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Beth Tzedec Book and Film Club: There Was A Time for Everything: A Memoir by Judith Friedland
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Beth Tzedec Book and Film Club: There Was A Time for Everything: A Memoir by Judith Friedland

Judith Friedland joins to discuss her recently released memoir There Was A Time For Everything. The review will begin at 1:30 p.m. and is preceded by snacks. Dawn Promislow, author of Wan, will join her for a conversation about the book. After the death of her mother when she turned ten, Judith Friedland learned to be resilient. She met the expectations for upper-middle-class women in Toronto in the 1940s and 1950s, which included post-secondary education, marriage, and motherhood. While raising a family and supporting her husband’s academic career, she continued her formal education through part-time study and gradually began a journey tailored to herself as an individual. In her forties, she embarked on her own academic career, rising through the ranks to become a tenured full professor and chair of the department of occupational therapy in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. In There Was a Time for Everything, Friedland reflects on her life and the fact that over time she managed to "have it all" – just not all at once. For Spring 2024 series — 3 sessions: $30 Beth Tzedec member / $40 Community member Individual sessions: $15 per session Judith Friedland grew up in Toronto where she attended John R Wilcox, Vaughan Road Collegiate – and McCaul Street Synagogue. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a Diploma in Physical and Occupational Therapy in 1960 and returned to U of T over the years, completing a BA in 1976, an MA in 1981, and a PhD in 1988. She married in 1958—here in Beth Tzedec—and has three children, and eight grandchildren. She worked as an occupational therapist in psychiatric hospitals in Cambridge, England and Toronto before her children were born and returned to work, part-time, at COTA (Community Occupational Therapy and Associates), once they were all in school. At age 43, she began her academic career in occupational therapy, in the Faculty of Medicine, at U of T, rising through the ranks to Full Professor and chairing her department. Her main research areas have been in the psychosocial aspects of Illness, Injury and Aging and the early history of occupational therapy in Canada. Dawn Promislow was born and raised in South Africa and has lived in Toronto since 1987. She is the author of the novel Wan, which was a finalist for the Canadian Authors Association's Fred Kerner Book Award 2023, a Miramichi Best Fiction title of 2022, a CanLit Bookclub Pick in Zoomer magazine, and a finalist in the design category for an Alberta Book Publishing Award 2023. The novel was on several of CBC Books's recommended lists of historical fiction for 2022. Dawn is also the author of the short story collection Jewels and Other Stories, which was named one of the eight best fiction debuts of 2011 by the Globe and Mail, and was long-listed for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award 2011. She's had numerous award-nominated short stories, poems, and essays published in literary journals in Canada, the US, and the UK, and anthologized in books. She is working on a new novel.
The Israel We Imagine
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The Israel We Imagine

The Israel We Imagine: When Visions Confront Reality In addition to being a real country with real people and real problems, the State of Israel serves as a powerful symbol to Jews around the world. Different Jews expect the State of Israel to serve different purposes in the world and in Jewish life. In this lecture we will explore the varied ways that people envision Israel’s purpose and meaning and how these visions can conflict with one another. We examine how we arrive at our sense of what Israel’s purpose should be, and how that imagination colors our responses to messier realities. And throughout, we will consider the roles of both humility and activism in our relationship to Israel. To register for this program, which will be offered both in-person and online, please complete this form: https://bethtzedectoronto.shulcloud.com/form/the-israel-we-imagine ___________________________________________________________________ Dr. Elana Stein Hain is the Director of Faculty and a Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where she serves as lead faculty, directs the activities of the Kogod Research Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought and consults on the content of lay and professional leadership programs. A widely well-regarded teacher and scholar, Elana is passionate about bringing rabbinic thought into conversation with contemporary life. To this end, she created Talmud from the Balcony, an occasional learning seminar exposing the big ideas, questions, and issues motivating rabbinic discussions; she leads the Created Equal Research Seminar which considers the relationships between gender consciousness and Jewish thought; and she co-hosts For Heaven’s Sake, a bi-weekly podcast with Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi, exploring contemporary issues related to Israel and the Jewish world. Elana earned her doctorate in Religion from Columbia University where she wrote her dissertation on the topic of legal loopholes as a prism for understanding rabbinic views on law and ethics. She is an alumna of the Yeshiva University Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS) as well as the Consortium in Jewish Studies and Legal Theory Graduate Fellowship at Cardozo School of Law. She also served for eight years as a clergy member on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, at both Lincoln Square Synagogue and the Jewish Center, has taught at the Wagner School at NYU, and sits on the board of Sefaria: A Living Library of Jewish Texts.
Notable Speakers - May 13
Notable Speakers - June 3
Conversations over Coffee: Dr Helen Fry
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Conversations over Coffee: Dr Helen Fry

Thomas Kendrick: The “Oskar Schindler” of Vienna Apr 25 2022, 12:30PM to 1:00PM in the Facebook and YouTube. Rabbi Steven Wernick gathers a cadre of community leaders for a series of conversations on politics, culture, social existence and Jewish life. Each session will be streamed and broadcast to Facebook and YouTube. Grab a cup of coffee and log on to join us. Reb Steve will share coffee with Author and Historian, Dr. Helen Fry. They will have a discussion about Thomas Kendrick: the “Oskar Schindler” of Vienna. He was also a spy who, in WW2, was commanding officer of the German-Jewish secret listeners who bugged the conversations of Hitler’s captured generals. This week's conversation will be broadcast live to the Beth Tzedec Facebook page and YouTube channel. Comment with your questions for Dr. Fry on either platform! Dr. Helen Fry has written numerous books on the Second World War, with a specialism in British intelligence, spies, espionage and prisoners of war, and also the 10,000 German-Jewish refugees who fought for Britain. Her latest book, Spymaster: The Man who Saved MI6 has become a bestseller about the MI6 spy Thomas Kendrick. Her acclaimed book, The Walls Have Ears: The Greatest Intelligence Operation of WWII was in the Daily Mail’s Top 8 ‘Books of the Year on War’. Her book, MI9: Escape and Evasion: The Secret Service for Escape and Evasion in WWII was shortlisted for the Duke of Wellington Medal in Military History 2021. Helen has appeared in numerous documentaries in the UK as well as in the USA, including David Jason’s "Secret Service", "Spying on Hitler’s Army" and "Home Front Heroes". She is an Ambassador for the Museum of Military Intelligence.
Conversations over Coffee: Judy Librach
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Conversations over Coffee: Judy Librach

Reb Steve will share coffee with Judy Librach, TV host, life coach, author and columnist, who is the creator of "Finding Your Bliss". They will have a discussion about Finding Your Bliss. This week's conversation will be broadcast live to the Beth Tzedec Facebook page and YouTube channel. Comment with your questions for Judy on either platform! Judy Siblin-Librach is the host of the weekly radio show and podcast "Finding Your Bliss" on Zoomer Radio AM 740/FM 96.7. She is also an author of two books, The Toronto Wedding Handbook, and Love Mommy, Writing Love Letters to Your Baby. Judy wrote a column for the CJN (Canadian Jewish News) for six and a half years called "The Life Coach Corner" and she is also the creator of the online magazine Finding Your Bliss, (findingyourbliss.com) as well as being the host of "The Bliss Minute", a daily dose of happiness and positivity on the Instagram and Facebook accounts @theblissminute. Judy has been an on-camera host and reporter for numerous TV shows, both local and national, including her own show “In the Spotlight” (a showcase for Canada’s performing artists) which won Best Arts Program in North America by the Hometown U.S.A Video Festival. As well, she won a CBC Telefest Award for her documentary called “It Has A Name...Neurofibromatosis.” She has also been a Managing Editor for a performing arts magazine called Toronto Tonight, where she wrote theatre reviews, a "Theatretalk" column and a regular celebrity dining column. She has also written for major newspapers and magazines all across Canada. Judy is also a meditation teacher and you find some of her meditations on the free Insight Timer Meditation app. She is currently working on her third book. She lives in Toronto, with her husband Dr. Clifford Librach and their two children, (Max and Lily), who are Judy’s real bliss!!!
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