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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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January 13, 2010
Jewish community of Canada mobilizes Haiti earthquake
relief effort
TORONTO --- In response to the devastating
earthquake in Haiti, Canadian Jewish Congress's National
President Mark J. Freiman and CEO Bernie M. Farber
communicated the following message in a letter to
the Haitian chargé d'affaires in Ottawa:
"On behalf of the Jewish community of Canada,
we express our deep sorrow on the tremendous loss
of life and damage from the earthquake in Haiti. We
grieve with you and our fellow Canadians of Haitian
origin at this sad time and we extend our condolences
to the families of the victims. We pray for a complete
recovery of those hurt or ill as a result of this
terrible natural disaster and for the expeditious
rebuilding of the devastated lands.
You will be interested to know that in response to
the crisis, United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Greater
Toronto and Combined Jewish Appeal of Montreal have
established funds for humanitarian relief aid to the
afflicted areas. This is in keeping with the traditional
Jewish concept of "tikkun olam" which translates
as "repair of the world". It is usually
meant in a metaphorical sense but in this instance
it will be literal as Haiti works to recover from
this devastating earthquake.
We sincerely hope that this will assist in relieving
the human suffering experienced in Haiti."
To contribute to the relief funds in Toronto, go to
the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto site at https://www.ujadonations.com/login.asp?destinationsite=donations&destinationid=33
or call 416-635-2883.
To contribute to the fund in Montreal, go to the Federation
CJA site at
http://www.federationcja.org/haiti
or call 514-345-2600.
CONTACT:
Bernie M. Farber
CEO / Directeur général
Canadian Jewish Congress/ Congrès juif canadien
bfarber@cjc.ca
www.cjc.ca
You can keep up to date with CJC and our CEO Bernie
M. Farber on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/bmfCJC
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Solel's Community Event
Solel's annual "Invite your neighbour"
was held on Friday January 15 and a succesful event it was.
Rabbi's Commentary
Rabbi's letter to Mr. Amir Gissin, Consul
General of Israel for Toronto, protesting the manner in
which two women were treated at the Kotel.
Dear Mr. Gissin,
I had the privilege of meeting you at a Board session of
ARZA Canada. At the time, the conflict in Gaza was still
raging. Around the table that evening, you received full
and enthusiastic support for our beloved State of Israel.
My reason for writing to you is that, this time, the threat
to Israel comes from within. The battlefront is the Kotel.
On November 18, 2009, an Israeli woman, Nofrat Frankel,
was arrested at the Kotel. Her crime? She was wearing a
Tallit and holding a Sefer Torah. It was a shock to me -
and to many - that these two acts seem to be a crime under
Israeli law!
Read
more
Reform News from Israel
Anat Hoffman, the leader of Women of the Wall, a
group of women who gather monthly to pray at Jerusalem’s
Western Wall, was questioned by police, fingerprinted, and
told that she may be charged with a felony for violating
the rules of conduct at what is considered Judaism’s
most sacred site.
To read a report by Eisner, click
here.
Purim is a time of fun and festivity for the whole family.
We eat hamantaschen, make lots of noise and dress up in
costume. I would like to suggest, however, that there is
also a serious side to Purim. A very serious side that has
to do with costumes.
Read more
Weekly Event Calendar
Fri
Feb 12
- 8:00pm - Regular
Service
After the service - Adult Singles Oneg 40+ - meet
& greet
Sat
Feb
13- 10:00am - Regular
Service
For a comprehensive Calendar of events Click
here
For Upcoming Events Click
here
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