Blogroll | Congregation Darchei Noam

Tu B’shvat Seder

15 Sh’vat 5779 - January 20, 2019 

"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 Programming.

“Why didn’t I come before?” is often expressed by first time participants.

Darchei Noam’s Tu B’shvat Seders, put on by the Hebrew School and Shomrei Adamah, are wonderful events, packed with lively music, delightful student presentations, colourful seder plates, and fun activities for children at their Activity Centre.

This year, as guests filtered into the Social Hall, they were greeted by sounds of music coming from our talented Freiliche Klezmer Band Band. 

As is our custom, seder plates had fresh and dried fruits and seeds, many of the items, organic. For the seder plates, Joel Troster makes foccacia bread which we dip in olive oil. For the first time we also had yummy maple syrup for dipping.

The seder started with an acknowledgement of the Aboriginal Territory on which we are grateful to be living.  It is our responsibility to make the words meaningful by learning from the First Nations how to protect the land and welcome the stranger as they did with the first Europeans.    

Rabbi Tina welcomed us with a short, inspiring drash and then we were treated with several songs from enthusiastic students and musicians. 

The theme for this year’s Seder was the Land and its Abundance: Sharing and Preserving. 

Accordingly, the Gan student charmed us with a lovely skit about Leket Israel.  It’s a large organization devoted to feeding those without the physical or economical means to obtain nutritious food. Leket rescues food from groups that ordinarily throw out unused, but safe, healthy food.  By also gleaning fields and very recently growing its own crops, Leket is able to provide fresh vegetables for those in need.  The Gan students were so cute and their teachers very creative.

They were followed by another creative skit from the Grades 1, 2, and 3 students about a new Toronto group, Feed it Forward.  This non-profit group was started by a young energetic chef, Jagger Gordon, with a social conscience. He and his volunteers rescue food and create pay what you can offerings at a café and grocery store.    Discarded food is a huge waste of Nature’s resources and contributes to greenhouse gases. Chef Gordon has plans to start a roof-top organic vegetable garden. 

The students of Grades 4, 5, and presented a dramatic rendition of the story of the Moabite, Ruth and her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi.  We encounter them as widows during a crop failure in Moab. Ruth loyally takes up Naomi’s God and stays with her as she leaves for her home of Bethlehem where there is a successful the barley harvest. The setting of this biblical narrative moves to Ruth gleaning in a field of kindly Boaz, a kinsman of Naomi, to support herself and Naomi.  Ruth and Boaz marry and become the great grandparents of King David.

Our Shinshinim, Noa and Itamar, gave us a brief, illustrated overview of the National Parks and Nature Preserves of Israel. There is always a new landscape to explore.

The Children’s Activity Centre had something new this year.  Always creative, Sandra Ceasario and her daughter Zoe Stern brought vegetables, pretzels and spreads including sesame-free hummus for the makings of colourful, edible insects and snails. If you want picky eaters to eat more veggies, give them with short pieces of celery and a filling such as cream cheese, cheez whiz or hummus.  Supply edible eyes, and cherry tomatoes and grapes halved. Green pepper or straight pretzels can be used for limbs and antennae, and regular shaped ones for wings.  Shells for snails are created with half slices of cucumber or fruit like apple, oranges or kiwi. For some ideas, see https://www.naturespath.com/en-ca/recipes/fruit-vegetable-bug-snacks/.

Our grand finale included Carla Roter leading seder participants in a rousing He has the Whole Wide World in His Hands complete with nature themed verses.    

Everyone had an enjoyable time and we hope you will have the opportunity to attend next year’s seder.  

Shomrei Adamah would like to thank the Darchei Noam staff, the talented Hebrew School teachers, and the many dedicated volunteers, including the Freiliche Klezmer Band, who all make this wonderful seder possible.