News from Kol Ami

on Monday, 22 February 2016.

Adult Education Committee

Over the first part of 2016, the Adult Education Committee presented a number of diverse and entertaining events. On January 9, Rabbi Noa Sattath, Director of the Israel Action Centre of Reform Judaism, led our Torah Study discussion by Skype from Israel. Starting January 18, for three consecutive Mondays, Rabbi Streiffer presented a lecture series on Sex in the Texts. On January 31, we had a hands-on lesson on the traditions of making challah and the mitzvah of taking challah, and on February 10, Dr Kalman Weiser from York University educated us on the similarities between Yiddish and Ebonics, a language invented by Black Americans.

Chesed Committee

During difficult times, Kol Ami is a supportive community for those confronting illness, loss, and other life trials. We strive to surround those in need with comfort and strength. Members of our Chesed committee are quietly enlisted to provide extra helping hands in times of need.  We rarely meet as a committee, but instead connect through email and phone calls to organize activities such as

• Leading Shiva Services
• Meal Preparation
• Driving to Appointments
• Hospital Visits

We are in need of people who are interested in helping other members of Kol Ami.  We often work in groups of two or more, to ensure that members of the committee also feel supported.  If you are interested in becoming involved with the Chesed Committee, please contact Miriam Amon miriamamon@rogers.com or call the temple office.
 

Finance Committee

The Kol Ami Finance committee is made up of a team of financial professionals – anyone financially inclined is welcome to join! The committee is responsible for recommending spending and investment policies to the board, preparing financial reports, helping the Treasurer both prepare the budget for the coming year and communicate our financial results to members at the AGM.  Over the past month, the committee has been providing training to our office manager Joanne, on our bookkeeping system and conducting a review of other bookkeeping systems that would make her job easier and TKA members’ financial interactions with the synagogue easier and electronic.

High Holy Days Committee

In the last month, we have discussed the possibility of changing our High Holy Days machzor.  We have spoken to a few members to hear their opinion.  The next step is for Rabbi Streiffer to present it to the board.

Interfaith Committee

Interfaith family engagement has profound impact on the future of our community and our Jewish people. We are establishing an Interfaith Committee at Kol Ami to identify and act on the experience of interfaith families and members of our congregation and to link those experiences to actions that will optimize congregational engagement. We wish to increase our understanding of lived experience of interfaith families of Kol Ami, increase education of the community regarding interfaith issues, explore policy issues and halachic issues with learned and innovative solutions related to the Kol Ami community and the broader Reform Jewish community. If you are interested in participating in this committee, please contact the co-chairs, Anita Small asmall@mac.com and Norman Rosenblum,normrosenblum@mac.com. We will constitute the committee to represent the diversity of our Kol Ami Community. We welcome your input!

Co-Chairs, Anita Small and Norman Rosenblum

Ritual Committee

Our Ritual Committee is an important working committee that, with the help of our Rabbi, chooses lay leaders when required for Friday and Shabbat morning services, Torah Readers for Shabbat, and distributes honours for those services. We also perform some functions at High Holy Days and are consulted on any prayer book changes for the congregation. In addition, we are asked for our opinion on the effectiveness of High Holy Days services every year.

Social Action Committee

When a desire to see social action burns in your heart you see the world in a different perspective. There are many definitive interpretations of what social action actually means:

• Giving back
• Commitment to social reform
• Dedication to doing good
• Saving, repairing, healing our broken world
• Feeding the hungry, caring for the homeless
• Saving tragic third world country orphans
• Caring what happens beyond our own comfortable front doors…it’s all this and much much more.….

Kol Ami’s Social Action Committee is now in its 11th consecutive year of collecting food each week from the Thornhill Farmer’s market and delivering it to the Yellow Brick House, a shelter for battered women and their children. It entertains lonely seniors and sick children and reaches out to the homeless, disadvantaged children, elderly veterans and reaches out to help those who cannot help themselves.

GIFT OF SIGHT

Please help adults and children in the most impoverished part of Zimbabwe see better by donating your used prescription and non-prescription (reading) and sun glasses. Glasses will join a container going to Karanda Mission Hospital this summer. Ask your optician if they have any glasses to donate to this very worthy cause. Just imagine if we did not have our prescription glasses, how difficult our lives would be. Now imagine those who have virtually nothing with added tzorris of blurred and distorted vision.

Next Social Action meeting will be on Tuesday, March 1 at 7.30 p.m. Please come and help us plan and execute Blood Donor Clinics, plan for other humanitarian initiatives and work together for a dynamic Kol Ami Mitzvah Day. We would love to hear your views and ideas and have you be part of our growing and caring group of fellow humanitarians. We have a vibrant year ahead of us. Please lend a hand and help us make our world a little better.

For additional information regarding the committee and meeting, please contact Marleine Kay at marleine@rogers.com or 905-763-1136.

Ani v’ata neshaneh et haolam - you and I can change the world

Torah Mantle Committee

The Torah Mantle Committee, tasked with designing new Torah covers, has completed its work begun in 2014! Kol Ami and Leo Baeck have worked together to select our Torah cover theme, design, colour and fabric. After selecting artist Jeanette Kevin Oren, from among many, we have worked closely with her for the past five months to create Torah covers that are elegant and meaningful for both communities. A dedication will take place at Shabbat morning services on Saturday, April 16th to celebrate our restored Torahs with their beautiful new covers as a joint Kol Ami Leo Baeck community. Save the date! B’shalom.
Torah Mantle Committee (Anita Small and Reesa Koskie, Committee Co-Chairs; Hedy Moses, Leo Baeck Representative; Heather Baker and Shelley Yampolsky, Kol Ami Members) 

The Adult B’nai Mitzvah class of 2016 (photo credit: Eli Amon)