Congregation Shir Libeynu

Yom Kippur
2023-09-25 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Toronto)
Join us on September 25 as we mark Yom Kippur. It will be a Yom Kippur Morning service and Yizkor at 10:00 AM in the Trinity-St. Paul’s Main Sanctuary.
5784/2023 High Holy Days
While most synagogues charge members for High Holy Day tickets in addition to their membership, a benefit of membership with Congregation Shir Libeynu is attendance at High Holy Day services at no extra cost. In addition, this year we are also including professional child care for two of the services.
How to request High Holy Day & child care reservations
To request a reservation for High Holy Day services, you must first become a member of Congregation Shir Libeynu.
Congregation Shir Libeynu is an inclusive and welcoming community.
Our Pay What You Can membership contribution model, first introduced last year, will continue for the coming year and is intended to ensure that programming costs are fully supported, while providing a welcoming community for all who wish to join, regardless of means. Your membership contribution ensures that we are able to continue to offer high quality, low barrier, and inclusive programming throughout the year. Please visit our Membership Information Page to review this year’s Pay What You Can Membership Contribution Guideline and for a link to our membership enrolment form.
In order for us to plan the final details for our services, we must receive your membership and High Holy Day seat reservation forms no later than September 1, 2023. We cannot guarantee availability of seating for High Holy Day services after this date.
A High Holy Day reservation request form will be sent to you after we receive your membership form. The High Holy Day reservation form includes options for attendance in person or online for each service. It also includes registration for child care.
Depending upon the number of members who choose to attend services in person this year, we may be able to offer individual tickets for sale at a later date.
About this year’s High Holy Day services with Congregation Shir Libeynu
All services will be held at Trinity St. Paul’s United Church.

New! Masking will no longer be required, however we encourage those who wish to continue to wear a mask to do so. An online simulcast of all High Holy Day services will also be made available to members who cannot attend in person.
New! We will pray from our very own printed, bound, beautiful Shir Libeynu Machzor for the Days of Awe!
New! You will have the opportunity to donate one or more copies of our new machzor Shir Libeynu Machzor for the Days of Awe back to the congregation. It can be a family donation, or individual. It can be a donation in honour of someone, or in honour of a special occasion, or just because! More information to follow.
New! Yom Kippur services this year will be in the beautiful sanctuary at Trinity St. Paul’s.
New! For families with children under the age of 7, we have arranged for Network Childcare Services to provide care during the service on the first morning of Rosh HaShanah and during the morning service of Yom Kippur.
New! We will also be offering an in-person family service on Rosh HaShanah afternoon for families with children 12 and under. Parents, Grandparents, and all family members are welcome to join.

High Holy Day services-at-a-glance
All Congregation Shir Libeynu High Holy Day services are held at Trinity St. Paul’s United Church*

Erev Rosh HaShanah, Friday, September 15, 7:30 PM, Chapel
Rosh HaShanah Day 1, Saturday, September 16, 10:00 AM, Gym
Rosh HaShanah Day 1, Family service, 3:00 PM, Chapel (in person only)
Rosh HaShanah Day 2, Healing service, Sunday, September 17, 10:00 AM, Gym
Tashlich, Sunday, September 17, 3:00 PM, *Catfish Pond, (in person only)
Kol Nidre, Sunday, September 24, 7:30 PM, Main Sanctuary
Yom Kippur Morning service and Yizkor, Monday, September 25, 10:00 AM, Main Sanctuary
Yom Kippur Workshops – TBD
Neilah, Monday, September 25, 6:45pm, Main Sanctuary

Neilah service
2023-09-25 18:45 - 20:00
Join us for our Neilah service on Monday, September 25, 6:45pm in the Trinity-St. Paul’s Main Sanctuary.
5784/2023 High Holy Days
While most synagogues charge members for High Holy Day tickets in addition to their membership, a benefit of membership with Congregation Shir Libeynu is attendance at High Holy Day services at no extra cost. In addition, this year we are also including professional child care for two of the services.
How to request High Holy Day & child care reservations
To request a reservation for High Holy Day services, you must first become a member of Congregation Shir Libeynu.
Congregation Shir Libeynu is an inclusive and welcoming community.
Our Pay What You Can membership contribution model, first introduced last year, will continue for the coming year and is intended to ensure that programming costs are fully supported, while providing a welcoming community for all who wish to join, regardless of means. Your membership contribution ensures that we are able to continue to offer high quality, low barrier, and inclusive programming throughout the year. Please visit our Membership Information Page to review this year’s Pay What You Can Membership Contribution Guideline and for a link to our membership enrolment form.
In order for us to plan the final details for our services, we must receive your membership and High Holy Day seat reservation forms no later than September 1, 2023. We cannot guarantee availability of seating for High Holy Day services after this date.
A High Holy Day reservation request form will be sent to you after we receive your membership form. The High Holy Day reservation form includes options for attendance in person or online for each service. It also includes registration for child care.
Depending upon the number of members who choose to attend services in person this year, we may be able to offer individual tickets for sale at a later date.
About this year’s High Holy Day services with Congregation Shir Libeynu
All services will be held at Trinity St. Paul’s United Church.

New! Masking will no longer be required, however we encourage those who wish to continue to wear a mask to do so. An online simulcast of all High Holy Day services will also be made available to members who cannot attend in person.
New! We will pray from our very own printed, bound, beautiful Shir Libeynu Machzor for the Days of Awe!
New! You will have the opportunity to donate one or more copies of our new machzor Shir Libeynu Machzor for the Days of Awe back to the congregation. It can be a family donation, or individual. It can be a donation in honour of someone, or in honour of a special occasion, or just because! More information to follow.
New! Yom Kippur services this year will be in the beautiful sanctuary at Trinity St. Paul’s.
New! For families with children under the age of 7, we have arranged for Network Childcare Services to provide care during the service on the first morning of Rosh HaShanah and during the morning service of Yom Kippur.
New! We will also be offering an in-person family service on Rosh HaShanah afternoon for families with children 12 and under. Parents, Grandparents, and all family members are welcome to join.

High Holy Day services-at-a-glance
All Congregation Shir Libeynu High Holy Day services are held at Trinity St. Paul’s United Church*

Erev Rosh HaShanah, Friday, September 15, 7:30 PM, Chapel
Rosh HaShanah Day 1, Saturday, September 16, 10:00 AM, Gym
Rosh HaShanah Day 1, Family service, 3:00 PM, Chapel (in person only)
Rosh HaShanah Day 2, Healing service, Sunday, September 17, 10:00 AM, Gym
Tashlich, Sunday, September 17, 3:00 PM, *Catfish Pond, (in person only)
Kol Nidre, Sunday, September 24, 7:30 PM, Main Sanctuary
Yom Kippur Morning service and Yizkor, Monday, September 25, 10:00 AM, Main Sanctuary
Yom Kippur Workshops – TBD
Neilah, Monday, September 25, 6:45pm, Main Sanctuary

Shabbat service
2023-10-07 10:30 - 11:30
Join Cantor Wunch for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, October 7 at 10:30am. The service will be held in-person at the Miles Nadal JCC. You may also join us via Zoom.

Lunch and Learn
2023-10-17 12:00 - 13:00
Everyone is invited to Lunch and Learn with Cantor Wunch to discuss Torah from 12-1pm on Zoom! Lunch and Learns are generally held on the third Tuesday of each month:
Upcoming 2023 dates
Oct 17
Nov 21
Dec 12 (second Tuesday of the month)
Upcoming 2024 dates
Jan 16
Feb 20
March 19
April 16
May 21
June 18

Shabbat service
2023-11-04 10:30 - 11:30
Join Cantor Wunch for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, November 4 at 10:30am. The service will be held in-person at the Miles Nadal JCC. You may also join us via Zoom. This will be a special volunteer recognition service!

November Speaker Series
2023-11-19 10:30 - 12:30
Congregation Shir Libeynu’s Speaker Series returns! On Sunday, November 19 at 10:30am, we present HIVE /.כוורת דבורים representative Brian Kurth who will talk about the organization’s mission: To save the lives of LGBTQ Afghans fleeing the Taliban.
HIVE /.כוורת דבורים main objectives are to:

Enable safe passage from Afghanistan to Pakistan for LGBTQ individuals including attaining and paying for Afghan passports for those without;
Attain and pay for Pakistani visas and extensions;
Provide funds on a monthly basis to cover food, safe shelter, medicine, and mobile Internet expenses. English as a second language will be added in the future; and
Apply for legal immigration to Canada* via governmental or private sponsorship by working with a number of nonprofits whose mission is to aid refugees and/or are sponsorship agreement holders (SAHs).

Co-founder Elizabeth Caplan further explains HIVE’s mission:
“As a lesbian daughter of a Holocaust survivor and one of the earliest Jewish Family Service adoptive placements, I feel compelled to help these LGBTQ brothers and sisters of mine. My parents instilled in me the notion that I must not only realize my own generational dreams but that I am also commanded to protect and uphold other refugees whose very survival rests upon the aid of others. My parents’ dreams were not only to make my brother’s and my lives better than their own but for us to make the lives of others easier.”
HIVE / כוורת דבורים is the creation of siblings Elizabeth and Adam Caplan in memory and recognition of their Holocaust survivor mother, Doris; and father, Stanley Caplan.
*Canada prioritizes LGBTQ Afghan refugees since they are individuals at high risk of deportation where the death penalty is often applied to anyone who is a known member of the LGBTQ community.
Join us on Sunday, November 19 at 10:30am to learn more about this impressive organization and the work it is doing.
Registration required. The Zoom link will be sent only to those who have registered for this event. Register here.

Lunch and Learn
2023-11-21 12:00 - 13:00
Everyone is invited to Lunch and Learn with Cantor Wunch to discuss Torah from 12-1pm on Zoom! Lunch and Learns are generally held on the third Tuesday of each month:
Upcoming 2023 dates
Nov 21
Dec 12 (second Tuesday of the month)
Upcoming 2024 dates
Jan 16
Feb 20
March 19
April 16
May 21
June 18

Congregational Meeting / AGM
2023-11-26 19:00 - 21:30
We will have a Congregational Meeting / AGM where we will discuss the rest of our proposed bylaw changes. This meeting will be held online and in-person in the evening on November 26 at 7pm at the JCC. Details to follow.

Shabbat service
2023-12-02 10:30 - 11:30
Join Cantor Wunch for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, December 2 at 10:30am. The service will be held in-person at the Miles Nadal JCC. You may also join us via Zoom.

Lunch and Learn
2023-12-12 12:00 - 13:00
Everyone is invited to Lunch and Learn with Cantor Wunch to discuss Torah from 12-1pm on Zoom! Lunch and Learns are generally held on the third Tuesday of each month:
Upcoming 2023 dates
Dec 12 (second Tuesday of the month)
Upcoming 2024 dates
Jan 16
Feb 20
March 19
April 16
May 21
June 18

Chanukah Celebration
2023-12-14 18:30 - 20:30
Our Chanukah Celebration will be held in-person at Trinity St Paul’s on December 14 from 6:30-8:30pm. Details to follow.

Shabbat service
2024-01-06 10:30 - 11:30
Join Cantor Wunch for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, Jan 6 at 10:30am. The service will be held in-person at the Miles Nadal JCC. You may also join us via Zoom.

Lunch and Learn
2024-01-16 12:00 - 13:00
Everyone is invited to Lunch and Learn with Cantor Wunch to discuss Torah from 12-1pm on Zoom! Lunch and Learns are generally held on the third Tuesday of each month:
Upcoming 2024 dates
Jan 16
Feb 20
March 19
April 16
May 21
June 18

Shabbat service
2024-02-03 10:30 - 11:30
Join Cantor Wunch for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, February 3 at 10:30am. The service will be held in-person at the Miles Nadal JCC. You may also join us via Zoom. This will be a special service recognizing and welcoming new members!

The Conflict
2024-02-11 19:00 - 20:30
In recognition that we all come at the Israel/Palestine struggle with different understandings, the Congregation Shir Libeynu Board is pleased to present a four-part learning experience, The Conflict. We invite you to share this invitation with your contacts.
Taught by Dr. Dan Aviv who has been engaged in Jewish learning as an educator, professor, published scholar and author for thirty years, this four-part series will provide context for the ongoing struggle between Israel and Palestine. Dr. Aviv has developed and taught curricula on classical and modern Jewish texts, philosophy, history of the diaspora, and Israel and Zionism as well as Jewish food culture.
Over the course of four 90-minute sessions, we will look at government documents, poetry, song, selections from fiction, manifestos, speeches, UN resolutions, and key historical events in an attempt to provide a frame in which to understand what’s going on right now.
As the founding principal of ADRABA (adraba.ca), an online Jewish high school, Dr. Aviv currently teaches high school credit courses to Jewish teens in six communities across Ontario. The Board is thrilled that he has agreed to provide this program to our congregants and the broader community.
These sessions will be offered over ZOOM on Sunday February 11th, 18th, 25th and March 3rd, at 7:00pm.
Registration Details
We require a minimum of 7 people to register in order to run this course. The deadline for registration is Wednesday, February 7th.
We are offering registration to community members for $25. If you would like to attend but cannot afford this rate, please contact our administrator, Amanda.
To reserve your space, click this link today.

The Conflict - Week 2
2024-02-18 19:00 - 20:30

Lunch and Learn
2024-02-20 12:00 - 13:00
Everyone is invited to Lunch and Learn with Cantor Wunch to discuss Torah from 12-1pm on Zoom! Lunch and Learns are generally held on the third Tuesday of each month:
Upcoming 2024 dates
Feb 20
March 19
April 16
May 21
June 11

The Conflict - Week 3
2024-02-25 19:00 - 20:30

Shabbat service
2024-03-02 10:30 - 12:00
Join Cantor Wunch for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, February 3 at 10:30am. The service will be held in-person at the Miles Nadal JCC. You may also join us via Zoom.

The Conflict - Week 4
2024-03-03 19:00 - 20:30

Lunch and Learn
2024-03-19 12:00 - 13:00
Everyone is invited to Lunch and Learn with Cantor Wunch to discuss Torah from 12-1pm on Zoom! Lunch and Learns are generally held on the third Tuesday of each month:
Upcoming 2024 dates
March 19
April 16
May 21
June 11

Purim
2024-03-23 19:00 - 21:00
We will mark Purim at the JCC on March 23 at 7pm. Details to follow.

Shabbat service
2024-04-06 10:30 - 12:00
Join Cantor Wunch for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, April 6 at 10:30am. The service will be held in-person at the Miles Nadal JCC. You may also join us via Zoom.

Lunch and Learn
2024-04-16 12:00 - 13:00
Everyone is invited to Lunch and Learn with Cantor Wunch to discuss Torah from 12-1pm on Zoom! Lunch and Learns are generally held on the third Tuesday of each month:
Upcoming 2024 dates
April 16
May 21
June 11

Shabbat service
2024-05-04 10:30 - 12:00
Join Cantor Wunch for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, May 4 at 10:30am. The service will be held in-person at the Miles Nadal JCC. You may also join us on Zoom as well.

Lunch and Learn
2024-05-21 12:00 - 13:00
Everyone is invited to Lunch and Learn with Cantor Wunch to discuss Torah from 12-1pm on Zoom! Lunch and Learns are generally held on the third Tuesday of each month:
Upcoming 2024 dates
May 21
June 11

Pride Havdalah
2024-06-01 19:30 - 21:00
Join us for a special Pride Havdalah service from 7:30-9pm on June 1 at the JCC or online. Details in the newsletter. Happy Pride!

Lunch and Learn
2024-06-11 12:00 - 13:00
Everyone is invited to Lunch and Learn with Cantor Wunch to discuss Torah from 12-1pm on Zoom! Lunch and Learns are generally held on the third Tuesday of each month. This month it is on June 11.
We will take a break in the summer and resume in the fall.

Shabbat Service
2024-07-06 10:30 - 12:00
Join Cantor Wunch for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, July 6 at 10:30am. The service will be held in-person at the Miles Nadal JCC. You may also join us on Zoom as well.
Special Guest: MPP Jessica Bell, Critic, Ministry of Housing
University-Rosedale MPP Jessica Bell, Critic, Ministry of Housing is our special guest this month. She will be holding an informal Q+A after the service for everyone attending in person. Please join us to hear from this Member of the Official Opposition, and for the opportunity to ask questions.
Masking is not required, however we encourage those members who would like to continue to wear a mask to do so. If you feel at all unwell, please join us via Zoom.

Shabbat Service - lay-led
2024-08-10 10:30 - 12:00
Join Congreation Shir Libeynu for our monthly Shabbat service on Saturday, August 10th (note the date change) at 10:30am. This service will be led by members of the congregation, and will be held in-person only at the Miles Nadal JCC.
