UPCOMING SATURDAY

On the third episode Prof. Vevaina welcomes Dr. Céline Redard a Lecturer for the Institute of History of Religions at the University of Strasbourg, France.

Dr. Céline Redard is a Lecturer for the Institute of History of Religions at the University of Strasbourg, France. She obtained her PhD from the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris in 2010 with her doctoral thesis being an edition, translation, and commentary on Vidēvdād 19. Subsequently, she was a Research Assistant at the Collège de France in Paris from 2008 to 2014 and was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship at the University of Liège in Belgium from 2014 to 2016.

From 2017 to 2022, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher attached to the Multimedia Yasna (MuYa) Project funded by the European Research Council and directed by Prof. Almut Hintze at SOAS (London). Dr. Redard is currently carrying out her research on the Gujarati ritual directions in the Avestan manuscripts with the aim of studying the transmission of rituals in India from the 16th century until today.

"Zoroastrian Conversations" is envisioned to be a Charlie Rose-style interview show that would feature Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina (Bahari Associate Professor of Sasanian Studies and Fellow of Wolfson College at the University of Oxford) interviewing academics from around the world working on Zoroastrian and Parsi Studies, the history, languages, and cultures of early Iran and cognate disciplines.

The interviews would be conducted on Zoom and moderated by FEZANA and would serve the function of introducing the global Zoroastrian communities to the most respected and up-and-coming scholars working in these fields.

These ‘Zoroastrian Conversations’ would also serve as a forum for community members to learn about the research and teaching being undertaken by professional academics and would serve the purpose of both public engagement and education.

The central premise would be an informal chat, perhaps every two months, where the scholar chatting with Prof. Vevaina could tell us a bit about their background, entrance into the field, their research interests, things they find fascinating about Zoroastrianism and Zoroastrian communities and their wish lists for what projects they would like to undertake in the future.

The two new hires in North America at the University of Toronto and UC Irvine have agreed to participate and such a forum would allow Zoroastrians the world over to listen to and learn from our newest professors and many other speakers from all over the world in the months to come.

Join On Zoom

FEZANA is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Zoroastrian Conversations: Prof. Celine Redard with Prof. Yuhan Vevaina

Time: Oct 7, 2023 9:00 AM Pacific | 12:00 PM Eastern Time

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 874 3973 0140
Passcode: FEZANA
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We are reaching out to the community at large to ask for your generous support to help raise money to assist with the medical costs of Ervad Shahzad Darayus Hozdar who has been diagnosed with high-grade Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a condition in which bone marrow does not produce enough healthy blood cells. This puts him at a high risk of developing Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. Any amount you can donate will make a huge difference in his life.

Unfortunately, Shahzad’s younger brother passed away at the age of 20 from AML. The family is devastated to face this nightmare again and is terrified of losing another son. Shahzad is a young Dastoor who is a kind, gentle, and loving person. He has a bright future ahead of him, and he deserves a chance to live. The only curative treatment for MDS is a bone marrow transplant, but unfortunately, Shahzad does not have any siblings who can be his donors. His best option at this time is to take medications that can slow down the progression of the disease and improve his quality of life.

The family is very grateful to Dr. Antia and Dr. Jeyhan Dhabbar, Hematologist and Haemato-Oncologist who are treating Shahzad free of charge at the Parsee General Hospital in Mumbai, India. They have recommended that Shahzad needs to start taking medications that can reduce the risk of MDS transforming into AML. However, this medication is very expensive and each injection costs about IRS. 80,000.00 (CAD $1,302). Besides injections, he also needs a bone marrow transplant, and they are approaching Tata Memorial Centre for a donor.

His father recently met with an accident and is gradually recovering and regaining his speech. For some, misfortune comes with vengeance, and he lost his job.

Please help us save Ervad Shahzad and receive his family’s as well as Ahura Mazda’s Blessings.

You can make your donation directly below:

Account No: 032001008110
Name: SHAHZAD DARAYUS HOZDAR
IFSC Code: ICIC0000320
MMID: 9229510
Account Type: Savings
Bank: ICICI Bank

We appreciate your kindness and compassion in these difficult times for the family - Thank you in anticipation of your generosity.

Entertainment committee would like to invite ZSO members who would like to be a part of our Entertainment Committee.

We are looking for new members / volunteer chefs to join our committee.

If you wish to join the committee please email us your:

• Full name
• Goals for the committee
• Plans to execute these goals
• 3-4 sentences about yourself

Please do send in your information to entertainment@zso.org by October 31st, 2023.

Looking forward to your email.

Thanking you,

Minoo Bharda

(Entertainment Committee Chair)

&

Mahanaz Sheriar

(Entertainment Committee Co-chair)

First photo is of the author Pablo Vazquez. Second photo is of members of the Zoroastrian Association of Chicago in the Parade of Religions before the start of the Parliament.

As I tell people often, the Parliament of the World's Religions, the world's largest interfaith event representing over 150+ different religious traditions, is important to my own Zoroastrian development and directly responsible for my conversion. Before it, I knew next to nothing about Zoroastrianism, thinking it to be the dead religion of the ancient Persians. Yet here it was, at the FEZANA booth, where I met the Rivetnas, the first Zoroastrians I ever met. They gave me, like so many other attendees walking amongst the booths representing countless religious traditions, something I had never imagined would even exist, a pamphlet with some basic information and a book. With this simple act, by the time of the next Parliament, I was already a Zoroastrian, sedreh and all! In fact, I was there for this year's Parliament in Chicago volunteering with FEZANA telling many curious attendees who, like me previously, had no idea our faith was even still around. This is only a portion of the power, influence, and life-changing experience of the Parliament of the World's Religions with its more than 10,000 attendees who are able to sit and dialogue with each other every four years in ways that rarely happen in our day-to-day lives.

Leading figures including Ervad Mirza and Arzan Wadia marching at opening ceremony

Founded in 1893 at the World's Fair in Chicago, the Parliament of the World's Religions was the Upper Western World's first exposure to so many of the world's varied religions. Swami Vivekananda represented Hinduism there, receiving a standing ovation from an audience that included many who had never ever seen a Hindu before, and our own Sir Jivanji Jamshedji Modi delivered a paper prepared by both Dadabhai Naoroji and Ervad Sheriarji Dabadhai Bharucha that gained the attention of many there. It cemented the Zoroastrian community's stalwart involvement with the Parliament that continues to this day with not only a booth where attendees can buy books and learn more about our beautiful faith but also with Zoroastrians as invited major speakers to address the Parliament, including Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and CNN reporter Parisa Khosravi, and with Zoroastrians on its board of trustees such as Mahrukh Motafram and Dolly Dastoor who have made our presence there all that more impactful. This year, as we have before, Zoroastrians even took part in the Parade of Faith both before and during opening ceremonies where both the head of FEZANA, Arzan Sam Wadia, and the head of NAMC, Ervad Tehemton Mizra, were present showing that once again our beautiful community, despite our numbers, packs an outsized punch in global affairs. As Mr. Wadia himself puts it: "Every four years, the Zoroastrian faith shines brightly at the Parliament thanks to the hard work of our leadership teams and respected speakers who showcase the beauty and majesty of our storied religion...We always look forward to participating and joining arms with our fellow co-religionists for what is a memorable and impactful week of interfaith dialogue and collaboration".

This sort of interfaith work is important because we're able to not just increase knowledge about our own faith and traditions but also help increase wisdom and understanding in a troubled world where so many are scared to even talk to their neighbors, or go into certain neighborhoods because of what they believe, who they worship, and the like. In matters of interfaith, I am proud to say that our community has not just been at the forefront consistently throughout North America and the world, but has a sacred calling towards it. Zarathushtra proclaims in the Gathas, in Yasna 30.9, that "We thus desire to be those who will bring magnificence to what exists, Oh Mazda and you other Ahuras, alongside the renovators and Asha, when we have centered our thoughts wherever wisdom and understanding may be found." Zarathushtra declares that his followers will not only seek wisdom and understanding wherever they can but also be the ones to help renovate existence, make our reality all that much better, and bring us closer to the Frashokereti, the "making beautiful" of our world. Interfaith work, if anything, is building and seeking wisdom and understanding with our global neighbors and with events like the Parliament, where through panels, speeches, ritual performances, informative lectures, and even simple conversations over lunch, we accomplish the duty set forth to us by Zarathushtra thousands of years ago.

Written by: Pablo Vazquez (Zoroastrian Center of Austin)

NAMC institute of Zoroastrian Studies

We are pleased to announce our upcoming course:

Click Here To Register

FEZANA is happy to announce a Zoroastrians Studies Symposium in honour of our own dear Ervad Dr. Jehan Bagli.

This seminar is being organized by the University of Toronto, The Elahe Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies and is co-sponsored by FEZANA and others.

The detailed program and line up of speakers is listed below.

This is an in-person and online event and we encourage all those who can to attend.

Date: September 9th, 2023
Time: 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Venue: Isabel Bader Theater, 93 Charles St W, Toronto ON, M5S 2C7

Ervad Dr, Jehan Bagli is the most recent recipient of FEZANA's Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the faith and the community here in North America.

He is the founding editor of the FEZANA Journal and has served local member associations and FEZANA in various capacities over the decades.

If you are planning to attend in person please RSVP at the ink below. The venue has limited seating.

Register for In-Person

To attend the online Zoom session, click on the link below to register.

Register for Online Event

The OCZF's Place of Worship Advisory Committee (PWAC) are extremely pleased to inform the community that on September 08, 2023, the
Town of Oakville issued the building permit that enables OCZF to start construction of their new Place of Worship.

To read more click below:

Read More

The World Zoroastrian Chamber of Commerce (WZCC) Toronto Chapter is proud to announce the next meeting at the OZCF hall.

We will hear from three entrepreneurs who all started their businesses during the COVID years. The challenges they faced and where they are today. If you are an entrepreneur who started a business during the COVID years, please contact: afreed.mistry@gmail.com to be a speaker at the event.

We will have sign up for membership for WZCC for $50 (until Dec. 2024).

Event Date: Saturday, Sept. 2nd, 2023 @ 1:30 PM

Location: OZCF, 1187 Burnhamthrope Road E., Oakville, ON

Event Fee: Free

Please sign up to attend the event:

Agenda:

• 1:30 pm - Registration and Networking (snacks will be served)
• 2:00 pm - Announcements and Introductions
• 2:15 pm - Hear from the Enterprising Entrepreneurs
• 3:15 pm - Networking with members

Speakers:

Diana Daver

Diana is the owner of a small business called JustSoaps by Diana. She makes handmade organic soaps in small batches. These soaps are packed with natural goodness and are devoid of any harmful chemicals like phthalates and parabens found in commercial soaps which are all carcinogenic and cause more harm than good. Diana’s soaps contain glycerine (which is a natural compound derived from vegetable oils and is known for its moisturizing properties), organic essential oils, skin friendly ingredients and are as natural as possible. Since these are as the name says “just soaps” they contain no preservatives, foaming agents and toxic scents. These soaps  do have a small shelf life like all things natural and for all good reasons. They are perfect for all skin types and for all ages. What’s more is that these soaps are easily customizable too. They make for very unique and personal gifts as an added bonus.

Dr. Armita Bhesania

Drs. Armita and Adil Bhesania - two young sibling entrepreneurs have started a dental clinic in Mississauga, ON.

Armita will be speaking at the WZCC event.  She went to dental school and graduated from Dalhousie University in 2019. She then did an additional year of intense training at Mount Sinai Hospital downtown Toronto.

Adil and Armita always knew they wanted to buy a dental clinic together and serve the community in whichever way they can. After 2 years of constant searching, they finally found a clinic they loved and are proud to call it their own. Churchill Smiles Dentistry is located in Mississauga.

Anaheez Karbhari

Anaheez Karbhari is a UX Designer based in Toronto, Canada. She is the founder and owner of Jaan Joon, a small baking business that blossomed during the rise of the pandemic. As a self-taught baker, Anaheez enjoys the process of innovation while paying homage to traditional Persian & Indian palates. Honey, saffron, pistachios, rose and cardamom are some of Jaan Joon’s staple flavor profiles. Anaheez specializes in unique goodies such as bite-sized truffles, macarons, and cookies, and is now shipping across Canada & the United States.

Regards,

WZCC Toronto Chapter Team