Programs

YIZKOR Memorial Services


Thurs, April 1
8-8:30pm

Online via Zoom
Meeting ID: 955 4183 9308, Password: 024117
FREE – donations greatly appreciated!

Let’s come together to memorialize our loved ones who have passed, whether recently or long ago, and all those around the world who have died from COVID-19.

Yizkor is the special memorial service traditionally said on holidays, including the last day of Passover. Since we won’t be able to gather* then, we’ll do so during hol ha-moed – the intermediate days of holiday.

We’ll say short prayers in Hebrew and English, sing, and reflect on lives lost.

ALL are welcome, whether you’re mourning a loved one or not. Please join us.

*We’re not gathering in person due to public health precautions nor online due to traditional restrictions on using electronics on holidays.

INTERFAITH COUPLES’ Pre-Passover Gathering

Wed, Mar 24
8-9pm

FREE – donations greatly appreciated!
Registration Required
Zoom link sent upon registration

ALL* interfaith** couples*** are invited for a special pre-Passover gathering. We’ll get to know each other and then learn we’ll about Passover’s liberation story and traditional holiday customs through interactive text study and open discussion.

*LGBTQ and straight couples warmly welcome!
**We use the term “interfaith” loosely, to include any couples with one Jewish partner and one partner who isn’t Jewish, whether they’re affiliated with another religion or not. (After all, we don’t usually call Judaism a “faith” either, but it’s common parlance in English.) Of course, interfaith couples who are also intercultural or interracial are most welcome as well!
***One or both partners of interfaith couples are welcome to join us.

Presented in partnership with Jewish&

ASK THE RABBI: Passover Q&A


Mon, Mar 22
8-8:30pm

Online via Zoom
Meeting ID: 955 4183 9308, Password: 024117
FREE – donations greatly appreciated!

Have a question about what’s kosher for Passover, selling hametz, what to eat on Shabbat immediately before Pesah, what to feed your pets, or anything else Passover related? Log on to ask Rabbi Aaron your questions in an open, non-judgmental forum.

Get Ready for Passover! FAMILY Celebration


Sun, Mar 21
5:00-6:15pm

FREE – donations greatly appreciated!
Registration Required
Zoom link sent upon registration

Let’s get ready for Pesah/Passover together! Join us for a fun and engaging program for kids in JK through grade 6 (and their parents) to help us prepare our homes, our tables, and our selves for freedom.

If you’re participating in the program, we’d love to give your family a free “Unboxing Jewish” Pesah kit, filled with fantastic materials to make your seders more participatory and meaningful. Supplies are very limited. In addition to registering your family with a “Family Ticket,” please select a “Request Unboxing Jewish Kit” ticket. First come, first served. Pick up your kit this week near Bathurst & Dundas. (If your child is enrolled in Makom Afterschool or ATID this year or was last year, we already delivered a kit to your home!) 

In the program, we’ll open our Pesah kits together, learn what to do with all the awesome items in them, play games, and design our own usable seder plates in breakout rooms* by age group.

*We’ve resolved the technical issues with breakout rooms we had on Purim. 😉

FRI NIGHT SERVICES

Fri, Mar 19
6:30-7:15pm

Online via Zoom
Meeting ID: 955 4183 9308, Password: 024117
FREE – donations greatly appreciated!

We’ll wind down from the week and welcome Shabbat by singing the joyous melodies of Kabbalat Shabbat together as a community and hearing a brief devar Torah.

Just before bringing in Shabbat with the final stanza of Lekha Dodi, we’ll bid each other Shabbat shalom and log off to light candles and start Shabbat the good ol’ unplugged way.

Have your Shabbat candles ready to light. If you have a siddur (prayer book), please use it; we’ll also screen share the prayers.

ROCK YOUR SEDER: Tips & Tricks

Wed, Mar 17
8-9pm

Online via Zoom
Meeting ID: 955 4183 9308, Password: 024117
FREE – donations greatly appreciated!

Without the ability to gather with extended family, many of us will find ourselves hosting seder this year. Whether you’re leading for your first or fiftieth time, for your family or just for yourself, gain a better understanding of the seder steps and learn some tips and tricks to make your seder fun and meaningful, for both adults and children. You can do it!

If there are any seder topics that would particularly helpful for you, please email Rabbi Aaron in advance and he’ll aim to cover them. For example:

  • What was difficult in last year’s seder?
  • What’s a concern you have with leading a seder?
  • What’s something you want to understand better about the seder?

INTERFAITH COUPLES’ Pre-Purim Gathering

Tues, Feb 23
8-9pm

FREE – donations greatly appreciated! 
Registration Required
Zoom link sent upon registration

ALL* interfaith couples are invited for a special pre-Purim gathering. We’ll get to know each other and then learn about Purim’s interfaith story of Persian parties, palace plots, secret identities, and surprise subversions, along with traditional holiday customs, through interactive text study and open discussion.

One or both partners are welcome to join us.
*LGBTQ & straight interfaith couples fully welcome

PURIM MORNING Megillah Reading & Zakhor

Fri, Feb 26
7:45-9am

FREE – donations greatly appreciated!
Registration Required
Zoom link sent upon registration

Purim’s not over yet! More megillah in the morning. 

7:45-8:00am – Parashat Zakhor: Fulfill the annual mitzvah of hearing 3 verses read from a Torah scroll, in which we’re commanded to remember Amalek’s attack on the Israelites after we left Egypt (Devarim/Deuteronomy 25:17-19). Text will be screen shared in Hebrew & English.

8:00-9:00am – Megillah Reading: Hear the full Book of Esther chanted by community members from scrolls. Text will be screen shared in Hebrew & English. WE RECOMMEND LOGGING ON A FEW MINUTES EARLY, AS READING WILL START AT 8:00 SHARP.

PURIM EVE Megillah Reading, Live Concert & Games Night


Thurs, Feb 25
6:30-9:30pm

FREE – donations greatly appreciated!
Registration Required
Zoom link sent upon registration

Join us for an outstanding Purim evening!

6:30-6:45pm – Ma`ariv (Evening Service): Traditional service in Hebrew (Ashkenazi text). Prayers will be screen shared in Hebrew & English. Since we won’t be physically together to form a minyan, we’ll say this substitute for mourners’ kaddish.

6:45-7:00pm – Parashat Zakhor: Fulfill the annual mitzvah of hearing 3 verses read from a Torah scroll, in which we’re commanded to remember Amalek’s attack on the Israelites after we left Egypt (Devarim/Deuteronomy 25:17-19). Text will be screen shared in Hebrew & English.

7:00-8:00pm Megillah Reading: Hear the full Book of Esther chanted by community members from scrolls. Text will be screen shared in Hebrew & English. WE RECOMMEND LOGGING ON A FEW MINUTES EARLY, AS READING WILL START AT 7:00 SHARP.

8:00-8:30pm – Persian Music Live ConcertNavaye Kimia features Padideh Ahrarnejad on tar (a stringed instrument) and vocals and Ali Massoudi on tonbak (percussion) and vocals. Navaye Kimia means “precious song.” Nava and Kimia are also the names of Padideh and Ali’s daughters.

8:30-9:30pm Games & Socializing: Stick around for fun games & hanging out with new and old friends in breakout rooms. BYOB!

FAMILY Purim Celebration


Thurs, Feb 25
5:15-6:15pm

FREE – donations greatly appreciated!
Registration Required
Zoom link sent upon registration

Families with kids! Let’s celebrate Purim together. Fun Purim activities in breakout rooms for kids (& parents) JK-grade 1, grades 2-3, 4-5 & 6-8.

Abridged Megillah reading in Hebrew & English with slideshow of kids’ illustrations.