Be Part of Housewarming History

In 1938, the all-new Holy Blossom Temple was dedicated in its current location at 1950 Bathurst Street, in the rapidly growing Forest Hill Village and Cedarvale area.

The first monolithic concrete structure in Canada, it was a feat of architecture and engineering. The dedication was a joyous occasion and an auspicious one too, as young and old in our rapidly expanding congregation came together to celebrate with dignitaries and media of the day.

Flash forward 80 years …

On December 2nd, from 2:30 to 5:30, we’ll begin a new era of Holy Blossom Temple history, as we officially open Phase 1 of our Renewal Project with a Housewarming Celebration and Dedication of our beautiful new central Atrium and renewed spaces. Everyone is invited to help us light the first Chanukah candle in Our Beit Knesset … our House of Gathering.

Yes, it will be a historic moment with special guests and dignitaries to help us celebrate.
And just as importantly, it will be a warm and joyous moment for ALL Temple families,
falling as it does on the first evening of Chanukah. After all, the completion of Phase 1 of the project is something we’ve accomplished together as a community with a common cause.

You all saw the power of this space, in its still very unfinished state over the High Holy Days. How our new “Temple Living Room” inspired and facilitated communal bonds as we all came together, laughing, chatting and embracing before and after services. Now, we’ll be able to see it with all the finishing touches … furniture, wall treatments, flooring, lighting, paint, glass railings and so much more. And we’ll be able to imagine how our new spaces will help lead us forward, creating new ideas in programming, social action, community building, celebration, prayer and family life.

So please do more than pencil it into your calendars. Please COME, shep naches (take proud pleasure) with our whole community and be part of this next stage of our shared history.

“Hineini: Here I am” Fundraising Update

As we’ve reported many times in this space, our Renewal Project has already set records when it comes to fundraising for a Canadian synagogue capital campaign. But there is still more work to do. More to raise. The wonderful news is, we’ve seen increased momentum in giving since the High Holy Days and Rabbi Splansky’s charge of “Hineini: Here I am” from the Bimah and her inspirational video. Each of us is responding individually, as we take personal responsibility to help close the gap and raise the remaining $4.2 million.

Our goal is for every congregant to contribute in a way that is meaningful and right for them. To discuss your Renewal Gift, please contact Jonathan Ain, Director of Development, at jain@holyblossom.org or 416.789.3291 ext. 249. It would be a wonderful thing if we could celebrate our Housewarming on Dec. 2nd with fundraising for Phase 1 complete, or very close to it.

As always, we thank you for all your support, financial and otherwise, of our Renewal Project!