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Oraynu Congregation For Humanistic Judaism
Oraynu Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, founded in 1969, is Canada's first Humanistic Jewish congregation. It is based in Toronto, Ontario and is affiliated with the Society for Humanistic Judaism. Oraynu Congregation is a Canadian voice of Jews who are secularists, humanists, agnostics or atheists, and who express their Jewish identity culturally rather than through prayer. Recent surveys have shown that an increasing number of North American Jews live ever more secular lives and are less likely to believe that God exists. Humanistic Judaism makes sense to thousands of Jews worldwide with organizations now in Israel, the United States, Mexico, Australia, South America, Europe, and in countries of the former Soviet Union. Humanistic Judaism was founded in 1963 by Rabbi Sherwin Wine, who first articulated an approach to Judaism based on the humanistic values inherent in Judaism and Jewish writings over the millennia. Congregations are liberal and egalitarian, welcoming intermar ...
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Humanistic Judaism
Humanistic Judaism ( ''Yahadut Humanistit'') is a Jewish movement that offers a nontheistic alternative to contemporary branches of Judaism. It defines Judaism as the cultural and historical experience of the Jewish people rather than a religion, and encourages Jews who are humanistic and secular to celebrate their identity by participating in relevant holidays and rites of passage (such as weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs) with inspirational ceremonies that go beyond traditional literature while still drawing upon it. Origins In its current form, Humanistic Judaism was founded in either 1963 or 1965 (sources differ) by American rabbi Sherwin Wine. As a rabbi trained in Reform Judaism with a small, secular, non-theistic congregation, he developed a Jewish liturgy that reflected his and his congregation's philosophical viewpoints by combining Jewish culture, history, and identity with humanistic outlooks while excluding all prayers and references to a god of any kind. This co ...
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Rosh Hashanah
Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , "Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summer/early autumn of the Northern Hemisphere. Rosh Hashanah begins a ten-day period of penitence culminating in Yom Kippur, as well as beginning the cycle of autumnal religious festivals running through Sukkot and ending in Shemini Atzeret. Rosh Hashanah is a two-day observance and celebration that begins on the first day of Tishrei, which is the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year. In contrast to the ecclesiastical lunar new year on the first day of the first month Nisan, the spring Passover month which marks Israel's exodus from Egypt, Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the civil year, according to the teachings of Judaism, and is the traditio ...
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Jews And Judaism In Toronto
Toronto's Jewish community is the most populous and one of the oldest in the country, forming a significant part of the history of the Jews in Canada. It numbered about 165,000 in the 2001 census, having overtaken Montreal in the 1970s. As of 2011, the Greater Toronto Area is home to 188,710 Jews. The community in Toronto is composed of many different Jewish ethnic divisions, reflecting waves of immigration which started in the early 19th century. Canada's largest city is a centre of Jewish Canadian culture, and Toronto's Jews have played an important role in the development of the city. History The earliest record of Jewish settlement in York is an 1817 communication between colonial offices. The report indicated that several weddings had taken place, one of which was Jewish. However, the first permanent Jewish presence in Toronto began in 1832, with the arrival of Arthur Wellington Hart, the Harts being among the most established Jewish families of British North America. ...
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Humanistic Synagogues
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" has changed according to the successive intellectual movements that have identified with it. During the Italian Renaissance, ancient works inspired scholars in various Italian cities, giving rise to a movement now called Renaissance humanism. With Enlightenment, humanistic values were re-enforced by the advances in science and technology, giving confidence to humans in their exploration of the world. By the early 20th century, organizations solely dedicated to humanism flourished in Europe and the United States, and have since expanded all over the globe. In the current day, the term generally refers to a focus on human well-being and advocates for human freedom, autonomy, and progress. It views humanity as responsible for the promotion ...
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Humanist Associations
Irreligious organizations promote the view that moral standards should be based solely on naturalistic considerations, without reference to supernatural concepts (such as God or an afterlife), any desire to do good for a reward after death, or any fear of punishment for not believing in life after death. Background Individuals and organizations sharing these views, identify themselves by a variety of terms, including, bright, freethinker, naturalist, rationalist, or skeptic. Despite the use of these various terms, the organizations listed here have goals in common. Note that, while most of these organizations and their members consider themselves irreligious, there are certain exceptions ( Ethical Culture, for example). In some jurisdictions, a provincial or national humanist society may confer upon Humanist officiants the ability to conduct memorial services, child naming ceremonies or officiate marriages — tasks which would be carried out by clergy in most org ...
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Tikkun Olam
''Tikkun olam'' ( he, תִּיקּוּן עוֹלָם, , repair of the world) is a concept in Judaism, which refers to various forms of action intended to repair and improve the world. In classical rabbinic literature, the phrase referred to legal enactments intended to preserve the social order. In the '' Aleinu'' prayer, it refers to the eradication of idolatry. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the "repair" is mystical: to return the sparks of Divine light to their source by means of ritual performance. In the modern era, particularly among the post-Haskalah movements, ''tikkun olam'' has come to refer to the pursuit of social justice or "the establishment of Godly qualities throughout the world" based on the idea that "Jews bear responsibility not only for their own moral, spiritual, and material welfare, but also for the welfare of society at large". History In the Mishnah The earliest use of the term ''tikkun olam'' comes in the phrase ''mip'nei tikkun ha-olam'', "for the sake of rep ...
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Yom Ha'atzmaut
Independence Day ( he, יום העצמאות ''Yom Ha'atzmaut'', lit. "Day of Independence") is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies and observances. Because Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, which corresponded with the Hebrew date 5 Iyar in that year, Yom Ha'atzmaut was originally celebrated on that date. However, to avoid Sabbath desecration, it may be commemorated one or two days before or after the 5th of Iyar if it falls too close to the Jewish Sabbath. Yom Hazikaron, the Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day is always scheduled for the day preceding Independence Day. In the Hebrew calendar, days begin in the evening and Independence Day is observed from nightfall until the following evening of the designated day. The most recent occurrence of Yom Haatzmaut took place from sunset to sunset, 4-5 May 2022. History Indepe ...
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Yom Hashoah
Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah ( he, יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה, , lit=Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah (יום השואה) and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its collaborators, and for the Jewish resistance in that period. In Israel, it is a national memorial day. The first official commemorations took place in 1951, and the observance of the day was anchored in a law passed by the Knesset in 1959. It is held on the 27th of Nisan (which falls in April or May), unless the 27th would be adjacent to the Jewish Sabbath, in which case the date is shifted by a day. Origins Rabbinate-instituted day (1949–1950) The first Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel took place on December 28, 1949, following a decision of the Chief Rabbinate of I ...
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Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. The word ''Pesach'' or ''Passover'' can also refer to the Korban Pesach, the paschal lamb that was offered when the Temple in Jerusalem stood; to the Passover Seder, the ritual meal on Passover night; or to the Feast of Unleavened Bread. One of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals, Passover is traditionally celebrated in the Land of Israel for seven days and for eight days among many Jews in the Diaspora, based on the concept of . In the Bible, the seven-day holiday is known as Chag HaMatzot, the feast of unleavened bread (matzo). According to the Book of Exodus, God commanded Moses to tell the Israelites to mark a lamb's blood above their doors in order that the Angel of Death would pass over them (i.e., that they wou ...
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Purim
Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book of Esther (usually dated to the 5th century BCE). Haman was the royal vizier to Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I or Artaxerxes I; "Khshayarsha" and "Artakhsher" in Old Persian, respectively). His plans were foiled by Mordecai of the tribe of Benjamin, and Esther, Mordecai's cousin and adopted daughter who had become queen of Persia after her marriage to Ahasuerus. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing among the Jews. According to the Scroll of Esther, "they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor". Purim is celebrated among Jews by: *Exchanging gifts of food and drink, known as *Donating charity to the poor, known as *Eating a celebratory mea ...
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Sukkot
or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tishrei , date = , date = , date = , date = , observances = Dwelling in ''sukkah'', taking the Four Species, ''hakafot'' and Hallel in Synagogue , significance = One of the three pilgrimage festivals , relatedto = Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah , alt=, nickname=, litcolor=, celebrations=, date=15 Tishrei, 16 Tishrei, 17 Tishrei, 18 Tishrei, 19 Tishrei, 20 Tishrei, 21 Tishrei, weekday=, month=, scheduling=, duration=, frequency=, firsttime=, startedby= Sukkot ''Ḥag hasSukkōṯ'', lit. "festival of booths". Also spelled Succot; Ashkenazic: Sukkos. is a Torah-commanded holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals ( he, של� ...
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