DJC Blog

It is a worthwhile question, as we begin Yom Kippur, as we enter this 25-hour period engaged in the central activity of kaparah – atonement – to ask, does it actually makes a difference? Does it change us? I don’t want to talk myself out of a job, so you can probably guess that I […]

I want to share a cartoon on the screen that you may have seen. I’ll describe it as well. There is a person sitting at a table in front of a lemon squeezer. To their right, are mountains of lemons and a cannon firing lemons right at their head. To their left are jars and […]

So, imagine it – you’re sitting in your bathrobe, drinking your morning coffee and looking out your garden window. A cluster of people you’ve never seen before are sauntering in and out of your garden. As they fill bowls with figs and apples from your trees, they smile and wave at you. You feel the […]

I was going to give this sermon on Rosh Hashana day, when our theme was Dismantling and Building Anew, but between all the challenges with technology and timing, I didn’t share it then. I want to share it tonight. The last community-wide program we ran at the DJC before we went into Covid lockdown was […]

A cluster of 4 rabbis made their winding way to Jerusalem. When they reached Mount Scopus, they looked out across the valley and could see what was once the magnificent and holy Temple, the centre of Jewish life, now destroyed, and they tore their garments in grief. This scene takes place some time after 70 […]

The following sermon was given by Rabbi Miriam Margles on Yom Kippur, 5779. The first sin, the original human sin, from a Jewish perspective, is not Adam and Eve eating from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Yes, that rebellious bite was in opposition to God’s one restriction in the Garden of […]

The following sermon was given by Rabbi Miriam Margles on Rosh Hashanah Day, 5779. “Ha’dan chavero le’kaf zechut/הדן חבירו לכף זכות – Anyone who judges others favourably, danin oto le’zechut/דנין אותו לזכות – that person is themselves, judged favourably.” These are the words of the Talmud (Shabbat 127b). Le’kaf zechut is a phrase that implies […]

The following sermon was given by Rabbi Miriam Margles on Erev Rosh Hashanah, 5779. I want to think with you about judgement. Our theme this Rosh Hashana is Judging Wisely and on this Yom Ha’Din, this Day of Judgement, which sits at the centre of a whole season of reflection, self-evaluation and judgement, I want […]

Most of the prayers of Yom Kippur and the practices of teshuvah, of repentance and return, are opportunities to ask for forgiveness. We surface remorse for the ways we messed up. We become attuned to harmful behaviours we weren’t conscious of. We take responsibility for our wrongs and lay the groundwork for lasting change in […]

Yehudah Amichai, Israel’s great modern poet, wrote this… From the place where we are right flowers will never grow in the spring. The place where we are right is hard and trampled like a yard. But doubts and loves dig up the world like a mole, a plow And a whisper will be heard in […]

Two of the greatest Jewish scholars of the mid-first century, Shammai and Hillel, are approached by a proselyte. (A proselyte, by the way, is not a low calorie prosle. A proselyte is a potential convert to Judaism). So, the proselyte says to the great Shammai and Hillel, “Teach me the whole of Torah while standing […]

A group of yeshiva students are traveling through the countryside on a hot summer day. They spot a cool, fresh pond just on the other side of a fence and all decide to go in. They jump over the fence, run to the pond and jump in the water. After a little while of splashing […]

It’s my tradition to read these words of welcome on Erev Rosh Hashanah, inspired by my mentor and colleague, Rabbi Jonathan Kligler. Tonight, all over the world, all kinds of people are gathering to celebrate the Jewish New Year. Right here, all kinds of people are gathered to celebrate, to examine our lives, to grow, […]

A book came out this year by Mark Schatzker called The Dorito Effect. In it, he describes how the giants of the food industry and commercial agriculture have conspired to construct our hunger. They did not develop as a deliberate partnership but these two industries, working side-by-side, have radically changed the ways we crave, taste, […]

In the middle of the night, an Iowa corn farmer who’s down on his luck hears a voice: “If you build it, they will come.” He dismisses it as a dream. He thinks he’s losing his mind. But it keeps echoing in his ears. “If you build it, they will come.” As you know, in […]

Dedicated to my mentor and my rabbi, Sheila Weinberg (rabbi u’morati). A little over a year ago, here at the DJC, we celebrated our first individual bar mitzvah as part of a DJC Shabbat morning service. This might not sound all that remarkable. It might sound like what any other Jewish community does. But for […]

I don’t know how many of you have vivid memories from early childhood, but I want to ask you to search back to when you were around three years old. Do you remember the first time you lied to an adult? It was probably to your parents. You probably denied responsibility for something that you […]

I want to run a brief multiple choice survey with you all. Just note in your mind what you choose of the options presented. Ready? Do you choose white, rye, whole wheat, or challah? Next, of the best quality organic fair trade coffee, do you choose a single shot, a double shot, steamed milk, frothed […]

I want to ask you something – you’re not required to raise your hand but you’re invited to. Who here is 5 years old? 10? 13? 15? 18? In your 20s? In your 30s? In your 40s? 50s? 60s? 70s? 80s? 90s? 100 or up? Listen to the whole piece that I’m going to read, […]

As a child, I was fascinated by maps. I was particularly fascinated with the maps that included a brightly coloured arrow sticker that read ‘You Are Here’. Whether I was at Centre Island or the Eaton Center, these sprawling places were not only mapped out on a big 2-dimensional board, indicating where everything was, including […]