Blogroll | Congregation Darchei Noam

Shabbat Shalom

I have been asked to speak today as a part of our congregation’s participation in a world- wide HIAS/JIAS effort to raise the awareness, and hopefully encourage action in the Jewish community, about refugees around the globe.

I will talk about the...Read more...

Holidays in 2020, haven't been easy, but social distancing and cold weather could not keep The Darchei Noam Hebrew School and B'Nei Mitzvah program from safely celebrating Hannukah!

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When we think of Shavuot, visions of cheese blintzes come to mind. When or why the custom of eating dairy foods arose is unknown; here are two explanations. In Song of Songs, the verse, “The sweetness drops from your lips; like honey and...Read more...

The holiday of Purim is one that kids and adults alike look forward to, and this year was no exception. It’s the only holiday when we have the custom to masquerade – and at Darchei Noam, that custom was in full effect at our Purim Carnival!

Our hallowed...Read more...

AOK had a wonderful meeting on November 19, 2019.  Seventeen people turned out to practice Qi Gong under the leadership of...Read more...

We are having a Book Giveaway. All books are free!

Come by Darchei Noam on:

Books will be available in the following categories:

This past Sunday, the Leslieville Jewish School celebrated the end of the school year with a picnic at Jimmie Simpson Park. From September to June, the Leslieville Jewish School has been running educational programs for a small group of families in the east end...Read more...

This past year, Darchei Noam was fortunate to have two wonderful Shinshinim, Noa and Itamar. On Saturday, June 8, they addressed our Shabbat congregants to say goodbye and tell us about all that they had learned during their year in Toronto.

Here is the transcript of their speeches:

Shabbat Shalom,

Being a Shinshin in Toronto has meant a great deal to me. It meant leaving my family, the kibbutz and my home,...Read more...

We had a very successful program with Aaron Lightstone last year.   Myra Schiff shares here about that experience.  We look forward to welcoming him back again this year, on Thursday, May 30 at 7:30 pm in the triple rooms.  We hope reading this blog post inspires you to join us for this year’s program. 

You may know Aaron Lightstone as a musician who sometimes leads us in singing on Shabbat...Read more...

This parasha is the last in the book of Genesis.  It is the end of the stories of the ancestors.  It contains three parts: the blessing of Menasha and Ephraim and their incorporation into the B’nei Israel (though once again, the younger brother prevails).  A long and sometimes bitter farewell from Jacob to his sons, rewarding some and cursing others.  And a final confrontation of Joseph and his brothers (other than...Read more...

"Parents were thrilled and felt it was a meaningful event. They enjoyed seeing the kids’ presentations and overall had a wonderful time.” Ariel Zaltzman, Director of Youth Education and...Read more...

Ki Tavo is a migration/immigration story. It is fitting we discuss it this shabbat after a summer when migration - and the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers - are such contested features of our world.

Ki Tavo means “when you enter”. This is a famous Torah portion. It is about First Fruits, tithes and blessings and curses. In Ki Tavo Deuteronomy moves to a climax- and here as the people of Israel get ready to enter the...Read more...

Esther Enkin:

There are times when we are lucky enough to have the privilege to participate in transformative events. Our weekend in Pittsburgh was one of those times for me – and, judging by the comments by members of Dor Hadash and the 28 DN members who participated, it is a widely shared feeling. It was truly remarkable - six weeks after such a profound trauma, our Pittsburgh hosts opened their homes and...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom

I’ve had a question in my mind for a very long time, and I return to it once in a while without really reaching any clarity. And that’s OK; it’s nice to have these meaty questions out there for reflective moments. This one is, why does Yom Kippur follow Rosh HaShanah, rather than precede it? That might seem arbitrary, but another way to think of it is, why...Read more...

I was once a good Catholic girl.

My parents were immigrants who came here from post-war Europe...Polish Catholic refugees who met and married in a British DP camp in Germany. When they came to Canada, they spent a short time in the depths of Northern Ontario, where my sister was born, but ultimately settled in Oshawa, where my father worked in a car parts factory.

They brought with them their religion and their culture, which...Read more...