Yom Yerushalayim Post Kiddush Singalong
2026-05-16 13:00 (America/Toronto) | Ontario
📅 Saturday, May 16 ⏰ 1:00 p.m.📍Darchei Noam
Joyous and inspirational singalong led by Meir Bester of iconic Jerusalem songs from Biblical to modern selections including:
Jerusalem of Gold
Jerusalem of Iron
From the Pinnacle of Mount Scopus
If I forget thee, Jerusalem
…and more

Pins & Needles
2026-05-19 13:30 - 15:30 | Congregation Darchei Noam, 864 Sheppard Ave W., North York, Ontario, M3H 2T, Canada
Pins and Needles is reaching out to let you know that we are always very happy to welcome new members to our group. This month, we will meet on Tuesday, May 5, in the shul library from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and on Zoom on the third Tuesday of the month (May 19). We knit, crochet, and socialize. We would love to have other crafters join us to showcase their work and share tips and stories.
We would also like to inform you that we are currently in need of yarn donations. Especially helpful are donations of blanket-weight yarn and multiple balls of the same weight or colour. If you’re doing some spring cleaning and have yarn you’re no longer using, we’d be grateful if you’d consider donating it to us.
Please contact nancy@kosiner.com if you have any questions.

Shavuot Service and Yizkor
2026-05-22 10:00 | Congregation Darchei Noam, 864 Sheppard Ave W., North York, Ontario, M3H 2T, Canada
Join us for Shavuot services and Yizkor on Friday, May 22 at 10:00 a.m. We will gather for the Shavuot morning service, including Yizkor, as we observe the festival together as a community. A festive Shavuot kiddush will follow services.

Register Here

Shabbat Service, Kiddush Lunch & Community Learning
2026-05-23 10:00 | Congregation Darchei Noam, 864 Sheppard Ave W., North York, Ontario, M3H 2T, Canada
DON’T MISS OUT! BE PART OF THE TRIBUTE: A Special Weekend Honouring Rabbi Tina on May 23rd and 24th!
Space is limited – register NOW!

Shabbat Service
Chai Tea

HIGH TEA — A Celebration of Rabbinic Leadership and Legacy SOLD OUT!!!!
2026-05-24 14:00 | Ontario
The High Tea event is now SOLD OUT! Due to high demand, we have decided to live-stream this event. In order to access the link to view, you MUST
Register Here.

Pins & Needles
2026-06-02 13:30 - 15:30, 2026-06-16 13:30 - 15:30 | Congregation Darchei Noam, 864 Sheppard Ave W., North York, Ontario, M3H 2T, Canada
Pins and Needles is a knitting and crochet group that meets in the shul library on the first Tuesday of each month from 1:30–3:30 p.m., and on Zoom on the third Tuesday of each month. Members gather to knit, crochet, socialize, and share tips, projects, and stories.
The group is also accepting yarn donations, especially blanket-weight yarn and multiple balls of the same weight or colour.
For more information, please contact nancy@kosiner.com.

LECHAYIM! A Canadian Reconstructionist Meet-up
2026-06-02 19:30 | Ontario
LECHAYIM! A Canadian Reconstructionist Meet-up
📅 Tuesday, June 2 ⏰ 7:30 p.m.📍Zoom
What does it mean to build Jewish community in Canada right now? Three Rabbis from three cities are coming together to explore exactly that.
Join Rabbi Liz Bolton (Or Haneshamah, Ottawa), Rabbi Boris Dolan (Congregation Dorshei Emet, Montreal), and Rabbi Ryan Leszner (Congregation Darchei Noam, Toronto) for an evening of shared teaching, honest conversation, and cross-community connection. Together we’ll reflect on what it means to serve Reconstructionist communities in this moment, and what we can learn from one another.
This gathering is also a chance to mark a meaningful moment in Canadian Reconstructionist life. On July 1st, Rabbi Ryan Leszner begins his tenure as Lead Rabbi of Congregation Darchei Noam, Toronto’s Reconstructionist congregation. As this new chapter opens, we thought: what better way to step into it than together, in learning, across our three communities.
This is a rare opportunity to step outside our individual congregations and experience something larger: a living, breathing Canadian Reconstructionist community. Whether you are a longtime member or newer to the movement, you are warmly welcome.
L’chaim to learning together.

Register Here

A WEEKEND WITH RABBI DR. WENDY ZIERLER
2026-06-04 19:00 | Congregation Darchei Noam, 864 Sheppard Ave W., North York, Ontario, M3H 2T, Canada
Rabbi Dr. Wendy Zierler is a rabbi, scholar, and author whose work explores Jewish literature, feminism, and contemporary culture. Originally from Sarnia and raised in Toronto, she is the Sigmund Falk Professor of Modern Jewish Literature and Feminist Studies at Hebrew Union College in New York. Ordained by Yeshiva Maharat in 2021, she is the author of several acclaimed books, including Going Out with Knots: My Two Kaddish Years with Hebrew Poetry (2025).

📅 Thursday, June 4 | ⏰ 7:00 PM | 📍Social Hall
Book Talk: Going Out with Knots: My Two Kaddish Years with Hebrew Poetry
Rabbi Dr. Zierler explores how Hebrew poetry and Israeli culture can offer meaning, comfort, and creative response in times of personal and communal loss.

📅 Shabbat, June 6 | ⏰ 1:00 PM | 📍Sanctuary
And Rachel Stole the Idols: How the First Hebrew Women Writers Took Their Cue from the Biblical Rachel
This talk, based on Zierler’s first book on the emergence of modern Hebrew women’s writing, examines the cryptic biblical episode of Rachel stealing her father’s teraphim from Genesis 31 as a thematic key to understand how the first modern Hebrew woman poets—after centuries of silence—took control of the language of Hebrew literary culture, laying claim to icons of femininity and recasting them for their own purposes.
Register Here

Rabbi Shefa Gold: Toronto Jewish Chanting Retreat
2026-06-06 10:00 | Congregation Darchei Noam, 864 Sheppard Ave W., North York, Ontario, M3H 2T, Canada
Join us for a Shabbat morning unlike any other, as we welcome Rabbi Shefa Gold into the heart of our community’s weekly gathering.
Services begin at 10:00 AM. We encourage you to arrive a little early, so we can gently settle in and co-create the spiritual container together. Please register in advance, and if you’re able, consider contributing toward the cost of the event. Suggested donation: $18.
Congregation Darchei Noam is Toronto’s only Reconstructionist synagogue, and our Shabbat morning services are built on the same foundations that animate Shefa’s work: sacred sound, embodied prayer, and the conviction that spiritual practice is meant to crack us open rather than close us down. We pray from Kol Haneshamah, the Reconstructionist siddur, with joyful singing accompanied by instruments, moments of genuine contemplative stillness, and a d’var Torah rooted in honest engagement with our tradition.
Shefa’s presence will weave through our morning, bringing the transformative power of Hebrew chant into a living, breathing community at worship. Whether you are a longtime chanter or brand new to this practice, whether you have davened every Shabbat of your life or this is your first time in a synagogue in years, you will find a place here.
Stay after the service for our communal Kiddush lunch, where the conversation, the connection, and the singing tend to continue well past noon.
The service will also be available via Zoom for those joining from a distance.
Register Here
By registering, I consent to my email address being shared with program organizers in order to gain access to complimentary chanting resources from Rabbi Shefa Gold, a post-event survey, as well as notice about future chanting opportunities in Toronto.
This program is part of a chant-based “urban retreat” led by Rabbi Shefa Gold across the city from June 4-7. For more details on the entire retreat itinerary, visit https://www.eventcreate.com/e/shefagoldtoronto
The Elka Klein Memorial Lecture Series was established in 2008 as a living memorial to Elka Klein z”l, daughter of Darchei Noam members Suzanne Silk Klein and Martin Klein. At the time of her death, Elka was an assistant professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Cincinnati. The family’s intent is that the lectures support the passions of Elka, including Jewish social history, ethics, evolving halachic practice, women’s rights and education. Her vocation in the educational system centred on the history of Jewish communities in “host” countries where Jews were usually seen as temporary or outsiders. She was interested in how they integrated while retaining their Jewish identity.

Ark Adventures
2026-06-06 10:00 | Ontario
Ark Adventures is designed for young children (ages birth to 5) and their families to experience Shabbat in community together. The program is offered on select Saturdays throughout the year.
Ark Adventures will “set sail” on June 6/ 2026, at 10:00 A.M.
Join us on the ark for a Shabbat adventure!
Member Registration
Guest Registration

Reconstructionist Reading Group: The Religion of Ethical Nationhood
2026-06-13 13:15 | Ontario
Reconstructionist Reading Group: The Religion of Ethical Nationhood

Reconstructionist Reading Group: The Religion of Ethical Nationhood
Curious about Reconstructionist Judaism, nationhood, and big ethical questions in an age that sometimes feels apocalyptic? Join us as we continue studying The Religion of Ethical Nationhood by Mordecai Kaplan, in which Kaplan argues that ethical nationhood is essential for human survival and global stability.
We’ll meet monthly on Shabbat in the library after kiddush, 1:15. The next session is June 13. Registration is required. Digital excerpts will be provided in advance of each session.

Please Register Here

AGM save the date
2026-06-17 19:00 | Ontario

Synaplex Shabbat
2026-06-20 11:00 | Congregation Darchei Noam, 864 Sheppard Ave W., North York, Ontario, M3H 2T, Canada
Synaplex Shabbat

Join us for a meaningful and engaging Synaplex Shabbat at Darchei Noam. We will begin together at 10:00 a.m. with introductory prayers, setting the stage for a meaningful and transformative morning. Then, as we arrive at the Torah service, participants will have the opportunity to choose from three unique experiences of Torah, learning, and community:
– Torah Reading
– Tot Shabbat
– Learning with Rona Kosansky in honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day
Each program offers a different lens into Jewish tradition, spirituality, and learning, creating a Shabbat morning experience with something for everyone.

Please register here for Synaplex Shabbat.
We are committed to providing accessible and inclusive events. If you require an accommodation to fully participate, please contact Claire Levy-Boker at claire@darcheinoam.ca by Monday, March 2.

Tot Shabbat
2026-06-20 11:30 | Congregation Darchei Noam, 864 Sheppard Ave W., North York, Ontario, M3H 2T, Canada
Tot Shabbat!
On Saturday, June 20, Join us as we learn together, sing, and enjoy a delicious Kiddush lunch!
🎵 11:30 AM: Tot Shabbat with fun activities and songs
Let’s celebrate a beautiful year of singing, playing, and dancing together.
Member Registration
Guest Registration

Israeli Dancing
2026-06-20 13:00 | Congregation Darchei Noam, 864 Sheppard Ave W., North York, Ontario, M3H 2T, Canada
Israeli Dancing
Please join us toward the end of kiddush in the Social Hall for an hour of Israeli dancing.
All are welcome to join us in this fun, community-building activity. Join us to enjoy Israeli music and movement.
