Welcome to Lishma: a community of learners in our 20s and 30s
Whether you're a seasoned scholar or brand new to Jewish learning, we value the perspectives and experience you bring to the class.
Semester 3
ONLINE @ Holy Blossom Temple
Wednesdays, Apr 21 - May 26
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
(NEW TIME)
Generously supported by the J.B. and Dora Salsberg Fund
Klezmer Crash Course
with Lorie Wolf, Toronto Klezmer Society
Are you Klez-Curious? Explore your inner klezbien with Lorie Wolf, head of the Toronto Klezmer Society as she takes you through an overview of the world of klezmer, from its history, greatest players, different styles, and terminology. We will study the foundations of klezmer sound - rhythms, scales, ornaments - basically what makes klezmer sound like klezmer. We will do lots of listening, singing, discussions, and a bit of jamming! All musical backgrounds (including no musical background) are welcome.
Lorie Wolf is a Toronto-based drummer, composer, and educator.
Founded in 2018, The Toronto Klezmer Society aims to bring together musicians from all backgrounds to learn about Klezmer through jams, workshops, festivals and other events.
with Lorie Wolf, Toronto Klezmer Society
Are you Klez-Curious? Explore your inner klezbien with Lorie Wolf, head of the Toronto Klezmer Society as she takes you through an overview of the world of klezmer, from its history, greatest players, different styles, and terminology. We will study the foundations of klezmer sound - rhythms, scales, ornaments - basically what makes klezmer sound like klezmer. We will do lots of listening, singing, discussions, and a bit of jamming! All musical backgrounds (including no musical background) are welcome.
Lorie Wolf is a Toronto-based drummer, composer, and educator.
Founded in 2018, The Toronto Klezmer Society aims to bring together musicians from all backgrounds to learn about Klezmer through jams, workshops, festivals and other events.
Picnic group, Centre Island, Toronto, [192-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives
Hands-on History: The Early Years of the Toronto Jewish Community
with Sharoni Sibony
Live from the archives... it's Wednesday night! Open up the collections of the Ontario Jewish Archives and discover the stories and silences that live there. Meet people who lived in and shaped the Toronto Jewish community, through the material records they left behind. Their stories are Toronto’s stories: they reflect the social, political, cultural, and legal development of the city from its foundations as a colonial outpost in 1834 to a city on the cusp of becoming a metropolis in the 1960s. Their stories are our stories: they shape how we understand our relationship to the city’s power structures, neighbourhoods, and evolving landscapes, and our intra-relationships within the Jewish community. This class will be hands-on history, so have your notebook, sketchbook, camera, and cookware ready to help us bring Toronto’s Jewish history to life.
Every week will include at least 30 minutes of lecture-based presentation or guided discussion to frame the context (geography, demographics, genealogy, historical trends, biographical details). In each class, we’ll leave 20-30 minutes for creative reflection on core themes as they relate back to our lives, through various modes adapted from art therapy prompts, writing prompts, and activities like cooking together (or at least a demo).
Sharoni Sibony is an enthusiastic educator, artist, and community organizer. She teaches the Adult B’nai Mitzvah program at the Winchevsky Centre and lectures and teaches at various venues around the city (The Depanneur, book clubs, Miles Nadal JCC, and more). When there's not a pandemic going on, Sharoni is a tour guide for the Ontario Jewish Archives' Stories of Spadina Walking Tours. She has volunteered and worked in the Toronto Jewish community for over a decade, behind the scenes at Limmud Toronto, the Ashkenaz Festival and the Jewish Life Department at the Miles Nadal JCC. Currently, Sharoni is learning Talmud with Yeshivat Maharat; taking poetry classes; and making art. Her recent exhibit, My Body's Keeper, weaves together the visual vocabularies of communal Jewish prayer — Torah scrolls, cases, pointers, and more — and her own objects of pain management for fibromyalgia, putting the crip in scripture. As a teacher, Sharoni likes to lead by inquiry-based analysis, inviting people to observe, analyze and engage with materials.
Generously supported by the J.B. and Dora Salsberg Fund
with Sharoni Sibony
Live from the archives... it's Wednesday night! Open up the collections of the Ontario Jewish Archives and discover the stories and silences that live there. Meet people who lived in and shaped the Toronto Jewish community, through the material records they left behind. Their stories are Toronto’s stories: they reflect the social, political, cultural, and legal development of the city from its foundations as a colonial outpost in 1834 to a city on the cusp of becoming a metropolis in the 1960s. Their stories are our stories: they shape how we understand our relationship to the city’s power structures, neighbourhoods, and evolving landscapes, and our intra-relationships within the Jewish community. This class will be hands-on history, so have your notebook, sketchbook, camera, and cookware ready to help us bring Toronto’s Jewish history to life.
Every week will include at least 30 minutes of lecture-based presentation or guided discussion to frame the context (geography, demographics, genealogy, historical trends, biographical details). In each class, we’ll leave 20-30 minutes for creative reflection on core themes as they relate back to our lives, through various modes adapted from art therapy prompts, writing prompts, and activities like cooking together (or at least a demo).
Sharoni Sibony is an enthusiastic educator, artist, and community organizer. She teaches the Adult B’nai Mitzvah program at the Winchevsky Centre and lectures and teaches at various venues around the city (The Depanneur, book clubs, Miles Nadal JCC, and more). When there's not a pandemic going on, Sharoni is a tour guide for the Ontario Jewish Archives' Stories of Spadina Walking Tours. She has volunteered and worked in the Toronto Jewish community for over a decade, behind the scenes at Limmud Toronto, the Ashkenaz Festival and the Jewish Life Department at the Miles Nadal JCC. Currently, Sharoni is learning Talmud with Yeshivat Maharat; taking poetry classes; and making art. Her recent exhibit, My Body's Keeper, weaves together the visual vocabularies of communal Jewish prayer — Torah scrolls, cases, pointers, and more — and her own objects of pain management for fibromyalgia, putting the crip in scripture. As a teacher, Sharoni likes to lead by inquiry-based analysis, inviting people to observe, analyze and engage with materials.
Generously supported by the J.B. and Dora Salsberg Fund
Illustration by Jessica Tamar Deutsch
The Illustrated Pirkei Avot
with Rabbi Zachary Goodman and special guest, Jessica Tamar Deutsch
Next to the Torah and the Passover Haggadah, Pirkei Avot has been the favorite text of the Jewish people for over 50 generations. Filled with quotable expressions and memorable metaphors, this text teaches us the essentials of what life might be like at its very best.
"Say little, do much."
"Who is Wise? Those who learn from all people."
"Turn the Torah over and over again, for it contains everything."
While the words of Pirkei Avot are stirring on their own, in this course, we will be engaging this wisdom literature through "The Illustrated Pirkei Avot: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Ethics" to enhance our learning. Students will each receive a copy of the book ($25) and have an opportunity to engage with its designer and artist, Jessica Tamar Deutsch, during the final class session. This class will take a deep dive into Jewish ethics and it is suited for all levels of prior learning and experiences.
Materials: $25
Rabbi Zachary Goodman was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. His studies brought him to Austin, Jerusalem and Cincinnati before moving to Toronto to serve as a rabbi at Holy Blossom Temple. He is heavily influenced by the life and writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel and Jewish Ethics. Rabbi Goodman loves to explore the outdoors, travel, cook, watch sports, play guitar, piano, and sing. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Katie, and their son, Abe.
with Rabbi Zachary Goodman and special guest, Jessica Tamar Deutsch
Next to the Torah and the Passover Haggadah, Pirkei Avot has been the favorite text of the Jewish people for over 50 generations. Filled with quotable expressions and memorable metaphors, this text teaches us the essentials of what life might be like at its very best.
"Say little, do much."
"Who is Wise? Those who learn from all people."
"Turn the Torah over and over again, for it contains everything."
While the words of Pirkei Avot are stirring on their own, in this course, we will be engaging this wisdom literature through "The Illustrated Pirkei Avot: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Ethics" to enhance our learning. Students will each receive a copy of the book ($25) and have an opportunity to engage with its designer and artist, Jessica Tamar Deutsch, during the final class session. This class will take a deep dive into Jewish ethics and it is suited for all levels of prior learning and experiences.
Materials: $25
Rabbi Zachary Goodman was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. His studies brought him to Austin, Jerusalem and Cincinnati before moving to Toronto to serve as a rabbi at Holy Blossom Temple. He is heavily influenced by the life and writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel and Jewish Ethics. Rabbi Goodman loves to explore the outdoors, travel, cook, watch sports, play guitar, piano, and sing. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Katie, and their son, Abe.
Costs and Funding
Lishma is funded by student contributions and partnering organizations, providing us with coordination, teachers, facilitators and space.
We strive to keep costs accessible and we use a sliding scale.
The suggested contribution is $72 ($12/night). There is a minimum of $36 for the semester ($6/night).
If you are unable to contribute at this time, please be in touch in confidence with Suzanne Carson, Lishma Coordinator at suzannec@mnjcc.org.
Lishma is funded by student contributions and partnering organizations, providing us with coordination, teachers, facilitators and space.
We strive to keep costs accessible and we use a sliding scale.
The suggested contribution is $72 ($12/night). There is a minimum of $36 for the semester ($6/night).
If you are unable to contribute at this time, please be in touch in confidence with Suzanne Carson, Lishma Coordinator at suzannec@mnjcc.org.
Previous Classes
Learning to make Lachuch in Middle Eastern Cooking with Ronnie Abraham (October 2020)
2020/21:
Summer mini-mester:
ONLINE
Learning and Unlearning: Exploring the Experiences of Jewish People of Colour and Inequality in Canada with Sara Yacobi-Harris
Semester 1:
ONLINE @ Beth Tzedec
Hands-On Track: Middle Eastern Cooking with Ronnie Abraham
Judaism +Modernity Track: Finding Our Place: Jews in the Struggle for Racial Equity with Tema Smith
Text and Context Track: Exploring Sephardi Jewry through Rabbinic Texts with Chaim Grafstein
Semester 2:
ONLINE @ Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre
Multigenerational Trauma and Resilience with Carmelle Wolfson, MSW, RSW and Adrianna LeBlanc, MSW
Punishment and Prisons: the Polemics and Politics with Dyanoosh Youssefi
Homesteading the Holidays with Rabbi Becca Walker
2019/20:
Semester 1:
@ CSI Annex
Tzedakah (Hands-On Track): Dyeing & Doykheit: An exploration of natural dyeing, connection to land and Jewish diaspora with Sarit Cantor
T’shuvah (Judaism +Modernity Track): Returning, Repenting & Reconnecting with Yacov Fruchter
T’fillah (Text and Context Track): Learning to Live Whole-Heartedly with Rabbi Julia Appel
Semester 2:
@ Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre
Hands-On Track: Jewish Self-Care through the Arts with Or Har-Gil
Judaism + Modernity: Faith Based Social Justice with the Lishma Team
Text and Context: 6 Amazing Texts with Rabbi Zachary Goodman
Semester 3:
@ Holy Blossom Temple
Hands-On Track: New Jewish Film with Aaron Rotenberg
Judaism + Modernity: Bad@$$ Sheroes with Rabbi Becca Walker
Text and Context: Jewish Couplehood with Yacov Fruchter
Semester 4:
ONLINE @ Beth Tzedec
Hands-On Track: Creative Writing with Tikva Hecht
Judaism + Modernity: Medical Ethics with Rabbi Steven Wernick
Text and Context: Queer Apocalypse in the Jewish Imagination with Rabbi Andrea Myers
2018/19:
Semester 1:
@ Miles Nadal JCC
Hands-On Track: Hebrew Calligraphy as Jewish Art with Baruch Sienna
Judaism +Modernity Track: Harry Potter and the Sacred Text with Jenny Isaacs
Text and Context Track: Weekly Torah for Beginners with Rabbi Jordan Helfman
Semester 2:
@ Beth Tzedec
Hands-On Track: Tachles! Learning (Beginner) Conversational Hebrew with Lior Sagi
Judaism + Modernity: PJ Library/Melton Foundations of Jewish Living with Daniel Silverman
Text and Context: People of the Book, People of the Land with Risa Alyson Cooper
Semester 3:
@ CSI Annex
Hands-On Track: Mindfulness in Silence and Song with Aviva Chernick / Jewish Music for the Healing of the Soul with Aaron Lightstone (split course)
Judaism + Modernity: Jewish Couplehood with Yacov Fruchter
Text and Context: Feminist Torah with Rabbi Denise Handlarski
Semester 4:
@ Holy Blossom Temple
Hands-On Track: Starting an Indigenous/Jewish Conversation with Leah Mauer
Judaism + Modernity: Refugees, Judaism and Asylum with Howard Adelman
Text and Context: Judaism and Happiness with Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl
Summer mini-mester:
ONLINE
Learning and Unlearning: Exploring the Experiences of Jewish People of Colour and Inequality in Canada with Sara Yacobi-Harris
Semester 1:
ONLINE @ Beth Tzedec
Hands-On Track: Middle Eastern Cooking with Ronnie Abraham
Judaism +Modernity Track: Finding Our Place: Jews in the Struggle for Racial Equity with Tema Smith
Text and Context Track: Exploring Sephardi Jewry through Rabbinic Texts with Chaim Grafstein
Semester 2:
ONLINE @ Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre
Multigenerational Trauma and Resilience with Carmelle Wolfson, MSW, RSW and Adrianna LeBlanc, MSW
Punishment and Prisons: the Polemics and Politics with Dyanoosh Youssefi
Homesteading the Holidays with Rabbi Becca Walker
2019/20:
Semester 1:
@ CSI Annex
Tzedakah (Hands-On Track): Dyeing & Doykheit: An exploration of natural dyeing, connection to land and Jewish diaspora with Sarit Cantor
T’shuvah (Judaism +Modernity Track): Returning, Repenting & Reconnecting with Yacov Fruchter
T’fillah (Text and Context Track): Learning to Live Whole-Heartedly with Rabbi Julia Appel
Semester 2:
@ Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre
Hands-On Track: Jewish Self-Care through the Arts with Or Har-Gil
Judaism + Modernity: Faith Based Social Justice with the Lishma Team
Text and Context: 6 Amazing Texts with Rabbi Zachary Goodman
Semester 3:
@ Holy Blossom Temple
Hands-On Track: New Jewish Film with Aaron Rotenberg
Judaism + Modernity: Bad@$$ Sheroes with Rabbi Becca Walker
Text and Context: Jewish Couplehood with Yacov Fruchter
Semester 4:
ONLINE @ Beth Tzedec
Hands-On Track: Creative Writing with Tikva Hecht
Judaism + Modernity: Medical Ethics with Rabbi Steven Wernick
Text and Context: Queer Apocalypse in the Jewish Imagination with Rabbi Andrea Myers
2018/19:
Semester 1:
@ Miles Nadal JCC
Hands-On Track: Hebrew Calligraphy as Jewish Art with Baruch Sienna
Judaism +Modernity Track: Harry Potter and the Sacred Text with Jenny Isaacs
Text and Context Track: Weekly Torah for Beginners with Rabbi Jordan Helfman
Semester 2:
@ Beth Tzedec
Hands-On Track: Tachles! Learning (Beginner) Conversational Hebrew with Lior Sagi
Judaism + Modernity: PJ Library/Melton Foundations of Jewish Living with Daniel Silverman
Text and Context: People of the Book, People of the Land with Risa Alyson Cooper
Semester 3:
@ CSI Annex
Hands-On Track: Mindfulness in Silence and Song with Aviva Chernick / Jewish Music for the Healing of the Soul with Aaron Lightstone (split course)
Judaism + Modernity: Jewish Couplehood with Yacov Fruchter
Text and Context: Feminist Torah with Rabbi Denise Handlarski
Semester 4:
@ Holy Blossom Temple
Hands-On Track: Starting an Indigenous/Jewish Conversation with Leah Mauer
Judaism + Modernity: Refugees, Judaism and Asylum with Howard Adelman
Text and Context: Judaism and Happiness with Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl
