My Jewish Journey
Deborah Abecassis Warshawsky, Director of Jewish Life and Learning, shares insights on lessons from the Torah, Jewish customs and traditions and inspirational thoughts for personal growth.
Tu B’Shvat – The Fifteenth of the month of Shvat – The New Year for the Trees
This Thursday we are celebrating the holiday of Tu B’Shvat, the New Year for the trees. This holiday has transformed itself over Jewish history. It has its roots in the Bible and the Mishna, was spiritually enhanced by the Kabbalists of the 16th century, modernized by...
Parshat Beshalach – The Art of Complaining
Daniel arrives home from work at 5pm and as soon as he steps through his front door, his wife Judith starts having a go at him. “Why don’t you ever wipe your feet before walking into the house? ….. I thought you said you were coming home at lunch time today …… Where’s...
Parshat Beshalach Recipe Idea
This week we read Parshat Beshalach and we have one of the most epic moments from Jewish history and Jewish tradition: the Splitting of the Sea. Given that we have been having an “epic” cold season, I thought that perhaps we would all like to try some soup for...
Parsha Riddle
Just a little something different for this week! PARSHA Riddle Pharaoh was worried; he did not like the news, He felt the rising power that came upon the Jews, He decided to make them work hard and enslave them, The Jews worked very hard, they all cried to Hashem....
Parsha Recipe – Vayechi
In this week’s parsha, as Yaakov’s life comes to an end, he blesses all of his sons, as well as the sons of Yosef, Efraim and Menasheh. Probably the most well-known blessing is the blessing of “Hamalach HaGoel” (Breishit 48:16). The words are a plea from Yaakov to the...
Parshat Vayigash Message
After much drama, the conflict between Joseph and his brothers reaches its climax in this week’s Torah reading. Joseph, after tormenting his brothers, finally breaks down and reveals his true identity to them. And then the tone changes, as the family begins to...
Special Chunukah Recipe – Spiced Hot Chocolate
Spiced Hot Chocolate (from Myjewishlearning.com) As we enter the cold days of winter, here is a recipe to keep the light and warmth of the channukah candles a little longer in our homes. During Hanukkah, yellow mesh bags of chocolate gelt appear out of nowhere, and...
Parshat Miketz
In this week’s Torah reading, we are told the story of Pharoah’s dreams, Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt, and the reunion with his brothers who descend to Egypt during a famine. The parsha is full of drama and irony. Joseph, who has assimilated into Egyptian society,...
Parsha Vayeshev Recipe
In this week's Parsha, Jacob gives his son Joseph with the wondrous striped coat. This gift caused an immense amount of jealousy between Joseph's other brothers -- so much so, that at the end of this story, Jacob's other sons sell Joseph into slavery. For our Torah...
Helping Hands – Tzedakah
Tzedakah and acts of kindness are the equivalent of all the mitzvot of the Torah" – Jerusalem Talmud, Pe'ah 1:1. Due to the devastating results of the typhoon in the Phillipines, we would like you to consider participating in the mitzvah of Tzedakah. We are reminded...
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Rabbi Grossman’s Blog Corner
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Parashat Metzora – Choose the words you use
We have this new game we’ve been playing called Snake Oil. One person is the customer and chooses a card that provides this player with an identification or an occupation. For example, she might be a tourist or a rock climber, a nurse, a camp counsellor, or a...
Parashat Tazria – The blemish is not the whole picture.
At about two or three-weeks-old, my daughter developed a hemangioma on her head. This benign swelling of blood vessels grew over the course of her first year into a significant and noticeable bump at the very top of her forehead. No matter how big and sparkling were...
Un marche à la fois – 31_0_2016
Je reviens vers vous aujourd’hui pour vous informer d’une autre initiative intéressante pour nos amis de grade 1. Tel que vous le savez, le défi principal du premier cycle est la lecture que ce soit dans sa fluidité que dans sa compréhension. Depuis le début de...
Parashat Shemini – Warnings
They were 2 1/2 and 1 years old. The younger of the two was of more solid build, stronger, and not much smaller in size than the older. And she loved her big sister fiercely. One day, in this spirit of love and fun, she climbed onto her older sister and hugged her...
Message for Purim
Deborah Abecassis Director of Jewish Life and Learning The story of Purim has all the components of a great fairy tale or Disney movie – a silly king and an evil villain, the beautiful Queen heroine and the wise old man. The kingdom’s wealth and the months-long...
Parashat Tzav – The “rite” clothes
When my daughter was 3-years-old, she chose to wear only skirts and dresses. It fit with her definition of pretty, princess, and fashionable. One Sunday afternoon, my husband asked her if she'd like to join him on an errand to the hardware store. "Yes!" She replied....
Parashat Vayikra – Sacrifices
Deborah Abecassis Warshawsky. Carb-free, fat-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, meat-free. Many of us, at some point, have resolved to drastically change the way we eat from one day to the next. Each Monday morning, people everywhere are cutting out...
Ainsi s’en vont, vont vont les marionnettes – 15-03-2016
Quelle belle Francofête avons-nous passée! Les enseignantes seront d’accord pour vous dire que le mérite en revient aux enfants qui ont répondu à nos propositions de manière formidable. Tel que je vous l’avais mentionnée, le thème de la semaine se prépare depuis le...
Parashat Pekudei – It takes a village.
Deborah Abecassis Warshawsky. “Did we pay the mechanic for my car?” my husband asked me the other day, noting the invoice on the kitchen counter. We? What he was really asking was whether I had paid the mechanic. It’s a matter of division of labour. I am...
Parashat Va-Yakhel – A wise heart
Deborah Abecassis Warshawsky. Thirty minutes before Shabbat I asked the girls to tidy up the room they were sharing in Florida - pick up from the floor clothes and towels and books and tissues and discarded tags from new items, remove their electronics from their...
