Fentster @ Makom – 402 College St. • Until May 24

Muslim and Jewish women artists envision a Toronto where cultures consciously collide, differences do not divide, creativity and community-building thrive. Facilitated by noted artist Rochelle Rubinstein, women’s experiences of menstruation, breastfeeding and mourning in their traditions guide the creation of Blood, Milk and Tears, a site-specific collaborative installation for the FENTSTER window gallery. Read more about the project in NOW Magazine and The Forward.

Blood, Milk & Tears is presented by FENTSTER together with Shema & Iqra’: The Jewish-Muslim Text Project. Proud participant in Myseum Intersections, an annual festival of exhibitions and events showcasing different perspectives of the city’s natural, cultural, and historic diversity. Community  Partners: Noor Cultural Centre, University of Toronto Multi-Faith Centre, Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism and Emmanuel College of Victoria University in the University of Toronto

Tuesday, May 30 • 8pm-8:30am • @ Miles Nadal JCC – 750 Spadina Ave • FREE • Register

 Where Sinai meets Spadina: a full night of community, study, singing, snacking and more! Over 50 sessions reinterpret and reimagine traditional Jewish texts and open up new community conversations. Special programs for kids and teens. Come for the cheesecake. Stay for the learning. All are welcome!

Main (Adult) Program: 8:00 PM – 8:30 AM • Doors open at 7:30 PM  

From 8:00 PM onward, you can choose from over 50 sessions that reinterpret and reimagine traditional Jewish texts and open up new community conversations.

Shavuot Groove: 7:30 PM – 12:00 AM • (For kids ages 5-11)

Come in PJs and stay up late! Let your parents learn while you play! Drop-off starts at 7:30 PM and kids are welcome to join throughout the program. Info about the kids’ program: anniem@mnjcc.org | 416-924-6211 x388.

Pre-Teen and Teen Programs: 7:30 PM – 12:00 AM

Hang out @ the J – Shavuot Style! Pre-teens and teens have separate programs this year! Hang out in a program tailor-made for you.

Call for Volunteers

We’re looking for outgoing people to greet participants; as well as kitchen helpers to set up and clean up snack service as we go through the night. Volunteer duties will be scheduled in shifts so you’ll still have a chance to learn in sessions. Please contact Deanna Di Lello to sign up at deannad@mnjcc.org. Volunteers are encouraged to attend a Volunteer Orientation Session: Monday May 15th, 7:00pm – 8:30pm.

Programs are free, registration requested

Co-sponsored with Miles Nadal JCC, Annex Shul, Association for Canadian Jewish Studies
Base Toronto, Beach Hebrew Institute, City Shul, Congregation Beth Torah, Congregation Darchei Noam, Congregation Shir Libeynu, Danforth Jewish Circle, Downtown Jewish Community School,
First Narayever Congregation, Habonim Dror and Camp Gesher, Hashomer Hatzair and Camp Shomria, Holy Blossom Temple, Jewish Family and Child, Kensington Torah Circle, Limmud Toronto, Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism, Oraynu: Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School, UJA’s Committee for Yiddish

Sunday, May 28 • 9am-noon • @ Makom – 402 College St • $35-$50 sliding scale • Register by May 20

Join musician, prayer leader, and meditation teacher Aviva Chernick in this morning of spiritual preparation for the upcoming festival of revelation, of receiving Torah.

Come together for a practice of silence and song, a time for reflection and learning. All are welcome!

Registration by email confirmed with e-transfer to chernick.aviva@gmail.com by May 20.

Friday, May 19 • 6:30pm – Doors open • 6:45 – Services start @ Makom

Wind down from the week and welcome Shabbat with soulful, song-filled services, in which everyone can participate.  Please bring a certified kosher food or drink to share for a light kiddush (snacking & schmoozing).

Future Friday night services: June 9, 23

Makom is a diverse and inclusive community that welcomes participants who espouse many different approaches to Judaism, from secular to traditionally observant. In order to join together as one community without regard to denominational labels, our services blend traditional and progressive practices. We need a minyan of 10 women + 10 men to start the ma`ariv service, so we encourage you to come on time. Both women and men lead services and there is a low partition between women’s and men’s seating. Upon advance request, we’ll gladly set up a section for gender non-conforming individuals. Children are welcome in all sections.

Wednesday, May 17 • 7:30-9pm @ Makom – 402 College St • Suggested contribution $10-$20 • Registration required  

Hinduism and Judaism tend to misunderstand each other and their living realities. Exploring meditation, rituals, purity, and text study, we’ll discover the importance of asking the proper questions and using an appropriate lens. That which is first seen as completely foreign can be appreciated on its own terms, in turn creating a space for a shared spiritual language of understanding.

Rabbi Alan Brill is the Chair for Jewish-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University, where he teaches Jewish studies in the graduate program. Professor Brill is the author of He is the author of Thinking God: The Mysticism of Rabbi Zadok of Lublin (2002), Judaism and Other Religions: Models Of Understanding (2010), and Judaism and World Religions (2012), and is active in the Jewish interfaith encounter with Catholics, Muslims, and Hindus.

Please register to attend the talk

Sunday, May 14  • 4:30-9pm  • @ Dovercourt Park (btw Ossington & Dufferin, Bloor & Dupont)  • $5/person or $10/family

Celebrate Lag ba-Omer – the joyous 33^rd day of the journey from Passover to Shavuot! – with a campfire, picnic, and s’mores in the park.

All ages! Stories and games for kids on the early side; music, singing, and hanging out into the night for adults on the later side.

4:30-5:30   Kids play on the playground; adults hang out
5:30-6:00   Stories + games for kids
6:00-6:30   Picnic dinner (Bring Your Own Picnic)
6:30-9:00   Bonfire, s’mores, music & singing

Bring:

• Your picnic dinner + everything you need to eat it (e.g., utensils, cups, etc.)
• Acoustic instruments
• $5/person or $10/family to help cover costs of park permit, s’mores, etc.
  

  ---

Wednesday, May 3 •  8-9pm @ Makom – 402 College St

This coming fall, Makom will launch the next stage in our educational offerings: Makom Afterschool ATID (Future)!

Parents of children currently in grades 4-7 are invited to hear Rabbi Aaron and Rabbi Emma present the updated plan for multi-year programs of Jewish learning and experiences working toward individualized bar/bat-mitzvah ceremonies. (Even if you attended the general interest meeting in January, you should attend this meeting to learn program details.)

Please RSVP to Anya. Questions? Contact Rabbi Aaron.

FENTSTER / SHEMA & IQRA’ present:

Presented together with the FENTSTER installation, Blood, Milk and Tears, Canadian filmmakers Zarqa Nawaz (journalist and creator of CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie) and Francine Zuckerman (writer, producer and director) share insights and excerpts from their ground-breaking documentaries, Me & The Mosque and Half the Kingdom.These films focus on the efforts of Muslim and Jewish women to reconcile deeply held faith commitments with their desires for equal access to communal and ritual spaces.

Join these visionary filmmakers in conversation about the impact of their films and their ongoing relevance in the current political climate. Together, the installation and the films reveal the complicated nature of religious identities in the 21st Century.

For more information go to www.fentster.org

Community  Partners: Noor Cultural Centre, University of Toronto Multi-Faith Centre, Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism, Emmanuel College of Victoria University in the University of Toronto and MuslimFest

---

 

Friday, April 21 • 6pm – Doors open • 6:15 – Services start @ Makom

Celebrate Shabbat with spirit! After services, we’ll enjoy Shabbat dinner together, sponsored by Rachel Wortzman and Tovi Heilbronn in honour of the birth of their son, Lev Chaim Osher! Services will incorporate a short, sweet ceremony to welcome Lev into the world and our Jewish community.

Dinner is free, but please register by Wednesday, April 19.

Donations to Makom are always appreciated.
Future Friday night services: May 5, 19; June 9, 23

Makom is a diverse and inclusive community that welcomes participants who espouse many different approaches to Judaism, from secular to traditionally observant. In order to join together as one community without regard to denominational labels, our services blend traditional and progressive practices. We need a minyan of 10 women + 10 men to start the ma`ariv service, so we encourage you to come on time. Both women and men lead services and there is a low partition between women’s and men’s seating. Upon advance request, we’ll gladly set up a section for gender non-conforming individuals. Children are welcome in all sections.