Puppies and Babies…perks of the job this past week between Shabbark in the Park and Shalom Baby! Monday morning was a wonderful time to be in my office and experience the site (and smell!) of seven babies with the launch of Shalom Baby. With a foreseeable baby boom we knew that these new members of our community (and their parents) would need a way to connect with one another and the community. We are thrilled to launch this new program and welcome many more babies as well! Jewish Federation of Edmonton is one of 13 communities in North America to receive a community engagement grant from PJ Library that will help support this program and are so grateful for this opportunity. 

This weekend marks Tisha B’av, where we mourn the destruction of the Holy Temples in Jerusalem and our resulting exile. As this is a somber time, we are not holding any programming this weekend. We return next week with the second in our JKids drop off days with an artist workshop, water fun and more. We also have the Snow Valley Aerial Park offered at half price on Sunday, June 25 from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Grab some friends and join us for some outdoor fun! Subsidies are available for all of our summer programming. 

On Wednesday, in partnership with Federations across the country, CIJA hosted a nationwide Community Town Hall to discuss antisemitism in Canada. The goal of the town hall was to invite perspectives from Jewish Canadians in advance of the Emergency Summit on Antisemitism being held by the government on July 21. 

The Town Hall featured the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth – whose department is hosting the summit – and the Honourable Irwin Cotler, Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism – who is co-chairing.  If you missed the town hall, the video is available at Fight Antisemitism. If you have a message you would like CIJA to relay to our government, please email or submit a short video testimonial. 

Both Steve Shafir, president, and I will be attending the summit. There will be more opportunities to get involved and we shall bring them to your attention in the days leading up to and following the summit. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Stacey