Kolot Mayim Reform Temple

10/22/2026

Join us tomorrow, Friday, October 23 at 6 pm for Kabbalat Shabbat followed by a community potluck.

Please bring a dish that serves 6 to 8 people (no meat or shellfish, please). We’re especially short on main dishes and appetizers, so if you can bring one of those, we’d be so grateful.

Everyone is welcome. Come for the songs, stay for the food and the company.

10/21/2026

https://youtube.com/shorts/Ouv04NCexJY?si=2M9CTbZykKwfG1MS

Rabbi Matthew Ponak introduces his free talk on
The Jewish Spiritual Seeker: Journeying Away and Coming Home. Live and In Person in Victoria BC and on Zoom. Sunday November 1/26 at 11 AM PT. Register here:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/EkdWxkpkTGCVwkIgUJLieA #/registration

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

10/21/2026

Kolot Mayim is growing, and we’re so grateful to everyone who calls it home. 💙

This year we welcomed 60 member households. Our High Holiday services were deeply meaningful thanks to Rabbi Ilana’s leadership and Cantor Rob’s music, and our first-ever family Rosh Hashanah service brought together 40 people, including 15 children!

There’s more to come: Rabbi Ilana is starting a beginning Yiddish class this month, with a Mussar class on Jewish ethical teachings to follow soon.

Whether you’ve been with us for decades or are just discovering us, there’s a place for you here. Learn more:

Welcome to Kolot Mayim Reform Temple! We are located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on beautiful Vancouver Island. Services are every week, alternating Fridays and Saturdays with our Spiritual Leader, Lynn Greenhough

10/19/2026

Monday Morning Minyan resumes Monday, October 19 at 9:00 AM at the JCC and continues weekly

Torah Talk with Rabbi Ilana, Wednesday, October 21 at 12:00 PM on Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7555078341?pwd=SG1xZ2RWR3VOZmhia0xyRnVLZkpmZz09

Kabbalat Shabbat Community Potluck Dinner, Friday, October 23 at 6:00 PM at the JCC. Bring your family, friends and a dish to share!

Shabbat Morning Service, Saturday, October 31 at 10:00 AM, followed by a lovely Kiddush

Looking ahead: our 2026-27 Building Bridges Adult Education Series launches Sunday, November 1 with Rabbi Matthew Ponak presenting “The Jewish Spiritual Seeker: Journeying Away and Coming Home.” It’s free to attend, in person or on Zoom. Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/EkdWxkpkTGCVwkIgUJLieA #/registration

Full calendar: https://kolotmayimreformtemple.com/calendar/ =2026&month=10&day=15&view=dayGridMonth

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10/16/2026

This week’s parsha gives us Noah and the Ark, but Rabbi Ilana invites us to look closely at the story that follows it: the Tower of Babel.

A midrash tells that when a builder fell from the tower, no one stopped. When a brick fell, they wept. The builders had come to value their creation above human life.

As Rabbi Ilana writes, it’s a timely lesson in the age of AI, when technology, social media and slogans can seem more important than the people around us. The Tower of Babel reminds us that people, not things, are what ultimately matter.

Read the full reflection in this week’s newsletter!

10/16/2026

Mazel tov to Oakley Rose! This Saturday, October 17 at 10:00 AM, we’ll celebrate Oakley’s Bar Mitzvah at our Shabbat Morning Service.

Please note the special location: Gorge Pavilion, 1070 Tillicum Rd, Esquimalt.

Parking is limited because the lot is shared with the park, so please carpool if you can. We hope to see you there to celebrate this special milestone with Oakley and family!

10/11/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19SEdMAR4Z/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I'm looking forward to giving this talk for Kolot Mayim's Building Bridges series on November 1.

I'll be exploring a question I've been thinking about for years: What can Jewish communities learn from spiritually passionate Jews who have gone elsewhere looking for what they couldn't find within Jewish life?

Some eventually come back, and some don't. Their journeys (OUR journeys!) can teach us something important about how Judaism has changed, and how it might continue to evolve.

I'll be looking at this as an intergenerational story. Each generation inherits a different Judaism, shaped by the world that came before it. For Jews today, that inheritance includes modernity, the Holocaust, the creation of the State of Israel, the information age, and enormous changes in how people understand religion, spirituality, authority, and community.

Rather than treating Jews who wander beyond the community simply as an issue to be solved, I want to ask what their lives can teach us about bringing genuine spiritual connection back toward the centre of Jewish communal life.

The Jewish Spiritual Seeker: Journeying Away and Coming Home
Sunday, November 1 at 11 AM Pacific
In person in Victoria and online via Zoom
Free, with advance registration:
https://kolotmayimreformtemple.com/2026-2027-lecture-series/

09/30/2026

Kolot Mayim’s Building Bridges Speaker Series Returns with L**h L**ha: Journeys of the Soul. The six free webinars will feature leading voices in the Jewish community. The program launches on Sunday, November 1 2026 at 11:00 AM PT with a talk by Rabbi Matthew Ponak on The Jewish Spiritual Seeker: Journeying Away and Coming Home. Rabbi Ponak is a respected teacher of Jewish mysticism, spiritual counselor, and author based in Victoria, BC. This session will be offered live and in person in Victoria, with access to the global audience through a hybrid Zoom webinar. Pre-registration is required. For more information and to register, please visit
https://kolotmayimreformtemple.com/2026-2027-lecture-series

We hope you will join us for this thoughtful and engaging series on the many dimensions of the Jewish journey.

09/20/2026

May these Days of Awe bring you a time of beauty and reflection. Sending wishes for a meaningful Fast and G'mar Chatimah Tovah 🕊️

Join us for Yom Kippur services at the JCC

🕯️ Kol Nidre — Sunday, Sept 20 at 6:30pm
🕯️ Yom Kippur Morning Service — Monday, Sept 21 at 10am
🕯️ Yom Kippur Afternoon, including Yizkor — Monday, Sept 21 at 3pm

Can't join in person? Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur services are also available via Zoom.

09/17/2026

Tonight is the nigth! The Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island kicks off the 2026-2027 Annual Campaign with a special event featuring Ben Mulroney, in collaboration with the Jewish Federation of British Columbia.

Get your tickets and help launch this year's campaign:

Join JFVVI for Opening Night and help launch our Annual Campaign with an evening of connection and purpose with Ben Mulroney.