WEEKLY NEWS

Yigdal Service (Ages 5-7, Family or Drop-Off): Saturday, 11am in 2 South

Big Kids Service (Ages 8-12, Kids Only): Saturday, 11am in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel

TeleTefila Havdallah: Saturday, 7:44pm on Zoom

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Community-Wide Potluck Kiddush

This Shabbat (March 15) after services in Hirsch Hall

Join us for a special community-wide potluck kiddush! Everyone is welcome after services for kiddush and schmoozing. We’ll provide the main dish, you bring a side dish or dessert to share.

Please RSVP to help us plan.

We also invite you to our Kiddush Conversation on The History of Jews in the Persian-Speaking World. Details below.

Kabbalat Shabbat Now Starting at 6:30pm  

Please note that starting tomorrow (March 14) Kabbalat Shabbat services will start at 6:30pm. Join us tomorrow for a special teen-led service!

Pick Up Mishloach Manot Today and Tomorrow

AC members are invited to pick up their Mishloach Manot bags in the lobby either during Megillah reading this evening (starting at 7pm) or tomorrow (Friday) from 9am - 1pm.

A Visit to Jewish Rome, with Leah Koenig

Thursday, March 20 at 7pm in 5 North

Award-winning author Leah Koenig will discuss Portico: Cooking and Feasting in Rome’s Jewish Kitchen. Drawing on three traditions—Italkic, from the Jews of ancient Rome; Sephardic, dating from medieval times; and Libyan, the most recent—Koenig will recount a lively history of Jewish life in Italy, especially in Rome, as well highlight a varied array of recipes, with elegant vegetable dishes, deeply flavored stews, rustic pastas, and classic Roman Jewish dishes that are designed for the home cook. Learn more and RSVP

Shirei Shabbat Musical Kabbalat Shabbat

Friday, March 21 at 6:30pm in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel

Join Hazzan Hirschhorn, our choral intern Marc Szechter and Shirei Chesed singers for an evening of song and prayer as we support and elevate the voice of our community with rich harmonies. Come to hear our special musical surprise!

West Side Minyan & Minyan Rimonim Megillah Reading

7pm in 5 North or by Zoom

The West Side Minyan, Minyan Rimonim, and TeleTefila will hold Purim services beginning at 7pm with song and schmoozing, with Ma'ariv at 7:30pm followed by Megillah Reading. 

Friday, March 14

Morning Minyan

7am in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel

Morning Minyan will include the full Megillah reading. Join us In-Person or via Zoom at AnscheChesed.org/WeekdayMinyan

Shushan Purim Kiddush Conversation: The Rich History of Jews in the Persian-Speaking World, with Ruben Shimonov

Saturday, March 15 during Kiddush (around 12:45pm) in the Multipurpose Room

How did Jewish communities end up east of the Land of Israel? Join us as we explore the deep-rooted history of Persian-speaking Jews, including the Jews of Iran, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. Ruben Shimonov, Educator and National Director of the American Sephardi Federation’s Sephardi House will take us on a journey spanning 2,600 years. As we come together on Shushan Purim, this exploration couldn’t be more timely!

Please RSVP to help us plan, walk-ins also welcome.

Blood Drive at AC

Sunday, March 23 from 10am - 4pm in 5 North

Come donate blood with the New York Blood Center. It's a mitzvah, and it's easy: it takes only about an hour, and each donation can save up to three lives. Remember to eat, drink and bring your donor ID card or ID with name and photo. Make an appointment

Stay tuned for more info!

Pre-Pesach 'Meet Your Neighbor' Dinner

Tuesday, April 1 from 7 - 9pm at AC

Every year at the Seder we say “Let all who are hungry, come and eat.” Join us Knock Kock Give a Sock as we get ready for Pesach by bringing together the AC community and our neighbors living in local shelters to enjoy a meal sitting side-by-side. There will be ice breakers and delicious food. This is an opportunity for us to share and listen to one another, so that ultimately we can live in a community where we better know our neighbors. Learn More and Register

Thank you to Nicole Rothschild & Leonard DiPietra and their family, and Bruce and Ava from Chef’s Table, for their generous support of this event.

Make Your Own Matzah

Sunday, April 6 from 10 - 11am on the 5th Floor

“Rabbenu Asher would work hard himself on baking matzot for the seder, encouraging and assisting the bakers, and so it is proper for every person to do, engaging in this mitzvah themselves.”- Shulhan Arukh 460.2

This year, we'll empower you to make Kosher-for-Passover matzah for the seder night with your very own hands. We are partnering with Mitzvah Matzos, a great organization dedicated to fighting human trafficking at our holiday of liberation. When it's over, you'll walk away with organic matzah that more closely resembles a soft wrap than a crunchy cracker -- but is totally Kosher! Learn More and Register

Community Second Seder

Sunday, April 13 at 7pm in Hirsch Hall

This year consider joining us for an engaging participatory intergenerational Seder celebration. Rich in songs in many languages, rooted in tradition, highlighting and weaving together unique stories and experiences of everyone around the table. No one leaves a stranger!

“Let all who are hungry come and eat.” — Our seder is open to AC members and non-members, adults and children. Register by Tuesday, April 8.

Book Drive for PS 145

Sunday, March 30 from 11am to 1pm in the AC Lobby

Share our love for reading with our neighbors at PS 145! We warmly invite all congregants to help fill the PS 145 Bookshelf by donating new and gently used children’s books. The books collected will supply the PS 145 Bookshelf, where students can “shop” for books to take home, keep, and enjoy.

We ask you to refer to the following guidelines; members will be asked to take any books back home that do not meet the criteria for acceptance. Due to storage limitations, please do not drop off books on other days or times. (Can't make it to donate on this date? Not to worry, there will be future book drives!)

You can also sign up as a volunteer to help collect and sort books.

Support Asylum Seekers in NYC

As a synagogue community who recognizes the divine image of all people, is motivated by the mitzvah of welcoming the stranger, and is composed of generations of immigrants from across the world, we hope you will join us in supporting asylum seekers in our city. If you would like to hear from us about future opportunities to get involved, please join our mailing list.

Pre-Shabbat Climate Action from Jewish Climate Action Network NYC

Subscribe for weekly emails with a quick action you can take to support climate legislation, and a short reflection for Shabbat. View this week's.

Rabbi Jules Harlow Parshat HaShavuah Class

Saturdays, 9am in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel or on Zoom

Source Sheet (updated Friday afternoons)

Dedicated to Rabbi Jules Harlow, a great teacher of Torah and Jewish liturgy. Come before class at 8:45am for hot coffee and schmoozing!

Shirei Chesed Community Chorus

Tuesdays from 7:30 - 9pm in 5 North

Shirei Chesed builds community through a rich repertoire of Jewish music, bringing harmony to a world that needs it more than ever. Learn more or schedule an audition with Hazzan Natasha Hirschhorn.

Holy Books & Holy Time: Talmud with Rabbi Kalmanofsky

Wednesdays at 7pm in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel or via Zoom



This year we will study tractate Shabbat, Chapter 16, which addresses how to write and care for sacred texts.

Parsha Talk

Join Rabbi Kalmanofsky and his buddies Rabbis Barry Chesler and Eliot Malomet for their weekly Parsha Talk. Watch the latest episode

Misheberakh List

We invite you to add the names of your dear ones. Please re-submit them each English calendar month if you'd like us to keep davvening for them.

Chef's Table: Special Passover Catering Menu

Our longtime friend and kitchen tenant, Bruce Soffer of Chef's Table, offers a special catering menu for Passover. Chef's Table prepares delicious kosher meals, delivered to your door.

Contact Bruce at 917-868-7964 or his website for more information. 

Searching for the Light: Songs of Love, Justice and Peace

Thursday, March 20 at 7:30pm at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

(15 West 16th St.)

Join the American Society for Jewish Music and YIVO for a free concert of Jewish choral masterpieces, featuring the magnificent voices of students from the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music and the Jewish Theological Seminary’s H. L. Miller Cantorial School. Joyce Rosenzweig and Cantor Natasha J. Hirschhorn will serve as conductors, with Pedro d’Aquino accompanying the choir on the piano. Learn More and Register

Israel at a Crossroads: Navigating Religion, Democracy, and Justice

Tuesday and Wednesday, April 1-2 at the Jewish Theological Seminary (3080 Broadway at 122nd St.)

This convening aims to examine the key challenges Israel faces as it strives to navigate a path toward greater justice, inclusion, and collective healing in the wake of profound trauma. With a particular focus on the events of October 7 and their far-reaching implications, our sessions will address pressing issues such as the state of democracy and the rule of law, Israel’s identity as both a Jewish and democratic state, and emerging prospects for cultural and religious pluralism. The sessions will seek to foster a thoughtful analysis of Israel’s current dilemmas, by bringing together a diverse group of scholars, religious leaders, legal experts, and cultural voices. Learn More and Register

Person in Need of Kidney Donation, from Julie Sissman

Some of you may know my friend, Nan Rubin, who is involved in various NYC Jewish non-profits, including Dorot, UJA, and Park Avenue Synagogue. Nan needs a kidney transplant, and I hope that you can help us find a donor. You can help by spreading the word and by attending an event on April 28 at 7pm at Park Avenue Synagogue. If you can't make the event, and would like to learn more about kidney donation or to see if you are a match for Nan (or anyone else), please email R26362@renewal.org or call 718-431-9831 Ext. 209. Learn more here.

Looking for a Hebrew Tutor? From Martin Sinkoff

Interested in learning Hebrew or perfecting your Hebrew? Ramit Avidan, my teacher here in Tel Aviv, works privately via Zoom. I recommend her without reservation. She is exceptional. Feel free to use my name as a reference. Click here to contact.

Spare Bedroom Needed for Bettyrose Nelson's Grandson Visit

Bettyrose Nelson is looking for someone with a spare room for her adult grandson to stay in during a weeklong upcoming trip from Israel to New York in March. If you can help, please contact her at 212-362-3269.

Lee Bearson Seeking Passover Apartment Rental

Former AC members are looking to rent an apartment for Passover (approximately April 10 through 21). Preferably, an apartment with three or more bedrooms. We would want to be able to kasher the kitchen for Passover. We are a kosher vegetarian household. Open to a house swap in Berkeley, CA. Contact Lee Bearson at 510-499-8293 or lwbearson@gmail.com.

Housekeeper/Caretaker Seeking Employment, from Corinne Boren

I am recommending my friend Anila who is seeking employment as a housekeeper, caretaker or companion. Anila is very experienced and caring. She helped me take care of my mother for over four years and truly enhanced her quality of life until my mother passed in 2020. Should you wish further information please feel free to contact me at my email address co18bo@aol.com or by phone 212 864 8163.