A Note from Your Board Co-Chairs – August 2025

Dear DJC Community,

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 and JSpace Canada. We are grateful to have a spiritual leader at our helm who demonstrates her care and commitment to social justice at this critical juncture. As stated by Maytal Kowalski, the Executive Director of JSpace,

“All of our organizations may not always agree on everything, but we have come together because our Jewish and Zionist values compel us to speak out – to not let pain and trauma close our hearts to the pursuit of justice, peace, and tikkun olam – repairing the world.”

This letter follows a series of recent actions by Canadian Jewish leaders, including a petition to Members of Parliament organized by JSpaceCanada and a statement from ARZA Canada, the Zionist voice of the Canadian reform movement, calling for immediate humanitarian intervention in Gaza.

We stand with the New Israel Fund of Canada and JSpace Canada, and other Canadian Jewish leaders, in the call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of the hostages, an end to shootings and violence at food distribution centres, the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and medical care for Gazan civilians, the rebuilding of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, and a stable alternative government to Hamas.

Read more about the open letter on New Israel Fund Canada’s website.

In closing, we refer back to Rabbi Glickman’s words of care, compassion and wisdom:

“The month of Elul is not a time of easy answers. It is a time for honest questions, for compassionate self-examination, for listening closely—perhaps more closely than we have all year.”

We welcome our community’s ongoing commitment to engaging in this process together.

Saara Greene, Juliet Palmer & Eli Fellman Co-Chairs, DJC Board