Come Together at Temple Sinai

Temple Sinai is more than a synagogue community; it is your spiritual home. You are among many warm and wonderful people who make up our congregation. Whether at lifecycle moments, learning opportunities, prayer, celebration, or Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) programs, Temple Sinai has a place for you!

For nearly 70 years, Temple Sinai has been recognized as one of the most vibrant and innovative Jewish congregations in the Toronto area. Today, that legacy continues with our welcoming and inclusive approach to building community, which is firmly rooted in Jewish tradition. Your renewed commitment to our community is greatly appreciated.

Renew your membership online

If you have any questions about membership, please contact Fran Isaacs, Member Services at 416.487.4161 or email fran@templesinai.net

Temple Sinai Membership Contributions
High Holy Days Guide 2022/5783
Jewish Holiday Calendar 2022/23
FAQ

Benefits of Membership

  • Belong to a warm, welcoming community where tradition and innovation meet
  • Delight in a full roster of Temple Sinai social, spiritual, and learning opportunities 
  • Engage in an inclusive, equitable and welcoming Temple community
  • Experience life’s events together: a baby naming, a bar or bat mitzvah, a wedding or a funeral with our Rabbis and Cantors and the support of our Temple community
  • Provide children opportunities to learn and celebrate Jewish living by embracing Jewish values, social justice, and a focus on Israel
  • Enjoy musical programs and events throughout the year
  • Observe the High Holy Days together – either in person or live-streamed
  • Receive rabbinic counselling and pastoral support
  • Connect in meaningful ways to Israel and our larger world
  • Opportunity to purchase burial plots at Pardes Chaim or Interfaith section at Lambton Hills Cemetery
  • Use of Temple Sinai’s facilities including newly renovated Fanny and Al Green Halls complete with the new Shnier Family kitchen​

Get Involved

Our programs, outreach and services are created to bring meaning, comfort, learning and joy to our members. Designed to inspire and engage, our programs endeavour to involve congregants as active participants or contributors.

We have outlined our opportunities in four categories: Community, Learning, Spiritual and Tikkun Olam.

Community

Learning

Spiritual

Tikkun Olam

At Temple Sinai, contributions are received in a myriad of ways. The mitzvah of Tzedakah – be that with your time, expertise, insights, or financial contributions, is appreciated greatly. We hope you will find ways to both be inspired and contribute, to strengthen our vibrant community.

This is our community to create. It is ours to shape and form. You will get out of it what you put into it. Temple Sinai offers an excellent range of opportunities for you, at every age and stage, to build relationships and find your own special place in the Temple community.

Be inspired

Canasta
Choir
Clubyish
Eco-Sinai
Gardening
Israel Connections
Mah Jong
Men’s Chat Group
Mindfulness for Healing
NextGen (20s/30s)
Photography
Pilates
Power of Posture
Renaissance
Snowshoeing
Temple Sinai Golf Tournament
Temple Sinai Social Club
Temple Sinai Stitchers
Tikkun Olam

Contribute

Along with making new friends, learning new things and strengthening our community, we are also looking for new leaders to help with our existing groups. Temple is always interested in ideas to form new groups. We are also looking for Administrative Help, Technical Assistance or Special Event Help.

Click here to get involved

Regardless of age, there is always something new to learn at Temple Sinai. Lifelong learning is built into the fabric of our Temple community. As we each pursue our own Jewish journeys, our rabbis, cantors and educators help us to answer our burning Jewish questions, to connect to the wealth of Jewish wisdom and to satisfy our curiosity.

Learn more about our Preschool programs
Learn more about Jewish Learning for students 4-18

Be Inspired

  • Rabbinic series on relevant topics
  • Weekly Chevrat Torah Study
  • Masterclasses at the High Holy Days
  • Lewis David Katzman Literary program
  • Adult Hebrew language classes
  • Torah chanting classes
  • Special learning opportunities throughout the year with guest speakers

  • Remote Shalom – online programs with our sister congregation Ramot Shalom in Israel

Contribute

Parent Advisory Group

Parent Advisory Group, Community Contributors

Kehillah, Madrichim, LOTSSY Board (League of Temple Sinai Senior Youth), Teen Israel Trip 2023 and the opportunity to receive a post-secondary scholarship through the Gordon Scholars program. 

Help lead our young family programming and encourage involvement

Click here to get involved

Live the Jewish calendar joyously at every age and stage of life. In a congregation that sings and celebrates together, our meaningful services enjoy strong lay participation that includes using our own siddur. Our dynamic and innovative festival services include elements of drama, music, poetry and prayer that aim to deepen our connection to Judaism and each other.

Be Inspired

  • Kabbalat Shabbat services
  • Shabbat morning services
  • Morning Minyan
  • Boker Tov: our inspirational and concise daily morning service
  • Shabbat M’nuchah: our once-a-month Kabbalat Shabbat service with an emphasis on mindfulness, meditation and music
  • S’lichot and High Holy Days services
  • Festival observances and celebrations throughout the Jewish year
  • Musical programming inspired by our Jewish heritage and traditions

Contribute

  • Torah Chanting
  • Shiva Leaders
  • Choir
  • Greeters
  • Ushers
  • D’var Torah: help in the development of students writing their d’var torah
  • B’nei Mitzvah logistics coordination: coordinate rehearsals, honours
Click here to get involved

Change can happen when each of us commits to doing something meaningful with our time and resources for the sake of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world). At Temple Sinai, we apply Jewish tradition and values to injustices within and beyond the Jewish world. Some of our initiatives include collection of food and clothing for at-risk communities and involvement with recently arrived refugees. We also provide weekly meals to vulnerable members of Toronto’s homeless community.

Be Inspired

Serving areas in downtown Toronto, Seeds of Hope offers opportunities and support for those experiencing homelessness. Temple Sinai members donate food items weekly to help feed their community members. During the pandemic, the Temple community has risen to the occasion with incredible generosity and commitment to supporting our greater community.

Operating in the Rexdale community in Toronto, this agency focuses on serving neighbourhoods and families that have been made vulnerable by factors of risk and who are disadvantaged by poverty. Temple has worked with them to provide clothing, food, hygiene kits, and arts and crafts supplies for their community.

Contribute

  • Get involved in a leadership capacity in our Tikkun Olam Group
  • Create new initiatives in our Temple community to allow more ways to give back to our greater community
Click here to get involved

Temple Sinai Membership Contributions

  • Find the income category that most closely reflects your family income or your age in the NextGen (20s/30s) members section. For married members, the age of the older spouse is determinative.
  • Beside each income category is a contribution amount that matches that income category.
  • Note the income and dues level amount when you complete your membership application.

  • If your wish to contribute through a gift of securities, Israel bonds, or through your fund at the Jewish Foundation or your family foundation, please contact Ronna Rubin at ronna@templesinai.net. 

NextGen (20s/30s) Membership Contributions

The next generation of Temple Sinai is leading the way forward by doing Jewish. These young adults, ranging in age from 22 to 36, have the opportunity to connect to the Jewish community through social events, networking evenings, social action projects and more!

Our contribution structure makes joining for young adults and young families affordable:

For married members, the age of the older spouse is determinative.
Members’ dependent children under 26 are included in the family contribution.

Temple Sinai Digital Membership

Have friends or family outside the GTA? One silver lining of the pandemic is that it has allowed us to connect with so many new people through new technology platforms. Our fabulous online options have widened our reach, allowing us to give others a taste of what makes our Temple Sinai community special.

Through Temple Sinai Connects, our new digital membership, we invite those who live outside the Greater Toronto Area to be part of our extended family for the 2022-2023 year and experience — virtually — the warmth and vibrancy of our community.

In addition to your fair-share contribution, the following items apply:

The URJ charge is calculated at 12% of the basic membership contribution plus $10 per family unit to support Camp George, our Canadian Reform camp.

A levy based on 10% of your membership contribution will be added to your statement. This levy will help to defray upgrades to our security infrastructure, additional costs of health safety measures, and to maintain an acceptable level of security around our building throughout the year.

($5 per adult 18+) ARZA Canada is the Zionist organization of the Canadian Reform Movement. ARZA Canada works to increase Israel engagement and helps to create an Israel that is both Jewish and democratic. Please note your email address will be shared with Arza Canada. For more information please visit arzacanada.org

Each new member family is assessed for a one-time contribution (equal to their first year’s membership contribution or the minimum level of $470, whichever is greater) to the Building Maintenance Fund, payable over three years. New members under the age of 37 are given the option of paying the assessment either commencing in the year they join or in any year up to and including the year in which their 37th birthday occurs. Where the member chooses to defer the payment, the amount is based on the membership income category applicable in the year in which the payments commence. For married members, the age of the older spouse is determinative. 

The following items are voluntary:

If your means allow, please consider a gift to our Annual Campaign for Tzedakah and help all our family feel part of our community. If you wish to make a gift of securities, Israel bonds, through your fund at the Jewish Foundation or your family foundation, please contact Ann Rosenfield at ann@templesinai.net or 416.487.4161.

($54) As part of creating Jewish leaders of tomorrow with a positive connection to our Temple home, as well as to Jewish peoplehood, we invite our youth to participate in our Jewish travel experiences, youth group events, educational trips, camp and leadership opportunities. These learning experiences are subsidized and are open to everyone. Temple would like to continue nurturing our children by remaining an inclusive, caring community. We invite you to support our youth in becoming our future leaders and in giving them the opportunity to live our Jewish traditions.

($36) The WUPJ promotes Progressive Judaism in places where individuals and groups are seeking authentic, yet modern ways of expressing themselves as Jews. The WUPJ serves congregations and communities in nearly 40 countries, encompassing more than 1,200 Reform, Progressive, Liberal, and Reconstructionist congregations. Further information is available at wupj.org or by email wupj@urj.org.

The Temple Sinai section of Pardes Chaim Cemetery is located at 11818 Bathurst Street, Maple. Plots are currently available for members and their immediate family at a cost of $3,701.88 (including HST). A down payment of $1,701.88 (including HST) is required to reserve a plot. The balance is payable in four equal installments of $500 annually per plot. Side-by-side burials are available for interfaith Temple families at Lambton Mills Jewish Cemetery on Royal York Road. Plots are currently available for members and their immediate family only at a cost of $4,802.50 (including HST). A down payment of $2,642.50 per plot (including HST) is required to reserve a plot. The balance is payable in four equal installments of $540 annually. If you have purchased a plot and are paying for the plot(s) in four installments, your statement will reflect your 2022/2023 installment.)

Jewish Holiday Calendar 2022/23

  • S’lichot
    Saturday, September 17, 2022
  • Erev Rosh Hashanah
    Sunday, September 25, 2022
  • Rosh Hashanah
    Monday, September 26 and Tuesday, September 27, 2022
  • Kol Nidrei
    Tuesday, October 4, 2022
  • Yom Kippur *
    Wednesday, October 5, 2022
  • Erev Sukkot
    Sunday, October 9, 2022
  • Sukkot
    Monday, October 10 to Sunday, October 16, 2022
  • Simchat Torah
    Sunday, October 16, 2022
  • Shemini Atzeret *
    Monday, October 17, 2022
  • Erev Chanukkah (first candle)
    Sunday, December 18, 2022
  • Chanukkah
    Monday, December 19 to Monday, December 26, 2022
  • Tu B’Shvat
    Tuesday, February 6, 2023
  • Erev Purim
    Monday, March 6, 2023
  • Purim
    Tuesday, March 7, 2023
  • Erev Pesach (first seder)
    Wednesday, April 5, 2023
  • Pesach **
    Thursday, April 6 to Wednesday, April 12, 2023
  • Yom HaShoah
    Tuesday, April 18, 2023
  • Yom HaZikaron
    Tuesday, April 25, 2023
  • Yom Ha’Atzmaut
    Wednesday, April 26, 2023
  • Erev Shavuot
    Thursday, May 25, 2023
  • Shavuot *
    Friday, May 26, 2023
  • Tisha B’Av
    Thursday, July 27, 2023

*Yizkor Service
**Yizkor Service on last day of Pesach

FAQ

It takes a lot of hard work from our professional staff, working together with many dedicated volunteers to make Temple Sinai the wonderful “home away from home” that it is for our members. It also takes financial resources to keep the synagogue’s infrastructure in good working order and its administrative, teaching, caretaking and professional staff paid.

Every dollar that you contribute as part of your membership contribution is carefully spent to enable Temple Sinai to be a place where its members can either gather in person or connect online to worship, study and celebrate. To ensure that all can be part of the Temple Sinai community regardless of financial means, 38% of Temple members chose to give to the Annual Campaign for Tzedakah in addition to their membership contribution

If your family is experiencing exceptional financial challenges this year, or if the membership contribution amount seems too high for your family, please be in touch. We don’t want finances to be a barrier to your membership. Please contact Rayner Conway, our executive director, at 416.487.4161, ext. 229. She will be pleased to discuss, confidentially, an amount that works for you and your family. 

All of your contributions to Temple Sinai, including school fees, tzedakah and voluntary contributions, are eligible for a tax credit on your income tax return. The amount of credit you will receive is dependent on the total of the donations that you make in the year to all registered charities. Your tax credit could be up to 50% of the amount of your contribution depending on the total amount of all donations made during the year. Cemetery plots and some preschool programs do not qualify