Challah, wine, nerot

Come join us for candles, wine, song and camaraderie as we welcome the peace and holiness of Shabbat into this world. Stay for dinner. EVERYONE is welcome.

From 6:30 ’til about 7:30 or so, it’s very casual, relaxed singing and chanting to bring in Shabbat. Maybe a teaching or two added as well.

After 7:30, it’s kiddush, challah and a delicious semi-potluck Kosher dinner.

Semi-potluck means that Reb David will prepare a scrumptious main dish — probably salmon — and everyone else is asked to bring a side dish to add to it.

Kosher means really strictly, seriously kosher! Please see http://tinyurl.com/3rnz3lf to know exactly what that means at the Mivasairs’ home.

And, we ask you to drop $5 into the Mivasairs’ mailbox to help defray the costs.

PLEASE RSVP to rabbi@ahavat-olam.ca.

The Mivasairs’ house has lots of steps in front and definitely is NOT accessible to people with mobility limitations. In the back, though, there is one step and Reb David will put a ramp there for anyone who asks in advance.

Following the service, we will have a vegetarian dairy kosher potluck lunch. Because we will be at the Mivasair home, we need to honour the guidelines forkashrut (keeping kosher). Please refer to http://ahavat-olam.ca/about/kosher-food-guidelines-for-bringing-food-to-the-mivasair-home/ for guidelines and ideas of what to bring..

If you have mobility limitations, there is a small low ramp at the back door. If you want to use the ramp, please phone or email Reb David to make sure it will work for you.

RSVP to Reb David would help planning and would be appreciated: david@mivasair.com.

Ahavat Olam’s seder will be, God willing, as always, on the second night of Pesah.

Also like always, I will do my best to engage everyone in learning, exploring and sharing the depths of meaning in the many treasures of the traditional Haggadah handed down for more than twenty centuries by our foremothers and fathers as well as insights and questions from our own life journeys beginning with breaking free of the many and various bonds of our own captivity to escape through the narrows of our own liberations toward, God willing, true freedom in the highest and fullest sense we can imagine – and perhaps beyond.
Unlike any other year, though, the Ahavat Olam seder will be at our home at 2644 Manitoba Street (many steps in front, a comfortable ramp in the back).
Even though we will rise and proclaim “כל דיכפין ייתי ויכול – All who are hungry, come and eat!”, we can accommodate only so many at our table. I will take reservations until the limit is reached. To have a place at the seder table, please write rabbi@ahavat-olam.ca. Tell me how many are coming with you. Your reservation will be confirmed by me letting you know I have received your payment.
The seder will cost $28 per person, $22 for anyone under 13 years old. This covers the actual costs of all the food, including Orange Ginger Salmon and Veggie Kugel by Nava Creative Kosher, hand-made shmurah matzah from a land far, far away and matzah ball soup made by me as well as a truly great salad, wine and also the cost of housecleaners who will free us from the mundane (and noble) task of cleaning up after ourselves well into the night. I can accept cheques payable to “David Mivasair” or cash deposited into our mailbox. (Let me know you’ve left cash there so I’ll bring it into the house as soon as I can.)
I will want one person to come on Friday morning to make a fruit salad and one to make a vegetable salad. I will have all the ingredients. All food, drink, utensils, tableware, in fact everything in our house will be strictly kosher for Pesah. All the food will be vegetarian, as are all Ahavat Olam events.
The timing of the seder will be quite different from most years. We’ll begin our seder after havdalah when the Holy Shabbat leaves us. My sources predict that will occur a bit after 8:30. So, everyone is invited for 8:30 for havdalah. Although we don’t want to shortchange the actual seder, we need to eat the afikomen before midnight. The conclusion of the seder will likely be a bit afterward. After the formal conclusion of the seder, I will be delighted to stay at the table to singing for a very long time.
If you have any specific questions or suggestions, please be in touch. You can phone me at (604) 781-7839. If you have any questions about seders or about Pesah in general, please don’t hesitate to contact me. The most essential service I can provide as a rabbi is to help you find answers to your questions.
May this year’s seders everywhere move us all to rededicate ourselves to the real struggles to walk the most sacred path in every area of our lives.
David

Challah, wine, nerot

Come join us for candles, wine, song and camaraderie as we welcome the peace and holiness of Shabbat into this world. Stay for dinner. EVERYONE is welcome.

From 6:30 ’til about 7:30 or so, it’s very casual, relaxed singing and chanting to bring in Shabbat. Maybe a teaching or two added as well.

After 7:30, it’s kiddush, challah and a delicious semi-potluck Kosher dinner.

Semi-potluck means that Reb David will prepare a scrumptious main dish — probably salmon — and everyone else is asked to bring a side dish to add to it.

Kosher means really strictly, seriously kosher! Please see http://tinyurl.com/3rnz3lf to know exactly what that means at the Mivasairs’ home.

And, we ask you to drop $5 into the Mivasairs’ mailbox to help defray the costs.

PLEASE RSVP to rabbi@ahavat-olam.ca.

The Mivasairs’ house has lots of steps in front and definitely is NOT accessible to people with mobility limitations. In the back, though, there is one step and Reb David will put a ramp there for anyone who asks in advance.

Challah, wine, nerot

Come join us for candles, wine, song and camaraderie as we welcome the peace and holiness of Shabbat into this world. Stay for dinner. EVERYONE is welcome.

From 6:30 ’til about 7:30 or so, it’s very casual, relaxed singing and chanting to bring in Shabbat. Maybe a teaching or two added as well.

After 7:30, it’s kiddush, challah and a delicious semi-potluck Kosher dinner.

Semi-potluck means that Reb David will prepare a scrumptious main dish — probably salmon — and everyone else is asked to bring a side dish to add to it.

Kosher means really strictly, seriously kosher! Please see http://tinyurl.com/3rnz3lf to know exactly what that means at the Mivasairs’ home.

And, we ask you to drop $5 into the Mivasairs’ mailbox to help defray the costs.

PLEASE RSVP to rabbi@ahavat-olam.ca.

The Mivasairs’ house has lots of steps in front and definitely is NOT accessible to people with mobility limitations. In the back, though, there is one step and Reb David will put a ramp there for anyone who asks in advance.

Read this inspiring story on Tablet Magazine.

Opening event: Friday, Mar 9, 7:30 PM, Unitarian Church, 949 West 49th Ave, Vancouver. Free admission. For full schedule and more details, visit the Child’s View from Gaza website.

The Vancouver Child’s View from Gaza Committee is very excited to bring this exhibition of 25 children’s art pieces, part of a 75-piece exhibition created in 2009 by the children of Gaza who witnessed the destruction of Operation Cast Lead and who participated in after-school children’s therapy programs. “Cast Lead,” Israel’s December 2008/January 2009 attack on a virtually unarmed Gaza, killed 1400 Palestinians, including 320 children.

At the opening event, Barbara Lubin, Founder and Executive Director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, is a life-long peace, justice and disability rights activist. Since 1988 Barbara has regularly traveled to Palestine and has led nearly twenty delegations of North Americans to Palestine/Israel, Iraq, and Lebanon. She has lectured on the issue of Middle East politics and the plight of the children in the region to dozens of schools, universities, conferences, religious institutions and community groups. Barbara’s current presentation focuses on the impact of Israel’s occupation and siege on children in Gaza. Barbara visited the besieged Gaza Strip twice in 2009 and her presentation incorporates many of her own photos and eyewitness testimonies.

Following the service, we will have a vegetarian dairy kosher potluck lunch. Because we will be at the Mivasair home, we need to honour the guidelines for kashrut (keeping kosher). Please refer to http://ahavat-olam.ca/about/kosher-food-guidelines-for-bringing-food-to-the-mivasair-home/ for guidelines and ideas of what to bring..

If you have mobility limitations, there is a small low ramp at the back door. If you want to use the ramp, please phone or email Reb David to make sure it will work for you.

RSVP to Reb David would help planning and would be appreciated: david@mivasair.com.

Members, it is important that we hear from you, and that we get a quorum so that we can properly conduct the business of the shul. If you cannot attend, please complete a proxy form to enable you to appoint another member in good standing to vote on your behalf.

If you would like us to order pizza for us ($5 per person), RSVP to Reb David (rabbi@ahavat-olam.ca).