Congregation Beth Israel Vancouver

Shavua Tov! Hope everyone had a good Shabbat. Now’s a great time to watch Rabbi Infeld’s latest Five Minutes of Torah with a BI Rabbi if you didn’t get a chance to see it Friday... here it is! #biyvrdailyinspiration

Wonderful new program starting tomorrow! For little ones (3 & under) and their parents, grandparents, and other carers.... join us! Fridays at this very time (11am)!

We’re midway through our annual coat drive (and this year it’s a drive-by with boxes in the parkade)... it’s so amazing to see all the coats and blankets and things that will help keep Vancouverites warm this winter! Bring what what you can by the 22nd!

Remember, our Zoom & Learn tomorrow is in the morning, not 12pm like usual... Rabbi Infeld is interviewing Uriel Heilman, a great reporter who has written for Jerusalem Post and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)... he’s also an old friend of Rabbi Infeld from university.

Coming up soon... an interview with Rabbi Kalman Samuels, who grew up in Vnacouver, moved to Jerusalem in 1970. His son Yossi was injured by a faulty DTP vaccine and was rendered blind, deaf, and hyper-active... Kalman and his wife Malki have dedicated their lives to supporting all individuals with disabilities, empowering families, and promoting social inclusion. Shalva has won multiple awards and R. Samuels is the author of Dreams Never Dreamed, a remarkable story of how ordinary people can transform challenges into opportunities. Wednesday the 25th of November at 12pm. Please email the shul if you’d like to attend and you’re not a Beth Israel member.

Remember, Zoom & Learn starts at 12pm today! Join Rabbi Infeld and Nico Slobinsky, Director of the Pacific Region of CIJA, as they discuss a Jewish perspective on the recent BC provincial elections.

Check out Rabbi Stein’s five minutes of Torah video featuring some of beautiful fall colours near Beth Israel. #BIYVRdailyinspiration

A quick reminder about our Shabbat service times - Kabbalat Shabbat & Ma’ariv start at 6pm. Tomorrow 9:30am services. And then our Saturday night Ma’ariv service starts at 7:05 this week on the regular Shabbat Zoom link. Shabbat Shalom.

Remember our Zoom n Learn is starting soon, at noon, with Rabbi Infeld interviewing Elihu Ben-Onn, a master interviewer himself with a wonderful voice!

Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. - Unknown

Just a reminder that our wonderful Zoom n Learn is NOT starting soon! It’ll be at 12pm tomorrow, on Thursday not Wednesday... R Infeld will be interviewing Elihu Ben-Onn, a master interviewer who interviewed R Infeld during our Israel lawyers’ trip last year... it’ll be great!

Well these long three+ weeks of holidays are finally ending! Til next year.... We’re starting Ma’ariv and havdalah soon (7:20) to end Simchat Torah... And remember to join us Thursday as Rabbi Infeld interviews a master interviewer, Elihu Ben-Onn! See flyer & website 4 details

A friendly reminder about all our service times this weekend; a lot going on! Services for Erev Shabbat starting now (a shortened Kabbalat Shabbat for the chag and then Ma’ariv), then tomorrow morning at 9:30 we have Shabbat/Shemini Atzeret morning services including Yizkor, and then... 6pm tomorrow Shabbat/chag mincha, AND 7pm for Ma’ariv and Simchat dancing in our homes. Then Sunday morning, 9:30am for Simchat Torah services with in-home aliyot for everyone and 7:20pm for Ma’ariv and havdalah to end Simchat Torah and our 23 days of holidays (since Rosh Hashanah September 19th!). Shabbat shalom and chag sameach!

Here’s Rabbi Infeld’s newest Five Minutes of Torah with a BI Rabbi video... enjoy!

Remember: Our weekly Zoom n Learn is starting at 12pm! Rabbi Infeld is interviewing Joseph Gitler, founder of Leket Israel, an organization that combats food wastage in Israel and seeks to get food to those who need it. Tune in for a timely and fascinating discussion.

On Sukkot, we are bidden to make our temporary home (sukkah) our permanent home, as we aim to eat all our meals in the sukkah, and even sleep there if the weather allows for it! Makes us appreciate what we have and understand what temporary means. #biyvrdailyinspiration

We have so much (safely!) going on for Sukkot and Simchat Torah! http://www.bethisraelvan.ca/ritual-ser/holidays/sukkot-5781 Family visits to the Sukkah, in-person services for Simchat Torah evening (limited numbers; sign up online, only dancing in bubbles), services as always on Zoom including Hashanah Rabbah on Friday morning and Shemini Atzeret with Yizkor Saturday morning....

Check out this amazing and powerful video... Cantors and Black Music Ministers from Around the World Release New Video Voices for Change with Legendary Total Praise Composer Richard Smallwood. https://vimeo.com/462552844 ACROSS THE GLOBEIn an effort to promote peace through harmony, more than 100 faith leaders came together to produce an interfaith, multiracial virtual video that unites the voices of Black and Jewish prayer leaders from around the world. The Cantors A...ssembly, an international membership group of Jewish Clergy, came up with the idea for the Voices for Change video as a way to build bridges among the Black and Jewish communities through music following the murder of George Floyd by police violence in May. The song Total Praise written by African American gospel artist Richard Smallwood was sung individually by a group of Cantors and Black prayer leaders and integrated into a 3 minute video that will be used to promote peaceful healing while simultaneously benefiting music-related scholarships for the Afro-American Music Institute. The musical piece, Total Praise, is based on Psalm 121 and is a well-known anthem to many in the Black community. The Grammy-award winning Mr. Smallwood, who believes in the promise of this project as to lend his talents, served as conductor. The song Total Praise was originally composed in 1996 and promoted faith and healing. We can all lean in on faith and music to heal, said Hazzan Alisa Pomerantz-Boro, immediate past president of the Cantors Assembly and who thought of the idea. Hazzan, the Hebrew word for Cantor, literally translates as visionary and is ordained as a fully functioning Clergy person of the synagogue. In addition to leading worship services, Cantors perform all life cycle events, teach, counsel, do pastoral work, and use music and prayer to bring people close For more info, see https://www.cantors.org/voicesforchange #Biyvrdailyinspiration