May 2009 News
Annual Family Picnic at Earl Bales
Close to 1,500 people converged on North York’s Earl Bales Park for on May 12 for the JRCC’s annual Lag B’Omer Family Picnic. Lag B’Omer celebrates the life of the first century Talmudic Sage and mystic Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, author of the Zohar, who is held as an example of Jewish pride and brotherly love.
It is difficult to describe the jubilant, festive atmosphere of the day, with hundreds of people involved in fun activities and
spending quality time with their families and each other. As the festive music played throughout the park, a clown roamed the grounds making animal-shaped balloons for the kids. Lines formed in front of the various attractions, including the barbecue and cotton candy, face painting, and a moonbounce ride. The staff from Sports with Jay provided a lively and entertaining interactive sports area, where both children and adults competed for prizes and bragging rights. Fun picnic games, including potato sack races, hoola hoops, tug of war and parachute were intermingled with more traditional ball sports like soccer and baseball to provide a wide array of sporting activities all afternoon.
A children’s rally and a parade featured the children from the JRCC’s Daycare, Hebrew School and Kids Club, along with any
children who wished to participate. The children demonstrated their Jewish knowledge and pride, and several prizes, including a small pool, a scooter, electronic games and toy cars, were given out. Elizabeth Finkelzon walked away with the hottest prize of the day, a 4GB video mp3 player. The sporting activities and parade were followed by an acrobatic performance provided by
the Wonderful World of Circus.
Lag B’Omer is also the day that three-year old boys born after Passover celebrate their Upsherin, or initial haircutting (since it
is customary not to cut hair between Passover and Shavuot, except on Lag B’Omer). Leibel Zaltzman, son of Mendel and Chanie Zaltzman was one of those who celebrated his Upshernish on Lag B’Omer, and he was able to do it with the community at the Earle Bales picnic. A throng of people that surrounded the young boy for a chance to take a snip, and the family distributed sweet desserts to everyone to mark the occasion.
Toward evening, the bonfire became the focal point, with people sitting around, playing music, singing, and roasting potatoes and marshmallows on the open fire.
The JRCC would like to thank all the staff and volunteers who came together to organize this year’s event and making it a day to remember.
Gen J Kumzitz
Taking advantage of a warm evening, several hundred young adults came to Earl Bales Park in the evening to take over the bonfire and the park site from the JRCC family picnic. Live music and a barbecue dinner were the main attractions, but as always the most memorable part of the evening was the opportunity to gather and "chill" with friends, and make some new ones. The improvised music, along with the wisdom and stories around the bonfire with Rabbi Levi Jacobson, lent the evening a mystical vibe, as the crowd mingled and partied into the night. For more information on Gen J, the JRCC’s program for students and singles, contact Rabbi Jacobson at [email protected].
Shavuot Happenings
As we prepare this edition for print, several Shavuot events are about to take place at the end of May, including a slew of women’s pre-Shavuot experiences, all-night learning session, readings of the Ten Commandments, and ice cream parties for children. Stay tuned for details in next month’s issue.
