The Glory of the German Jewish Musical Tradition February 3rd at 6 pm and Saturday, February 4th at 10.30 am Sermon in Song and Lecture after Kiddush at 1 pm With this short slide presentation we can experience the glorious audio sounds and visual structure of the once incredible community of German Jewry and its tradition which emanated from that corner of the world. Imagine the royalty of the music, its dignity within the structure of Berlin’s Read more »
SHABBAT SHIRA February 3rd at 6 pm and Saturday, February 4th at 10.30 am Sermon in Song and Lecture after Kiddush at 1pm The intense sounds fill our Sanctuary as we enter our preparations in high gear for Shabbat Shira. Witness our Temple Singers as they are fully engaged and enveloped in the original sounds of our German Musical Synagogal tradition. This short clip demonstrates the intensity and seriousness of mastering the music of Read more »
SHABBAT SHIRA FEBRUARY 3 & 4, 2012 This Shabbat Shira is dedicated to pre WWII German Jewry and is directly connected to the Cantors Assembly Mission “A MUSICAL JOURNEY OF HERITAGE AND HEALING” which I will be leading this coming June 28th – July 4th 2012. The haunting melodies of our synagogal chants have, throughout the centuries, exercised powerful enchantment on our people’s minds and hearts and contributed substantially Read more »
SHABBAT SHIRA KABBALAT SHABBAT FEBRUARY 3, 2012 AT 6 PM CANTOR MAISSNER & LINDI RIVERS AND OUR HBT SIMCHAH BAND The Passion Of Chassidic Music “Mitzvah G’dolah Lihiyot B’simchah” Chasidic doctrine emphasizes that the greatest Mitzvah is to “Be In Joy”. Its expression through song and dance have been important values of the Chasidic movement since its beginnings in the second half of the eighteenth century. This idealization Read more »
In this brief excerpt near the beginning of Pillars of Salt, Suzanne recalls to her friend, Naomi, that she had all the worry of organizing the shiva house, but some less-than-helpful family relations “were casing out the joint”. Worst of all, she says, with frequent interruptions from her mother, Tilly, the relatives helped themselves to a special bottle of scotch. It’s an incident that sets the tone for Michael Ross Albert’s unconventional Read more »
The Three Ms Nostalgic Memories Concert – November 8th 2011 – was indeed amazing. With a packed house a warm and welcoming sympathetic audience, the three of us – Yossi Malovany, Yakov Motzen, and myself, shared with the public our life stories in songs, of early years growing up in Tel Aviv of the 50’s. We saluted and remembered with warm feelings our mentors and teachers, our beloved Hazzanim Shlomo Ravitz Z’L and the one and only, the Read more »
The Three Ms Nostalgic Memories Concert – November 8th 2011 – was indeed amazing. With a packed house and a warm and welcoming audience, the three of us – Yossi Malovany, Yakov Motzen, and myself, shared with the public our life stories in songs, which our mentor and teacher, the beloved Hazzan Shlomo Ravitz Z’L had entrenched in us. This Cantorial selection is but one of the many prayers we studied as children way back then in 1950’s Read more »
Dear Friends, I thought you might find this interesting – when asking or being asked, Why Germany? My beloved Cantor’s Assembly mission being held this coming June to Germany poses serious questions. In response to these questions, our current President, Cantor Jack Chomsky has responded. “How can I ever go to Germany?” “This was a reasonable feeling to have about the “Poland experience” — and a feeling that was worth overcoming. Read more »
“Eight women. One night. A comedy about mourning.” Yes, working with eight women—not to mention a female stage manager, lighting manager and sound manager—can be a challenge. Not always a barrel of laughs. A case of sometimes taking direction, instead of giving it. But I was well-prepared, having directed Women’s Minyan in 2005. That play featured 10 women, who were sometimes at times at each other’s throats, and bitterly divided over Read more »
The complete video of Yossi Klein Halevi’s What Must Israel Do To Survive – And Thrive? lecture - November 10, 2011 at 8 p.m. Part of the Gerald Schwartz / Heather Reisman Fall Lecture Series at Holy Blossom Temple. To learn about the third lecture in this series, with Benny Morris – Nov 17 at 8 pm, click here. Read more »
The last thing my grandfather said to me was, “If I don’t make it, tell my story.” No kidding. When asked about the inspiration for the play, my grandfather’s farewell to me is the only anecdote that comes to mind. Certainly, my grandfather was cavalier in his request. But he didn’t realize that playwrights take last words very seriously. It is both my pleasure and my sad duty to welcome you to Pillars of Salt. It is my sad duty because Read more »
The Three Ms Nostalgic Night was indeed a triumph for our Temple, for our community and for us — The Three Ms — who love each other, admire our accomplishments, remembering our past and the days growing up in that little village of Tel Aviv of the 50s. Our mentors groomed us and shaped us to be what we have become through our life’s journey. For this reason we honoured our great teachers and were inspired to share our message of unity and Read more »
Rehearsals for our Fall production, Michael Ross Albert’s Pillars of Salt, are well underway. Mark your calendars for Thursday December 8 and Saturday December 10 at 7:30pm and Sunday December 11 at 2pm. If you want to help out, we need backstage help, as well as help with box office, ushering and refreshment sales. We are actively soliciting proposals for our Spring 2012 production as well as looking for directors and assistant directors. Read more »
As is our custom at this time, our Music Committee and I are thrilled to announce our Musical Heritage Concert Series for the coming season. Keeping with our tradition we have kept the themes and the events of our concerts in sync and harmony with our mission statement, namely the promotion of Jewish art and in particular the awareness of Jewish music. I have tried to keep the content and venues both exciting as well as somewhat personal. Read more »
Enjoying three of the leading Hazzinim on the scene today; revisiting the German Jewish musical tradition; remembering the work of the composer Srul Irving Glick; and celebrating the shared musical and religious experiences of the early modern Yiddish and African-American worlds. Ashreinu, matov helkeinu! How fortunate we are for this broad array of musical events. Broad in total, each special in particular. Malovany, Motzen and Maissner Read more »
Stagecraft Theatre Company is pleased to present the Canadian-premiere of Pillars of Salt, written by Michael Ross Albert, and directed by Michael Ryval. When eight women gather at a shiva house for the family patriarch, they are in for a night of secrets, lies and revelations. They cry, commiserate, and laugh, as family ties are tested. Join us for this heartfelt study of the ultimate Jewish rite of passage. Eight women. One night. Pillars Read more »
Katherine Dolgy Ludwig has come a long way from her first drawings, on the cardboard from her father’s laundered shirts. A Torontonian, she’s now part of the international art scene, having exhibited her paintings in shows in the United States and in London, England, as well as in Canada, over the past eight years. Her latest Toronto show, PaintingFlowerLanguage, runs at the Pearl Gallery in Holy Blossom Temple until July 10. To read Read more »
Our January production of Michael Ryval’s The Last Days of Rachel Samuel enjoyed large audiences and was a critical and financial success for Stagecraft. Thank you to all our audience members, and especially our 21 Patron ticket purchasers! We are happy to announce that refreshment sales were also good, and we have donated nearly $400 to Temple’s Out of the Cold program. Stagecraft’s winter season continued with a four evening discussion Read more »
