Happy December, everyone! With the first night of Hanukkah landing right on Christmas Day, and running through New Year’s Eve, it’s sure to be an extra festive holiday season. The last time this occurred was in 2005!
First up, an event with a memorable title—From Dysfunctional Families to Dirty Knickers: A Herstory of Jewish Women’s Comics. Writer and graphic novelist Dr. Sarah Lightman will give a lecture discussing the careers of Jewish women comic artists. Dr. Lightman’s work sheds a spotlight on women cartoonists and illustrators whose works have often been overlooked. Join the conversation on Zoom simulcast, or register to receive the recordings. The cost to attend is $10.
This event doesn’t take place until March, so you have time to prepare and read Dr. Lightman’s graphic novels in advance. You can also stop by the Miles Nadal JCC gallery in March to view the visual art exhibit In Mint Condition: Jewish Women In Comics, in honour of International Women’s Day.
HANUKKAH
On Sunday, December 22, celebrate the festival of lights with a family-friendly event at the Prosserman JCC. At Chanukah House, you can look forward to arts and crafts, making your own gelt, photo opportunities, entertainment, a dreidel competition, candle lighting, sufganiyot decorating, and a full-on latke bar. What more could you want at a Hanukkah event? Purchase your tickets here, at $14.06 per person or $43.85 for a group of four.
This time of year is dark, dreary, and depressing, so illuminate your Hanukkah with light and laughter at Jewish Comedy Festival’s Menorah Madness. On the second night of Hanukkah (December 26), make your way to Comedy Bar West for an evening of Jewish hilarity. This event will feature all of Toronto’s finest up-and-coming Jewish comedians, including Brandon Zakkai, Matt Render, Brooklyn Mike, Jaime Glassman, Ronen Geisler, Mozie Elmaleh, and Max Guttmann. Purchase your tickets now while the early bird sale is still on.
SYNAGOGUE SCOUTS
If you’re on the hunt for a hall of worship that feels right for you and your family, register for Synagogue Scouts. From now until the end of March, the Jewish& group at the MNJCC will be scouting out synagogues throughout Toronto and bringing you behind the scenes. Find out what each congregation can offer and how they are welcoming diverse and interfaith people into their spaces. Check out this handy schedule below, and attend whichever meetups are of interest to you! Register for the sessions here.
MUSIC
This holiday season, join cantorial student Shira Bodnar as they lead a Hanukkah song workshop with Jewish& on Sunday December 22. Music is an integral part of many aspects of Jewish life, and these songs will be well known to some, and brand new to others. Whatever your familiarity level is with Hanukkah music, this is the perfect opportunity to discover more about each piece. The cost to join is $10. Sign up here.
Care to pick up that musical instrument that you put down all those years ago? The Miles Nadal is hosting multiple musical ensembles that you can participate in.
On Wednesday evenings from January to March, if you play violin, viola or cello, you can reconnect with your musical skills and fellow musicians by signing up for the Adult String Ensemble. This group has performance opportunities and you must be able to play at minimum a Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 3 level. I myself joined a local orchestra after not playing my violin for many years, and I’ve found it really rewarding.
If that’s not up your alley, perhaps a Klezmer Ensemble? With this group, you can develop both your musical playing expertise and arranging skills, all while learning more about Klezmer musical traditions. Individuals are welcome to join regardless of musical background. These meetings also run on Tuesdays from January to March.
If you are new to either ensemble, make sure to contact Gretchen at GretchenA@mnjcc.org before registering. The cost to join for the semester is $190 per group.
FILM
Cinephiles, assemble! Popular Toronto film critic Adam Nayman is about to make your Monday afternoons more exciting with his series on Jewish directors. The course will explore the works of Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Barbra Streisand, Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker, and Todd Haynes. The program costs $60 and runs weekly from Monday, January 13 to February 10. Drop-ins are also welcome ($16 per class). Over the course of these lectures, Nayman will discuss Jewish-American filmmakers whose work defined much of recent cinema, using film and archival materials, and biographical texts. Learn about five key filmmakers and dive into the social and artistic aspects of their work, and how their Judaism was expressed within their films. This series is presented in partnership with the Toronto Film Society.
Attendees are welcome to join in-person, on Zoom simulcast, or can register to receive the recordings.
Perhaps lectures about film aren’t as good as watching the real thing—in that case, check out the film The Conspiracy, screening on Thursday January 23 at the Al Green Theatre. In this documentary, writer and director Maxim Pozdorovkin investigates 250 years of anti-Jewish hate, how it started, and how times of uncertainty give rise to anxieties in marginalized populations. This film screening is being held in honour of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
If you are unable to attend this screening in person, you can register to receive the streaming link. The cost is $10.
PODCASTS
I’m a big audio person—almost half of the books I read are in audiobook format, and I subscribe to about a dozen podcasts. Recently, some of the podcasters I listen to have stopped producing new episodes, so I’ve been seeking out new content. I’ve found two Jewish podcasts that I enjoy, The Dybbukast and Jewish Heretics.
The Dybbukast was created by theatre dybbuk, an unconventional theatre company whose projects blend various artistic mediums. The company explores the rich world of Jewish history, and the resulting works feature performance, dance, poetry, and music. Each one of theatre dybbuk’s residencies bring arts and educational engagement to communities throughout North America, and they recently held one in Toronto, in partnership with Kultura and the Prosserman JCC (Niv was a promotional partner!).
Theatre dybbuk started their podcast in 2020, and the episodes dive into the question of what artistic texts can divulge about the times in which they were written, and what they reveal about contemporary society. The Dybbukast includes performed readings, as well as interviews with artists and scholars. You can listen to episodes on their website, YouTube, or any podcast app.
My second recommendation is the Jewish Heretics podcast, created by the Winchevsky Centre, or United Jewish People’s Order (UJPO), a Toronto-based secular Jewish centre that has a focus on social justice. A new episode comes out every month or two, so it’s a low commitment subscription, and there are interviews with fascinating people, including scholars, artists, and activists. You can listen to their podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or on YouTube.
If I haven’t offered you enough suggestions to fill your free time this winter, here’s a handy spreadsheet of all of the upcoming Hanukkah events hosted by local synagogues and Jewish centres. The list includes Hanukkah parties, potlucks, song workshops, and more.
For the readers out there, holiday romance novels have become more and more popular, and we’re finally seeing some Hanukkah-themed additions to the genre. I can’t vouch for these personally as I haven’t read them, but if The Matzah Ball sounds like your cup of tea, here is a whole list of books that are similar!
Have a happy Hanukkah, holiday season, and happy New Year!
Happy December, everyone! With the first night of Hanukkah landing right on Christmas Day, and running through New Year’s Eve, it’s sure to be an extra festive holiday season. The last time this occurred was in 2005!
First up, an event with a memorable title—From Dysfunctional Families to Dirty Knickers: A Herstory of Jewish Women’s Comics. Writer and graphic novelist Dr. Sarah Lightman will give a lecture discussing the careers of Jewish women comic artists. Dr. Lightman’s work sheds a spotlight on women cartoonists and illustrators whose works have often been overlooked. Join the conversation on Zoom simulcast, or register to receive the recordings. The cost to attend is $10.
This event doesn’t take place until March, so you have time to prepare and read Dr. Lightman’s graphic novels in advance. You can also stop by the Miles Nadal JCC gallery in March to view the visual art exhibit In Mint Condition: Jewish Women In Comics, in honour of International Women’s Day.
HANUKKAH
On Sunday, December 22, celebrate the festival of lights with a family-friendly event at the Prosserman JCC. At Chanukah House, you can look forward to arts and crafts, making your own gelt, photo opportunities, entertainment, a dreidel competition, candle lighting, sufganiyot decorating, and a full-on latke bar. What more could you want at a Hanukkah event? Purchase your tickets here, at $14.06 per person or $43.85 for a group of four.
This time of year is dark, dreary, and depressing, so illuminate your Hanukkah with light and laughter at Jewish Comedy Festival’s Menorah Madness. On the second night of Hanukkah (December 26), make your way to Comedy Bar West for an evening of Jewish hilarity. This event will feature all of Toronto’s finest up-and-coming Jewish comedians, including Brandon Zakkai, Matt Render, Brooklyn Mike, Jaime Glassman, Ronen Geisler, Mozie Elmaleh, and Max Guttmann. Purchase your tickets now while the early bird sale is still on.
SYNAGOGUE SCOUTS
If you’re on the hunt for a hall of worship that feels right for you and your family, register for Synagogue Scouts. From now until the end of March, the Jewish& group at the MNJCC will be scouting out synagogues throughout Toronto and bringing you behind the scenes. Find out what each congregation can offer and how they are welcoming diverse and interfaith people into their spaces. Check out this handy schedule below, and attend whichever meetups are of interest to you! Register for the sessions here.
MUSIC
This holiday season, join cantorial student Shira Bodnar as they lead a Hanukkah song workshop with Jewish& on Sunday December 22. Music is an integral part of many aspects of Jewish life, and these songs will be well known to some, and brand new to others. Whatever your familiarity level is with Hanukkah music, this is the perfect opportunity to discover more about each piece. The cost to join is $10. Sign up here.
Care to pick up that musical instrument that you put down all those years ago? The Miles Nadal is hosting multiple musical ensembles that you can participate in.
On Wednesday evenings from January to March, if you play violin, viola or cello, you can reconnect with your musical skills and fellow musicians by signing up for the Adult String Ensemble. This group has performance opportunities and you must be able to play at minimum a Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 3 level. I myself joined a local orchestra after not playing my violin for many years, and I’ve found it really rewarding.
If that’s not up your alley, perhaps a Klezmer Ensemble? With this group, you can develop both your musical playing expertise and arranging skills, all while learning more about Klezmer musical traditions. Individuals are welcome to join regardless of musical background. These meetings also run on Tuesdays from January to March.
If you are new to either ensemble, make sure to contact Gretchen at GretchenA@mnjcc.org before registering. The cost to join for the semester is $190 per group.
FILM
Cinephiles, assemble! Popular Toronto film critic Adam Nayman is about to make your Monday afternoons more exciting with his series on Jewish directors. The course will explore the works of Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Barbra Streisand, Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker, and Todd Haynes. The program costs $60 and runs weekly from Monday, January 13 to February 10. Drop-ins are also welcome ($16 per class). Over the course of these lectures, Nayman will discuss Jewish-American filmmakers whose work defined much of recent cinema, using film and archival materials, and biographical texts. Learn about five key filmmakers and dive into the social and artistic aspects of their work, and how their Judaism was expressed within their films. This series is presented in partnership with the Toronto Film Society.
Attendees are welcome to join in-person, on Zoom simulcast, or can register to receive the recordings.
Perhaps lectures about film aren’t as good as watching the real thing—in that case, check out the film The Conspiracy, screening on Thursday January 23 at the Al Green Theatre. In this documentary, writer and director Maxim Pozdorovkin investigates 250 years of anti-Jewish hate, how it started, and how times of uncertainty give rise to anxieties in marginalized populations. This film screening is being held in honour of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
If you are unable to attend this screening in person, you can register to receive the streaming link. The cost is $10.
PODCASTS
I’m a big audio person—almost half of the books I read are in audiobook format, and I subscribe to about a dozen podcasts. Recently, some of the podcasters I listen to have stopped producing new episodes, so I’ve been seeking out new content. I’ve found two Jewish podcasts that I enjoy, The Dybbukast and Jewish Heretics.
The Dybbukast was created by theatre dybbuk, an unconventional theatre company whose projects blend various artistic mediums. The company explores the rich world of Jewish history, and the resulting works feature performance, dance, poetry, and music. Each one of theatre dybbuk’s residencies bring arts and educational engagement to communities throughout North America, and they recently held one in Toronto, in partnership with Kultura and the Prosserman JCC (Niv was a promotional partner!).
Theatre dybbuk started their podcast in 2020, and the episodes dive into the question of what artistic texts can divulge about the times in which they were written, and what they reveal about contemporary society. The Dybbukast includes performed readings, as well as interviews with artists and scholars. You can listen to episodes on their website, YouTube, or any podcast app.
My second recommendation is the Jewish Heretics podcast, created by the Winchevsky Centre, or United Jewish People’s Order (UJPO), a Toronto-based secular Jewish centre that has a focus on social justice. A new episode comes out every month or two, so it’s a low commitment subscription, and there are interviews with fascinating people, including scholars, artists, and activists. You can listen to their podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or on YouTube.
If I haven’t offered you enough suggestions to fill your free time this winter, here’s a handy spreadsheet of all of the upcoming Hanukkah events hosted by local synagogues and Jewish centres. The list includes Hanukkah parties, potlucks, song workshops, and more.
For the readers out there, holiday romance novels have become more and more popular, and we’re finally seeing some Hanukkah-themed additions to the genre. I can’t vouch for these personally as I haven’t read them, but if The Matzah Ball sounds like your cup of tea, here is a whole list of books that are similar!
Have a happy Hanukkah, holiday season, and happy New Year!