Sunday, June 4
4:30-6PM
@Makom (map)
Free, required registration.

There are many ways to mark this month of Pride. This gathering will celebrate through connection in a warm, loving and playful environment.

Join facilitator, Beth Tzedec Artist in Residence and neySHEV Jewish Meditation Community founder Aviva Chernick, together with fellow community members for this opportunity to rest in loving attention through meditation, reflection and song in Jewish Queer and Trans positive space.

This event is for LBGTQ+ community members only.

If you have a meditation cushion, please bring it. Chairs, blankets and bolsters will be provided.  

No previous experience with meditation required.

Free registration required.

There will also be an opportunity to view the exhibition in the adjacent FENTSTER window gallery, HAMAPAH created by artist duo / married couple Adam W. McKinney and Daniel Banks.

Makom welcomes participants of all abilities. Makom’s main space is wheelchair accessible; unfortunately, the washroom and playroom are not.If you have an accessibility need or require any accommodations, please reach out to us.

Let’s Sit is sponsored by Beth Tzedec Congregation through the Centre for Spiritual Wellbeing together with partners neySHEV, Makom, Annex Shul and FENTSTER.

​

Head back to the corner of Sinai and Spadina for the renewed
Downtown Tikkun Leil Shavuot: All-Night Jewish Learning Festival!

Thursday, May 25
7pm-Sunrise
@Miles Nadal JCC (map)
Free, required registration.

We’ll be back in the building all night long, with a few hybrid options for viewers at home. This year’s program opens at 7:00 pm with a folk concert, “Songs from the Foot of the Mountain”, directed by Kohenet Annie Matan.

From 8:30 pm until sunrise, we’ll gather to learn among the community with lots of choices of sessions — panels of rabbis, music and improv workshops, lectures, discussions, and more.

And, as always, cheesecake!

Free and open to all. Visit www.mnjcc.org/shavuot for the full schedule soon! Advance registration is required, but please note that registration does not guarantee entry to specific sessions, and that session entry is subject to capacity.

The Miles Nadal JCC is proud to co-presented this event with: the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies/Huron at Western University; Annex Shul; Beach Hebrew Institute; Beth Torah Congregation; Beth Tzedec Congregation; City Shul; Congregation Darchei Noam; Congregation Shir Libenyu; Danforth Jewish Circle; First Narayever Congregation; Hashomer Hatzair/Camp Shomria; Hillel Ontario; Holy Blossom Temple; Jewish Family and Child Service; Kiever Shul; Limmud Toronto; Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism; No Silence on Race; Oraynu Congregation for Humanistic Judaism; UJA Federation’s Committee for Yiddish; and World Zionist Organization Department of Irgoon and Israelis Abroad.

This event is generously supported by the Kolel Legacy Fund at the Jewish Foundation, Austin and Nani Beutel, and a gift in memory of Eddie and Mary Schreiber z”l.

A MULTI-MEDIA ART PARTY CELEBRATING
STORIES & JOURNEYS

Tuesday, May 23
6-10pm
@FENTSTER & Makom – 402 College St (map)
Free – no registration required

MEET THE ARTISTS | DANCE WORKSHOPS | POP-UP PROJECTS | INTERACTIVE INSTALLATIONS | SNACKS & DRINKS | MUSIC & MORE

Inspired by the current exhibition in the FENTSTER window gallery, HAMAPAH (Hebrew for ‘the map’), FENTSTER presents pop-up projects on view for one night only! All inspired by the form and metaphor of maps, these works intertwine personal narratives, memory, migration and place, mapping individual stories through the languages of dance, sound and visual art.

Presented outdoors for the first time, Naomi Daryn Boyd’s BLOOD, WATER & BATHURST STREET is an interactive, hand-made 18-meter long wool map of Bathurst Street that engages with their Jewish roots in Toronto, stories of Toronto’s Jewish community and the little known narratives of the Indigenous Peoples that have dwelled, gathered, and journeyed through these lands for millennia. Boyd’s embroidered Memory Map, w/ sounds (2021-2022) will also be in view. Meichen Waxer’s Looking at Two Poems (2022) incorporates a found hand-drawn map that references the history of her family in the small Jewish community of Kirkland Lake in North Ontario. And, meet visiting U.S. artists Adam W. McKinney and Daniel Banks in advance of the Canadian premiere screening of HaMapah / The Map Dance-on-Film, which inspired their site-specific FENTSTER installation that maps Adam’s narrative as a Black, Jewish, Indigenous Queer man in the United States.

DANCE WITH US!

Join all level, all ages dance classes through out the night with dance Immersion’s Zahra Harriet Badua-Baffoe and DNAWORKS’ Adam W. McKinney and Daniel Banks

Presented by FENTSTER, Prosserman JCC, DNAWORKS, dance Immersion and Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism with support from Kultura Collective 

Celebrate Shabbat with spirit!

Friday, May 19
7-10pm
@Makom – 402 College St (map)
Dinner registration required by Wednesday, May 17
Various price options available so finances aren’t an impediment to anyone’s participation.
Services do not require registration.

Wind down from the week and welcome Shabbat with soulful, song-filled services, in which everyone can participate.

After services, we’ll enjoy a delicious, catered kosher, vegan Indian Shabbat dinner together.

Please come on time so we can start services strong with a double minyan,* especially for anyone saying kaddish.
*As a diverse and inclusive Jewish community, Makom has mens’, womens’, and all-genders’ seating sections. Female, male, and gender non-binary Jews can lead parts of services, read and be called up to the Torah, and count in our double minyanim of both 10 Jewish men and 10 Jews regardless of gender. Makom services follow the traditional Ashkenazi liturgy (prayer text).

Covid Precautions

To make services safer for community members who have health concerns, everyone age 5+ must wear a surgical or higher-quality mask (KN-95, KF-94, etc.) throughout services. Children 2-4 should try to wear any mask they’ll keep on. We’ll provide masks for those who don’t have.
After services conclude and folks who aren’t staying have a chance to leave, those staying for dinner are welcome to remove their masks.

Thursday, May 18
7:30-9:30PM
@Makom – 402 College St (map)
$18
Registration required.

May 18th, 2023, marks Memorial Day for Ethiopian Jews who perished on their way to Israel. Observed annually on the 28th of Iyar through a national memorial ceremony in Jerusalem, Israelis gather to commemorate and honour all the lives lost on the journey from Ethiopia to Israel. The Miles Nadal JCC and Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism welcome Yonatan Belete to share his personal thoughts on this Memorial Day, a brief history of Ethiopian Jewry, and pertinent perspectives on the present and future of the Ethiopian-Israeli community. Light refreshments will be served.

About Yonatan:

A proud member of the Ethiopian Jewish community, Yonatan Belete has presented on the history of Ethiopian Jewry on university campuses across Canada. Dedicated to his community, Yonatan was a tutor in the English Language Program at Friends by Nature, a non-profit organization committed to educating and nurturing the next generation of Ethiopian-Israeli leaders. A co-founder at No Silence on Race, he previously served as the Director of Speechwriting and Public Relations at the Embassy of Israel in Ottawa. Yonatan holds a BAH in Political Studies and History from Queen’s University.

We ask that folks who are not feeling well stay home; masking is encouraged but not required. We are committed to ensuring our programming is accessible to anybody who wishes to attend. Please email shanat@mnjcc.org with any accessibility questions or requests and we will work together to find ways for you to join us. 

Supported by the Kolel Legacy Fund at the Jewish Foundation.