Passover has many powerful messages that are critical for strengthening one’s identity and values. Many of these transformative lessons can be learned from the main characters of the Passover story, such as Moses; his sister Miriam; his brother Aaron; and many other individuals. The one person from whom we would not expect to learn anything […]

Lighting a flame is only important when its dark. There’s no need for a candle to burn bright when it’s light outside! In “light” of that, Chanukah truly does come at an extremely relevant time. Who would have ever thought that, as we prepare to light candles reminiscent of those we miraculously lit in the […]

  The internet can be a pretty dark place (does Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins provide insight on how to defeat internet trolls?). Sure, we’re holding out for December 14th’s Illumin8 to explain exactly how every one of us possesses a unique “light” that can be harnessed to combat darkness. But in the meantime, we […]

Rosh Hashanah: the beginning of a new year, new calendar. Many stores up and down Bathurst Street are eagerly handing out their new crisp (marketing) calendars — and what a wonderful tool a calendar is to have! Not only does it help us organize our lives, keep track of our appointments, schedule our theatre tickets, […]

  Friends of the tribe, you’ll be relieved to hear these reasons why we think Rosh Hashanah is seven times better than traditional new years.     7. No countdown (well, except for this one). Ten seconds has never felt so long…and so much like pre-school. In reality, it begins a whole minute before midnight, […]

The Questions of Passover: It’s not about finding your answers.  It’s about finding yourself! While there are many important aspects to the Pesach Seder, one could argue that the most important part of the night is the effort we expend asking questions. We script four questions, we do strange things to evoke questions, we even […]

Purim is a time when we acknowledge that what we see is often far from the reality of what’s happening behind the scenes — be it the masks that are worn, drinking “a little” to bring out one’s inner thoughts, or simply the story of Purim, which is an enigma in itself.  It describes a […]

I am always fond of reminding people that our celebrations of Jewish holidays are not about the past.  Jews don’t “live in the past”  ̶  rather, we continue to be inspired by past values and traditions, which create even brighter, richer, and more fulfilling futures! There are many moments in Jewish history that are significant, […]

Why do we rush to build our Sukkah? I hope that you enjoyed an uplifting Yom Kippur experience. I am still flying from a Neilah that had me soaring. It was a day that reminded me of what is truly important and valuable in life – and that I always have the ability to strengthen […]

On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, who holds the pen? I am sure that you will agree, it is hard to believe that yet another year has gone by! The House has undergone an amazing period of growth – most importantly, with the nearly two thousand young adults who are inspired by our relevant Jewish […]