Adult Events

Mon, Oct. 22, 7:30 PM: Jewish Diversity: Jews of Colour with Rivka Campbell

Jews of Colour (JOC) is a pan-ethnic term that is used to identify Jews whose family origins are originally in African, Asian or Latin American countries. We will discuss Jewish Diversity and what it is like to navigate the Jewish Community as a "minority within a minority". The presentation will start with a history of Jews in the Caribbean with a focus on Jamaica. Rivka Campbell, a Jew of Jamaican descent, born and raised in Toronto, seeks to build community among Jews of Colour in her Canadian city while opening dialogue among the mainstream Jewish community about the experience of Jews of Colour.

Free and all welcome by pre-registration. Register here.

Sun Nov. 18, 7 PM: Delicious Israel with Bonnie Stern

$36 per person—Register and pay  here. 

Sun Nov. 25, 8 PM: Written in the Dirt: How Archaeology Helps Us Understand Ancient Israel, Professor David Lipovitch

Erudite and entertaining, David Lipovich makes the ancient world come alive with his insights and visuals. David is a PhD in Hebrew Bible and Archaeology (Harvard) with many years of award winning teaching and ongoing excavations in Israel, Jordan and Turkey. Let’s start at the Very Beginning, as we launch our Israel programming.

Free and all welcome by pre-registration. Register  here.

Sat, Dec 1, 7 PM Israel Film Night: FOXTROT

Powerful, controversial, painful and allegorical, Foxtrot has been described as “an intriguing jewel box of a film”. Rabbi Goldstein will help us deal in a talk-back after the film with the many facets of this award winning Israeli film.

Registration Closed.

Sun, Dec 16, 7:30 PM: Sign, Symbol and Script: The Secrets of the Hebrew Letters with Baruch Sienna. Join us on a fascinating historical tour of the origins and evolution of the Hebrew alsph-beit to appreciate the miracle of writing. Learn how pictures turned into words and how the alphabet was invented and changed human history. Participants will draw their own letters in different historical Hebrew scripts in this interactive, hands-on workshop. No artistic talent required. Register here.

Sat, Jan 19, 7 PM: Israel Film Night and Discussion: Ben Gurion An Epilogue - members only. A rare, intimate look at what went on inside the heart and mind of Israel's founding father. At 82, Ben-Gurion's introspective soul-searching provides a surprising vision for crucial decisions Israel needs to make today. Moderator: Rabbi Larry Englander. Register  here. 

Sat, Jan 26, 7 PM: Israel Film Night and Discussion: In Between - members only. Arab-Israeli director Maysaloun Hamoud draws us deep into an often hidden world. She tells the tragicomic story of three Palestinian women sharing an apartment in the heart of Tel Aviv who find themselves doing the same balancing act between tradition and modernity, citizenship and culture, realty and freedom. Moderator: Rabbi Larry Englander. Register  here.

Sun, Feb 3, 7:30 PM: Jews by Choice - Personal Journeys to Judaism Panel - We may be the Chosen People, but many have chosen to become Jewish, and have also chosen City Shul. Moderated by Sandy  Wynia Katz, this will be a unique opportunity to hear personal stories from members about their journeys to Judaism, what was missing before, and their realities for gaining acceptance in the broader Jewish community. Register here.

Sun, Mar 3, 1:30 PM: CITY SHUL THEATRE DATE: OSLO at the CAA Theatre -after theater discussion with Rabbi Goldstein. Inspired by the true story of the back-channel talks, unlikely friendships, and quiet heroics that led to the Oslo Peace Accords, Oslo is a deeply personal story set against a complex historical canvas, a story about the individuals behind world history and their all too human ambitions. This is the Canadian premier of the 2017 highly acclaimed, Tony Award-Winning play.

Tickets: Members - $56.50, Non Members - $60.00. Purchase your tickets here. 

Sun, Mar 24, 7:30 PM: Yallah Deutschland! Israelis in Berlin with Rachel Seelig. Is Berlin a Jewish city? Remembered in Jewish collective memory as the place where Hitler's "final solution" was conceived, Berlin has recently become a magnet for young Israelis, who are not only drawn to the city's cosmopolitan culture but also contributing to it. What does the growing presence of Israelis in Berlin mean for both Israel and the diaspora? Are Israeli artists, writers, intellectuals and entrepreneurs revitalizing the Jewish life that thrived in major European centers a century ago, or are they, as some critics have suggested, renouncing the Zionist dream? This talk will explore Berlin's Israeli expat culture through the lens of the city's Jewish past while reflecting on its significance for the future. Register here.

Sun, Apr 7, 8 PM: Israel in the New World Order. Eminent professor Emanuel Adler, Chair of Israeli Studies and Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, returns to City Shul to help us understand Israel in our new world order. Since Professor Adler's outstanding 2016 analysis of the options for Israel, how has the situation evolved? Are there new issues which impact on Israel's future? Register  here.

Sun, Apr 14, 7:30 PM: Kiddish or Kaddish? Prayer Terminology with Rabbi Goldstein. What are all those terms the Rabbi throws around at services? Everyone around me seems to know what tzitzit, the dvar, and a silent Amidah are, and sometimes I'm lost...help! This workshop is free and open to everyone. Register here.

Sun, May 12, 2 PM: CITY SHUL THEATRE DATE: Becoming Dr. Ruth at the Harold Green  Theatre - She's America's favourite sex therapist! But before she became Dr. Ruth, Karola Siegel had to flee Germany in the Kindertransport, become a sniper in Jerusalem and survive as a single mother in America. Filled with humour and honesty, this play is a triumphant and life-affirming story of a woman who found her own unique place in the world. Talk-back by Rabbi Goldstein. Tickets $60/ person. Register here.

Sun, May 26, 2 PM: Holocaust Education Week talk  An evening of films and discussion with filmmaker and City Shul member Naomi Wise, Director of the March of the Living Digital Archive. She has been making films and documenting Holocaust survivor's stories since 1996, and will screen some of her work and talk about the March of the Living program and the archive project. Register here.