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Our Names and Our Story


Dear All,

Pesach swiftly approaches, as does our excitement for the Holiday.

I want to share one thought about our story, and our names and our story. You may have heard of a popular book by Canadian author Lawrence Hill, called The Book of Negroes in Canada, but by a much more striking title in the U.S.: Someone Knows My Name. Nancy Kline summarized the novel's central theme beautifully in a New York Times Book Review:


"The power of language to undermine slavery is crucial to every aspect of Hill's novel, starting with its title, which echoes James Baldwin's Nobody Knows My Name. To have a name is to have an identity, one reason slaves were renamed by their captors. But Aminata refuses to be called Mary, just as years later she refuses to cooperate with abolitionist ghostwriters: 'I am Aminata Diallo, daughter of Mamadu Diallo and Sira Kulibali, born in the village of Bayo, three moons by foot from the Grain Coast in West Africa. I am a Bamana. And a Fula. I am both. ... I suspect that I was born in 1745, or close to it. And I am writing this account. All of it.' Even when old and ill, she insists that 'nobody but me' is 'writing my life story.' Indeed, what frames the novel is her act of writing, in Wilberforce's London, just before the abolition of the British slave trade."

The theme of language and slavery is very germane to the Haggadah. The Midrash tells us that the Jews preserved their identity through three methods: they kept Hebrew names, they preserved their language, and they preserved the clothing of their ancestors.   

Names, language . . . .and yes, even their story. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik writes that the central movement from slave to free is the act of calling out to Hashem and of moving from the periphery of history to the center of it. The slave moves as a feather in the wind, subjected to the whim of his master, until such time as he/she chooses to resist such a fated existence and take command of his/her destiny. Instead of being part of another persons history, he or she begins to write his or her own.  Just as Hill's novel articulates, freedom begins from within, by rejecting the name the oppressor gives you, by refusing to be part of another person's story and insisting on writing your own.   This is the very act of the Haggadah -- and of the seder -- embracing, telling, and interpreting our own story and history, of not just Egypt but of every generation.

Cirelle and I wish you and your family a wonderful, happy, Kosher Pesach.

A Pesach addition-delicious and Kosher for Pesach:

Quinoa 

Truroots Quinoa sold in Cosco is kosher for Pesach. 

40 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup  pitted and sliced green olives
1 ( 6 ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced
2 green onions, minced
3 ounces almond slivers, toasted
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups raw quinoa cooked

mix together and serve. 

Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt 

Social Networking Old and New
One of the best perks of being a Rabbi is the opportunity to constantly research, constantly learn.

Prompted by the interest of one of my classes I explored the concept of community from the Jewish perspective.  Seems like such a plain vanilla kind of topic, hard to define, not much controversy.  But then there is the question of what makes it tick?  What it the glue that holds it together?  What is indispensible to the sacredness of community that we all cherish?

Although I may not have found the final answer, I do think I stumbled upon a first response.  The first and most basic communities were simply "food sharing" communities.  Survival was based on the presumption that when one person had abundance, he (I would love to say "he or she", but back then it probably was "he!") would share with his fellow in famine.    But then when the first found himself in famine, he could demand reciprocity from his friend who now had an abundance of food.    Reciprocal food sharing was simply a way of hedging against starvation, and it worked-it still works.

The Traditionalists out there may want more than the anthropologists' take.  Our tradition is not wanting in this regard.   Take for example the words of King Solomon in Ecclesiasties (Kohelet):
"Two are better than one, for they have good reward for their struggle.  Should they fall, one would pick up the other; if one would fall, he would have no second to pick him up. . . And if one would be overcome in an attack, two would stand against him; and the tripled corded thread will not quickly break."

How many mitzvot do we have that say exactly the same - giving to the poor,  sending gift baskets of food on Purim,  sharing holiday meals, and most especially the Seder.   At this event we declare, "All who are hungry let them come and eat, all who are needy let them come and celebrate."   And we actually do mean it, and have meant it.  We have opened up our homes, to students, strangers, immigrants and the other side of the family that we might not particularly enjoy.   Over the past week I have enjoyed hearing stories of the mothers and grandmothers, who walked among the new Russian and Polish immigrants in Winnipeg and Edmonton making sure that anyone who needed, had a seder to attend.  As well, the story of the mother who hounded Hillel House to make sure her family had new students at their seder every year.  

Food sharing, Seders, it builds our community.  It builds it through giving, favors, favors in favors, giving after giving.  Our favors are the strands, the web that weaves  community.

But here is where, as the Rabbi, I get worried.  Online social networking is amazing in its speed, and in its volume ( I regularly hear about those with 500 or even 2000 facebook friends).  But Web 2.0 Social Networking is a thin community; in fact, it is not a community at all.  There are no favors, no demands for reciprocity, no obligations to members of such a group.  Oddly enough social obligations / the need to return the favor, or to pay it forward is the glue that has held the Community together.   As that element quietly slips away from our new "communities", on-line or elsewhere, we put ourselves at risk of eroding this, our sacred community space.

Our Seders are one key to creating the sacred space of Community; they are even better when everyone "pays" their way in.  This means that everyone in attendance has their role, their job:  From setting the table to buying flowers,  researching an example of modern slavery, or bringing a comment from an ancient haggadah.  Invite them to grate the apples, or roast the shank bone; invite their friends and colleagues.  The Seder is the perfect place, the perfect paradigm, from which to learn, to see, and to demonstrate that in Community it is wonderful to get, but even better to give.  And by doing so, all take part in the weaving of community, and their own networks within the greater Community.

Happy Pesach cooking and good Shabbos. 

Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt 

Dear All,

Watching Roberto Luongo light the Para Olympic caldron brought back memories of the past couple weeks.

I remember pulling up to the torch run in early February with my kids.  We took a wrong turn and found a huge crowd on 41^st. There it was - the excitement; a once in a lifetime event;  the kids, the crowds,  jackets, pins, flags on Granville (yes, Israel's too, on 6^th  - right by  Starbucks) the opening ceremonies,  medal ceremonies, closing ceremonies. Somehow it seemed that that every moment of competition, every block of celebratory space seemed invested with more meaning, more significance.

Which made me wonder, what is the significance, what is/was the message of the Olympics?  Is it sports competition, is it international cooperation, health, patriotism? Honestly, I am not really sure. In 2010 it is obvious we need ritual. We need moments when we can concretize and solemnize our values. We need to mark time as special and see those unique qualities unfold before our own eyes.

Yet I am not satisfied with athletics as the ultimate and most sacred ritual.   I know that as Jews we have our rituals which I think are  more significant and more meaningful.  Every week we take out the torah, ritually crowned, and ceremoniously paraded.  The ceremony announces the centrality of our values - charity, education, honesty, and virtue.   But of all our rituals there is non that we enjoy so much as the Seder - (even if we are perennially asking the four questions:

1) Are we done yet?
2) When do we eat?
3) Do we have to say this?
4) Is that brisket that I smell) 

Seder's are wonderful ritual moments, and they are long. The Seder provides us with the ritual of remembering and celebrating freedom with education. It is the ritual that says we need all the children - wise, wicked  and bewildered, around the table asking their questions,  furthering the debate.   We use this ritual to remind ourselves that we were once oppressed and we need to always fight against oppression.  We use this ritual to remind ourselves of the long and miraculous history of the Jewish people - God must have shepherded us otherwise how could we possibly have survived. We remind ourselves that our Seder's should always be open to the needy... as you may guess I could go on .   The bottom line is that even without the million dollars of gimmicks and special effects, even without a huge cauldron at the waterfront, we can fill our need for ritual, and we can fill it with meaning.

I want to stress one of these ritual messages above all others.  That is that our celebration of freedom is done through education.  I am convinced, that our freedom is our strength, and our strength is that we teach and we learn, and we learn more.

To further your education take advantage of these opportunities:

Pesach classes on our website (see home page)

on Wednesday, March 24,  Join me for a Pre Pesach Fun Seder Workshop 8 pm. at my home,

Join us at the Ida Huberman Second Seder, March 30th, Wosk Auditorium, Schara Tzedeck.

To show my commitment to the cause of education I will be the guest Chef at theMaple Grill on  Thursday April 8^th (my birthday!).There will be two seatings 1:00 pm for lunch (for the non necessarily hockey fans)  and  7:00 om for dinner  and the last Canucks regular season away game.  The proceeds will benefit Israel scholarships.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt 

Dear All,

This past week I was one of the few lucky men to join the Schara Tzedeck Women's League and 250 participants for a symposium on Breast Cancer awareness and early detection. You might be thinking, 'what need has a man for an evening on Breast Cancer awareness?'   

The truth is that there are several 'of course you need to be there' answers.

1) You are rabbi to many women as well, many of whom have had and are statistically likely to encounter this disease.  Furthermore, I had a close friend from university who passed away three years ago from a very aggressive form of breast cancer.  Her name was Dr. Beth Samuel z"l was a brilliant mathematician and Torah Scholar who was an assistant professor of mathematics at University of California Berkley.  She left behind her husband and two young children.  Her passing simply reminds me how seriously this topic must be taken.

2) I attended a similar event hosted by Schara Tzedeck's men's club on Men's Health.  I figured that I was the one person in the crowd for whom Dr. Larry Goldenberg would have little to tell.  I could not have been more wrong.  Dr. Goldenberg was addressing not only the issue of prostate - he was telling all of us men that we needed to be a lot more conscious of our health.  We need to be aware of our weight, risk factors, and exercise levels.  We need to get physicals and try to extend our lives and healthy years.  In fact, he taught us that we need to take a page out of the women's book, since they have been so successful in lobbying for breast cancer research and promoting awareness.

This leads me to the lessons we can take from this event:

1) The lecturers stressed the importance of the support we get from one another in the context of coping with these illnesses, and in which positive social circles and community support can lend to prevention.

2) Be active and take charge of your health: we need not accept these diseases without 'fighting back' with detection, prevention and intervention.  This is true for both men and women.  I dare say this is a religious obligation.

In truth these last two lessons are a lesson of the Heroic women found in the book of Exodus (for more on this subject click here to read an article that I wrote for a memorial volume in memory of Dr. Beth Samuels).  The women of the book of Exodus, Miriam and company do not accept Pharaoh's decree lying down, they fight back, they intervene, they resist, and they do so out of a care for one another and a relationship with Hashem.  Go women!!

I would like to thank the organizers of both the Men's Club event and the Women's League event, in particular the chairs (Mel Sprakman, Arnold Silber and Barbara Silber) for bringing us together for these important topics.

Good Shabbes to all, and may we all live till 120!

Zai Gezunt, and see you in Shul.

Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt 

Happy Purim,

Over the past two weeks we have witnessed the impressive display of athletics, culture, celebration and technology.  Many of us have taken this once in a lifetime opportunity to take our friends, family, children,  or grandchildren, to experience this spectacle.  It was simply something we could not miss.   This is a Civic celebration the likes of which we will likely never see again.


Interestingly the Megilah begins with a similar celebration, a party not of 17 days but of 180 days.  It is Mordechai who reminds the Jews that our mission transcends the party.   This year his message is oh so important as the final day of competition shares the stage with Purim itself. Fret not, as the message of Purim is not inconsistent with the spirit in the streets these days.


As the many Canadian flags, cheers and hopes for gold pull Canada together,  the mitzvot of Purim also pull our community together through:


The Megilah - brings all of us to the Synagogue to hear the story of the endurance of our people.


Mishloach Manot - reach out and show a friend you care, by sending them a package of two prepared kosher foods.  Think about what it would mean to your Bubie's friend who lives alone and does not get out much, or a resident of the Louis Brier, or an old friend with whom you have lost touch to receive a little "I care about you package"


Gifts to the poor--at our happiest moments we say we care about those less fortunate in our community, it helps us draw unity from all corners. (You can  give a cheque or cash for distributions to the poor to Rabbi Rosenblatt or to Joseph Marciano, in shul after the Megilah readings).


Purim Seudah -  the festive purim meal where we bring our friends together to experience a little taste of community around the table.

I hope you and your family have a very happy Purim.


See you in Shul.


Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt 

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