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Hello everyone, this is your Island reporter from central Vancouver Island!! We gave Major General Andrew Christie a fine farewell at the Courtenay Cemetery where his remains were interred alongside his beloved wife, Barbara. Those of us in Torah Talk knew Andy best; living in Comox and caring for Barbara made trips down Island infrequent […]

Hello everyone, I am finally warming up after our chilly but ever so heartening vigil on Sunday evening. Hundreds and hundreds – and hundreds! of Jews and friends lined Belleville with posters and red balloons, to Bring Them Home. It was a turnout like we have not seen for years. I brought our ‘baby’ Torah, […]

Hello everyone, this is such an interesting time at Kolot Mayim, we are growing with young people, young families, and interest in being part of who we are. Come and join us at services this Shabbat morning, and meet some of our younger people who are finding their home with Kolot Mayim.

Good morning, afternoon, evening, everyone. This is a week of remembrance, with Kristallnacht on Thursday evening, and Remembrance Day on Saturday morning. I know many of us will be at both services, holding in our hearts the tragedies of too many lives ended. This week, as we read the opening line of our parashah, we […]

Lech Lecha, our Torah reading this week, is our introduction to Avram and Sarai. Ten generations after Noach, Avram is called by God to lech lecha, to leave his father’s house, his homeland and go to the Land that God will show him. This Land will become Israel, the land of the Jews for over […]

It has been a week. I have been exhausted and exhilarated, heart-sick and full of pride. Mostly, I have been reminded of when I was 12 and I came to the full realization that the world then, particularly the Christian world, had abandoned its fundamental premise of loving its neighbour. This premise of care and […]

This Shabbat, Hamas terrorized all of Israel with a premeditated and deadly attack on Israel. Civilians, soldiers have been murdered, and kidnapped; countless hundreds of citizens have been wounded in body and in heart. Even as the Gaza border is under constant and extensive surveillance, this attack happened as Jews were celebrating Simchat Torah and […]

We have had (still having) weeks of services, with so much joy. I say this replete as I am with hot buttery challah buns and soup, eaten in our sukkah. I love eating in the crisp cold air of fall, knowing as wrapped in wool as I may be, that the season is short the […]

Hello everyone, the hinges of the gates are being oiled as we speak, so that they should open with ease. Rosh Hashanah approaches and we speak a little more cautiously, step a little more carefully perhaps, as we approach the Days of Awe. May the doors of our hearts open as well. As we welcome […]