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Exploring Judaism

Date:  Saturday June 13th

Join Jen L. and friends Saturday, June 13th  10 a.m.- noon for a facilitated peer discussion. Due to the snow storm at our last meeting we’re diving into how Jewish communities have thrived globally for 4,000 years again. We’ll explore personal roots, the power of storytelling, and how history grounds us today. Feel free to bring a book, a story, or an artifact to share. Bring some coffee and Jen will have vegan, GF cookies while we learn together! RSVP to Jen jenlewis312@gmail.com.

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Shabbaton with visiting Rabbi Elyse Goldstein

Dates: Friday June 5th and Saturday June 6th

RSVP: To sign up, please fill in this form

Beth Israel is proud to announce a Shabbaton with Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, founding Rabbi and current Rabbi emeritus at the City Shul in Toronto, June 5-6, 2026. She will lead us in three events over Shabbat:

Weekend Schedule:

Friday June 5th 

5pm – Shabbat Potluck with Blessings

6pm – “Not By Bread Alone”: A Tasty Exploration of Jewish Identity

Starting from bread in the Bible we will look at—and taste—Jewish uniqueness as it is expressed through Jewish law, Jewish tradition, 

Jewish ethnicity and Jewish peoplehood/nationhood.

7pm – Shabbat songs with Elyse and Dan

Saturday June 6th

10am – Shabbat Shacharit service with Torah Reading, music with Dr Dan, and dvar/sermon: “Pashat Naso: The Big Questions of Building a Community”. Our ancestors built a “mishkan” (tabernacle) as a symbol of Gd’s presence. How does that manifest in our synagogue life today, if at all? What can their mishkan preparation chapters teach us about community for our time

12pm – Shabbat Kiddish lunch, catered

1-3 pm: Torah/text study ““For Heaven’s Sake: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Disagreements.” How does Judaism view civil discourse? Can we disagree over fundamental issues and maintain a “community”? How? We will explore traditional texts which will help us ponder these difficult questions for difficult times.

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Biography of Rabbi Goldstein:

Rabbi Dr. Elyse Goldstein is the founding Rabbi of City Shul, a Reform congregation in downtown Toronto she started in 2011, which has grown to prominence as one of the most creative synagogues in Canada. She retired in 2024 and was named its Rabbi Emerita. 

She broke the “stained glass ceiling” after her ordination upon her arrival to Toronto in 1983, as the only female Rabbi in all of Canada. She was quickly recognized as a fiery speaker, skilled teacher and social justice advocate. After her first position as Assistant Rabbi at Canada’s largest synagogue of 5,000 families (Holy Blossom Temple) she founded Kolel: The Adult Centre for Liberal Jewish Learning, an adult education institute recognized a leader in Jewish adult education, and was awarded the most prestigious prize in Jewish education, the internationally recognized Covenant Award for Exceptional Jewish Educators, as a result of that work, in 2005. 

She was the first woman to be elected as president of the interdenominational Toronto Board of Rabbis and was one of seven women featured in the Canadian National Film Board documentary, “Half the Kingdom.” Her first book, ReVisions: Seeing Torah through a Feminist Lens, won the Canadian National Jewish Book Awards in the field of Bible. Her second and third books,The Women’s Torah Commentary, and The Women’s Haftarah Commentary were the first Bible commentaries in history written by female Rabbis. Her fourth book, New Jewish Feminism: Probing the Past, Forging the Future won finalist in The National Jewish Book Awards. 

In 2013 she was named one of America’s 50 Most Influential Rabbis by The Forward and in May 2017 she was awarded Doctor of Laws Honoris Causis from TMU (formerly Ryerson University) in recognition of her path-breaking work in Canada. She also acted in the theatre from 2017-2019 inThe Clergy Project, an award-winning show she wrote together with a priest and a minister, about being clergy in the 21st century which won “Best of The Fringe Theatre Festival” in Toronto.  She’s married to Baruch Sienna and together they have 3 adult children with 3 spouses and 3 grandchildren.

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Yizkor on Shavuot with Cantor Leon

Date: Saturday May 23rd

Time: 10am

Where: Zoom

RSVP: Email Gabbai Ron Molnar (gabbai@jccpeterborough.com) for the Zoom link .

Message from Cantor Leon: 

The festival of Shavuot will be celebrated later this month. In addition to eating cheesecake and decorating our homes with greenery, it’s a time to remember our loved ones who have passed away. We do this in a special service called Yizkor (“May God remember”), which elevates the souls of the dead through prayers, Torah study, and acts of charity.I am planning a special short Yizkor service, on Zoom, on Saturday 23 May, at 10:00am. You will have the opportunity to recall the names of your loved ones in the course of proceedings. In preparation for this, please seek out the Hebrew names of the deceased, and the names of their parents. These can be entered by you into the chat function of Zoom, as the 23rd Psalm is played and sung. If you don’t know the names in Hebrew, English is perfectly acceptable. Feel free to commemorate anyone (friends or family) you think fit.

Please join me for this meaningful ritual, by emailing our Gabbai, Ron Molnar (follow link above) who will send you the Zoom link the week before Shavuot. You will be able to follow the text of the service on screen. 

With love from Cantor Leon.

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Join us Friday, May 29 for Oneg Shabbat

All are welcome May 29th for an Oneg Shabbat service with the Beth Israel Congregation. The service will begin at 6 p.m. Please feel free to bring non-members, family, and friends! For more information regarding this event, please contact the bethisrael@jccpeterborough.com 

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Warren Kinsella and Gila Martow

in Conversation

Date:  Sunday May 17 2026

at Beth Israel Synagogue. Registration and reception with light refreshments is at 3pm. Event begins at 4pm

The Beth Israel Community is being invited to a private event featuring Warren Kinsella in conversation with Gila Martow. Warren Kinsella is a Canadian lawyer, author, musician, and political commentator known for his outspoken views on propaganda and public affairs.

Warren will be speaking about his newly released book The Hidden Hand and will take part in an engaging and lively discussion with Gila Martow, former MPP and current

Vaughan City Councillor. To register please respond to info@gila.ca.  Kindly ensure that each attendee registers individually using their own email address for security reasons.

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Lag B’Omer at the Houpt Farm

Date: Sunday May 3rd

Time: 3pm onwards

RSVP: Click here to RSVP to Karen Fisher so organisers can plan for set up.

You are invited to bring a dairy  potluck dish for  dinner  beginning around 5pm followed by a bonfire. BYO lawn chair, if possible. Musical instruments are also welcome; we hope to have a sing along. The celebration goes ahead rain or shine (and will be moved inside at Dan’s).

Hope to see you there!

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Dr. Ben Langer hosts

authors Dr. Jeff Wilkinson and Raja Khouri 

Date: Saturday May 9th

Time: 7-9pm

Where: Beth Israel Synagogue

RSVP: Click here

Dr. Ben Langer invites members of the Beth Israel Synagogue and the Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough to a private event from 7-9 pm on May 9, hosted at the Beth Israel Synagogue building, lower level. Dr. Jeff Wilkinson and Raja Khouri, authors of the book The Wall Between: What Jews and Palestinians Don’t Want to Know About Each Other, have spent many years facilitating transformational conversations between Jewish and Palestinian diaspora community members, working to reduce tension and aid in understanding. Our goal is not to debate or resolve the differences between us, but to be able to sit with and listen to one another, and try to strengthen relationships by focusing on shared values.
There will be snacks.
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Big Tent Event #2 ” Holding Tension – Perspectives on Israel/Palestine”

Date:  Saturday May 2nd

Time: 1:00-4:00pm (including break and snacks)

Click here to RSVP to Joy Simmonds by Friday May 1st  

**This event is sponsored by Beth Israel Congregation. A donation of. any amount/support is gratefully accepted. To learn more or make a donation, click here. Thank you.

Many thanks to those who attended February 21st’s Building Trust Event.  (Report on Building Trust Event link). Encouraged by the positive feedback and the requests for deeper conversations, we are planning a second session to strengthen our skills in holding tension without tearing the fabric of our community.  

In these troubled times our congregation needs the capacity for good friction — the kind that sharpens understanding instead of burning bridges. The kind that allows disagreement without dehumanization. The kind that builds resilience rather than silence.

On May 2nd as we explore diverse perspectives on Israel/Palestine you will:

  • Engage in a structured conversation experience with built-in psychological safety
  • Explore how your perspective has formed and how it shapes reactions
  • Learn how to stay grounded when perspectives clash
  • Speak from your heart and share personal experiences, not just opinions
  • Listen with respect to understand other perspectives and experiences
  • Draft, share and get helpful feedback on a “clarification statement” emerging from your experience

The Facillitator

This event will be facilitated by Mark Franklin, MEd, PEng.  Mark teaches career management at University of Toronto, is CareerCycles practice leader, co-founder of OneLifeTools, co-authored Who You Are Matters!, and was the Stu Conger award-winner

BIC members at Building Trust Event in February 2026

 

 

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Commemorative Event for Holocaust Remembrance Day

(Yom HaShoah) on April 13-14.

Please join us, the BIC Holocaust Education Planning Group for the Yom HaShoah events:

Monday April 13th — a commemorative evening  (Theme:  Resistance and Reflection):

  •  Doors opening at 5:00 pm –exhibit viewing (Yad Vashem’s “Art in the Holocaust” and “The Anguish of Liberation as Reflected in Art”).
  • Candle lighting at 5:45 pm, followed by songs (BIC Choir!) of resistance and poems of reflection.
  • Conversation with Abe Jakob at 6:30PM.  We are privileged to have Abe as our guest.  He is a Holocaust survivor, willing to chat with us over Zoom about his life experiences.  Thanks to the Claims Conference for this opportunity.
  • Refreshments and further viewing of the exhibits until 8:30PM.

Tuesday April 14th —  Film screening of HIDDEN – The Kati Preston Story, a Holocaust docudrama to be given in-person by the producer and editor of the film, Jody Glover.  

  •  Doors opening at 6:00 pm – Exhibit Viewing.
  • Introduction and Film Presentation at 6:30PM

Please RSVP Ralph to let us know you can make it on the evening of April 13 and/or April 14th.

 

More about “HIDDEN – The Kati Preston Story”

(by Jody Glover)

Jody Glover is the producer and editor of the Holocaust docudrama called HIDDEN – The Kati Preston Story and lives in Cobourg!  The director is Daniel Matmor and he lives in Toronto.  They began creating this film about Daniel’s mother back in 2019 and are now finally screening it at various film festivals. They recently won Best Documentary Feature at the Canadian International Film Festival, which Christine attended! The film is based on Kati’s award-winning graphic novel called HIDDEN: A True Story of the Holocaust. Kati is now 86 years old and lives in New Hampshire.
 
The goal is to get this film into schools where kids can learn about the Holocaust directly from someone who has lived through it. Kati’s firsthand account is so important because it changes “history” into someone’s life. She tells her story from the perspective of her 5-yr old self, reliving all the moments that impacted her life so dearly. The film and her book also come with complimentary curricula written by Tom White – an expert in Holocaust and genocide studies. You can find them here: https://www.hiddenkatiprestonstory.com/education/holocaust-education.php
 
Here is the trailer to the film: https://vimeo.com/1074080088?share=copy#t=0