It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of 

Holocaust survivor and Habonim member

Magdolna Hercz

Mother and Mother -in-law of Habonim Members

Gavril Hercz and Erika Engel

Funeral:  Thursday September 14th  at 12:00 pm

                 Benjamin's Park Memorial Chapel

Please see more information here:  

http://www.benjaminsparkmemorialchapel.ca

We wish Gavril, Erika and their entire family comfort among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. 

If you wish to send a Habonim Tribute Card to the family to express your condolences, you can do so on our website at
http://www.congregationhabonim.org/payment.php
or by calling the office at 416-782-7125.

It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of 

Esther Lynne Burnett

Mother and Mother -in-law of Habonim Members

Emily Burnett and Jonathan Bloomberg

Funeral:  Monday August 28, at 11:00 am

                 Adath Israel Synagogue

Please see more information here:  

http://www.benjaminsparkmemorialchapel.ca

We wish Emily, Jonathan and their entire family comfort among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. 

If you wish to send a Habonim Tribute Card to the family to express your condolences, you can do so on our website at
http://www.congregationhabonim.org/payment.php
or by calling the office at 416-782-7125.

Habonim members Karen Shopsowitz, (Producer/ Director)

Mark Landau (Director of Photography)

 The Other Side of the Hero

A feature length documentary about first responders dealing with PTSD. Actor Enrico Colantoni (Sgt. Greg Parker from TV’s hit show, Flashpoint) is our guide on this journey. In the documentary, we get to know first responders through their families, their spouses, their co-workers, and themselves; people who have experienced the flip-side of what can happen when a hero discovers that they are not emotionally immune to all that they deal with during their shifts. 

The screening takes place on Wednesday, August 23 at the Regent Theatre, 511 Mt. Pleasant Road, Toronto. Doors open at 8 p.m., with the film at 8.30 p.m. 

Tickets are $15 and will be available at the door or in advance, by clicking: http://conta.cc/2uQnDm8

It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of 

Tilya Helfield

Mother  and Mother -in-law of  Habonim Members

Marie & Neil Finkelstein

Funeral:  Tuesday August 1st at 10:00 am

                 Steeles Memorial Chapel

Please see more information here:  

http://steelesmemorialchapel.com/condolence/tilya-helfield/

We wish Marie, Neil and their entire family comfort among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. 

If you wish to send a Habonim Tribute Card to the family to express your condolences, you can do so on our website at
http://www.congregationhabonim.org/payment.php
or by calling the office at 416-782-7125.

Please join the Habonim Design Committee on Monday, July 10th at 7:30 pm at the synagogue for an open forum.

This will be your opportunity to voice any opinions you have regarding the design of the new building. Every suggestion will be carefully considered.

If you are unable to attend, feel free to send me an email with your comments.

Looking forward to seeing you there,

Joanie Smith

smithje1958@gmail.com

It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of 

Leone Paula Beth Bodner

Sister of 

Jeff Levy

Funeral:  Wednesday June 21 at 12:00 pm

                  Benjamin's Park Memorial Chapel

Please see more information here:  

http://www.benjaminsparkmemorialchapel.ca/

We wish Jeff and his entire family comfort among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. 

If you wish to send a Habonim Tribute Card to the family to express your condolences, you can do so on our website at
http://www.congregationhabonim.org/payment.php
or by calling the office at 416-782-7125.

Dear Congregation Habonim Members,

Last week at the Annual General Meeting, I passed the torch of President to Joanie Smith.

It represented the first time in about 10 years that I will not be on the Board of Habonim.

I wanted to share a few brief thoughts with you about Habonim today, and what the experience has meant to me.

I joined the Board back in 2007 for a few reasons:

1. I thought I had something to offer that could help.
2. I thought I might meet some people who could become clients.
3. I wanted to show my children that helping the Jewish Community is something that you are supposed to do.

To greater or lesser degrees, all three of these happened, but an unexpected thing turned out to be the highlight for me.

The greatest benefit was that getting involved with Habonim helped me and my family to find our Jewish community in Toronto – even though we have lived here our whole lives.

The more people I met, the more I was struck by a few things. We are a modest group of people at Habonim. We are not particularly ‘showy’. Having said that, the number of top Doctors, Lawyers, Businesspeople, Professors, Musicians, Judges, and Professionals of all sorts is simply incredible. There are so many people at Habonim who are greatly talented and successful, yet as a group we are modest. That is a really wonderful combination.

We also have many members who really want to do Tikkun Olam. They want to repair the world and do so in big and small ways. Whether through helping Immigrants, or building hospitals, or starting charities to help build homes in Africa, or simply trying to do the right thing on a daily basis. There is a wide range of good things that are done by members of this congregation…quietly but significantly.

We are truly fortunate at Habonim. We have stars in our midst. Eli Rubenstein is unique. He shapes the values of our organization and we learn from him in enjoyable ways, on an ongoing basis. Aviva Rajsky is a great talent. When she and Tom Bellman play, we are transformed. When Aviva is joined by Kim Doron and they sing together, these are wonderful moments. These stars have been joined by Robin Zionce-Garber, who is a one woman powerhouse who runs the office and makes so many things work well on a day to day basis. We also have a wonderful Sunday school that continues to grow as it teaches the joy of Judaism to children from age 5 to 12.

The Board and other volunteers at Habonim are a very strong group. One thing that I feel very good about is the quality of people around the table at the Board level. Led by Joanie Smith, I believe that in 2017-2018, we have among the best Boards ever at Habonim. There is not only specific expertise from Legal, Finance, Real Estate, and Construction fields, but they are unified in their purpose. That is to simply make Habonim a better place.

Then there is the next big thing for Habonim. I can’t wait for these special Habonim values and these strengths to be housed in a beautiful new building that will allow us to do more of the good things we are doing today. We received a new $18,000 donation this week, and we are now just $380,000 from our $9.5 million target. How great would it be for the entire congregation to see us surpass our goal in the next month or two. If you are able to help, now is a great time.

As a final thought, I would simply like to say thank you. We are a great community, and it has been an honour to serve as your President.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ted Rechtshaffen

https://www.congregationhabonim.org/event/kabbalat-shabbat-and-potluck-dinner1.html

https://www.congregationhabonim.org/event/kabbalat-shabbat-and-potluck-dinner1.html

The Annual General Meeting will take place on

Tuesday, June 13th at 7:30 pm

The new building will be discussed in great detail.

Speakers will include Eli Rubenstein, Ted Rechtshaffen, incoming President Joanie Smith, and Treasurer Rick Glatt.

This is a chance for you to get the latest updates on our plans for the new building. As of June, 2017,  we have reached 96% of our fundraising goal (9.1 of 9.5 million), which is wonderful news!

Proposed directors for election:

As nominated by the Governance Committee and approved by the Board of Directors, the following board candidates will be proposed for election by members at the AGM: Daniel Libman, Cheryl Grammer, Charissa Levy, Melissa Muskat, and Alexis Slatt.

The following directors will be proposed for re-election for a two-year term: Rick Glatt, Joel Kwinter, Susan Liebel, and Joanie Smith. If elected, they will be joining Lauren Black, Dianne Erdos-Rush, Sonny Goldstein, Stephen Halperin, and Brett Saitowitz who are midway through their terms as directors.

Proxy

If you cannot make the annual meeting, you can vote by proxy.  A proxy form and instructions are available  here.

Please join us Thursday June 1st

 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

for our

Shavuot & Yizkor Service

Led by Eli Rubenstein & Aviva Rajsky

accompanied by Tom Bellman

Sermon Topic: The Ten Commandments

Traditional dairy treats will be served after the service

Chag Sameach

Upcoming Habonim debate highlighted in wonderful article in the National Post today, read below:

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/world/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/news/religion/israel-palestinian-debate-comes-to-toronto&pubdate=2017-05-24

Order your tickets here:

It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of Habonim member

Barbara Nash Fenton

wife of 

Barry Fenton

Please see more information here:  

http://steelesmemorialchapel.com/condolence/barbara-nash-fenton/

We wish Barry and his entire family comfort among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. 

If you wish to send a Habonim Tribute Card to the family to express your condolences, you can do so on our website at
http://www.congregationhabonim.org/payment.php
or by calling the office at 416-782-7125.

Earlier this year, Eli Rubenstein invited Elisha Wiesel, the son of Elie Wiesel, to join him on the March of the Living. This weekend, the New York Times featured a moving story on the Elisha Wiesel’s experience along with Eli’s observations. Please see link below.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/world/europe/elie-wiesels-only-son-steps-up-to-his-fathers-legacy.html?emc=eta1&_r=0