Messages from the east
December 2019
My Dear Mosaic Brethren,
Our last meeting night was music to my ears. We had four young brothers do pieces of work, to perfection. Bros. Evan Budd, Raheim Bailey, Jamie Granek and Nick Ghorishi did their pieces without a hiccup. I look forward to the time that they can begin to take the Chairs. We also gave tribute to a new member of our Lodge Bro. Shane Farberman for receiving the 2018 Ward 5 Civic Hero award which is awarded to recognize outstanding achievement and individual contributions to the community. We have many Brethren in our Lodge that should get recognition for the good work that they do. They usually do it quietly without the need for recognition but they should be recognized.
In December we will be Raising two Brothers to the THIRD DEGREE. It has been many years since we have done a third, but we already have at least two candidates ready for their third. I thank the Lodge for their backing of these young Masons. Your efforts are now coming to fruition. Our meeting will be on Monday, December the 9th as we did not want to hold Lodge on Christmas Eve.
Brethren, please come to support these two masons in their desire to become Master Masons. As we now start our 100th Year, it was interesting to go back in history to our beginning. Back in 1920 while we were formerly Palestine Lodge, an Initiation, Passing and Raising along with a MM’s apron and life membership was $300. Annual dues was $15 and after 15 years of membership, you became a Life Member. Ladies Night was held at the Temple at 888 Yonge St. and the charge for this event was $3.00 which included dinner and a live band for dancing.
Times have changed.Fraternally Yours,
W.Bro. Bernie Shiner
Worshipful Master, Mosaic Lodge 559
Messages from the east
November 2019
My Dear Mosaic Brethren,
Our meeting in October was outstanding! The reason I say this as I believe that the future of our Lodge is in the hands of our new brethren who are going through the degrees in a manner of which I am very proud. Each and every Initiate and Fellowcraft who has come through, has known their work in an exemplary manner. Both Bro. Raheim Bailey and Bro. Nick Ghorishi knew their work stone cold. May their contemporaries follow in their footsteps.
As we will miss Remembrance Day due to our meeting date, I wish to remind our brethren that we too had numerous members who were part of our armed forces. Some that I can recall are: W. Bro. Mickey Heller, VW. Bro. Ian Franklin, W. Bro. Harry Stein. My apologies to any member who I have left off the list. Brethren, to wear a poppy is a proper thing to do as these Brothers and many others gave their lives and fought for us to be the free country we are. The Poppy Protocol states you can wear a poppy from October 25th- November 11th.
As our 100th year begins on December 9, 2019, and with the Grand Master of Ontario coming on April 22, 2020, we shall begin to learn about our 100 years. To begin, the architect for the formation of Palestine Lodge was a Brother who was a member of Alpha Lodge No. 334. His name was Bro. Arthur Brookstone, a jeweller by trade and a Justice of the Peace for the City of Toronto in 1917. In that era, it was not welcoming for acceptance of Jews into the existing Lodges. Bro. Brookstone felt that a Lodge needed to be created that would welcome Brothers of the Jewish faith. With the assistance of three Past Masters of Alpha Lodge, a new Lodge was founded for members of the Jewish faith only. This is Mount Sinai Lodge which was named after his father Sinai. He also began Mount Sinai Chapter. Later he suggested the formation of Palestine Lodge which came to be. It is safe to say that Bro. Brookstone was one of the founding fathers of Palestine Lodge. Thank you to Mount Sinai Lodge! This month we are going to initiate Stephan Sommer. I would appreciate that you come out and support this fine gentleman for his initiation.
Fraternally Yours,
W.Bro. Bernie Shiner
Worshipful Master, Mosaic Lodge 559
Messages from the east
October 2019
My Dear Mosaic Brethren,
To say the least, the night of September’s Installation was outstanding. The number of brethren that came was unexpected and the number that remained to the end was impressive. Again I wish to thank V.W. Bro Stephen Maizels and W. Bro. Mykl Walderman for their efforts in putting together such a fine group of Masons for the Installing Board. I spent the previous evening at Patterson-Grey Lodge with the same brethren and was impressed by their knowledge, as anyone could and did pick up the slack if someone was not there.
A special thanks to R.W. Bro. Thomas Hogeboom our Deputy Grand Master. His relaxed manner can only help any new Master when they sit in the chair for the first time. His little walk about at the end was something that I have not seen anyone in his position do. His engagement of the brethren accentuated the good time they had in Lodge that evening. One of our members who has not come out in a long time said to me after the meeting, that he was so engaged that he will have to come back as he missed us.
To my fellow Lodge brothers. I hope to not disappoint this year and lead us into a year of masonic conduct and education. Any brother who has any request may approach me and I will see if we can accommodate.
To our younger brothers – this is your Lodge! It is time to hand the reigns over to the young and let the older group guide and assist. We will always be there to help you in any way we can.The last word I have is that on that evening, I was immensely proud of Mosaic Lodge.
May it continue to flourish!
Fraternally Yours,
W.Bro. Bernie Shiner
Worshipful Master, Mosaic Lodge 559
Messages from the east
september 2019
My Dear Mosaic Brethren
Can you believe that I, yes me, Stephen Maizels, am almost at a loss for words. Yes me, can you believe that? I’m never lost for words as you all know.I really got to be so comfortable in the chair of Worshipful Master over the last two years that I would have been happy to stay there ad infinitum. How much better could it have been? A tremendously supportive group of Past Masters, side benchers who came out in good numbers to participate, andsuch a promising good number of top-quality new initiates that came to us through the West Gate, made the experience so easy and so rewarding. However, it is the renewed success of Mosaic Lodge that makes it possible for us to get back to the normal process of officer advancement and that bodeswell for our future.
So as I move on I give you my last Message from the East, with a great sense of gratitude to you all for allowing me the opportunity of serving again in our symbolic Chair of King Solomon some thirty five years after the first time that I had that honour. I thank you all so very much.
As we now head confidently into our 100th year, there is a great deal for all of us to participate in doing and enjoying. I personally very much look forward in my old/new role as a Past Master of Mosaic Lodge to continue being an active part of the excitement that lies ahead of us under the management of the experienced and capable hands of W. Bro. Bernie Shiner, our Master Elect. In the meantime, our Installation Ceremony on September 25th promises to be a sterling event with our Installing Master, W. Bro. Mykl Walderman heading up an outstanding group of invited Masons.
So my brethren, be sure to join our annual celebration of Masonic renewal. I look forward so much to greeting you all then and sharing with you in toasting our newly Installed and Invested Officers. May the Great Architect smile down on us all in our future Masonic endeavours, and to our Jewish Brethren as we approach our New Year, I wish you all Kesiva v’chasima tova! (“May you be written and inscribed for a good and sweet year”.) A year full of gezunt, simcha, bracha and nachas!
Fraternally,
VW.Bro. Stephen Maizels
Worshipful Master, Mosaic Lodge 559
Messages From The East
August 2019
My Dear Brethren
Freemasonry started out more as a Social Society than anything else. Mostly Gentleman, whose peasants looked after the work on their farms and other properties, and secretaries who ran their daily business affairs. Many of them had their country estates and kept their apartments in the city. This was most prevalent in London where they idled away their time in tea and coffee houses, their clubs, in their Masonic and other fraternal places, and dare I say it, sometimes in places and activities of ill repute. Samuel Pepys was a prominent example of the latter. But no more of that.
Well times changed and changed and changed again, but apart from our beautiful meaningful ceremonies that are fundamental to our Craft, the one thing we need to keep doing with full gusto is enjoying our Banquets... not to any way lose that joy and rejoicing that we have always treasured so much over three or four centuries.
We must eat and drink and toast and perhaps sing a little at the appropriate times. We need share a story or two or a respectable joke, we need to bless our food, we need to shake some hands and hug some of our brethren. That’s who we are as Masons, that’s what distinguishes us, that’s what makes us want to come out and enjoy ourselves, leaving the profane world outside our tyled doors. That’s what makes us want to be there to warmly greet a new candidate and to participate in the ceremony of Making him a Mason. And then to take enormous pride in witnessing his delight in what we have done for him as his First Step.
So, talking about Steps, our August meeting on Wednesday the 28th is our traditional Step up Night. Yes, we have yet another young candidate who is looking forward so much to “his” evening, and our Mosaic Officers who are both anxious and happy to show off their ritual skills. This my brethren is the team that under the guiding hand of our Master Elect, W. Bro. Bernie Shiner, will lead us into our 100th anniversary year, and it is so very important that you are there to start our celebration with them.
I greet you well.
Fraternally,
VW.Bro. Stephen Maizels
MESSAGEs FROM THE EAST
June 2019
This is a meeting where your participation is such an important element of the Lodge’s year and it is so very necessary that you come out and play your part. Once you have been initiated, yes, that means every Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master Mason and Past Master, you have the privilege (and responsibility) of casting your votes.
Our Officers are elected by the members of the Lodge, although a few are appointed by the Worshipful Master. In most Lodges, the officers serve in their positions for one year. The names and duties of the officers are mostly taken from very old customs practised by the medieval stonemasons’ guilds, where Freemasonry originated.
In England in the 1400s, under the reign of King Edward III, local (or what we now call municipal) governments grew out of the merchant and craft industries of the towns. The guilds had lots of money and property, as well as organizational and administrative experience. Heads of the guilds became heads of town councils, mayors, sheriffs, and more.
One of the ways a local official proclaimed his rank was by wearing a badge of office, or jewel, on a chain around his neck. This practice survives today. Masonic Lodges do the same thing to identify their officers, carrying over this old guild tradition. Masonic jewels of office are symbolic. Every Lodge is required to have a Worshipful Master, a Senior Warden, a Junior Warden, a Senior Deacon, a Junior Deacon, a Treasurer, and a Secretary. However, Freemasons do not march in lockstep with one another. There are subtle and not- so-subtle differences in the names of officers and their duties, from Grand Lodge to Grand Lodge. And yet, a Mason from Toronto on vacation in Belgium will recognize the same basic framework of the Masonic officer’s line that he had at home in Toronto, governing the lodge he’s visiting in Brussels.
Masonic officers are generally part of what is called a progressive line, also known as “going through the chairs.” It is a line of succession that moves up one position at a time from one year to the next. When a man is appointed to the Junior Steward’s position, in a perfect set of circumstances, seven years later he will be Worshipful Master. Although this curious plan for leadership has its drawbacks, it was designed based on the philosophy of equality among Masons. The progressive line is most common in Ontario, but it exists in many other jurisdictions, as well.
There is supposed to be no politicking or campaigning for an officer’s position. In the ideal Lodge situation, each man simply advances each year, learning each position’s duties and a portion of the Masonic ceremonies. By the time he becomes Worshipful Master of the Lodge, he has sat in every chair. He has learned public speaking, management of a volunteer organization, decorum, and responsibility. And eliminating the annual popularity contest for election that many groups suffer, results in a smoother, friendlier line of succession. Any man, regardless of his social, business, or economic position outside the Lodge room, may aspire to be Master of his Lodge.
There are lots of differences from one jurisdiction to another, and many local Lodges observe different customs that may slightly alter these duties. In the following sections, you’ll find an outline of the most common officers’ positions in our Grand Lodge.
I greet you well.
Fraternally,
VW.Bro. Stephen Maizels
Messages from the east
May 2019
The May meeting is affectionately known as Past Masters’ Night where the Past Masters are invited to perform the degree, hopefully to show the younger brethren “how it is done”. Also as part of that tradition the Master of the Degree Team is appointed because he has just reached the point of being a 25 year Past Master. This year W. Bro David Gelberman has reached that laudable status and G-d willing will be filling that role supported by his contemporaries from his original term as Master.
Of course you all know that our Past Masters of Mosaic have been filling the officers chairs for some time now and we are used to seeing them doing the degree work. In fact our District Deputy, in his recent report to Grand Lodge, commented on the strength of our Past Masters group and as much as that is good for the Lodge it also demonstrates our weakness, in that we have few uninstalled brethren in our officers’ chairs. Happily with the influx of some really promising initiates over the last two years, the problem will soon start to be eliminated.
In the meantime, we have a well-qualified candidate for initiation, Juan-Antonio Carvallo, on this year’s Past Masters’ Night, and you have just got to come out on Wednesday May 22nd to show your support for our candidate and your Past Masters.
The Installation Ceremony, like the rest of our ceremonies, has an interesting history worth learning about. Appended to this summons I have included two articles that give some of the history and will be additionally interesting to members of the Royal Arch (RA). Those parts relate to the RA in the USA and discuss how membership in the RA was originally dependent on being a Past Master. To be inclusive they came up with an honorary Past Master’s Degree but without communicating the secrets of the Master’s Chair. Well worth a read!
Getting back to the May Meeting, come out, have some good food and fun at the Banquet, and welcome a new Brother into Mosaic Lodge.
I greet you well.
Fraternally,
VW.Bro. Stephen Maizels