warmly welcome, including interfaith/intercultural and LGBTQ+. No Makom affiliation necessary.

Sept 29: Friday Night/Sukkot Services + Dinner

A well-lit, decorated sukkah with nearby citrus trees.


Friday, Sept 29
6:45 – 9:30pm

@Kiever Synagogue Sukkah (map)

Dinner registration required by Wednesday night, Sept 20
Become a Makom Member first and save 10%
Services are free and don’t require registration
Join us for doubly-joyous services in the sukkah as we simultaneously welcome the start of Shabbat and Sukkot!
After services, we’ll enjoy a delicious, catered kosher vegan Shabbat dinner together in the sukkah.

Arrive at 6:45 to light candles, socialize, and find a seat. Services will start at 7pm sharp.

Services in the sukkah will have men’s, women’s, and all genders (mixed) seating sections.

In the event of rain, services and dinner will be held inside the Kiever Synagogue and services will have men’s and women’s seating sections only, in keeping with the Kiever’s practice.

Sep 24-25: Yom Kippur

Join us to welcome in the new Jewish year!

Please join us at Hart House for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Our uplifting, inspiring High Holiday offerings will include traditional services, family services, chanting, and meditation

We look forward to celebrating, reflecting, and singing our way through the Days of Awe together with you!

Registration is open to Makom members. We’ll send a High Holiday registration form to everyone who signs up for (or renews) their Makom membership.

Sep 16-17: Rosh Hashanah

Join us to welcome in the new Jewish year!

Please join us at Hart House for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Our uplifting, inspiring High Holiday offerings will include traditional services, family services, chanting, and meditation

We look forward to celebrating, reflecting, and singing our way through the Days of Awe together with you!

Registration is open to Makom members. We’ll send a High Holiday registration form to everyone who signs up for (or renews) their Makom membership.