WEEKLY NEWS

Follow Ansche Chesed on Instagram and Facebook for photos, events and more. 

If this newsletter is cut off, click here to view in browser.

Mazel Tov to parents Jesse Axelrod and Hannah Rubin, and grandparents Lynny and Larry Axelrod, on the birth of Isla Ruby Axelrod.

Ruach Nediva: Service Trip to Israel with AC, December 7-14, 2025

Ansche Chesed community members are heading to Israel again! Please consider joining רוח נדיבה/Ruach Nediva, “The Volunteering Spirit,” a service learning trip from December 7-14, 2025. We will include fun activities as well, but Ruach Nediva will focus on meaningfully contributing to Israel’s resilience, each day of our week-long visit.

If you would like to learn more about the trip, please read our announcement letter and join us on Zoom on Wednesday, June 25 at 7:30pm.

To indicate that you would like to join us, please submit this form. We will be sending our “official” registration link in mid-June.

Volunteers Needed for Russian-Language Children's Book Drive at AC on June 15

We are seeking volunteers for a Russian-language children’s book drive on Sunday, June 15th from 9:30 to 11:30am in the Ansche Chesed lobby. Volunteers do not need to speak or read Russian. The books will be used by students enrolled in PS 145’s Russian/English dual language program. Volunteers will bag the books in preparation for delivery. If this interests you, please email Josh Ashley to sign up. 

Purchase Your Dinner Ticket and Journal Ad Today!

Please join us on Sunday, June 22 at 5:30pm for our 2025 Tribute Gala as we honor Patty & Seth Goldman, Marge Goldwater and Wendy & Avery Katz. Learn more about our dedicated honorees, and view our celebratory journal.

Tuesday, June 17 at 7pm in Hirsch Hall

All members in good standing are encouraged to attend to 1) elect the slate of trustees and officers as recommended by the Nominating Committee; 2) vote on clergy contracts; and 3) review the results of the 2025 Membership Survey. Click here to view the full Agenda. If you cannot attend the meeting, please fill out the Proxy Form and submit it by email by noon the day of the meeting. 

Graduation Celebration: Aliyah and Kiddush

Saturday, June 7

Join us to celebrate all of our community's graduates -- from 8th grade, high school, college and beyond!

During the Sanctuary service, graduates of any age/stage are invited to join us for a celebratory group aliyah to the Torah. After services, stick around for Kiddush!

Please RSVP to participate in the Aliyah and/or to celebrate your graduate by sponsoring a festive kiddush.

A Just and Inclusive NYC: A Mayoral Candidate Forum for the Jewish Community

Sunday, June 8 from 5 - 6:30pm at B'nai Jeshurun (257 W. 88th St.)

This forum offers a critical opportunity for NYC's Jewish community to hear directly from the 2025 mayoral candidates about the issues that matter most to us and to engage with those vying for our city’s leadership. In this pivotal time, we seek leaders who will uphold the values of justice, equity, compassion, and opportunity for all New Yorkers. Together, we raise our voices to ensure that the priorities of the Jewish community are represented in the future of New York. Register here

Cosponsored by Ansche Chesed, organized by B’nai Jeshurun, Central Synagogue, Congregation Beth Elohim, Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, and New York Jewish Agenda.

Scribblers on the Roof

Mondays, June 9 - July 28

7pm: Schmooze and Wine -- 7:15pm: Program

Join us to hear renowned Jewish writers read from and discuss their recent work on the Ansche Chesed roof. Beverages, snacks and books are available for purchase. If it rains, come anyway. We have a perfect indoor space.

Learn more about exciting new changes to the program and purchase your Season Pass for the series today! Books will be for sale and signing at each Monday night event, cash or credit card.

First Session: June 9

Ruth Franklin, The Many Lives of Anne Frank

RUTH FRANKLIN on The Many Lives of Anne Frank, part biography, part study of the Anne Frank phenomenon. “Franklin has done a wonderful thing here” (The Wall Street Journal). Franklin’s Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life (2016) won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography and her A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction (2011) was a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. 

In conversation with Judith Shulevitz.

See our full series author lineup

Rebuilding Trust and Opportunity: Arab-Jewish Partnership in Israeli High-Tech

Sunday, June 15 at 9:45am in 5 North

Please join AC and The Task Force on Arab Citizens of Israel for a conversation with Maisam Jaljuli, CEO of Tsofen-Tashbik, and Ifat Baron, founder and CEO of itworks— leaders advancing inclusive employment in Israel’s high-tech sector. Their work to sustain high-tech as a space for Arab economic mobility and Jewish-Arab partnership in Israel is both more challenging and important under the strains of a polarized and war-strained society. As government and international funding declines and public discourse grows increasingly polarized, what role can civil society play in rebuilding trust and ensuring inclusive growth in this sector and Israel as a whole? Learn more and RSVP

Jewish Museum Tour: Ben Shahn Exhibit - On Nonconformity  

Thursday, June 26 from 5:30 - 7pm at the Jewish Museum (1109 5th Ave. at 92nd St.)

Join us for a private and enlightening evening at the Jewish Museum, touring the new exhibit Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity. The exhibit “examines the prolific and progressive artist’s commitment to chronicling and confronting crucial issues of his era, spanning from the Great Depression to the Vietnam War, as well as his exploration of spirituality and Jewish texts.” We will see decades of Shahn's work, while focusing on how Hebrew and biblical narrative shaped his understanding of social inequality. We will also have the opportunity to explore The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt exhibit with AC past president and Jewish Museum docent Debbie Greenberg! Additionally, the museum's new Kosher restaurant Lox is open until 8pm for those interested in having dinner together after the tour. 

Learn more and register

Kiddush Conversation with Yotam Polizer from IsraAID

Saturday, June 28 during Kiddush in the Multipurpose Room

Join us for an exclusive briefing on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and IsraAID’s unique role as an Israeli humanitarian organization. In this Shabbat talk, Yotam Polizer, IsraAID’s Global CEO and recipient of the 2023 Bronfman Prize, will share his perspective working with the various mechanisms of distributing aid, and IsraAID’s key strategic role. RSVP here, walk-ins also welcome.

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.

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.

What Don’t We Know and Why Don’t We Know It: The Power of Persistence and Hope in Our Time

Monday, June 9 from 7 - 8:30pm at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan (334 Amsterdam Ave.)

Join JCAN NYC for a lively, interactive program that will embolden our activism in the face of climate denial and discouragement through M. Annenberg's original art and Torah scholar Rachel Landsberg's textual response. Register here

FROYEN! Women in Yiddish Song

Sunday, June 15 at 1pm at Merkin Hall (129 West 67 Street)

The Yiddish Philharmonic Chorus, led by Binyumen Schaechter and including AC members Sara Ruderman and Janet Scharf with TeleTefila member Larry Kay, will perform FROYEN! featuring female charismatic, clever, controlling, and comforting characters plus female lyricists, poets, composers, and arrangers. We have brand-new choral arrangements and familiar songs you'll hear in a brand-new way. Have fun with a 1970s American feminist favorite (in Yiddish, of course) and hits from the Barry Sisters, Adrienne Cooper, Molly Picon, and Sophie Tucker! No need to know any Yiddish - our song intros and English supertitles will keep you in the loop. Learn more and register

Need a Babysitter? From Marcia Talmage Schneider

If you or someone you know is looking for a baby sitter, you've come to the right place! Maya Raymond is a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and is currently based on the UWS. She has over 4 years of babysitting and camp counselor experience. She is available to babysit starting May 19: most days as well as evenings and weekends. Contact her at mayaraymond23@gmail.com or 845 3007488.

Seeking Summer Employment from Rebecca Reibstein

I am a rising Junior, home for the summer and seeking a job opportunity.

I have experience working as an event coordinator for an arts foundation, a donor engagement and community outreach manager for a non-profit organization, an assistant preschool teacher, camp counselor, and a host team member in an upscale restaurant. I am happy to provide references or additional information if helpful. 

If you know of any opportunities or would be willing to chat or share connections, I'd truly appreciate it! 

You can reach me at 646-320-2156 or rebeccareibstein@gmail.com.

GENERAL DONATIONS

Helene & Isaac Adlerstein

Lee Adlerstein, in honor of Jonah Schwartz's wonderful Bar Mitzvah

Anonymous, in honor of Sheryl Reich, David Greenberg and Sam Greenberg

Goldie & Eric Arrow, Mazal tov to the Margolin-Schwartz family at this time of Jonah's Bar Mitzvah

Vivian Mamelak & Alain Demers, in honor of Jonah Schwartz's Bar Mitzvah

Charles Gropper

Tom Maeglin, in honor of Cynthia Maeglin

Jocelyn Maskow, in honor of Jonah Schwartz's bar mitzvah.

Karen Palmer

Ralph Seliger

Lori Skopp & Michael Shmidt, in honor of Barbara Dean, Stacey Gordon & Neil Guterman, Marcia Talmage Schneider, Ron Meyer, Ellen Resnick, Pearl Beck & David Fisher, Dina Rosenfeld & Howard Berkowitz, and Melanie Schneider & Marla Gayle

RABBI'S FUND DONATIONS

Ira Krell & Alexandra Botwin-Krell, in memory of Rita Krell

Suzanne & Michael Weinstein

YAHRZEIT DONATIONS

Rachel Theilheimer & Jonathan Beard, in memory of Henny Theilheimer

Bloomingdale Aging In Place, in memory of Phyllis Sperling

Michael Brochstein, in memory of Barbara & Sol Brochstein

Lori Cohen, to commemorate my mother’s yahrtzeit

Vivian Mamelak & Alain Demers, in memory of Julius Schwartz

Amy Zarrow & Alan Divack, in memory of Barbara Divack

Robin Forman, in memory of Mattes Silverman and my grandmother, Martha Silverman

Chana Freedman, in memory of DeLores Blomquist

Karen & Jed Garfield, in memory of Baroukh El Kodsi

Debra Greenberg, in memory of Kay Feldman, mother of Debra Greenberg and Mindy Sotsky

Aaron & Nicole Grunfeld, in memory of Dr. Paul Grunfeld

Joni Greenspan & Dan Lenchner, in memory of Lottie, Philip, Bev Greenspan & Yehiel, Rachel, Orna Lenchner

Sandra Novick, in memory of Eugene Alan Novick

Michele Sachar & Bradford Rothschild, in memory of Howard Sachar, Michele Sachar's father.

Leslie & Edwin Rusgo, in memory of Martha and Abe Rusgo, Francine Feiss, Rose and Joe Fein, Lena and Louis Rosalsky

Lori Skopp & Michael Schmidt, in memory of Donald Cirlin

Diane Slaine-Siegel & Joel Siegel, in memory of Irving Slaine

Patty Lipshutz & Lorin Silverman, in memory of Florence Weinberg and Melvin Rosen

Marjorie Singer, in memory of Sidney Singer and Matthew Joseph

Helen Singer & Michael Skliar, in memory of David Singer

Jackie & Robert Stein, in memory of Joel Stein

Arleen Stern, in memory of Albert Gal

KIDDUSH DONATIONS

Bena Medjuck-Bruckner & Gustavo Bruckner, Mazel Tov & B’hatzlacha to our daughter Ayelet and all graduates!

Joel Feuer, in honor of Estee, Moshe, Azriel, Eliana Gelman

Patty & Seth Goldman, Mazel Tov to all the graduates!

Luciana & Alon Lederman

Dawn Kellman & David Lock

Lisa Maller & Rich Ocken

Elizabeth Stein & George Schneiderman

Samantha & Roger Schonfeld, in honor of Penelope Schonfeld's eighth grade graduation

Amy Shapiro-Kessler

Shira Eve Epstein & David Tolchin, Mazel tov to all graduates! This is only the beginning!

Juliet & Mattew Weisman, Mazel Tov to all the graduates!!!

MUSIC FUND DONATIONS

Alma Birnboim

FLOWER FUND

Lawrence Axelrod, in memory of his mother, Irene Axelrod