Temple Sinai in Toronto engages with food, sustainability, and social justice through worship, educational programming, and direct action. Rabbi Eleanor Steinman delivered a sermon on ethical eating during the 2009 High Holidays (read Rabbi Steinman's sermon) and this spring the congregation is launching its Pri Adamah (Fruits of the Earth) Community Supported Agriculture program. Partnering with a local farmer and a community-health program called The Cutting Veg, Temple Sinai will provide weekly produce shares to its members through the spring, summer, and fall. Each week they will donate produce to a local shelter where homeless youth learn cooking skills and receive nutritious meals.
Food access and security issues have long featured prominently in Sinai's activities, with collection cans for Mazon visible at daily minyon to raise awareness and encourage the community to tie social justice to both prayer and food choices. Sinai has also worked with a local meal-delivery program called Food Share to bring ready-to-eat meals, including healthy options, to homebound older adults in the Toronto metro area. Temple Sinai has also worked with, and continues to engage with, local and North American partners working on food issues including the Kavannah Garden in Toronto, Food Share, and Mazon. Through interactive and innovative programming, Temple Sinai hopes to bring in community members to discuss and take action on food issues, and has found that the topic resonates particularly well with young adult congregants. For more information, contact Rabbi Steinman.
