Sisterhood News
Inspiring You For a Better Tomorrow
By Irene Buenavida
Never explain yourself to anyone,
Because the person who likes you doesn’t need it.
And the person who dislikes you won’t believe it.
Don’t let someone become a priority in your life,
When you are just an option in their life,
Relationships work best when they are balanced.
When we wake up in the morning,
we have two simple choices.
Go back to sleep and dream,
Or wake up and chase those dreams,
the choice is ours.
Time is like a river
You can not touch the same water twice,
Because the flow that has passed will
never pass again.
Enjoy every moment of life.
When you keep saying you are busy,
Then you are never free.
When you keep saying that you have no time,
Then you will never have the time.
When you keep saying that
you will do it tomorrow
Then your tomorrow will never come.
Don’t make a promise when you are
in a state of joy,
Don’t reply when you are sad,
Don’t make a decision when you are angry.
Think twice and act wisely.
We cause tears for those who care for us,
We cry for those who never care for us,
And we care for those who will never cry for us,
This is a truth of life; strange but true.
ONCE YOU REALIZE THIS,
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO CHANGE |
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Ketchri -
A love story between
the rice and the lentils.
by Ilana Avissar
Every Wednesday at two o’clock
I go down, and search in the stock
I look for red lentils and rice
To make a meal that will be nice.
I pour one cup of lentils into a pot
And add two cups of rice - not a lot
The rice ‘till now was all alone
And the lentils were as hard as stone.
Soak in water for half an hour
And then give them all a nice shower
Now both become soft and clean
As beautiful as they never have been.
The rice saw the lentils suddenly
No more will he be sad and lonely
The lentils are round and start to blossom
As they see the rice tall and handsome.
Both close their eyes and smile with delight
Can not tear from each other their sight
To them I add tomato sauce, salt and pepper
On them I pour three cups of hot water.
They warm up nicely on a high fire
And drink the water with desire
After the water is completely gone
Almost dry, they are left alone.
The rice says: Hello Sweet Miss!
And gives her a lovely long kiss
We lower the fire and simmer them slowly
For five minutes to cook totally.
We then fry oil, cumin, garlic and onion
And mix in to give taste to this union
Now together they happily live
A delicious meal to us they give.
The love between them has given us joy
By mixing in yoghurt we doubly enjoy
Our meal is great, tasty and very good
It is called KETCHRI and is an Iraqi food.
Ingredients:
2 cups rice, 1 cup red lentils, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 3 cups of water,
3 teaspoons oil, 15 pieces of garlic finely cut, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 onion cut into small pieces,
1.1/2 spoons tomato puree.
Taken from the Scribe
by Gladys Mooallem
Advances In Genetics Illuminate Our Past.
It is easy to get a sense of wonder when the first Aliyah, a Kohen, is called up for the Torah reading of the synagogue service, and again if there is a priestly blessing by the Kohenim.
The wonder comes from imagining the age of these customs and prayers – a custom of respect and blessing that continues the teaching from the first Kohen who was Aaron, brother of Moses. Imagine how generation to generation, grand-father to father to son and again father to son and so on, the duty of the Kohen is passed, over years eventually counted in the thousands.
Another part of this marvel is a question – over so many years, how can we be sure that the respected gentleman called up in front of us is truly a Kohen, that the lineage tract could have been kept so well intact?
I am not the only one to think this way. As explained by Rabbi Yaakov Klieman, Dr. Karl Shorecki , a professor at the University of Toronto and the Technion Medical Centre in Haifa, was probably sitting in the synagogue and wondering the same thing. It happens Dr. Shorecki is a renowned researcher, and even involved in molecular genetics. Therefore he was able to know of and to contact Dr. Michael Hammer of the University of Arizona in Tucson, a molecular geneticist. Dr. Hammer had already done research using DNA analysis of the Y chromosome to study other populations (American Indian, Japanese).
The Y chromosome is passed on from father to son, and it’s DNA analysis could perhaps serve as a marker of common ancestry. Asking 188 unrelated Kohenim from Canada, the U.S., England, and Israel to volunteer for a blood test, they saw a sharing of a DNA variation on the Y chromosome, linking most of them to a common father, presumably the first Kohen, Aaron Ha’Kohen, said to have been born in 2365 B.C.E., a hundred or so generations ago. After their results were published in the prestigious journal “Nature”, there was another study by Dr. Shorecki, finding the same particular chromosomal marker in 98.5% of 106 kohanim that he tested. (The chance of finding such a variant of the Y chromosome in a non-Kohen or non-Jew does exist, but would be very uncommon).
It is fascinating that it required the march of scientific technology to begin to answer, 3500 years into our tradition, age-old questions whose answers until now could only be based on tradition and trust.
There are some other motivating conclusions that can be attempted from this interesting discovery. This research, it will be argued, is proof that the priesthood really did exist as the Torah says. Also, it is fascinating to find support for our understanding that although there is so much genetic diversity in the physical appearances between many Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, understandable with the background of world history and Jewish migration, this research finding is a proof of a common ancestry and origin, before the historical separations.
A next step that the researchers hope for is that by studying the distribution of Y chromosome markers across Jewish and non-Jewish populations, they will be able to gain some insight into the dispersal of the original Hebrews, including perhaps trying to answer the riddle of the 10 lost tribes.
I was asked to write something for our bulletin because when it was snowing hard the day of the synagogue’s Bazaar, I was sitting at a very lonely table of shoes, and must have looked like I had nothing to do. But the end result of these words for me is that I will continue to have respect for the Kohen that gets the first Aliyah and gives us the priestly blessing, knowing he must truly be a Kohen, and that he will have to continue to stay the role model of the Jewish people.
By the way, I am a Levi, and I am called second to the Aliyah. We Levi’s have no proof of genetic ancestry, as studies have not been able to show a common origin. So any respect to the person being called second for Aliyah will still have to be based on taking our word for it.
Dr. Edmond Shahin
La « Spanish » visitée par 1500 élèves québécois chaque année
Depuis plus de dix ans, je travaille pour une compagnie du nom d’Amarrages sans frontières.
Cette dernière s’est donnée pour mission de faire la promotion des différentes cultures de Montréal auprès d’un public aussi divers que varié, allant de 10 à 90 ans. Il s’agit d’étudiants du primaire, du secondaire, du collégial mais aussi des étudiants en formation professionnelle : en techniques policières, en tourisme, des travailleurs(euses) socials(es) etc.,etc.….
Le grand public de Montréal et les diverses associations d’âge d’or viennent aussi vivre une expérience de découverte interculturelle.
J’ai le privilège d’être l’animatrice principale de la communauté juive pour Amarrages sans frontières. À ce titre plus de 1500 étudiants viennent visiter la synagogue Spanish et portuguese chaque année.
Ces étudiants passent une journée complète dans la communauté juive.
Bien sûr, je fais démarrer leur périple à la Spanih et Portuguese. Durant une première période je leur fais un bref historique sur la communauté juive de Montréal avec un aperçu des dates marquantes dans l’histoire de l’immigration juive du Québec, puis une présentation de la synagogue, nos us et coutumes, nos principaux rituels et les fêtes juives.
Puis c’est l’heure du lunch, je les amène manger au restaurant « Exodus »où ils ont l’opportunité de manger des spécialités de cuisine séfarade cachère.
Petite marche digestive dans le quartier juif avec halte à la boutique d’artisanat juif, Victoria Gift shop ou chez Rodals. Là les jeunes ont le plaisir d’acheter de petits souvenirs : kippoth, porte clefs, musique etc….Puis nous allons chez Quality Kocher où les gourmands se régalent
Puis nous nous en allons au Centre Commémoratif de l’Holocauste où ils peuvent entendre un survivant de la deuxième guerre mondiale.
C’est un moment de grande émotion où, au fur et à mesure du témoignage, je vois les yeux se mouiller, les larmes couler, les mains se crisper.
Pour ne pas les laisser partir le cœur gros, je finis cette journée avec une capsule de musique folklorique israélienne et tout le monde chante et danse avec notre légendaire Yaacov Sassi.
Avec une journée comme celle-ci, les jeunes ont pu, en une journée, faire une incursion dans le monde cultuel, culturel, gastronomique,historique et musical juif. Toutes les facettes de notre culture sont présentes pour leur faire passer une très belle journée.
La synagogue Spanish et Portuguese contribue au succès de cette activité par son côté historique, par la beauté des locaux, par la propreté des lieux et par la gentillesse du personnel.
Je voudrais remercier toute l’équipe de la Spanish-Portuguese pour son amabilité et la gentillesse avec laquelle elle répond à nos demandes.
En reconnaissance de collaboration, Amarrages sans frontières se fait un plaisir de verser à la synagogue une donation annuelle substantielle.
Sur ce même modèle, Amarrages sans frontière fait découvrir les communautés bouddhiste, hindouiste sikh, arabo-musulmane, italienne. potuguaise,chinoise,bulgare, japonaise hongroise et autres…Mais la communauté la plus populaire auprès des écoles reste la communauté juive.
J’ai une très grande satisfaction à faire mon travail et j’espère contribuer (dans une petite proportion) à faire des enfants d’aujourd’hui des citoyens de demain qui seront plus ouverts, plus tolérants et, qui sait, moins antisémites.
Rachel Wolf
