<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Danforth Jewish Circle]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Danforth Jewish Circle is a joyous, inclusive, accessible and inspiring synagogue community located in the heart of Riverdale, Toronto.]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 01 May 2026 16:08:55 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.djctoronto.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[The Torah is a Tree of Life]]></title><description><![CDATA[There is a well-known story in the Talmud (Bava Metzia 59b) about a group of rabbis locked in a debate about whether a particular oven is pure or impure. Rabbi Eliezer insists he is right, but the other rabbis disagree. To prove himself, Rabbi Eliezer calls on miracles. Unbelievably, a tree uproots itself, a stream flows backwards, and the walls of the study hall begin to collapse. Finally, a heavenly voice declares, “Why do you argue with Rabbi Eliezer? He is correct.” One might think that...]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/the-torah-is-a-tree-of-life</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f2255c0781e7f497f74b08</guid><category><![CDATA[Rabbi's Message]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:36:28 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[It’s hard not to feel the heaviness of it all at once.]]></title><description><![CDATA[There are moments when the calendar feels almost too on-the-nose. As Pesach approaches – a festival of courage and resilience – our Toronto community reels from recent synagogue shootings, rising antisemitism, and anxieties about unrest in Israel, Gaza, Iran, and beyond. It’s hard not to feel the heaviness of it all at once. Many of you have shared your exhaustion: worrying about news headlines, explaining (and explaining again) antisemitism to others, and feeling the world is less safe for...]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/it-s-hard-not-to-feel-the-heaviness-of-it-all-at-once</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69e796da8e63193b95d64fc2</guid><category><![CDATA[Rabbi's Message]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Climate justice: join, listen, learn &#38; act together]]></title><description><![CDATA[“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” — Pirkei Avot 1:14 Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, but it’s also a call to come together, learn, and act with purpose. We hope that the resources gathered by the DJC’s Climate Action Team  will help you deepen your understanding of climate change, navigate climate anxiety,  and discover meaningful ways to take action. Join with others , listen to a podcast...]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/climate-justice-join-listen-learn-act-together</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69e78f578b2f11ff8e596d3a</guid><category><![CDATA[Committee Updates]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 15:00:50 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Calling all DJC Artists: Share Your Creativity with Our Community]]></title><description><![CDATA[Our community is rich with creative, talented artists, and we want to showcase you! We are inviting artists of all kinds to submit original work for feature in our community communications, including holiday materials, event promotions, digital campaigns, print pieces, thank-you notes, and other special projects throughout the year. We welcome submissions across all disciplines, including […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/calling-all-djc-artists-share-your-creativity-with-our-community</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992f13219c84449931494</guid><category><![CDATA[DJC Blog]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 12:33:19 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Nothing in creation is knowable without its contrast]]></title><description><![CDATA[A farmer stops Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yishmael in the streets of Jerusalem. She has a challenge for them: If God struck someone with an illness, who are they to interfere by offering medicine? Isn’t healing a defiance of the divine will?
The rabbis point to the sickle in the woman’s hand. “Who planted your vineyard?”
“God”, she says.
“And yet you prune it, fertilize it, and weed it! You involve yourself in something that isn’t yours, do you not?” The farmer understands immediately: without her...]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/nothing-in-creation-is-knowable-without-its-contrast</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992f13219c84449931496</guid><category><![CDATA[Rabbi's Message]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 24 Feb 2026 21:05:51 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Join Us: Sing, Uplift, Connect]]></title><description><![CDATA[We’re excited to welcome our new Choir Director, Juliet Palmer. Reaching beyond boundaries is central to Juliet’s work in Toronto as music director, mentor, facilitator, educator and composer. “Throughout my career, I’ve been committed to the creation of welcoming spaces for community music-making, and I’m delighted to step into the role of choir director at […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/join-us-sing-uplift-connect</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992f13219c8444993149a</guid><category><![CDATA[Special Notices]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2026 13:08:46 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Prayer for Connection in Nature]]></title><description><![CDATA[The month of February often pushes us indoors. We hunker down, move quickly from place to place, and treat the outside world as something to endure rather than enter. The Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat quietly resists that instinct. It asks us to remember that even now, even here in Canada, life is stirring beneath […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/a-prayer-for-connection-in-nature</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992f13219c84449931495</guid><category><![CDATA[Rabbi's Message]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 27 Jan 2026 10:25:34 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Many of us are carrying heaviness right now.]]></title><description><![CDATA[January gives us a little space to breathe after the intensity of the holidays. It is often a quieter month, a time when we check in with ourselves and with one another, and ask what we are carrying forward into the year ahead.
It is important to say this clearly and calmly: antisemitism is real, and it deserves to be named. At the same time, it is not the whole story of Jewish life today.]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/many-of-us-are-carrying-heaviness-right-now</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992f13219c8444993149c</guid><category><![CDATA[Rabbi's Message]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 10:41:15 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What does it mean to not just see light, but to feel awe?]]></title><description><![CDATA[This question has been with me as we turn our attention to Chanukah. The Hebrew word for awe, yirah, describes an elevated awareness that something larger and more meaningful is present. It is what we feel when the extraordinary appears in the midst of everyday life. Mussar teacher Alan Morinis writes, “Awe arises when we […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/what-does-it-mean-to-not-just-see-light-but-to-feel-awe</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992f13219c84449931498</guid><category><![CDATA[Rabbi's Message]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 25 Nov 2025 09:54:57 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Havurot 5786]]></title><description><![CDATA[Havurot are community-led small groups for getting to know other members and connecting around shared interests. The DJC has had some wonderful and active groups over the years and welcome new ideas! Would you like to start a Havura of your own? From book clubs, knitting circles, LGBTQTS community-building and Hebrew lessons to Yiddish conversation, […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/havurot-5786</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992f13219c8444993149d</guid><category><![CDATA[DJC Blog]]></category><category><![CDATA[Israel Palestine]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2025 09:50:03 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Together, We Begin Again.]]></title><description><![CDATA[Together, We Begin Again. It feels fitting that, just as we emerge from the High Holy Days we shared here at the Danforth Jewish Circle, the Torah itself begins again, reminding us that creation and re-creation are at the heart of Jewish life. These weeks have taken us from Bereishit’s formless beginnings to the floodwaters […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/together-we-begin-again</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992f13219c84449931497</guid><category><![CDATA[Rabbi's Message]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 11:47:57 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Special Notice re: Out of the Cold]]></title><description><![CDATA[Once again this year, the DJC has been asked to join our partners in the Danforth Multifaith Commons in supporting the weekly Out of the Cold program, which provides people in need with shelter, food and warm clothing on Friday nights and Saturday mornings, November through March. The DJC is currently looking for volunteers: 1) Bakers to make […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/special-notice-re-out-of-the-cold</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992f13219c84449931499</guid><category><![CDATA[DJC Blog]]></category><category><![CDATA[Special Notices]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 01 Oct 2025 11:30:05 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Rosh Hashanah Sermon 5786]]></title><description><![CDATA[What Keeps Me Up at Night*  *(it’s Anxiety) Rosh Hashanah is supposed to be sweet. Birthday of the world. Apples and honey. Joy and light.  And yet — if I’m honest — I am anxious. Not the “I had too much coffee” kind. The kind that shows up at 2:00 a.m. when the house is […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/rosh-hashanah-sermon-5786</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992f13219c8444993149b</guid><category><![CDATA[Rabbi's Message]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2025 09:03:37 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[From Your DJC Board: September 2025]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur will soon be upon us and, like so many of you, we continue to watch with despair the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We ask ourselves, what can we do that reflects our commitment to the DJC value of standing against injustice and to seek ways to repair the world (Tikkun Olam)?  How can we stand with and support the global Jewish community to end the violence, loss of life, starvation, and devastation? 
Our tradition teaches us that our lives are bound togethe...]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/from-your-djc-board-september-2025</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992fc3df4a8950cf5d9a9</guid><category><![CDATA[DJC Blog]]></category><category><![CDATA[DJC Public Statements]]></category><category><![CDATA[Israel Palestine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Message from the Board]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 07:33:13 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Spiritual Map for the High Holy Days]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rabbi Alan Lew begins his book This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared with a powerful statement: Every soul needs to express itself. Every heart needs to crack itself open. Every one of us needs to move from anger to healing, from denial to consciousness, from boredom to renewal. These needs did not arise […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/a-spiritual-map-for-the-high-holy-days</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992fc3df4a8950cf5d9a8</guid><category><![CDATA[Rabbi's Message]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2025 09:05:50 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Note from Your Board Co-Chairs – August 2025]]></title><description><![CDATA[As we enter into the month of Elul, we may find ourselves soaking up and embracing the last sweet weeks of summer. We may also find ourselves acknowledging how privileged we are to enjoy this experience while so many others continue to face the most excruciating circumstances.
At this moment we want to recognize Rabbi Glickman, who, on behalf of The Danforth Jewish Circle, has just signed onto the Open Letter from Canadian Jewish Leaders: Gaza Humanitarian Crisis led by New Israel Fund Canada...]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/a-note-from-your-board-co-chairs-august-2025</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992fc3df4a8950cf5d9a1</guid><category><![CDATA[DJC Blog]]></category><category><![CDATA[Israel Palestine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Message from the Board]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 08 Aug 2025 13:20:15 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Elul Arrives: A Season of Sunlight and Soul-Searching]]></title><description><![CDATA[The month of Elul arrives in a few weeks (August 25th), a time when many of us are soaking up long days, travelling, catching our breath, and delighting in the beauty of nature. It is a season of pause — of campfires and stargazing, of canoeing and kayaking, of long conversations, of afternoons that stretch […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/elul-arrives-a-season-of-sunlight-and-soul-searching</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992fc3df4a8950cf5d9a3</guid><category><![CDATA[Rabbi's Message]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 06 Aug 2025 11:04:33 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Tending the Soul This Summer]]></title><description><![CDATA[We’ve finally made it.The summer air is hot and humid—heat shimmers on sidewalks, air conditioners hum overtime, and (if we’re lucky) we take respite by a lake glistening under a star-filled sky. And yet, beneath the surface of this season, something quieter stirs. We may not feel it yet, but the Hebrew month of Elul—a […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/tending-the-soul-this-summer</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992fc3df4a8950cf5d9a0</guid><category><![CDATA[Rabbi's Message]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2025 08:11:57 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Membership for the DJC 2025/2026 Opens July 1st!]]></title><description><![CDATA[Dear Friend of the DJC, As we prepare to welcome 5786, we invite you to reflect with us on the heart of our community – and to renew your DJC membership on July 1st at djctoronto.com/membership. This past year has tested us all – emotionally, politically, spiritually. In a world increasingly divided, we’ve stayed true […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/membership-for-the-djc-2025-2026-opens-july-1st</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992fc3df4a8950cf5d9a6</guid><category><![CDATA[DJC Blog]]></category><category><![CDATA[Message from the Board]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 24 Jun 2025 09:48:46 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Celebrating Pride with Courage, Creativity, and Commitment]]></title><description><![CDATA[Pride Month at the Danforth Jewish Circle is a time of joyful celebration, collective creativity, and courageous solidarity. It is a time when we uplift the voices, stories, and resilience of LGBTQ+ people in our community and beyond—and it is also a time when we affirm, out loud and together, that we stand on the […]]]></description><link>https://www.djctoronto.com/post/celebrating-pride-with-courage-creativity-and-commitment</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b992fc3df4a8950cf5d9a4</guid><category><![CDATA[Rabbi's Message]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2025 15:18:50 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Danforth Jewish Circle</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>