Upcoming at Or Chadash

Weekly Newsletter - January 28, 2026

This Friday!

Please join Rabbi Joe, Cantor Jeff & his wife Deborah, and members of the OC Choir, as we celebrate Shabbat Shira.

On Shabbat Shirah, we celebrate a very special moment in the Torah, a very musical moment in Jewish biblical history. It is the Sabbath of Singing with extraordinary music to celebrate Moses and Miriam leading the Israelites across the Sea of Reeds (The Red Sea) and out of Egypt.

Schedule

January 30

Friday

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Shabbat Services at Or Chadash with Rabbi Joe Forman and Cantor Jeff Warschauer (Shabbat Shira)

Join us for this service in person and on Zoom.

Please email Rabbi Forman no later than 5:00 PM on Friday with the names you would like him to read during the Mi Shebeirach.

Yahrzeits

Richard Lieb

Maureen Turner

Beth Gold Soodik

Albert Leon

Howard Spring

Edith Davis

Rose Buchsbaum

Charles Fish

Marilyn H. Hillman

James Abis

February 1

Sunday

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM Religious School: Grades 3, 4, 5, 6

In person at Or Chadash

10:15 AM - 12:00 PM Religious School: Grades K, 1, 2

In person at Or Chadash

12:00 PM - 1:15 PM OCTY Souper Bowl Event

In person at Or Chadash

February 5

Thursday

6:30 PM - 8:15 PM Religious School: Grades 7, 8, 9, 10

In person at Or Chadash

February 6

Friday

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Shabbat Services at Or Chadash with Rabbi Joe Forman and Cantor Jeff Warschauer - Social Action / Social Justice Shabbat with Guest Speaker Sarah Blaine from the URJ

Join us for this service in person and on Zoom.

Please email Rabbi Forman no later than 5:00 PM on Friday with the names you would like him to read during the Mi Shebeirach.

Yahrzeits

Albert Goldstein

Isaac Sacks

Ralph Moutner

Saul Marder

Myra Rascover

Herbert Theile

Anthony Mazzocchi

Sidonia Wolf

February 8

Sunday

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM Religious School: Grades 3, 4, 5, 6

In person at Or Chadash

10:15 AM - 12:00 PM Religious School: Grades K, 1, 2

In person at Or Chadash

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Social Action / Social Justice Book Group

In person at Or Chadash

View Full Schedule

Yahrzeit List

Dinner Club with Our Friends at the

Flemington Jewish Community Center

Sunday, February 22 at the

Savory Thai Restaurant

To help us connect with and foster our broader Jewish community of Hunterdon County, we are joining our friends at the FJCC for one of their bi-monthly Dinner Club. Join other Or Chadash congregants and meet new friends from the FJCC on Sunday, February 22 at 6 pm at the Savory Thai restaurant.

Location: Savory Thai on Route 31 in Flemington, next to the Stop & Shop

Date & Time: Sunday, February 22 at 6 pm

Price: $39 per person (including tip) for a 3-Course Prix Fixe

Additional Info: BYOB, Adults only (18+), the menu will be dairy and/or vegetarian to adhere to the FJCC dietary standards (see menu below)

Please RSVP and submit payment to OC Board Member Suzanne Lieb at suzannelieb@gmail.com or 610-585-1717. Payment can be made by Venmo (@suzanne-lieb), Zelle, or check. For questions, please contact Suzanne.

MENU FOR THE EVENING

Starter (choice of 1):

Avocado rolls
Thai salad with peanut dressing

Entree (choice of 1):

Green curry vegetables
Vegetable Pad Thai
Sweet & Sour vegetables and tofu
Cashews vegetables and tofu

Dessert (choice of 1):

Ice cream
Fried bananas
Coconut Thai pudding

Visit our advertisers - they are friends and family of our synagogue!

Please check them out at the bottom of this newsletter and support them as they so generously support us!

News

Chesed Caring Community

The Hebrew word chesed means "compassion". The Or Chadash Chesed

Caring Community is an informal group of congregants dedicated to helping

members of our temple through life’s challenging times with acts of compassion.

You can volunteer as much or as little time as you are able, even just a few minutes to write a get-well or sympathy note or to make a comforting phone call. Very often, the people who help with Chesed activities get the same uplifting feeling as those who receive assistance. By helping others and allowing ourselves to receive help, we forge meaningful connections with other members of the Or Chadash temple community.

Right now we are looking for volunteers to lead two important services provided by the Chesed Community:

Arranging Food for Shivas - Reach out to the family and see if they would like a meal delivered. If so, find out from where and then make the arrangements to have it delivered.
Organize "Meal Trains" for births & critical illnesses - Reach out to the family to see if & when they might need assistance with meals. Then establish a calendar of when meals are needed and the rest is easy! Rabbi Joe and Betsy will take care of communicating with the congregation to ask folks to supply & deliver the meals.

If you are interested in leading either of these Chesed Community services, please contact Betsy Zalaznick (bzalaznick@gmail.com) or Rabbi Joe Forman (josephforman@gmail.com).

“These are the obligations without measure, whose rewards, too, are without measure:

To perform acts of loving kindness,
To welcome the stranger,
To visit the sick,
To rejoice with the bride and groom,
To console the bereaved,
To make peace where there is strife.”

-Talmud

Programming Committee

We’re starting a new Programming Committee and would love for you to be part of it! This group will help come up with fun, engaging events for our congregation to enjoy together - whether that’s something to do, learn, or simply show up and connect.

The commitment is easy and flexible: one evening Zoom meeting a month and helping plan an event (or two) that interests you. If you enjoy sharing ideas, working with others, and helping bring people together, we’d love to have you join us.

Questions or interested in joining? Feel free to reach out to Debbie Weiss at deb1508@aol.com.

Or Chadash Temple Youth Group (OCTY)

2025-2026 OCTY Co-Presidents:

Kadence Melamud fyferella@gmail.com

Samantha Orr sorr246@gmail.com

Hayden Moscowitz hmoscowi@gmail.com

Braden Hubbard bradenhubbard08@gmail.com

OCTY Advisors:

Stephanie Orr stephanieorr123@gmail.com

Stacey Hubbard stacey.hubbard@gmail.com

Sisterhood

For more details on Sisterhood - click HERE

If you have an idea for an event, we'd love to hear from you!

Please reach out to:

Christine Berg cberg3@comcast.net

📢 Exciting News - Advertise with Us! 📢

We are now offering ad space in our synagogue newsletter to friends and family of our community! This is a great opportunity to promote your business while supporting our synagogue.

Ad Package: $360 per year (or 15 months for first-time advertisers) - newsletters are also accessible on our website for extended visibility
Your ad will appear:
In our weekly email newsletters (sent most weeks of the year)
On our social media pages
With a hyperlink to your business or email in the newsletter

Support our synagogue while connecting with a loyal, engaged audience!

Interested in advertising? Contact Debbie Weiss at deb1508@aol.com for more details.

The OC Gift Card Program:

Gift Cards That Give Back

What if you could donate to Or Chadash without spending any extra?

The OC Gift Card Program is the answer for you!

Why is this so good?

Purchase Gift Cards at face value, and retailers donate a percentage of those purchases to Or Chadash. You always get what you pay for ($100 of ShopRite Gift Cards = $100 to spend at ShopRite), and Or Chadash gets bonus funds because you used Gift Cards from our Program. This fundraising effort requires no extra spending! There are hundreds of retailers!

Click HERE to be directed to RaiseRight.com to create an account. Reach out to Christine Berg for Or Chadash's enrollment code. You only have to do this once. Remember your username and password.

Browse retailers: Take a look at all the participating retailers on the RaiseRight website, and place your order!

Four options for paying: Pay for your orders by checking account (29 cent fee), with credit card (3% fee), with debit card (1% fee), or by check.

Next deadline to order plastic Gift Cards is Sunday, February 15th.

Reach out to Christine Berg any time with any questions: cberg3@comcast.net