From our Executive Director

Dear Friend,

ֹ.לֹא הָיוּ יָמִים טוֹבִים לְיִשְׂרָאֵל כַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בְּאָב וּכְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים (משנה תענית ד:ח)

The best days for (the community of ancient) Israel were the 15^th of Av and Yom Kippur (Mishnah Ta’anit 4:8).

In ancient times, the 15^th of Av and Yom Kippur were days of matchmaking.  There was dancing in the fields.  It was a festive time with hope for the future.

What was so special about this date?  A couple of traditions come to mind.  In their respective commentaries on the Mishnah, Maimonides and Bartenura write that this was the day of the last deaths from 40 years of wandering in the desert.  A new generation had been born and grown up, ready to assume the mantel of going into the Land of Israel.

Rav David Kimchi, writing in Provence in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, notes that this was the day on which the tribe of Benjamin was allowed to marry into the full community after being kicked out for some egregiously unsavory behaviour.

Let us consider those two reasons.  We hope that the deaths in Gaza and in Lebanon will cease.  As well, we have seen some unsavory behaviour within the Jewish community, here in Canada, in Israel, and around the world.  I will add in that the last three years have created serious fissures in the Jewish community, making it difficult to for us to talk to each other.

There is no formal ritual remaining from the 15^th of Av.  In modern times, it is a popular day for weddings.  We do not say Tachanun in our daily services.

Jewish tradition has absorbed numerous reasons for many of our observances over the centuries.  Let us consider as well a day where this violence ceases, allowing us to look forward.  Let us consider as well a day in which we attempt to heal some of the fissures that have developed in our community.

  ~ Rav Sean Gorman, Executive Director, MERCAZ-Canada

From our President

This week we celebrate Tu B'Av. It's one of the most joyous days on the Jewish calendar, often called the Jewish Valentine's Day. It was traditionally marked by unmarried women in the community dressing in white and dancing in the vineyards. Its joyousness stands in stark contrast to the solemnity of Tisha B'Av, just six days earlier. Today it's seen as a time to celebrate love, and in Israel it's more popular than Valentine's Day — many couples choose Tu B'Av to propose or hold their weddings.

Weddings in Israel fall under the purview of the Rabbinate, which is controlled by the Orthodox movement. Legally, only the Orthodox Rabbinate can perform a Jewish wedding in Israel. Couples married by a Conservative or Reform rabbi are considered by the government to be living common-law rather than legally married. To get around this, the Israeli government recognizes secular or non-Orthodox weddings performed abroad, as long as they're legal marriages in the country where they took place.

This inequality affects many couples, for many different reasons. Some simply don't want to be married by an Orthodox rabbi and go through everything that entails. Others aren't eligible to be. Many immigrants and children of immigrants from the former Soviet Union lack the documentation to prove they are halachically Jewish, making them ineligible for a legal marriage in Israel. A Cohen cannot halachically marry a divorcee, leaving such couples with no legal path to marriage in the country. And there is no legal avenue at all for a marriage between people of different religions — for example, a Jewish man and an Arab woman.

For these reasons, many couples choose to marry abroad rather than go through the Rabbinate for a ceremony recognized as legal in Israel. Others simply live common-law, without a legal wedding at all.

Rabbis in the Masorti Movement are committed to halacha. They officiate weddings only according to halachic Jewish tradition, and only when both partners are Jewish. At the same time, the Masorti Movement is committed to helping establish a legal framework for marriage equality in Israel — one that doesn't force couples to choose between their convictions and the law.

In 2015, the Masorti Movement in Israel launched a public campaign under the slogan: "A Jewish religious halachic wedding — just not with the Rabbinate." The movement has been at the forefront of advocating for equality in marriage and in other Jewish lifecycle events ever since.

Jewish life in Israel should not be dictated by the Orthodox establishment, which currently holds a monopoly on religious authority. MERCAZ and the Masorti Movement are fighting for the right of all Israelis to marriage equality.

  ~ Nola Lazar,President, MERCAZ-Canada

We are just a few days away from one of the lesser-known days on the Jewish calendar: Tu b'Av. Unlike Tisha b'Av, when we mourn the tragedies of the past, Tu b'Av (the fifteenth of Av) is a day historically associated with love. The first mention of Tu b'Av is in the Mishnah, where Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says:

There were no better (i.e. happier) days for the people of Israel than the Fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur, since on these days the daughters of Israel go out dressed in white and dance in the vineyards. What were they saying: Young man, consider whom you choose (to be your wife)? (Ta’anit, Chapter 4)

In modern Israel, it has become a sort of Jewish Valentine's Day, and it is a popular day for weddings. Since my own son is getting married on Tu b'Av, I naturally have weddings - and wedding food - on the brain, and I thought I would share some of my discoveries about traditional Jewish wedding foods.

Many of us are familiar with Ashkenazi festive meals, where favourites such as chicken soup and brisket often serve as the centre to the feasts. But there are so many other customs, it's a shame to stop at the borders of Ashkenaz.

One Sephardi tradition is to serve marzipan at weddings. Sometimes these sweet almond-paste treats are white, sliced into lozenges, beautiful in their elegant simplicity. Other times, they're coloured and molded into fruit shapes, to be enjoyed by the eyes as much as by the tastebuds.

Leaving the Mediterranean region and heading further east, Mizrachi weddings traditionally include overflowing buffets, abundant offerings of foods influenced by the exact community's Moroccan, Iraqi, Persian, or Yemenite roots. Plentiful sweets appear in these buffets, to symbolise a sweeet future for the couple: Baklava and mahlabi (a milky custard pudding) often appear.

Less familiar to many of us are Bene Israel customs. This ancient Indian Jewish community traces its roots back over 2000 years, to the survivors of a shipwreck. These seven couples from the ancient Kingdom of Israel settled into the greater Indian community and culture, but never forgot their roots.

Because the community is so old, it is pre-Talmudic, and they have many unique customs. One of these is Malida, a thanksgiving ritual commemorating the prophet Elijah. Since a wedding is an auspicious event, Malida is observed at weddings, and this dish of the same name is often served.

The Bene Israel version of Malida is a tray of flattened rice, grated coconut, dried fruits, spices, and an array of fruits and flowers. Instead of rice, most non-Jewish versions of Malida use fried bread or parathas.

Enjoy this fragrant sweet treat from the ancient community of Indian Jews.

Globetrotters

If you are travelling to Israel and would like to connect with a Masorti community there, please let us know. We can put you in touch with our kehillot all over the country.

info@mercaz.ca

Good and Welfare

MERCAZ-Canada sends a warm mazal tov to Beverlee, our administrative assistant, and her family on the kiddushin of her son and daughter-in-law, Gavriel and Ana.

MERCAZ-Canada wishes a Refuah Shlemah to Avi Asaf, husband of Nilli Glick Asaf, Secretary General of MERCAZ Olami.

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