We are also pleased to announce that  Rabbi Jonathan Crane and Ryan Leszner will once again lead our Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services.  We look forward to welcoming Rabbi Crane and Ryan back to Or Hadash for the upcoming New Year and to experiencing the same engaging and uplifting services as last year.

As in past years, we celebrate Tashlich, the traditional casting-off of one’s sins, following services on the second day of Rosh Hashanah.  This year, Tashlich will take place at Fairy Lake, a short walk from our new home.

On Yom Kippur day, Rabbi Crane will once again hold his very engaging, informative and thought-provoking study sessions between the morning and afternoon services.  Yom Kippur services will end with another Or Hadash tradition, Break-the-Fast.

Members

High Holy Day tickets are included in your annual membership and will be issued to all members in good standing who have completed and submitted the High Holy Day Ticket Request Form available below.  Please take the time now to order your tickets to ensure that you receive them.

High Holy Day Services at Or Hadash are warm, inclusive and participatory.  Our services are enhanced by the participation of you, our members.  There are many ways for members to be involved in the services:

If you are interested in playing a more active role in the High Holy Day services, e-mail Esther Bobet at esther@orhadash.org or call the synagogue office at (905) 898-2220.

Friends and Guests

High Holy Day tickets for Guests of Members or Friends of Or Hadash may be  purchased at a cost of $165 each for adults and $85 each for youths under 18.  Please complete the Ticket Request Form below and send it to Or Hadash with payment as soon as possible to ensure your tickets are received in time.

Undecided?

If you haven’t made your membership decision yet, don’t let that stop you from spending the High Holy Days at Or Hadash – purchase your High Holy Day tickets today!  Complete a Ticket Request Form and send it to Or Hadash with payment and your tickets will be sent to you.  If you decide after experiencing High Holy Days at Or Hadash that you would like to be a member, the cost of your High Holy Day tickets will be credited to the cost of your membership for this year.

About Rabbi Jonathan Crane and Ryan Leszner

Rabbi Crane has taught political science, Jewish ethics and Gandhian thought in higher education and has served as graduate programs director at Hillel, Harvard University (2003–04). He recently completed his PhD in Jewish Thought, specifically ethics, at the University of Toronto (2009).  In addition he has studied Hebrew literature at Hebrew Union College (M.A. 2003), Gandhian thought at Gujarat Vidyapith University-India (M.Phil. 1998), international peace studies at the University of Notre Dame (M.A. 1997) and international relations at Wheaton College (B.A. 1995). He is heavily engaged in interfaith dialogue. He has presented at conferences and published in scholarly, popular, and organizational journals on Gandhian and Jewish nonviolence, social movement organizations, and religious agency in the public arena.

Rabbi Crane has previously led High Holiday services in synagogues in China and India as well as at Holy Blossom and most recently, for the past two years, at Or Hadash.

He and his wife currently live in Toronto and will be soon be celebrating the birth of their second child.

Ryan Leszner is currently a Religious Studies student at York University and has been a song leader for NFTY and Camp George for several years. He also leads services at Temple Emanuel once a month.