November: Upcoming programs and events in Jewish Edmonton

by AJNews staff

(AJNews) – It is going to be a busy month of activities in the Edmonton Jewish Community.

From November 1 – 30 the beautiful Shine a Light on Antisemitism mosaic created by the Edmonton Jewish community, will be on display at the Alberta Legislature Rotunda. In December the mosaic will be displayed at the Beth Israel synagogue and at Edmonton City Hall in January 2023. Jewish Federation of Edmonton is developing further resources to educate and inform the public about the issue that will accompany the mosaic as it begins its tour of the city.

Everyone in Alberta is welcome to virtually attend the Calgary Beth Tzedec Congregation Jewish Film Festival from November 5 – 23. Click here to view the full schedule and purchase passes or individual tickets at CalgaryJewishFilmFestival.com.

On Sunday, November 6, renowned cookbook author Bonnie Stern and her daughter Anna Rupert will be demonstrating recipes from their new cookbook “Don’t worry, just cook.” The in person event is full but viewers can still take part via zoom from 2 – 4:30 pm. The event is sponsored by the Morris and Rosalind Goodman Family Foundation, the Edmonton Jewish Community Charitable Foundation and Jewish Federation of Edmonton. Click here to register for the zoom event.

On November 9, Federation and the JFED Holocaust Education Committee is holding a Kristallnacht Memorial Service featuring Melanie Carina Schmoll, PhD. Research Fellow at Bar Ilan University. The event will be held at the Edmonton Public Library Downtown Branch from 7 – 8 pm. Bussing is available from Beth Israel Synagogue with advance registration. Sign up for bussing here.

Then, at 7 pm, the Calgary Beth Tzedec Congregation Jewish Film Festival and Calgary Jewish Federation will screen “Reckonings,” an outstanding documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Roberta Grossman that takes viewers back to the secret and tense negotiations between Jewish and German leaders that led to reparations for the suffering and destruction of European Jewry.

Viewers across Alberta should go to www.jewishcalgary.org for the link to the Kristallnacht ceremony. To access your free ticket to the virtual screening of Reckonings, go to www.CalgaryJewishFilmFestival.com.

On Monday November 10, Holocaust educator, author and Jewish pride activist Ben M. Freeman will speak in-person at the Calgary Public Library at 7:00 pm. The theme of his presentation is “The enemy within: The impact of internalized racism.” Edmonton viewers (and Calgary viewers who are unable to attend in-person) can attend the event virtually.

The program—part of an ongoing series—is organized by Calgary Jewish Federation in conjunction with CPL and sponsored by the Isadore and Florence Burstyn Memorial Fund for Human Rights and Holocaust Education, the KSW Calgary Holocaust Education and Commemoration Endowment Fund, Viewpoint Foundation, Human Rights and Holocaust Education Fund at the Calgary Public Library Foundation and Beth Tzedec Congregation, Jewish Federation of Edmonton and Edmonton Public Library. Pre-registration is required. This is an online event for members of the Edmonton community co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Edmonton  and the Edmonton Public Library – register here. 

On November 11, at 10:30 am, Federation and the JFED Holocaust Education Committee will be commemorating Remembrance Day at the Edmonton Jewish Cemetery, outside at the cenotaph, located at 7622 – 101 Avenue.

On November 13, the Edmonton Jewish Community will be participating in the Annual Bissell Centre Lunch program and volunteers are welcome. Coordinated by Beth Israel Congregation and with broad support from many organizations within the Jewish Community of Edmonton, they are looking forward to providing 200+ packaged lunches for inner-city individuals and families who face poverty and tremendous challenges.

Ways to donate:  Sign up here for volunteer and donation opportunities or to donate cash, visit www.familyshul.org and select “Bissell Centre Lunch.” Tax Receipts will be issued for all donations. For information contact Beth Israel for further inquiries at 780 488 2840 or by email tot sylvia@familyshul.org.

On November 20 from 1 – 3 pm, an Art Therapy Session will be taking place at the Edmonton Public Library as part of Saskatchewan Artist Carol Wylie’s portraiture series “They didn’t know we were seeds” which features powerful portraits of both Holocaust Survivors and Residential School Survivors.

The art therapy session (the third of three) is open to everyone but it is particularly welcoming people from Indigenous and Jewish communities who are survivors or intergenerational survivors of Residential Schools, Day Schools, the Sixties Scoop, the Millennial Scoop, and the Holocaust.

Participants will hear from Edmonton Public Library’s Elder in Residence Nohkom Jo-Ann Saddleback on the meaning of art and creativity from a Nehiyaw (Plains Cree) perspective and then work with Heather Frayne, a therapist from Jewish Family Services who specializes in expressive arts therapy. Participants will work with provided art supplies to create artworks about their inner and outer face and then share with the group (if they are comfortable).

Supplies and snacks will be provided.

This is part of a series of programming being held in partnership with EPL, The Jewish Federation of Edmonton, and Jewish Family Services as part of Carol Wylie’s They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds exhibit which will be on exhibit until November 25. This project is aimed at creating intercultural dialogue and spaces. These workshops are funded by the Edmonton Community Foundation.

Edmonton Beit Midrash presents Community Conversations About Antisemitism every Thursday at Temple Beth Ora starting November 3 to December 1. Topics include Jewish identity, Otherness and belonging, Relationship to the Jewish community and Understanding and Responding to racism and antisemitism. For information email meital@jfse.org.

Between November 21 and November 25, Calgary Jewish Federation will once again present a virtual Holocaust Education Symposium open to high school students and teachers throughout Alberta. As of September 28, 1,500 students had already been registered.

Offered at no charge, this year’s virtual symposium includes a brief presentation by a university professor, the documentary: Path to Nazi Genocide, and a presentation by survivor Bronia Cyngiser and her grandchildren. Students will be able to participate in a virtual question and answer period with Mrs. Cyngiser’s daughter, Francie Cyngiser, following the presentation.

The relatively recent addition of a fall symposium extends the reach of the 38-year-old annual Holocaust Education Symposium which is organized by the Holocaust and Human Rights: Remembrance and Education department of the Calgary Jewish Federation in cooperation with Mount Royal University, the Calgary Board of Education and the Calgary Catholic School District. For more information, go to https://www.jewishcalgary.org/federation-programs/holocaust-and-human-rights-remembrance-and-education.