Archive for category Jewish
Circle of Care
Posted by Moishe Alexander
Circle of Care is dedicated to supporting independence and of the quality of life of individuals in their homes. Circle of Care is a community based non-profit registered charity that has been serving Toronto and area residents since 1974. Over 450 staff and more than 300 volunteers are available to provide assistance in your home.
Offering a wide range of home and community programs, including homemaking and personal support, social work and volunteer supported services, we strive to help clients live as comfortably as possible in their own home environments, and reduce the challenges they face due to physical, emotional, cognitive or mental health issues.
Circle of Care’s outstanding staff and volunteers care about our clients. We strive to enhance quality of life and ensure safety and dignity. We respect privacy, cultural diversity and the unique needs of each client.
Circle of Care is an accredited agency of Accreditation Canada, a member agency of the United Way Toronto and an affiliate of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. Circle of Care provides service on behalf of four Community Care Access Centres (Central, Central East, Central West and Toronto Central) and the City of Toronto’s Homemakers and Nurses Services Program. Circle of Care receives grant funding from the Central Local Health Intregration Network (Ministry of Health and Long Term Care), Community Services Grants Program of the City of Toronto, United Way Toronto and UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.
Yeshivas Nefesh Dovid
Posted by Moishe Alexander
The first Jewish high school of its kind in the world, Yeshivas Nefesh Dovid (YND), founded in 2001, channels the knowledge of Torah into the hearts, minds and lives of deaf and hard-of-hearing young men. YND, with its sterling secular educational program, is a valuable support system for this population throughout the global Jewish community. YND accepts young men in their teens from yeshivos, Jewish Day Schools, and public schools and addresses all the emotional and academic challenges that those with hearing loss typically deal with on a daily basis regardless of mode of communication.
A unique aspect of the program is the presence of role models who are deaf or hard-of-hearing themselves, including Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Kakon, the Dean and Rosh Yeshiva, and co-founder Dr. Hart Bressler, MD. In addition to trained and qualified rebbeim and teachers, sign language interpreting services, speech pathology, audiology services and an array of recreational activities all complement the program. Upon graduation, the students receive an internationally recognized Ontario Secondary Diploma. Since its inception, YND’s current home base at the Yeshiva Gedolah of Toronto only serves to further integrate the students with hearing peers and the community at large.
Rabbi Kakon earned his Master’s Degree in Talmudical Law and s’micha (rabbinical ordination) from Ner Israel Rabbinical College of Baltimore, Maryland. He also holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland. As a licensed therapist, Rabbi Kakon provided clinical therapy services for several years.
While in Baltimore, he also founded and directed the only overnight camp for deaf and hard-of-hearing Jewish adolescent boys at Ner Israel Campus for seven summers. The success of the program and the necessity for a year-around education for this population resulted in Rabbi Kakon and his family’s relocation to Toronto to co-found YND.
Rabbi Kakon, a descendant of the Ropshitzer Rebbe and a ninth generation descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, is a charismatic teacher whose unique experiences and achievements inspire people from all backgrounds and walks of life.
Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Shmayahu
Posted by admin in Jewish, Jewish studies, School, Toronto on November 30th, 2009
Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Shmayahu is located in North York, Ontario.
There are a seven types of yeshivot:
1. Yeshiva ketana (“junior yeshiva”) – Many yeshivot ketanot in Israel and some in the Diaspora do not have a secular course of studies and all students learn Judaic Torah studies full time.
2. Yeshiva High School – Also called Mesivta or Mechina or Yeshiva Gedolah, combines the intensive Jewish religious education with a secular high school education. The dual curriculum was pioneered by the Manhattan Talmudical Academy of Yeshiva University (now known as Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy) in 1916.
3. Mechina – For Israeli high-school graduates who wish to study for one year before entering the army.
4. Beth Medrash – For high school graduates, and is attended from one year to many years, dependent on the career plans and affiliation of the student.
5. Yeshivat Hesder – Yeshiva that has an arrangement with the Israel Defence Forces by which the students enlist together in the same unit and, as much as is possible serve in the same unit in the army. Over a period of about 5 years there will be a period of service starting in the second year of about 16 months. There are different variations. The rest of the time will be spent in compulsory study in the yeshiva.
6. Kollel – Yeshiva for married adults. The kollel idea, though having its intellectual roots traced to the Torah, is a relatively modern innovation of 19th century Europe. Often, a kollel will be in the same location as the yeshiva.
7. Baal teshuva yeshivot catering to the needs of the newly-Orthodox. The best-known are Ohr Somayach, Aish HaTorah, and Hadar Hatorah.